Restoration Shaman PvP Guide (Legion 7.3)

Table of Contents

• 1. Spec Overview / Place in the Current Meta
• 2. Gear
• +3. Artifact Traits
  • 3.1. First Golden Trait
  • 3.2. Second Golden Trait
  • 3.3. Remaining Traits
• 4. Relics
• +5. Talent Choices
  • 5.1. Regular Talents
    • 5.1.1. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents
    • 5.1.2. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents
    • 5.1.3. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents
    • 5.1.4. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents
    • 5.1.5. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents
    • 5.1.6. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents
    • 5.1.7. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents
  • 5.2. Honor Talents
    • 5.2.1. Tier 1 Talents
    • 5.2.2. Tier 2 Talents
    • 5.2.3. Tier 3 Talents
    • 5.2.4. Tier 4 Talents
    • 5.2.5. Tier 5 Talents
    • 5.2.6. Tier 6 Talents
• +6. Racial Bonuses
  • 6.1. Horde
  • 6.2. Alliance
• +7. Playstyle
  • 7.1. Before Gates Open
  • 7.2. The Opener
  • 7.3. Healing Techniques
    • 7.3.1. Burst Healing
    • 7.3.2. Sustained Damage Healing
  • 7.4. Totems
  • 7.5. Defensive Techniques
• 8. ChangeLog

Introduction

This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to play a Restoration Shaman in a PvP environment. The guide will cover everything from talent choices, artifacts, gameplay and rotation, and useful racial bonuses. It is most applicable to Arena content, but most talents and racial bonuses will work in Rated Battlegrounds and skirmishes.

About The Author

This guide has been written by Mysticall, a seasoned PvP player who has repeatedly achieved Arena Master and 2300 rating. You can watch his stream on Twitch, and you can also check out his YouTube channel.

1. Spec Overview / Place in the Current Meta

Restoration Shamans are the most versatile healers in the game. With roots, slows, strong healing output, some mobility, and even a ranged interrupt they always have a place on an Arena team.

2. Gear

With regards to gear, the biggest change in Legion is that there is no more PvP gear. Your strength in PvP will be determined based on the average item level of your gear (as displayed on your character sheet). For example, the base item level at level 110 is 800, so your stats in PvP will be adjusted accordingly. For every 10 item levels you gain, your stats are increased by 1%.

The implication is that it does not matter where your gear comes from, and all that matters is its item level. Gear from quests or PvE content is just as good as gear you get as a reward from PvP (which, in fact, will be very similar to PvE gear; there are no more PvP stats on gear).

Practically, you will simply look to collect gear with the highest item levels possible, and the stat distribution on the gear will not matter.

3. Artifact Traits

Below, we will explain what the recommended order for artifact traits is, if you wish to maximise your PvP potential. It is quite possible that your artifact path (at the time of reading this guide) differs from our suggestions. If this is the case, do not worry, and use the information below to help you understand your traits and guide your future choices.

If you recently decided to make a Restoration Shaman and are behind on your Artifact weapon, or you have decided to venture into PvP with your Restoration Shaman, try to first get the closest Golden trait. Picking up some of the more crucial traits ( Ghost in the Mist and Caress of the Tidemother) is highly recommended to begin PvP.

3.1. First Golden Trait

The first Golden trait you want to reach is Queen's Decree.

1. Take Grace of the Sea.
2. Take Buffeting Waves.
3. Take Wavecrash.
4. Take Queen Ascendant.
5. Take Queen's Decree.

3.2. Second Golden Trait

The second Golden trait to go for is Tidal Pools.

1. Take Tidal Chains.
2. Take Pull of the Sea.
3. Take Ghost in the Mist.
4. Take Empowered Droplets.
5. Take Tidal Pools.

3.3. Remaining Traits

After this, you should try to pick up the last Golden trait, Cumulative Upkeep, picking up the remaining traits after that. There is no specific order for the rest, but a recommended trait to get last is Servant of the Queen.

4. Relics

Relics are disabled in PvP, so they are not a concern to you.

5. Talent Choices

Regular talents work in both PvP and PvE content (although they may sometimes work differently in the two environments, which is indicated by their tooltips). In other words, they are always active.

On the other hand, Honor talents are inactive outside of a PvP environment.

5.1. Regular Talents

5.1.1. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents

Undulation is the best choice in this tier. This talent gives you a consistent burst heal every few healing spells. With how much damage every class has, this talent is necessary for keeping your team alive.

5.1.2. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents

Gust of Wind is the best choice in this tier. Because Restoration Shamans have very little mobility, this talent gives you a way to create distance between you and an enemy.

5.1.3. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents

Earthgrab Totem is the best choice in this tier. This gives you the ability to root to either get away from enemies or to land crowd control. However, if you are playing with a teammate that already has root effects, Lightning Surge Totem is the better choice.

5.1.4. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents

Crashing Waves is the best choice in this tier. This will increase your consistent healing.

5.1.5. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents

Earthen Shield Totem is the best choice in this tier. This spell is amazing for keeping your team alive. Whether your team is stacked or if you only use it on one player it will help you heal through damage that otherwise could not be healed through.

5.1.6. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents

Echo of the Elements is the best choice in this tier. This talent is an increase to your overall healing output.

5.1.7. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents

Ascendance is the best choice in this tier. This will be your major healing cooldown if your team is taking strong spread pressure.

5.2. Honor Talents

5.2.1. Tier 1 Talents

Against teams with a lot of crowd control, Relentless is the best choice in this tier. Reducing the duration of every crowd control ability is crucial in Arena. Against any other team, Gladiator's Medallion is the best choice in this tier. It is the standard PvP trinket effect with a 2-minute cooldown.

5.2.2. Tier 2 Talents

Defender of the Weak is the best choice in this tier. This talent works great when multiple party members are taking spread pressure. This talent also pairs well with your Mastery.

5.2.3. Tier 3 Talents

Skyfury Totem is the best choice in this. This will primarily be used when your team is bursting or if you are using healing cooldowns.

5.2.4. Tier 4 Talents

Swelling Waves is the best choice in this tier. Restoration Shaman are the primary focus for many teams this talent increases your survivability and saves you Mana.

If you are playing against a team where you will be using Purge or Purify Spirit often, Purifying Waters is the best choice in this tier.

5.2.5. Tier 5 Talents

Grounding Totem is the best choice in this tier. With practice, you will be able to use Grounding Totem on important abilities such as Hammer of Justice, Freezing Trap, Polymorph, or Cyclone.

It is important to note that in 7.3 Grounding Totem was slightly altered. Enemies now have to damage it to make the totem go away. This makes Grounding Totem more reliable when trying to prevent incoming crowd control or damage.

5.2.6. Tier 6 Talents

Earth Shield is the best choice in this tier. This gives your target both a 15% damage reduction and a small heal. It is important to maintain or switch depending on which one of your partners is being attacked.

6. Racial Bonuses

Racial bonuses can provide interesting PvP benefits. Here are the best races to choose for each faction.

6.1. Horde

Orc is the best race for Restoration Shaman, thanks to the passive Orcs have ( Hardiness) reducing all stuns, which greatly improves survivability.

6.2. Alliance

The Dwarf Bonus ( Stoneform) is a good defensive to use when you are being focused by melee classes or classes with poison, disease, curse, magic, or bleed effects.

7. Playstyle

The main role for a Restoration Shaman, besides keeping your team alive, is to use your utility to disrupt and stop incoming spells or damage. Restoration Shaman have the Mana and the Mastery to sustain a team for a very long time. It is rare to lose a game because you are out of Mana.

To disrupt the enemy team you will want to take advantage of a few spells. Grounding Totem is important to utilize. This can absorb any spell that is about to completed. You will want to use Wind Shear on any meaningful spell that you can. This includes crowd control or big damaging abilities.

7.1. Before Gates Open

Before the gates open, you should use Earth Shield on a teammate that might be the kill target for the enemy team. It has a short cooldown, so it is acceptable if the enemy team swaps their target, but it is important to keep it active on the teammate that the enemy team is focusing.

Make sure your team has a strategy for crowd control; Hex is a strong crowd control that can be used on a healer without a trinket. However, do not make it your primary focus to Hex a healer. Your job is to keep your team alive.

7.2. The Opener

The other team is going to try to force your trinket in the opener so they have an advantage later in the game. Use Gust of Wind and Grounding Totem to try to avoid incoming crowd control on you, and hold on to your trinket for as long as you can.

7.3. Healing Techniques

7.3.1. Burst Healing

Use this if the enemy team uses their cooldowns to try to kill a teammate.

1. If one of your teammates is taking strong single-target damage or you cannot cast:
   1. Make sure Earth Shield is on the party member taking the most damage.
   2. Use Spirit Link Totem.
   3. Use Healing Tide Totem.
   4. Use Riptide.
   5. Cast Healing Wave.
2. If your team is taking strong spread pressure or you are able to cast:
   1. Make sure Earth Shield is on the party member taking the most damage.
   2. Use Skyfury Totem.
   3. Use Ascendance.
   4. Use Healing Surge on yourself.
   5. Use Riptide.
   6. Use Gift of the Queen if your team is stacked.
   7. Use Riptide.
   8. Use Healing Surge.
   9. Use Healing Wave.

7.3.2. Sustained Damage Healing

Use this to heal sustained damage throughout the match (damage done when the other team does not have burst cooldowns available).

It is important to note that there are multiple ways to keep your team alive to heal through sustained damage.

1. Maintain Earth Shield on the teammate taking the most damage.
2. Use Riptide to generate stacks of Tidal Waves.
3. Cast Healing Wave when you have 2 stacks of Tidal Waves.
4. Cast Healing Surge when Undulation is active and your team is taking strong single target damage.
5. Use Healing Stream Totem when the enemy team is not using burst cooldowns.
6. If your team is stacked and taking heavy spread or single target pressure, Earthen Shield Totem should be the first cooldown you use. This will give you time to heal your teammates even if you get interrupted on a cast.
7. Use Ancestral Guidance when the enemy team is not doing much damage. You can deal damage with Flame Shock and Lava Burst.
8. Use Gift of the Queen if your team is stacked and taking spread pressure.

7.4. Totems

It is hard to find a place for every totem a Restoration Shaman has. Below are all of the totems you have and the best time to use them.

• Earthbind Totem: this is a Totem that slows an entire team. The best time to use this is when enemies are focusing you. You can easily place this on one side of a pillar and use Ghost Wolf to quickly get to the other side.
• Earthen Shield Totem: this is a major defensive ability with a short cooldown. It should be used when the enemy team is dealing strong sustained damage and you need time to cast healing spells.
• Lightning Surge Totem/ Earthgrab Totem: you can use either of these when the enemy team is stacked. The Earthgrab Totem is best used when enemy teams will likely be focusing you. Lightning Surge Totem is great against teams that will be far away. It gives the enemy team another ability to deal with.
• Healing Stream Totem: this is a relatively weak heal, but should be used often during an Arena match. It is best used in the opener or when enemy teams are finished with their burst damage.
• Healing Tide Totem: this is a decent spread healing ability. It is best used in combination with your Spirit Link Totem. The healing from this Totem will help deal with the damage you are taking while Spirit Link Totem is active.
• Spirit Link Totem: this is your strongest totem. It will keep your entire team alive as long as it is active. It is best used when someone is about to die and you do not have the time to cast spells. You will want to pair it with Healing Tide Totem.

7.5. Defensive Techniques

Astral Shift is your only real defensive for yourself. This cannot be used while stunned so it is best used when the team is about to stun you or if they are using burst cooldowns.

Ghost Wolf becomes a very strong defensive ability with the Ghost in the Mist artifact trait. On top of the damage reduction from it, while it is active you cannot be snared and will help you create distance between you and the enemy team.

Spiritwalker's Grace is not a direct defensive, but it will help you avoid damage. Instead of standing still and trying to cast, this cooldown gives you the ability to run away from the enemy team and still have the ability to cast spells.

8. ChangeLog

+ show all entries - show only 10 entries

• 13 Sep. 2017: Changed recommended tier 4 honor talents.
• 09 Sep. 2017: Added additional description for Tier 5 honor talents and updated sustained and burst healing rotations.
• 28 Jul. 2017: Guide added.