Cataclysm [Guide] Restoration Shaman

[emagunner]

Correct me if i am mistaken please, but i think mastery should be equally important to haste. When u heal someone, is because the person is NOT on 100% health. That means that mastery is a direct healing increase, ALWAYS.

[DonBishop]

Correct me if i am mistaken please, but i think mastery should be equally important to haste. When u heal someone, is because the person is NOT on 100% health. That means that mastery is a direct healing increase, ALWAYS.

Except for the fact that it heals for more the less they have.

[MyRevolution]

Correct me if i am mistaken please, but i think mastery should be equally important to haste. When u heal someone, is because the person is NOT on 100% health. That means that mastery is a direct healing increase, ALWAYS.

Yes and no. Yes, it's more important than haste after you reach soft haste cap. Why's that? All about Riptide HoT, providing huge portion of HPS, taking rank one in Healing Done meters.

No, because after capping haste cap, both - crit and mastery - are better. Also, you will never use your Mastery in 100% so that's not so simple to choose between two of them.

[mattcham]

Re: gemming

Is it a good idea to gem +40 intellect (red gems) in all sockets except when the socket bonus is +20 intellect or to meet the meta gem requirements?

This seems to be the rule of thumb for resto druids and holy priests so I'm wondering if it also applies to resto shammy. The intellect gain can be substantial by gemming this way.

[Shathor]

Is it a good idea to gem +40 intellect (red gems) in all sockets except when the socket bonus is +20 intellect or to meet the meta gem requirements?

Good question. I always gemmed acording colors. Even if socket bonus is +10 intellect only.
I thought it is better to say loosing 10 int but gain 20 spirit (violett gem + socket bonus) than just gain 10 int (red gem).

[mattcham]

Good question. I always gemmed acording colors. Even if socket bonus is +10 intellect only.
I thought it is better to say loosing 10 int but gain 20 spirit (violett gem + socket bonus) than just gain 10 int (red gem).

I went from gemming to match color to just using +40 intellect in all sockets except for +20 intellect bonus gear and meta gem requirement. In the end I gained 60 intellect but lost 50 spirit and 40 crit.

In terms of healing ability, i noticed no difference. The healing throughput gain, if any, may be too small to detect subjectively.

[MyRevolution]

I went from gemming to match color to just using +40 intellect in all sockets except for +20 intellect bonus gear and meta gem requirement. In the end I gained 60 intellect but lost 50 spirit and 40 crit.

In terms of healing ability, i noticed no difference. The healing throughput gain, if any, may be too small to detect subjectively.

You can feel very little difference when you're gaining crit and mastery. But it's not so significant to go crazy about it. Most important thing in gemming is to get Meta gem bonus.

With a dilemma "full intellect or put gems to get bonus", it's like with top PvE guild, going Horde to get their racials, known as best for PvE. Difference is really slight, yet if you're hardcore raider - you try everything you can to top off your DPS/HPS.

[emagunner]

i always try to get the most intellect out of the item. if the bonus is 20 intellect, i go for a gem 20 intellect/20 something else. if not, 40 intellect

[his1nightmare]

Umm hello
I am having trouble dealing with aoe damage in instances. My shaman is Bdayshammy on nelth, dinged 85 recently, and am starting to heal normal dungeons. I have 5k bonus healing, and 2300ish mp5 self buffed. When damage is single target only, I can very well keep up with healing everyone, but in stuff like Rajh middle phase when he starts aoeing, I simply cannot keep everyone alive.

I have one shaman on wotlk and it is very easy to keep everyone up by spamming 1-2 chain heal+lhw as needed. Here however, my CH heals for 10k on first person only. I know I can cast HR and then chain heal, but it is hard to get people to stand in one circle :D

Can anyone advice me as to what to do please? Thanks in advance.

[mattcham]

Umm hello
I am having trouble dealing with aoe damage in instances. My shaman is Bdayshammy on nelth, dinged 85 recently, and am starting to heal normal dungeons. I have 5k bonus healing, and 2300ish mp5 self buffed. When damage is single target only, I can very well keep up with healing everyone, but in stuff like Rajh middle phase when he starts aoeing, I simply cannot keep everyone alive.

I have one shaman on wotlk and it is very easy to keep everyone up by spamming 1-2 chain heal+lhw as needed. Here however, my CH heals for 10k on first person only. I know I can cast HR and then chain heal, but it is hard to get people to stand in one circle :D

Can anyone advice me as to what to do please? Thanks in advance.

First off, what is your ilvl?
Regardless of your skill, you cannot expect to heal instances that are designed for higher end gear than what you have.

Not all RDF dungeons are the same. The easiest RDF HC to heal are probably ToT, followed by SC, then HOO. BRC and TV are harder on healers. DM, GB, and SFK are much more difficult.

Your ability to heal the party also depends on the other party members. Not all tanks are the same. Bad tanks are mana sponges and difficult to heal even when they have ilvl >350 due to wearing hybrid tank/dps gear. Newbie dps players will stand in fire or poison instead of running away. Even if the players are ilvl 355+, it is possible that they play mostly PvP and don't know the PVE tactics.

Assuming you have a properly geared ilvl 345+ team that knows all tactics, you need an *IN-COMBAT* regen of about 2200+, spell power of 6700+, haste of 7.16%+, and mana pool of 95k (all self buffed with totems) to heal reasonably well in RDF HC. If you have these stats but frequently run out of mana, either your party members are inexperienced mana sponges or you are casting incorrect healing spells. If your stats are lower than the above, you should consider doing the easier instances or teaming up with more experienced/better geared players.

Install the add-on called Recount. If each dps player in your party has an average of <8k dps per person, you have a high chance of failing at Raj boss in HOO HC because the fight will take too long and you will run out of mana. Good dps players with ilvl 345 should be able to do 8k+ dps.

Finally, chain heal is one of the least used heals in cataclysm because it is weak and slow. Always start by casting water shield on yourself and earthshield on the tank. Do NOT refresh earth shield until it's at 1 stack or 0 stack because it costs a lot of mana. The most frequently used heal is Riptide. Always cast Riptide whenever its off cooldown. While Riptide is on cooldown, cast healing wave on each person that needs heals. Healing rain is also frequently used if your party members are all standing close together. If 1 person is taking heavy damage cast Greater healing wave. If 3 or more party members are taking heavy damage and are <50% health, cast Healing Surge on each one to keep them from dying. Healing Surge is a powerful and fast casting heal but it will consume your mana very quickly, so use it only for emergencies. Lastly, use chain heal only when 3 or more party members are taking light damage and have >80% health. Chain heal is probably the least used heal in Cataclysm 4.06. The only heal that I use less than Chain heal is healing surge. Dont forget to use your mana-free heals everytime they are off cooldown, like "Unleash Earthliving Weapon" and "Gift of the Naaru" (if Dranei race).

Good luck!

[his1nightmare]

I was actually referring to me failing in HoO normal -.- But I understand now, I'll try spamming GHW or HS instead of CH to heal aoe dmg.

Thanks :)

[DonBishop]

Assuming you have a properly geared ilvl 345+ team that knows all tactics, you need an *IN-COMBAT* regen of about 2200+, spell power of 6700+, haste of 7.5%+, and mana pool of 95k (all self buffed with totems) to heal reasonably well in RDF HC. If you have these stats but frequently run out of mana,

Not true. I have somewhere around 80-88k on my Shaman and heal Raids just fine. RDF HC are a joke. If mana is the problem, grab the Spirit trinkets from Hoo and SC and that'll fix. I also suggest grabbing TC, its an icredible talent that is often over looked.

Finally, chain heal is one of the least used heals in cataclysm because it is weak and slow.

Very true. It has one use in on fight. Chim in BWD, other than that, it;s not even in my bars.H

ealing rain is also frequently used if your party members are all standing close together.

I also reccomend grabbing that talent that increase's the heal and reduces the mana cost of healing spells when using a Shock. I can't remember the name at all though.

If 1 person is taking heavy damage cast Greater healing wave.

Only cast GHW if you KNOW the dmg is coming. If it spikes at random moments, use HS. If[QUOTE] 3 or more party members are taking heavy damage and are <50% health, cast Healing Surge on each one to keep them from dying.[/QUOTE

]Healing Surge is a powerful and fast casting heal but it will burn your mana down very quickly, so use it only for emergencies.

Honestly, if he wants to solve his problem, just blow Heroism/Bloodlust when Rahj goes in the middle and be sure to get your healing stream totem glyphed for the resistance. You'll thank me later. L

astly, use chain heal only when 3 or more party members are taking light damage and have >80% health. Chain heal is probably the least used heal in Cataclysm 4.06.

Don't even bother with Chain Heal unless its Chim in BWD.

Honestly, Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp/Ancient Hysteria + Healing Surge = everyone alive. If your tank is smart, he'll pop defensive cooldowns to make your job easier .

[mattcham]

I agree with Traphik. Also, in raids the comprehensive set of buffs from your 9 or 24 party members will make you a lot more powerful than the unpredictable assortment of buffs in an RDF PUG...

[MyRevolution]

(...) be sure to get your healing stream totem glyphed for the resistance. You'll thank me later. (...)

Undoubtedly, yes. If you're not raiding with paladin who's using Resistance aura - glyph it, nau. It resists **** tons of damage on raids and dungeons.

[mirceas]

thanks for the good guide.