WoW Forever gives every Shaman a Totem Bar that drops four totems in one cast, makes Lava Burst, Rage of the Farseer and Riptide its 31-point talents, and moves Stormstrike and Mana Tide Totem to the new 16-point row. Orcs, Tauren, Trolls and Windshaper Skyborne can play the class, and so can Dwarves, the Alliance's only Shamans: Dwarf Shaman is one of Forever's six new race and class combinations. Here is what the beta client (build 1.60.1.70205) and Blizzard's September 24 and October 1 beta notes show.
What every Shaman gets
- Call of the Elements (level 20), Call of the Ancestors (30) and Call of the Spirits (40) each place up to 4 totems from the Totem Bar in one 3-second cast, each with its own set.
- Totemic Recall (level 20, instant) returns your totems and refunds 25% of their mana cost, a refund the October 1 notes fix; Totemic Projection (level 22) relocates them once a minute.
- Fire Nova replaces Fire Nova Totem, gone from the beta's Shaman spells: from level 12, an instant blast of 48 to 56 Fire damage (396 to 442 at rank 5) on enemies within 10 yards of your active Fire totem, on a 10-second cooldown.
- Totems stack less, per the September 24 notes: Flametongue Totem no longer stacks with itself, Flametongue Weapon or Windfury Totem, and Windfury, Grace of Air and Tranquil Air Totems no longer stack together, even from different Shamans. The beta client has no Tranquil Air Totem spell at all. The October 1 notes also give Disease Cleansing Totem its intended 5-minute duration and make Ghost Wolf easier to see in well-lit areas.
Elemental: Lava Burst and faster casts
- Elemental Alacrity (10 points in the tree, 3 ranks): Reduces the cast time of your Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning and Lava Burst by 0.5 sec.
- Improved Fire Nova (15 points in the tree, 2 ranks): Increases Fire Nova's damage by 20% and reduces its cooldown by 4 sec.
- Elemental Reach (20 points in the tree, 2 ranks): Adds 6 yards to the range of Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Fire Nova and Lava Burst, and 15 yards to Flame Shock.
- Lightning Overload (20 points in the tree, 3 ranks): Gives Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning a 10% chance to cast a second, similar spell on the same target for free, at half damage and no threat.
- Earthbound (20 points in the tree, 1 rank): Your Earthbind Totem immobilizes nearby targets for 5 sec when cast.
- Lava Burst (30 points in the tree, 1 rank): Hurls molten lava for 143 to 185 Fire damage, 20% more if your Flame Shock is on the target, with a 2.5-second cast and a 10-second cooldown.
The September 24 notes raised Lava Burst's ranks 1 and 2 to about 10% more base damage than the Lightning Bolt learned around the same level, and Lightning Bolt's ranks 3 and 4 so that each rank beats the last. They also swapped Elemental Fury and Elemental Alacrity, now at 25 and 10 points: Blizzard says early critical damage bonuses excite other specializations, but Elemental lacks the critical strike chance to feel them while leveling and needed earlier progression. It adds that the swap affects Enhancement's spell critical damage. Call of Thunder becomes the one-rank 16-point talent, and Elemental Fury grows from 1 rank to 5.