Talent Builds

Elemental
Elemental Solo PVE (57/14/0)

Tested patch 3.1.1
Talent build link :
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#hEh0qcdItGfzAo0xxco:kMb

This build focuses on high damage output and mana efficiency. After you get Lava Burst at lvl 75 rotation will be Lightning Bolt -> Flame Shock -> Lava Burst -> Thunderstorm (if not in cooldown) -> Frost Shock. Points can be shifted around depending on your play style.

This build focuses on high damage output and more group utility. Shaman are becomming more of a group/raid tool for their Elemental only buffs they give to casters. This spec also grabs Elemental Warding to reduce damage being done to you by raid mobs. On raid bosses, 17% (446 Hit Rating) total hit percentage is needed to never miss with a spell. With Elemental Precision, that drops it to 14% (368 Hit Rating, 289 with Misery or Improved Faerie Fire debuff) needed from gear.

Points can be shifted around depending on your play style.

Elemental Warding is highly recommended over some of the other talents that were not chosen to due its priority to survivability in raid boss fights that require resist gear and do a good amount of damage with spells. If you wanted to sacrifice these points for something more viable before raid fights, Elemental Reach can be taken along with a few other talents in Enhancement

Here are some spec's to further expand upon the versatility in Elemental Shaman spec'ing expressed by the above author. I should also note here that Draenei Shamans will only need 13% (342 Hit Rating) from gear due to Heroic Presence with Elemental Precision maxed out.

57/14/0 http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#hEhMqMdftGbkuZhxMo

This build is all about crit and spell power(and obviously hit or you would never hit anything)[Its slightly similar to the one above]. There isnt much much in there for MP5 becuase your water shield should handle most of that, i use this spec on my shaman [Junn of Rexxar] but he has 500+ MP5. Get your crit up to atleast 20% and you should keep on critting for about 5 or 10 seconds. The Glyphs that should be used are Glyph of Lightning Bolt, Glyph of Lava and Glyph of Flame Shock. It really doesnt matter what you use for the minor ones though. Good luck shamans of warcraft and keep on crittin!


52/14/5 http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#hEu0q0dItMbZhxMoZV

This spec is designed to maximize a Flame Shock, Lava Burst, and Lightning Bolt rotation while still remaining mana efficient and being mindful of survivability. It has the stock Lightning Bolt enhancements we all know and love, plus Call of Flame, Lava Flows, and Storm, Earth and Fire to enhance Flame Shock and Lava Burst. In addition Elemental Weapons was included for more spell power overall, and Shamanistic Focus and Totemic Focus for added mana efficiency. These talents with Glyph of Lava, Glyph of Flame Shock, and Glyph of Flametongue Weapon make for a effective DPS build, while remaining survivable through the increased range of the spec and the minimal 4% off some incoming damage from Elemental Warding.

43/8/20 http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#hEc0qzdItMbZ0xhZEbh00x

This spec is a level 80 version of the old level 70 Lightning Bolt spam rig. The 10 points spent between Tidal Focus, Improved Healing Wave, and Improved Reincarnation can be shifted around to meet ones own personal play style. Also 2 points from Lightning Overload or Elemental Oath can be shifted around, possibly to Thundering Strikes to increase static crit rate(though I would only suggest removing the points in Elemental Oath if you have another Elemental Shaman in group that has it.) The spec also allows you to act as a spot healer in a pinch moment though you will burn through mana fairly quick.

An added note for any Elemental Shaman, adding Chain Lightning into any spell rotation will increase your DPS, but at the cost of mana efficiency. Before adding this spell to a rotation you should make sure your mana pool and regen can handle the strain it causes. Being OOM 2 minutes into a boss fight is not a good thing no matter how high your DPS was for those 2 minutes.

(17/54/0) http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#hVchqZhxxcoxdIhkkRob

PvP

52/19/0 http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#hEc0qczItGcouZhgGo

Grabbing all the damage reducing talents in this tree will make you a lot more durable in both big and small battlegrounds. PvP situations can differ depending on what other classes you could face. Some situational talents are defered like Lightning Overload and Lava Flows because to get the most out of them, you need to be constantly casting. This usually is not possible, especially when there is a melee class preventing most of your spell casts. Your best bet is to Frost Shock and Earthbind Totem to kite away from them in order to pull out a few extra spells. Ranged and casters are more likely to be played closer as you can interrupt them better and also prevent them from kiting you.

Points can be shifted around depending on your play style.

This build could benefit a little from Elemental Reach, but it is not worth pulling out points from anywhere else in order to get this talent. Elemental Weapons can be traded with Enhancing Totems if you plan to stationary or near your totems most of the time they are layed out. The problem with switching these two talents is that if you are jumped or in the middle of a fight, are you really going to waste time to toss out some totems instead of trying to kite the enemy?

Enhancement
Leveling

http://www.wowarmory.com/talent-calc.xml?cid=7&tal=05203015000000000000000003020503310502133303113123105100000000000000000000000000 16/55/0

This is the result of many talent changes, and some personal testing. With this build you will never need to stop and drink, and your spells will deal comparable damage to your melee abilities. The totems are a good investment despite what some might think, since in a leveling situation you can plant them and pull several sets of mobs to within their large range. This is also a very good raiding build, and in my opinion the only PVE shaman build that's viable. Any build that doesn't take feral spirit is not worth looking at. The healing feral spirit will give you alone makes it a great ability.

Solo leveling
17/51/0 http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#hVchqZhxgIoxzhGdoRuco:RkZcmM
This build tweaks the above build a bit more geared towards those who like to quest solo even for the Group quests. It gives you a bit burstier damage with spell crits being double damage rather then the normal 150% damage, gives some more mitigation for those hard hitting elites for those group quests you can never find a group for, only really sacrificing the 10% AP party boost that is really more viable in groups and raids. The 2 points in Frozen Power is for kiting those hard hitting elites that you can't heal through such as the giants in Howling Fjord/Grizzle Hills. In a standard solo fight, these 2 points are a waste since you'll more than likely be using either Flametongue Weapon or Windfury Weapon, and you'll more than likely be in melee range for normal fights. But, for those that you need to kite, the 100% chance to root the mob if you cast Frostshock from further than 15 yards makes kiting that much easier when you have to worry about pulling other elites in the area.

All in all not the best spec for those who party up a lot, but fairly good for those who like to play without others' help.

Group/Raiding (PVE)

14/57/0 http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#hVchqZhxgIoxzhGdoRuco:RkZcmM

This build also takes advantage of the Elemental Warding talent that reduces certain spells damage by 10%. It also takes advantage of Static Shock as you should not be getting hit by mobs. So, to get damage with your orbs, the 6% chance to toss some extra DPS is nice plus there are more charges, reducing the times you need to reapply it. You also take advantage of an increased amount of Stormstrike charges if you can get all 4 off the mob before it expires. Unleashed Rage is also an amazing talent to buff melee DPS in bigger raids.

Points can be shifted around depending on your play style.

Again, depending on your raid progression, Elemental Warding could help a ton in bigger advanced raids. If you are still in parties and raids that resist gear isn't an issue yet, you could toss them around for Improved Shields or something as relevant.

PvP

12/59/0 http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#hVchoZMGgcotzIGkkRkd

This is a standard PvP build that covers most of the PvP highlights in this tree. Improved Ghost Wolf will enable quick getaways in order to heal up or when threatened with danger. Again, Static Shock will reduce the number of times you need to reapply your Lightning Shield. Earthen Power is an amazing utility that will enable any quick getaway with Ghost Wolf combined. Finally, Feral Spirit will not only heal you as your wolves do damage, but thwy can really annoy any caster trying to mess with you.

Points can be shifted around depending on your play style.

This build is not set in stone. There are a few controversial talents that were both taken up, and also abandoned. Anticipation and Toughness could be considered, but Anticipation just isn't worth the points and Toughness doesnt do enough damage reduction and with the help of Earthen Power, it isn't really needed. There is also the idea of going into the Resto tree to pick up Improved Healing Wave when you need to get away and make a quick, efficient heal. Again, it all depends on your play style.

19/52/0 Alternate http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#hVcAobZMggcoxzhGkzo

This PvP build takes the above build and does away with the PvE totem talents and includes talents that improve PvP totems and shocking. Reverberation will allow for more frequent spell interrupts and snares. Elemental Warding is a solid damage reducing talent and Imp Fire Nova Totem can be quite effective, especially in large scale PvP. Enhancing Totems could be an effective choice, except in PvP many players will use Earthbind and Tremor. To improve PvP totems instead, Earth's Grasp and Guardian Totems are taken. Although stacking crit will negate your opponents resilience, Unleashed rage still loses much of its potency due to it being a proc on critical hit, which tends to benefit only the player in many cases. Static Shock seems lackluster, since reapplying lightning shield is a minor grievance and the added damage is insignificant.

http://www.wowarmory.com/talent-calc.xml?cid=7&tal=05033500030000000000000000052520010550130323110103125100000000000000000000000000 19/52/0

This build is an amazing pvp build. It's more designed toward 2v2 and small pvp scenerios, but it works well in any. Essentially it's gives you the versatility you'll need to handle all sorts of situations. The ability to cast hex nearly unhindered, along with a lava lash if necessary to take down that heavy armored plate wearer or healer. The ability to kite nearly infinitely with your frost shock. The additional health is a huge benefit. The ability to reduce snaring and the reduction in slow times. Everyone of these allows you to stay in their healers face and pummel them to dust, and when you can't down that bone armor using, last stand having random plate wearing toon...you can always resort to your spells. This build offers the most health/damage reduction/on the go heals you can find. The glyphs I recommend are stoneclaw totem, feral spirit, and shocking. This will make you a force to be reckoned with. a 4000 shield every 30 secs, 30% damage reduction every 2min, wolves that heal for well over your max health, and the ability to be nearly impossible to kite not to mention a well timed bloodlust. If your going enhance and want to pvp, this is the best choice no questions asked. As for a partner...look for rogues and frost mages. The combined cc will shut down any 2v2 healer team.