WoW Classic 39 Twink Elemental Shaman Guide

When it comes to raw DPS you can’t go wrong with a Shaman at all.  While they can’t ever reach the heights of ranged damage that the Hunter, or even the Warlock can dole out, Shaman can still contend.  Like the Balance Druid, the Elemental Shaman’s main contribution is versatility and utility.  While the focus here is to maximize your efficacy with magical damage, it’s important to remember that you have other spells and abilities too.  They can heal of course, but they can also remove diseases and poisons with ease, especially at this level.  They also have the Purge ability, which is in the Elemental Combat group of abilities and is incredibly useful in PvP.

Shamans in general are also just a lot of fun to play.  With all of their many and disparate abilities, they can do a lot and go a lot of places, which is important as you are leveling your Twink up.  With Ancestral Call, they get a free second Hearth, which will allow you to get around easier.  Shaman can also use a shield, which, coupled with their healing powers makes them extremely survivable.

If being a diverse, useful and varied caster that can as easily support an ally in need, as completely devastate a foe, than an Elemental Shaman is the Twink for you.

Contents

• Races:  Which races in the game can play as Shamans and which of them do the best in PvP?
• Professions:  Which professions are the best for Twinking and which benefit a Shaman best?
• Spells and Abilities:  What spells does a Shaman of level 39 possess, and how best can they be utilized in PvP?
• Talents:  Which talents are the best for an Elemental Shaman and which builds work better in PvP?
• Gear:  What is the BiS gear for an Elemental Shaman, and how can it be acquired?
• Enchantments:  Which enchantments work best for a DPS Caster Shaman?
• Buffs:  Of the available potions, scrolls and elixirs, which are they best for an elemental PvP Shaman?

Races

This is actually one of the easiest, simplest and totally agonizing aspects of making a Twink Shaman in WoW at just about any level.  There are four races that can play a Shaman and their all Horde races.  This makes the choice of which race to choose so much easier, because you’ve only got three choices, right?  Well here’s the kicker:  All three choices are absolute ringers for playing any kind of Shaman, though some of them fit an enhancement Shaman better.

• Orc:   Axe Specialization and Blood Fury are great, but aren’t going to be of help much as a Healer.   Hardiness, on the other hand, is one of the best anti CC abilities that can be had, because it’s always active and doesn’t suffer a cooldown, so you’ll never have that awful feeling of either forgetting to activate your anti CC ability, nor the feeling of having activated it, only to have someone use another one immediately upon your recovery.  Hardiness either works, or it does not and when it does, it often saves the day.
• Tauren:  Endurance is always a boon to Shaman’s in any role.   Another great ability for just about anyone engaged in PvP is  War Stomp, which is the ability that makes the Tauren still a choice for Twinking.  Nature Resistance counters the offensive abilities of not only Druids and other Shaman, but also the Stings and Poisons of Hunters and Rogues respectively.
• Trolls:   Regeneration is another one of those abilities that just about any class would welcome.  It is particularly helpful to Healers, because it allows you to focus on your allies and not worry about your own health as much.  The only other ability of any use to a Restoration Shaman is Berserking and if you’re wondering why such a voracious, melee sounding trait is good for a Healer, read the description carefully.  It increases your casting and attack speed.  This means the casting speed of your healing and support spells also.

Professions

There are about as many Professions to choose from as there are classes and knowing which ones are going to be good for your character can be difficult.  Fortunately your choice of first Profession is almost made for you, as Engineering is an absolute necessity for Twinking.  Engineering is also one of the most fun professions to endeavor upon, not only because of all of the interesting gadgets, bombs and doodads that will give you a serious edge in PvP, but also the neat pets and toys that can be made from it as well.

As important as Engineering is for those wishing to build a decent Twink of any level, your second choice of Profession is almost as important.  Which professions you’ll want for a second will mostly depend on your class.  Tailoring, for example is almost completely useless to a Shaman, because even though many of the BiS items on this list are cloth armor, most are not and none of them can be crafted with Tailoring.

The real beauty of Professions at this level is that they can all be maxed completely to Artisan.  This means, should you so choose, you can provide yourself with the absolute best that any Profession has to offer.

Here are each profession that would be useful to a level 39 Twink Elemental Shaman, in order of usefulness and a short explanation of why.

Engineering

Twinking, and really PvP in general, at any level, simply requires you to take this Profession.  The  Major Recombobulator counters the obnoxious effects of Polymorph and restores your health.  You can use the Alarm-O-Bot, to spot any stealthed enemy before they can get the drop on you. Bombs are a really important craftable for PvP, because of the stun duration they off and the Dark Iron Bomb, is the best bomb with the longest duration.  For some elemental protection, the Gyrofreeze Ice Reflector, the Hyper-Radiant Flame Reflector and the Ultra-Flash Shadow Reflector, (big surprise) reflect magical damage for a short period.  These items in particular can quickly devastate any casters targeting you.  If you want to ruin some other caster’s day,  Arcane Bomb, does a radius of mana absorption that it converts into partial damage to all targets.

Enchanting

If you’re trying to Twink on Hard Mode by not having any financial backing, then Enchanting is the second option for you.  Not only can you enchant all of your own gear as you level, making that process a lot easier, but you can convert all of your unwanted greens and blues into useful, and valuable materials to do so.  You can also provide yourself with all of the BiS enchantments, which was not possible for Twinking until this tier and is absolutely invaluable.

Alchemy

Alchemy can be both useful and profitable, as long as you can supply your Twink with all of the necessary reagents for it.  This can be a reciprocal relationship as well at this level, as you can max out Alchemy to Artisan as of level 35.  What this means is that your Main can provide all of the materials, while your Twink makes what they need and can use for their level, but can also make health potions and other consumables that your Main can use as well.  Being able to provide your Twink with all of the many potions and elixirs that they can use at this level is also a huge relief, as they can be quite expensive to simply purchase.

Other Professions

At this bracket and level, any of the other professions would be a complete waste of time.  This is due mostly to the fact that Professions can be maxed out and none of the other professions offer the distinct advantage that Engineering, Enchanting and Alchemy do at the Artisan tier.

Another use for for Alchemy, Leatherworking and Tailoring is to sell the various high level components and transmutes that only these Professions can craft.  Alchemists can transmute metals with recipes like Recipe: Transmute Arcanite, Leatherworkers can craft the Cured Rugged Hide and Tailors can use Pattern: Mooncloth to purify Felcloth.

Secondary Skills

• Cooking:  The Well Fed Bonus stacks with other stamina bonuses and is an advantage that you will not want to miss out on.  The Well Fed bonus offered by the Spider Sausage recipe is the best to be has at level 39.  It can be purchased from just about any cooking trainer to boot, so this one’s a touch easier.
• First Aid:  You might be wondering why you’d need first aid, since you can already cast healing spells, but the Heavy Runecloth Bandage can heal most characters at this level to almost full health.  Not to mention that using a bandage for healing, especially on yourself, is a massive mana saver.  If you want to take advantage of First Aid, pick up the books Expert First Aid – Under Wraps, Manual: Heavy Silk Bandage and Manual: Mageweave Bandage and max it out.  You’ll have to go to a trainer for Apprentice and Journeyman training, but after that and the manuals, all you need is cloth.
• Fishing:  At this bracket, fishing is pretty much a way to mitigate the cost of leveling cooking and to supplement your income.  What’s good about it is that it’s easy, it doesn’t require very many, or expensive tools and most of the settlements that are near water, have a fishing trainer.  The only real drawback is having to carry your fishing pole around, which is a small price to pay to be able to catch a fish that can turn you into a pirate.

Spells and Abilities

The Shaman has quite a few potent and unique abilities that give them an edge in and out of PvP.  They have a solution to almost every problem and can often solve problems for the whole group that other classes can only do for themselves.  The three groups that Shaman abilities and spells break down into are:  Elemental Combat (Ranged DPS), Enhancement (Melee, Support and Tanking) and Restoration (Healing).

Here’s a short list of each of the groups and the spells within them that are of note to an Elemental Shaman.

• Elemental
• Enhancement
• Restoration

Talents

An Elemental DPS Shaman is going to draw all of their talents from the Elemental Talent Tree.  This is a role that focuses on lowering Mana cost and maximizing the damage of all elemental spells.  Here’s a look at the Elemental Talent progressions for you to get a sense of the role build.

You might also like to try your hand at creating your own build?  If so, check out the Talent Calculator and see what you can come up with.

BiS Gear

Getting your BiS gear is pretty much the biggest part of building one.  It’s also the biggest pain in the butt, ass the gear is often difficult to acquire, but that’s the point of playing a Twink, right?  If you wanted something easy, you’d never leave the starting zones.  The following is a list of all of your BiS gear and where you can get it.  Good luck!

• Head
  • What: Green Lens(of Nature’s Wrath) / Whitemane’s Chapeau / Goblin Rocket Helmet/ Gnomish Mind Control Cap
  • Where: Buzzek Bracketswing – Engineering Trainer / High Inquisitor Whitemane, Scarlet Monastery 33% / Goblin Rocket Helmet – Engineering / Gnomish Mind Control Cap – Engineering
• Neck
  • What: Necklace of Calisea / Triune Amulet
  • Where: Narillasanz, Alterac Mountain 0.0167% / High Inquisitor Whitemane, Scarlet Monastery 33%
• Shoulders
  • What: Wild Leather Shoulders (of Nature’s Wrath/the Eagle)
  • Where: Pattern: Wild Leather Shoulders
• Cloak
  • What: Cabalist Cloak (of the Eagle Nature’s Wrath)
  • Where: Razortalon, The Hinterlands 0.641%
• Chest
  • What: Robe of the Magi / Robes of the Lich
  • Where: Burgle Eye, Duskwallow Marsh 0.0056% / Amnennar the Coldbringer, Razorfen Downs 20%
• Bracers
  • What: Bloodband Bracers / Tracker’s Wristguards (of the Eagle / Nature’s Wrath)
  • Where: Quests – The Captain’s Chest (Alliance) and The Captain’s Chest (Horde) / Narillasanz, Alterac Mountains 0.641%
• Gloves
  • What: Arachnid Gloves (of the Eagle) / Tracker’s Gloves (of the Eagle)
  • Where: Tuten’kash, Razorfen Downs 33% / Rumbler, The Badlands 0.641%
• Belt
  • What: Deathmage Sash / Belt of Corruption
  • Where: Mordresh Fire Eye, Razorfen Downs 33% / Quest – Zanzil’s Secret
• Legs
  • What:  Red Mageweave Pants
  • Where:  Pattern: Red Mageweave Pants
• Boots
  • What:  Tracker’s Boots (of Nature’s Wrath / the Eagle) / Gnomish Rocket Boots / Goblin Rocket Boots
  • Where: Razortalon, The Hinterlands 0.641% / Gnomish Rocket Boots – Engineering /Goblin Rocket Boots – Engineering
• Ring One
  • What: Advisor’s Ring
  • Where: Sold By – Kelm Hargunth
• Ring Two
  • What: Charged Gear (of the Eagle/Concentration) / Iridium Circle (of the Eagle)
  • Where: Mekgineer Thermaplugg, Gnomeregan 30% / Old Grizzlegut, Feralas 1.1236%
• Trinket One
  • What: Arena Grand Master / Arena Master/ Mark of the Chosen
  • Where: Quest – Arena Grandmaster / Arena Treasure Chest 100% / Quest – The Pariah’s Instructions
• Trinket Two
  • What: Tidal Charm /  Rune of Perfection / Nifty Stopwatch
  • Where: Prince Nazjak, Arathi Highlands 45% / Sold By – Illiyana Moonblaze and Kelm Hargunth (Requires Honored with WSG) /Quest – This Is Going to Be Hard
• Main Hand
  • What: Hypnotic Blade
  • Where: Arcanist Doan, Scarlet Monastery 25%
• Shield
  • What:  The Green Tower/ Steadfast Buckler (of the Eagle) / Aegis of the Scarlet Commander
  • Where:  Crushridge Warmonger, Alterac Mountains 0.0013%/ Snarler, Feralas 1.124% / Scarlet Commander Mograine, Scarlet Monastery 25%
• Two Handed
  • What: Staff of Jordan
  • Where: Colonel Kurzen, Stranglethorn Vale 0.0013%

Enchantments

Sometimes this aspect of the gear can be even more important than the gear itself for Twinking.  The Spellpower  weapon enchant  for instance offers 30 points of damage to any magic damage you do, which is more than any single piece of gear can provide at this level.  This is why you’re going to want to make sure you get all of these that you can, because they only make whatever gear you are wearing, more powerful.

• Head: Arcanum of Focus / Lesser Arcanum of Constitution
• Shoulders:  Power of the Scourge
• Cloak: Formula: Enchant Cloak – Greater Resistance/Formula: Enchant Cloak – Superior Defense
• Chest: Enchant Chest – Greater Stats / Enchant Chest – Major Health
• Bracers:  Enchant Bracer – Superior Stamina
• Gloves:  Formula: Enchant Gloves – Frost Power / Formula: Enchant Gloves – Healing Power / Rugged Armor Kit(applicable by higher level characters only) -or- Thick Armor Kit (Can use at level 30 and above)
• Legs: Lesser Arcanum of Voracity (Intellect)
• Boots: Enchant Boots – Minor Speed
• Weapons: Enchant Weapon – Spell Power

Buffs

This aspect of Twinking might be the most tedious, but it is also very beneficial to your performance.  There are quite a few extremely useful consumables in the game and while they might be expensive to acquire, or even create, they are worth it.  Also, none of them are particularly hard to come by as their usually available on the AH.  Make sure you get as many of these useful items as you can.

Elixirs

Don’t forget that you can’t use more than one Guardian and one Battle Elixir at the same time.

Battle Elixirs

• Arcane Elixir: If the goal is to increase your magic damage, this elixir does it in spades.

Guardian Elixirs

• Elixir of Greater Intellect: Probably the best of these for a DPS Caster, as it provides more intellect than even the Mages fabled spell buff
• Elixir of Fortitude:  Even a leather wearing, axe wielding, lightning throwing Shaman could use a little more health.
• Mighty Troll’s Blood Potion:  Trolls benefit the most from this one, as it nearly doubles their regeneration capacity.
• Elixir of Greater Defense:  This one is really good if you think you might be in the thick of it.
• Gift of Arthas: This one is either going to be hard to get, or expensive.  Either way, it’s a good one for when you think you’ll be attacked a bunch, but don’t have a Defense Elixir.

Potions

• Lesser Stoneshield Potion: Pop this one when you get surrounded.  It gives you an additional 1000 armor.  The catch?  There isn’t one.  It lasts for 90 seconds.  This is one of the best potions in the entire game.
• Invisibility Potion: Now they see you, now they don’t.
• Swiftness Potion: In the Battlegrounds, where speed can be the difference between victory and defeat, this potion can make the difference.
• Magic Resistance Potion:   As one of the only casters in the game that can deal more than two types of magical damage, this potion is often the bane of your existence.  In your hands though, it makes all of those other casters suddenly rethinking their life choices.
• Dreamless Sleep Potion:  Makes you sleep for 12 seconds and restores 1200 mana and health.  Kind of an awesome potion, actually.
• Wildvine Potion:  The Wildvine potion is one that you’ll want to try maybe before a full health restore.  If it works, you saved the mana, if it doesn’t, you can still heal with spells or what not.

• Superior Healing Potion:  Did you know that Blizzard is the sole reason that all health potions are now red?  Before Diablo, they were mostly green and like, sky blue.  It’s true.
• Superior Healing Draught:  These are really good for the BGs, but not as good as the regular health potions.  They’re also orange, to differentiate between the ‘regular’ healing potions too.

• Greater Mana Potion: The Mage’s good old standby.  If it’s good enough for Khadgar, it’s good enough for you.

Scrolls

• Scroll of Protection III: A temporary, but useful bonus that is often good to use when an elixir wears off.
• Scroll of Intellect III: Read a scroll and it makes you smarter…huh, isn’t that just how reading works?
• Scroll of Spirit III: It’s so strange, but spirit buffs are hard to come by in WoW, which is why these scrolls are so useful.
• Scroll of Stamina III: These are fantastic for when there isn’t a Priest around.  It doesn’t give as much Stamina, but it’s good.

Team Buffs

Shamans like the buffs that all classes can provide, even Paladins, although that’s never going to happen in Classic.   Arcane Intellect increases intellect, which increases your critical strike with spells and mana pool.  Power Word: Fortitude increases your Stamina, which in turn increases your health.  If there is a Druid around, make sure you get Mark of the Wild, as it is probably the most beneficial buff for a Shaman, but also because Druids and Shamans working together is literally all of the forces of the natural world, which is awesome.

Other Consumables

• Rumsey Rum Black Label: What does the Red and Blue labels taste like?  Eh, they probably don’t give as much Stamina as this does anyway.
• Dragonbreath Chili: You’re already shooting fire out of your hands, might as well breath some too!
• Spider Sausage:  Crunchy and a little tangy.  These nasty sounding links will give you that Well Fed delicious you crave.

And so, you have all of the knowledge you need to create the perfect level 39 Twink Elemental Shaman.  Go now, into the battlegrounds of Azeroth to summon fire, frost and lightning!  They called down the Thunder, so it’s time for you to make em’ reap the Whirlwind!   Have fun!