Shaman abilities

From WoWWiki

This article is flagged for a fact check! Cross-reference this article's questionable content with an official source such as the World of Warcraft Community Site. Please see WoWWiki:Citation for information on how to add citations. In addition, check any discussion on the discussion page.

Classes:
Class races:	Dk	Dr	Hu	Ma	Pa	Pr	Ro	Sh	Wl	Wr
Quests:	Dk	Dr	Hu	Ma	Pa	Pr	Ro	Sh	Wl	Wr
Abilities:	Dk	Dr	Hu	Ma	Pa	Pr	Ro	Sh	Wl	Wr
Trainers:	Dk	Dr	Hu	Ma	Pa	Pr	Ro	Sh	Wl	Wr
Talents:	Dk	Dr	Hu	Ma	Pa	Pr	Ro	Sh	Wl	Wr
Glyphs:	Dk	Dr	Hu	Ma	Pa	Pr	Ro	Sh	Wl	Wr
Talent builds:	Dk	Dr	Hu	Ma	Pa	Pr	Ro	Sh	Wl	Wr
Tactics:	Dk	Dr	Hu	Ma	Pa	Pr	Ro	Sh	Wl	Wr
Armor sets:	Dk	Dr	Hu	Ma	Pa	Pr	Ro	Sh	Wl	Wr
Starting a:	Dk	Dr	Hu	Ma	Pa	Pr	Ro	Sh	Wl	Wr
PvE:	Dk	Dr	Hu	Ma	Pa	Pr	Ro	Sh	Wl	Wr
PvP:	Dk	Dr	Hu	Ma	Pa	Pr	Ro	Sh	Wl	Wr
Useful macros:	Dk	Dr	Hu	Ma	Pa	Pr	Ro	Sh	Wl	Wr

Shaman are jacks-of-all-trades, able to use a combination of ranged spells, short range shocks, heals, melee weapons, and their totems which can provide all kinds of utility.

Contents 1 Trainable abilities 2 Talent granted abilities 2.1 Elemental 2.2 Enhancement 2.3 Restoration 3 Abilities by type 3.1 Ranged damage 3.1.1 Long range 3.1.2 Short range 3.2 Weapon buffs 3.3 Healing 3.3.1 Totem 3.4 Damage 3.5 Buff 3.6 Debuff 3.7 Healing 3.8 Other 3.9 Non-nature based damage

Trainable abilities

Icon	Ability	Level	Type	Description
	Healing Wave	1	Heal	A slow heal.
	Lightning Bolt	1	Damage	Long range nuke with casting time.
	Rockbiter Weapon	2	Weapon Buff	Straight DPS increase of the shamans own weapon.
	Earth Shock	4	Shock Spell	Short range instant cast nuke which also reduces the targets attack speed by 10%. Shared cooldown with all other shocks.
	Stoneskin Totem	4	Earth Totem	Increases armor for all party members within 30 yards for 5 min.
	Earthbind Totem	6	Earth Totem	Reduces enemy movement speed within 10 yards for 45 sec.
	Lightning Shield	8	Elemental Shield	Deals damage to attackers.
	Stoneclaw Totem	8	Earth Totem	Taunts and sometimes stuns enemies within 8 yards for 15 sec.
	Flame Shock	10	Shock Spell	Short range instant cast nuke with a DoT effect. Shared cooldown with all other shocks.
	Flametongue Weapon	10	Weapon Buff	A self weapon buff that gives spell damage and adds fire damage to melee attacks.
	Searing Totem	10	Fire Totem	Totem that attacks enemies causing fire damage.
	Strength of Earth Totem	10	Earth Totem	Increases the strength and agility of all party members within 30 yards for 5 min.
	Ancestral Spirit	12	Resurrection	The normal out-of-combat Rez.
	Fire Nova Totem	12	Fire Totem	Single AoE fire damage with a cooldown.
	Purge	12	Debuff	Remove 1-2 buffs from an enemy target.
	Cure Toxins	16	Heal	Cures 1 poison and 1 disease on the target.
	Wind Shear	16	Wind Spell	Causes no damage but interrupts spellcasting and prevents any spell in that school from being cast for 2 sec. Also lowers your threat, making the enemy less likely to attack you.
	Ghost Wolf	16	Travel Spell	40% speed increased travel form, only usable outdoors, but also in combat.
	Tremor Totem	18	Earth Totem	Periodically removes Fear, Charm and Sleep effects from party members within 30 yards. Lasts 2 min.
	Frost Shock	20	Shock Spell	Instant cast short range nuke, which also slows the targets movement speed to 50%. Also causes a high amount of threat. Shared cooldown with all other shocks.
	Frostbrand Weapon	20	Weapon Buff	Adds a frost proc chance to the shamans own weapon which causes additional frost damage and slows the target's movement speed to 75% for 8 sec.
	Healing Stream Totem	20	Water Totem	Small AoE heal over time for 2 min.
	Lesser Healing Wave	20	Heal	Quick cast "small" heal.
	Water Shield	20	Elemental Shield	Surround the shaman with 3 globes of water. Damaging attacks expend a globe returning mana to the caster. Only one globe will activate every few seconds. Lasts 10 min.
	Cleansing Totem	22	Water Totem	Remove 1 disease and 1 poison effect from party members within 30 yards every 3 seconds. Lasts 5 min.
	Water Breathing	22	Buff	Allows the target to breathe underwater for 10 min.
	Frost Resistance Totem	24	Fire Totem	Increase frost resistance of all party members within 30 yards for 5 min.
	Far Sight	26	Utility	Changes the caster's viewpoint to the targeted outdoor location.
	Magma Totem	26	Fire Totem	Totem acts like an AoE-DoT to anything within 8 yards of it. Lasts 20 sec.
	Mana Spring Totem	26	Water Totem	This totem regenerates Mana for all party members withing 30 yards for 5 min.
	Fire Resistance Totem	28	Water Totem	Increase Fire Resistance of all party members within 30 yards for 5 min.
	Flametongue Totem	28	Fire Totem	Increases spell power of all party members within 30 yards for 5 min.
	Water Walking	28	Buff	Allows the friendly target to walk across water for 10 min.
	Astral Recall	30	Travel Spell	The same effect as a hearthstone (to the same destination too), with 15 min cooldown.
	Earthliving Weapon	30	Weapon Buff	Provides a passive bonus to healing spell power and a chance to trigger a heal over time effect on healed target per heal.
	Grounding Totem	30	Air Totem	Absorbs one harmful spell cast at party members every 10 sec. Is destroyed by the first damaging spell it absorbs. Lasts 45 sec, has 15 sec. cooldown.
	Nature Resistance Totem	30	Air Totem	Increase Nature Resistance of all party members within 30 yards for 5 min.
	Reincarnation	30	Resurrection	Self-rez, usable once per hour.
	Totemic Recall	30	Utility	Destroys totems and returns 25% base mana cost.
	Windfury Weapon	30	Weapon Buff	The shamans melee weapon gains a 20% chance to deal additional damage equal to two extra attacks with X extra attack power on each hit. Lasts for 30 minutes.
	Chain Lightning	32	Damage	Ranged nuke with a casting time which can hit up to three enemies (with reduced damage on each target after the first one).
	Windfury Totem	32	Air Totem	Increases Melee haste of all party members within 30 yards. Lasts for 5 min.
	Sentry Totem	34	Air Totem	Allows the shaman to switch his point of vision to the totem's location for 5 min.
	Chain Heal	40	Heal	Heals up to three friendly targets. Each jump reduces the effectiveness of the heal by 40%.
	Wrath of Air Totem	64	Air Totem	Increases spell haste of all party members within 30 yards. Lasts 5 min.
	Earth Elemental Totem	66	Earth Totem	Summons an elemental totem that calls forth a greater earth elemental to protect the caster and his allies. Lasts 2 min.
	Fire Elemental Totem	68	Fire Totem	Summons an elemental totem that calls forth a greater fire elemental to rain destruction on the caster's enemies. Lasts 2 min.
	Bloodlust Heroism	70	Party Buff	Increases melee, ranged, and spell casting speed by 30% for all party and raid members. Lasts 40 sec. After the completion of this effect, those affected will be unable to benefit from Bloodlust/Heroism again for 10 min.
	Lava Burst	75	Damage	Ranged nuke with a casting time. Crits if Flame Shock DoT is on the target. 8 second cooldown.
	Hex	80	Crowd Control	Turns any humaniod or beast into a frog for upto 30 seconds. 45 second cooldown.

Talent granted abilities

Rank 1 in these abilities is only unlocked by purchasing them from the appropriate Talent tree. Ranks 2 and beyond can then be purchased from the Shaman Trainer as normal.

Elemental

Icon	Ability	Reqs	Type	Description
	Elemental Mastery	Elemental 30 Call of Thunder 1	Buff	When activated, your next Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning or Lava Burst spell becomes an instant cast spell. In addition, your Fire, Frost, and Nature damage spells have a 15% increased critical strike chance for 15 sec. Elemental Mastery shares a cooldown with Nature's Swiftness.
	Totem of Wrath	Elemental 40	Fire Totem	The totem increases spell power of all party and raid members, and increases the critical strike chance of all attacks by 3% against all enemies within 40 yards.
	Thunderstorm	Elemental 50	AoE Damage	Restores 8% mana to you and deals X Nature damage to all enemies within 10 yards, knocking them back 20 yards.

Enhancement

Icon	Ability	Reqs	Type	Description
	Dual Wield	Enhancement 30	Passive	Allows the shaman to dual wield one-handed weapons.
	Stormstrike	Enhancement 30	Attack	Instantly attack with both weapons. In addition, the next 2 sources of Nature damage dealt to the target are increased by 20%. Lasts 12 sec.
	Lava Lash	Enhancement 35	Attack	You charge your offhand weapon with lava, instantly dealing 100% offhand weapon damage. Damage is increased by 25% if your off-hand weapon is enchanted with flametongue weapon.
	Shamanistic Rage	Enhancement 40	Buff	Reduces all damage taken by 30% and gives your successful melee attacks a chance to regenerate mana equal to 15% of your attack power. This spell is usable while stunned. Lasts 15 sec.
	Feral Spirit	Enhancement 50	Summon	Summons two Spirit Wolves under the command of the Shaman, lasting 45 sec.

Restoration

Icon	Ability	Reqs	Type	Description
	Tidal Force	Restoration 10	Buff	Increases the critical effect chance of your Healing Wave, Lesser Healing Wave and Chain Heal by 60%. Each critical heal reduces the chance by 20%. Lasts 20 sec.
	Nature's Swiftness	Restoration 20	Buff	When activated, your next Nature spell with a casting time less than 10 sec. becomes an instant cast spell.
	Mana Tide Totem	Restoration 30 Restorative Totems 3	Water Totem	Summons a Mana Tide Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster for 12 sec that restores 6% mana every 3 seconds to group members within 20 yards.
	Cleanse Spirit	Restoration 30 Purification 5	Heal	Cleanse the spirit of a friendly target, removing 1 poison effect, 1 disease effect, and 1 curse effect.
	Earth Shield	Restoration 40	Elemental Shield	Protects the target with an earthen shield, reducing casting or channeling time lost when damaged by 30% and causing attacks to heal the shielded target for X. This effect can only occur once every few seconds. 6 charges. Lasts 10 minutes. Earth Shield can only be placed on one target at a time and only one Elemental Shield can be active on a target at a time.
	Riptide	Restoration 50	HoT	Heals a friendly target for X and another Y over 15 sec. Your next Chain Heal cast on that primary target within 15 sec will consume the healing over time effect and increase the amount of the Chain Heal by 25%.

Abilities by type

Ranged damage

Long range

Shaman have three long range attack spells (30 yards range), the single target Lightning Bolt and Lava Burst, and the multi-target Chain Lightning.

Short range

The 3 Shock spells have a 20 yards range and provide good burst damage during a fight. Earth Shock reduces enemy attack speed. Frost Shock slows the enemies which allows you to catch people running away or slow down attacker coming at you (this is the shaman's best kiting spell), it also causes extra threat, making it great for pulling mobs off of casters. Before talents, a single Flame Shock does more damage than either Earth Shock or Frost Shock. However, the damage is spread out over 12 seconds (this is the shaman's only DoT spell). After the changes to downranking in patch 3.0.2, wind shock was added as a possibility for a short range counterspell, instead of rank 1 earth shock - with the additional effect of lowering the aggro on the target.

Weapon buffs

Windfury Weapon gives a 20% chance of 2 extra attacks with greatly increased attack power. While this can give inconsistent damage, it can also provide impressive results if the additional attacks score critical hits. Beware, Windfury crits can cause high amounts of threat and can easily steal aggro in group battles.

Flametongue Weapon adds a bonus to the shamans damage spells, it does slightly less damage than its peers, but it is a good choice for increasing damage consistently against foes with high armor or frost resistance. It also benefits from spelldamage gear and is the best choice for a elemental shaman or an enhancements shaman offhand.

Frostbrand Weapon provides superior (though less consistent) DPS when compared with Flametongue. It also slows enemies when it procs, though most consider this to have marginal utility considering the availability of Frost Shock. For PvP situations, it can be combined with the talent Frozen Power for additional damage of other shaman spells.

Earthliving Weapon is unique among weapon buffs as it gives bonuses to healing spells rather than providing a damage bonus to the shaman's attacks, and has the chance to add a heal over time effect on the target of a shamans heals.

Rockbiter Weapon increases a weapon's DPS, and is currently intended as a low-level alternative to to Windfury Weapon. In Patch 3.0.2, all ranks of Rockbiter Weapon beyond rank 4 were removed from the game.

Which buff to use is a matter of preference and situation. Windfury delivers the highest burst damage, Frostbrand produces a limited snare effect basically for free, and Flametongue delivers constant damage regardless of opponents' armor. Earthliving Weapon is purely for the healing and support role, but its bonuses are not to be underestimated.

Dual-wielding shamans apply buffs to each weapon separately. Procs from offhand weapon buffs suffer the usual damage penalty. See the article of Windfury Weapon for quirks about dual-wield buffing.

Healing

Shaman have three types of healing spells. Healing Wave is big, slow and relatively mana-efficient heal. Lesser Healing Wave is quick and less efficient. Chain Heal is an AoE heal of sorts. When a shaman puts enough points in the Restoration tree, he can become a full-fledged healer with special healing abilities through talents, like riptide (a instant heal with healing over time effect) or Earth Shield.

Shaman can also Cure Poison and Cure Disease (singularly or with group-affecting totems), and cleanse curses with the talent Cleanse Spirit.

Totem

Totems fall into several different categories. For more, go to Shaman Totems.

Damage

Searing Totem is a single target damage totem. Fire Nova Totem does a single AoE attack to all nearby. Magma Totem surrounds itself with an AoE DoT effect. None of these totems cause substantial amounts of damage.

Buff

Shamans have the ability to buff all party members instantaneously through the use of totems. These totems can increase stats, resistances, armor, spellpower, and melee/casting speed.

Debuff

Earthbind Totem and Stoneclaw Totem debuff the enemies by slowing them down or distracting them. Totem of Wrath also places a debuff on all enemies within range, increasing their chance to be critically hit.

Healing

Healing Stream Totem and Mana Spring Totem increase the regeneration rate of health and mana respectively. The Cleansing Totem removes poison and disease effects from party members.

Other

Grounding Totem makes the next hostile spell within its range hit the totem instead of its target.

Non-nature based damage

Elemental and Resto shamans tend to have a hard time dealing with enemies that are resistant to nature based spells, though at later levels this is improved with the addition of Lava Burst. One strategy is to switch to an enhancement style of play, using strong melee attacks (2H weapons with Windfury Weapon or Flametongue Weapon), non-nature based shocks (Flame Shock or Frost Shock), and damage totems (Searing Totem, Magma Totem, or Fire Nova Totem) as your main sources of damage.

v • d • e Playable classes Classes  Death knight ·  Druid ·  Hunter ·  Mage ·  Paladin ·  Priest ·  Rogue ·  Shaman ·  Warlock ·  Warrior Shaman Shaman races · Shaman quests · Shaman abilities · Shaman trainers · Shaman talents · Shaman glyphs · Shaman builds · Shaman tactics · Shaman sets · Starting a shaman · Shaman PvE guide · Shaman PvP guide · Shaman macros Shaman category