Tips on leveling a shaman

As I mentioned in my Discovery Channel tribute, I have a shaman alt that I have been leveling since early in the Burning Crusade era. Because of my less-than-consistent dedication to him, he is still languishing in early Burning Crusade content; he's just the character I go back to when I need a break from end-game, so I play him pretty infrequently. Still, in leveling him, I have learned quite a bit about leveling a shaman that I thought I would share here for anyone else who is doing the same.

1. Spec Enhancement
Of course, this piece of advice comes with the universal leveling-spec-advice caveat: you should level as whatever spec you like the most. No matter what you want to do with your alt, you'll likely do it better as a spec you like than as an "efficient" spec. Are you leveling for fun? Well, it's a no brainer there. Trying to get your alt to 8o quickly? You'll want to play it more if you enjoy your spec, so you'll likely get your alt to 80 faster with a spec you enjoy than with the "best" leveling spec. With that said, Enhancement is both a good leveling spec and a fun spec to play. The mix of melee and casting (especially with the inclusion of Maelstrom Weapon late in the talent tree) makes the enhancement shaman one of the only specs (probably the only, in fact) that feels like a true hybrid class. Enhancement also has good mana efficiency, especially as you level, to the point where by the time you reach 50, you'll rarely need to buy water again.

2. Weapon choices
If you level as Enhancement, the type of weapon you use will be an important decision to make. Of course, once you hit level 40 (or 41 if you took Stormstrike first), you should take the talent Dual Wield and equip the two slowest one-handed weapons you can find for your level. There's no reason to do anything else. Before then, you'll need to decide whether to use a two-handed weapon or a one-handed weapon and a shield. If you use a two-handed weapon, battles will be over faster, since you'll be taking more damage (without the shield) and causing more damage to your foes. You'll also need to get two replacement weapons once you hit level 40 (or 41). If you use a one-handed weapon and a shield, you battles will be more drawn out, giving you more time to react and making the battles less hectic. You'll also only need to get one new weapon when you get Dual Wield. Ultimately, my advice is this: if you want to rush your shaman to the level cap, use a two-hander; if you want to play him to relax, use a one-hander and a shield. Either way, it all evens out at 40: you get to wear mail, so that will make up for the loss of the shield, and dual wielding will likely increase your damage either way.

As an extra note, if you use a shield, then defense rating becomes surprisingly useful between levels 30 and 40, assuming you took Spirit Weapons. The combination of being able to parry and block means you'll be able to take advantage of all of the aspects of defense rating, so if you see a ring with it that is an upgrade for you, think about taking it.

3. Totems are mana-intensive.
Although totems can bring many benefits to your shaman in battle, they cost a lot of mana to drop. Until you get Shamanistic Rage at 50 (assuming you spec'ed enhance) you have no quick way of getting that mana back, so totems are only worth using if you'll be able to benefit from them for a while. As such, you should only drop them in a spot close to a few enemies that you are going to kill. If you are running around for a quest, never staying in one place for more than one kill, dropping totems is not a good idea; you'll burn through mana faster than classic-era balance druid. If you want to get the most out of your totems, try using Lightning Bolt to pull an enemy from afar, then run toward your totems and fight him by them. Use shocks to keep him interested in you if you have to. With all that said, if you are going to fight more than one enemy in one spot, at least drop Mana Spring Totem. The others are only worth using if you are going to be killing at least four or five enemies by the spot where you drop them, but Mana Spring Totem, when used at every opportunity, really adds up. Try to use it right before battle so that you gimp your spirit-based mana regen as little as possible.

4. Use your elemental shields intelligently
At level 8, you get a spell called Lightning Shield that causes extra damage to enemies that attack you. At level 20, you get Water Shield, which restores mana when you are attacked and also constantly restores mana. There are a few important points to remember when using these spells in order to use them well.
-Use Lightning Shield if you are finishing battles with less health than mana (percentage-wise). Use Water Shield if you are finishing battles with less mana than health.
-If you are using Water Shield, make sure you always have at least one orb left so you can benefit from the passive mana regeneration as well as the orb effect. Because Lightning Shield is on an internal cooldown, you don't need to activate it immediately after it runs out, but don't delay too long or you'll miss out on that free extra damage.
-In the heat of battle, it's easy to forget to refresh your shields when they run out. Make it a habit to refresh whatever shield you are using whenever you aren't casting anything else and won't case anything else in the next second and a half.
-If you are just riding somewhere and have no intention of fighting anything, don't leave up Lightning Shield. Water Shield is fine, but Lightning Shield will cause threat to enemies that attack you, making them chase your farther than they usually would.