WoW: ForeverCGN planner & guide
Shaman class art

Class guide

Shaman

Totems, shocks and chain heals. Dwarves on the Alliance side and Windshaper Skyborne on the Horde side join the roster.

Blizzard Confirmed Beta BuildCGN checked October 7, 2026

Races that can play Shaman

Horde

  • Orc
  • Tauren
  • Troll
  • Skyborne (Windshaper)

Alliance

  • Dwarf New combination

Skyborne: Windshaper (Horde). Skyborne guide →

CGN does not rank races for this class yet. Every race has two active and two passive racials in Forever, and Blizzard reworked most of them.

Full race and class table →

Blizzard Confirmed Blizzard, Sep 22, 2026 ↗ · Blizzard, Sep 22, 2026 ↗

What changed from Classic

Totems are quicker and easier to run in combat: a 1-second global cooldown, 5-minute buff totems, a tracker, pre-set totem sets and a way to move them all. Imbues last an hour and stack with stones and oils. Elemental gains Lava Burst, Enhancement gains Maelstrom Weapon, and Restoration gains Water Shield and Riptide. Elemental Mastery was removed.

Baseline changes

  • Every totem has a 1.0-second global cooldown (was 1.5). Persistent buff totems last 5 minutes (was 2). A new tracker shows active totems and time left, and a right-click dismisses one. Resistance Totems cover the whole raid group.
  • Weapon imbues (Frostbrand, Flametongue, Rockbiter, Windfury) last 60 minutes instead of 5 and can run alongside Sharpening Stones, Weight Stones and Wizard Oil.
  • Windfury Totem and Flametongue Totem are party-wide buffs rather than weapon enchantments. A Shaman cannot benefit from either while using the matching weapon imbue, and a party cannot have Windfury Totem together with Grace of Air or Flametongue Totem. Fire Nova Totem became a Fire Nova spell that erupts at your current Fire Totem. Tranquil Air Totem is listed as removed.
  • Level 20: Call of the Elements unlocks the totem bar, so you can pre-set one totem per element and drop all four with a 3-second cast, and Totemic Recall destroys your totems and returns 25% of their Mana. Level 22: Totemic Projection moves all your totems to a spot within 30 yards. Level 30: Call of the Spirits (a second set). Level 40: Call of the Ancestors (a third set).
  • Lightning Bolt (rank 4 and up) casts in 2.5 seconds instead of 3, and Chain Lightning in 2 instead of 2.5, with their spell power coefficients lowered to match.

By talent tree

Elemental Combat

  • Lava Burst (new, 31 points): a 2.5-second Fire cast on a 10-second cooldown that does 20% more to a target with your Flame Shock. Lightning Overload (new, row 5) can cast a free second copy of Lightning Bolt or Chain Lightning for half damage and no threat. Earthbound (new, 21 points) makes Earthbind Totem root nearby targets for 5 seconds.
  • Elemental Alacrity (formerly Lightning Mastery) moved from row 6 to row 3 and needs only 3 points. It now shortens Lava Burst's cast too, while cutting Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning by only 0.5 seconds. Call of Thunder is the 16-point talent (+3% crit). Eye of the Storm now resists spell pushback while casting Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning and Lava Burst.
  • Elemental Mastery was removed because Blizzard could not raise Elemental's PvE damage while keeping it. Elemental Devastation moved to row 2 to tempt Enhancement Shaman into the tree.

Enhancement

  • Maelstrom Weapon (new, row 6): melee hits can stack charges that shorten Lightning Bolt's cast, and it becomes instant at enough ranks and charges. Rage of the Farseer (new, 31 points): 30% more attack speed for 25 seconds on a 3-minute cooldown, a personal take on Heroism and Bloodlust.
  • Stormstrike moved to the 16-point slot with an 8-second cooldown (was 20) and now boosts your next Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning or Earth Shock by 20%. Improved Stormstrike (new) can start Mana regeneration while casting and can reset Stormstrike when you dodge or parry.
  • New: Mental Dexterity (Intellect to attack power), Mental Quickness (Intellect to spell power and healing) and Shamanistic Focus (cheaper Shocks and Lightning Shield). Flurry gives 5% attack speed per point, 25% at most (was 30%), and needs Mental Dexterity. Spirit Weapons (formerly Parry) lowers threat without Rockbiter and raises it with Rockbiter.

Restoration

  • Water Shield (new, 11 points): a shield with 3 globes that give Mana when you are hit or your healing crits. Riptide (new, 31 points, needs Healing Way): an instant heal plus a 15-second heal over time that makes Chain Heal 25% stronger on that target, on a 6-second cooldown.
  • Mana Tide Totem is the 16-point talent. Healing Way is redesigned as a percentage bonus to Healing Wave. Healing Focus needs 3 points (was 5). Mindfulness (new) lets you regenerate Spirit while casting, and Natural Grace now lowers all spell threat.
  • Nature's Guidance was removed. Totemic Focus also discounts Totemic Projection and the Call spells, Improved Reincarnation adds maximum health, and Restorative Totems doubles the Healing Stream Totem bonus.

Blizzard Confirmed Blizzard, Oct 7, 2026 ↗ (summarized in CGN's words; the Blizzard article has the full list)

Blizzard says class abilities and talents may keep changing during the beta. Where a later beta build changed something, the beta section below has it.

How talents work: Talents start at level 10 and keep Classic's rows. One-point milestone talents sit at 11, 21 and 31 points spent, and a new 16-point milestone was added. Some talents are unchanged from patch 1.12, some are changed, and some class buffs that used to be talents (Blessing of Kings, Improved Mark of the Wild, Divine Spirit) are now baseline. To respec, including Legacy talents, visit a class trainer in a major city. Dual Specialization arrives at level 40.

Where Blizzard's own posts differ.

  • Blizzard's September 24 beta notes say Tranquil Air, Windfury and Grace of Air Totems no longer stack. The October 7 deep dive lists Tranquil Air Totem as removed. CGN reports both and does not pick one; check it in the beta.
  • The deep dive says a beta bug stops Totemic Recall returning Mana. Blizzard's October 1 notes say that was fixed.
  • The article spells two talents 'Lighting Overload' and 'Improved Stomstrike'. The client data has Lightning Overload and Improved Stormstrike, which CGN uses.

Talent trees and milestone talents

Each tree has one-point milestone talents. This table is built from the same beta talent data as the planner (October 1 build, with Blizzard's October 8 talent changes). A level 30 character has 21 talent points (one per level from 10 to 30), so the 31-point talents are out of reach at the beta cap. The Legacy perk Talented can unlock talent points up to five levels earlier.

Shaman milestone talents
Tree11 points16 points (new)21 points31 points
ElementalElemental FocusCall of ThunderEarthboundLava BurstOut of reach at level 30
EnhancementShamanistic FocusStormstrikeSpirit WeaponsRage of the FarseerOut of reach at level 30
RestorationWater ShieldMana Tide TotemNature's SwiftnessRiptideOut of reach at level 30

Open Shaman in the planner

Beta Data Blizzard, Oct 1, 2026 ↗ · Blizzard, Oct 8, 2026 ↗ (talent data is Icy Veins' calculator data for the October 1 build, with the October 8 talent changes from Blizzard's notes)

Tier placement at level 30

These are Wowhead's October 6 level-30 beta placements, verified on October 7 and shown on CGN's tier lists. Wowhead groups several DPS classes at this level bracket, and CGN expands those class placements across the applicable DPS trees. Level-30 Beta Rankings: not level-60 launch or raid rankings.

Shaman tier placement at level 30
SpecDPSHealerTank
Elemental ShamanADPS listNot rankedNot ranked
Enhancement ShamanSDPS listNot rankedNot ranked
Restoration ShamanNot rankedAHealer listNot ranked

Community Observation Wowhead, Oct 6, 2026 ↗ · Wowhead, Oct 6, 2026 ↗ · Wowhead, Oct 6, 2026 ↗ (Wowhead's terms bar automated reading; see the tier lists page for how CGN handles that)

Level-30 builds

CGN publishes one 21-point level-30 build per role-spec, each decoded from Icy Veins' level-30 guides and validated against the planner data.

Shaman level-30 builds
SpecRoleSummary
Elemental ShamanDPSConcussion, Call of Flame and Elemental Alacrity for damage; Call of Thunder and Eye of the Storm at 30.See the build →
Enhancement ShamanDPSStormstrike, Flurry and Improved Stormstrike all fit at 30; mana is the limit.See the build →
Restoration ShamanHealerFaster Healing Wave, mana from Mindfulness and Water Shield, and Mana Tide Totem and Nature's Swiftness at 30.See the build →

A build here is not "best in slot": CGN has not validated a full item pool at the beta cap.

Beta changes so far

October 8 build (Oct 8, 2026)

  • Flametongue Totem uses a shapeshifted target's attack speed instead of their weapon's.
  • Lightning Bolt ranks 1 to 5 were retuned so each new rank is an upgrade and the ranks grow more evenly.
  • Elemental: Fire Nova no longer triggers and immediately uses up Elemental Focus.
  • Restoration: Water Shield's tooltip shows the Mana it restores and no longer claims a 15-second cooldown. Mana Tide Totem shows its visual again.

October 1 build (updated October 2) (Oct 1, 2026)

  • Ghost Wolf is easier to see in well-lit areas.
  • Disease Cleansing Totem now lasts 5 minutes as intended.
  • Totemic Recall now restores Mana as intended.

September 24 build (Sep 24, 2026)

  • Lightning Bolt ranks 3 and 4 hit harder so they are always upgrades over earlier ranks despite their cast times.
  • Totems: Windfury and Flametongue buffs show their proper names. Flametongue Totem has no duration and is replaced instantly when you place another totem, cannot be stacked by recasting, and does not stack with Flametongue Weapon or Windfury Totem. Tranquil Air, Windfury and Grace of Air Totems no longer stack even from different Shaman in one group.
  • Elemental: Elemental Fury (row 3) and Elemental Alacrity (row 6) swapped places. Lava Burst ranks 1 and 2 deal about 10% more base damage than the Lightning Bolt rank learned around the same level. Blizzard's note: Early crit damage is less exciting for the core leveling spec, so a better Elemental talent moves earlier. It affects Enhancement's spell crit damage, and Blizzard says it will use the room to add more to Enhancement later.
  • Enhancement: Rage of the Far Seer (row 7) no longer adds spell casting speed. Blizzard's note: The speed was not needed for the ability's core function.
  • Restoration: Riptide can land critical hits.

Every change, by build → · Known issues →

Beta Build Blizzard, Sep 24, 2026 ↗ · Blizzard, Oct 1, 2026 ↗ · Blizzard, Oct 8, 2026 ↗

Open or promised beta issues that mention Shaman

  • The Cooldown Manager is still a work in progress, and how complete it is varies by class. Banes and curses do not track after you drop and re-acquire a target, Healthstone, Arcane Blast, pet cooldowns and item enhancements (Windfury, rogue poisons) cannot be tracked, a Mana gem needs another spell cast to start tracking, and Priest tracks all spells by default.

What we don't know yet

  • How Shaman compares at level 60: the beta cap is 30 and the 31-point talents cannot be tested yet.
  • Final abilities and talents, which Blizzard says may change during the beta.

Sources on this page

Labels: Blizzard Confirmed Beta Build Beta Data Developer Interview Press Report Community Observation Survey / Concept Only Not Yet Known