Restoration Shaman Healing Artifact Talents/Traits and Relics (Legion 7.2.5)

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 7.2.5 Changes
  • 3. Patch 7.2 Changes
  • 4. Strengths
  • 5. Weaknesses
  • 6. Viability in the Current Patch
  • 7. Contents
  • 8. ChangeLog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. The Basics
  • 2. Talent Choice
  • 3. Stat Choice
  • 4. Basic Priority List
  • 5. Cooldowns
  • 6. ChangeLog
• +Spell Summary
  • 1. Spell Summary
  • 2. Main Resource
  • 3. Basic Spells
  • 4. Important Procs
  • 5. Healing Cooldowns
  • 6. DPS Cooldowns
  • 7. ChangeLog
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices
  • 2. Talent Cheat Sheets
    • 2.1. Raid Encounters
    • 2.2. For General Use
  • 3. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents
  • 4. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents
  • 5. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents
  • 6. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents
  • 7. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents
  • 8. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents
  • 9. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents
  • 10. ChangeLog
• ×Artifact Traits and Relics
  • 1. Artifact Progression — First 35 Points
    • 1.1. Early Point Investment
    • 1.2. Second Golden Trait
    • 1.3. Final Golden Trait
    • 1.4. Final Point Investment
  • 2. Patch 7.2: 35+ Trait Path
  • 3. Relic Choice
    • 3.1. Raids
    • 3.2. Dungeons
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Rotation
  • 2. Important Notes
    • 2.1. Mana Management
    • 2.2. Dealing Damage
    • 2.3. Mastery: Deep Healing
    • 2.4. Wind Shear & Purge
    • 2.5. Cloudburst Totem
    • 2.6. Tier 5 Talent Comparison
  • 3. Core Concepts
    • 3.1. Cooldown Usage
      • 3.1.1. Healing Tide Totem
      • 3.1.2. Spirit Link Totem
      • 3.1.3. Spiritwalker's Grace
      • 3.1.4. Ancestral Guidance and Ascendance
    • 3.2. Mana Management
    • 3.3. Spell & Target Selection
    • 3.4. Movement Management
      • 3.4.1. Quiet Movement
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. Basics
  • 2. Getting a Better Understanding
    • 2.1. Statistics Explanations
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems
  • 2. Enchants
  • 3. Consumables
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Addons
    • 1.1. ElvUI
    • 1.2. Weak Auras
    • 1.3. Boss Mods
      • 1.3.1. BigWigs Bossmods
      • 1.3.2. Deadly Boss Mods
    • 1.4. Name Plates
      • 1.4.1. KUI Nameplates
      • 1.4.2. TidyPlates
    • 1.5. Damage Meters
      • 1.5.1. Skada
      • 1.5.2. Details
    • 1.6. Extra AddOns
      • 1.6.1. Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
      • 1.6.2. Death Note
      • 1.6.3. Doom CooldownPulse
      • 1.6.4. Angry Assignments
    • 1.7. Alternative Raid Frames
    • 1.8. Blizzard Raid Frame Indicators
  • 2. Restoration Macros
    • 2.1. Wind Shear
    • 2.2. Purge
    • 2.3. Mouseover Macros
    • 2.4. Healing Rain Macros
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot
  • 1. Tier 20 Set Bonuses
  • 2. Raid Best in Slot List
  • 3. Legendaries
  • 4. Loot Competition
  • 5. ChangeLog

General Information

This page shows you how to level up the Artifact and how to choose the right Relics for your Restoration Shamans. It is updated for World of Warcraft Legion 7.2.5.

The other pages of our Restoration Shaman guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

About Our Author and Reviewer

This guide has been written by Furty, who has an illustrious history in the World of Warcraft raiding scene and race for World First. He has been a member of guilds such as Serenity, Midwinter, and many more, and is currently raiding in Future. He plays most classes at the highest level. You can follow him on Twitter and watch him play on Twitch.

This guide has been reviewed and approved by Seksixeny, Restoration Shaman and general healing expert. He has been raiding in Group Therapy since Cataclysm and currently creates articles for Chain Heal as well as heavily participating in Discord healing discussion at various WoW healing channels. You can find him for questions / suggestions on Earthshrine, in the Restoration Shaman lounge.

1. Artifact Progression — First 35 Points

1.1. Early Point Investment

After acquiring the starting point, Grace of the Sea, take the left path upwards and into Tidal Chains. Continue into Pull of the Sea and upwards into Empowered Droplets. Acquire your first Golden Trait, Tidal Pools, which is a good trait for any situation, though it shines when there are a low number of targets, such as in dungeons.

1.2. Second Golden Trait

Go back to the starting point, Grace of the Sea, and take the right path upwards through Buffeting Waves and into Wavecrash. Queen Ascendant should be your next investment, one of the most valuable traits on the tree. Grab your second Golden Trait, Queen's Decree, which is a great pickup in all situations and has great synergy with our Tier 19 4-piece set bonus.

1.3. Final Golden Trait

Head left from Queen Ascendant into Caress of the Tidemother for additional Mana return. Head to the upper right into Servant of the Queen and continue upwards into Floodwaters. Invest into your final Golden Trait, Cumulative Upkeep, which is an amazing talent for progression raiding.

1.4. Final Point Investment

Pick up Sense of Urgency, which turns Bloodlust into a potent throughput cooldown. Next, acquire Refreshing Currents for the Mana return. Your final points go into Ghost in the Mist, which is not particularly useful.

2. Patch 7.2: 35+ Trait Path

Patch 7.2 has replaced the 35-54 Paragon system with several additional new traits becoming available upon acquisition of the 35th point. All of the previous Relic traits will also unlock a 4th rank, along with a new Paragon system becoming available after all traits have been filled (via Concordance of the Legionfall) which all additional Artifact Power will be spent on.

Detailed below is our suggested maxing order after 35 traits:

1. Echo of the Earthen Ring
2. Tidewalker
3. Pitter-Patter
4. Deep Waters
5. Fourth rank of Floodwaters
6. Fourth rank of Buffeting Waves
7. Fourth rank of Wavecrash
8. Fourth rank of Pull of the Sea
9. Fourth rank of Empowered Droplets
10. Fourth rank of Tidal Chains
11. Fourth rank of Queen Ascendant
12. Fourth rank of Caress of the Tidemother
13. Fourth rank of Ghost in the Mist
14. Concordance of the Legionfall

You can elect to skip Floodwaters maxing until later if you are playing with Ascendance exclusively. If you are alternating with High Tide, it is a good early pickup.

3. Relic Choice

Relics are a little bit murky, as trait value goes up and down from fight to fight. There is no definitive best trait for every fight, so take this with a grain of salt.

3.1. Raids

1. Floodwaters
2. Empowered Droplets
3. Queen Ascendant
4. Wavecrash
5. Pull of the Sea
6. Tidal Chains
7. Buffeting Waves
8. Caress of the Tidemother
9. Ghost in the Mist

3.2. Dungeons

1. Tidal Chains
2. Queen Ascendant
3. Buffeting Waves
4. Pull of the Sea
5. Wavecrash
6. Empowered Droplets
7. Floodwaters
8. Caress of the Tidemother
9. Ghost in the Mist

As Relics affect the item level of your weapons, it is recommended you always take the highest item level options as it will increase your weapon damage.

4. ChangeLog

+ show all entries - show only 10 entries

• 28 Jun. 2017: Updated relic priority, added dungeon relic priority.
• 13 Jun. 2017: Page reviewed and deemed updated for 7.2.5.
• 27 Mar. 2017: Added a new path for Patch 7.2 traits.
• 21 Jan. 2017: Truncated path to be simpler and less oriented towards very early Mythic raiding.
• 10 Jan. 2017: Checked and confirmed for Patch 7.1.5.
• 29 Aug. 2016: Added