Shaman Leveling
Leveling builds and talent order for Shamans, level 1 to 60. The beta stopped at level 30, so each guide marks what was played there and what is projected from the final beta client. The fastest leveling plan covers the route. Try the builds in the Shaman talent calculator or read the endgame guides. The Shaman class journey lines them up by level, with dungeons and raids.
Best classes to level a Shaman with
All Shaman combos →No votes yet, so combos are ordered by how many published guides cover them. Votes decide the order as soon as readers start rating the guides.
- 1
Discipline Priest + Enhancement Shaman
DuoHealerDPSTop guide: Priest + Shaman duo leveling 10–30: Discipline Priest talents and shields
- Guides
- 2
- 2
Restoration Shaman + Arms Warrior
DuoHealerDPSTop guide: Shaman + Warrior duo leveling 30–60: Restoration Shaman healer talents
- Guides
- 2
Experience changes that affect this route
The beta changed the leveling maths twice in October, so advice written in September no longer holds. Each entry is what Blizzard wrote, with our reading of it marked separately. Last change .
- The target is parity with questing, not Classic Era dungeon speedAnnounced, not in a build yet
Blizzard's stated aim: after these changes, perfect experience-per-hour dungeon play should land very close to, if not equal to, optimal questing. It also said dungeon experience will not return to Classic Era levels, because dungeon spam being the optimal path fails its design pillars.
What it means for your route: Plan a mixed route. Dungeons are for the levels where an instance sits on your path and the group is close to your level; questing carries the levels in between. A pure dungeon run to 60 is being balanced out of the game on purpose.
Source: Blizzard Entertainment (Aggrend) · Blizzard's reasoning
Legacy Points while you level
UnconfirmedWhere to spend Shaman Legacy Points for solo questing, in the order the points arrive. A character can spend 16, and an account can earn 65 at launch. Stop wherever your total is — the list is cumulative. Effects are quoted from the Beta client 1.60.1.70532 data.
- 1.1 point · 1/16
Well Restedrank 1 · Adventure
Your rested experience accumulates 4% faster and your rested experience cap is increased by 4%.
Only one point here for now — it is the prerequisite for Talented, and rested experience is worth having while you are at it.
- 2.5 points · 6/16
Talentedrank 5 · Adventure
You gain talent points every level starting at level 5 instead of starting at level 10, but you still may not have more than 51 total talent points.
The strongest leveling node in the tree: talent points from level 5 instead of 10, so you reach your first real build five levels sooner.
- 3.5 points · 11/16
Thrill of Adventurerank 5 · Adventure
You gain 5% of your maximum Health and Mana over 10 sec each time you deliver the killing blow to a non-trivial enemy. Ineffective in dungeons, raids, and battlegrounds.
5% of your health and mana back on every killing blow. Solo questing is mostly downtime between fights, and this is the node that removes it. It does nothing in dungeons, raids or battlegrounds.
- 4.1 point · 12/16
Field Guiderank 1 · Adventure
Reduces your cooldown on adding Camp features by 8%
Prerequisite for Frequent Flier, and shortens the wait between camp features.
- 5.1 point · 13/16
Frequent Flierrank 1 · Adventure
You receive a 50% discount on all flight paths, and your flight path mount flies 20% faster.
Half-price flight paths and 20% faster flights. You will fly hundreds of times before 60.
- 6.1 point · 14/16
The Quick and the Deadrank 1 · Resourcefulness
Increases movement speed while dead by 5% and your helpful spells and abilities cost no resources for 1 min after being resurrected or until you enter combat.
Prerequisite for Reagent Economy, and a faster corpse run every time you die.
- 7.1 point · 15/16
Reagent Economyrank 1 · Resourcefulness
Your class abilities no longer require reagents purchaseable from vendors.
No vendor reagents for your class abilities — one less thing to buy on every trip to town.
- 8.1 point · 16/16
Well Restedrank 2 · Adventure
Your rested experience accumulates 8% faster and your rested experience cap is increased by 8%.
The last point goes back into rested experience.
What to skip, and why
- Permanence: Its party-buff half does nothing alone; the camp rest half is not worth three points while you are questing.
- For Great Honor: Honor only, so it waits until you start battlegrounds.
- Diplomat: Reputation matters at 60, not on the way there.
- High Alert, Field Medicine: Stealth detection and bandage timers are situational; neither changes how fast you level.
Variants
- If you gather while you level, one or two points in Bountiful Harvest (20% more scarce materials per rank, Mining, Herbalism and Skinning) pay for your mounts; take them out of the last picks on this list.
- Levelling in dungeons instead? Thrill of Adventure is dead weight there — the dungeon plan on any dungeon leveling guide spends those five points on Permanence, Reinforce and faster corpse runs.
Legacy values are datamined from the beta client and can change. Plan your own spread in the Legacy planner, see where points come from inLegacy Points, or read the Legacy system guide. The order above is our recommendation; the effects are game data.