Overview
An elemental hybrid whose totem decisions follow the party’s position and the encounter. Elemental, Enhancement and Restoration use the same class toolkit for different jobs.
- Role
- Healer · Ranged / Melee DPS
- Primary stats
- Intellect or weapon stats, by build
- Combat range
- Ranged / melee
- Resource
- Mana
Move Your Totems, Replace One, or Recall Everything?
Use Totemic Projection to move existing totems, Totemic Recall to remove them all and recover part of their cost, and a Call spell to summon a saved set. These are different jobs. Knowing which button to use avoids a full four-totem setup when only one position or utility effect needs changing.
WoW Forever gives all totems a 1-second global cooldown. Persistent buff totems last five minutes; short-lived effects do not automatically gain that duration. The tracking UI shows active totems and remaining time, and right-clicking a totem there dismisses that individual totem.
Choose the action that matches the situation
| Situation | Tool and unlock | What to account for |
|---|---|---|
| You need a complete saved setup | Call of the Elements, level 20 | Summons four preset totems, one per element, after a 3-second cast. Costs the sum of all four totems’ mana costs. |
| The group moved and your active set is still useful | Totemic Projection, level 22 | Moves all your active totems to a location within 30 yards. Base cooldown: one minute. Base cost: 25% of base mana; talents can reduce the cost or cooldown. |
| You are leaving a position and want every totem gone | Totemic Recall, level 20 | Instantly removes all active totems and returns 25% of their mana cost. This is a partial refund, not a full reset of your mana. |
| Only one active totem must disappear | Right-click its tracking UI entry | Dismisses that totem. Do not treat individual dismissal as the documented Recall refund. |
| You need a different effect from one element | Cast the replacement totem | Choose the specific utility you need rather than paying for another complete Call setup. |
Call of the Spirits at level 30 adds a second saved set; Call of the Ancestors at level 40 adds a third. Use these slots for genuinely different situations—for example, a routine damage setup and a utility setup for a particular encounter. A Call is a three-second cast, so prepare before the pull when possible.
Recall’s missing mana refund was a beta bug corrected in the October 1 notes. Elemental Reach now reduces Projection’s cooldown by 10/20 seconds, while Totemic Focus discounts Projection and Call spells. Check your talented values before planning repeated moves.
Which Totem Buffs Stack?
Grace of Air can coexist with Windfury or Flametongue Totem. Windfury and Flametongue Totem remain mutually exclusive. The October 16 update changed the earlier Grace of Air restriction, so an older explanation can lead you to remove a compatible buff.
- Grace of Air + Windfury Totem: compatible.
- Grace of Air + Flametongue Totem: compatible.
- Windfury Totem + Flametongue Totem: mutually exclusive; coordinate the chosen effect with other Shaman.
- Windfury Weapon + Windfury Totem on yourself: your weapon imbue prevents you benefiting from that same totem effect. Flametongue Weapon has the equivalent restriction with Flametongue Totem.
- A weapon imbue + a sharpening stone, weightstone or wizard oil: can coexist. Weapon imbues now last 60 minutes.
Grace of Air, Strength of Earth, Windfury Totem and Flametongue Totem are now raid-wide. Resistance totems also provide their resistance bonus to the raid. Windfury and Flametongue Totem affect players only; do not count them as pet buffs. Raid-wide coverage also does not turn your personal Rage of the Farseer into a raid cooldown.
Fire Nova Starts at Your Fire Totem
Fire Nova is a spell that erupts at the location of your current Fire Totem. You do not place a new Fire Nova Totem for each cast. If enemies have moved away from that location, casting Nova again does not move the damage to your current target.
- Identify where the enemies will be held, then place your Fire Totem there.
- When the tank moves the pack, check whether the totem still covers it.
- Reposition your set with Projection when appropriate, or replace the Fire Totem if only that element needs moving.
- Use Fire Nova when enemies are actually at the totem’s location and you can afford its mana cost.
October 16 reduced Fire Nova’s base damage, spell-power coefficient and mana cost. That makes old beta damage demonstrations a poor basis for promising current pull sizes or damage. Grounding Totem is also correctly destroyed after redirecting a spell; it is a single interception, not ongoing immunity for the whole pull.
Elemental: Use the Revised Talent Gates
The current milestones are Earthbound at 16 points, Lava Burst at 21, and Elemental Mastery at 31. Elemental Mastery returned in the October 16 update; the original deep dive’s statement that it was removed is superseded.
Lava Burst deals 20% more damage when the target has your Flame Shock. This version is not described as a guaranteed critical strike. Call of Flame can extend Flame Shock by 3/6/9 seconds, making its remaining duration relevant before your next Lava Burst.
Elemental Mastery lasts 15 seconds on a three-minute cooldown. It reduces Lightning Bolt and Lava Burst cast times by 0.5 seconds and removes Chain Lightning’s cooldown during the effect. It requires Lava Burst. Plan a window in which you can cast, rather than activating it just before movement interrupts your spell sequence.
Elemental Alacrity is now in row two. Lightning Overload requires it, and Elemental Fury requires Lightning Overload; Call of Thunder was removed. Use the revised tree instead of spending toward an obsolete screenshot. Overload activations no longer consume Clearcasting.
Enhancement: Weave Your Own Stormstrike Follow-up
Stormstrike is a 16-point talent with an eight-second cooldown and a cost of 8% of base mana. Its effect increases your next Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning or Earth Shock by 20%. Other players and pets cannot spend your effect, and a spell that fails to land no longer consumes it.
Maelstrom Weapon stacks can reduce Lightning Bolt’s cast time, eventually making it instant with sufficient ranks and charges. The announced mechanic specifically names Lightning Bolt: do not import another expansion’s assumption that every heal or Chain Lightning automatically becomes instant too.
Spirit Weapons at 21 points reduces threat without Rockbiter Weapon and increases it while using Rockbiter. Check your imbue before entering a damage role. Blizzard describes the tanking application as temporary small-group play; it does not establish an endgame raid-tank build.
Improved Ghost Wolf’s first rank enables indoor use and reduces the cast by one second; its second rank makes the cast instant. Rage of the Farseer is a personal attack-speed cooldown, not group Bloodlust or a spell-casting-speed bonus.
Restoration: Match Your Shield and Chain Heal Target
Water Shield is an 11-point talent and only one shield can be active at a time. Its globes provide mana when attacks hit you; the October update also allows triggers from any critical spell you cast, expanding the original critical-heal restriction. Replacing it with another shield changes that resource setup.
Mana Tide Totem is a 16-point talent, with ranks at levels 25, 38, 48 and 58. Riptide is the 31-point talent: an instant heal followed by a 15-second heal over time, with a six-second cooldown. Chain Heal casts on a target carrying your Riptide gain 25% effectiveness. When that target needs healing, use it as your Chain Heal starting target to gain the interaction.
Talents begin at level 10, trainer visits are required to change them, and Dual Specialization opens at level 40. For faction and race availability, use our race/class reference; for your first session, see the login and settings guide.
Updated November 1: mechanics checked against Blizzard’s class deep dive, October 1 fixes and October 16 class update. These are announced beta rules ahead of launch, not a tested level-60 damage ranking.
Cover: Blizzard’s preview of new race/class combinations—Human Hunter, Gnome Priest and Dwarf Shaman. Official preview. © Blizzard Entertainment.
