Restoration Shaman Healing Gear and Best in Slot — Shadowlands 9.0.2
On this page, you will find the best gear and best in slot items for your Restoration Shaman in World of Warcraft Shadowlands 9.0.2.
If you were looking for WoW Classic content, please refer to our Classic Restoration Shaman Healer gear and best in slot.
Gearing a Restoration Shaman
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.
Gearing Up in Shadowlands
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.
The item levels available right now vary a lot depending on both the type of content and the difficulty you are doing it at. Check the picture below for details!
Restoration Shaman Legendaries
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 one, but the slot where you use it in depends on the item level of your gear in the slots the legendary can occupy. Try to craft it on one of your weakest gear slots.
The Importance of "Simming Yourself" as a Restoration Shaman
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.
Gear Sockets in Shadowlands
In Shadowlands, only Helms, Necks, Bracers, Belts and Rings can have sockets. These can show up randomly on the item when it drops, or be crafted into an item.
By gathering Stygia in The Maw, you will be able to eventually
buy
Spatial Realignment Apparatus from the Ve'nari, thus unlocking the possibility
of obtaining maximum sockets in your gear!
Trinkets for Restoration Shamans
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. Mythic+ damage patterns encourage the use of single-target healing trinkets, while Raiding is great for area healing trinkets.
When in doubt, stat increasing trinkets tend to always be valuable, no matter the situation.
The ranking system is as follows:
- S Tier: the strongest and most generally useful trinkets; these are always good choices.
- A Tier: these trinkets are slightly weaker than the S Tier traits, but are still solid choices.
- B Tier: a below-average trinket that should be picked only in the absence of an S or A Tier trinket.
- C Tier: a weak trinket that provides very little healing output or other utility and should be avoided if possible.
S Tier
Cabalist's Hymnal (Sire Denathrius in Castle Nathria)
Soulletting Ruby (Kul'tharok in Theater of Pain)
Tuft of Smoldering Plumage (Sun King's Salvation in Castle Nathria)
Manabound Mirror (Sire Denathrius in Castle Nathria)
Unbound Changeling (Ingra Maloch in Mists of Tirna Scithe)
Darkmoon Deck: Repose (Inscription/Darkmoon Faire)
A Tier
Spiritual Alchemy Stone (Alchemy)
Sinful Aspirant's Insignia of Alacrity (PvP Vendor)
Sinful Gladiator's Badge of Ferocity (PvP Vendor)
Inscrutable Quantum Device (Dealer Xy'exa in De Other Side)
Siphoning Phylactery Shard (Nalthor the Rimebinder in The Necrotic Wake)
Boon of the Archon (Devos in Spires of Ascension)
B Tier
Macabre Sheet Music (The Council of Blood in Castle Nathria)
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)
Vial of Spectral Essence (Dessia the Decapitator in Theater of Pain)
C Tier
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.
Cabalist's Hymnal gains power as more people in your group are using
it, which is reflected in the ranking. Make sure to use it if there are other
people in your group doing the same! Even at its baseline it is very strong.
Finally, DPS trinkets like Dreadfire Vessel are not listed but can be
very valuable as you can use them to contribute significant damage, even as a healer
spec.
Best PvP (BiS) Gear for Restoration Shamans in Shadowlands
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 makes it often the best itemized gear available, as long as you can get it at an equal or higher item level to your other options. Because you can buy it, you are free to fill in your weakest slots with PvP gear! 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!
Best in Slot List for Restoration Shamans (Dungeon Gear Only)
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.
Slot | Item | Source |
---|---|---|
Helm | ![]() |
Bonefang in The Necrotic Wake |
Neck | ![]() |
Kin-Tara in Spires of Ascension |
Shoulders | ![]() |
Margrave Stradama in Plaguefall |
Cloak | ![]() |
Devos in Spires of Ascension |
Chest | ![]() |
Kin-Tara in Spires of Ascension |
Wrists | ![]() |
Kryxis the Voracious in Sanguine Depths |
Gloves | ![]() |
Grand Proctor Beryllia in Sanguine Depths |
Belt | ![]() |
Domina Venomblade in Plaguefall |
Legs | ![]() |
Globgrog in Plaguefall |
Boots | ![]() |
Surgeon Stitchflesh in The Necrotic Wake |
Ring #1 | ![]() |
Domina Venomblade in Plaguefall |
Ring #2 | ![]() |
Kryxis the Voracious in Sanguine Depths |
Weapon | ![]() |
Globgrog in Plaguefall |
Shield | ![]() |
Surgeon Stitchflesh in The Necrotic Wake |
Best in Slot List for Restoration Shamans in Castle Nathria
Below are the recommended Castle Nathria 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 from the previous section of the guide.
One thing to note in Castle Nathria is that, instead of direct weapon and
shield drops, Shamans will get token drops from the final two bosses:
Stone Legion Generals for off-hands with Thaumaturgic Anima Bead
and Sire Denathrius for weapons with
Venerated Anima Spherule.
The items we list for these slots below are purchased with these tokens.
Slot | Item | Source |
---|---|---|
Helm | ![]() |
Hungering Destroyer in Castle Nathria |
Neck | ![]() |
The Council of Blood in Castle Nathria |
Shoulders | ![]() |
Sire Denathrius in Castle Nathria |
Cloak | ![]() |
Sun King's Salvation in Castle Nathria |
Chest | ![]() |
Hungering Destroyer in Castle Nathria |
Wrists | ![]() |
Sun King's Salvation in Castle Nathria |
Gloves | ![]() |
Stone Legion Generals in Castle Nathria |
Belt | ![]() |
Shriekwing in Castle Nathria |
Legs | ![]() |
Artificer Xy'Mox in Castle Nathria |
Boots | ![]() |
Sludgefist in Castle Nathria |
Ring #1 | ![]() |
Artificer Xy'Mox in Castle Nathria |
Ring #2 | ![]() |
Sire Denathrius in Castle Nathria |
Weapon | ![]() |
Sire Denathrius (token) in Castle Nathria |
Shield | ![]() |
Stone Legion Generals (token) in Castle Nathria |
Changelog
- 22 Dec. 2020: Added the full trinket rankings.
- 05 Dec. 2020: Added a Castle Nathria best in slot recommendation and PvP gear thoughts.
- 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.
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