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Restoration Shaman Healing Gear and Best in Slot in Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.0.1

Last updated on Sep 12, 2018 at 22:26 by Seksixeny 14 comments

Table of Contents

General Information

This page is a gear reference for Restoration Shamans. It lists your best items, with an emphasis on trinkets, and gives you gearing advice.

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

About Our Author

This guide has been written by Seksixeny, Restoration Shaman and general healing expert. He has raided with all healer specializations since vanilla, and currently plays on Group Therapy with his shaman. While you can routinely find him participating in discussions across all healer discords, he is particularly active on the restoration channels of Earthshrine and in Ancestral Guidance. You can find him for questions / suggestions there; make sure to tag Seksi#5191.

1. Pre-Raid Gearing Strategy

In the first three weeks of Battle for Azeroth, you will have very limited sources of gear upgrades due to raids and Mythic+ not being available. Most of your high item level gear will come from:

  • Mythic Dungeons (weekly lockout)
  • Heroic Dungeons
  • World Quests
  • Crafting via Professions
  • Reputation

Also, keep in mind that you should generally be using your highest item level gear, including Azerite gear. If you have an Intellect two-hander that is of higher item level than your one-hand + shield combination, use the two-hander. If you have several Azerite pieces at the same level and / or are unsure on which traits to pick, check our Azerite traits page.

1.1. Mythic Dungeons

Mythic dungeons are the most reliable way to get high item level gear at the start of the expansion, because of the high item level (340), with the ability to titanforge. Aim to clear every dungeon on Mythic difficulty every week.

1.2. Heroic Dungeons

Heroic dungeons are a good source of gear early-on. Items that drop are relatively low item level (325) with the ability to titanforge, but there are no lockouts. Apart from the very early parts of the expansion, it is recommended to only do Heroic dungeons after you are done with all other methods that award gear.

1.3. World Quests

World quest rewards scale with your item level, up to 325+ base. While not as high as Mythic dungeon gear, world quests are relatively low effort and can be completed quickly. On top of that, trinkets from world quests are powerful, so if you manage to get one at a high item level, you are likely to wear it going into Uldir.

Emissary caches also occasionally award 340 item level Azerite pieces, which can be massive upgrades if you are unlucky with getting them from Mythic dungeons.

1.4. Professions

As a Restoration Shaman, you will want to pick up Leatherworking, because you will be able to craft yourself two 355 item level items (leggings and gloves), with the ability to upgrade them to 385 as you get reagents from the Uldir raid.

1.5. Reputation

Reputations can help you fill out the gear slots that you did not manage to get an upgrade for from anywhere else. Factions reward you with a 335 item at Revered and 350 item at Exalted.

Champions of Azeroth is the most important faction as Friendly, Honored, Revered and Exalted all upgrade your Heart of Azeroth by 15 item levels, giving a massive secondary stat boost. You will want to aim to complete every Champion of Azeroth world quest possible.

The Honorbound (Horde) and 7th Legion (Alliance) unlock War Campaign story chapters and two Mythic dungeons, The Siege of Boralus (for Horde) and King's Rest (for Alliance).

2. Trinkets for Restoration Shamans

The following is a draft ranking of trinkets, aimed at use in a raid environment. These rankings are formulated with all trinkets at the same item level. Due to how close in value most trinkets in each tier are, generally it is the higher item level that will decide which one is optimal.

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.

Any trinket not listed in one of the above tiers provides no increase in healing output, or significant utility, though some may increase damage dealt.

2.1. S Tier

2.2. A Tier

2.3. B Tier

2.4. C Tier

3. Best in Slot List for Restoration Shamans in Uldir

Below are the recommended items from each boss in the Uldir raid, accounting for balanced stats and recommended Azerite traits. This does not take into account gear from sources other than Uldir. There might be better pieces of gear available from other instances, especially with the potential for titanforging.

The trinket selections are present to give you an aim within the raid, but separate BiS trinket builds will be presented separately once more testing has been done. For now, these are the best choices within Uldir-only loot.

We have also indicated which bosses you should use your bonus roll on.

Slot Item Source
Helm Crest of the Undying Visionary Icon Crest of the Undying Visionary Zul, Reborn (Coin)
Shoulders Spaulders of Coagulated Viscera Icon Spaulders of Coagulated Viscera G'huun
Cloak Cloak of Rippling Whispers Icon Cloak of Rippling Whispers Zul, Reborn (Coin)
Chest Chainvest of Assured Quality Icon Chainvest of Assured Quality Zek'voz, Herald of N'Zoth (Coin)
Wrists Rubywrought Sparkguards Icon Rubywrought Sparkguards Taloc
Gloves Oblivion Crushers Icon Oblivion Crushers Mythrax the Unraveler
Belt Titanspark Energy Girdle Icon Titanspark Energy Girdle Zek'voz, Herald of N'Zoth (Coin)
Legs Legguards of Coalescing Plasma Icon Legguards of Coalescing Plasma Taloc
Boots Fused Monstrosity Stompers Icon Fused Monstrosity Stompers Fetid Devourer
Ring #1 Rot-Scour Ring Icon Rot-Scour Ring M.O.T.H.E.R.
Ring #2 Ring of the Infinite Void Icon Ring of the Infinite Void Zek'voz, Herald of N'Zoth (Coin)
Trinket #1 Inoculating Extract Icon Inoculating Extract Vectis
Trinket #2 Twitching Tentacle of Xalzaix Icon Twitching Tentacle of Xalzaix Mythrax the Unraveler
Weapon Tusk of the Reborn Prophet Icon Tusk of the Reborn Prophet Zul, Reborn (Coin)
Shield Vector Deflector Icon Vector Deflector Vectis
⋘Macros and Addons
Simulations⋙

4. ChangeLog

  • 12 Sep. 2018: Updated with new trinket theorycrafting after hotifxes.
  • 26 Aug. 2018: Updated with trinket and general gear recommendations for the pre-raid period.
  • 13 Aug. 2018: Updated for Battle for Azeroth launch.
  • 18 Jul. 2018: Updated to reflect Soul of the Farseer now giving Echo of the Elements instead of Flash Flood.
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