Restoration Shaman Healing Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities (Legion 7.3)

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 7.2.5 Changes
  • 3. Patch 7.2 Changes
  • 4. Strengths
  • 5. Weaknesses
  • 6. Viability in the Current Patch
  • 7. Contents
  • 8. ChangeLog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. The Basics
  • 2. Talent Choice
  • 3. Stat Choice
  • 4. Basic Priority List
  • 5. Cooldowns
  • 6. ChangeLog
• +Spell Summary
  • 1. Spell Summary
  • 2. Main Resource
  • 3. Basic Spells
  • 4. Important Procs
  • 5. Healing Cooldowns
  • 6. DPS Cooldowns
  • 7. ChangeLog
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices
  • 2. Talent Cheat Sheets
    • 2.1. Raid Encounters
    • 2.2. For General Use
  • 3. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents
  • 4. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents
  • 5. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents
  • 6. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents
  • 7. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents
  • 8. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents
  • 9. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents
  • 10. ChangeLog
• +Artifact Traits and Relics
  • 1. Artifact Progression — First 35 Points
    • 1.1. Early Point Investment
    • 1.2. Second Golden Trait
    • 1.3. Final Golden Trait
    • 1.4. Final Point Investment
  • 2. Patch 7.2: 35+ Trait Path
  • 3. Relic Choice
    • 3.1. Raids
    • 3.2. Dungeons
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Netherlight Crucible Relic Paths
  • 1. General Optimization Advice
  • 2. Tier 2 Upgrade Priority
    • 2.1. Highest Priority
    • 2.2. Low Priority
  • 3. Tier 3 Upgrade Priority
    • 3.1. Raids
    • 3.2. Mythic+
  • 4. ChangeLog
• ×Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Rotation
  • 2. Important Notes
    • 2.1. Mana Management
    • 2.2. Dealing Damage
    • 2.3. Mastery: Deep Healing
    • 2.4. Wind Shear & Purge
    • 2.5. Cloudburst Totem
    • 2.6. Tier 5 Talent Comparison
  • 3. Core Concepts
    • 3.1. Cooldown Usage
      • 3.1.1. Healing Tide Totem
      • 3.1.2. Spirit Link Totem
      • 3.1.3. Spiritwalker's Grace
      • 3.1.4. Ancestral Guidance and Ascendance
    • 3.2. Mana Management
    • 3.3. Spell & Target Selection
    • 3.4. Movement Management
      • 3.4.1. Quiet Movement
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. Basics
  • 2. Getting a Better Understanding
    • 2.1. Statistics Explanations
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems
  • 2. Enchants
  • 3. Consumables
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Addons
    • 1.1. ElvUI
    • 1.2. Weak Auras
    • 1.3. Boss Mods
      • 1.3.1. BigWigs Bossmods
      • 1.3.2. Deadly Boss Mods
    • 1.4. Name Plates
      • 1.4.1. KUI Nameplates
      • 1.4.2. TidyPlates
    • 1.5. Damage Meters
      • 1.5.1. Skada
      • 1.5.2. Details
    • 1.6. Extra AddOns
      • 1.6.1. Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
      • 1.6.2. Death Note
      • 1.6.3. Doom CooldownPulse
      • 1.6.4. Angry Assignments
    • 1.7. Alternative Raid Frames
    • 1.8. Blizzard Raid Frame Indicators
  • 2. Restoration Macros
    • 2.1. Wind Shear
    • 2.2. Purge
    • 2.3. Mouseover Macros
    • 2.4. Healing Rain Macros
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot
  • 1. Tier 20 Set Bonuses
  • 2. Raid Best in Slot List
  • 3. Legendaries
  • 4. Loot Competition
  • 5. ChangeLog

General Information

On this page, we list your Restoration Shaman core abilities and how they should be used together (rotation) in World of Warcraft Legion 7.3. We also explain when to use your various cooldowns. Then, we go deeper and present all the subtleties that you will need to know if you want to excel at playing a Restoration Shaman.

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

About Our Author and Reviewer

This guide has been written by Furty, who has an illustrious history in the World of Warcraft raiding scene and race for World First. He has been a member of guilds such as Serenity, Midwinter, and many more, and is currently raiding in Future. He plays most classes at the highest level. You can follow him on Twitter and watch him play on Twitch.

This guide has been reviewed and approved by Seksixeny, Restoration Shaman and general healing expert. He has been raiding in Group Therapy since Cataclysm and currently creates articles for Chain Heal as well as heavily participating in Discord healing discussion at various WoW healing channels. You can find him for questions / suggestions on Earthshrine, in the Restoration Shaman lounge.

1. Rotation

Healing is in great part based on your ability to react to the damage that the raid takes, and as such there is no set rotation. Rather, you must understand what spells are best suited to the different situations that can occur during a raid encounter.

• Low to moderate damage (raid or tank)
  • Keep Riptide on cooldown.
    • Riptide provides you with the Tidal Waves buff and does significant healing over time.
      • It should be your goal, in single-target healing, to maintain 100% uptime on Tidal Waves (or rather to always have it up for Healing Wave and Healing Surge), so you should use Riptide or Chain Heal every time it drops.
    • Never override an existing Riptide (unless the instant heal will save someone's life!).
  • Cast Earthen Shield Totem (if talented).
  • Cast Cloudburst Totem on cooldown (if talented).
  • Use Gift of the Queen whenever available and appropriate. Always feed this into Cloudburst Totem (if talented).
  • Use Healing Stream Totem on cooldown.
  • Use Healing Rain (minimum of 6 targets) if opportunities present themselves.
  • Make use of Healing Wave to heal without spending too much Mana.
  • Use Healing Surge (with Tidal Waves) if you are pressured.
  • Cast Chain Heal if the raid needs it.
• Moderate to high tank or single-target damage
  • Keep Riptide on cooldown.
  • Cast Cloudburst Totem on cooldown (if talented).
  • Use Healing Stream Totem on cooldown.
  • Use Healing Wave empowered by Tidal Waves. You can throw in a few Healing Surges (also empowered by Tidal Waves), if you fall far behind.
• Moderate to high raid damage
  • Keep Riptide on cooldown.
  • Cast Cloudburst Totem on cooldown (if talented).
  • Use Gift of the Queen whenever available. Always feed this into Cloudburst Totem (if talented).
  • Use Healing Stream Totem on cooldown.
  • Use Healing Rain to blanket a group of damaged players.
  • Use Earthen Shield Totem on cooldown (if talented). Always place so that it affects the highest number of targets possible.
  • Use Chain Heal (if talent High Tide is chosen).
  • Use Healing Wave for spot healing.
  • Use Healing Surge (only with Tidal Waves) when pressured.
  • Use Chain Heal as necessary.
• High sustained tank or single-target damage
  • Keep Riptide on cooldown.
  • Cast Cloudburst Totem on cooldown (if talented).
  • Use Gift of the Queen whenever available. Always feed this into Cloudburst Totem (if talented).
  • Use Healing Stream Totem on cooldown.
  • Mix Healing Wave (buffed with Tidal Waves whenever possible). Healing Surge can be used when pressured (with Tidal Waves).
• High sustained raid damage
  • Keep Riptide on cooldown.
  • Keep Healing Rain up.
  • Use Earthen Shield Totem on cooldown (if talented).
  • Cast Cloudburst Totem on cooldown (if talented).
  • Use Gift of the Queen whenever available. Always feed this into Cloudburst Totem (if talented).
  • Use Healing Stream Totem on cooldown.
  • Use Chain Heal (if talent High Tide is chosen).
  • Use Healing Wave for spot healing.
  • Use Healing Surge (only with Tidal Waves) when pressured.
  • Use Chain Heal as necessary.
• Emergency situations
  • Healing Surge is a good emergency button to quickly bring someone out of mortal danger. If you see an ally with on dangerously low health, apply Riptide on them, giving them a quick boost and granting you Tidal Waves. Follow up with a quick Healing Surge, which will receive a huge critical chance boost from Tidal Waves.
  • Drop a Healing Tide Totem to stabilize the raid group if the raid is in danger of dying.
  • Drop Spirit Link Totem to stabilize through heavy damage or burst. This ability is best used to deal with predictable incoming raid wide burst damage, as it will help the more fragile targets by equalizing the health of the beefier ones. It can also be used on a smaller group if one or two players are taking heavy damage from soaking a mechanic. The applications of this cooldown are practically limitless, so do not be afraid to get creative!
  • If you are specced into Ancestral Guidance you should use it to help power through phases with heavy incoming damage. Combine it with a Cloudburst Totem for a massive stabilizing heal to cap off your Ancestral Guidance. When you are under the effects of Ancestral Guidance or Ascendance, the healing buff this provides will also be transferred to Cloudburst Totem. When Cloudburst Totem pops, it will also benefit from transferring bonuses of Ancestral Guidance if it is still active. In other words, the combination of these abilities is unbelievably potent!
  • Use Spiritwalker's Grace to help deal with phases that couple heavy incoming damage with high movement.

2. Important Notes

2.1. Mana Management

As with all healing classes, Mana management is at the core of this specialization. It is important to choose your spells and timings wisely, or risk quickly bankrupting your Mana and leaving you to stand there foolishly. Healing Wave is one of your most efficient tools for keeping your Mana healthy, as it has a low cost and respectable output. During periods of low or middling damage, you should lean on it as long as you have stacks of Tidal Waves. Chain Heal and Healing Rain are both very powerful and efficient tools to deal with widespread raid damage, but careful not to use them too often during periods where they might be unnecessary. You especially want to avoid overhealing as much as possible, as you are simply wasting your Mana for no benefit. Riptide, Healing Stream Totem, and Cloudburst Totem are also all very potent for their Mana cost and should be used as much as possible.

Mana management cannot be explained fully without context, rather, try and take everything in the guide and consider it with your Mana bar in mind. During a long progression fight, your Mana is just as important as keeping the raid healthy, as your Mana bar is the thing keeping the raid healthy. If you are having a rough time and do not quite have enough resources to spam your Chain Heal and maintain Healing Rain, consider using Healing Tide Totem to span the danger period while you recoup your resources. It is imperative to your success that you correlate each individual encounter with how it affects your Mana in the long term, as it will allow you to maximize output during periods of highest danger while comfortably resting and rejuvenating your blue bar during periods of lucid calm.

Using a logging tool to analyze how your Mana was spent (or wasted) during an encounter can be a great way to improve your Mana management. No one is perfect in this regard, and practice is the key to success. Even seasoned veterans of the specialization will take some time to learn each individual encounter, and how aggressive they can afford to play with their Mana pool while still having enough reserves to span the entire fight.

2.2. Dealing Damage

Very often it can be beneficial to deal damage rather than heal, especially during periods where the incoming damage is low and you want to recoup your Mana. Lightning Bolt is cost free, allowing you to help push some important timings or assist with high priority targets while your Mana bar fills up. Shaman is a well equipped class to assist in dealing damage, especially to short lived targets. Do not be afraid to fit in damage casts in between healing, particularly when there is little raid healing to do. Raid and stacked healing is your strong suit; do not be afraid to capitalize on opportunities to regenerate resources by putting out a little extra hurt.

1. Apply Flame Shock if it is absent.
2. Cast Lava Burst.
3. Cast Lightning Bolt.

Both Flame Shock and Lava Burst cost Mana, so if your Mana is exceptionally low refrain from casting them. The beginning of an encounter is a good time to throw some extra damage out, as there is typically little to heal other than tank damage for the opening seconds of a boss. You should use a Potion of Prolonged Power before the start of an encounter to help deal additional DPS.

2.3. Mastery: Deep Healing

Mastery: Deep Healing is your Mastery as a Restoration Shaman. It causes your heals to be more powerful on low health targets. When you heal a target with full health, you get no additional healing. When you heal a target with 0% health (1 HP), you get the full benefit of your Mastery.

Your mastery heavily influences the way you play a Restoration Shaman.

• When raid healing, you should focus on low health targets more so than any other type of healer, as you have the most efficient tools to heal them.
• When single-target healing, your mastery has less influence because you should give priority to your assignment and cannot freely choose low health targets. By being aware of how much damage your assignment will take, you can optimise your heals to benefit from your mastery.

2.4. Wind Shear & Purge

Restoration Shamans make ideal candidates for doing interrupt and dispel assignments, as they are less important than DPS in raid hierarchy and have a short cooldown kick. Take advantage of Wind Shear whenever possible, though you should avoid compromising raid healing if this is during a period of heavy incoming damage. Purge is also great on fights where a dispel is necessary, but bear in mind that this costs Mana, so if resources are tight consider asking a DPS to fulfill this job.

It should also be noted that Restoration Shamans are the only healer equipped with an interrupt, which further adds to our value and utility above other healers.

2.5. Cloudburst Totem

Playing with Cloudburst Totem does not change your priority much, and you should nearly always cast it on cooldown, unless you are delaying it for a specific timing or instance of damage. There are a few interesting interactions with Cloudburst Totem and your other abilities and talents, however, and capitalizing on them will allow some significant extra punch from this totem.

• Casting a heal right before dropping Cloudburst Totem, then immediately dropping Cloudburst Totem will cause the heal to be stored. This is technically a bug, and is latency dependent, but can result in a large extra burst of healing.
• When you are under the effects of Ancestral Guidance, the healing buff this provides will also be transferred to Cloudburst Totem. When Cloudburst Totem pops, it will also benefit from transferring bonuses of Ancestral Guidance if it is still active.
• Gift of the Queen should always be fed into the Cloudburst Totem.
• Wellspring should always be fed into the totem. It has a short cooldown and allows for frequent larger bursts from your Cloudburst Totem.

2.6. Tier 5 Talent Comparison

This is a very interesting tier, and it once again comes down largely to preference. Ancestral Vigor amounts to some extra bonus health, which reduces a player's chance of instant lethal. Earthen Shield Totem, however, does an extremely respectable amount of guaranteed mitigation, but with a moderate cooldown. Earthen Shield Totem scales with your personal maximum health, so if each member of a 20-man raid were to take equal damage while the totem were down, they would each mitigate 1/20th of your maximum health in damage. This is actually quite efficient in terms of healing per Mana and execute time. The damage mitigated by the totem is equal to your Spell Power, which when compared with your health pool, is a paltry number. Ultimately, while Earthen Shield Totem is very efficient for its personal cost, it rarely pays out in the way that Ancestral Vigor can.

Ancestral Protection Totem can potentially mitigate a death entirely (and it does not count as a combat resurrection either!), but timing this can be very difficult. The best usage is to place the totem during the crux of the fight, where it is very likely you will lose a player within 30 seconds. This is a great tool for having some extra insurance during a high pressure part of an encounter and can easily mean the difference between a wipe and a first kill if used correctly.

3. Core Concepts

Like many healing specializations, Restoration Shaman is more than meets the eye. While on the surface the priority and usage seem fairly simple to ascertain, correctly executing and continually adapting your abilities to fit each unique attempt is a challenge unto itself. Playing and mastering a Restoration Shaman is largely about being able to predict incoming damage and plan proactively to address it, while reactively adjusting your targets and spell chains to comply with the evolving present situation. Learning to focus on what is important and master the core concepts of a specialization is what leads to strong overall performance as guardian angel over your raid. Restoration Shaman has 4 major tenets that form the essential formula of optimizing for success:

1. Cooldown usage;
2. Mana management;
3. Spell & target selection;
4. Movement management.

3.1. Cooldown Usage

Correctly utilizing cooldowns is without a doubt the most important aspect of playing a healing specialization, and oftentimes the organization of the healing cooldowns is the determining factor in the success of a raid group or its utter devastation. Acclimatizing yourself to your cooldown kit and understand when each applies to your current situation is key to your success.

3.1.1. Healing Tide Totem

Healing Tide Totem is a super flexible cooldown with a variety of applications, many of which we have already discussed within other parts of the guide. This is your most malleable cooldown, and can really be used in any situation you feel you are behind in. Great example usages are as follows:

• during periods of heavy raid damage;
• to stabilize the raid after a large burst of damage;
• when you are low on Mana and you need to quickly stabilize the raid;
• during periods of high damage and movement.

One of the best parts of Healing Tide Totem is that it is a "fire and forget" button; you are free to cast other spells while this monstrosity continuously pumps out healing. This is the strength of Healing Tide compared to other throughput healing cooldowns.

As previously noted, you can really use this button in any situation, though it is best used for applications where your other cooldowns are weakest. Healing Tide Totem heals everyone within 40 yards, which eliminates the need for a stacked party. This makes it especially strong when strong raid healing is necessary, but the raid is unable to stack.

3.1.2. Spirit Link Totem

Spirit Link Totem represents one of the most unique and interesting cooldowns within the World of Warcraft. Every second, the health of the group inside the totem's circumference is redistributed so all targets have an equal percentage of maximum health. This cooldown is nearly unbeatable at dealing with large incoming bursts of damage, and can be especially potent when overlapped with other throughput cooldowns such as Tranquility. Spirit Link Totem is best used preemptively, as it allows the totem to immediately redistribute health as soon as the instance of damage happens and it also allows you to begin precasting your Chain Heal. It can also be used to apply the 10% damage reduction. You should aim to place down Healing Rain before using Spirit Link Totem if the usage is premeditated. Great example usages are as follows:

• when the raid is stacked and a predictable large burst of incoming damage is imminent;
• when the raid has been stacked and taken an unexpected burst of damage;
• when the tanks are getting hammered and you can link them with the melee;
• when the raid is stacked and taking sustained heavy damage.

The practical applications and playmaking potential of Spirit Link Totem is limitless. It is very important to remember, however, that this totem works by redistributing health. For example, if an ally is at 1%, and you are at 99%, Spirit Link Totem will redistribute your health pools so you are both at 49% of your maximum health. This means that Spirit Link Totem generally works by taking health from your beefier targets and patching up the frail ones. In certain situations this can be detrimental. For example, if you link a group of 5 melee players who are all below 20% health to a tank that is at 70%, this will caused the tank to be chunked down quite a bit to help save the melee, resulting in the next melee swing one shotting the tank. While negative usages of Spirit Link Totem are uncommon, it is worth noting that it is possible and you need to be careful when placing it.

3.1.3. Spiritwalker's Grace

Spiritwalker's Grace should be used during periods of heavy movement where raid throughput is a concern. It can also be used to allow you to reposition while dealing with a mechanic.

3.1.4. Ancestral Guidance and Ascendance

As noted earlier in the guide, these cooldowns (if talented) are best used to punch through periods of the fight where high throughput is a necessity. Bear in mind that getting best use of these cooldowns, especially in synergy with Cloudburst Totem, involves placing Healing Rain before activating, then spamming your direct heals (or Chain Heal, if High Tide is talented).

3.2. Mana Management

As this was discussed earlier in the guide, and within various sections throughout this page, we feel it is unnecessary to fully cover the concept again here. To reiterate, however, managing your Mana is of the highest importance, particularly during progression when incoming damage is at its highest. Remember to consider your spell choice and cooldown usage with your Mana bar in mind!

3.3. Spell & Target Selection

This ties in heavily with cooldown usage and Mana management. Newer and less experienced players have a habit of "overkilling" light damage early in the fight, rather than patiently dealing with the situation in the appropriate fashion. Do not overreact to light raid damage by dropping Healing Rain and going absolutely ham with Chain Heal, as you will likely end up overhealing and chewing through your Mana quickly. Bear in mind that there are likely several other healers partisan to keeping your raid alive, and you do not have to do 100% of the lifting for normal raid damage. Selecting your targets appropriately is also important. See our section about Deep Healing for more details on Mastery; you should make a priority of highlighting targets with the lowest health for maximum healing benefit. Certain abilities benefit from the combination of beneficial effects; for example, the Deluge talent increases your Chain Heal output, and you should therefore prioritize targets standing in Healing Rain or benefiting from the effect of Riptide. Ultimately most of this comes down to the combination of instinct and experience.

3.4. Movement Management

As a healer, and a Restoration Shaman at that, movement is not the greatest concern. It is still important, however, to learn to maximize your movement. Unfortunately it is quite difficult to explain how to move and reposition within a fight, but as a healer there are some basic tenets you should follow as much as possible.

• Position central to your raid to give you best access to all targets.
• Take advantage of your instant cast spells and totems on the move, such as Riptide and Healing Stream Totem.
• Place your passive spells, such as Healing Rain, before moving.
• Use Wind Rush Totem if the raid is forced to move with you.
• Be cognisant of mechanic timers and position in advance to force less movement.
  • If you have time, take stutter steps over an extended period to reach your destination. Every time you use an instant cast, take a few steps, as you will be locked to the Global Cooldown.
• Make intelligent use of Spiritwalker's Grace if movement is unavoidable and raid healing is pressing.

3.4.1. Quiet Movement

Many players will unconsciously move during fights, despite it being unnecessary. For example, sometimes the boss or adds will be moved by the tank a couple yards, and though you are still in range to cast, you subconsciously mirror that movement, costing you global cooldowns. Consciously work to "quiet" your movement, and reduce unnecessary movement to a minimum. The best way to see this in action is to take a video of your raid, then watch yourself play. Most players will be surprised by the amount of wasted movement they commit. When you are forced to move, make use of the tips above, and make your path as direct and decisive as possible.

4. ChangeLog

+ show all entries - show only 10 entries

• 28 Aug. 2017: Updated Cloudburst Totem section and "Core Concepts".
• 28 Jun. 2017: Improved wording throughout the page and removed the Ancestral Guidance vs. Deluge discussion.
• 13 Jun. 2017: Page reviewed and deemed updated for 7.2.5.
• 27 Mar. 2017: No changes needed for Patch 7.2.
• 21 Jan. 2017: Made several additions and clarifications based on Keehn's suggestions.
• 10 Jan. 2017: Checked and confirmed for Patch 7.1.5.
• 16 Nov. 2016: Updated healing spell priority for heavy raid damage and heavy single target damage. Also updated Movement Management section.
• 29 Aug. 2016: Updated for Legion's launch.
• 18 Jul. 2016: Updated for the Legion pre-patch.