Restoration Shaman Healing Easy Mode

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

This section is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty, or simply want a more straightforward way to play their specialization without being overwhelmed by the numerous priorities and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.

1. The Basics

Restoration Shaman is a healing specialization that excels at healing group damage. They also make great spot healers, having a variety of cooldowns to draw on that can suit any situation. In this section we will be focusing on a setup that minimizes the amount of buttons and reactivity necessary while still providing flexible and potent healing at your fingertips.

2. Talent Choice

These choices are optimized for ease of use. Although some talents might offer marginally higher gains when played perfectly, these same talents often result in healing losses when utilized by many players. These talents aim to present the best setup that has very little punishment for unfamiliarity or mistakes.

• Level 15: Undulation
• Level 30: Graceful Spirit
• Level 45: Lightning Surge Totem
• Level 60: Ancestral Guidance
• Level 75: Ancestral Vigor
• Level 90: Echo of the Elements
• Level 100: Ascendance

3. Stat Choice

Currently, you will want to prioritize secondary stats as follows:

1. Intellect;
2. Mastery;
3. Critical Strike;
4. Versatility;
5. Haste.

4. Basic Priority List

1. Use Riptide on an injured target whenever available.
2. Use Healing Stream Totem on cooldown.
3. Use Healing Rain to heal injured clumps of allies.
4. Use Gift of the Queen to heal injured ciumps of allies.
5. Use Chain Heal to heal groups of allies whenever necessary.
6. Use Healing Wave with Tidal Waves to provide single target surgical healing.
7. Use Healing Surge with Tidal Waves to provide emergency surgical healing.

5. Cooldowns

Cooldown timing is unique to the situation. I have provided a description of each cooldown and its basic applicability in the hopes you can form an idea of when it is best to take full advantage of them.

Healing Tide Totem should be used when group damage is high and somewhat sustained, or to stabilize a big burst of damage. It provides high throughput healing and can be used while moving, which can be very helpful during periods of mechanical intensity.

Spirit Link Totem redistributes the health of members inside the totem to keep everyone at equal levels of health percentage. This cooldown is nearly unbeatable at dealing with large incoming bursts of damage, and can be especially potent when overlapped with other throughput cooldowns such as Tranquility. Spirit Link Totem is best used preemptively, as it allows the totem to immediately redistribute health as soon as the instance of damage happens and it also allows you to begin precasting your Chain Heal. It can also be used to apply the 10% damage reduction. You should aim to place down Healing Rain before using Spirit Link Totem if the usage is premeditated.

Ascendance and Ancestral Guidance are both fantastic throughput cooldowns. They can be used separately to deal with individual mechanics, or they can be used together for an unbelievably potent amount of throughput healing. These cooldowns are great for any situation, and will likely form your bread and butter in 5-man dungeons.

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.

6. ChangeLog

+ show all entries - show only 10 entries

• 28 Jun. 2017: Swapped Haste and Mastery in the stat priority.
• 13 Jun. 2017: Page reviewed and deemed updated for 7.2.5.
• 05 Apr. 2017: Added easy mode page.