So, I'm starting a Shaman

[Artega]

Due to those lovable financial difficulties life seems to be infested with, I'm unable to play WoW for now (word of advice: stay well away from Western Digital hard drives), though I haven't stopped theorycrafting in my spare time. Being somewhat disgusted with the path that Burning Crusade is taking Warriors, I've decided to start up a Shaman when I get back, and possibly a Blood Elf Paladin when BC comes out.

The talent spec I'm toying with is here. It's what I'd think is a somewhat unorthodox 30/21 Enhancement/Restoration build.

My basic thoughts on talent choices are a combination of melee and healing, and an emphasis on the buff totems. Knowing full well how downright sick a Windfury Totem proc combined with the +88 STR Strength of Earth buff can be, I've chosen talents that make frequent (re)casting of totems practical, as well as getting the talent to add another ten yards to the reach of the buff totems. Flurry, Weapon Mastery, and Elemental Weapons increase my ability to rip things apart in melee, while Healing Focus, Tidal Mastery, and Nature's Swiftness give me the ability to keep myself and groupmates alive, while also giving me the option to belt out a quick Chain Lightning or Lightning Bolt if I find the need for a little extra DPS. I've also elected to keep Improved Ghost Wolf, since this allows me increased mobility (especially with the rank 8 boots), which I would consider highly important for keeping my totems in proper positions, and it further lessens dependance on Nature's Swiftness for rapid shifts, allowing me to use that NS for a heal or nuke instead. Assuming this would be a feasible talent spec, the next choice comes down to gearing.

It seems to me that it would be most effective to carry both a DPS and a healing set, rather than trying to mix the two together (since that would create a set that would give me both subpar healing and subpar DPS.) However, even when in healing gear, I'm still looking to maintain effective DPS, which means I'll still be using a two-hander, and I'll probably focus more on stacking INT and MP/5 over spellpower and healing power.

I've made a profile over at ctprofiles with my ideas; the Main Profile would be an example of my DPS setup, while the Healing Gear profile would predictably be my healing setup. Both profiles include things from ZG, AQ20, and PvP up to rank 10.

The DPS setup gives me:

25.50% crit
622 AP
+4% Chance to Hit
+11 MP/5
3990 HP
4462 MP
6.50% Spell Crit (10.50% for healing and lightning spells)
+26 Spellpower

The healing gear setup gives me:

12.75% crit
466 AP
+59 MP/5
4085 HP
5917 MP
10.95% Spell Crit (14.95% for healing and lightning spells)
+113 Spellpower
+264 Healpower

The profile is located here.

[Delc]

Interesting idea. I don't think I've ever tried enhancment/resto.

My thoughts on some of the talents:
Enhancing totems: 15% of 77 str gives you an 11 str or 22 ap. This is about a 1.5 dps increase. Not worth it imo. Imp Lightning sheild is a much better talent, for pretty much everything except raiding.

Imp Weapon Totems: The main benefit of WF totem is the extra attack, not so much the ap bonus. I would finish up weapon mastery.

Nature's guidance: 3% hit is really nice. I feel its one of the better hybrid talents in the resto tree. Not sure what to give up for it though.

Since it sounds like you are rolling this shaman fresh, I would recomend getting the enhancement talents first. Also not sure how fast you level, but the xpac will likely be out by the end of November, so I wouldn't spend too much time getting the perfect lv 60 gear.

[Artega]

Yeah, I doubt she'll be 60 by time the expansion rolls out (hell, I might not have my box up and running by time the expansion comes out, depending on how necessary I view getting another stick of RAM and other small upgrades), since I intend on spending lots of time slumming in the lower BG brackets with some friends.

On a side note, I'm going to be attempting to get my girlfriend interested in the game (after all, $15/month is a pretty cost-effective way of spending time together:)) and, basing this purely on her personality, I think she'll probably either go with a Shaman or Rogue, so I'd definitely like to keep my build complimentary to hers (and I'll probably start a thread asking about a good beginner build for her toon if I manage to catch her interest.)

An alternative, 30/21 Restoration/Enhancement build I came up with in a few seconds, focusing entirely on staying alive and being the best possible healer can be found here.

Seems the library is about to close, so I'm going to have to end this post a bit premature:)