Elemental Shaman leveling guide
A caster that kills from range. Pick this if you prefer casting to melee. How the Elemental talents play from level 10 to 60.
On this page7 sections
At a glanceOur pickOpinion, not confirmed by BlizzardOur reading of the Elemental talent text, not a tested rotation.
- Build at level 60
- 38/13/0 (38 Elemental, 13 Enhancement)
- 16-point milestone
- Call of Thunder, level 25
- Last Elemental talent
- Lava Burst, level 40
- In a group
- Damage
- Our first choice for leveling a Shaman
- Enhancement
How Elemental plays
- Elemental is Lightning Bolt with Shocks around it. Concussion adds 5% to Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning and Earth Shock, and Convection makes Shocks, Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning 10% cheaper.
- Elemental Fury raises the critical strike damage bonus of your Fire, Frost and Nature spells by 100%, and Call of Thunder, the milestone, adds 3% critical strike chance to Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning.
- Two talents hand out free casts. Elemental Focus gives a damage spell a 10% chance to make your next damage spell cost no Mana, and Lightning Overload gives Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning a 9% chance to cast a second, half-damage spell at no additional cost.
- Lava Burst, the last talent, deals 20% increased damage if your Flame Shock is on the target, and Call of Flame adds 15% to both spells.
What to press first
Most important first. Not a rotation.
- 1
Cast Lightning Bolt as the default
Concussion raises its damage, and most of the tree's other talents name it too.
- 2
Add Earth Shock
Concussion raises Earth Shock by the same 5%, and Convection makes every Shock cheaper.
- 3
Spend Clearcasting on an expensive spell
Elemental Focus makes your next damage spell cost no Mana, whichever spell it is.
- 4
Keep a Fire Totem down in longer fights
Call of Flame adds 15% to the damage of your Fire Totems, and Elemental Fury covers the critical strikes of Searing and Magma Totems.
- 5
Put Flame Shock on before Lava Burst
Lava Burst deals 20% increased damage to a target with your Flame Shock on it.
- 6
Drop Earthbind Totem when enemies close in
Earthbound makes it immobilize nearby targets for 5 sec when cast. The build takes it late.
Talents that change how you play · 12
From Concussion at level 10 to Earthbound at 47.
The level is when our build first takes the talent.
- Levels 10–14
Your three main damage spells hit harder.
- Levels 15–19
The same spells cost less.
- Levels 20–24
Critical strikes with spells hit much harder.
- Level 25
Call of Thunder16-point milestone
Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning crit more often.
- Level 26
Now and then a damage spell costs no Mana.
- Levels 27–29
Fire Totems and Flame Shock are worth more.
- Levels 30–32
Lightning Bolt sometimes fires twice.
- Levels 33–34
More range: 6 yards on Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning at two points, so the first cast lands earlier.
- Levels 35–37
Faster casts.
- Level 40
Flame Shock gets a second job: it sets up Lava Burst.
- Levels 42–46
Shocks are ready more often.
- Level 47
Earthbind Totem roots what is near it.
Gear to look for
What the talents reward on items.
- Spell critical strike chance: Elemental Fury raises what a critical strike is worth by 100%.
- No Elemental talent in the build names a stat or a weapon type.
- Intellect gains a talent late, when Ancestral Knowledge from Enhancement starts at level 53.
Groups and dungeons
In a group: damage. New group talents before 3 dungeons.
In a group these talents support damage.
- Lightning Overload's second spell causes no threat, which takes a little of the risk out of a run of critical strikes.
- Earthbound gives Earthbind Totem a 5 sec root on everything nearby when it is cast.
New group talents by the time each dungeon opens
Strengths and trade-offs
2 strengths, 2 trade-offs.
Strengths
- It kills from range, and Elemental Reach makes that range longer.
- Free spells from two directions keep the Mana cost of a fight down.
Trade-offs
- Everything is a cast, and casts get pushed back when you are hit. Eye of the Storm, which reduces that pushback, does not start until level 38 in this order.
- Little for survival. Elemental Warding only reduces damage from Fire, Frost and Nature effects, and the build skips it.
Compare this build
Keep reading
Sources and what isn't confirmed
Not announced
- Item names and stat weights
- A leveling talent order from Blizzard
Sources
- Beta 1.60.1 talent data: every claim on this page is read from the Elemental talent text. Nothing here is a published guide or a tested rotation
Updated . Talent data: beta 1.60.1. Details can change in any later build or patch.