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WoW Shaman Leveling Guide - Cataclysm Leveling & Spec

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The Cataclysm has finally arrived, the long excepted third expansion of WoW. Like with every other expansion that you have previously experienced, the level cap is raised, there are new quests, zones, instances and naturally new spells and talents to be gained for your character. If you were playing a shaman in Wrath of the Lich king or you have just decided to level one up, you will be facing some major changes to your class.

Leveling has never been more interesting and the monsters have never been harder to kill, leveling in all previous expansions has been much easier and monsters have become much harder to kill. If you’re planning on leveling your Shaman in Cataclysm the question that needs to be answered is: What is the best way to level up as a shaman?  Ground rule is the same for any class - in order to maximize your leveling speed you need to maximize your damage output while minimizing your downtime.

Shamans have three talent trees; Restoration, Enhancement and Elemental. The restoration spec is a healing spec. When using this for leveling your damage output will be far too low when compared with the other two specs, especially considering how you are still able to heal yourself very well as elemental or enhancement shaman.

On a side-note, you will have an easier time to find groups for dungeons as a restoration Shaman and leveling through playing Dungeons constantly is also a great option.

Elemental vs. Enhancement
Both of these specs are viable for leveling, your damage output and downtime are quite the same for both. However, the elemental and enhancement builds are both quite in its core.

Enhancement is a melee dps that is capable of burst damage combined with very short cooldowns, crowd control and survivability. Furthermore, the enhancement spec is highly recommended at starting levels where it clearly takes the cake over elemental. Your leveling spec for enhancement should look something like this: 

http://www.wowhead.com/talent#hhr0hZfcG0sMhRGo

Itemization you want to go for here while leveling is agility, critical strike rating, and haste rating while still maintaining some hit just to make sure you will not miss targets of your own level. Generally you will go for the same armor the hunters do however you will use two one handed weapons. If these are not available go for two hand weapons but keep in mind that this is an inferior alternative.

Elemental is a ranged / caster dps spec, which is also capable of doing loads of damage, usually you will be able to take down targets before they can even reach you but that will depend on your gear and experience as an elemental shaman. Good mana regeneration that is built into this tree will allow you to level without much downtime.

During the first 10-15 levels elemental spec might seem like a good idea for leveling but until you level up to level 60-65 the elemental class will be behind enhancement, this doesn’t mean that it’s not a viable option for leveling. Your elemental leveling build should be something like this:

http://www.wowhead.com/talent#hGGkGRfkzGobhM 

There are few variations of this spec that you can use but they all have the same basic talent points.

To summarize what we have said so far. Up to level 15-20 (which you will go through very fast) elemental will seem like a good idea however, up to level 65 enhancement is clearly a better choice, after that both are roughly the same. However, the final decision should be made on the fact which one you generally prefer a caster or melee, as the final goal is always to have fun while leveling, isn’t it?

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