Shaman

Shaman are spiritual guides who work with the elements rather than with the divine. They act as go-betweens for earth, fire, water and air, and call down totems that bend these forces to help allies or punish enemies. They can fight close or at range, and a wise shaman picks the approach that suits the enemy.

They are a hybrid class: one spec heals, one casts damage spells from range and one fights in melee. Every shaman has Bloodlust or Heroism, a big haste boost for the whole raid, plus tools like Hex and Purge. Reincarnation and Ancestral Spirit let a shaman recover from a group wipe without outside help, and Astral Recall works like a second Hearthstone with a shorter cooldown.

Totems are unique to shaman. They are placed on the ground during combat to boost the shaman's effect or hinder enemies, with effects ranging from extra healing to more damage and crowd control. A totem cannot be moved once placed, so think about where it goes before you drop it.

Restoration gets totems as part of the spec, for example Healing Stream Totem, the raid-wide Healing Tide Totem and Spirit Link Totem. The other specs reach more totems through talents.

The hero talent trees are Farseer (Elemental and Restoration), Stormbringer (Elemental and Enhancement) and Totemic (Enhancement and Restoration). See Specializations.

Shaman wear mail and can use shields. They cannot use swords, polearms, warglaives or any ranged weapon. Enhancement wants Agility weapons; Elemental and Restoration want an Intellect main-hand with a shield, or a staff. Since patch 7.0.3 (2016) a new shaman starts in mail at level 1.