Having a stash of items for your future Draenei shaman preparation is an ambitious, but time-saving effort you can do before pre-patch arrives. Leveling a new toon in Burning Crusade Classic will be easier and faster than leveling your first WoW Classic toon. The leveling changes in TBC speed things up by ~30%. You can forgo any preparations and still level fast. Or spend time now with prep work and level even faster.
Below is a collection of preparations I’ve main for my upcoming Draenei shaman, who will be my new raid main in TBC Classic.
Armor & Weapons | Enchants | Consumables | Professions | Bags | Preparing vs Boosting
Have less time and/or gold than a big prep list needed? Check out the First 12 Things To Mail Your Draenei Shaman.
See all TBC Classic Prep guides.
Draenei Shaman Preparation – Armor & Weapons
Enhancement spec is considered the fastest leveling spec for shaman in Burning Crusade Classic when solo and questing. But Elemental and Restoration specs also work if you choose to run dungeons for your leveling. I have personally prepped for all three. Enhancement in case I do more solo play. Elemental, which is my planned raid spec, if given the chance to DPS in dungeons. And Restoration to fill the dungeon healing spot as needed.
If you know you’ll be doing dungeons and have a group of friends/guildmates lined up then feel free to focus on the spec you’ll be playing as. If your dungeon group isn’t locked down then I recommend considering some of the Enhancement prep options.
Draenei Shaman Preparation Armor & Weapons
Leveling Gear Spreadsheet
I put together a spreadsheet of BoE Draenei shaman weapons and armor for my own preparations. Rather than have a BiS like list with limited options I’m sharing the spreadsheet so you can see how options compare. Both in terms of performance and access.
TBC Classic Alliance Draenei Shaman BoE Gear Prep
- The spreadsheet is not a complete list of all available BoE items. I filtered out many items with random stats, worse stats, or poor value for their cost.
- Highlighted items are what I’m personally collecting.
- High-level items are viable for entering Outland. Some can also make up a pre-raid set if you plan to do WoW Classic raids before TBC Classic is released.
- Elemental gear starts around level 40 because that is when the build is considered viable for leveling.
- Healing gear starts around level 13 because that’s the earliest you can enter a dungeon.
- Gear points are based on stat weights used for TBC pre-raid or Tier 4. Want to use your own? Click File, Make a Copy to create an editable version in your own Google Docs. Then edit the formula to your liking.
Enhancement for Soloing
Enhancement is considered the standard spec for solo leveling. It is viable all the way to level 70, and the only good option at lower levels. The only big question you’ll have to answer is how quickly do you move to dual wielding. Even if you’re planning to go Elemental or Restro in dungeon runs the early gear could be helpful and should be inexpensive. You can’t enter dungeons until level 13 and Elemental isn’t really viable until level 40.
Weapons
Weapon upgrades are the best bang for your gold. They are less common from quests and drops while leveling and greatly speed up kill times. If you’re limited on bag space a few weapons go further than a few dozen pieces of armor.
My list is based on the recommended talent progression as you level, which dictates the type of weapons you want to use.
- Level 1-29: Daggers & Shields
- Level 30-43: Two-handed
- Level 40+: Dual Wield
You can switch to dual wield as early as level 40. But some, myself included, are opting to wait for a few more levels to make the transition smoother.
- Level 40: Dual Wield talent unlocked
- Level 41: Dual Wield with Stormstrike talent offers significant boost to DPS
- Levels 42-44: Dual Wield Specification talent offers increasing chance to hit, again boosting DPS
Keep in mind level 44 is the halfway point to level 60. So even if you wait for better dual wield talents you’ll have plenty of game time left to enjoy the new playstyle.
Notable Weapons
- Claw of the Shadowmancer – I picked one up for cheap, but don’t really recommend it. Without a good deal, it is pricey for only three levels.
- Viscous Hammer and Fiery War Axe – These are more expensive than other options, but will carry you through your two-handed phase all on their own.
- Most of the dual-wield weapons I list are blues and purples. You can find cheaper green options, but you’ll need more of them as you level up. Getting fewer, better quality weapons will save you storage and possibly gold.
Armor
Most single pieces of armor won’t make a big difference in your DPS and leveling time. But many pieces do add up, even if they aren’t as effective per bag slot as weapons. Consider armor a secondary collection if you have the storage to accommodate it.
Best Value Armor
If you’re limited on gold, bag space, or time these are the best value leveling armor pieces from the list above. They give the biggest DPS boost for their level and can last for more levels than most other pieces.
- White Bandit Mask
- Forest Tracker Epaulets
- Murloc Scale Breastplate
- Deepfury Bracers
- Devilsaur Gauntlets
- Serpentine Sash
- Devilsaur Leggings
- Blackforge Greaves
- Falcon’s Hook
Other Notable Armor
- Feet of the Lynx – Lasts until the mid-30s
- Dark Hooded Cape – Expensive, but will last you until Outland
- Gloves of Holy Might – Pricey, but they’ll carry you until Devilsaur Gauntlets even when fighting non-undead
- Stormshroud Armor – I’m avoiding it due to lack of regular stats, but it does score high
Random Stats
Gear with random enchantments/stats are not included in my spreadsheet. But in some cases, they can be just as good, if not better, than other BoE options. Especially for neck and finger slots. Focus on items with these attributes:
- Tiger (strength + agility) is the best for DPS
- Strength is also great for DPS
- Bear and Monkey balance DPS with more health for survivability/more uptime
Elemental for Dungeon DPS
If you plan to raid as Elemental then getting started early with a dedicated dungeon group isn’t a bad idea. You can gain experience early and make sure that’s how you want to spend your raid nights in the future. But gearing for Elemental sub-level 60 is more difficult than your other options. And without proper gear, you’ll perform better sticking with Enhancement in your group.
- Elemental spec isn’t viable until level 40
- Spell Power will be your primary stat due to limited Classic itemization below level 60
- Spell Hit, Crit, and MP5 are all good when you can get them
- Int gear without secondary stats won’t cut it, you and your group will be better off sticking with Enhancement
In short, you can’t half-ass gearing to dungeon DPS as Elemental without hurting your group. If you aren’t able or willing to put in the resources to get the better gearing options then hold off until Outland. There you’ll find much better itemization to allow for strong Elemental play.
Notable Items
- Magician’s Mantle – Level 20 item, but beats everything until Elder Wizard’s Mantle at level 51
- Star Belt – Level 35 crafted item, but the only BoE belt that’ll increase your damage
Random Stats
Gear with random enchantments/stats are not included in my spreadsheet. But in some cases, they can be just as good, if not better, than other BoE options. Especially for neck and finger slots. Focus on items with these attributes:
- Nature Wrath
- Concentration (MP5)
Elemental Gear Can Be Used for Healing
Spell power items (not nature damage only) offer a boost to healing, though typically less than a similar healing item. Spell crit and MP5 are also beneficial for healing. You could opt for a single dungeon set made up of gear that works for both Elemental and Resto builds. Your healing would be weaker, but you don’t need that much of a boost to get through Classic dungeons while leveling. You could supplement any missing slots with cheap Intellect gear to improve your mana pool.
Restoration for Dungeon Healing
If you plan to raid as Resto or your dungeon team needs a healer you can fill that roll easily. Even if you plan to mostly solo as Enhancement having a set of healing gear makes it easier to get into a pickup group. And such gear is less demanding than for Elemental spec.
- Green vs Blue quality gear
- Blues offers better stats and lasts longer (less storage), best if planning to mostly heal your way to level 60
- Greens are cheaper and a better value if your healing set is just for backup, but upgrades as you level will need more bag space
- Spell Crit, MP5, and Healing Power are your best stats, but raw Int also works
- The goal is to maximize the uptime of your mana
- High healing throughput isn’t required for Classic dungeons
Notable Items
- Magician’s Mantle – Pricey but will last you until the early 40s
- Ghostweave Armor offers a lot of MP5 and the needed mats are cheap, but in Classic the recipes are rare. Wait until pre-patch, then any tailor can learn the recipes from their master trainer.
Random Stats
Gear with random enchantments/stats are not included in my spreadsheet. But in some cases, they can be just as good, if not better, than other BoE options. Especially for neck and finger slots. Focus on items with these attributes:
- Healing
- Concentration (mana regeneration)
- Intellect
- Owl (intellect & spirit)
Armor & Weapons Storage
Your available storage capacity before pre-patch may determine what items you choose to gather ahead of time more than anything else. Each piece of armor and weapon needs a bag slot to go into. I’m personally keeping an aggressive amount of BoE gear supporting all three shaman specs. It is taking up nearly 170 bag slots, managed by a single alt with lots of bank slots.
While individual items may not cost you a lot, adding storage capacity to your current toons can ramp up your total cost. Not to mention the time spent organizing everything and then finding it to send your shaman later. That’s not to say you shouldn’t bother, just be aware of all that is required before you go on an auction house spending spree.
Draenei Shaman Preparation – Enchants
For the most part, you can skip enchanting your leveling gear. It adds significant cost for not a lot of benefit over a short time you keep the piece. That said, if you have the resources then some options are better than others.
Enhancement
- Best DPS enchant
- Affordable depending on the cost of Righteous Orbs on your server
- Best value enchant, offering around 240 extra damage a minute for less than half the cost of Crusader
Restoration
Enchant Weapon – Healing Power
This is a very expensive enchant and I only suggest considering it if you plan to level a second healing toon in the future. If so, then you’d want to put this on a non-binding weapon, such as a Skinning Knife.
- Enchanted Skinning Knife is BiS healing weapon (without raiding) well into Outland
- Skinning Knife doesn’t bind, so you can reuse or sell it when done
- Off-hand is free for another item
- On my server (Pagle-Alliance) the enchant costs ~135 gold in materials. That isn’t a bad deal considering some alternatives.
- The best one-handed healer weapon until level 60 costs ~50 gold, with a much lower gear score
- The best staves until level 60 cost 100-500 gold
- The enchant is equal in value to 1/3 of your healing armor at higher levels
Elemental
An even more expansive enchant that I only suggest considering if you plan to level another caster DPS toon in the future. If so, then you’d want to put this on a non-binding weapon, such as a Skinning Knife.
- Enchanted Skinning Knife is among the strongest caster DPS weapon options, but not BiS
- Zulian Ceremonial Staff (Raid BoE) is better, though similarly expensive
- Spellforce Rod offers 66% as much spell damage for much less
- Skinning Knife doesn’t bind, so you can reuse or sell it when done
- Off-hand is free for another item (best option requires level 55)
- Often costs more than the Healing Power enchant and offers less superiority
All Specs
- Inexpensive and the best time per gold of any enchant
- Better for your soloing gear than your dungeon gear
- An alternative to Minor Speed on boots level 40 or higher
- Offers more riding speed boost (4%) than Carrot on a Stick or glove enchant
- Recommend putting them on one pair of boots, then use a gear swapping addon to wear them when riding
- Not too expensive and you can limit it to gloves level 40 or higher
- Not quite as good as the Carrot of a Stick (2% vs 3%), but no group dungeon runs required, either
- Can enchant just one glove and use a gear swapping addon to wear it when riding
Be sure to get any items you want to be enchanted done before Burning Crusade Classic pre-patch. You can mail the items and mats to a guild enchanter. Spamming trade chat in town instead of leveling is no way to spend your time on your new Draenei shaman.
Draenei Shaman Preparation – Consumables
Consumables will boost your performance, whether solo or with a group. They won’t be as effective as regular weapon upgrades, but they are an easy add-on to your already planned arsenal of leveling items.
Elixirs
The new Battle/Guardian elixir system will be in place for pre-patch. The original chance happened after TBC had launched. But my guess is it will be in effect during pre-patch, thus affecting all Draenei shaman from their first day.
Burning Crusade Classic and Patch 2.4.3
You’ll need to collect fewer of the lower-level elixirs compared to the higher-level options. Keep in mind the time between level ramp up, so you’ll get more level progression out of a 1-hour elixir at level 5 than level 50.
Battle Elixirs While Leveling
Elixirs that improve damage and offensive aligned stats were made into Battle Elixirs. You can only have one Battle Elixir active at a time.
Enhancement
- Elixir of Lion’s Strength – Level 3
- Elixir of Giant Growth – Level 8
- Elixir of Ogre’s Strength – Level 20
- Elixir of Giants – Level 38
- Elixir of Brute Force – Level 45
Giants offers more DPS than Brute Force, but I do like the extra stamina offered on a Battle Elixir.
Elemental
- Arcane Elixir – Level 37
- Mageblood Potion – Level 40
- Greater Arcane Elixir – Level 47
Restoration
- Elixir of Wisdom – Level 10
- Elixir of Greater Intellect – Level 37
- Mageblood Potion – Level 40
Intellect boosting elixirs should stack with a mage’s intellect buff in pre-patch and TBC Classic. If you’re planning an Elemental/Resto combo collection of gear I recommend sticking with just Mageblood Potion as your main consumable.
Guardian Elixirs While Leveling
Elixirs that improve your defenses and survivability were made into Guardian Elixirs. You can only have one Guardian Elixir active at a time.
- Elixir of Minor Fortitude – Level 2
- Weak Troll’s Blood Potion – Level 6
- Elixir of Water Breathing – Level 8
- Strong Troll’s Blood Potion – Level 15
- Elixir of Fortitude – Level 25
- Mighty Troll’s Blood Potion – Level 26
- Elixir of Greater Defense – Level 29
- Elixir of Superior Defense – Level 43
- Major Troll’s Blood Potion – Level 53
Except for Elixir of Water Breathing, I’m not too interested in stockpile Guardian Elixirs. If you’re doing dungeon spamming they are mostly useless. When soloing they don’t offer nearly as much as the Battle Elixirs. Mostly either low health regen or bonus armor which doesn’t help against spells.
I’m also skipping Elixir of Greater Water Breathing. If an underwater quest is taking more than 30 minutes you’re wasting your time with it.
Potions
Potions are something you could skip stockpiling in advance and just buy as you need. With the number of players planning to level during pre-patch, there shouldn’t be a shortage.
I personally have a few stacks of Superior and Major Mana Potions saved up from random drops. Anything more I intend to get from the auction house as needed.
Food
I’m personally skipping food for leveling. It takes 10 seconds to apply and only lasts for 10-15 minutes. Until level 35 it only boosts stamina, and the better strength food isn’t available until level 45. It just isn’t worth the effort IMO.
The new 30-minute food from Outland might be a different story. But that won’t be available during pre-patch.
Weapon Consumables
Like the food I find weapon consumables for leveling to likely not worth the cost, though they are easier to apply and last longer.
Enhancement shouldn’t use any. You’ll be applying shaman benefits to your weapons, such as Rockbiter and Windfury.
Elemental dungeon leveling does benefit the most from Wizard Oil and Brilliant Wizard Oil. Restoration dungeon spamming would want Lesser Mana Oil or Brilliant Mana Oil. If you’re unsure of which spec you’ll use the mana oils work for either.
Consumables Storage
Battle Elixirs and some mana potions are taking up almost 50 bag slots on one of my bank alts. Going with Guardian Elixirs and food would more than double that. It is one of my smaller storage sections for Draenei shaman preparation, but only because I put less priority on it over gear and professions.
Draenei Shaman Preparation – Professions
Most professions will not benefit you much during leveling. But being ready to power level those professions will save you time in the long run. The less time you spend collecting mats and recipes to skill up, the more time you can put toward raid attunement and gathering your pre-raid gear.
Draenei Shaman Preparation Professions – Leatherworking and Jewelcrafting
Save Azeroth Mats and Recipes
Using whatever professional guide you prefer, save up materials and vendor recipes needed to skill up to or past 300. Don’t forget to also save mats for any professional specializations you plan to take.
I use the guides at WoW-Professions.com. They have released a series of TBC Classic guides which cover from 1 to 375. Including recommendations for old-world materials useful for 300+ skill-ups.
First Aid Is Great for Leveling
First Aid should be the first profession you start to skill up, as early as possible. Bandages save you time as they are faster than healing yourself and having to drink up more mana later.
Make sure to buy the needed first aid training books ahead of time. Running your shaman to the vendors will cost you more time than First Aid offers in return.
Draenei Shaman Preparation Professions – Leatherworking and Secondary
Professions Storage
The downside to saving up for professions is they take up a lot of bag space beforehand. And they offer a less direct benefit to leveling than holding gear or consumables.
I’m saving up for leatherworking, jewelcrafting, and all of the secondary professions. It is taking up over 250 bag slots, spread across two bank alts. If your storage capacity is less consider saving the more expensive components. Lower-level materials are likely to still be plentiful without a significant price increase during pre-patch.
Draenei Shaman Preparation – Bags
You need bags for both your leveling loot and storing your next set of upgrades. The bigger the better, but it also depends on how much gold you’re willing to throw at the issue of storage.
Character Bags
Your biggest bags should go on your character, not in the bank. Bigger bags while leveling means less time needed heading to town to clear things out. Bigger bags indeed speed up your leveling. That helps justify ignoring the best value options (cost per slot).
Bottomless Bag – If you have the means these are your best bet for pre-patch. Mooncloth prices have come down and you should be able to buy the mats and tip a local tailor to craft them for you. That’ll be much cheaper than buying them off the auction house.
Imbued Netherweave Bag – These TBC bags are the same size as Bottomless Bags and will eventually be much cheaper. But they are not available during pre-patch, and material costs will be high at the start of TBC Classic. They will be a good option for shaman alts, but not anyone racing to level 70 at launch.
Mooncloth Bag – These should be your standard option. Again, Mooncloth has come down in price and the other mats are cheap. Typically buying mats and tipping a tailor will be cheaper than the auction house.
Bank Bags
Bags for your bank have the added expense of buying slots to put them in. As such the more you increase your bank’s storage capacity the more you have to pay per slot.
Bank Slots
Buy at least the first three bank bag slots, totaling 11.1 gold.
- Slot 1: 10 silver
- Slot 2: 1 gold
- Slot 3: 10 gold
- Slot 4: 25 gold
- Slot 5: 50 gold
- Slot 6: 100 gold
Bank Bags
For the best cost per slot use smaller bags. These values are based on my server’s (Pagle-Alliance) current prices:
- Mageweave Bag (12 slot) – 0.07 gold per slot
- Runecloth Bag (14 slot) – 0.18 gold per slot
- Mooncloth Bag (16 slot) – 1 gold per slot
The more bank slots you buy the better you can get away with using smaller, cheaper bags. You can also send saved items to your new shaman in waves, leveraging storage on other alts or a new personal guild bank. Your shaman will not have a lot of soul-bound items to store until after they hit level 70, at which point you’ll need to look into bank storage upgrades.
How Much Gold Do I Need for TBC Classic?
My Bags Setup
I personally have four Bottomless Bags and six Mooncloth Bags lined up as part of my Draenei shaman preparation. I have gold reserves to buy as many bank bag slots as needed, though I’ll probably wait and buy them as needed. Later, once Outland material prices come down, I’ll look at upgrading with newer bags. But my initial investment will save me from having to overpay for big bags later.
Draenei Shaman Preparation vs Boosting
Here’s the big question in terms of value. Are you better off spending time and gold now to speed up solo or dungeon group leveling? Or would you be better served saving gold and buying level boosting services later?
Remember, you cannot use Blizzard’s paid for boosting services on any Draenei character.
Viability of Boosting During Pre-Patch
Having a mage, possibly a warlock or paladin, boost you through Classic dungeons will still be viable during TBC Classic pre-patch and beyond. TBC does introduce AoE damage capping and the effect can be seen in the TBC Classic beta. But it is not enough to stop mages from soloing packs of dungeon trash in Outland dungeons. Search YouTube and you’ll find plenty of videos showing mages soloing from level 60-64. Given that current boosting services should work fine, if somewhat different.
Mage boosting also benefits from the new, lower XP requirements for levels 20-60 introduced during pre-patch. Assuming a mage can pull the same number of mobs, then boosting will go 15% faster than it does now. Meaning fewer runs needed.
Cost Difference
If you opt to pay for dungeon boosts then you don’t need to buy and collect gear and consumables to speed up leveling via quests or full dungeon groups. Which will be the more expensive option will depend on the prices on your server. But for boosting straight to level 60 I would expect boosting to have the bigger, final cost. Boosting from 51-60 is expensive on my server. And TBC Classic removes XP from turning in ZG coins, removing that option for the last couple of levels.
If you dungeon boost you’ll still want to gather your professional mats. And some BoE gear is good for putting together your pre-raid set for Classic, or a leveling set for Outland. You don’t want to go there as a recently boosted level 60 with crap gear.
Benefits of Leveling Traditionally
Questing takes advantage of every leveling change introduced with TBC. Like with mage boosting, the XP required for level 20-60 is 15% less. But also has these benefits:
- Experience gained from completing quests increased between levels 30 and 60.
- Outdoor elite quests will be soloable, with the same (or better) rewards
- 60 new quests added and a new goblin town based in Dustwallow Marsh for levels 30-40
- Increased questing experience for dungeon quests
All together leveling via questing is ~30% faster in pre-patch and TBC Classic than in WoW Classic. Plus you’ll get your first mount at level 30.
Perhaps more importantly, you’ll learn how to play your class and spec. Doing yourself and your raid companions a service compared to a freshly boosted toon with little to no experience. There are many complaints about alts who paid for dungeon boosting and later enter various raids, grossly underperforming and not knowing the basics of their class. Shaman may be the in-demand class come TBC Classic raiding, but a bad player is a bad player.
Which To Choose?
Mage boosting sees a 15% increase in leveling speed, while questing gets up to a 30% increase. Mage boosting will likely still be faster, and certainly less effort. Given pre-patch is only two weeks long if you have to hit 60 before Outland and don’t have a lot of hours each day boosting may be your only hope. You’ll still need to buy gear to survive in Outland afterward and learn your class via theory, not practice.
Traditional leveling teaches you the class and spec in increment rather than being overwhelmed with all talents and abilities at level 60. This will better prepare you for any Classic raiding and leveling in Outland. With dungeon runs, you can also try out various specs to see which playstyle you may want to choose. And make sure you’ll want to stick with the shaman through level 70 and beyond. You should also come out with more gold in your pocket.