Troll Shaman

Troll racials

Berserking · active, 3 min

+10% casting and attack speed for 10 sec. Line it up with Lava Burst as Elemental or a Chain Heal burst as Restoration. Confirmed

Rapid Regeneration · active, 3 min

Restore 50% of max health over 6 sec; moving, acting or taking damage breaks it. Saves a drink between pulls. Confirmed

Regeneration · passive

10% of health regeneration continues in combat.

Beast Slaying · passive

+5% damage to Beasts. Durotar, the Barrens and Stonetalon are full of them.

Sept 24 patch, what matters for you Official
Lightning Bolt ranks 3–4 buffed so every rank is an upgrade · Lava Burst ranks 1–2 now about 10% above the same-level Lightning Bolt · Elemental Fury (row 3) and Elemental Alacrity (row 6) swapped places, and the talent tab already shows the new layout · Riptide can crit · Flametongue Totem no longer stacks with Flametongue Weapon or Windfury · Tranquil Air, Windfury and Grace of Air no longer stack across Shamans.

Roleplay profile
Born on the Echo Isles and raised at Sen'jin Village after the Darkspear settled the Durotar coast, this Shaman was called "the underworld cub" because the spirits first spoke to them from the sea caves beneath the isles, not from the sky. Storm and tide answer in equal measure: lightning for those who threaten the tribe, rain and healing waters for those who carry it. They mine the hills and tinker with goblin gadgets because a Darkspear on the road digs their own ore and makes their own luck.
Hooks: Sen'jin Village, the Echo Isles, Vol'jin's Darkspear, the Valley of Trials trainer, and the new Darkspear Islands 15v15 battleground Official. Forever is Classic-era: later Darkspear history has not happened yet.

Key decisions

Spec analysis

Baseline (all Shaman)

Changes

Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning cast faster than Classic (Lightning Bolt max rank 2.5 sec). Totemic Projection and Totemic Recall move totems up to 30 yards; Call of the Elements drops a full totem set with one 3-sec cast. Ghost Wolf can be made instant and usable everywhere. Fire Nova is now a cast that makes your Fire Totem explode (30 yd). Hit and crit are unified across melee, ranged and spells, and healing gear now also carries spell damage, which makes an Elemental/Restoration gear overlap much easier (Deep Dive panel). The Oct 7 Blizzard deep dive (Official) adds: totem global cooldown 1.0 sec; buff totems last 5 minutes; weapon imbues last 60 minutes and work alongside sharpening stones and wizard oil; Totemic Recall at level 20 (refunds 25% of totem mana), Call of the Elements at 20, Totemic Projection at 22 (1-min cooldown), then a second preset totem set at 30 (Call of the Spirits) and a third at 40 (Call of the Ancestors); Tranquil Air Totem is removed, and Windfury Totem cannot be combined with Flametongue Totem or Grace of Air.

Class quests

Race-specific totem chains for Earth, Fire, Water and (in progress) Air, roughly levels 4–30, each ending with an elemental fight and a totem plus a signature spell Confirmed. For Trolls, Earth starts at level 4 with Call of Earth from Canaga Earthcaller in the Valley of Trials; Fire starts around level 10 Reported (one source; may be Classic-baseline).

Watch-outs

Beta datamining shows lower caster spell coefficients than Classic; Blizzard answered part of that with the Sept 24 Lightning Bolt and Lava Burst buffs. Dungeon leveling: dungeon mobs give more XP than in Classic and dungeon quests carry the bonus XP; the Oct 1 build halved that quest bonus and the Oct 8 build raised dungeon kill XP by about 20% (both Official).

Elemental (ranged caster DPS)

Kit

Lava Burst capstone (20% stronger on targets with your Flame Shock), Lightning Overload (Nature spells sometimes duplicate), Elemental Reach (+15 yd), Earthbound (Earthbind roots for 5 sec), Convection/Elemental Focus for mana.

Rotation

Drop totems before the pull (Searing Totem last) → open with Lightning Bolt at range → Flame Shock and keep it up → Lava Burst on cooldown → Fire Nova on 3+ targets → fill with Lightning Bolt. Strength of Earth for the group is worth more than a personal DPS totem. Reported Warcraft Tavern.

Stat priority

Spell Power > Hit > Haste > Crit > Intellect > Mp5 > Spirit > Stamina Reported. Icy Veins and Warcraft Tavern agree on the top three; Haste vs Crit order differs.

Weak spots

The tree only documents 46 of 51 points, and early talents are thin ("not particularly exciting," Icy Veins). Beta players still call it close to one-button at low level. Elemental Mastery is removed (Blizzard, Oct 7); the milestone talents are Call of Thunder at 16 points, Earthbound at 21 and Lava Burst at 31.

Restoration (healer)

Kit

Riptide capstone (direct heal + HoT, and Chain Heal heals 25% more on its target; can now crit), Water Shield (2% mana per orb consumed), Restorative Totems (+25% Mana Spring, +50% Healing Stream), Healing Way (+25% Healing Wave), Tidal Focus (hit + cheaper heals), Mana Tide Totem, Nature's Swiftness.

Dungeon playbook

Place totems before the pull, keep Strength of Earth up, Tremor Totem for fears and Earthbind for runners, weave Lightning Bolt or Fire Nova when healing is quiet, keep Reincarnation for wipes. Buy Ankhs from your Engineering Reagent Bot at camp. Reported Icy Veins.

Stat priority while leveling

Healing Power > Crit/Haste > Intellect/Mp5 > Spirit/Stamina Reported.

Unknowns

Earth Shield is not confirmed for Forever; only a player feedback thread asks for it. The Oct 7 Blizzard deep dive does not mention it; the Restoration milestones are Water Shield (11 points), Mana Tide Totem (16) and Riptide (31).

Gear and extras

• Leveling: healing gear now also carries spell damage, so one set of Intellect/spell-power leather (then mail from 40) serves both specs. The Orc Hunter's Leatherworking patterns cover most slots: leather before 40, Skycaller's and Mender's mail after.
• Class weapons around level 40 Confirmed: the Shaman chain that follows the Air totem quest ends with The Tempest's Weapons (Bath'rah the Windwatcher, Alterac Mountains). Steps: kill Charlga Razorflank in Razorfen Kraul (Elemental Aid), collect 20 totems from murlocs in Dustwallow Marsh, centaurs in Desolace, Lost Ones in Swamp of Sorrows and troggs in Badlands (Storm, Earth, and Fire), then an elite fight at the Thousand Needles steam pools (Heed My Call). Pick Lightning's Grasp for Elemental (spell power, +1% Lightning Bolt crit) or Tidebringer's Claw for Restoration (healing, +2% Healing Wave and Lesser Healing Wave crit); the Elementalist's Guard shield comes with either. Plan a group for Razorfen Kraul and the elite step. Since the Oct 8 build Official the totem creatures respawn faster and drop totems more often, more creatures drop them (Maraudine Scouts, Ongeku, Murdaloc and Dustbelcher ogres across the Badlands), and the Eye of the Tempest for Heed My Call drops for the whole group; before that the drop rate was about 25% Reported.
• Dalaran Sewer Key (about level 30) Confirmed: the Horde attunement for the City of Dalaran dungeon (levels 28–33). Start with Magus Wordeen Voidglare in Tarren Mill and set your hearthstone there: Prison Break In and Key to the City (Lordamere Internment Camp) → Dalaran Patrols (Dalaran ruins) → Blood in the Streets (swim Lordamere Lake from Silverpine to the Image of Archmage Modera at the sewer tunnel, about 8.8, 59.6 in Alterac Mountains) → Heart of Disruption, which puts the key on your keyring. Keeper Bel'varil's two side quests are not needed. Before the run, also take The Grave Knight (Melisara, Tarren Mill), Source of Power (Doctor Martin Felben, Undercity) and Opportunistic Education (Rexxie Copperclutch by the tunnel) Reported. The Arcane Mote drops from Shade of the Archmage, the last boss. Reward pick Analysis: Enchanted Sandals (spell damage and healing) or the Striking Staff (+14 Intellect) if your weapon is behind; Battle Spaulders are mail, which you cannot wear before 40. On the Oct 8 build the follow-up Shrewd Negotiations (Archmage Celindra) let Horde walk the city of Dalaran, but Blizzard's Josh Greenfield said on Oct 9 that full Horde access "isn't really intended" and that adjustments are likely, so do not plan around it Confirmed.
• Crafted tier sets (datamined) Reported: made with Malleable Essence of Nature from disenchanted raid loot (3 per slot). The Spiritcaller's Storm for Elemental and The Spiritcaller for Restoration; bonuses are on the Tactics page.
• Totem relics come from Enchanting, not Engineering (4 sources): Polished Driftwood Icon (skill 130, 8% mana regen while casting), Totem of Ancestral Protection (210), Totem of Thunder (300, +1% Lightning Bolt crit). Buy them from an enchanter; whether they are tradeable is not yet known.
• Riding Reported: Apprentice Riding at level 40 costs 100 gold to train (60% mounts about 20 gold; one creator relays that the first mount is free) and Journeyman Riding at 60 costs 1,000 gold; Honored with your home faction takes 10% off. Train with the Troll riding trainer (Warcraft Tavern). Keep 100 gold aside for level 40.

Still unknown (launch will tell)

• What will respecs cost at launch, and will Dual Specialization be added?
• At what level does The Tempest's Weapons chain open (level 30 per Icy Veins; Wowhead lists its steps at 33 to 40)?
• Does Earth Shield exist for Restoration in Forever?
• Do the Sept 24 Elemental Fury/Alacrity swap and its prerequisites change the Elemental leveling order?
• Do Troll Shamans still train with Canaga Earthcaller, and where does the Water totem chain start?
• Are Enchanting totem relics tradeable?
• Which talents fill Elemental's 5 undocumented points?
• Will Berserking be toned down before launch? Blizzard said on Oct 8 that the Troll and Orc active racials are under review.
• What will the Dalaran chain still give Horde once Blizzard adjusts it? Full city access (after Shrewd Negotiations) is not intended, per Blizzard on Oct 9.

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