WoW Forever Shaman Guide: Races, Specs, Racials and Leveling to 60

Blizzard reworked all 9 classes for Forever and has written up 1 of them, the Paladin, in full. The Shaman kit is still to come, and Blizzard says more class posts follow in videos and articles. The card above holds every line Blizzard has said about the class so far. The sections below spell out what each line means for a Dwarf, an Orc or a Skyborne Shaman, and where the Classic Shaman is the only reference we have.

Race	Faction	How you get it
Dwarf	Alliance	New in Forever. Free with a subscription
Orc	Horde	As in Classic
Troll	Horde	As in Classic
Tauren	Horde	As in Classic
Skyborne	Horde only for Shaman	The Skyborne Heroic Pack, $29.99 or higher. Starts on Zephras Isle, levels 1 to 12

Every race now has 2 active and 2 passive racials, and Blizzard has detailed the Dwarf set because of the new combo. Stoneform removes bleed, poison and disease and cuts physical damage taken by 10% for 8 seconds, on a 3-minute cooldown. Find Treasure stays on next to any other tracking. Mace Specialization gives 1% crit with all spells and abilities while any mace is equipped, and Blizzard says Shamans will now care about carrying a mace for it. Big Game Hunter gives a Dwarf Shaman 5% more damage against Beasts.

Blizzard has not published the Orc, Troll and Tauren sets yet. Skyborne Shamans exist because Horde Skyborne work with the Earthen Ring; Alliance Skyborne get the Mage instead. The full Dwarf page is Dwarf Shaman.

Elemental, Enhancement and Restoration are the 3 trees, and Blizzard says every spec was updated. 2 of the 3 are named in its published changes.

Enhancement. Blizzard names Enhancement with Retribution Paladins as the specs that gain most from 1 hit stat: shocks and swings used to want 2 different caps, now they share 1. Crit is merged the same way. Weapon skill stays valuable but comes in smaller amounts per item.

Restoration. Every class that heals with mana gets mana back from Spirit in combat, and Blizzard calls out Restoration Shamans by name. Healing power now includes 1/3 of bonus spell damage, so a healing set quests too. Chain Heal remains the Shaman's answer for a whole party, and Blizzard used it as the contrast when it described the Paladin's new group heal.

Elemental. Blizzard has not said anything specific about Elemental yet. It gets the caster changes every class shares: 1 hit stat, 1 crit stat and caster weapons that grant spell damage. In Classic the spec was Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning and the shocks. Which of that changes is Blizzard's to publish.

Shaman trees keep the Classic shape: 3 trees, 7 rows, 1-point gold talents at 11, 21 and 31 points, and a new 4th at 16. Some talents are unchanged from patch 1.12, some improved, and new ones fill the space the buff talents left. Blizzard's aim is that all 27 trees earn a group spot, with real tradeoffs between them.

Blizzard has not published the Shaman talent names yet. 2 game-wide facts still shape a build. Talents that used to grant raid buffs, such as Blessing of Kings and Divine Spirit, are now baseline for their classes. A group no longer asks a Paladin, a Priest or a Druid to spend points on buffs, so the totems a Shaman brings stand out as group utility. And Spirit regen in combat means a Restoration tree wants Spirit on gear again.

How to read the 4 milestones and plan a build is on the talent calculator guide. Every class change Blizzard has published is on class changes.

A level 60 Shaman can raid from 9 December 2026, when Barrow Deeps (10 players), Hyjal Summit (20) and Onyxia's Lair (40) open. Every boss drops a chase item, and new tier sets exist for every class, the Shaman included.

A 10-player raid needs its healers to cover a lot, and Restoration with Spirit regen in combat is built for long fights. A 40-player raid is where totems reach the most people. Enhancement with 1 hit stat gears from the same drops as the melee around it. Blizzard has not published dungeon or raid roles per class, so these are the roles Classic gave the Shaman, carried into the new numbers.

The raid tier, the loot rules and the 5-week plan are on the raids guide.

Whichever of the 5 races you pick, the Shaman levels at the average pace of the 9 classes on the Classic reference. Plan on about 150 hours of play for a quest-led climb from 1 to 60.

The start depends on the race. A Dwarf starts in Dun Morogh and reaches Hall of Thanes at 13 to 18. Orc, Troll and Tauren take the Horde path through Ruins of Lordaeron at 15 to 20. A Windshaper Skyborne finishes Zephras Isle around level 12, then joins the shared world.

Mobs inside dungeons now give less XP than they did in Classic. Dungeon quests pay more on your 1st run, so a Shaman clears each dungeon once and goes back to questing. Every race meets in the Riverglades from the mid 30s, then Krol'dok at 40 to 45 and Hyjal at 55 to 60.

Playing 3 hours a night from launch, you reach 60 with your Shaman around 24 December. A booster playing your character gets there in November. The booster calendars and prices are on the WoW Forever power leveling page.

Every Shaman race can be booked for leveling. An Orc, Troll, Tauren or Skyborne Shaman goes on the shared leveling slider. The Dwarf Shaman in the leveling builder fixes the class and race before the 1st session and runs the same route from 1 to 60.

A Shaman order cancelled before the 1st session is refunded in full. We re-check the hours against the beta, and the price of a placed pre-order is locked.

Coaching is $29 an hour for players who level the Shaman themselves. The Pro builds the plan around the 4 gold talents and the merged hit stat, and names each Shaman line Blizzard has not published yet.