Restoration Shaman Healing Gear and Best in Slot — Shadowlands 9.2.5

Welcome to our Gearing Page for Restoration Shaman, where we will cover everything you need to know about equipping your character correctly.

If you have a new piece of gear that you need gems and enchants advice for, you can find everything you need on our dedicated page below.

There are three main paths to gear your characters in Shadowlands:

• World Content (crafting, reputations, quests, world bosses, world PvP)
• Instanced PvE Content (dungeons and raids)
• Instanced PvP Content (battlegrounds and arenas)

You are free to pursue any, or all, of these paths. The more content you do in the game, the faster your gearing up will be, but we recommend that you focus on the types of content you enjoy the most, letting gear come as a by-product of having fun!

Also, keep in mind that you should generally be using your highest item level gear. If you have an Intellect two-hander that is of higher item level than your one-hand + shield combination, use the two-hander, otherwise use the shield for an increase in survivability against physical damage.

Within the new Sepulcher of the First Ones raid that will be coming in Patch 9.2, every class will once again earn pieces of a gear set that is uniquely class-themed with its own set bonuses for every specialization. For Restoration Shamans, these set bonuses are:

• Restoration Shaman 2-Piece — Your critical healing increases the critical chance of your next Chain Heal by 2%, stacking up to 50 times.
• Restoration Shaman 4-Piece — Your Chain Heal critical hits reduce the remaining cooldown of one of your totems by 2 seconds. Your Healing Stream Totem, Healing Tide Totem, Mana Tide Totem, and Spirit Link Totem cast a free, instant Chain Heal when you drop them.

Tier set pieces can also come from your weekly Great Vault and you can turn almost any piece of loot of an adequate slot into a tier piece with the new Creation Catalyst system, which will cause it to keep any upgrade paths, socket, or tertiary bonuses it originally had!

You will ideally put Primal Tide Core's Legendary power into your helmet slot in order to gain the maximum amount of stats and a guaranteed socket, but you can also put it into the hands and use the better stats of the tier helmet, instead, as the overall difference is small.

We have a detailed breakdown of the set bonuses and what they mean for our gameplay in 9.2 in the specialized guide below:

While Legendaries are, technically, gear pieces, they are important enough to have their own dedicated page, which you can consult below!

We will not be listing any Legendaries on the best in slot lists down below, as you are expected to be using at least one, but the slot where you use it in depends on whether that gear slot is already occupied by tier set gear. For most players, this means you will be using four tier items, one Legendary in the remaining tier slot and another legendary in an off-tier slot.

Below are the recommended Sepulcher of the First Ones items. As usual, higher item level drops of different items are preferable to the listed items. Also, feel free to mix and match this gear with the dungeon best in slot gear listed further down.

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Theurgic Starspeaker's Howl	Anduin Wrynn
Neck	Worldkiller Iris	The Jailer
Shoulders	Theurgic Starspeaker's Adornment	Lords of Dread
Cloak	Shroud of the Sire's Chosen	Lords of Dread
Chest	Theurgic Starspeaker's Ringmail	Rygelon
Wrists	Interdimensional Manica	Rygelon
Gloves	Theurgic Starspeaker's Runebindings	Lihuvim, Principal Architect
Belt	Combustible Collaboration Girdle	Lihuvim, Principal Architect
Legs	Theurgic Starspeaker's Tassets	Halondrus the Reclaimer
Boots	Ephemera-Stained Sollerets	Halondrus the Reclaimer
Ring #1	Rygelon's Heraldric Ring	Rygelon
Ring #2	Modified Defense Grid	Vigilant Guardian
1H Weapon	Genesis Lathe	Lihuvim, Principal Architect
Shield	Ruined Crest of Lordaeron	Lords of Dread

In Shadowlands, only Helms, Necks, Bracers, Belts and Rings can have sockets. These are guaranteed when crafting a Legendary on those slots, but can also show up randomly on an item when it drops.

Domination Shards were updated to not work in any of the new patch content, and can therefore be safely ignored. You should look into replacing your domination socket items with regular socket items whenever possible!

Take note that a trinket's worth might vary wildly between types of content. For example, in PvP a PvP trinket set should almost always be the best due to the powerful set bonus. A powerful damage trinket such as Resonant Reservoir from Dausegne, the Fallen Oracle is great for Mythic+, while Raiding is great for area healing trinkets. Stat increasing trinkets tend to be useful across all types of content.

When in doubt, stat increasing trinkets tend to always be valuable, no matter the situation. Also, some trinkets are much easier to get at a higher item level than others, meaning, Sanctum of Domination trinkets (for example), are ranked lower now that we are in the Sepulcher of the First Ones patch.

The ranking system is as follows:

1. S Tier: the strongest and most generally useful trinkets; these are always good choices.
2. A Tier: these trinkets are slightly weaker than the S Tier traits, but are still solid choices.
3. B Tier: a below-average trinket that should be picked only in the absence of an S or A Tier trinket.
4. C Tier: a weak trinket that provides very little healing output or other utility and should be avoided if possible.

• Unbound Changeling (Ingra Maloch in Mists of Tirna Scithe)
• So'leah's Secret Technique (So'leah in Tazavesh, the Veiled Market)
• Elegy of the Eternals (Prototype Pantheon in Sepulcher of the First Ones)
• Soulletting Ruby (Kul'tharok in Theater of Pain)
• Auxillary Attendant Chime (Vigilant Guardian in Sepulcher of the First Ones)
• Spiritual Alchemy Stone (Alchemy)
• Cosmic Gladiator's Insignia of Alacrity (PvP)
• Shadowed Orb of Torment (Remnant of Ner'zhul in Sanctum of Domination)
• Inscrutable Quantum Device (Dealer Xy'exa in De Other Side)

• The Lion's Roar (Anduin Wrynn in Sepulcher of the First Ones)
• First Class Healing Distributor (P.O.S.T. Master in Tazavesh, the Veiled Market)
• Grim Eclipse (Rygelon in Sepulcher of the First Ones)
• Resonant Reservoir (Dausegne, the Fallen Oracle in Sepulcher of the First Ones)
• Carved Ivory Keepsake (Fatescribe Roh-Kalo in Sanctum of Domination)
• Resonant Silver Bell (Kel'Thuzad in Sanctum of Domination)
• Titanic Ocular Gland (The Eye of the Jailer in Sanctum of Domination)
• Forbidden Necromantic Tome (Kel'Thuzad in Sanctum of Domination)
• The First Sigil (Prototype Pantheon in Sepulcher of the First Ones)
• Empyreal Ordnance (Oryphrion in Spires of Ascension)

• Boon of the Archon (Devos in Spires of Ascension)
• Tome of Insight (Assorted Korthia activities
• Siphoning Phylactery Shard (Nalthor the Rimebinder in The Necrotic Wake)
• Soul Cage Fragment (Mor'geth the World Boss)
• Lingering Sunmote (Grand Proctor Beryllia in Sanguine Depths)
• Overflowing Anima Cage (Executor Tarvold in Sanguine Depths)
• Sunblood Amethyst (High Adjudicator Aleez in Halls of Atonement)
• Ebonsoul Vise (Painsmith Raznal in Sanctum of Domination)
• Vial of Spectral Essence (Dessia the Decapitator in Theater of Pain)
• Scrawled Word of Recall (The Nine in Sanctum of Domination)

None! All of the Shadowlands healer trinkets so far are actually usable, if not at an equal power level or equally easy to use optimally.

Some notes on specific trinkets:

Unbound Changeling changes the stat buff it gives based on the food you recently ate, and can change once per day. Eat Critical Strike food ( Spinefin Souffle and Fries) once per day until you make it change into the all-stat buff. Since we value all of our stats closely, and this version provides the largest overall amount of stats, that is how you can maximize the value you get from your trinket. You can eat feast food only from that point on to avoid the stat buff changing again. The value of the trinket is similar if you use the Critical Strike version, regardless.

Inscrutable Quantum Device has various effects depending on when you activate it:

• Ally health under 30% nearby = it heals;
• Healer nearby under 20% Mana = grants Mana;
• You are crowd controlled = removes it;
• You have aggro from something nearby = spawns a taunting NPC;
• Your target is under 20% health = deals huge damage to it;
• None of the previous is true = huge secondary stat buff.

We are assuming you will be getting the stat buff effect here, but the other effects can also be valuable, depending on the situation.

PvP gear is special for us in Shadowlands: you buy it from the PvP vendor in Oribos and it will always have Versatility as one of its two stats. You can buy blue gear for Honor, which is quite easy to get and upgrade, and epic gear for Conquest, which is obtained more slowly but can is also upgradeable with Honor up to a maximum item level depending on your rated PvP rating. This gear also increases in item level during PvP combat, making it the best gear for PvP.

Even in PvE, PvP gear is a great way to deterministically fill slots where you did not get upgrades from Mythic+ and Raiding. This ensures you can never get unlucky with a particular gear slot, as long as you are the PvP type. We decidedly recommend giving it a try, as it has been great fun for us so far in Shadowlands!

Below are the recommended dungeon items in Shadowlands. As usual, higher item level drops of different items are preferable to the listed items. Also, feel free to mix and match this gear with the raid best in slot gear from the next section of the guide.

Using the Valor system, you can upgrade these items significantly, which makes them competitive with raid and PvP gear.

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Rattling Deadeye Hood	Bonefang in The Necrotic Wake
Neck	Azure-Venom Choker	Kin-Tara in Spires of Ascension
Shoulders	Plagueborne Shoulderguards	Margrave Stradama in Plaguefall
Cloak	Drape of Twisted Loyalties	Devos in Spires of Ascension
Chest	Forsworn Stalker's Hauberk	Kin-Tara in Spires of Ascension
Wrists	Shackles of Alluring Vitality	Kryxis the Voracious in Sanguine Depths
Gloves	Iron Spiked Handgrips	Grand Proctor Beryllia in Sanguine Depths
Belt	Belt of Wretched Manipulations	Domina Venomblade in Plaguefall
Legs	Blightborne Chain Legguards	Globgrog in Plaguefall
Boots	Striders of Restless Malice	Surgeon Stitchflesh in The Necrotic Wake
Ring #1	Arachnid Cipher Ring	Domina Venomblade in Plaguefall
Ring #2	Entwined Gorger Tendril	Kryxis the Voracious in Sanguine Depths
Weapon	Gluttonous Rondel	The Grand Menagerie in Tazavesh, the Veiled Market
Shield	Encrusted Canopic Lid	Surgeon Stitchflesh in The Necrotic Wake

While this is mostly applicable to DPS classes, Restoration Shamans do have a DPS simulation profile, which you can use in order to optimize your gear for DPS. Learn more about how to optimize your damage rotation below.

For Healing, we recommend analyzing your performance in past encounters, instead. Tools such as WoW Analyzer are capable of giving you an accurate stat weight and tips on how to improve based on your logs.

You can find more details on how to make the most out of these tools in the specialized page below.