Restoration Shaman Frequently Asked Questions — Shadowlands 9.0.2
On this page, we go over several of the most frequently asked questions regarding Restoration Shaman in World of Warcraft — Battle for Azeroth Shadowlands 9.0.2. This will be updated as more common repeated questions surface over the course of the expansion.
- 1. Are Restoration Shamans Good?
- 2. Are Restoration Shamans Good in Raids?
- 3. Are Restoration Shamans Good in Mythic+?
- 4. Are Restoration Shamans Good in PvP?
- 5. Best Covenant for Restoration Shamans?
- 6. Best Soulbind for Restoration Shamans?
- 7. Best Conduits for Restoration Shamans?
- 8. Best Legendary for Restoration Shamans?
- 9. Best Trinkets for Restoration Shamans?
- 10. Is There a Haste Cap for Restoration Shamans?
- 11. What is the Best Race for Restoration Shamans?
- 12. How Does Earth Shield Interact with Chain Heal?
- 13. Does Chain Heal Require High Tide to be Used?
- 14. Does High Tide Activate from Free Casts Made While Innervated?
- 15. Why is My Wellspring Healing so Much on Some Casts Relative to Others?
- 16. What is the Best Loa for Zandalari Restoration Shamans?
Are Restoration Shamans Good?
Restoration Shamans are very good in Raids and PvP, due to high spot and stacked group healing and utility. They are average in Mythic+, having high utility and a ranged interrupt, but also low sustained single target healing and DPS.
A summary of all changes for the latest patch can be found on our Restoration Shaman introduction page. Read on for a more detailed opinion on our state for Mythic+, PvP and Raids.
Are Restoration Shamans Good in Raids?
They are exceptional, due to powerful unique tools, such as Spirit Link Totem,
Ancestral Protection Totem, and strong cooldown-oriented healing.
There are plenty of good playstyles available in our talent tree
— from flexible, High Tide-powered
Chain Heal bursts, to cheap
Wellspring rotations replacing most would-be expensive Chain Heal casts.
Are Restoration Shamans Good in Mythic+?
Restoration Shamans can push high keys, are the only healer who can interrupt and have strong emergency healing. They are weak at sustained single target healing and area of effect damage.
If you do wish to go ahead and try to complete higher keys as a Restoration Shaman, you can find more information on how to maximize your output on our Mythic+ page below.
Are Restoration Shamans Good in PvP?
As the most versatile healers in the game, with roots, slows, strong healing output, mobility, and even a ranged interrupt, they always have a place on PvP teams.
If you wish to give PvP as a Restoration Shaman a try, you can follow the advice in our spec PvP guide below.
Best Covenant for Restoration Shamans?
The two best options for performance are Necrolord and Venthyr. Necrolords are recommended for hardcore raiders due to their great spread healing, while Venthyr is recommended for everyone else due to its raw power and simplicity of use.
Best Soulbind for Restoration Shamans?
Assuming full renown and a raid setting, Emeni for Necrolord, General Draven for Venthyr, Kleia for Kyrian and Dreamweaver for Night Fae. Options for all situations are detailed in our Covenants guide.
Best Conduits for Restoration Shamans?
Swirling Currents is your best conduit. A Covenant-specific conduit or
Heavy Rainfall should be used in your second potency slot.
Thunderous Paws
is the best finesse conduit.
Vital Accretion or
Refreshing Waters
are the best endurance conduits. Conduits are explained in detail in our
Covenants guide.
Best Legendary for Restoration Shamans?
Primal Tide Core for raiding,
Spiritwalker's Tidal Totem or
Chains of Devastation
for all other situations. Spiritwalker's is stronger for healing but does not work
on off-specs and deals no damage.
Chains of Devastation is flexible but
weaker for pure healing. All legendaries are detailed in our
Legendaries guide.
Best Trinkets for Restoration Shamans?
Cabalist's Hymnal and
Soulletting Ruby for raiding,
Tuft of Smoldering Plumage
and
Manabound Mirror for dungeons and a PvP trinket set for PvP. All trinkets
are detailed in our Gear guide.
Is There a Haste Cap for Restoration Shamans?
There is no Haste cap. Its purpose is to make your rotation feel smoother and more responsive. The increased throughput comes at the cost of Mana, however.
We cover the stat priority and assess each stat in more detail on our dedicated stats page, which is linked below.
What is the Best Race for Restoration Shamans?
The best race for Alliance players is Dwarf ( Stoneform and
Might of the Mountain),
while Horde players should go Goblin for PvE (
Rocket Jump) or Orc (
Hardiness)
for PvP.
You can learn more about racial benefits and other aspects of the class in the simulations page.
How Does Earth Shield Interact with Chain Heal?
Earth Shield does not increase the whole
Chain Heal by 10%
when cast on a target with it. Only the first hit is increased, and this applies
to all other interactions with Earth Shield; only its target gets the healing
increase and only while Earth Shield is active.
Does Chain Heal Require High Tide to be Used?
Chain Heal casts with the
High Tide buff are very powerful, but
you can also take one of the other talents, especially
Wellspring, and perform
well, as long as you can cast it on cooldown without much over-healing, as well as make good
use of the Mana saved with these casts.
Also, keep in mind that Chain Heal generates Tidal Waves while doing
significant healing, which warrants usage in most group healing scenarios. Finally,
it is one of the ideal spells to cast while you have
Innervate on yourself!
Does High Tide Activate from Free Casts Made While Innervated?
Yes! Casts done under the effects of Innervate cost 0 Mana, but are
still counted towards High Tide's next activation threshold.
Why is My Wellspring Healing so Much on Some Casts Relative to Others?
Wellspring will divide its tooltip healing amount by the targets hit,
in order to do a maximum amount of 6 * (tooltip healing). This means that,
usually, the maximum amount of healing you can get from a Wellspring cast
caps at 6 injured targets. The trick to go past this hard cap is understanding it
does this calculation as you finish casting it, but it still has a small travel time
to actually hit other players. If only a few people are injured at the time
Wellspring finishes casting, but they all become injured by the time Wellspring
actually hits, all of them are hit by the uncapped amount, thus creating a huge
burst of healing! Just be careful not to finish casting Wellspring when no one is
injured because, at that point, its unique over-healing prevention mechanic will
kick in and it will do extremely low healing on anyone hit, instead.
What is the Best Loa for Zandalari Restoration Shamans?
The Critical Strike buff provided by Embrace of Pa'ku is currently the best
choice available.
Changelog
- 22 Dec. 2020: Added a Best Trinkets section.
- 24 Nov. 2020: Page updated for Shadowlands launch.
- 12 Oct. 2020: Page updated for the Shadowlands pre-patch.
More Shaman Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Seksi, member of Arctic Avengers and healing aficionado. You can find him answering questions and discussing Restoration Shaman gameplay on the Ancestral Guidance and Earthshrine Discords.
- The Most Popular DPS for Mythic+ in Shadowlands Season 1 Week 7
- Player Counts All Anima Items... and It's a Bit Much
- How to Get the Carpal Pet in Shadowlands
- Threads of Fate Free Covenant Switch Methods
- Patch 9.0.2 and Classic Hotfixes: January 20th
- Huge Spell Batching Changes: Classic 1.13.7 PTR
- Stoneborn Brought Into Battleground Potential Exploit
- Players Can Do Mythic+ Below Level 60!