Call of the Elements: Restoration Shaman Healing Guide (4.3.4 ) [Amashaman]
CALL OF THE ELEMENTS:
RESTORATION SHAMAN PvE (4.3)
Written by - Amashaman (Amamonster) of Myrmidons
Edited by - Kimme (Littlematt) of Myrmidons and Sanctified Wrath
Why a Restoration Shaman?
Now the first question anyone should ask themselves is why? Why This? Why That? Well why a Restoration Shaman? Because we are FRICKIN AMAZING THAT'S WHY!! Not only that but Restoration Shamans are versatile healers who can deal with virtually ANY healing situation(in my own humble experience) provided before them. But like any other class we have our pros and cons.
Pros:
- Excels at AoE stack healing
- Great Burst Healing
- Versatile Healing Styles
- Can tank and raid heal efficiently
- WE MAKE IT RAIN *****ES!!!
Cons:- Low Maneuverability while healing
- Can't Spread Heal if our life depended on it.
Now if I haven't convinced you that restoration shaman is best for you then go roll a Blood Death Knight and TROLOLOLOL!! Your way to victory. But if you decide to stick around please feel free to comment and discuss at the end of my guide.
Our Tool Kit - Spells:
Healing Wave: Our go to spammable heal. This should be in use for the majority of a fight if incoming damage permits us to do so. Low Mana Cost.
Greater Healing Wave: Our ÔÇ£BIGÔÇØ heal. Use when incoming damage is to large to be handled by Healing Wave. Medium Mana Cost.
Healing Surge: Our ÔÇ£OMFG WTF HAPPENEDÔÇØ heal. This heal should ONLY be used when your target is in danger of dying, healing of your target needed to happen ÔÇ£yesterdayÔÇØ, or at the end of a fight to pad HPS meters(LMAO). High Mana Cost.
Riptide: The most mana-efficient heal in our inventory. Has an on-hit healing effect along with a secondary HoT. Provides the Tidal Waves buff. Note: Managing this spell is crucial to any Restoration Shaman's success. Low Mana Cost
Earth Living Weapon: A cast and for get self-enchant to our weapon. A passive proc HoT on anyone target that receives healing from our spells. No mana Cost.
Chain Heal: Our basic Multi-Target Smart Heal. Hits up to 4 people prioritizing those with lower health. Provides the Tidal Waves Buff. Medium Mana Cost.
Healing Rain: Our signature spell. An AoE healing spell which makes all the other healers jealous. Should be used when stacked. High Mana Cost.
Water Shield: Bolsters our Mana Regeneration. Increases Mana Regeneration and gives us mana every time a charge is absorbed. Modified by Improved shields and Resurgence. No Mana cost.
Earth Shield: Our Single Target Healing Helper. Places a shield on our target and increases our healing done to that target. Also heals every time a charge is absorbed.
Unleash Elements: Our ÔÇ£Heal BoosterÔÇØ. Provides a small initial heal and increases our next DIRECT heal 20%.
Spirit Link Totem: Our Raid Cool-down. Our BIG raid cool-down and arguably the best in the game right now. Redistributes health between all players within range to an equilibrium.
Mana Tide Totem: Our Mana Cool-down. Increases our and raid members spirit by 200% of OUR spirit, effectively increasing our Mana Regeneration to a level of insanity.
SpiritWalker's Grace: We can cast while running...WHHHEEEEEEE!!! This is awesome and most shamans don't use it.
Nature's Swiftness: Makes your next nature spell insta-cast.
The following is a base talent tree of what i feel is ABSOLUTELY necessary to take for your restoration shaman:
The only point I would move is the point in Cleansing Waters. In order to get down to the next tier of talents your 3 choices which will be discussed below. So to summarize this talent tree leaves you with 1 optional point in the Restoration Tree and 5 points which you may use to your liking.
4th tier or below options:
- Cleansing Waters: Reduces mana cost of Cleanse Spirit. Adds a small heal to the spell also. Great for fights where you know you will be dispelling debuffs. Situational HPS increase. Kimmy recommends instead of putting points into this, put points in Telluric Currents. (See description below)
- Focused Insights: Gives you a buff that decreases the mana cost of your next healing spell by 25/50/75% and increases its effectiveness by 10/20/30%. An overall HPS increase when used properly but if used IMPROPERLY can effect your mana in the long run.
- Nature's Guardian: VERY VERY SITUATIONAL. Not even worth discussing in my opinion. Just don't take it for PvE.
- Ancestral Resolve: Reduces damage taken while casting spells by 5/10%. Can be good for progression raiding when you are trying to learn fights and are taking a lot of damage. Otherwise skip.
Your remaining 5 points:
- Acuity: increases your critical strike chance by 1/2/3% . An indirect HPS increase. ALSO: Note extra crit helps with mana! See the Stats Priority section for more information. You WANT this.
- Ancestral Swiftness: Increases movement speed and can potentially make your ghost wolf spell instant cast. Great for high movement fights. (Kimmy does not recommend wasting points here.)
- Telluric Currents: Gives you a positive mana return on lightning bolt casts. A good talent if you find yourself having mana problems or have downtime during a fight. But remember it is only a good pick if you UTILIZE IT. Direct ÔÇ£ActiveÔÇØ Mana Increase
Of course, its your final decision that will make or break your talents so all i can suggest is that you choose wisely. Keey in mind, Resto Shamans ALWAYS WANT TO BE CASTING! With that said, you want to either be spamming Healing Wave inbetween casting, or Lightning bolt.. depending on your talents.
Glyphs:
PRIME:
- Glyph of Riptide: Allows you to maintain 3 riptides at one time. Direct HPS increase
- Glyph of Earth Living Weapon: Increases effectiveness of the proc by 20%. Direct HPS increase
- Glyph of Earth Shield: Increases the amount of healing done by Earth Shield by 20%. Direct HPS increase.
MAJOR:
- Glyph of Healing Stream Totem: Adds the resistance of Elemental Resistance Totem to Healing Stream Totem. Indirect Mana Increase
- Glyph of Healing Wave: Heals yourself for 20% of the healing done by your healing wave. Direct HPS increase
- Glyph of Chain Heal: Decreases the amount of healing of chain heal on the first target by 10 %, but increases healing on all other targets by 15%
Other: Glyph of Stoneclaw Totem: Gives you a shield that absorbs incoming damage up to ~17k. Indirect Mana Increase
MINOR:
- Take Glyph of Renewed Life. Otherwise YOLO.
- Glyph of Arctic Wolf- or something like that. Makes your wolf form white instead of ugly brown.
Stat Priority
As i stated in the intro to the guide shaman a very VERSATILE healers that have different healing play styles. So basically that means that there IS NO ONE RIGHT WAY TO PLAY SHAMAN! Yes i said it, there is no cookie cutter on how to heal as a shaman. What I can do is provide the information that will allow to choose a healing style that benefits the way that you already play.
The general consensus of most of the shaman is the following:
Intellect > Spirit(until ÔÇ£enoughÔÇØ) > Haste(916) > GO CRAAZY
Intellect - The choice as intellect as our prime stat should be simple enough. It provides spell power, critical strike, mana, and scales with all of our abilities.
Spirit - Long gone are the days of 4.0.6 where we stacked Spirit through our arses. Now Spirit is our second highest stat due to one reason. Without mana we can't heal... am i right or am i right? That's why it is until we have ÔÇ£enough of itÔÇØ. Now ÔÇ£enoughÔÇØ doesn't mean you are at 1% mana at the end of a fight. ÔÇ£EnoughÔÇØ is more like, hey im at 30% now but if **** got real i could of handled it and still not have gone OOM. For me this rating is around 2500-2700 but its different for everyone.
Haste (916) ÔÇô The reason why this is such a crucial break point is that it is our first ÔÇ£break-pointÔÇØ. It is the the rating in which we gain an extra tick from Healing Rain, Earth Living Weapon, and Riptide. More Ticks = More Healing = More HPS.
GO CRAZY: Haste vs. Crit vs. Mastery
Okay, now this is where the ÔÇ£YOUÔÇØ factor comes in. All three of these stats have pros and cons. Lets discuss them from a neutral vantage point:
Haste (Gotta go fast like Sonic) ÔÇô Haste is the number one secondary stat for healing throughput through the basic logic of More Spells = More Healing. You reduce the GCD between spells and decrease of cast time of each individual one. Simple enough right? But let's finish this logic statement. More Spells = More Healing = Less Mana. Inverse Relationships Anybody?? So while haste is the greatest benefactor, it can also be your worst nightmare in some situations. But there is one more thing about Haste.... More Haste Caps!!! Should you decide that you WANT MOAR you should also consider hitting the following haste caps:
1296 ÔÇô Rating needed for an extra tick on abilities during Bloodlust, or something like that.
2005 - Rating needed for an extra tick of Riptide
Critical Strike(I'm friends with RNG Gods so its okay) ÔÇô Crit Rating is described as the ÔÇ£Middle GroundÔÇØ of the three stats. It can potentially increase your healing and proc both Ancestral Fortitude and Ancestral Awakening! Not to mention that it increase your ÔÇ£ActualÔÇØ mana pool through the Resurgence talent. Now that's ALOT of potential from one secondary stat!!! But in there lies the problem; It is all POTENTIAL!!! These benefits are not guaranteed every time you cast a spell and therefore you risk, wishing and hoping for a crit when the numbers just aren't rolling for you.
Mastery (*insert whitty comment*) - After the change to mastery from 4.0.6, it developed from Nub Mode 7 to L-L-L-LEGENDARY! Its passive bonus to healing based on the health of your target is sheer added throughput. Because if your target isn't taking damage... WHY THE **** ARE YOU HEALING THEM! But lets look at if from a more mathematical perspective.
When target is < 100% hp: Mastery is better than haste for Healing Rain, ELW, ES
When target is < 84% hp: Mastery is better than crit for Healing Rain, Chain heal, Unleash Elements, ELW, ES, Riptide HOT
When target is < 67% hp: Mastery is better than crit for Healing Wave, Greater Healing Wave, Healing Surge and Riptide Direct Heal
When target is < 48% hp: Mastery is your strongest stat period.
(source: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2369739879)
Now to conclude this section lets sum it all up. Haste is the best throughput stat..Period. Mastery is the most efficient and safest secondary stat. Crit is in the middle but when stacked is not as effective as Haste nor Mastery. This is why when it comes to 4.3 the general consensus in the shaman community looked like the following:
Intellect > Spirit(until ÔÇ£enoughÔÇØ) > Haste(916) > Mastery > Crit > Haste
OR
Intellect > Spirit(until ÔÇ£enoughÔÇØ) > Haste(2005) > Mastery > Crit
Both represent great healing strategies and are viable options while healing as a shaman. However, some shamans like crit > mastery for the mana regen factor. To view, comment, and share your opinions on the Crit VS. Mastery debate, visit this forum link.
Head:
Arcanum of Hyjal - Revered with the Guardians of Hyjal
Shoulders:
Greater Inscription of Charged Lodestone(Therazane)
Felfire Inscription(Inscription)
Cloak:
Enchant Cloak - Greater Intellect
Lightweave Embroidery(Tailoring)
Chest:
Enchant Chest - Peerless Stats
Bracer:
Enchant Bracer - Mighty Intellect
Draconic Embossment - Intellect (Leatherworking)
Gloves:
Enchant Gloves - Greater Mastery or Enchant Gloves - Haste
Legs:
Powerful Ghostly Spellthread Or Powerful Enchanted Spellthread
Boots:
Enchant Boots - Haste or Enchant Boots - Mastery or Enchant Boots - Lavawalker
Rings:
Intellect(Enchanting)
Shield:
Enchant Shield - Superior Intellect
Weapon: Heartsong Vs. Power Torrent
Enchant Weapon - Heartsong or Enchant Weapon - Power Torrent
Alright so here's another decision you are going to have to make as a player. Heartsong is a spirit proc while Power Torrent is an intellect proc. Based on the stat priority discussed earlier one would come to the conclusion that Intellect > Spirit which means Power Torrent > Heartsong right? The answer i would give that person would be yes and no. Yes Power Torrent provides bigger healing numbers but at the same time it is a proc. You don't decide when to use it and can ultimately be wasted in a few situations. While on the other hand Heartsong provides spirit which increases our mana regeneration and as a result our active mana pool. Not to mention that it also procs more often than power torrent.
Gems
Red slot - Brilliant Inferno Ruby (Intellect)
Blue ÔÇô Purified Demonseye (Intellect + Spirit)
Yellow ÔÇô Artful Ember Topaz or Reckless Ember Topaz (Intellect + Mastery or Intellect + Haste)
Meta - Ember Shadowspirit Diamond (Intellect + 2% Maximum mana)
You should gem ONLY Brilliant Inferno Rubies unless the socket bonus is 20 Intellect or more. Otherwise the stats are wasted, because Intellect > all.
I Mana Tide, You Mana Tide, We all Mana Tide.
But the real question is when? Mana Tide is one of your most crucial cool-downs, especially in longer fights. You shouldn't wait until you have virtually no mana remaining. What you want to do is be able to use it more than once in a fight. Personally, I use it around 80% mana where I know I'll get the maximum benefit of the totem. While still being able to use it later in the fight. Also don't forget that Mana Tide Totem scales with your CURRENT SPIRIT. This means that both Heartsong procs and stacking spirit trinkets such as Darkmoon Card: Tsunami amplify its effects.
Tidal Waves 101
Tidal waves is a buff that is proc'd by Riptide and Chain heal. It increases the casting speed of your your next Healing Wave or Greater Healing Wave. It also increases the critical strike chance of your next Healing Surge. You want this buff up as much as possible as it will allow you faster casting and like we said earlier More Spells = More Healing. Spell weaving Riptide and Chain Heal into your rotation will prove to not only increase your total HPS but also help with the fluidity of your healing. Utilizing Tidal Waves correctly is the HEART of Resto Shaman healing, and if you can not learn to do this properly, you will not be a successful shaman.
Focused Insights and Unleashed Elements
Focused Insights and Unleashed elements are both single spell buffs that when weaved into your normal rotation, will help increase your total output. Unleashed Elements grants a small heal and a 20% buff on a direct heal, while Focused Insights was discussed under the talent portion of this guide. This means that unleashed elements will be most effective when used on Healing Wave, Greater Healing Wave, Chain Heal, and Riptide. While Focused Insights will be best used on high mana cost, high healing spells such as: Healing Rain and Greater Healing Wave (although it will be beneficial to all healing spells). Please do not forget that these are part of what seems like ever expanding tool-set.
Shaman Utility
Why be limited to just healing when we can do so much more? As you can see a good Shaman will have no problems healing fights so why not help others do their jobs as well. Here are some spells that can help out in a tight spot:
- Frost Shock - can be used to kite single target enemies.
- Earth bind totem - great for slowing a group of enemies.
- Earth Shock - can help out a tank or anyone else being targeted by applying Weakened Blows(Reduces physical damage done by 10%) to an enemy.
- Hex ÔÇô Hard Crowd Control that can transform a Humanoid or Beast into a frog.
- Bind Elemental ÔÇô Binds an enemy elemental for 50 seconds.
- Rock Biter Weapon + Unleashed Elements ÔÇô Best used when **** hits the fan and you can taunt an enemy off of a friendly target.
Proactive vs Reactive Healing
The final topic i will cover not only applies to shaman but for ALL healers out there. And it is the topic which separates a good healer from a great healer. A good healer will do his task and get you through a fight with as few deaths as possible. On the other hand a GREAT healer will know WHEN damage is incoming, WHERE it is coming from, and HOW best to deal with it before it is even applied. In the case of the shaman this could mean a variety of combinations of spells such as:
Focused Insights -> Spiritwalker's Grace -> Healing Rain on soon to be stacked area
Unleashed Elements -> Nature's swiftness -> Greater Healing Wave to prepare for burst damage
Riptide(on target) -> Unleashed Elements -> Chain Heal when you know multiple people are about to take damage
There are MANY MANY more things you can do to help deal with certain situations and THIS is why shamans are so great. No matter what the problem we can deal with it all it takes is knowing your abilities and a little imagination.
Many players on World of Warcraft like to use the typical UI and as little as addons as possible. However, as most of the more skilled players may know, this is not the most efficient way to play. There is nothinig wrong with the basic UI, however in order to utilize your abilities and make them more available to you and easier to use, it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you use keybinds and a HEALING ADDON. Good healing addons are the following: Vuhdo* (recommended), Healbot, "Grid + Clique". Healing addons allow you to cast spells on players without having to target the players first. This is INCREDIBLY effective and efficient. This allows you to cast spells twice as fast. It cuts out the time you have to take to target players and lets you heal them directly. Using a healing addon is most effective on Resto druids and Resto Shamans. A healing addon is one of the many factors that help determine and differentiate between a GOOD healer and a GREAT healer.
Please Feel Free To Leave Comments, Criticisms, and Questions. All are much appreciated.
To view, comment, and share your opinions on the Crit VS. Mastery debate, visit this forum link.
Enjoy Your Shaman.
And May The Elements Be With You.
