Level 29 Elemental Shaman PvP Build

Low level Shaman’s can be great in PvP if you know what you’re doing.

The lack of massive burst damage can make them seem underpowered, and their staple spell in PvE, Lightning Bolt, just takes too long to cast for a lot of situations.

The other KEY problem at this level is the lack of Nature’s Swiftness which gives us an insta cast nature spell, and Elemental Mastery which gives us an insta cast Lightning, or Lava Burst spell, as well as a 15% increase crit chance for 15 seconds.

So what kind of build can make us competitve in PvP, and where does it shine?

Click the image to the right to go to WoW Europe’s Armory with the exact build, or read on to find the guide that goes with the spec.

Level 29 Elemental Shaman PvP Build

Before I go into this 20 point build, let me outline the key talents that go with the build.

Firstly, this build will work from level 26 to 29 – you need level 26 to access the main ability I use in this build (Imp Fire Nova Totem).

As explained earlier, since we don’t have the insta cast help from either Nature’s Swiftness or Elemental Mastery, your key goal with this build should be to provide support, then healing, and lastly secondary DPS.

The talents you need to be most of aware of are:

• Improved Fire Nova Totem (2/2 points),
• Call of Flame (3/3 points), and
• Elemental Fury (5/5 points)

Improved Fire Nova Totem is at the centre of this build thanks to its 2 second stun to all targets hit by its blast.

This is the centre of the build because you’re fairly squishy (easy to kill) at this level, and it allows you precious seconds to heal, or otherwise gain the upper hand in the fight.

The other good point about Fire Nova Totem comes from the other 2 talents I listed above, the 100% extra crit damage, and the extra 15% fire damage, so you’re dishing out some really useful blanket damage and stun here every time you lay your totem.

Here’s a big tip: be sure that when you’re using the Fire Nova Totem to do so wisely.

What I mean by that is, don’t drop the thing before you start fighting!

As soon as you do that, if your opponent is savvy, they’ll realize they’re about to be hit by a big wall of damage (or if they’re really savvy, they’ll know a stun is next) and they’ll whack your totem down.

If you drop it just after you’ve engaged, they’ll likely not notice it, or not be able to react fast enough without severely disrupting their attack on you.

Use the 2 seconds stun time to either cast a lesser healing wave on yourself, or get a lightning bolt off, followed by a fast frost shock, at which stage you can drop an earthbind totem, and run, ready to setup another 1-2 combo with lightning bolt and a shock.

This of course will vary depending on the opponent you face. Stay in a mage’s face and use your Earth Shock, while for Rangers and Warlocks just hit them with Frost to keep them squarely in close combat range. You get the idea.

The other way this build works well on the offence is just finding large packs of enemies and dropping the Fire Nova Totem. Its not very subtle, but in the heat of combat it gets the job done, and can stun a bunch of players in one hit, giving your side a big upper hand.

As you should know, the Shaman really is a class which excels in groups, so I highly recommend you hang out with big groups as often as possible and use those totems heavily.

One last option — while this isn’t a resto PvP spec, you can be a real pain in the ass by simply using your water shield, lesser healing wave, and stunning Fire Nova Totem to stay alive for long enough for friends arrive, or to tie up a player who just wants to steal your flag for an age.

Many times I’ve used this technique against a class like a Hunter and pet attacking me, and stayed alive long enough for even fights to go our way – not to mention stunning the other combatants numerous times while I soaked up a ton of DPS.

You’ll also find at this level you can be very valuable simply by helping to chase down opponents with the flag with Frost shock, or by stalling a pursuit by dropping your Earthbind totem.

So to wrap up – use your Shaman against large groups by dropping that Fire Nova totem, use him on the defence (when you’re not the only one around!) to slow and annoy flag stealers or attackers, and use that big repetoir of harrassing abilities to slow, stun, interrupt and help out your team!

If you’ve got any other tricky moves for low level Shaman builds in PvP, let me know below!

Want Some Tips From 2200 Rated PvP Gladiators?

Check out Ultimate WoW PvP Strategies, and find match up strategies, macro guides, mods, talent specs, and detailed class analysis that’ll help take your PvP game to the next level!

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The Marksmanship Hunter build, or “MM build” is one of the most popular, and hated, builds around.

11/53/7 Marksmanship Build

As you might have guessed, its loved by hunters for its huge burst damage and overall high DPS, and loathed by its enemies in PvP.

The first time I got my aimed shot out and was causing big chunks of burst damage in PvP, I was sold.

But PvP isn’t the only arena MM Hunters shine, they’re also great in raids with high DPS, high survivability, and a range of helpful talents like Improved Hunter’s Mark.

Today I’d like to show you a 3.1 ready Marksmanship build that will allow you a lot of flexibility, and lets you easily tailor it to your needs.

The Marksmanship Build Explained:

Row 1 (Improved Concussive Shot, Focused Aim, Lethal shots)

ICS is a good starter talent, an extra 2 seconds of daze is always handy and stays useful – 2/2 here.

Focused Aim is one I just don’t use, you might consider 1 point here, but if you’re managing your hunter well you shouldn’t need this talent often enough for it to matter.

Lethal Shots is an obvious take, 5/5 points here for 5% extra crit chance from ranged weapons — this is great for all uses but especially in PvP when you want to max out your chance to crit for huge burst damage.

Row 2 (Careful Aim, Improved Hunter’s Mark, Mortal Shots)

Is Careful Aim worth it? That’s a question I asked a lot when I began my hunter, and boy did I change my mind as I leveled. Once you hit 60 and upwards, a lot of good hunter gear you find will have +int stats, and even without a great gear load out, the increase in attack power will be hugely noticeable for you. All 3 points here, sooner or later.

Improved Hunter’s Mark is a great skill merely for the mana reduction by 100%, and the extra attack power stacked with the above mentioned Careful Aim is pure gold. 3/3 here too.

Mortal Strike is an easy one, an extra 30% damage from crits and the unlock of Aimed shot for the next row is a no brainer – 5 points.

Row 3 (Go for the Throat, Improved Arcane Shot, Aimed Shot, Rapid Killing)

You could almost max out this entire row, all the abilities here are decent – especially Improved Arcane shot which gives a solid +15% damage from Arcane Shot.

Aimed Shot is the highlight though — burst damage of 408 and reducing healing on that target for 10 seconds is awesome for any situation, but especially PvP!

Row 4 (Improved Stings, Efficiency)

An awesome mana boosting line, Improved Stings also adds a solid 30% extra damage to Serpent and Wyvern Sting. Max out this line.

Row 5 (Concussive Barrage, Readiness, Barrage)

Welcome to the multishot line, I max this one as well to gain a powerful 4 second daze ability from Concussive Barrage, a cooldown timer reset from Readiness, and more solid damage increases for Multishot, Aimed shot and Volley spells.

Row 6 (Combat Experience, Ranged Weapon Specialization)

Just when you thought I was going to have you max out every line in the tree, we only plant two points in this row. Combat experience is another “should I bother?” skill that is deceptively powerful. 4 extra intellect, stacking with gear, and our already high increases in attack power make this a must. Pass on Ranged Weapon Spec, 3% extra damage is ok, but better spent elsewhere. Feel free to argue with me!

Row 7 (Piercing Shots, Trueshot Aura, Improved Barrage)

3/3 for Piercing shots to get 30% bleed damage when you crit for 8 seconds is an easy choice, but even easier is Trueshot Aura, especially for anyone who does any kind of grouping, whether it be level 80 raiding or level 19 PvPing (is there any other level? ). Put 1/1 point here for a party wide attack power buff of 10% that lasts until cancelled!

Improved Barrage is a nice crit buff for your Multi and Aimed shot abilities and 3 points go here for everyone.

Row 8 (Master Marksman, Rapid Recuperation)

Another big crit buff follows on from our last choice with Master Marksman offering another handy 5% buff, plus a reduction in mana cost for steady shot which can come in handy. 5/5 here.

Rapid Recuperation is great for mana intensive fights and is another max out with 2/2 points being placed here.

Row 9 (Wild Quiver, Silencing Shot, Improved Steady Shot)

1 point only for Wild Quiver – while I’d like more here I need it elsewhere and can’t really find something I personally want to sacrifice for this flexi-build… if you like the chance to shoot another shot with Auto shot then feel free to get creative.

Silencing Shot on the other hand is an easy choice – 1 point here to get an anti-caster ability great for all kinds of situations.

Leave out Improved Steady shot, I just don’t see the benefit per talent point here.

Row 10 (Marked for Death)

Marked for Death, like ISS above just doesn’t add up as a worthwhile pick for me. I leave it completely for this build.

Row 11 (Chimera Shot)

Chimera Shot like most end tree skills is an easy choice. An instant cast, 16% base mana cost spell, CS deals 125% ranged weapon damage while refreshing the current Sting on the target with varying effects also applies based on the kind of sting present.

My favorite is Scorpid which attempts a disarm, but unfortunately this can’t occur more than once per minute.

Rounding off your MM Build:

This build will do you well for general leveling all the way up to 80, though I (and most of the people I speak with) will prefer a Beast Master build for leveling. Once you hit 70 or 80 you’ll likely want to to specialize a bit further depending on what you find yourself doing, but until that time, use this build as a baseline and you’ll do fine!

You’ll notice if you click through to WoW armory on the pic at the top that I’ve also got 5 points in BM for Improved Aspect of the Hawk. This is a great talent for MM Hunters, and can actually probably be taken very early, ala level 20 onwards.

I’ve also put 7 points in survival — 2 in Improved tracking (just to open up row 2), 3 points in Hawk Eye for a handy 6 yards extra range, and 2 points in row 2′s Survival Instincts for even more critical chance on Arcane, Steady and Explosive shot.

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