Enhancement or Elemental for leveling? no heirlooms

[tommyboi]

i am currently level 17, and i dont know what spec is best for a low level like me.
[Wotlk]

[Iamshaman]

elemental is so much better for leveling than enhancement

[followme86]

If you are a beginner I would recommend Enhancement:

Pros:
- uptime is high (mana efficient)
- easy to play and/but versatile (you can easily heal vanilla instances)
- survivability is great
- getting suitable gear is not a problem
Cons:
- not really good at AoE grinding (handling/pulling 3-4 mobs the same time)
- moderate dmg

But you can also try elemental:
Pros:
- higher DPS output
- great for grinding (with proper talents)
- as enh it is easy and versatile (you can fill the healer role)
Cons:
- mana efficiency is poor so uptime is lower (you need to stop and drink) --> this can be "fixed" with proper gear and profession
- getting suitable gear can be an issue --> you can sacrifice survivability to resolve this

Since leveling can get a little bit boring imho the best way is to choose the spec which is more fun for you to play :)

[firekid122]

Probably Enh, last time i leveled an ele i had to drink after every mob w/o heirlooms.

[madafake]

For me enha was really fun, fast at mid levels and reliable for pvp encounters. I've dinged 80 this day and my played time is about 60 hours at slow pace because i was focusing on enjoying the zones to the fullest. I think with little bit of concentration you can level even faster.