Restoration Shaman Healing Gear and Best in Slot — Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.2.5

There are three main paths to gear your characters in Battle for Azeroth:

• World Content (crafting, reputations, emissaries, world quests, world bosses, world PvP)
• Instanced PvE Content (dungeons, raids, warfronts, and islands)
• 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, 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, otherwise use the shield for an increase in survivability against physical damage. If you have several Azerite pieces at the same level and / or are unsure on which traits to pick, check out our Azerite traits page.

Crafting wise, as a Restoration Shaman, you can level up to two professions. These allow you to create gear that can be upgraded up to Mythic raid item level.

The benefits of each profession are:

• Alchemy allows you to craft a stat-increasing trinket.
• Jewelcrafting allows you to craft a ring with a guaranteed socket.
• Engineering allows you to craft an Azerite helm.
• Leatherworking allows you to craft leggings and gloves.

World quest rewards scale with your item level, up to Heroic dungeon item level. While these items are not very powerful, world quests are relatively low effort and can be completed quickly. On top of that, trinkets from world quests are generally strong, so if you manage to get one at a high item level, you are likely to wear it for a good while.

Keep an eye out for Emissary caches, as these can award Heroic raid item level Azerite pieces if your own item level is high enough. Such pieces will be massive upgrades for most players and can be obtained effortlessly, once unlocked.

Finally, Nazjatar introduces Benthic Gear, which is obtained from doing activities in the zone and scales from 385 to 425 item level, making it great for new and solo focused characters. While there are no notable Benthic powers for healing, Igneous Potential users can use Vim's Scalecrusher Belt, Waveblade Farseer's Bindings, Poen's Deepsea Gloves and Akana's Reefstrider Soles to increase their damage potential.

Since Benthic pieces randomly roll sockets / Leech, it can also be useful to buy them until you get one, or both, of these desirable rolls, at which time you can upgrade them to 425 item level and have an item that you can use for the rest of the tier.

Dungeons require a party of 5 players and can usually be completed within about 30 minutes of starting, depending on the dungeon. Because they are available at a wide range of difficulty settings, with scaling rewards, you can use them to gear up while leveling, and continue all the way up to Heroic raid item level when finishing high Mythic+ dungeons. You should aim to complete at least one high level Mythic+ dungeon every week, in order to get the best reward possible from your weekly chest, which can go up to Mythic raid item level.

Raids require a group of 10+ players, depending on the difficulty setting chosen, and can take a varying amount of time to complete, depending on your group's gear and experience with the encounters. Like dungeons, there are multiple difficulty settings, ranging from the automated Raid Finder tool, up to 20-man Mythic raiding, which drops the best gear in the game, but also requires the most coordination and time commitment. When raiding, you can only receive loot from your first kill of a given boss on each difficulty every weekly reset.

Warfronts are a relatively short and easy way to gear up, as they can be queued for in your faction's capital city, and award one Heroic raid item level piece of gear, once per activation cycle. These can be completed as many times as you wish, awarding a random Raid Finder item level piece of gear after each win.

While Island Expeditions are not meant to be farmed for loot, they are very important for power leveling your Heart of Azeroth, thus allowing you to use your Azerite Armor to its maximum potential.

Battlegrounds come in various types and sizes and provide a quick solo queue PvP experience or, in the case of Rated Battlegrounds, a 10 versus 10 challenging / rewarding experience that can award gear which scales up to slightly above Heroic raid item level, based on your rating. A weekly brawl is also usually available.

Arenas are fast paced 2v2 / 3v3 death-matches against other teams with a similar rating to yours, with gear up to slightly above Heroic raid item level being randomly awarded at the end of each match. Due to their great amount of utility (especially Wind Shear and Purge), Restoration Shamans are one of the best healers to play in arenas.

By participating in one (or both) types of content, you gather both Honor and Conquest Points, which unlock various rewards. These are purely cosmetic in the case of Honor, but scale up to mythic raid item level for the weekly Conquest rewards: the War Chest and weekly 500-Conquest cap.

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. To simplify things, you can consider each trinket tier to be worth 5 extra item levels compared to the tier immediately under it.

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, with the notable exception of Pocket-Sized Computation Device, Mechagon's customizable trinket, whose power varies depending on what it has socketed.

While most healing-oriented punchcards are good but not great, Cyclotronic Blast is notable in the sense that it is easily obtainable (revered with Mechagon's allied faction: Rustbolt Resistance) and allows you to regenerate some Mana while dealing significant damage from range with its effect. A great trinket for the Igneous Potential-minded Shamans out there.

• Deferred Sentence (The Queen's Court, The Eternal Palace)
• Incandescent Sliver — 100% uptime(Opulence in Battle of Dazar'alor)
• Azshara's Font of Power (Queen Azshara, The Eternal Palace)
• Mirror of Entwined Fate (King Rastakhan in Battle of Dazar'alor)
• Ward of Envelopment (Champion of the Light in Battle of Dazar'alor)
• Luminous Jellyweed (Blackwater Behemoth, The Eternal Palace)
• Void Stone (Uu'nat in Crucible of Storms)
• Enthraller's Bindstone (Ulmath, the Soulbinder, World Boss)
• Ascended Alchemist Stone (Alchemy)
• Dread Gladiator's Insignia (PvP)
• Conch of Dark Whispers (Vol'zith the Whisperer, Shrine of the Storm)

• Gilded Loa Figurine (World Quest)
• Dinobone Charm (World Quest)
• Incessantly Ticking Clock (World Quest)
• Zoatroid Egg Sac (Orgozoa, The Eternal Palace)
• Za'qul's Portal Key (Za'qul, Harbinger of Ny'alotha, The Eternal Palace)
• Doom's Hatred / Lion's Grace (Arathi Warfront World Boss)
• Tidal Alchemist Stone (Alchemy)
• Dread Gladiator's Medallion (PvP)
• Incandescent Sliver — 50% uptime
• Twitching Tentacle of Xalzaix (Mythrax the Unraveler in Uldir)
• Leyshock's Grand Compilation (World Drop)

• Drust-Runed Icicle (Hailstone Construct, World Boss)
• First Mate's Spyglass (World Quest)
• T'zane's Barkspines (T'zane, World Boss)
• Revitalizing Voodoo Totem (Vol'kaal, Atal'Dazar)
• Fangs of Intertwined Essence (Avatar of Sethraliss, Temple of Sethraliss)
• Crest of Pa'ku (Conclave of the Chosen in Battle of Dazar'alor)
• Emblem of Zandalar (World Quest)
• Lady Waycrest's Music Box (Lord and Lady Waycrest, Waycrest Manor)
• Inoculating Extract (Vectis in Uldir)
• Pearl Diver's Compass (World Quest)
• Azurethos' Singed Plumage (Azurethos, The Winged Typhoon, World Boss)

• Shockbiter's Fang (Wekemara, World Boss)
• Ignition Mage's Fuse (Knight Captain Valyri, Tol Dagor)
• Balefire Branch (Soulbound Goliath, Waycrest Manor)
• Ancient Knot of Wisdom (Darkshore Warfront World Boss)
• Incandescent Sliver — 0% uptime
• Darkmoon Deck: Tides (Inscription)
• Dread Gladiator's Badge (PvP)
• Plunderbeard's Flask (World Quest)
• Dread Gladiator's Emblem (PvP)
• Surging Alchemist Stone (Alchemy)
• Endless Tincture of Fractional Power (Alchemy)

Below are the recommended items and bosses from which they drop in Battle for Azeroth dungeon system. Keep in mind that higher item level drops are always preferable to the listed items if you get lucky enough to get them! 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	Sethraliss' Fanged Helm	Avatar of Sethraliss in Temple of Sethraliss
Shoulders	Crashguard Spaulders	Mogul Razdunk in The MOTHERLODE!!
Cloak	Sporecaller's Shroud	Sporecaller Zancha in The Underrot
Chest	Circuit-Linked Chainmail	King Mechagon in Operation: Mechagon
Wrists	Bindings of Enraged Earth	Azerokk in The MOTHERLODE!!
Gloves	Blood Tick Crushers	Cragmaw the Infested in The Underrot
Belt	Mekgineer's Utility Belt	Gunker in Operation: Mechagon
Legs	Nettle-Scarred Greaves	Heartsbane Triad in Waycrest Manor
Boots	Gnawed Iron Fetters	Jes Howlis in Tol Dagor
Ring #1	Logic Loop of Division	HK-8 Aerial Oppression Unit in Operation: Mechagon
Ring #2	Rebooting Bit Band	Machinist's Garden in Operation: Mechagon
Trinket #1	Conch of Dark Whispers	Vol'zith the Whisperer in Shrine of the Storm
Trinket #2	Revitalizing Voodoo Totem	Vol'kaal in Atal'Dazar
Weapon	Leaxa's Thought-Piercer	Elder Leaxa in The Underrot
Shield	Bulwark of Brimming Potential	Galvazzt in Temple of Sethraliss

Below are the recommended items from each boss in The Eternal Palace, accounting for balanced stats and recommended Azerite traits. This list does not take into account gear from sources other than the raid. There might be better pieces of gear available from other instances, especially with the potential for titanforging. Bonus roll advice is also included in the table below.

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Hood of Lightless Depths	Blackwater Behemoth
Shoulders	Gardbrace of Fractured Reality	Za'qul, Harbinger of Ny'alotha
Cloak	Drape of the Hatcher	Orgozoa
Chest	Servitor's Heartguard	Radiance of Azshara
Wrists	Arcanamental Bindings	Radiance of Azshara
Gloves	Hands of the Fanatic	The Queen's Court (coin)
Belt	Tanglekelp Waistwrap	Lady Ashvane
Legs	Cherished Empress's Leggings	Queen Azshara (coin)
Boots	Vethan's Icewalkers	Queen Azshara (coin)
Ring #1	Ring of the Highborne Courtier	The Queen's Court (coin)
Ring #2	Cursed Lover's Ring	Queen Azshara (coin)
Trinket #1	Deferred Sentence	The Queen's Court (coin)
Trinket #2	Azshara's Font of Power	Queen Azshara (coin)
Weapon	Anu-Azshara, Staff of the Eternal	Queen Azshara (coin)

Due to its powerful special effect (as seen here, and here), Anu-Azshara, Staff of the Eternal is well worth using over a one-hand and shield combination, if you manage to get your hands on it. Otherwise, use Fang of the Behemoth and Bulwark of the Seaborn Avatar.