Enhancement Shaman

How the spec changed

Blizzard's deep dive moved Stormstrike to the 16-point milestone with an 8 sec cooldown. It now boosts your next Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning or Earth Shock by 20%. Spirit Weapons cuts threat by 30%, or raises it by 30% while Rockbiter Weapon is on. That is what lets Enhancement off-tank. Two-Handed Axes and Maces is now baseline. Wowhead adds that dual wielding has been removed, making Enhancement a two-handed spec.

Talents

With five Legacy points, Wowhead and Icy Veins both finish Improved Stormstrike first and add Spirit Weapons. Wowhead adds Mental Quickness and a point of Tidal Focus; Icy Veins finishes Flurry and adds Mental Quickness. Both say to skip Maelstrom Weapon until you can take all five ranks. Icy Veins notes the single Ancestral Knowledge point at 24 exists only to reach the next row.

Rotation: the guides

• Icy Veins (level 30): keep Windfury Weapon on and drop Strength of Earth, Flametongue (or Magma) and Mana Spring Totems with Call of the Elements. Pull with rank 1 Lightning Bolt, then use Stormstrike and Earth Shock on cooldown, alternating Earth and Flame Shock in groups. Use Frost Shock if threat is a problem, and Fire Nova if mana allows. Icy warns your mana can't sustain all of this.
• Wowhead (level 30): rely on auto attacks and spend little. Pull with a shock or Lightning Bolt, use Stormstrike now and then to fish for Improved Stormstrike procs, and keep Lightning Shield up between pulls. In dungeons, drop Searing Totem and use Fire Nova until threat or mana stops you.
• ForeverDB (level 30): Windfury Weapon and Lightning Shield up, Searing Totem for long fights, and Flame Shock as the mob closes. Use Stormstrike on cooldown followed by Earth Shock, unless you need the interrupt (ForeverDB).

Rotation: the simulators

ForeverDB's simulator (level 30, one target): keep Searing Totem up, use Stormstrike on cooldown (worth 11.5% of damage) and keep Flame Shock up. Earth Shock is the filler. Auto attacks make 44% of the damage, Windfury attacks 18% and Stormstrike 14% (ForeverDB).

WoWSims (level 60 default list): drop Grace of Air, Flametongue, Strength of Earth and Mana Spring Totems before the pull. Then:

1. Mana potion below 80% mana, Demonic Rune below 70%.
2. Replace expired Air and Earth totems.
3. Fire Nova when Clearcasting is active.
4. Lightning Shield if missing.
5. Searing Totem if no Fire totem is down.
6. Stormstrike.
7. Lightning Bolt at five Maelstrom Weapon stacks.
8. Flame Shock if it isn't ticking.
9. Earth Shock.
10. Fire Nova while above 10% mana.

WoWSims defaults to Rockbiter Weapon on the main hand. Its notes say Windfury Weapon would outbid the group's Windfury Totem, since you don't benefit from both.

All sources agree on Stormstrike into Earth Shock and keeping a Fire totem up. Wowhead alone advises using Stormstrike sparingly at 30 to save mana.

Levelling

Wowhead calls Enhancement the default early spec for every Shaman. Auto attacks carry you while spell damage is low, and Rockbiter Weapon gives free attack power early, as long as you upgrade your weapon often. ForeverDB points to Improved Ghost Wolf at 20 for fast travel, and Stormstrike and Windfury Weapon as the big upgrades at 25 and 30.

Gear and consumables

• Stat order: Icy Veins gives weapon DPS, hit and expertise (absent on beta gear), crit, Strength, Intellect, Agility, Spirit, spell power, Stamina. It warns that some spell power weapons carry less weapon DPS. ForeverDB's order is weapon DPS, hit, Strength, crit, Agility, Intellect, attack power.
• Simulator weights: ForeverDB's level 30 simulator values Strength at 2, Agility 1.3 and Intellect 1.19 per attack power. WoWSims (level 60) gives main-hand weapon DPS 14.18, hit 5.2, expertise 3.5, haste 2.81, crit 2.42, Strength 2.2, Intellect 1.99, Agility 1.32 and attack power 1.
• Gear: after the level 30 Air totem chain, Wowhead says The Tempest's Weapons quest (an elite and many higher-level enemies) rewards Rage of the Storm. Wowhead and Icy Veins like Leatherworking, and Wowhead adds Blacksmithing for early weapons. Icy Veins mentions Enchanting's Polished Driftwood Icon relic for mana.
• Consumables: ForeverDB's simulator rates Bear Brisket (+1.8%) and Scroll of Strength II (+1.6%) best at 30. WoWSims' level 60 default uses Flask of Supreme Power, Smoked Desert Dumplings, Elemental Sharpening Stone and caster and melee elixirs, plus EZ-Thro Dark Iron Bomb and Goblin Sapper Charge.
• Professions: Icy Veins suggests Skinning and Leatherworking; WoWSims defaults to Engineering and Leatherworking.

Where guides disagree or are unsure

• Weapon imbue: Icy Veins says Windfury Weapon always. Wowhead says Windfury for slow two-handers and Flametongue for fast one-handers with a shield. WoWSims uses Rockbiter at 60 when a Windfury Totem is around. ForeverDB's group advice avoids Rockbiter's extra threat.
• Two-handed axes and maces: Blizzard says they are baseline. ForeverDB couldn't see in the client how a Shaman learns them.
• Above 30: Windfury Totem (32), Maelstrom Weapon (35) and Rage of the Farseer (40) are untested.