Mooeycritmas' 29 Shaman Deep Dive Guide (Phase 6 & Burning Crusade Ready)

Smiffy

world BIS 39 warlock retail
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Hi All -I'm Mooeycritmas and this is my Level 29 Shaman Deep Dive Guide.
A little bit about me, I've been twinking since Vanilla World of Warcraft, and have twinked in every bracket except 59.
I'm an Officer in <Pal> which is one of the most successful and competitive 29 Horde Guilds in the bracket, and the largest 29 guild on Whitemane.
This guide is a passion project of mine, and I hope it helps you - and please let me know if I've over sighted something or if you have feedback.
Have fun!​


Is Shaman for you?
Shaman is one of the best, if not the best universal class in the bracket.
The ability to heal, damage, flag carry, crowd control and disrupt your enemy provides you with one of the biggest tool kits in the 29 bracket.
However, with that it's also one of the highest skill-capped classes in the bracket - and just because it's one of the most universal, it doesn't mean it's the best at each respective role compared to other classes.
You'll won't put out as much damage a rogue,
You won't be able to flag carry as effectively as a druid or a frost mage,
You might not have the best crowd control,
but partnering all the above with one of the most powerful healing kits in the bracket makes you the ultimate 'Peel & Heal' master and gives you the capabilities to win any fight.
Shaman Tier:
Restoration > Enhancement > Elemental
Speaking from a lot of premade and pug experience, you're going to be most powerful as restoration - your main role is healing teammates, providing assistance through totems, interrupting spells (rank 1 Earthshock) & creating / closing distance with Frost Shock.
Enhancement is fun, but you'll find that without Windfury, you're relying on your white attacks too much, which is hindered even further by a lack of +hit rating in the bracket.
Elemental is a bit handicapped in this bracket due to no chain lightning nor mastery, meaning that you're only using Lightning Bolt and Shocks.
I hope this helps qualify your choice.. now onto below!



1. Racial Talents & Base Stat Overview​

​
    • Base Stats (Naked / Unbuffed) at level 29 - 676 Health, 981 Mana, 50 Strength, 28 Agility, 51 Stamina, 42 Intellect, 54 Spirit​
      • Tauren has the highest base Health & Strength, and shares highest Stamina with Orc​
      • Tauren has the lowest base Mana, Agility and Intellect​
    • Base Stats (Naked / Unbuffed) at level 29 - 644 Health, 1011 Mana, 48 Strength, 30 Agility, 51 Stamina, 44 Intellect, 55 Spirit​
      • Orc has the highest base Mana, Intellect and Spirit, and shares highest Stamina with Tauren​
    • Base Stats (Naked / Unbuffed) at level 29 - 634 Health, 996 Mana, 46 Strength, 35 Agility, 50 Stamina, 43 Intellect, 53 Spirit​
      • Troll has the highest base Agility​
      • Troll has the lowest base Health, Strength, Stamina and Spirit​


2. What Race is optimal for each respective Specialization?
​
  • Restoration - Tauren > Orc > Troll​
    • Despite the base stats above proving more favorable for Orcs, the Tauren trait Endurance provides roughly an extra 100 Health when comparing apples-for-apples best-in-slot gear, with only a 16 mana point loss.​
    • War Stomp is extremely useful - if used correctly it can allow you to get a Lesser Healing Wave off during the duration of the stun if/for when you have a lot of melee on you - it can also allow you to get some distance from enemy melee characters by combining it with spells such as Earthbind Totem, Frost Shock & Cure Poison​
    • Nature Resistance is a helpful added bonus of nature resistance in a bracket that is heavily populated by rogues and hunters - which helps your chances of resisting nature abilities such as Crippling Poison and Serpent Sting​
    • Hardiness is nice, however there aren't a lot of stuns in the 29 bracket compared to higher brackets (Hammer Of Justice, Cheap Shot & Charge being the only primary non talented / specced stuns Horde faces). Worth noting though, it does help resist the stun from Iron Grenade, Blackout and Improved Concussive Shot.​
  • Enhancement - Orc > Troll > Tauren​
    • Axe Specialization is a nice added boost of hit and crit rating for those using Corpsemaker as the 29 bracket has very little items or talents that provide hit or crit rating​
    • Blood Fury adds a nice amount of burst at the expense of weakened incoming healing effects.​
  • Elemental - Troll > Tauren = Orc​
    • Berserking is the only racial that compliments Elemental more than any other specialisation - providing up to a 30% increase in cast speed​
Note: Female is the more preferred gender for every race / spec due to being able to do certain terrain jumps within Warsong Gulch.


​
3. Gear & Enchant List​
Whilst a lot of these lists are subjective, I'll be listing quite a few pieces of gear for each slot - whilst underlining those I believe are above par to other pieces in the same slot.
​
Restoration;​


Elemental;​

Enhancement;​



4. Talents

Restoration;

Deep Resto / Heal Focused
Main focusing is healing, with Healing Focus providing added stability to clearcast in fights where you'd expect to take damage - at the expense of of mobility due to lack of Improved Ghostwolf

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Resto w/ Imp. Ghost Wolf
Improved Ghostwolf adds more mobility and utility, allowing you to quickly get to targets or to intermittently flag carry whilst still providing healing utility.
The lack of Healing Focus means you really have to be careful of your positioning to have 100% thoroughput

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Elemental;

Improved Shock
Elemental Spec with a focus in Reverberation, decreasing your shock cooldowns - a more damage-heavy spec.

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Eye of the Storm
A spec focused with a bit more utility, with Eye of the Storm allowing you to clear-cast damage and healing spells with no pushback after being the victim of a critical hit.

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Enhancement;

Deep Enhance
The more weapon-damage focused spec, with Flurry giving you a 30% increase in attack speed for your next 3 swings after dealing a critical strike.
With the gear outlined above in the enhancement spec, you're already sitting at roughly 17% crit.

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Enhance Hybrid
5 Points in Concussion helps provide extra damage at range, whilst still allowing you to equip and deal damage with your Corpsemaker

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5. Professions

The level 29 bracket doesn't have many options for useful professions other than Engineering, First Aid & Fishing due to level restrictions not allowing us to master professions high enough to be able to use worthy items.
The three above linked professions I think are non-negotiable must have professions, for reasons that they provide consumables and/or items that are powerful.
​
Engineering (225):
Below are a small list of items that require engineering that give you that extra edge;​
First Aid (225)​

Fishing (225):​
  • Nat Pagle's Extreme Anglin' Boots
    • These boots aren't worth using in place of the boots previously mentioned, but worth getting for when / if The Burning Crusade expansion comes out.
6. Consumables & Buffs
There are plenty of consumables and buffs obtainable to make your twink more powerful, from world buffs to profession-specific elixirs
Listed below are the best buffs and consumables available for shaman
​
Buffs:
You can also get higher level Priests, Druids and Mages to buff you before you enter Battlegrounds as their buffs are more powerful than that of level 29'ers.
​
Consumables:

7. Future Patch / Expansion Preperation​
The list below will contain items that are relevant to Shaman that come out in Phase 6, along with items that are worth getting now to future-proof yourself for when / if Burning Crusade comes out - as some of these items can be powerfully enchanted.

​
Phase 6

​
  • Abomination Skin Leggings
    • These legs are part of the Naxxramas Invasion event, and drop from Sever, a boss that spawns within Shadowfang Keep during this limited-time event.
    • These items drop from Sapphiron in Naxxramas, and can be applied via trading your Bind on Equip (non soulbound) shoulders to a level 60, having them put them on your shoulders, and trading back (note: this can not be done on Bind on Pickup items, nor through the trade window - it also does not make the enchanted item Soulbound)​
    • This ring can drop with many different Suffix's (i.e of the Bear, of the Tiger, of the Monkey) in a 7/6 or 6/7 stat variant. This ring in vanilla was squashed to a level requirement of 29 in the Burning Crusade pre-patch, making it best in slot.​

Burning Crusade
The Burning Crusade introduced a bunch of new enchants that can only be applied to items of an item level of 35 or higher. They also introduced powerful leg armor kits that can be applied to non-soulbound / bind on equip leggings.
Below is a list of items that are worth getting now to ensure you're well prepared for when the next expansion comes out. (It's worth noting that some of the items below are rewards from the same quest, or are part of the same quest as some of the previously mentioned gear in the gear guide).
​

Also make sure you save experience room (if you haven't discovered or done so already) for Scarlet Monastary, as in BC it drops Deadman's Hand - also save experience room for discovering Halaa in Nagrand, as there's a vendor there that sells Halaani Whiskey if your faction controls the area. (the consumable is Bind on Pickup and unique to 3).

​

8. Useful Resources
There are plenty of other resources which other passionate twinks have created, which I depend on and use quite often;

​
The Classic Twinking Discord
https://discord.gg/AWYK6cU
(as shared by Intrepid in this forum)
This is the main avenue of communication, banter & advice for the 29 bracket

The Classic Quest Gear & XP Spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1m0-XbsXKC5yzJ9M1kMqP1QqXkHqewACpiZwbbzFURw0/
(as shared by Grizzly in the 29 Twink Discord)
A great tool for showing worthy items, the experience the entire quest chain will give you, and the level at which you can start the quest chain.

The Guide to PVP Spell Hit and Resistances
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NBkE3Dk8xRWD7xbEI9sG-ZJtrUD5RDSOE1-VWhQQ-gY/
(As shared by Swoops/Tickets in the 29 Twink Discord)
A very detailed and informative guide breaking resistances & spell hit ratings which calculations

Rarity Tier Spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...t5uTwP0-qBFv1CwBat3n-QGRqI/edit#gid=313012202
(as shared by Wouch in the 29 twink Discord)
A nifty spreadsheet showing the rarity of items in tiers from rarest, to least rare - giving a gauge as to what each item's worth by providing rarity value.

The Premade Banned / Unbanned Consumable & Buff List
https://discordapp.com/channels/579772755772440606/666023646543740960/726140607965298738​
(As posted by Grizzly in the 29 Twink Discord)
A list of all the widely agreed consumables & buffs that are banned / unbanned in premade games.


 
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Nefarius said:
Incredible guide! I wish I knew about Abomination Skin Leggings for my spriest, i hope 2 bars of xp is enough room to snag a pair. I need to xfer to your server mine is dead for 29's. Great guide again!
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Thanks Nefarius!

I'd say two bars is enough experience room - have you discovered Shadowfang Keep yet?

The best way to minimize experience gain is to have someone clear up to the boss for you whilst you wait outside, and then once he's at the boss zone in, run to the boss and die (but don't release spirit) and then your level 60 party member kills the boss, meaning you can still roll on loot but without gaining XP.
 
Smiffy said:
Thanks Nefarius!

I'd say two bars is enough experience room - have you discovered Shadowfang Keep yet?

The best way to minimize experience gain is to have someone clear up to the boss for you whilst you wait outside, and then once he's at the boss zone in, run to the boss and die (but don't release spirit) and then your level 60 party member kills the boss, meaning you can still roll on loot but without gaining XP.
Click to expand...

Ohh okay you're totally right I forgot about that,I should be fine on obtaining them then! :)
 
Such a great walk through memory lane! My first 29 played in 2.4, and I retain most of that resto shaman's gear to this day. I remember arguing with various players about the merits of taking "of healing" variants over eagle variants for resto shamans, and I farmed Giggler for months to get the Infiltrator Pants of Healing until one miraculously showed up in the AH.

To add to your coming-in-TBC list, the Crescent of Forlorn Spirits (Alliance only) could take TBC enchants. Mine retains a cherished place in my bank.
 
Cheesetoast said:
Also worth noting Inferno Robe becomes 19 spell power in WOTLK item lvl 40 and Torturing Poker becomes 25 dps in TBC up from 21

And pick up https://tbc-twinhead.twinstar.cz/?item=6685 and https://tbc-twinhead.twinstar.cz/?item=6682 that experience stat buffs in TBC
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Thanks Youb for the updates - I didn't quite get as far to WOTLK changes, but I appreciate it nonetheless. But super thanks for the Torturing Poker update, super nice fast weapon - handy for pushbacks when fighting casters (who already hate shamans as it is haha)

Kirise said:
Such a great walk through memory lane! My first 29 played in 2.4, and I retain most of that resto shaman's gear to this day. I remember arguing with various players about the merits of taking "of healing" variants over eagle variants for resto shamans, and I farmed Giggler for months to get the Infiltrator Pants of Healing until one miraculously showed up in the AH.

To add to your coming-in-TBC list, the Crescent of Forlorn Spirits (Alliance only) could take TBC enchants. Mine retains a cherished place in my bank.
Click to expand...

I can appreciate that Kirise, I played a shaman briefly in Vanilla as a 29 twink, and I remember it being my most fun character and I couldn't remember why until I rediscovered the class. Super satisfying gameplay.

You're 100% right about Crescent of Forlon Spirits - I made the guide focusing on Vanilla 29 Shaman twinks (which is Horde only) but future proofing for BC, but with BC allowing Dranei shamans, you'd be silly not to mention / get it!
 
Cheesetoast said:
https://classic.wowhead.com/item=9461/charged-gear
https://classic.wowhead.com/item=9458/thermapluggs-central-core
https://classic.wowhead.com/item=9459/thermapluggs-left-arm
https://classic.wowhead.com/item=9492/electromagnetic-gigaflux-reactivator

All become level 28 items in TBC
Click to expand...

Correct, there's even speculation that if there's a TBC pre-patch that they could be live then too (like what they did in vanilla)

I think I touched on the Charged Gear, as it's the most relevant, whereas the other options aren't as such - but thanks for bringing them up :)
 
Cheesetoast said:
You dont think Gigaflux is relevant?
Click to expand...

For a shaman, I wouldn't overlook Pathfinder Hat of the Eagle or Spellpower Goggles Xtreme personally, other than the on-use - or a strange int-high ele set, or an offspec spirit set.

Still would get it (and I have one) for it's on-use. I would treat it similar to a trinket personally.
 
making a shammy 29 on Mankrik, I dont see any gameplay videos for 29 ele shammy, is this a viable twink spec currently? im at lvl 22 currently and have most of the boe items listed here...just worried that it wont hit hard enough to be fun? Please advise!
 
poppabear said:
making a shammy 29 on Mankrik, I dont see any gameplay videos for 29 ele shammy, is this a viable twink spec currently? im at lvl 22 currently and have most of the boe items listed here...just worried that it wont hit hard enough to be fun? Please advise!
Click to expand...

Hey!

It's not a viable twink spec, nor is it a heavy-hitting spec currently.

However, with The Burning Crusade coming, you'll get a bit more spell damage as naturally there'll be more items containing spell damage - however in comparison to other classes you still won't be hitting as hard - unless you went full glass cannon. But you still won't compare as high damage as other glass cannon classes.

Hope this helps.
 
Smiffy said:
Hey!

It's not a viable twink spec, nor is it a heavy-hitting spec currently.

However, with The Burning Crusade coming, you'll get a bit more spell damage as naturally there'll be more items containing spell damage - however in comparison to other classes you still won't be hitting as hard - unless you went full glass cannon. But you still won't compare as high damage as other glass cannon classes.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

ele is highly viable in 29 pugs, just gotta adapt a different playstyle than the one in 39s and 49s
 
I disagree.

If we're comparing it to other specs that Shaman have - it's the least favoured / viable.

Comparing it to the rest of the classes, as far as caster classes - it'd have to be down the bottom of the ranks with Arcane Mage.

I'm not saying you won't have fun nor you won't do damage - but just managing expectations, you're not going to go into a game (a challenging one) and make an impact.
 
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