Levelin

[Cynire]

I am currently leveling my shaman alt as ele. I enjoy it VERY much, but i find that leveling is starting to...shall we say...slow down.

I'd like pointers on one of two things

1. Should I level by doing instances since getting groups for lower level dungeons should be easier now

2. Should I switch over to Enh for faster leveling and less down time?

[omein]

I would say enhance is faster at leveling...no down time at all

And it really comes down to what you like more, doing quests or instances

[MushroomBomb]

What level are you? Questing is always faster than instancing, but instancing with the quests to that specific instance is also really good for both gear and experience.

I'd also like to point out that you'll get groups much faster if you spec Restoration. If you're above 40 and have the gold, I'd advise dual-speccing it for the dungeons you'll be running later on.

[DrunkenVeteran]

Resto is fastest. Use LFG. 2-3 minute queues, 1-60 in a few days.

I did level 47-48 in 33 minutes on my current alt i'm levelling with just one ZF run.

The satchels you get are tailored to your class. I'm full blue gear and full heirloom.

I agree, Ive been leveling my Shaman Resto and instance leveling. The queues are almost instant. Also invest in the gold to purchase Dual-Spec as MushroomBomb pointed out.

[lllBlackSunlll]

I leveled elemental from 1-80.

just keep lots of water on you or hang out with a mage.

Heal instances and level as dps, got to 80 pretty easily (before LFD came out)

[op3l]

As others have said, enhance offers faster leveling especially in early levels and slightly faster in later stages.

When I leveled as enhance my rotation was: Body pull, stormstrike, one earth shock, then another stormstrike if they're not dead by then.

I used water shield primarily because back then lightning shield cost mana. Now you can do lightning shield and thens witch to water shield when your mana drops below 80%. You shouldn't have to stop at all. If you have to toss a heal, just melee down the mobs with stormstrike and no shock.

[Deleted]

As others have said, enhance offers faster leveling especially in early levels and slightly faster in later stages.

When I leveled as enhance my rotation was: Body pull, stormstrike, one earth shock, then another stormstrike if they're not dead by then.

I used water shield primarily because back then lightning shield cost mana. Now you can do lightning shield and thens witch to water shield when your mana drops below 80%. You shouldn't have to stop at all. If you have to toss a heal, just melee down the mobs with stormstrike and no shock.

Your memory is faulty. If "back then lightning shield cost mana" then you are talking about a time when water shield wasn't available until level 62, and thus wasn't an option to use whilst doing the bulk of your levelling.

[ZÜRP]

The fastest way to level your Shammy is going either Enhanced or Resto and running instances via LFG until you are 51. You'll queue quicker if you are Resto. Once you hit 51, run AV. You get a ton of XP running AV. Thats Alterac Valley for the noobs I am running enhanced and have almost all Blue gear & Heirloom in all of my slots. Resto will give you more honor, but there is nothing like and Enhanced Shammy kicking butt in AV. Hordies turn and run when they see an Enhanced shammy comming. Right now I am 57, but i was kicking level 60 Horde buts when i was a 52. Three Alliance wins will raise you 1 level. Hope that helps.

[Intiriel]

AV from 51 to 60 is a great way to level. But nothing beats going into an instance with a lot of rested bonus.
My guess is getting enhance up to 60 and then switching to ele, I did that and I don't regret it. Get resto as offspec and do quests queued on an instance as healer. Do quests while you wait (and you won't wait at all, lol) and gogogo instance.

[Amphrodos]

enh 30-40 is pretty kewl, windfury with a twohander hits like a truck. btw, always do enh spec for lvling. much faster, more survivability, more uptime, more fun. ele is too much like a squishy mage, except without all the epic slows.

[Annaconda]

Your missing a g mate

But stay elem if you want to use LFD tool. because then you healzzz.

[gherkin]

Your missing a g mate
But stay elem if you want to use LFD tool. because then you healzzz.

I'm pretty sure Google Translate will not translate to "healzzz"

On Topic:
I just finished leveling a few things, and there are definite times where just doing LFD over and over is faster than questing. While healing gets you a queue all the time, it sometimes results in groups of players who do not play well together, frustrating you and taking up much more time than average.

I would suggest a hybrid - on any dungeon with fast, easy trash (Stockades, some of the Scarlet dungeons) just run that dungeon a lot. I ran stockades three times at 24 and hit 26 much faster than if I had quested. But on long, tedious dungeons with sparse trash that kind of hurts (RFD, Maraudon pt 1) I'd suggest avoiding it and sticking to questing.

If you are fast enough at questing you can keep up with LFD, given average players. However there will always be the chance for good players in LFD, rendering it faster by a mile.