WotLK Shaman: First Look?

We've seen a few "first looks" at Shaman talent changes for WotLK, and there are a few gems in place that may be particularly interesting for PvP Shaman. 

Note that this is not a comprehensive list of changes.

Elemental

* Thunder (51 point talent): You call down a bolt of lighting, energizing you and damaging nearby enemies within 10 yards. Restores 5% mana to you and deals 595 to 679 nature damage to all nearby enemies, knocking them back 20 yards.  Instant cast, 45 sec cooldown.

Finally a tool to set up some of those nuke combos when being "shut down" by an obnoxious melee class.  This spell also returns 5% of your mana and does damage to anyone it hits.

* Improved Fire Nova Totem adds a 2 second stun

While it's on a delay, this is another great tool for getting a brief opening to cast when you're hounded by a melee.

* Lava Burst, a new instant nuke that will automatically crit if the target is affected by Flame Shock (the Shock will be consumed).

* Astral Shift (talent) - Requires 40 Points - When you are critically hit twice in a row, you have a 33%/66%/100% chance to shift into the astral plane, causing you to be immune to all physical damage for 3 seconds. This effect has a 30 second cooldown.

Yet another nice defensive tool against melees.  Less protection than Cheat Death overall, but it can proc when you have higher health, and effect has a shorter cooldown.

* Storm, Earth, and Fire (talent) - Requires 45 Points - Your frost shock has a 5%/10%/15%/20%/25% chance to root the target in frozen ice for 2 seconds, your earthshocks range is increased by 1/2/3/4/5 yards, and your periodic damage done by flame shock is increased by 20%/40%/60%/80%/100%.

A very nice series of buffs overall for the Shaman shock repertoire.

Enhancement

* Feral Spirit (51 point talent): Summons 2 spirit wolves under the command of the shaman, lasting 30 seconds.  Instant cast, 2 min cooldown, 30 yard range.

Something like Treants for Shaman? Not sure how good this will be until we see what the wolves actually do, but lorelol lovers may enjoy the idea.

* Mental Dexterity talent (3 points) increases your AP by 33%/66%/100% of your Intellect.

* Improved Shamanistic Rage talent makes you immune to Stuns and Movement Impairing effects while under Shamanistic Rage.

Similar to TBW for Hunters, this one will be enjoyed by Shaman everywhere.

* Axe/Mace/Fist Specialization (talents):

Axe - Increases the critical strike damage bonus by 5%/10%/15%/20%/25%.
Mace - Has a 1%/2%/3%/4%/5% chance to increase your melee haste by 10% for 15 seconds.
First - Attacks from your fist weapons have a 1%/2%/3%/4%/5% chance to reduce the armor of your target by 20% for 6 seconds.

Restoration

* Spirit Link (51 point talent): You link the friendly target with two nearby targets, causing 50% of the damage taken to be distributed to the linked targets. After 2200 damage, the link will sever.  Instant cast, 40 yard range, 372 mana.

A great instant ability to add to the Shaman healing repertoire, which should be great for slowing down damage while under pressure.  A bit like Blessing of Sacrifice taken to the next level.

* Ancestral Awakening (talent) - Requires 40 Points - When you critically heal with your healing wave or lesser healing wave, you summon an ancestral spirit to aid you, instantly healing the lowest target within 40yds for 20%/40%/60% of the amount healed.

Another great talent for group play, we could see downranked LHW spam come into play to make this baby activate constantly in PvP settings.

* Earthliving Weapon: Imbue the Shaman's weapon with earthen life. Increases healing done by ?? and each heal has a 20% chance to proc Earthliving on the target, healing an additional ?? over ??. Lasts 30 minutes.

Numbers are not clear yet, but finally something for a healer to pop on his weapon as shaman.

* Tidal Waves (talent) - Requires 45 Points - Increases the critical effect chance of your lesser healing wave and healing wave spells by 1%/2%/3%/4%/5% and your healing wave and lesser healing wave spells gain an additional 5%/10%/15%/20%/25% of your bonus healing effects.

Stronger heals across the board, and some additional proc chances for Ancestral Awakening.  Not very flashy, but a solid talent.

* Cleanse Spirit (talent) - Requires Purification - cleanse the spirit of a friendly target, removing 1 poison effect, 1 disease, and 1 curse effect. 40 yard range, 186 mana.

That's right, a curse removal coming to the Resto Shaman!  Here's looking at you, Curse of Tongues!

Conclusions

Thanks for Crazy for his work on these leaks in general, I will not be updating this post as more info is clear over the next several days but I would encourage all of you to visit http://www.deathknight.info/ for more details as they are uncovered!