Totem Talk: Gearing your low-level enhancement shaman
by Josh Myers 
Apr 9th 2011 at 8:00PM
Over the past four months that I've been at WoW Insider, I've spent a lot of time talking about enhancement shaman in World of Warcraft's endgame. From articles on gearing up through heroics, making the most efficient reputation choices, or killing Nefarian, almost all of my articles have dealt with playing at level 85. However, whether it's someone starting the game for the first time or someone who is just starting leveling a tenth alt, there are people out there without enhancement shaman at 85 yet -- shocking and unfortunate, I know!
Gear is an important part of leveling, as being well-geared means you're killing mobs more quickly and taking less damage, resulting in maximizing your efficiency. While it's theoretically possible to level an enhancement shaman in full cloth quest gear while dual wielding daggers, it won't be your smartest decision. That sounds like something Fox Van Allen would do, which means it probably isn't in your best interest.
Armor choices
Gear follows the same basic principles for low levels that it does at 85. Agility is still your bread-and-butter stat, giving you 2 attack power and some crit (depending on your level) per point. From levels 1 to 39, you'll be wanting leather gear. At 40, you'll start to make the transition to mail gear. While Mail Specialization is really nice, remember that it's only really important at level cap. If you have the choice between mail quest shoulders or the leather Stained Shadowcraft Spaulders, taking the 5% agility hit is worth the 10% experience gain.
For anyone with access to heirlooms, I strongly suggest purchasing the entire set before leveling up any new character. I started a warrior less than a week ago, and he's currently sitting at level 51. The 35% experience bonus from helm, shoulders, cape, and chest are just ridiculously good. The fact that all of the heirlooms are either on par with or better than same level rare drops is icing on the cake.
As enhancement, you have no real choice in helm or cloak heirlooms. For helm, you're going to grab the Tarnished Raging Berserker's Helm. For cloaks, you'll want the Inherited Cape of the Black Baron. These two heirlooms server a dual purpose: First, they make leveling easier. Second, their haste itemization makes it clear from level 1 that all mail/agility gear you will ever see is itemized for hunters. Learning this lesson at level one makes it much less painful at 85. You cannot enchant the heirloom helm, but if you have the discretionary income, you can hit the cloak with Enchant Cloak - Stealth. This gives 8 extra agility, which is awesome for low levels.
With shoulders, you have a choice. (Note: This will probably be less of a choice and more dependent on whether you have excess justice points or honor.) Champion Herod's Shoulder is a PvE-oriented heirloom purchasable with justice points, while Prized Beastmaster's Mantle exchanges crit for resilience and is purchasable with honor. They're both heavy on the all-important agility, so the choice is ultimately up to you. Unfortunately, there are no enchants for shoulder heirlooms.
For your chest, Champion's Deathdealer Breastplate is the only option. For enchants, there are two choices. For primarily PvE content, go with Greater Stats, as it gives 12 attack power, 40 hit points, spellpower and crit. If you want to level primarily through PvP, Enchant Chest - Major Health might be a better choice. You'd sacrifice some damage for greater survivability.
For trinkets, you're either going to want to grab an Inherited Insignia of the Horde/Alliance or two pure DPS trinkets. If you choose two DPS trinkets, you're probably going to want to grab double Discerning Eye of the Beast. At level 85, intellect is worth .87 EP in my gear. Haste is worth .35. Intellect more than doubles haste's equivalency points. At lower levels, when Earth Shock will be some of your biggest burst, it's even more important. That said, trinkets are your absolute lowest priority for heirloom purchases.
Weapons
The core of any enhancement shaman's DPS is weapons. Unfortunately, even though they're the biggest damage increase, heirloom weapons provide no experience bonus. As a result, they should be your second-to-last purchase, with only trinkets coming later.
If you still have the justice points to spend by the time you get for weapons, spring for dual wielding Venerable Mass of McGowans. A Bloodied Arcanite Reaper will serve you well for your first 10 levels too, but it's not worth buying if you're not going to be leveling a paladin, warrior, or death knight any time soon. You only want weapons that are of 2.6 speed or slower. Blue-quality 2.6 weapons will end up better than heirloom daggers, especially as you get higher in levels.
For weapon enchants, you have two main choices. First is Crusader, which is a 1 proc-per-minute enchant that gives you 100 strength for 15 seconds. The second is Enchant Weapon - Agility, which is a static 15 agility per weapon. There isn't an actual ICD on Crusader proccing, but for the sake of math, we'll assume it actually procs once per minute. This means that Crusader is equal to a static 25 strength on your weapon, though it can be timed with procs or racials for greater effect. 25 strength is equal to 25 attack power and no crit, while 15 agility is 30 attack power and crit that varies based on your level. It's the better enchant if all you're leveling is a shaman, but Crusader works if you're planning on leveling a fury warrior down the line.
For trinkets, you're either going to want to grab an Inherited Insignia of the Horde/Alliance or two pure DPS trinkets. If you choose two DPS trinkets, you're probably going to want to grab double Discerning Eye of the Beast. At level 85, intellect is worth .87 EP in my gear. Haste is worth .35. Intellect more than doubles haste's equivalency points. At lower levels, when Earth Shock will be some of your biggest burst, it's even more important. That said, trinkets are your absolute lowest priority for heirloom purchases.
Weapons
The core of any enhancement shaman's DPS is weapons. Unfortunately, even though they're the biggest damage increase, heirloom weapons provide no experience bonus. As a result, they should be your second-to-last purchase, with only trinkets coming later.
If you still have the justice points to spend by the time you get for weapons, spring for dual wielding Venerable Mass of McGowans. A Bloodied Arcanite Reaper will serve you well for your first 10 levels too, but it's not worth buying if you're not going to be leveling a paladin, warrior, or death knight any time soon. You only want weapons that are of 2.6 speed or slower. Blue-quality 2.6 weapons will end up better than heirloom daggers, especially as you get higher in levels.
For weapon enchants, you have two main choices. First is Crusader, which is a 1 proc-per-minute enchant that gives you 100 strength for 15 seconds. The second is Enchant Weapon - Agility, which is a static 15 agility per weapon. There isn't an actual ICD on Crusader proccing, but for the sake of math, we'll assume it actually procs once per minute. This means that Crusader is equal to a static 25 strength on your weapon, though it can be timed with procs or racials for greater effect. 25 strength is equal to 25 attack power and no crit, while 15 agility is 30 attack power and crit that varies based on your level. It's the better enchant if all you're leveling is a shaman, but Crusader works if you're planning on leveling a fury warrior down the line.
If you can't purchase heirloom weapons, don't fret. The redesigned old world has tons of blue weapon quest rewards for you, and even more drop from instances. Here is a list of some of the blue weapon drops you'll see leveling in instances. While looking at it, remember that weapon DPS is the stat that matters most; the stats/procs are secondary concerns.
- Ragefire Chasm Oggleflint's Inspirer
- The Deadmines Smite's Reaver, Cookie's Tenderizer. (The only agility one-handed weapon in the instance is a sword; awesome itemization is awesome.)
- Wailing Caverns Stinging Viper (I dual wielded these from 18-40 when leveling Elam in The Burning Crusade.) Serpent's Kiss is a little fast, but passable in absence of other options.
- Razorfen Kraul Pronged Reaver
- Scarlet Monastery Graveyard Bloody Brass Knuckles, Ironspine's Fist
- Maraudon, all zones Fist of Stone, Claw of Celebras. The Claw is slightly faster than desired, but passable.
- Uldaman Shovelphlange's Mining Axe, Galgann's Firehammer
- Dire Maul (West) Well Balanced Axe, Timeworn Mace
- Dire Maul (North) Hedgecutter, Jagged Bone Fist
- Razorfen Downs Glutton's Cleaver
That's it for gearing your enhancement reroll; at a later time, we'll look into the nitty-gritty of specs, glyphs, and priority at low levels.
Show your totemic mastery by reading Totem Talk: Enhancement every week. We've got enhancement-specific advice on rep gear, heroic gear, and raiding gear, plus tips on maximizing your utility skills and tactics for raiding Blackwing Descent.
Filed under: Shaman, (Shaman) Totem Talk, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Archara Apr 9th 2011 8:40PM
from your post its not too clear but...
heirloom items that are mail become leather to those who can train it at 40. so the herod shoulders can be worn from 1-80 even tho you train mail as shaman at 40
Jeff (Not that one ^ ) Apr 9th 2011 9:57PM
Mail heirlooms will downgrade to leather until you hit level 40, at which point they will convert to back to mail.
The same is true for the plate (
Jeff (Not that one ^ ) Apr 9th 2011 9:59PM
Apparently "less than" is persona non grata in comments. Anyhoo, I was saying that plate will be listed as mail until you hit level 40 at which point it will turn back into plate.
Somewhat related: I was on my 35 priest earlier today and saw a rogue wearing the Tattered Dreadmist Robe--the cloat int heirloom chest. *Shudder*
Eregos ftw! Apr 9th 2011 11:38PM
@jeff
That's probably the only heirloom he has, so he wears it for quick leveling. It's perfectly viable unless you suck at the game, and it saves you points.
ZephyrSP Apr 9th 2011 10:22PM
I was excited to see this article, since I'm an 58 shaman myself - and while I get tons of great info from Totem Talk, much of it is geared towards 85's. So it was good to see some attention come my way.
But then the whole article is about heirlooms. These are a particular thorn in my side, just because of how insanely good they are. They make PVP unplayable for the average leveling joe like me, and they're quite discouraging in dungeons when the tank is out-damaging me by 1.5x. I know they're a reward for taking the time and effort to level a character, but they sure make us non-heirloom folk look bad.
Zanaji Apr 9th 2011 11:12PM
I sometimes feel that having heirlooms equipped should put one in the no-xp brackets for fairness. And I use them extensively.
Oriflame Apr 9th 2011 11:19PM
try not to sweat it. :) if your tank is in full herilooms, the dungeon is cake and so long as you aren't insanely bad, your dps makes it go faster no matter what. Just pew pew and enjoy your way to 85.
(but yeah, pvp)
Xayíde Apr 11th 2011 7:57AM
Just remember that tank aoe is insane right now, specially at low levels. Even heirloom geared players may lose in dps to tanks in aoe. You should be higher on single target bosses though.
Amaxe Apr 9th 2011 11:04PM
Nice article. Wish something like this was around when I was starting out on my Shaman on TBC.
raine13 Apr 9th 2011 11:20PM
have to disagree on which heirloom trinket to buy.
forget the int or the haste: the +2% health per kill is very nice while out grinding through quest mobs. less down time = more fun time.
Rollo Apr 10th 2011 6:22PM
Is there a lot of downtime? I leveled an enhancement to 50 a few months ago (without heirlooms) and I can't remember having to stop and eat/heal a lot.
raine13 Apr 9th 2011 11:26PM
nice article, but have to disagree on which heirloom trinket to use.
+2% health per kill is great while grinding out quest mobs. less downtime = more fun time!
Baba Apr 10th 2011 6:15AM
As a enh shaman with full heirlooms (read he said trinkets are lowest priority), the mobs don't even get time to reach me before they're dead. Also as it's viable to grind a lot of dungeons, you'll want the mana regen over the health regen.
Grubba Apr 10th 2011 4:17PM
I don't know what you'd be doing to need extra mana regen as enhancement. Maybe if you were talking about leveling one in Wrath (which I tried and hated), but in Cataclysm it is a complete non-issue. The only times my mana ever came close to getting low was when I was trying to heal things in my enhancement spec.
raine13 Apr 9th 2011 11:28PM
oh... first it doesn't show my post at all,.... 5 min later when i repost, they're both there. grrr
Ronin Apr 9th 2011 11:54PM
Well, it's nice to see an article for those of us who are leveling a Shaman for the first time. Cataclysm is a great time to level new characters, and of course many of us Alliance players are trying out Dwarf Shamans. Regardless of how much of the game takes place at level cap, it's encouraging to see articles for those of us enjoying the rest of the re-designed game.
So it was a huge disappointment to see that the article was just about which Heirlooms to get. Really? Even though the introduction implies that it was written with first-time players in mind (without access to Heirlooms)? And even though the rest of us can probably already figure out which ones to get, knowing how important Agility and DPS are?
I'm really underwhelmed, and disappointed that you sold the article as being one thing, when in reality that topic will only be addressed in an article you'll write at "a later time".
Baba Apr 10th 2011 6:19AM
I guess Josh's thinking was:
a) If you're on this website, you probably have a max-level character already,
b) If you're leveling your first character then you won't be caring about streamlining questing.
c) It would bust a bollock and a half to create a comprehensive leveling gear list - are you mad? As long as he said what stats you need (which he did) then you just equip whatever new stuff you come across. I think a lot of people need to bear in mind how they can make their heirlooms go further, so this article was pretty helpful to them I think.
velarya Apr 10th 2011 6:22AM
I do not agree with your gripe at all. When reading the title to the article, I expected help on GEARING a low level enhance shaman. Seeing as new players on new toons are more worried about learning how to play the game, rather than maxing their gear while leveling, I do not see how you assumed the article was for new players only.
Josh Myers Apr 10th 2011 12:11PM
I'm going to chime in here and say that you do have a legitimate concern. The first paragraph could be misleading, and that was not my intent. This post was originally supposed to encompass all of enhancement leveling, but I realized while writing it that fitting everything I had to say about enhancement leveling into 1,000-1,500 words just wouldn't work. To that end, I switched gears from "enhancement shaman leveling" to "enhancement shaman leveling gear," but the opening paragraph was a relic from the original iteration that I didn't see as problematic at the time. To that extent, I apologize!
On the flipside, I'm not sure you realize just how many people have ask me about heirlooms for enhancement shaman. Next to "how do I use unleash weapon?," it's one of the most frequently asked questions to me and something that is asked on the shaman forums almost daily. To that end, I think there is something of worth is discussing heirloom items and how to enchant them properly.
Even beyond heirloom usage, I think there are some nuggets of information to take out of it for players without access to heirlooms. It discusses weapon speed, stat choices, leveling enchants, and provides a list of weapons that are alternatives to heirlooms.
Please keep in mind that this is only the first article in a series on leveling. As there is relatively little news about enhancement, 4.1 won't need more than a single post during the week it is released, which means that articles on leveling should all be coming out in the next month or so. They will be more appropriately targeted towards both beginning players and players with level 85 characters.
Eldoron Apr 10th 2011 1:11PM
Ronin, you know, worse and more disappointing things will happen to you in your long life, you'll think back of this article and say "God how I overreacted it"