The Enhancement Shaman in WoW is a distinctive mail-wearing melee fighter who blends physical damage with elemental magic. In this WoW The War Within Enhancement Shaman guide, we’ll cover the best talent builds to choose and why, the optimal gear to equip, the essential consumables to buy, and, most importantly, how to effectively utilize your arsenal of abilities.

Table of Contents

Enhancement Shaman Overview

Enhancement is a melee specialization with a heavy emphasis on both Physical attacks and Elemental spells, weaving both together in a fast-paced "battle-mage" combat style and with a variety of effects that enhance your main abilities.

The gameplay is fairly unique in that it has no fixed resource, instead having 3 central pillars: juggling different ability cooldowns, your stacks of the Maelstrom Weapon effect, and some key procs. This means you will be cycling abilities on cooldown in order of priority, depending on the situation. We can adapt well to different target counts and excel whenever an additional target is present, having access to funnel, cleave, and burst AoE tools. It also has a somewhat unique quality of having two distinct build loadouts that play very differently, all contained in one specialization. Lastly, as a Shaman, it also provides the Skyfury group buff.

Enhancement Shaman Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

Excellent Single Target potential for Raid encounters.
Strong at 2-6 target cleave and AoE, while also having funnel tools for priority targets, making it flexible for Mythic+.
Good mobility with a tool for most situations.
Varied control and utility toolkit for Mythic+.
Variety of damage profiles, with short cooldown timers, Especially with the Stormbringer Hero Tree.
Incredibly strong burst during Ascendance.
Skyfury provides benefits to your group, especially melee.
Off-healing ability to assist the group.

Weaknesses

Needs defensive planning and foresight to deal with repeated one shot mechanics.
Playstyle has a steep learning curve when getting started.
Some builds are hard capped at 6 targets with AoE tools, and requires tab-targeting to maximize.
Every build has a large RNG factor to deal with.
Requires many available keybinds to play effectively.
Reliant on uptime, making high movement encounters and intermissions very punishing.

Enhancement Shaman Basic Gameplay

Enhancement gameplay revolves around several different interlinking gameplay loops that are often all happening at once, creating a fast-paced experience that is heavy on planning mixed with reactive decision-making. The three core loops it needs to maintain are:

Manage your Maelstrom Weapon stacks. This fuels our most powerful abilities, consuming stacks to become instant (Elemental Blast, Lava Burst, Lightning Bolt, and Chain Lightning). Generating as much of this resource as possible and avoiding waste by going above 10 stacks is key to executing Enhancement correctly.
Keep your rotational abilities on cooldown as much as possible. This is secondary to our Maelstrom management, but is still very important as it is often the best source of generating stacks. This requires you to look forward in the rotation, consider where gaps may appear, and adjust your plan mid-flow.
React to procs. This is the last component and what causes the rotation to fluctuate. Keeping up with powerful procs like Ascendance and Hot Hand windows to get the most out of them is core to any build that uses them.

Changes to Enhancement Shaman in The War Within

Patch 11.1 brings significant updates for Enhancement, refining the balance between melee strikes and Maelstrom Weapon spenders. Below are some of the key changes:

Primary melee strikes have been buffed:
- Stormstrike: +50% damage
- Lava Lash: +60% damage
- Ice Strike: +100% damage
- Crash Lightning on-cast damage: +200%
Talent tree updates: The positions of Elemental Blast and Flurry have swapped to the right side of the tree, replacing Ice Strike and its supporting talents. Primordial Wave and its associated talents have been completely reworked.
Hero Talent Tree changes: These have been streamlined to align with the other talent adjustments.
- Stormbringer continues to focus on Maelstrom Weapon cycling and remains heavily centered on Stormstrike.
- Totemic now strongly emphasizes Lava Lash and weapon imbues, especially with the Reactivity effect.

Overall, the patch shifts the spec into a healthier position with a stronger melee identity and more impactful strikes. It preserves much of the strength from Season 1, and the rework has successfully clarified the gameplay loops of both Stormbringer and Totemic, which now perform well in various situations.

Enhancement Shaman Leveling Guide for The War Within

Enhancement Shaman Leveling Playstyle

Enhancement Shaman is highly flexible while leveling. Its excellent mobility makes it great for questing, and it can handle large pulls by leveraging its healing tools for survival. With strong cooldowns like Bloodlust and Earth Elemental, it can deal with dangerous elites effectively, provided they're not too frequent. While it performs well in dungeons, you may find faster queue times if you level as Restoration to heal instead.

Gear Options

When leveling, prioritize gear with the highest item level. These pieces will be replaced quickly, so don't worry about optimizing for secondary stats—just equip what you get.

Best Leveling Talents for Enhancement Shaman

You can change your talents anywhere while out of combat. Take the opportunity to experiment with various combinations and learn what the specialization is capable of. Below is a sample leveling path that provides a balanced and effective experience, introducing core mechanics without overwhelming complexity.

At level 10, you’ll gain access to Chain Lightning, Astral Shift, and the Maelstrom Weapon passive. Maelstrom Weapon is the foundation of the Enhancement toolkit, reducing spell cast time and increasing damage. While it's ideal to use offensive spells at 5 stacks of Maelstrom Weapon, this is less important at lower levels. Use Chain Lightning when facing 3 or more targets.

War Mode Talents to Level Up as an Enhancement Shaman

If you’re comfortable with the added risk, War Mode can offer benefits during leveling and open-world content. PvP talents can be changed freely, so don’t hesitate to test different options to suit your playstyle.

Talent slots unlock at the following levels:

Level 20: First PvP talent
Level 30: Second PvP talent
Level 40: Third PvP talent

Recommended Enhancement PvP Talents

Level 20: Counterstrike Totem – Reflects damage, letting you play aggressively by using your health as a resource.
Level 30: Stormweaver – Grants free healing when spending Maelstrom Weapon for damage, providing sustain. Use this until level 48, when a better option becomes available.
Level 48+: Shamanism – Reduces Bloodlust's cooldown to 1 minute, allowing for more frequent burst windows.
Level 51+: Totem of Wrath – Works with Primordial Wave to enhance burst every 30 seconds. At this point, consider dropping one of the earlier talents to make room for this, pairing it with Shamanism.

Enhancement Shaman DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents

Totemic Raid / Single-Target

Totemic Mythic+ / AoE

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Totemic Raid / Single-Target

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Totemic Mythic+ / AoE

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PvP Talents (War Mode)

War Mode is an optional feature that enables open-world PvP, offering several advantages when activated:

Grants access to PvP talents in the open world.
10% increased World Quest rewards at max level.
10% additional experience gained while leveling.
Earn Conquest Points, which can be exchanged for weekly gear rewards.

Due to these benefits, War Mode is recommended for leveling and maximizing endgame rewards. However, enabling it also makes you vulnerable to attacks from enemy players in the open world. Be prepared for potential interruptions and weigh the risk based on your comfort with PvP encounters.

Recommended Enhancement PvP Talents

Level 20: Counterstrike Totem – Reflects damage, letting you play aggressively by using your health as a resource.
Level 30: Stormweaver – Grants free healing when spending Maelstrom Weapon for damage, providing sustain. Use this until level 48, when a better option becomes available.
Level 48+: Shamanism – Reduces Bloodlust's cooldown to 1 minute, allowing for more frequent burst windows.
Level 51+: Totem of Wrath – Works with Primordial Wave to enhance burst every 30 seconds. At this point, consider dropping one of the earlier talents to make room for this, pairing it with Shamanism.

Best Hero Talents for Enhancement Shaman in The War Within

Raiding Hero Talents for Enhancement Shaman

In single-target raid scenarios, both Hero Talent trees are fairly close in performance, though Totemic has a slight edge in pure throughput.

Stormbringer offers powerful spenders and stronger burst windows due to its talent layout. While it does require more precise resource management, even a less-optimized playstyle delivers excellent damage and flexibility, making it a solid all-around recommendation for raiding.

Totemic excels in delivering strong single-target damage on 30-second and 1-minute timers thanks to its burst toolkit. It also provides cleave naturally without sacrificing single-target performance. However, managing uptime and effects like Surging Totem adds extra complexity, which may pose challenges in certain encounters.

Mythic+ Hero Talents for Enhancement Shaman

In Mythic+ content, the recommended Hero Talent path is Totemic, though Stormbringer remains a competitive option.

Stormbringer has a versatile toolkit that supports multiple builds, allowing players to adjust damage profiles as needed. It provides strong sustained and burst AoE and scales well with more targets due to increased access to Maelstrom Weapon. However, its less consistent single-target output makes it a slightly riskier choice.

Totemic shines in Mythic+ through powerful Hot Hand windows during Doom Winds, and its synergy with Primordial Storm allows for extremely fast and high-impact damage in uncapped AoE situations. Its short cooldowns and frontloaded burst potential make it especially well-suited to Mythic+ environments, earning it the top recommendation.

Enhancement Shaman DPS Stat Priority

Stormbringer Stat Priority

When playing the Stormbringer Hero Talent tree, whether in single-target or AoE situations, the current general stat priority is:

Haste
Mastery
Critical Strike
Versatility
Agility

Haste is prioritized due to the constant need to cycle through Maelstrom Weapon spenders, increasing the rate of reaching each Tempest cast. Mastery follows closely due to the high amount of magic damage dealt.

The bonus Critical Strike scaling from Stormcaller puts it slightly above Versatility, and both secondary stats can surpass Agility in value at higher item levels. While not a focus, keeping a balanced amount of these stats helps maintain overall performance.

Totemic Stat Priority

When using the Totemic Hero Talent tree, the stat priority for both single-target and AoE is:

Mastery
Haste
Critical Strike
Versatility
Agility

Windfury Weapon and Flamestrike damage make Mastery the top stat, especially when enhanced by Storm's Wrath. Haste is a close second, and the two are typically stacked.

The bonus Crit scaling from Supportive Imbuements gives it an edge over Versatility, especially in AoE. Like with Stormbringer, both stats can outperform Agility at higher gear levels, so they should be monitored and balanced accordingly.

Diminishing Returns on Stats

Each stat begins to provide reduced benefit once a certain threshold is reached. These are the current breakpoints:

Critical Strike Rating – 21,000
Haste Rating – 19,800
Versatility Rating – 23,400
Mastery Rating – 21,000

With the item level scaling in the current season, it's possible to hit diminishing returns on at least two stats. Monitor your gear and simulations closely if you see unexpected results.

Understanding Enhancement Shaman Stats

Agility: Increases Attack Power, boosting melee attack and ability damage.
Critical Strike: Increases your chance to critically strike and trigger Flurry effects.
Haste: Increases autoattack speed, boosting Windfury Weapon proc frequency and Maelstrom Weapon stack generation. It also reduces the tick rate of Surging Totem and lowers the global cooldown (minimum 0.75s). Additionally, it reduces cooldowns of abilities like Stormstrike, Lava Lash, Ice Strike, Crash Lightning, Frost Shock, Flame Shock, and Fire Nova.
Mastery: Via Mastery: Enhanced Elements, it boosts Fire, Frost, and Nature damage and increases chances to proc Stormsurge and Windfury Weapon. Storm's Wrath further amplifies this chance by 150%. Procs of Stormsurge can empower your next Stormstrike via the Stormblast talent to deal additional Nature damage, also benefiting from Mastery.
Versatility: Increases all damage and healing done and reduces damage taken.

Enhancement Shaman DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities

Enhancement Shaman Single Target Rotation

Enhancement Shaman plays with a priority system that revolves around using your core abilities on cooldown while actively managing your stacks of Maelstrom Weapon. The spec can take some time to build up the necessary muscle memory to know what to prioritize and when to delay or skip certain abilities based on the situation.

Cast Surging Totem.
Cast Flame Shock if it is not active.
Cast Feral Spirit.
Cast Primordial Wave to trigger Splintered Elements.
Cast Doom Winds.

Aim to have Legacy of the Frost Witch active before entering this window, and maintain it throughout.

Cast Primordial Storm with 10 Maelstrom Weapon stacks. Make sure Legacy of the Frost Witch is active, or will activate from the cast.
Cast Lava Lash with Hot Hand active.
Cast Maelstrom Weapon spenders with 10 stacks:
- Cast Elemental Blast.
- Cast Lightning Bolt otherwise.
Cast Lava Lash.
Cast Stormstrike.
Cast Flame Shock or Frost Shock to fill.

Enhancement has a strong ebb and flow that you’ll gradually adapt to, as the rhythm of Maelstrom Weapon and ability cooldowns forms a pattern you learn over time. Reacting to key procs is vital, and when playing Totemic, you’ll need to be especially attentive to Hot Hand procs, as they contribute significantly to your damage output. Here are some quick notes based on talent choices:

When using Totemic, cast Surging Totem immediately and on cooldown. Keep it near your target with Totemic Projection or by manually recasting it. Ideally, consume Whirling Air within the first 1–2 globals after it drops, so try to pool resources just before it becomes ready again.
Hot Hand procs are your top priority. When it triggers, alternate Lava Lash with every other GCD to maximize value.
Your primary burst cooldowns occur every 30 seconds and 1 minute via Primordial Wave and Doom Winds. Overlap them in each cycle, and ensure Legacy of the Frost Witch is active before using Doom Winds or casting the follow-up Primordial Storm.
With Witch Doctor's Ancestry selected, aim to pair each Primordial Wave and Primordial Storm cycle with Feral Spirit using cooldown reduction. Additional uses are possible with high generation, but avoid desyncing—most value comes from overlapping with Doom Winds.

Enhancement Shaman Opening Rotation

Cast Surging Totem 1 second before the pull.
Cast Flame Shock on the way into melee.

At the same time, Totemic Projection your Surging Totem under your target.

Cast Primordial Wave.
Cast Lava Lash to trigger Hot Hand. Cast this every other GCD while active.
Cast Elemental Blast once you reach 10 Maelstrom Weapon.

Alternatively, use Stormstrike to generate if you are not at 10.

Cast Feral Spirit.
Cast Doom Winds. Aim to have Legacy of the Frost Witch active when this is used.
Cast Primordial Storm once you reach 10 Maelstrom Weapon.
Continue with normal ability priority.

Depending on your build and fight type, Enhancement has a few things to set up once it enters combat. Once its major cooldowns are rolling, however, you can transition smoothly into the regular priority list. Key notes based on your selections are:

The Totemic opener in single-target is quite hectic, as there are a lot of variables at play when getting things set up.
It always makes sure to activate Primordial Wave to get a burst of Haste from Splintered Elements to accelerate the pace it can set up.
Once you trigger Hot Hand from Whirling Fire, you will be casting Lava Lash every other GCD while it is active, weaving other priorities in between.
Your secondary goal is to build 10 Maelstrom Weapon to activate Legacy of the Frost Witch. Once you have 10, cast Elemental Blast and move on. Weave Stormstrike between Lava Lash if you have not reached 10 yet.
Once Legacy of the Frost Witch is active, you can cast Feral Spirit and begin Doom Winds, spending the next 10 Maelstrom Weapon generated on Primordial Storm.

Enhancement Shaman AoE Rotation

Enhancement AoE gets very busy due to the number of different tools we have. While there are a lot of additions based on Hero Talents chosen, they share the core focus of maintaining Crash Lightning for additional Maelstrom Weapon, and spending that on Chain Lightning.

Cast Surging Totem.
Cast Flame Shock if it's not active on any targets.
Cast Feral Spirit.
Cast Primordial Wave with Flame Shock spread to all nearby targets.
Cast Doom Winds
- Aim to always have Legacy of the Frost Witch active before casting.
Aim to always have Legacy of the Frost Witch active before casting.
Cast Primordial Storm with 10 Maelstrom Weapon stacks.
Cast Lava Lash with Hot Hand active.
Cast Sundering
- Aim to always have Legacy of the Frost Witch when casting.
Cast Chain Lightning with 10 Maelstrom Weapon stacks.
Cast Crash Lightning.
Cast Lava Lash.
Cast Stormstrike.
Cast Flame Shock or Frost Shock to fill.

Our AoE priority can be overwhelming at first glance, but most of our priorities can be simplified to core rules. Generally, casting Crash Lightning frequently for damage and to maintain the buff is core, while spending Maelstrom Weapon on Chain Lightning when we reach 10 stacks. The remaining priority is strongly influenced by your hero talent choice, which also alters the loadout you pair with it. Key notes based on your rotation tool selections are:

Totemic needs to make sure to keep Surging Totem active at all times, using it at the start of each pull and on cooldown after. This also gives the advantage of starting each pull with Whirling Earth, letting us set up Flame Shock instantly.
While Hot Hand is active, this is your top priority, as every cast triggers Reactivity and in turn can proc AoE Windfury Weapon. Weave in between its cooldown, and be aware Whirling Fire will guarantee a proc.
Maelstrom Weapon is less important, but still needs to be spent at 10 stacks on Chain Lightning. Similarly, maintain Crash Lightning and cast it as a secondary AoE strike.
Primordial Wave is your 30-second burst cooldown, which needs to be set up in advance with Flame Shock. Make sure to have it on as many targets as possible to optimize Splintered Elements, and follow up the cast with Primordial Storm when you reach 10 Maelstrom Weapon stacks.
Doom Winds is your secondary cooldown, which should be overlapped with other tools. Aim to cast Primordial Storm during this, and fill it with as many AoE main-hand strikes as possible (Crash Lightning, Sundering, Reactivity, or Primordial Storm). Aim to have Legacy of the Frost Witch active when you use this.
With Witch Doctor's Ancestry taken, Totemic also wants to always overlap each Primordial Wave window with Feral Spirit as a priority, especially during Doom Winds.

Major Cooldowns

Feral Spirit

Feral Spirit summons two wolves to fight with you for 15 seconds on a 90-second cooldown. When cast, you instantly generate one stack of Maelstrom Weapon and gain an additional Maelstrom Weapon stack every 3 seconds for the duration. Each active wolf increases the physical damage of your abilities (not including auto-attacks) by 15%, stacking multiplicatively. This means the baseline cast before other stacking buffs is 32.25% increased physical damage. With Alpha Wolf taken, any Feral Spirit you summon will pulse for uncapped physical damage for 8 seconds following a Crash Lightning or Chain Lightning cast.

The follow-up choice node significantly alters the way you access Feral Spirit casts, with both options being extremely strong:

Witch Doctor's Ancestry provides a 4% increased chance to trigger Maelstrom Weapon. Each Maelstrom Weapon generated reduces the cooldown of Feral Spirit by 1 second. This typically averages out to a 20-30 second cooldown, but can go as low as under 10 seconds during heavy generation periods. This allows you to overlap casts and stack multipliers.
Flowing Spirits grants a 6% chance on any active ability to spawn one Feral Spirit wolf for 8 seconds, but you can no longer cast the baseline ability. This includes all special attacks such as Windfury Weapon, leading to a large number of spawns. Although this is listed as a flat chance, it functions like a "deck of cards" system, cycling through a 3/50 deck with each ability cast. This means any amount over 6 is practically impossible due to the difficulty of cycling that many events within 8 seconds.

Elemental Spirits

Elemental Spirits alters all wolves spawned by Feral Spirit, causing them to randomly spawn as either Fire, Frost, or Lightning wolves. These increase your Physical damage by 10%, as well as the magic damage you deal with the corresponding spell school by the same amount. As of Patch 11.1, these wolves now spawn randomly, regardless of the talent you pair with it.

Ascendance

Ascendance has two methods of activation — either through the active ability on a 3-minute cooldown for 15 seconds, or via procs triggered by spending Maelstrom Weapon for 6 seconds. While this is active, Stormstrike's cooldown is significantly reduced, and both it and your auto-attacks are replaced with 30-yard range, armor-ignoring alternatives: Windstrike and Windlash. During this time, the goal is to cast Windstrike as often as possible. However, without supporting follow-up talents, the effect is quite weak. A significant portion of its value comes from the follow-up talents.

Primordial Wave

Primordial Wave has undergone a significant rework in Patch 11.1, making it much easier to use. It requires at least one active Flame Shock to cast. When used, it generates 5 Maelstrom Weapon and launches a bolt of Elemental damage at all targets currently affected by your Flame Shock.

Splintered Elements

Splintered Elements provides 5/10% Haste for 12 seconds when you cast Primordial Wave, plus an additional 2/4% for each extra target hit beyond the first — effectively giving it a cap of 15/30% at 6 targets. This Haste boost is often used to overlap with other cooldowns to enhance burst windows.

Primordial Storm

Primordial Storm is a new capstone added in Patch 11.1. This combo skill can be cast after using Primordial Wave, triggering a 4-step attack that happens in the same order every time: a Fire, Frost, and Lightning strike, followed by either an empowered Lightning Bolt or Chain Lightning, depending on the number of targets hit. All of these strikes are AoE main-hand hits and can trigger imbues on all enemies. Additionally, it consumes Maelstrom Weapon to amplify the damage of all hits.

Totemic Primordial Wave Use

Totemic treats this as a primary damage window, using Splintered Elements to speed up its Hot Hand windows. Due to the higher imbuement damage, it aims to always align Primordial Storm with Doom Winds, placing it on a strict 30-second cooldown cycle.

Doom Winds

Doom Winds triples your chance to trigger Windfury Weapon for 8 seconds while active. During this time, it also deals Stormstrike damage every second to nearby enemies. This is not an increase to the number of Skyfury proc triggers. Some key notes are:

While Doom Winds is up, the value of main-hand strikes rises since they can trigger Windfury Weapon. Attacks that fall into this category include Stormstrike / Windstrike, Ice Strike, Crash Lightning, Sundering / Reactivity, and all 3 Primordial Storm strikes.
Each enemy hit by the initial cast of Crash Lightning or any target hit by Sundering / Reactivity counts as a main-hand strike, triggering an "AoE Windfury" hit that is truly uncapped.
When combined with Primordial Storm, you should aim to overlap every other cast with Doom Winds for a big burst of damage and Maelstrom Weapon generation.

Totemic Doom Winds Use

Totemic treats this as its big cooldown moment and aims to cast it strictly on cooldown every minute. Ideally, you want to have Hot Hand active and fill every GCD with an activator, while making sure to fit Primordial Storm into each cast.

Enhancement Shaman Mechanics

Maelstrom Weapon Details

Maelstrom Weapon management is crucial if you intend to play Enhancement at a competitive level. It has a 20% chance to trigger from any melee hit and stacks up to 5 times (or up to 10 times with Raging Maelstrom). Each stack reduces the cast time of your next Lightning Bolt / Chain Lightning cast by 20%, and also increases the damage of affected spells by 25% when using Improved Maelstrom Weapon and Raging Maelstrom. At 5 stacks, ability casts that consume this become instant, and only 5 stacks can be consumed at once. When talenting into Overflowing Maelstrom, this is increased to 10 stacks to increase the damage multiplier.

While it is tempting to cast these spells as soon as you hit 5 stacks, you should train yourself to make use of the 10-stack limit granted by Raging Maelstrom. If you are not at risk of overcapping your Maelstrom Weapon stacks, then it makes more sense to focus on keeping your other abilities on cooldown as much as possible. Spending rules are as follows:

Totemic aims to spend at 10 stacks despite Totemic Rebound due to how busy its GCDs are.
It also wants to follow each Surging Totem with a Maelstrom Weapon spender as soon as possible to trigger Whirling Air and amplify the rest of the totem.
With Elemental Blast taken, it wants to weave these in with as much Maelstrom Weapon as possible while making sure at least 1 charge is always on cooldown.

Static Accumulation

Due to the passive refund proc on Static Accumulation, when playing this talent, it removes Lava Burst (if you are not playing Elemental Blast) from your rotation. It also slightly raises the value of Lightning Bolt spenders even at 5 stacks, as the chance to refund here is higher than any other source of generation.

It also means that during Ascendance, your generation is extremely high, so spending aggressively in between Windstrike casts is often necessary.

Enhancement Shaman Funnel

It is often mentioned that Enhancement has a unique ability to "funnel" damage into priority targets, using extra enemies as fuel to amplify its single-target damage. Several effects throughout the talent tree enable this.

Crash Lightning is the primary driver, due to the additional Maelstrom Weapon generated as mentioned in the Crash Lightning section. With the improvements to Stormstrike damage in Patch 11.1, the value of Converging Storms is significantly higher, and builds that can fit it in can use Crash Lightning as an additional enabler to deal priority damage.

Alongside this, Ashen Catalyst when played significantly increases the stack rate, allowing for more frequent, empowered Lava Lash casts. Due to how much damage Lava Lash deals in Patch 11.1, and the amount of AoE effect triggers it causes, your "anchor" target often takes significantly more damage when you can leverage this.

Skyfury

Skyfury, granted by any Shaman, provides a flat increase to Mastery rating for all Party and Raid members. It also has additional benefits for melee characters, granting them a 20% chance to proc an additional auto-attack when swinging, with a 0.5-second internal cooldown per player. These extra attacks count as regular auto-attacks, meaning they proc all on-hit effects, but they do not affect Hunter auto-shots, pets, or guardians. The proc does not trigger from missed attacks and can miss itself.

Mana Spring

Mana Spring allows us to convert Stormstrike casts into Mana for healers. This is more potent if you are playing a Stormstrike heavy build, but the overall value is fairly limited even in a raid setting. Since points are not very tight on our class tree in raids, however, this can provide some additional value.

Flame Shock Explained

Flame Shock is more of a secondary component in The War Within, with its importance depending on talent selections. It serves as a passive, low-maintenance damage source in single-target situations and an AoE enabler. This means that it will be part of your rotation in nearly every situation in most builds. There are a few additional details to note when using it that might not be immediately obvious:

Shocks and Pandemic

In single-target situations, it's essential to keep Flame Shock active whenever possible when playing Lashing Flames. You can refresh it within the pandemic window whenever the damage-over-time effect has less than 5.4 seconds remaining. With Molten Assault, Lava Lash will reapply Flame Shock if it’s active on the target of the Lava Lash cast, meaning it often maintains itself with regular gameplay.

Flame Shock Spread

Molten Assault allows the Shaman to apply Flame Shock to nearby targets via Lava Lash when it is active on the primary target. This enables various parts of our AoE kit, such as Fire Nova, Primordial Wave, and Ashen Catalyst. When you cast Lava Lash, it not only applies the damage-over-time effect to other targets but also deals direct damage to them simultaneously.

Voltaic Blaze

Voltaic Blaze offers an additional way to apply Flame Shock in AoE situations. However, with a 6 RPPM chance to trigger from spenders, it’s not reliable enough to be your primary method for supporting talents like Primordial Wave.

Totemic also benefits from the Whirling Earth mote, which allows Flame Shock to apply the debuff to up to 6 targets at once. This significantly simplifies setup following each Surging Totem cast.

Crash Lightning Explained

Crash Lightning appears straightforward, but it has many moving parts and plays a vital role in Enhancement gameplay, particularly in AoE situations. Here are some key components to understand:

The Crash Lightning buff lasts for 12 seconds whenever it strikes two or more targets and should be maintained in any multi-target scenario.

While active, Stormstrike, Lava Lash, and Ice Strike will trigger a separate damage splash event called Crash Lightning.

Both the active Crash Lightning cast and its splash component can individually trigger Maelstrom Weapon, while only the active hits have a chance to proc Stormsurge.

The initial cast of Crash Lightning can trigger individual Windfury Weapon events on the targets hit.

In multi-target situations, we want to get Crash Lightning active to boost our primary strikes for free, leading to additional resources. In AoE situations, this generates a flood of Maelstrom Weapon stacks, which confers several benefits, such as increased access to cooldowns, AoE, and funnel. Windfury Weapon can also trigger on each target hit by the initial cast, enhancing AoE synergy. In Patch 11.1, the initial damage was significantly buffed, so we aim to use Crash Lightning as often as possible. It's also ideal to cast it during Doom Winds for maximum benefit.

Chain Lightning Interactions

Chain Lightning has two interactions that enhance both the access to and damage of Crash Lightning:

Each target hit by Chain Lightning reduces the cooldown of Crash Lightning by 0.5 seconds (up to a maximum of 2.5 seconds with Crashing Storms).
Each target hit by Chain Lightning increases the damage of the next active Crash Lightning cast by 10% per target hit (up to 50% with Crashing Storms).

This creates a generate-spend relationship between the two abilities, leading to extra resources to activate Crash Lightning and amplifying its power. It encourages us to spend at least once between each Crash Lightning cast to maximize damage and resource generation.

Enhancement Shaman DPS Gems and Consumables

Best Gems for Enhancement Shaman

It is strongly recommended to simulate your character for gem choices, as individual gear can significantly impact optimal selections. Since stat preferences remain consistent across Hero Talent trees and content types, a general approach works well:

Use Culminating Blasphemite in your first socket.
The bonus Critical Strike damage isn't very valuable, so fill remaining sockets with one Masterful Emerald and one Quick Onyx.
Use whichever of these two suits your character best in all other sockets.
You may choose to substitute Culminating Blasphemite with Elusive Blasphemite for a small DPS loss if you prefer more passive movement speed. Some characters may benefit more from stacking Culminating Blasphemite—follow your simulation results.

Best Flask for Enhancement Shaman

Your flask choice depends on the situation:

Flask of Alchemical Chaos — Slightly RNG but overall offers better stats and strengthens Tempered Potion usage. Generally recommended.
Flask of Tempered Swiftness / Flask of Tempered Mastery — Slightly weaker, but more consistent, providing a steady boost to a desired stat. Results in weaker Tempered Potion effects.

You can also obtain a flask from Algari Flask Cauldrons provided by Alchemists.

Best Potion for Enhancement Shaman

Tempered Potion is your go-to and should be used with your major cooldowns and Bloodlust / Heroism. You can also acquire Fleeting Tempered Potion from Algari Potion Cauldrons.

The best healing option is Algari Healing Potion. It has a 5-minute cooldown but can be used multiple times in longer encounters. Healthstones from Warlocks do not share a cooldown with potions, so use them if available!

Best Food for Enhancement Shaman in The War Within

Since Haste and Mastery are very strong, use secondary stat food if either is your highest stat. Recommended options:

The Sushi Special feast
Or personal food like Outsider's Provisions, Beledar's Bounty, Jester's Board, or Empress' Farewell

Temporary Weapon Enhancements

Due to the imbue system, Enhancement Shamans cannot use temporary weapon runes. Windfury Weapon and Flametongue Weapon overwrite them, so there's no benefit in applying these consumables.

While technically possible to use double Flametongue Weapon to activate Elemental Weapons, this disables major parts of your kit for each Hero Talent and is not recommended under any circumstance.

Augment Runes

If affordable, use Crystallized Augment Runes to increase your primary stat. These are expensive and disappear upon death, so use them wisely!

Best Enchants for Enhancement Shaman in The War Within

Slot	Enchantment
Necklace	Magnificent Jeweler's Setting (adds up to 2 sockets to a Ring or Neck)
Main Hand	Enchant Weapon - Stonebound Artistry
Off Hand	Enchant Weapon - Stormrider's Fury
Chest	Enchant Chest - Crystalline Radiance
Bracers	Enchant Bracer - Chant of Armored Avoidance
Legs	Stormbound Armor Kit
Boots	Enchant Boots - Defender's March
Rings	Enchant Ring - Radiant Haste Enchant Ring - Radiant Mastery
Cloak	Enchant Cloak - Chant of Winged Grace

Enhancement Shaman DPS Gear and Best in Slot

This section will cover everything you need to know about equipping your character correctly.

BiS Gear for Enhancement Shaman

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Gale Sovereign's Charged Hood	Revival Catalyst, or One-Armed Bandit in Liberation of Undermine
Neck	Strapped Rescue-Keg	Great Vault / Cinderbrew Meadery
Shoulder	Gale Sovereign's Zephyrs	Revival Catalyst, or Rik Reverb in Liberation of Undermine
Cloak	Consecrated Cloak	Crafted with Tailoring
Chest	Gale Sovereign's Clouded Hauberk	Revival Catalyst, or Sprocketmonger Lockenstock in Liberation of Undermine
Bracers	Made Manacles	Mug'Zee — Liberation of Undermine
Gloves	Gale Sovereign's Grasps	Revival Catalyst, or Cauldron of Carnage in Liberation of Undermine
Belt	Maniacal Monarch's Girdle	Great Vault / Operation: Mechagon
Legs	Chemical Blaster's Legguards	The MOTHERLODE!!
Boots	Treads of the Galvanic Skysoarer	Great Vault / The Rookery
Ring #1	The Jastor Diamond	Chrome King Gallywix in Liberation of Undermine
Ring #2	Miniature Roulette Wheel	One-Armed Bandit in Liberation of Undermine
Trinket #1	Eye of Kezan	Chrome King Gallywix in Liberation of Undermine
Trinket #2	House of Cards	One-Armed Bandit in Liberation of Undermine
Main Hand	Gallywix's Iron Thumb	Chrome King Gallywix — Liberation of Undermine
Off Hand	Charged Facesmasher	Crafted — Blacksmithing

Raiding Trinket Tier List for Enhancement Shaman

This trinket tier list primarily focuses on single-target throughput, as raid encounters are largely determined by your damage to the boss.

In general, Enhancement trinket preferences are straightforward: we prefer one on-use trinket to pair with cooldowns—especially when playing as Stormbringer—and a passive stat proc trinket as the second option.

Given that many boss fights involve complex mechanics and multitasking, it’s often better to choose simpler trinkets that require minimal management—unless a more complex option provides significantly better performance.

S-Tier

Eye of Kezan — While it takes time to stack up, when it gets there it is unmatched in throughput, well suited for raid encounters.
Improvised Seaforium Pacemaker — an ICD trinket, this will proc every minute on the dot, being an on-use in disguise that lines up with Doom Winds.
House of Cards — hold to align with Ascendance, or cast with Primordial Wave. Strongest Totemic on-use.
Signet of the Priory — Use with Ascendance or Doom Winds depending on build. Particularly good for Stormbringer.

A-Tier

Mechano-Core Amplifier — Lower Ilvl, but still worth it even without the bonus effect.
Suspicious Energy Drink — Lower Ilvl, but still worth it even without the bonus effect.
Reverb Radio
Shadow-Binding Ritual Knife — If Season 1 delve trinkets make a return, this is still very relevant.

B-Tier

C-Tier

Mythic+ Trinket Tier List for Enhancement Shaman

This trinket tier list takes a broader approach, focusing on trinkets that offer flexibility without requiring specific conditions to be effective. In Mythic+, encounters are more dynamic, making general-use trinkets more valuable than highly specialized ones.

Overall, simpler stat trinkets are recommended—those that don't require much management—unless a more complex option provides a significant performance boost.

S-Tier

House of Cards — hold to align with Ascendance, or cast with Primordial Wave. Strongest Totemic on-use.
Signet of the Priory — Use with Ascendance or Doom Winds depending on build. Particularly good for Stormbringer.
Improvised Seaforium Pacemaker — an ICD trinket, this will proc every minute on the dot, being an on-use in disguise that lines up with Doom Winds.
Mechano-Core Amplifier

A-Tier

Shadow-Binding Ritual Knife — If Season 1 delve trinkets make a return, this is still very relevant.
Suspicious Energy Drink
Reverb Radio
Quickwick Candlestick — If Season 1 delve trinkets make a return, this is a relevant on-use alternative for Stormbringer.
Azerokk's Resonating Heart
Funhouse Lens — hold to align with Ascendance, or cast with Primordial Wave.

B-Tier

Geargrinder's Spare Keys
Ravenous Honey Buzzer
Conductor's Wax Whistle
Grim Codex
Junkmaestro's Mega Magnet
Eye of Kezan — the buff only lingers for 20 seconds out of combat, and loses a stack every 3 seconds, making it too hard to chain stacks between pulls.

C-Tier

Best Crafted Items for Enhancement Shaman

Crafted gear for Enhancement in The War Within Season 2 offers several valuable options. One standout embellishment is Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension, which remains a consistently strong choice. This can be paired with Writhing Armor Banding for a double effect due to its Nerubian classification.

You should ideally simulate your character to determine optimal stats, but Haste and Mastery with an Algari Missive of the Feverflare will generally be your best bet.

Best Crafting Order

Craft a weapon — Charged Facesmasher — and apply Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension.
Craft an off-piece and apply Writhing Armor Banding to double the effect. A good choice here is Consecrated Cloak, as the cloak slot tends to be less contested.
From here, you're done with priority crafts and embellishments. Use simulations to determine your best gear piece to upgrade by item level. Rings and Necks are often smart picks due to competition from other classes.

Any Agility one-handed weapon can be crafted, including Charged Slicer, Charged Facesmasher, or Everforged Mace. These are purely cosmetic choices and have no performance differences. Crafting a weapon early gives you an edge during progression and allows you to shift it to your off-hand once you secure a higher item-level main-hand weapon.

Best Gear Upgrades for Enhancement Shaman

As you progress through endgame content in The War Within, you’ll acquire upgrade crests such as the Gilded Undermine Crest, which are used to improve your gear. Once a specific slot has been upgraded to a certain item level, future upgrades for that slot won’t require additional crests.

Since crests are limited and capped early in the season, it’s wise to wait until you obtain a high item-level piece before spending crests on upgrades. If you’re pushing higher Mythic+ content, it’s generally best to let gear naturally reach upgrade thresholds first.

General Slot Upgrade Priority

Weapons
Trinkets
Helm / Chest / Legs
Shoulders / Gloves / Belt / Boots
Rings and Necks
Cloaks and Bracers

Exceptions exist for unique gear with special procs, such as The Jastor Diamond, which may warrant earlier upgrading.

The War Within Season 2 Tier Set for Enhancement Shaman

The second tier set in The War Within, Currents of the Gale Sovereign, includes 5 pieces and grants powerful bonuses at 2 and 4 equipped items:

Shaman Enhancement 11.1 Class Set 2pc: Your spells and abilities have a chance to activate Winning Streak!, increasing the damage of Stormstrike, Lava Lash, and Doom Winds by 5%, stacking up to 25%. Maelstrom Weapon spenders have a 1% chance per Maelstrom spent to remove Winning Streak!.
Shaman Enhancement 11.1 Class Set 4pc: When you lose Winning Streak!, gain Doom Winds for 3 seconds. When Doom Winds deals damage, your next Crash Lightning deals 12% increased damage, stacking up to 60%, and can store up to 10 stacks. Crash Lightning also deals 75% increased damage to your current target.

Although the previous tier set was extremely strong, its power has dropped due to nerfs and reduced synergy with Flowing Spirits. The new Season 2 bonus remains a great option, especially in AoE, and opens up more build diversity. Aim to acquire it early, and make use of the Matrix Catalyst to convert eligible Mythic+ or Raid items into tier pieces.

Addons for Enhancement Shaman

Generic Addons

ElvUI
Weak Auras
Boss Mods
- Deadly Boss Mods (DBM)
- BigWigs (BW)
Details!
GTFO
Hekili

Extra AddOns

Mythic Dungeon Tools (MDT)
Method Raid Tools (MRT)

Macros for Enhancement Shaman

Focus Cast Macros

We have several spells that can benefit from using a focus target, allowing you to still focus on your primary target with damaging attacks. Replace the Wind Shear in the macro below with any desired spell name:

#showtooltip
/cast [@focus,exists] Wind Shear

Good spells to use this with are Cleanse Spirit, Hex, Purge and Wind Shear.

Mouseover Macros

Similarly, mousing over a target and casting a spell without moving from your main target can be beneficial, especially with specific talent builds. Replace the Cleanse Spirit in the macro below with the spell name:

#showtooltip
/cast [target=mouseover] Cleanse Spirit

This has other uses if targets are more dynamic, removing an input needed to target someone. Cleanse Spirit benefits from this, and the ability to quickly apply Flame Shock can be very helpful. It also makes maintaining Lashing Flames less daunting.

Self-Cast Healing Surge

This will always prioritize yourself when casting Healing Surge for reliable self-healing:

#showtooltip
/cast [@player] Healing Surge

Totem Placement Macros

For any totem with a targeting circle, two macro options are available to drop it quicker. The first drops it immediately at your feet (replace the Surging Totem in the following macros with your desired totem name). This is especially useful when playing Totemic:

#showtooltip
/cast [@player] Surging Totem

Or at your current cursor location:

#showtooltip
/cast [@cursor] Surging Totem

This can be used for Wind Rush Totem, Earthgrab Totem or even Totemic Projection.

Totemic Projection on Cooldown Macro

To efficiently move our totems around with us, you can macro Totemic Projection into a rotational ability thanks to it being off the Global Cooldown. A common ability to tie it to is Stormstrike, but any button can be used with the following macro:

#showtooltip Stormstrike
/cast Totemic Projection
/cast Stormstrike

This does have some downsides for utility totems, but especially for Totemic this makes playing around Surging Totem much easier.

Earth Elemental and Totem Cancel Macro

This macro requires you to grab this weakaura from wago.io, and you can shrink this down or reduce its alpha to hide it. The macro can then be used to cancel all active totems instantly.

/click MyTotemFrame1
/click MyTotemFrame2
/click MyTotemFrame3
/click MyTotemFrame4

All-in-One Imbues and Lightning Shield

This can be used to apply all of your imbues and Lightning Shield with a single button if pressed 3 times in a row, saving some bindings:

#showtooltip
/castsequence reset=10 Flametongue Weapon, Lightning Shield, Windfury Weapon

WeakAuras for Enhancement Shaman

WeakAuras is an essential tool for Enhancement Shaman and DPS players, offering unparalleled customization to enhance your gameplay. Rather than focusing on specific examples, we recommend exploring Wago.io, where you’ll find an extensive library of WeakAuras to suit your needs.

If you are unfamiliar with WeakAuras, it is an incredibly powerful and widely-used AddOn that allows you to create custom displays for nearly everything in the game. This includes tracking buffs, debuffs, cooldowns, Focus, resources, and much more.

To import a WeakAura, visit Wago.io and select one that fits your preferences. Click the "Copy WeakAura Import String" button to copy it to your clipboard. Next, log into the game and type /wa in the chat box to open the WeakAuras interface. Navigate to the "Import" section, press Ctrl+V to paste the copied string, and click "Import". You’re ready to go!

Mastering WeakAuras and customizing it to your playstyle is highly recommended for any serious raider. With countless options available on Wago.io, you can tailor your interface to optimize your performance and focus on what truly matters in combat.

Enhancement Shaman Frequently Asked Questions

Should I "Hard Cast" Lightning Bolt or Elemental Blast?

No, you should never hard-cast these spells. Hard casting means using Lightning Bolt or Elemental Blast without at least five stacks of Maelstrom Weapon, causing them to have a full cast time. Doing this resets your swing timer, leading to a significant loss of resources and overall damage. Always ensure you are casting them with five or more stacks of Maelstrom Weapon.

Should I Worry About Maelstrom Weapon Waste?

Yes! You should avoid overcapping Maelstrom Weapon stacks (above 10). Ideally, you want to spend it at around 8 stacks to leave room for additional procs.

If you’re playing Stormbringer, spending efficiently is even more crucial due to Supercharge and Static Accumulation, as these talents increase the frequency of procs.

Should I Be Using Earth Elemental as a DPS Cooldown?

Generally, no. While Earth Elemental can deal some damage, the increase is minimal, and the AI can be unpredictable. It’s much more useful as a survival tool, especially with the additional health granted by Primordial Bond.

How Does Flowing Spirits Work?

The exact details are unclear due to server-side scripting, but the general behavior is:

Without Elemental Spirits: Any ability has a chance to summon a wolf. Additional triggers come from Unruly Winds, Stormflurry, and Doom Winds.
With Elemental Spirits: Only magic-based abilities can trigger wolves. Elemental Blast and Primordial Wave count as Fire spells at all times.
Maximum Active Procs: You can have up to four procs active at once (or eight wolves with the current set bonus).

Should I Use Crash Lightning in Single Target?

Yes, if it’s included in your build. It acts as a low-priority filler when no other abilities are available. If using Unrelenting Storms, some builds prioritize it slightly more.

Which Race is Best for Enhancement Shaman?

The differences between races are minimal in terms of DPS output.

Horde: Orc and Tauren are solid choices.
Alliance: Dwarf and Mechagnome perform well.
Ultimately, choose the race you enjoy the most.

What Piece of Gear is Better?

The best way to determine upgrades is to simulate your character. There is no universal answer, as every gear piece, set bonus, and talent choice interacts differently with your stats.

Use Raidbots to compare gear.
Look at WarcraftLogs to see what top players are using.

What Target Count Should I Switch to Chain Lightning?

If talented into Elemental Blast, switch at three or more targets.
Otherwise, as soon as two targets are present.

Should I Put My Highest Item Level Weapon in the Off-Hand?

No! Your Main Hand weapon contributes significantly more damage, and Lava Lash does not deal enough to justify prioritizing an off-hand weapon. Always equip the highest DPS weapon in your Main Hand.

How Does Deeply Rooted Elements Work?

With Patch 11.0.5, the way this talent procs has changed significantly.

It has a cumulative 0.24% chance per cast, increasing each time Lightning Bolt or Chain Lightning is used.
It includes echo casts from Primordial Wave, Arc Discharge, and procs from Thorim’s Invocation.
It will eventually guarantee a proc at around 40 casts.

Should I Play Around Elemental Spirits?

Yes, depending on your build.

If using Elemental Spirits, pool Elemental Blast charges to maximize damage during spirit uptime.
Use Hailstorm or Sundering appropriately before your spirit expires to ensure maximum damage.

Is Double Flametongue a Good Idea?

No. While equipping two Flametongue Weapons activates Elemental Weapons and grants an extra talent point, the second Flametongue Weapon does nothing in PvE content.

Should I Play Totemic or Stormbringer?

Stormbringer is currently the strongest and recommended for most situations.
Totemic is viable after the Patch 11.0.5 buffs, but still slightly behind.

Should I Use Lava Burst?

No. There is no current Enhancement build where using Lava Burst is beneficial over other Maelstrom spenders.

Do I Lose Cooldown Reduction from Witch Doctor’s Ancestry if I’m Maelstrom Capped?

No. Even if you overcap Maelstrom, the cooldown reduction still applies. However, you should try to avoid overcapping whenever possible.

Should I Worry About Wasting Secondary Stats?

No. There are no strict secondary stat breakpoints for Enhancement Shaman.

Haste, Mastery, and Critical Strike all remain useful.
Sim your character to determine the best stat balance based on your current gear.