TBC Enhance Shaman Leveling Guide (1-70)

Tier 1: Levels 10-14

Shield Specialization – 5 points. Even at level 70, the 5% mana increase is going to equal 300-400 mana, enough for 1 extra lightning cast. Compare that to 5% increase in block and 25% increase to how much you block? No brainer. Shield Spec rules, even at high levels.

Tier 2: Levels 15-19

Thundering Strikes – 5 points. You want to crit as often as possible.

Tier 3: Level 20

Two-handed axes and maces – 1 point. If you want to really do a lot of damage at the lower levels, take this. I keep it even at high-level, as there are some nice 2-handers out there for resto/enhancement too.

Tier 2 and 3: Levels 21-24

Improved Ghost Wolf – 2 points. This is your get-out-of-jail card. A fast transform can let you flee a fight with your life. I lose it at 60, but for leveling it’s great.

Enhancing Totems – 2 points. 15% increase to your two primary buffing totems. This means higher damage, more crits, better dodging.

Tier 4: Levels 25-29

Flurry – 5 points. Faster attacks? YES PLEASE!

Tier 5: Levels 30-33

Spirit Weapons – 1 point. Yay for parry! The 15% threat reduction is great for grouping. And it’s the pre-requisite for dual-wield!

Elemental Weapons – 3 points. 40% increase to Windfury. Windfury is your bread and butter. Once you get it, you put it on your weapon and never take it off. Some folks like Rockbiter. Let em – damage works out about the same in the end, but Windfury attacks still let you get procs on an important talent later on. [EDIT: Changed Windfury to Elemental. I must’ve had the buff on my mind]

Tier 3 – Level 34

Anticipation – 1 point. I hate that you’re stuck with 1 loose point at level 34. 1% dodge is good, much better than 2% armor, so I place the point here

Tier 5 – Levels 35-39

Weapon Mastery – 5 points. 10% extra damage with all weapons. ‘Nuff said.

Tier 6 – Level 40

Dual Wield – 1 point. Are 2 weapons really better than one? I played with both, and while I think the end damage is comparable, it’s more fun to watch your shammy attack with 2 weapons.

So here’s what your talent tree should look like at 40: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=uZVVbdq0sVz

at 40, you can swap out to chain armor and have 2 weapons. It’s also time to get a mount. You could respec at 40, removing imp ghost wolf and 2-handed weapons, as you now hopefully have a mount and definitely have dual-wield. I prefer to keep this all the way to 70 though, so we’ll continue.

Go get your chain, still focusing on str/sta/agi/int, and get 2 weapons. For maximum Windfury damage, get the slowest, highest top-end damaging weapons you can find.

Let’s move on to 40-60, shall we?

Tier 6 – Levels 41-44

Stormstrike – 1 point. Instant attacks, and then increases your post-attack shock by 20%. YAY! More damage!

Dual Weapon Specialization – 3 points. This helps a lot in hitting with your off-hand. More hits = more damage

Tier 7 – Levels 45-49

Unleashed Rage – 5 points. 10% AP increase for you and party members after a critical strike. It’s not much to start, but you can never say no to more damage

Tier 8 – Level 50

Shamanistic Rage – 1 point. Mana regen from hitting things? Oh yes! Now, this relies on high attack power, so to maximize mana regen, drop your Strength of Earth totem before going into a rage. If you’re in a party and have been battleshouted by the warrior, even better.

Elemental Tier 1 – Levels 51-60

What?! But Paul, you said this was an Enhancement Build!! Yeah, I know, but you want more damage, and you want it cheaper and faster, right? Elemental is a great side-arm to enhancement.

Convection – 5 points. More mana-efficient offensive spells.

Concussion – 5 points. More damaging offensive spells.

And now the push from 60 to 70. It’s interesting, because the last 10 levels give you a couple of options. Help your healing and get cheaper totems, or fill out your enhancement tree:

Restoration Tier 1 – Levels 61-65

Tidal Focus – 5 points. Cheaper heals

Restoration Tier 2 – Levels 66-70

Totemic Focus – 5 points. Cheaper totems. You use totems a lot, so this is great.

So your build looks like this: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=hEZVVbdq0sVuqoV0x

-OR-

Enhancement Fill-out – Levels 61-70

Tier 6 – Mental Quickness – 3 points. Reduce the cost of your shocks even further!
Tier 2 – Improved Lightning Shield – 3 points. Do some damage back!
Tier 3 – Anticipation – 4 points. Max out that dodge

In this case, your build looks like this: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=uEZVVfdE0sAuqo

So there you have it, 1-70 as an Enhancement shammy, with a couple of different possibilities towards the end. Let me know what you think.