Shaman PvP guide

General

 * Wind Shear is off the GCD, and Earth Shock no longer interrupts.
 * Use Chain Lightning (CL) after using Lava Burst (LvB). CL is instant while LvB has a travel time, causing them to hit at the same time for extra burst.
 * If Enhancement / Elemental, always try to heal yourself up above 40%, even if this means consuming 2-3 MSW stacks.
 * When using your buff totems, always use the totem bar. If you're only casting one totem, save mana and just cast the single totem.
 * Purge is extremely useful. Against Priests and Mages (who use a lot of magic shields), spam it to remove them.  However, it will trigger Lifebloom's end heal.
 * You can cast your trinkets and buff yourself with Earth Shield/Lightning Shield, and your shield will get a +healing/+spell damage bonus from your trinkets.
 * Grounding Totem can consume more than one spell if timed right. Using range and timing, it can completely negate a caster's attempt to kill you.
 * When using totems such as Mana Tide, use Stoneclaw Totem to shield it.
 * Use the Glyph of Stoneclaw Totem. It's the only PvP glyph every Shaman should have.

Enhancement
For Enhancement, your role is usually pressure, burst, anti-caster, or support. This can vary according to your team. Your burst relies on your Wolves, so a pressure or support role is usually used. Some suggested builds:
 * http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#hVchVZ0ggcoxzIGuoRuio:jhN. Mainly a damage-dealing build with some support (from Guardian Totems).
 * http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#hVchVbZ0xgcoxzIGuoRuio:jhN. A full damage-dealing build, with added damage of Fire Nova.
 * http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#hVcAZMGgcoxzIGuoRuio:juN. A support/anti-caster build, with lower shock cooldowns, Wind Shear, and extra range on Earthbind.

Tips:
 * Don't use a 2H. While it may be fun in BGs for big-crit videos, it lacks consistency.  Quite often, dual wielding will have big crits as well.
 * Don't spec into Anticipation. You should be dual wielding, so your offhand should have a Weapon Chain on it.
 * Toughness isn't that great. The stamina bonus is not essential, and thanks to Earthbind and Ghost Wolf, there's little need for reducing movement-impairing effects.
 * Avoid using Lava Burst. Your base abilities should do more and don't require setting up with Flame Shock.

2v2

 * Ret Paladin / You: works well with the cross healing and excessive burst.
 * Destro Lock / You: timely CC and burst can work well in this team.
 * Disc Priest / You: works well when geared, although suffers from lack of real burst out of wolves. Also, Pain Suppression helps against Rogues.
 * Resto Druid / You: much like the Disc Priest, although lacks Pain Suppression.

3v3

 * BM Hunter / Healer / You: known as a "Beast-Cleave". Set up the Hunter with your support, and target the casters/healer.  The RMP (Rogue/Mage/Priest) killer used at the MLG Competition.
 * Melee DPS / Healer / You: provides a melee with fewer snares and protection against casters. Works better with a damage-focused spec.
 * DPS / DPS / You: not as common, though the control, CC, and burst can work well together.

5v5
Most any team will work with a Shaman. You will commonly be brought for Bloodlust/Heroism. These teams are most common:
 * DPS / DPS / DPS /DPS /You: simply for the burst provided and the excessive damage.
 * Healer x2 / DPS / 3: you are brought for damage and for Bloodlust/Heroism, with the heals providing extra support.

Rogue
Rogues specialize in doing heavy melee damage and controlling a fight.

There are two basic types of Rogues: Stun-Lock and Ambush.

A Stun-Lock Rogue will try to keep you stunned for the entire fight. While they cannot actually achieve a perfect stun-lock, they can come very close. Wait for the gap in the stun, and then break the stun-lock sequence. Make sure Searing Totem and Lightning Shield are up, to deal damage even while you are stunned. Get and use the Insignia of the Horde/Alliance to break out of stuns. It's better to use it when you are hit with Kidney Shot rather than Cheap Shot, because they can always Kidney Shot outside of Stealth while they cannot Cheap Shot outside of stealth. (Saving your trinket for a Blind may be a better decision depending on the situation.)

An Ambush rogue will start with Ambush, and will eventually use Gouge, Backstab, and Eviscerate or Kidney Shot. You will be only be incapacitated during the Gouge.

Stealth
Rogues can Stealth while not in combat, with a 5-10 second cooldown. During combat they can Vanish, but on a 5-minute cooldown timer. A Rogue with Preparation can Vanish three times in 5 minutes.

Flame Shock will keep a Rogue from Stealthing. However, the DoT duration is 12 seconds and the Rogue's Blind is 10 seconds. If timed right, the Rogue can wait until the DoT timer is 8 seconds (unless the Rogue uses Cloak of Shadows), Blind, wait for the DoT to fade, then Stealth. (Blind is no longer a poison, so Cleansing Totem will not counter this.)

Magma Totem is mana expensive, has a medium duration (20 secs) and only an 8-yard radius, but will un-Stealth a rogue within its radius on each pulse (2 seconds). If possible, judge the Rogue's fire resistance first.

Contrary to popular belief (and pre-patch 2.2.0 behavior), Earthbind Totem will NOT un-Stealth a rogue.

Tips

 * Searing Totem and Lightning Shield are nice to increase your damage output on the rogue.
 * Use a 1H-weapon and shield to reduce the damage taken.
 * Nature's Swiftness + Healing Wave may be the first thing to do as you will most likely be at half life or less.
 * Use Cure Poison and Poison Cleansing Totem. Rogues rely on poisons on both weapons, especially Crippling Poison.  This is the best water-based totem for PvP combat.
 * Use Searing Totem to keep the Rogue in combat when he Blinds, Gouges, Saps, or does anything to attempt to get out of combat.
 * Be wary of Kick when casting. If the Rogue gets that Kick off while you're casting, you're dead.  It's generally safer to start healing once you notice his Energy is dropping rapidly or is below 40%.
 * Rogues can't purge. If you're Restoration, make sure your Earth Shield is always up, and try to outlast the rogue.  For Resto Shamans, a 1v1 is usually a draw: the Rogue can't kill the Shaman but the Shaman has a very hard time killing the Rogue.
 * If Enhancement, engage in melee fight relying on a Windfury proc, and dpsing w/ shocks.
 * Rogues can now Sap beasts, so Ghost Wolf is not a defence against it.

It is possible to kite a Rogue. Use Frost Shock and Earthbind Totem to slow the Rogue, and Flame Shock and Searing Totem to prevent him from Stealthing. Spam shocks and Lightning Bolts. Make sure to remove Crippling Poison if you get it. If you're Enhancement, consider jousting with the Rogue by running through the rogue, hoping for a Windfury proc.

A Shaman can almost always beat a Rogue in a duel, if the Shaman attacks first. If the Rogue applies poisons or stuns, the Shaman will probably be defeated. Do everything you can to break the Rogue's Stealth.


 * EZ kill/Summary: if they jump you, you're in deep trouble. Snare them, chug a heal potion, remove any poisons, run away while dropping an Earthbind Totem, and Lightning Bolt them to death.

Quick Summary
Difficulty Rating: Hard to Impossible

Warrior

 * Heal. The key to fighting a warrior is timing heals right.  The biggest problems Shamans will encounter with a Warrior are Mortal Strike, which reduces heal effectiveness; and Hamstring, which limits mobility.
 * Use a 1H-weapon and shield. If the server isn't mature, fire resistances are usually low.  This means that Flametongue Weapon is a useful weapon buff since the added fire damage ignores the armor rating of the warrior.
 * Use Strength of Earth Totem to increase your dodge, but be mindful of Overpower.
 * Use Searing Totem for supplementary damage.
 * Use Fire Nova Totem for burst damage.
 * Don't melee a warrior unless you have to. More often than not, they will close the distance with Intercept.
 * Use your PvP Insignia, Earthbind Totem, and Frost Shock to get away from a Warrior who Charges you. Since patch 1.8, Grounding Totem does not absorb the stun effect of Charge anymore.
 * Use Frost Shock for the damage and to kite the Warrior from you. Make sure you don't go too far or they will Intercept you.
 * Try to get them down to half health before you attempt melee combat.
 * If you have Elemental Mastery or Nature's Swiftness, use it!
 * The problem with Warriors with Mortal Strike is that it makes your heals useless. The fight comes down to who can kill whom faster.  As Elemental, try to kite with Frost Shock (which is kind of difficult with Intercept and Hamstring) and use Fire Nova, and Llightning Bolts followed by Chain Lightnings.  If you have good Resilience (300-400), Warriors become a little easier.
 * If you are a tauren Shaman, you can time your War Stomp and heals to when Mortal Strike is at 1 or 2 seconds. By the time you get your heal off, the debuff is gone and you will get the full benefit of your heal.
 * With luck, 2H or dual-wielded weapons with Windfury Weapon and Strength of Earth Totem may be good enough to out-damage a Warrior in melee. However, against a well-geared Warrior, you will take damage very rapidly without a shield.
 * Heal early, not when you're dipping below 50%, with the occasional shock and try to get out of range.
 * Summary: Kiting is the key to victory (if you're Elemental). Good luck if you're Enhancement.

Quick Summary
''Difficulty Rating: Medium-hard depending on gear and spec. Pretty darn easy if they're Prot. Hard to impossible if they're a full Merciless with Stormherald Warrior.''

Priest
Non-Shadow ''Difficulty Rating: Easy - Medium depending on spec. Most Priests will try to outlast you by spamming mana burns and buffs for you to Purge. Your best bet is to DPS them down ASAP or else you will go OOM and lose.''
 * Use 2H weapon. (Actually, keep a backup weapon in your backpack because if they are Disc-specced (with Reflective Shield), they'll throw up a Power Word: Shield, and all that damage you make with that fat 2H will be absorbed, and some will be reflected back to you.  Make sure you switch at this point.)
 * A Priest will probably use Psychic Scream to scare you away. So, try to drop a Tremor Totem at just the right moment to stay in control.
 * The battle basically comes down to a healing match. Do as much melee damage as you can, and whenever you see them channeling a spell, Wind Shear them to interrupt.  Bear in mind that Wind Shear does no damage.
 * Purge! A lot of Priests will raise a Power Word: Shield and start healing when the situation becomes too dangerous.  Dispelling the shield, followed by Wind Shear can effectively prevent this.  Furthermore, Priests will most likely have Power Word: Fortitude.  Purge will remove that stamina buff and its HP.  A neat trick for an Elemental Shaman is to cast Lightning Bolt, and while the bolt is in transit, Purge their shield before it hits.
 * Be wary of smart Priests that feign a heal by first casting some other spell (which a Shaman might shear out of a reflex).
 * EZ Kill: First, Purge their shield and any other buffs. Drop a Tremor Totem.  Then feel free to tank and use Wind Shear for spell interrupts.

Shadow Priest
 * Against a Shadow-specced Priest, the battle changes drastically depending on who gets the first jump.
 * If you jump the Priest first, make sure to drop a Tremor Totem, then as you run to the Priest you should Purge to get rid of any buffs. Now the Priest should Psychic Scream out of reflex.  Well, that Tremor Totem you placed should only make the fear run for about 3 sec and the Priest will probably cast Power Word: Shield, Inner Fire, and Power Word: Fortitude.  All that probably took 3 seconds, so now is your chance to get into melee range and tank him until he is dead.
 * As an Elemental Shaman, a good trick is to use Earthbind instead of Tremor Totem. Why?  Because by Earthbinding and kiting the Priest, the Priest is at your mercy.  But what about Dispel Magic?  If the Priest were to Dispel, the EB would just reapply itself to the Priest.  If the priest continues to Dispel, he will be playing defensive and giving you time to destroy him.  It's even better if a Shadow Priest tries to kite you, because then he is giving everything to you for free.  If the Priest gets the jump on you, hope you have Tremor down.  When he fears you, you will gain range on him and you will have the advantage yet again.
 * If they jump you, you're in some deep trouble. You will no doubt have to wait out the Psychic Scream for 8 seconds, and by then you have Shadow Word: Pain, have gotten hit with Mind Blast or Mind Flay, and have about 75-50% health left.  Now that Psychic Scream is over, try to get out of Silence range and heal.  Heal early because if you heal when you're below 50% he can use Silence, and you're done for.  Drop a Grounding Totem, Purge him, then get into melee range and tank him until he is dead.
 * As Elemental, try to kite him and stay at max range. You will be out of Silence and Psychic Scream range.  Purge any of his buffs and DPS him down quickly.  If you don't think you can kite him well enough, make sure you have Tremor Totem down.  Don't cast it right before you think he will fear you; it's better to have it up a little bit earlier.

Quick Summary
''Difficulty Rating: Medium-Hard. Very hard if they have 900+ spell damage''

Warlock
These will be your toughest fights, not only because Warlocks have multiple means of crowd controlling you, and they have the all-powerful Death Coil, a 500-dmg life steal that also sends you running horrified (doesn't count as fear, so Tremor doesn't help) for 2-3 seconds. A good Warlock will wand your Grounding Totem, Death Coil you, begin casting Fear, kill your Tremor Totem, DoT you up, cast Shadow Bolt once or twice, and then depending on how long the fear lasts, recast Fear, etc., etc. In addition to usually being able to keep you powerless, Warlocks can also silence you with their Felhunter for approximately 4 seconds (locking down the nature school if they time it on a heal spell) with a 30-second cooldown, and purge buffs, such as the insanely-beneficial Earth Shield for us Resto Shamans. Of course, this also means that Felhunters can purge Nature's Swiftness, Elemental Mastery, etc., so you should use your buffs gained from talents as quickly as possible to avoid them being wasted. So, how do you beat Warlocks? This section focuses first on duels, but most of this will apply to world PvP as well, with the major exception of the beginning.

Throw down your Grounding, Tremor, Searing, and Fire Resistance Totems, and challenge a Warlock to a duel. (Or, if you/or your opponent prefers, wait until the 'duel starting...3...2...1...' flutters across your interface before throwing down totems.) You should Purge immediately to remove Demonic Armor or any other buffs he has on. Tremor Totems and Grounding Totems should be thrown down as often as you have them off cooldown, so that your opponent has to either stop what he's casting in order to wand it, or else watch as your Grounding Totem eats his Fear (yes it can eat Fear), Shadow Bolt, Conflagrate, Soul Fire, Immolate, Death Coil, etc.; or you break his Fear after 1 second thanks to the Tremor Totem. The main key to beating the Warlock is to prevent him from getting his Death Coil/Fear/Spell Lock (the Felhunter silence) combo rolling, and to keep beating on him with melee and shocks. Keep Flametongue Weapon on your 1H or Windfury on your 2H to do maximum burst damage, and pound on him at melee range while you can. Use Frost Shock to help close the distance if necessary, and don't worry about spell interruption: Grounding Totem works just as well as Wind Shear.

Resto Shammies, if the Warlock is not using the Felhunter, keep that Earth Shield up; you'll regen health faster than he can kill you if his Felguard, Succubus, or Voidwalker is beating on you. Don't bother casting it if he has his Felhunter out since he'll just purge it.

Elemental Shammies, use that instant crit power right at the beginning to hit the Warlock hard and perhaps damage his pet as well, and chances are it'll be off cooldown by close to the end of the fight. Since you should have just as much, if not more, range than him on your spellcasting, focus on killing the 'lock from far away with lightning, rotating Grounding Totem and Earth Shock to interrupt his casting.

Enhance Shammies, if you are dual-wielding, double Windfury can do significant damage to a cloth-wearing Warlock in a short amount of time. Just remember to rotate Earth Shocks and Grounding/Tremor totems to keep the Warlock effectively silenced as you pound on him.

A lot of Warlocks will save their Death Coil until either you or they are low on HP (typically around 20-30%). Learning to roughly time your Grounding Totem so that it eats Death Coil dramatically increases your chances of surviving a fight with a Warlock.

For hybrid classes and Resto Shammies, even if the Felhunter is out AND you are caught within the 'lock's chain Fear/Shadow Bolt combo, you should be able to get a Nature's Swiftness and then a Healing Wave (should heal you for minimum of about 1900, even non-Resto). Just put the two buttons next to each other on your bar for maximum proximity. As a final note: you can out-heal anything short of a tier-2.5-or-greater 'lock spamming DoTs, Shadowburn, and Shadow Bolts on you just with Lesser Healing Wave. If you think you're getting low, throw down some appropriate totems to prevent Fear/Shadow Bolts and start healing away. Best of luck killing your Warlock friends!

A good tip when facing a Felhunter and 'lock is to cast Lightning Shield, Water Shield, or Water Breathing so that the Felhunter will absorb that. You can then follow up w/ a Nature's Swiftness or Elemental Mastery w/o any worries of having it dispelled.

''Difficulty Rating: depends on spec and gear and skill, but generally medium. Very hard if they have 800 to 900+ spell damage''

Mage
Update: As of Patch 2.4.3 (2008-07-15) Frost Armor, Ice Armor, Mage Armor, and Molten Armor are no longer Magic effects and cannot be dispelled (Purged).

What you should do:
 * Use 2H-weapon.
 * Purge! Mages will have Ice Armor and Arcane Intellect cast on themselves as a standard buff.
 * Drop a Grounding Totem when the "hands light up" (which usually is the first thing you will see happen in case of a Fire Mage).
 * Earth Shock whenever you see them channeling a spell.
 * Try to figure out which type of Mage you're fighting quickly, and drop the appropriate totem - Fire Resistance Totem for Fire Mages. If they're an Arcane Mage, hope you've got some Arcane resistance built into your armor.  It's better to use Searing Totem than Frost Resist against Frost Mages.
 * Use Searing Totem to slow down the Mage's casting speed and add some extra damage. (For an Elemental Shaman, it will also crit with your +spell crit value.)

What the Mage will do:
 * A Mage may try to Polymorph you. Don't panic though - you'll revert to your normal self if you take any damage, and while you're sheeped you'll quickly regain your health.  You can also stop being a sheep with your Faction Insignia.  Since the Mage will most likely try a heavy-damage spell while you're sheeped (Pyroblast especially for Fire Mages), you can hold your sheep form until they have 1-2 seconds left in the cast time, using the time to regenerate your health, then trinket out with enough time for a Grounding Totem or Wind Shear.
 * As Elemental, your biggest fear is Counterspell. Whenever you're fighting a mage remember when they've used counterspell.  Never heal w/o grounding totem up while their counterspell is up.  That's like asking to be silenced.  Play it smart and use shocks as dps.  Only cast when you know it is safe to cast.  Nature's swiftness helps with heals and instant damage.  Also, look out for Presence of Mind and be ready to purge buffs.

Difficulty Rating: Medium-Hard (if they get the jump)
 * EZ kill/Summary: The best tactic is to drop a Grounding Totem and a Fire Resist totem and/or a searing totem (searing if they're frost, fire resist AND searing if they're fire). Use DD shocks for spell interrupts and purge any shield they bring up.  Tank them, use the snare totem or DD snare to keep them from gaining distance.  Mages can be a pain, since they'll typically root you.  At this point you have a few options: the Grounding Totem would be the best choice, followed by casting your fastest heal, or chugging a health potion as soon as you take damage.  If possible, shock them to interrupt, but more than likely you won't have range for it.  Once free from the root, close the distance and snare/interrupt or you're dead.  Mages have a big advantage because they have sheep (CC), counterspell (your dps and healing are both stopped) and they out-dps you as well.

Druid
Difficulty Rating: Medium
 * Purge! But, careful! If the druid's level 64 or above he may use Lifebloom, which your "purge" will trigger. Watch out, since this spell is so cheap and efficient they won't even care if you dispel it.  Many shammies have fully healed their opponents by purging too much before understanding what was going on.  It makes the match last so much longer than it should and it can run your mana pool dry.  Get a druid friend to show you what lifebloom looks like so you know not to purge it.  Or you can get an addon telling what buffs the opponent just buffed himself with.
 * The druid is a very versatile class to battle. They can switch forms quite rapidly during combat, switching from a caster class to a warrior class, to a rogue class.  The key adaptation is to treat every form as the associated class (i.e., Cat Form as a rogue, Bear Form as a warrior and Druid form as a caster).
 * Should the druid start to run in Travel Form, slow him down with Frost Shock and Earthbind Totems.
 * Get in their face early, make them use their mana for healing.
 * For low-level druids (40 and below) the best tactic is to make them come out of their forms and immediately silence them as they proceed to heal. At this point, most inexperienced druids will not know what to do, and the fight is yours.
 * Don't waste your mana! Most of your mana in this battle should be for healing yourself and keeping the druid as close as possible.
 * Grounding totem absorbs feral charge which is very useful when combating a Druid.
 * Tired of those darn trees slowing your cast time? You can use stoneclaw totem to take aggro off of you and have the trees attack it. It takes a while for the trees to take down the stoneclaw as well.
 * Don't cast if hes in bear form and hes walking backwards. He'll charge you and you'll get silienced.
 * EZ kill/Summary: Drop a snare totem, strip any buffs they may have with purge, then tank them. Follow this up with insta DD snare and use insta DD shock to interrupt their casts.  The Druid offers a unique fighting style since they can root and heal.  This can be problematic.  Rooted:1 if you are weak heal yourself.2 If you are high on health and the Druid isn't if you have range use Wind Shear if not use your strongest Lightning Bolt.
 * Can be a tough battle if a cat druid gets in your face first, their quick attack speed devours totems and they have a limited degree of stun-lock any many bleeds that can sneak up on you, putting you on the defensive. Not so bad if you are enhancement, but if you are resto or elemental you will try to kite him and keep him from melee range if hes in the melee forms.

Hunter
''Difficulty Rating: Medium - Hard depending on how hard they hit you and how they time their shots and abilities. ''
 * Place Stoneclaw totem to distract the pet (note that this only works if their pet is set on aggressive)
 * Use Frost Shock and Earthbind Totem to keep them in melee range.
 * Use Poison Cleansing Totem or Cure Poison. If you are doing things right, you'll be moving within a small area.
 * Use Grounding Totem to absorb potential traps such as a Freezing Trap.
 * Hunter stings are considered Poison. The most important one to remove is Viper Sting.
 * If you need to heal, be sure you're in melee range first. Slow him with Frost Shock and try to get in a quick heal with Lesser Healing Wave.  Even if the pet is on your back you should be able to heal no problem with Lesser Healing Wave.  Regular Healing Wave will give them too much time.  (Hopefully you have the talents that improve your Lesser Healing Wave.)
 * It's much better however if you kill him before you have to heal. Hunters are one of the few classes against which it's good to use almost all your mana on trying for a quick kill.
 * Cast Water Shield if the pet is on you. Depending on the spec, the pet's dps will not affect you much, while at the same time you are getting fast mana back.  This a highly desirable tactic if ever you find yourself mana-drained by the Hunter.
 * The longer the fight, the harder it gets.
 * Had enough with those snakes on a plain? Use magma totem to kill those pesky snakes in one pulse.
 * EZ Kill/Summary: Hunters are mediumy if you manage to reverse-Kite. Make sure you are always in melee range.  (The Dead zone was removed in 2.3 so that's not an option.).  Ignore the pet and force the hunter to melee you.  You will most likely have more DPS at close range.  Watch out for Wing Clip, with the deadzone removed they now have more than one way to slow you down.

Paladin
Difficulty Rating: Medium to hard
 * Paladins are a force to be reckoned with but they can be beaten. Spells are the better idea as Paladins will win in melee combat.  The best trick is kite them.
 * Use 1H and shield. 2H is a debatable choice, but 1H and shield is usually better.
 * Flametongue Weapon is a viable alternative to Windfury Weapon. If you opt for 2H weapon, choose Windfury because a lucky hit could kill the paladin while he still has mana.
 * Purge! (Again and again when you see him cast a seal.)
 * Don't waste your mana! Paladins are the Shaman's polar opposite: their spells are extremely efficient, but tend to be low on the massive burst damage that a Shaman can pump out. Since your burst damage is sketchy, however, you need to be able to beat the Paladin at their own efficiency game.
 * Use Wind Shear to interrupt any heals that the Paladin is doing.
 * Kite and harass until half of YOUR mana is gone. You will need the rest for healing.
 * Remember that Paladins can cast Divine Shield or the similar Divine Protection and then heal while invulnerable two to three times during the battle, while you watch helplessly. During that time heal yourself (if he heals under his magic shield, bandage yourself).  Normal cooldown for Divine Shield and Divine Protection is 3 minutes.  If the Paladin has spent talent points on reducing the cooldown, it can be as short as 4 minutes for Divine Shield.  After using one of these two spells to become invulnerable or casting Blessing of Protection to become immune to melee damage, the Paladin will be unable to cast any other invulnerability spell for 60 seconds; they cannot, for example, cast Divine Shield first and then cast Blessing of Protection 20 seconds later.
 * This battle may last a while. Remember to let your naturally high spirit do its job.  Also remember that--unless you have special gear--you CAN'T gain more mana while you're casting spells.  So make sure you have some time between your casts.  Mana regeneration only starts 5 seconds after your last cast.
 * Most of the time, whoever runs out of mana first loses. The best thing you can do is get them to use their mana.  And watch out for Lay on Hands; it can be cast with 1 mana.
 * Divine Shield and Divine Protection cannot be purged, but Blessing of Protection can be. Blessing of Protection looks like a lot of whitish hoops traveling around them.  If the Paladin is using this, Divine Shield is most likely on cooldown.  Blessing of Protection ONLY stops melee damage, but they can't melee with it.  Thus, only Purge it if you're using melee as your primary damage output.
 * If they're holy, attempt to insta-gib him. If you go oom, and he has at least 30% mana, you will probably lose and you will lose slowly.
 * EZ Kill/Summary Paladins can easily outlast a Shaman if they're Holy or Protection. If you're Elemental, try and keep them out of range with Frost Shock and Earthbind, which will force them to use Cleanse or Blessing of Freedom (which you can Purge) to catch up to you.  If you're Enhancement, get in their face and use your powerful mana-free melee DPS to force them to heal.  Restoration has a much easier time thanks to their powerful, more efficient heals, as Paladins have very few ways of interrupting opposing casters.

Shaman

 * It often comes down to who has Nature's Swiftness or not, and who's the better/luckier player.
 * If you are at least partially enhancement-specced, use your mana only for removing lightning shield from the other player, and to heal yourself. If not, you're probably screwed.
 * Proper Grounding Totem timing and paying attention your opponent is absolutely key to this battle. Unobservant players who don't notice when their opponents drops their Grounding Totem to heal and instead mash Earth Shock to try and interrupt will lose to their opponent easily.
 * Generally you are going to have to change tactics quickly. Observe what spells they cast so you know what spec they are.  If they are closing to melee range with a 2 hander out/dual wielding, you know he is enhancement, if you see him using a 1 hand w/ an offhand or shield he's elemental, if you see he's using an offhand or shield w/ an earthshield on, he's obviously resto.
 * Elemental Mastery and Nature's Swiftness can all be dispelled using purge.
 * If you have time, Totem. But remember, only do the ones that will help you most in that situation.
 * BE CAREFUL OF GROUNDING TOTEM. You can end up wasting mana by spamming purge because grounding totem absorbs purge.


 * Spec vs Spec guides below (You vs Him)
 * Enhance vs Resto - Same thing as a priest or a paladin. Conserve your mana and wait for him (he will use it) to use Nature's Swiftness.  If you're quick you can purge his Nature's Swiftness right off him.  Go straight for dps close range and you will have him.  Remember, go two-hander since he will most likely be using his spells rather than melee.  Earth Shock any of his heals.  Searing Totem is preferable for slowing down his heals.
 * Enhance vs Elemental - Same thing as a Mage. Earth Shock every move he does.  Purge any of his buffs and stay at very close range.  Earthbind Totem soon as you're next to him.
 * Enhance vs Enhance - Interesting Fight. Depending on gear, keep him kited while using most of your mana.  Once it's close to gone, just go straight to melee.  If you pile on a Stormstrike with a few Earth shocks as soon as you see a Windfury pop he won't have time to do a quick heal.
 * Elemental vs Enhance - Use Earthbind totems and shocks. You have the bigger mana pool so you can afford to use shocks.  Elemental Mastery devastates if you can stop him getting close range for you to cast.  Pile on the DPS and make it a quick fight.  Be sure to keep grounding totem up when you go for heals.  Earthbind and frost shock kiting helps a lot.
 * Elemental vs Resto - Earth shock fight. This will most likely turn into who can Earth shock the other's lightning bolts/heals.  Purge his Nature's Swiftness and use your Lightning Overload fast.  Be sure to cast grounding totem before heals and keep searing totem up to slow down the enemy's casting.
 * Elemental vs Elemental - Should be quick and simple. Earth shock most of his attacks and again Purge his top talent ability.  Grounding totem before heals and searing totem to slwo down their casting.
 * Resto vs Resto - Purge his Nature's Swiftness and Earth shock his heals. Brace yourself, this one will be a long fight.  Be sure to take down any totems and keep your totems up.  Get your timing with mana tide down right (which you should have as resto).  Use water shield because its mana efficient and most shaman will either purge it (wasting mana), hit it and purge it (giving you mana and taking their mana) or leave it (giving you mana for this enduranc fight)
 * Resto vs Enhance - I must tell you now. If you're attacking a enhance shammy as a resto, don't count much on your survival rate.  Do not! let him in melee range.  Purge any buffs.  Kite with Frost Shock and Earthbind.  Nature's Swiftness + Heal when close to death.  If you mimic paladin tactics then you can kill him, but remember that you don't have a bubble so running away won't be easy.  Pray that you're lucky and they don't get insane windfury crits on you.
 * Resto vs Elemental - Earth shock fight. Earth shock every bolt he casts.  Purge his Lightning mastery and use Nature's Swiftness fast.  Grounding totem for heals or when your shocks are on cooldown.  As a resto shaman, you should have more mana and mp5 giving you an edge in this fight.
 * Water shield is your friend.

For the Resto Shaman
These are mainly taken from dueling or arena context

Warrior
The best tactic to use is this:
 * Make sure to have Earth Shield up
 * Always have Earthbind Totem down
 * Mana Spring Totem and Wrath of Air Totem help too but aren't terribly necessary.
 * They will initiate the fight with a Charge, which will also tag them with an Earthbind Totem. In PvP situations, you're probably facing a "MS" warrior, so be ready to have half-effective heals (keep Earth Shield up).  Try to run away as quickly as possible to avoid hamstring.
 * If you get away, turn quickly and Frost Shock. Lay down a Searing Totem and Earthbind Totem as soon as it's up.  Keep doing this until the warrior is dead or they intercept.  In the case of the latter, repeat from the start.
 * In most situations, you won't be so fortunate as to get away. My tactic for when this happens is simple.  Get behind them.  As they hamstring you, lay down Searing Totem and Frost Shock him.  Jump (or run, I just feel jump is more fun) behind them and quickly turn around.  continue to Frost Shock him and lay Searing Totem as necessary.  They shouldn't be able to get a decent hit on you, as you will hopefully be behind them most of the fight.
 * Use Stoneclaw Totem (assuming you have Glyph of Stoneclaw Totem) whenever you drop below 40% to recover fast.
 * Kite as much as possible in ghost wolf. The Improved Ghost Wolf makes this easier
 * You may want to stay too close for an Intercept but too far for them to use any attacks. Use Frost Shock/Earthbind Totem to make this easier.  While you let you searing totem slowly tear them down.

Hunter
A very easy fight if you know what you're doing.
 * Totems to always keep down: Windwall, Earthbind, Poison Cleansing, and Searing.
 * When the fight starts, make sure to close in on them by using frost shock and earthbind. If you're close enough, they are forced to melee.
 * Hopefully the hunter has faith in his pet and keeps it on you. This will only make things easier by allowing earth shield to proc more often and keep you topped off.
 * They will most likely snake trap, in which case a Magma Totemclears that up.
 * If your poison cleansing totem is taking too long to cleanse viper sting, you have to take the time to manually dispel that. It is the bane of resto shaman everywhere.
 * If you keep close enough you shouldn't have to worry about their Mortal Strike-like shot or their dispel.
 * They will likely ice trap you sometime during the fight. This is the best time to use your PvP trinket.  Previous editor stated that you cannot use a grounding totem on freeze trap this is incorrect you can and should ground a hunters freeze trap.  there is no reason not to keep up a grounding totem in this fight at all times.  The hunter will invariably either intimidate/scatter shot before the trap.  a) never trinket either of these, b) spam grounding totem here if you are lucky you will catch the ice trap else this is the only time you should have to trinket vs a hunter
 * Keep an eye on your buffs, the hunter's arcane shot will remove your Earth Shield, so you may need to use water shield.
 * Instant ghost wolf can be a big help here to close the distance, but be careful as the hunter can fear you in this form.

Mage
Hopefully you've specced into Elemental Warding (10% less damage from elements). It makes this fight tons easier.
 * Expect them to try to spellsteal your earth shield at least once. Be ready to purge.  They probably won't continue with this tactic as it is extremely mana-costly.
 * Along with purging your earth shield off them, spam purge to get rid of Int buffs and armors they have on them.
 * If they are inexperienced and pop a mana shield up, exploit it. Drop grounding totem and go to town on them with a flame shock, then lighting bolt while they're casting the spell that will hit the totem, and another lightning bolt while they try to cast again.  If the shield still stands, purge and earth shock.
 * Be ready for the kamikaze mage. The bastard who blinks in and uses Arcane Explosion like there's no tomorrow.  This is most common in arenas.  To counter, frost shock and earth bind.  Run as far away as possible.  Heal up and lighting bolt or frost shock them.
 * Be ready to recognize their spec. If they have up Ice Barrier, throw down a frost resistance.  If they have up Combustion, by God, a fire resistance totem best be down.
 * Once you have some resistance this fight isn't too bad, just be quick on your heals, keep earthshield up, grounding down and have earthshock handy. Do NOT let the mage evocate, be ready with anything to stop that.

Rogue
Mmm. Get ready to be on your toes.
 * First, if you aren't seeing anyone in an arena, it's a rogue or a druid. Hope for a rogue.  Throw down magma totem and an earth bind.  This will expose the stealth and slow him down.  Stand on your magma totem to optimize effectiveness.
 * A small trick to use is entering in ghost wolf form, as you cannot be sapped as beast. Keep in mind that you can be hibernated by a druid.
 * Poison Cleansing totem is a must. As with hunters, if it's not proccing fast enough, expect to do it manually.  Rogues hit fast and apply poisons almost as soon as you dispel them.  **edit: Spam poison cleansing totem over casting poison remove, the mana cost is cheaper and the global cooldown is shorter.
 * Drop a searing totem as it will keep them in combat and occasionally break vanish which is a life saver.(its a bit bugged at the moment yay shaman)
 * A rogue will open Cheap Shot>Spam damage and chiv(applys wound poison if we're talking arena)>Gut Shot, if you're going to trinket anything here its the Gut shot, it lasts for 5s and also trinket will drop crippling poison, allowing you to pop ghost wolf and get out of there, if you trinket Gut shot and are in 400+ resil gear you shouldnt be below 80% hp if Earth Shield is up. Dont top yourself off, run, if he gets lucky with another crippling cleanse it and whilst you're out of ghost wolf frost shock the rogue and recast ghost wolf and run on.  The rogue will now blow a cooldown to catch you (probably sprint) if you can line of sight him around a pillar whilst he's in sprint then you've saved a whole lot of hassle and force him to pop another cooldown/ you're away.  If he pops cloak of shadows, stand still, make sure Earth Shield is up and heal, against a rogue try to fake a heal, that is start to heal and then stop straight away, 9 times out of 10 the rogue will kick and miss your heal meaning you're free to heal for 10s which is very important.  Now he's used his cooldown you just repeat the process until all of the rogues cooldowns are used.  With practise you should be able to completely lock down a rogues damage after about 30s of initial damage.  If the rogue at any point turns aways from you pop a flame shock on him, this will prevent him from stealthing and restunlocking.  If he does stealth immediately go into ghost wolf to stop sap.  *Important note: Try to save NS for when wound poison wears off(think its 30s after it was last applied) this is very efficient.
 * Earth shield is a must.
 * If you get stun-locked, the first thing to do when you get out is to NS+HW and then earth shield again.
 * With resilience+armor, they don't hit hard. You just need to watch for their stuns.

Shaman
Recall this is from a Resto Shaman point of view:
 * Vs. Enhancement: If you have under 350 resilience your best bet is to kite as best you can.  Frostshock and earthbind, you can try to burn his mana by casting Lightning Shield or Mana Shield, but Earth Shield will just get purged off, so you may not want to waste the mana.  Keep up fire totems, healing totem, grounding, and earthbind as best you can.  Kiting is very difficult, but if you time your grounding totems well you have a decent chance.  Watch for them to heal, earthshock when they do.  If you have 350+ resilience you may find it easier and more successful to stand up to them.  If the enhancement shaman out classes you by gear this will not work.  A big help is to be full pvp spec (0/20/41) as most of their damage is physical.  Drop stoneskin, grounding, healing, and fire totems; keep your shield to the enhancement shaman at all times.  Keep up lighting shield or mana shield unless they are not purging; lighting is great to drain their mana by getting them to purge, if they are not purging keeping earth shield up may be an option.  Destroy any fire totems they drop, save the rest of your mana for healing.  Use a dps weapon if you have one with windfury on it; switch back to your healing weapon if you find the fight is not going well.  If you can get him low on health, hold your shock until he goes to heal, then earthshock, drop fire nova totem, NS+lighting, earthshield and finish the fight.  Enhancement shaman are similar to mages, glasscannons, they do a ton of damage but in the end don't take very much.  One caution, a smart enhancement shaman will switch to a shield if they start falling behind  and often they will joust with you; this will make the fight much harder.  Switching you weapon enchant to flametougne may be a nice way to increase your effectiveness in this case.
 * Vs. Elemental: The above poster summed this up pretty well, earthshock and grounding totem.  Personally I save NS for lighting if I can, keep up watershield and keep a fire totem down.  Destroy their fire totems (melee, don't waste the spell cooldown).  Should be able to ground or shock most of his dps.  If you are full pvp the elemental will have more mana lasting then you will, be cautious of this and all will be well.