Enhancement Shaman PvP Guide for Cataclysm Classic

Enhancement Shamans are, unfortunately, not a meta class in the Arena. This is mostly due to the lack of a Mortal Strike effect and weak single target damage as their utility, ability to off-heal, and instantly apply Hex with Maelstrom Weapon is a strong plus.

They are also strong defensively, with a powerful defensive cooldown in Shamanistic Rage and backup option with Glyph of Stoneclaw Totem.

Enhancements also have a lot of utility they can put to good use in the Arena, such as Purge, Grounding Totem, Hex, a low-cooldown ranged interrupt in Wind Shear, and many support totems capable of improving ally DPS and also keeping them mobile with Earthen Power.

Strengths

• Although it runs on Mana, Enhancement has virtually unlimited amounts of it through the Primal Wisdom spec passive
• Good mobility with Ancestral Swiftness, and can get itself and allies out of snares with Earthen Power
• High control with Wind Shear interrupts, Hex hard CC and off-healing, all made instant cast by Maelstrom Weapon

Weaknesses

• Lacks high burst from damage cooldowns compared to the top DPS classes
• Usually gets focused in arenas as the only defensive cooldown is Glyph of Stoneclaw Totem
• As a melee class, vulnerable to being focused fire by casters and is forced to chase targets through the battlefield

• Glyph of Lava Lash — a nice passive boost to your Lava Lash damage.
• Glyph of Stormstrike — despite its tooltip, this glyph increases the critical strike bonus to spells applied by the Stormstrike ability.
• Glyph of Feral Spirit — another passive boost, this time to your Feral Spirit guardians damage.

• Glyph of Lightning Shield — causes Lightning Shield to no longer go under 3 charges when you are attacked, increasing your damage when focused.
• Glyph of Shamanistic Rage — causes Shamanistic Rage to also remove all Magic effects from yourself when used, which is great in PvP as most forms of CC and other debuffs are considered Magic.
• Glyph of Stoneclaw Totem — converts your Stoneclaw Totem into a strong personal cooldown.

• Glyph of Water Walking — allows you to cast Water Walking without a reagent, saving gold in the process.
• Glyph of Water Breathing — removes the reagent requirement from Water Breathing, saving some more gold over time.
• Glyph of the Arctic Wolf — a purely cosmetic option, but there are no other glyphs with any PvP impact.

If you have not already, we recommend reading the Spells Summary page first. Knowing how each spell and ability works in detail will greatly increase your understanding of the topics discussed on this section. In PvP you will need to react and adapt to different situations, meaning you will not always follow the recommended rotation below. Aim to do whatever allows you to stick on your target the most while dealing as much damage as possible.

1. Keep your totems active with Call of the Elements as they will buff your allies and provide extra healing through Healing Stream Totem;
2. Use and maintain the Flame Shock debuff;
3. Cast Stormstrike on cooldown;
4. Use Lava Lash on cooldown;
5. Cast Lightning Bolt when you hit 3+ Maelstrom Weapon stacks, making sure to finish casting it before your next auto-attack;
6. Use Unleash Elements on cooldown;
7. Use Earth Shock if nothing else applies.

When facing multiple players at Battlegrounds or wanting to cleave through multiple targets, follow the single-target rotation but swap Lightning Bolt for Chain Lightning. If facing 3 or more, use Fire Nova on cooldown once you have 3+ targets with Flame Shock, courtesy of Improved Lava Lash spreading mechanic.

Feral Spirit is your main DPS cooldown and should be used on cooldown if it will be able to attack targets for its full duration. Try to also stack it with temporary buffs from trinket procs and on-use effects.

Shamanistic Rage is your main defensive, and also a way to instantly get rid of Magic debuffs with Glyph of Shamanistic Rage. Use it when focused to relieve some pressure, especially if you are being stunned by something like Hammer of Justice at the same time.

In addition to your main spells and cooldowns, you also have many utility spells that can be game-changing when used in the proper scenario. Make sure you understand each of the spells listed below to fully take advantage of your entire spellbook.

• Strength of Earth Totem / Wrath of Air Totem and similar totems should be used to heavily boost yours and ally damage;
• Earthbind Totem to slow nearby enemies and remove snares on yourself and nearby allies with Earthen Power;
• Tremor Totem can now be used while you are affected by Fear or other effects it can remove, making it an excellent button to break such effects instantly on yourself and your team;
• Grounding Totem should be used to nullify enemy CC and other important casts;
• Wind Shear can also be used to disrupt caster enemies, by interrupting their casts directly;
• Purge can be used to remove enemy buffs, such as Druid heals over time or Priest shields;
• Hex is a hard crowd control spell which can be used to disable an enemy for an extended duration. Take note that it is a Curse effect, making it harder to dispel for some classes, but easier for others.

If you are looking to maximize the potential of your Enhancement Shaman in Cataclysm PvP, these are the recommended professions:

1. Blacksmithing — Gives you two additional sockets with Socket Bracer and Socket Gloves, enabling you to stack more Resilience in this season.
2. Jewelcrafting — Gives you three powerful gems, in this case Mystic Chimera's Eye, which can boost your Resilience even higher.

The list linked below includes the best possible gear setup for a Enhancement Shaman in PvP.

When it comes to evaluating Enhancement Shaman's place within the Arena, we have created a number of guides devoted to listing a variety of popular team compositions which you can find below.