Jeamyr hits 60 & gets a new spec!!!

After 60 levels of being an Enhancement Shaman, I finally thought it was time to try out a different spec. I decided to give Elemental a try and respecced to 41/0/10. Don't get me wrong, enhancement is an awesome leveling build, but I was just itching to try something new. Another part of my decision was the fact that many of the Outland quest rewards seem to be geared towards elemental shamans rather than enhancement shamans.

My first impressions on my new elemental build is that I'm not sure I like it...lol. I was expecting it to play a lot like a mage, but it's nowhere near as efficient as a mage. Unless I'm missing something, as an elemental shaman, you have no way to snare your target. As a result, as soon as you pull, you don't have a lot of time before the mob gets into melee range. I'm only able to get off 2 or 3 lightning bolts before the mob starts beating on me, then it becomes difficult to cast a lightning bolt because you keep on loosing casting time. Another problem is that a shaman has no way to root a target to gain some range again. I guess the idea is that since you have mail armor & a shield, you should be able to take some damage and finish the mob off with melee attacks and your shocks. So far, this spec seems fairly mana inefficient. However, in 2 levels I will get Water Shield, so maybe that will help.

I'm not going to make a hasty judgment, so I'll try this spec out for a few levels before I give up on it. The good thing is that all the gear I get should be helpful if I decide to switch to a restoration spec down the road.