A few more days left, and we’re only on shaman. This can’t be good. Let’s get right to it, then. Shaman are incredibly fun to play, especially with the changes that came with 4.0.1. The improvements on the totem interface in the past have made it much easier for shaman to manage their totems. The best shaman utilize their totems in the heat of battle, and one interesting skill to master is knowing not just which totem to put down for a situation but which sets of totems, now that shaman can drop it down all at once. It’s a convenience that changes a few things. There is also higher survivability, better mobility, and clearly defined playstyles for all three specs.
Elemental shaman PvP—It helps to have a PvP-friendly specialization from the get-go, and elemental gets the wonderful Thunderstorm, which was exciting when it debuted but becomes even better now that shaman can get it free at level 10. Add the Glyph of Thunder (major) and you’re all set to blow enemies off cliffs with more frequency. Elemental shaman are extremely potent AoE combatants, which means a whole lot of damage going in the battlegrounds. The overall nerf to stuns across all classes has neutered one of the shaman class’ biggest weaknesses, which only means good things for you.
Enhancement shaman PvP— There’s much to be desired for enhancement shaman on the DPS end, but PvP is an entirely different ballgame. There are a lot of PvP talents in the enhancement tree that affords enhancement shaman the best mobility among all shaman. Enhancement plays best when you keep controlling the distance at which you engage. More than any other melee class, enhancement has excellent options for ranged combat, which should be used to your advantage as often as possible. Your resilience against kiting means you can keep beating down on an opponent but at the same time have ready options to create distance if you need it.
Restoration shaman PvP— Restoration gets—Earth Shield as a basic specialization, one of the best defensive PvP spells in the game. Essentially, it’s a scaling reactive heal that opponents need to match in DPS simply in order to get something through. Restoration shaman excel in the battlegrounds because of access to AoE heals and a lot of utility. As with all healers in today’s world, offensive spellcasting has been thrown into the mix, and the best battleground healers will take turns casting heals interspersed with offensive spells. There aren’t a lot of PvP-centric talents in the tree, but let’s take a look at some that should help you out on the field.
