My best friend, Crops (among other *crops named characters) of Alleria mentioned to me today at work that he was leveling a new Enhancement Shaman. For PvP no less. Yes, I cringed. But, I also remembered all the nice things we are getting come Wrath, so it might not be too bad for him So I was thinking, maybe I should write a little post on a talent build order while leveling. This is only one recommendation, and there is bound to be somebody out there wanting to pick it apart. Hey, go for it!

I was trying to go for a build that would support the solo shaman until around level 61/62 when you will probably start grouping for some instances in Outlands. From then on it tries to incorporate some group enhancements as well.

Also, leveling as Enhancement is not the only way to level a shaman. However, it is generally touted as the fastest for leveling. Elemental leveling can be very fun, and leveling as Resto is great for the masochists out there! *grin*

Recommended build order

Shield Specialization (10-14)
You may be raising an eyebrow if you are an experienced Shaman. Remember, you are leveling and typically have crap gear. Oh, and using a two hander as Shaman w/o Windfury (level 30) is not something I would recommend (and never enjoyed). However, if you are intent on going the two-hand route out the gate at level 10, by all means swap these five points over to Ancestral Knowledge. Once you are comfortable using two-handers (or dual wielding), feel free to respec and dump these points into Ancestral Knowledge.

Improved Lightning Shield (15-17)
I tend to prefer going Thundering Strikes first, but it doesn’t open anything up early by getting that first. You should be keeping Lightning Shield up at all times anyhow, and more damage (almost) every other time the baddies hit you is a nice plus.

Thundering Strikes (18-22)
More crit is usually a good thing. ME BASH YEW GUD!

Shamanistic Focus (23)
60% reduced mana cost on your shocks (after a critical strike)? Yes please!

Improved Ghost Wolf (24)
As a Shaman, there will be times things get a little hairy. An extra second off Ghost Wolf might just save your backside.

Flurry (25-29)
This is one of your key talents. Attacking faster means baddies die faster!

Spirit Weapons (30)
Reduce your threat generated from melee attacks (great for groups!) and allows you to parry now. Very good talent.

Elemental Weapons (31-33)
Gives Windfury back some of the potency it lost way back when Blizzard nerfed it. It still isn’t as awesome as it once was.

Improved Ghost Wolf (34)
Go back and get the second point in this talent. Now Ghost Wolf is an instant cast. Very nice for getting away from trouble.

Weapon Mastery (35-39)
More damage! This one is really a no-brainer.

Stormstrike (40)
You get an extra attack every 12 seconds. You are going to be using this ability quite a bit. In fact, it’s the cornerstone of most Enhancement dps rotations, even while leveling. I recommend getting this before Dual Wield, as Dual Wield will give you much better results with Stormstrike.

Dual Wield (41)
Now you can use two weapons! You are going to miss. A lot. Don’t be disheartened though - you may have to stick with a two hander for a few more levels.

Dual Wield Specialization (42-44)
You should notice that you don’t miss as frequently (but still a lot).

Tidal Focus (45-49) Restoration tree
Wait, what? Restoration tree? Yes, Restoration tree. Look down and to the left slightly. See that talent Nature’s Guidance? Yeah that one. You want it. We are working on getting there.

Totemic Focus (50-54) Restoration tree
We have to dump 5 more talent points into this tree, and this one makes plenty of sense. You are dropping totems right?!

Nature’s Guidance (55-57) Restoration tree
This is the one we were going for. Remember, by dual wielding you incur a 19% base miss chance instead of the normal 5%. By taking this (and Dual Wield Specialization) you are now at a 10% base miss chance. This is the best you will be able to get through talents alone. After level 60, you will start getting items with +hit from quests. They will help quite a bit! That’s all for the restoration tree for now.

Unleashed Rage (58-62)
You are going to (possibly) be doing quite a bit more grouping in Outlands as you work on reputations and such. This is a very nice buff, not just for yourself but for your group-mates as well.

Shamanistic Rage (63)
The 41 point talent of the Enhancement tree. It’s actually quite nice. You can regen almost all your mana every 2 minutes. Beats the hell out of drinking (water)!

Totemic Mastery (64) Restoration tree
Totems have a very short radius of effect. This will extend it by 10 yards. Believe me, it helps quite a bit in groups.

Mental Quickness (65-67)
This is a decent talent. Your attack power should be rising quite a bit at this point and you can make pretty good use of this talent. If you like, dump one of these points into Improved Weapon Totems so that can be maxed along with Enhancing Totems.

Enhancing Totems (68-69)
You will probably be grouping more and more as you near 70. Things to help your groupmates is always a good thing.

Improved Weapon Totems (70)
I picked this one to only dump one point into, because you will have more classes getting an advantage from Enhanceing Totems.