Just like any other class the Shaman has 71 talent points to spend at level 80. He is able to invest them into the Elemental, Enhancement and Restoration talent trees. All three trees offer completely different play styles and are totally different. This causes most Shamans to only invest into one of the talent trees with at least 55 points and makes a hybrid talent spec ineffective.

An Elemental Shaman is a ranged fighter who utilizes spells that deal damage from a distance. While Elemental Shaman only had their Lightning Bolts in the Burning Crusade, they now received some powerful fire spells with Wrath of the Lich King. Additionally their new ultimate talent features a knock back effect.

Enhancement Shamans were strong melee damage dealers in Burning Crusade, supporting their group with powerful buffs at the same time. While the buffs were reduced in Wrath of the Lich King the personal damage has been increased. They also received some changes into their combat rotations, and casted spells are now part of it.

Restoration has always been a strong talent tree for the Shaman, buffing the shamanic healing spells. In order to close some gaps in the Shaman's healing arsenal a few new spells were added for the Restoration Shaman. He received a self buff to boost his critical strike chance for healing spells and the new ultimate talent finally has a heal over time effect. The Restoration Shaman's signature spells, Earth Shield and Chain Heal, also received some substantial buffs.