Enhancement Shaman Leveling Guide from 1 to 80 — The War Within (11.0.7)

Last updated on Dec 15, 2024 at 16:00 by Wordup 47 comments

On this page, you will find our Level by Level Enhancement Shaman leveling guide for The War Within. Make sure to use the slider to make the guide adapt to your level. For more general leveling information, please refer to our Shaman leveling guide.

1.

Enhancement Shaman Leveling Guide for The War Within

Welcome to our Leveling Guide for The War Within. This will help you in your journey to max level as an Enhancement Shaman, covering talents and abilities you should know about.

1.1.

Enhancement Shaman Leveling Playstyle

Enhancement Shaman is very flexible when leveling, being suited to questing due to its extremely high mobility or doing large pulls and using its healing tools to stay alive. With big cooldowns such as Bloodlust Icon Bloodlust and Earth Elemental Icon Earth Elemental, it also has no problem dealing with particularly dangerous elites so long as it is infrequent. It also does well in dungeons, but you may find your queues go faster if you do so as Restoration to heal instead.

1.2.

Gear Options

When leveling up, you should always choose the piece of loot with the highest item level. You will often be replacing these gear pieces very quickly, so just equip whatever comes to you without worrying about secondary stats.

2.

Best Leveling Talents For Enhancement Shaman

During levels 1 to 9, you will have very few abilities to fight with, notably Lightning Bolt Icon Lightning Bolt, Flame Shock Icon Flame Shock and Primal Strike Icon Primal Strike. This will change at level 10 when you can select Enhancement as your specialization and begin to unlock additional abilities in the talent tree. You will additionally start with Lightning Shield Icon Lightning Shield.

Your talents can be changed anywhere in the world as long as you are out of combat. Be sure to explore various combinations of talents at will while leveling to best combat a variety of encounters and use it as an opportunity to familiarize yourself with what the spec is capable of. We have included a sample leveling path through the Class and Enhancement skill tree below. This is an easy-to-learn but still effective leveling experience that forges a middle path between introducing core mechanics without delving into some of the more complex aspects that need to be managed.

Immediately at level 10, you will gain access to Chain Lightning Icon Chain Lightning, Astral Shift Icon Astral Shift, and the Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon passive. Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon is the cornerstone of the entire Enhancement spec, and it will both reduce the cast time of your spells and increase their damage. It is important that you practice only using your offensive spells when you have at least 5 stacks of Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon, but at lower levels, this is less critical. Use Chain Lightning Icon Chain Lightning while fighting at least 3 targets.

Use the Copy button below to generate an Import Code to use in-game!

Enhancement Leveling - Level 70 Starting Talents
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3.

Level by Level Rotation for Enhancement Shaman

To help with understanding what changes as you level up and progress through the talent tree, use the slider below to select your current level. Each time you level up, move it along, and the rotation will adjust for you!

Move the slider below to make the guide update to your level!

Level: 70

After reaching level 71 and unlocking Hero Talents, we recommend playing with Stormbringer to gain access to Tempest Icon Tempest.

Due to Enhancement only being unlocked as a talent specialization at Level 10, you should use the abilities provided to you in the intro quests until you are presented with the option.

A core part of the Enhancement toolkit are weapon imbues. Make sure to have Flametongue Weapon Icon Flametongue Weapon applied at all times.

A core part of the Enhancement toolkit are weapon imbues. Make sure to have Flametongue Weapon Icon Flametongue Weapon and Windfury Weapon Icon Windfury Weapon applied at all times. These spells will naturally cast onto the appropriate weapon in your main and off-hand.

Keep yourself buffed with Skyfury Icon Skyfury for the additional Mastery and auto-attack procs.

Make sure to keep Lightning Shield Icon Lightning Shield active at all times for the extra Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon and damage when being struck.

Make sure to keep Lightning Shield Icon Lightning Shield active at all times for the extra Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon and damage when being struck. Also, thanks to Elemental Orbit Icon Elemental Orbit, you can keep Earth Shield Icon Earth Shield active at the same time for additional healing.

Use Bloodlust Icon Bloodlust whenever you are up against dangerous enemies, or have pulled a large pack and need to burst it down quickly.

  1. Cast Tempest Icon Tempest whenever it has procced with 10 Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon.
  2. Cast Flame Shock Icon Flame Shock when engaging enemies.
  3. Cast Feral Spirit Icon Feral Spirit on cooldown.
  4. Cast Windstrike Icon Windstrike on cooldown during Ascendance Icon Ascendance.
  5. Cast Ascendance Icon Ascendance when facing dangerous enemies.
  6. Cast Primordial Wave Icon Primordial Wave on cooldown. Aim to hit a target not affected by Flame Shock Icon Flame Shock.
  7. Cast Lightning Bolt Icon Lightning Bolt with both 5 stacks of Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon and the Primordial Wave Icon Primordial Wave buff.
  8. Cast Chain Lightning Icon Chain Lightning with Arc Discharge Icon Arc Discharge active.
  9. Cast Doom Winds Icon Doom Winds on cooldown, ideally against elites and large groups of enemies.
  10. Cast Lightning Bolt Icon Lightning Bolt if at 5+ stacks of Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon. If multiple targets are present, instead cast Chain Lightning Icon Chain Lightning.
  11. Cast Lava Burst Icon Lava Burst if at 5 stacks of Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon. If multiple targets are present, instead cast Chain Lightning Icon Chain Lightning.
  12. Cast Primal Strike Icon Primal Strike.
  13. Cast Crash Lightning Icon Crash Lightning if multiple enemies are present.
  14. Cast Stormstrike Icon Stormstrike.
  15. Cast Frost Shock Icon Frost Shock if buffed by Ice Strike Icon Ice Strike or Hailstorm Icon Hailstorm.
  16. Cast Sundering Icon Sundering, ideally against multiple enemies.
  17. Cast Lava Lash Icon Lava Lash.
  18. Cast Ice Strike Icon Ice Strike.
  19. Cast Frost Shock Icon Frost Shock.
  20. Cast Lightning Bolt Icon Lightning Bolt if at 5 stacks of Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon, Lava Burst Icon Lava Burst is on cooldown and nothing else is available.

Enhancement also has a robust toolkit for surviving different situations through a variety of spells and effects:

  • Most importantly, we can use our Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon stacks to make Healing Surge Icon Healing Surge instant, so if you are ever in danger, this can save you in a pinch.
  • Most importantly, we can use our Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon stacks to make Healing Surge Icon Healing Surge both instant and more potent thanks to Improved Maelstrom Weapon Icon Improved Maelstrom Weapon. If you are ever in danger, this is our tool of choice for recovering.
  • Earth Elemental Icon Earth Elemental is your own personal pocket tank you can get out for emergencies and will taunt nearby enemies, giving you time to catch up. This lasts for a full minute, making it great for dangerous elites.
  • Ancestral Guidance Icon Ancestral Guidance converts a portion of our damage into additional healing at no cost, making it excellent for keeping up pressure in big pulls.
  • Nature's Guardian Icon Nature's Guardian procs a free heal whenever you drop below 35% health, keeping you more stable for longer. This has a 45-second cooldown, though, so if it has procced, be careful.
  • Earth Shield Icon Earth Shield also gives us passive healing so long as it is maintained and even boosts self-healing casts while active. The Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon gained from having Lightning Shield Icon Lightning Shield active is generally more useful.
  • Earth Shield Icon Earth Shield also gives us passive healing so long as it is maintained and even boosts self-healing casts while active.
  • Reincarnation Icon Reincarnation lets us get straight back up if you ever die but has a lengthy 30-minute cooldown. If you ever go a bit overboard, use this to get back right to where you started without needing to run back. Just be careful - you spawn with low Health, so if there are still enemies nearby, it might be worth walking instead.
3.1.

War Mode Talents to Level Up as an Enhancement Shaman

If you are willing to take the risk and utilize War Mode, the following PvP talents are recommended during leveling or for other open-world content. There may be times when you would like to use other options and are encouraged to experiment! PvP talents can be freely changed at any time.

Your first PvP talent slot will unlock at Level 20, your second at Level 30, and the final at Level 40.

3.1.1.
  • Level 20:Ride the Lightning Icon Ride the Lightning adds additional damage to your Stormstrike Icon Stormstrike casts, helping you to dispatch groups of enemies quicker, so is the universal pick
  • Level 30:Counterstrike Totem Icon Counterstrike Totem lets you pull aggressively and deal the damage back to enemies, using your own Health as a resource! Alternatively, Burrow Icon Burrow is an option as well as an escape tool if you get caught in a bad position or for some opening burst.
  • Level 40:Stormweaver Icon Stormweaver provides free healing whenever you spend Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon for damage freeing up some resources in exchange for sustain. This is not always comfortable to use, but is a solid option until we reach level 48 and can switch to Shamanism Icon Shamanism.
  • Level 40:Shamanism Icon Shamanism unlocks when we gain Bloodlust Icon Bloodlust at 48, and reduces its cooldown to a mere minute, giving us a much more frequent burst window.
4.

Congratulations!

Congratulations on reaching level 80! Now that you have reached the end game, we recommend looking at our Easy mode page and Talents section to learn how to play at max level.

5.

Changelog

  • 15 Dec. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 11.0.7.
  • 21 Oct. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.5.
  • 09 Sep. 2024: Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
  • 21 Aug. 2024: Updated for The War Within.
  • 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within Pre-Patch.
  • 13 May 2024: Format adjustment to move slider closer to rotation.
  • 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
  • 22 Apr. 2024: Reviewed for Season 4.
  • 19 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
  • 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5, no changes necessary.
  • 06 Nov. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.2 talent changes.
  • 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7, no changes necessary.
  • 20 Jul. 2023: Rewritten to include rotation advice.
  • 10 Jul. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
  • 01 May 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
  • 22 Mar. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
  • 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
  • 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
  • 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
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