World of Warcraft: Forever · class guide
Shaman: Changes
What has changed for the Shaman in the Forever beta, newest first. The rest of this guide describes the class as it plays now (client build 1.60.1.70425).
Last updated 2026-10-16, checked 2026-10-16.
- : Skyborne Wind Blessed changed from +1% haste to +3% haste.
- : Orc Shatter Curse changed from immunity and 15% less magic damage taken to dispelling Curses and Banes and 5% less magic damage taken.
- : Orc Savage (+1% crit) replaced Axe Specialization.
- : Troll Regeneration doubled from 10% to 20% health regeneration bonuses.
- : Tauren War Stomp cooldown changed from 2 minutes to 90 seconds.
- : Tauren Endurance changed from +1% hit to 2% critical damage and healing.
- : Dwarf Earth Fury (+2% critical damage and healing) replaced Mace Specialization.
- : The Elemental and Restoration levelling orders were re-spent after Call of Thunder was removed: Tidal Focus first, Reverberation 3, Fury 3.
- : The 31/7/13 build gained a fourth Convection rank when Call of Thunder was removed.
- : Elemental was reworked: Lava Burst moved to 21 points with no prerequisite, Elemental Fury moved behind Lightning Overload and Elemental Mastery returned as the 31-point talent.
- : Chain Lightning's mana cost was cut about 35% on all four ranks.
- : Fire Nova's base damage, mana cost and spell power coefficient were all lowered (coefficient from 0.214 to 0.143).
- : Stormstrike changed from a flat 125 mana to 8% of base mana, and its debuff stopped being used up when your spell misses.
- : Lava Burst moved from the 31-point capstone behind Lightning Overload 3/3 to a 21-point talent with a fourth rank and no prerequisite.
- : Mana Tide Totem gained a rank at 38 (ranks now at 25, 38, 48 and 58).
- : Elemental Alacrity moved to the 2nd row.
- : Elemental Fury began requiring Lightning Overload instead of Call of Thunder.
- : Lightning Overload began requiring Elemental Alacrity, and Lava Burst stopped requiring it.
- : Improved Fire Nova was renamed Trial by Fire.
- : Tidal Focus and Totemic Focus swapped places; Tidal Focus is back in the first row and Totemic Focus moved to the second row of the Restoration tree.
- : Call of Thunder (one rank, +3% crit) was removed from the Elemental talent tree.
- : Grace of Air began stacking with Windfury and Flametongue Totems, and the four buff totems became raid-wide.
- : Windfury and Flametongue Totems stopped affecting pets.
- : Dungeon quest XP was cut; it still pays about 2.2 times Classic's.
- : Respawns were raised in Hillsbrad, Ashenvale, Wetlands, Duskwood and Thousand Needles.
- : Low ranks began getting less from spell power and proc talents less often.
- : Downranked heals far below your level began getting less from healing power.
- : Totemic Recall's mana refund began working.
- : Disease Cleansing Totem's duration was fixed from 2 minutes to 5.
- : Lightning Bolt ranks 3–4 were buffed so each rank stays an upgrade.
- : Rage of the Farseer lost its spell haste.
- : Lava Burst ranks 1–2 were buffed to about 10% above the matching Lightning Bolt.
- : Riptide began to be able to crit.
- : Flametongue Totem lost its duration.
- : Elemental Alacrity moved up to the 10-point row.
Still open
- Shaman class blog: promised by Blizzard; not posted yet.
- Dwarf Air totem: no Alliance Call of Air in the quest data. Can a Dwarf Shaman get air totems at 30?
- Rage of the Storm: a two-handed mace that boosts Stormstrike, said to reward a new level-30 Shaman quest. No database has the quest yet.
- Resistance totems: their tooltips say "party and raid members". Do they reach the whole raid, like the Paladin's resistance auras?
- Tranquil Air Totem: in Blizzard's notes but not in the client. Gone for good, or only hidden?
- Stormstrike: the client reads it as a personal buff, but a Blizzard designer called it "this debuff … that makes nature damage higher". Does a second Shaman's bolt gain from it?
- Two identical totems from two Shamans: probably does not work. Test in a group. (Windfury and Flametongue Totems now affect players only, not pets.)
- Maelstrom Weapon retune: Blizzard knows it gives no instant cast with fewer than five points and is discussing more damage per stack or more frequent stacks. Not in any build.
- Raid-wide buffs: Blizzard is discussing raid-wide versions of some party buffs; totems weren't named.
- Ghost Wolf's cast: the client says 3 seconds, but 1 or 2 is also reported. Read the tooltip in game.
- Dual wield at launch: not in the beta; no Blizzard statement.
- Stormstrike at 25: the talent row opens at 25, but the 70205 spell data lists Stormstrike (and Mana Tide) at level 40, and one planner says earlier access is untested. Cast it at 25 in the beta to find out.
- Everything above level 30 is untested until the beta cap rises.