Restoration Shaman Healing Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities

1.

Rotation change in Patch 11.0.5

The first rotational change comes through the new talent, Coalescing Water.
While talented ,each time you cast chain Heal,the initial healing of your
next riptide is increased by 75%. This has synergy with riptide talents,
especially Primal Tide Core which can create two empowered riptides if you
time it just right. Use this weak aura
to help with the tracking!

Reactive Warding was also buff to be able to proc up to 33 % more often
andis now much more accessible for certain talent build due to the introduction
of the Coalescing Water talent . use this shield tracker weak aura
in order to know when to refresh your shield ,as you be miss out on the main
bonus from this talent if you let the shield fall off before being refresh .

2 .

Restoration Shaman Hero Talent Rotation Adjustments

Due to their mostly passive nature,there are minimal adjustments to your rotation
stemming from Hero Talent choices.

If you is using are using Farseer,you should make sure to use the short cooldown
Nature ‘s swiftness replacement, Ancestral Swiftness,as often
as possible on primordial Wave,provided there is damage to be healed,as
it will spawn an Ancestor that will help you with that healing. Delaying Ancestor
spawns with Call of the Ancestors is never worthwhile due to the very short
cooldown on the abilities that spawn them,if there is no healing to be done,just
deal damage andhave the Ancestors help out!

If you is using are using Totemic instead ,you is find will find yourself have much
more free time to cast than usual ,as your healing rain, downpour,
and chain Heal casts will be more than halved due to Rain being replaced
by the longer cooldown Surging Totem andmany of your chain Heals being
done by your Totems instead with Lively Totems. The main thing to be aware
of is that you should move your Surging Totem andits Rain effect with
Totemic Projection whenever needed,in order not to waste its huge duration
and Mana cost.

3.

Restoration Shaman Pre-Pull Checklist

• Water Shield on yourself;
• Earth Shield on tank andyourself ( Elemental Orbit) .

Situationally: If the fight starts with high damage,cast healing rain,
riptide,and maybe even Cloudburst Totem just before pull .

4.

restoration shaman rotation

• refresh Earth Shield if it is expired expire or when it is close to expire when using
  Reactive Warding ( low Mana cost ,high potential healing ) ;
• Cloudburst Totem ( healing multiplier ,use it before the group take
  high damage ) or Healing Stream Totem (strong upfront healing,used when the group
  takes high damage);
• riptide on cooldown (low Mana cost,high healing with a heal-over-time component);
• primordial Wave on cooldown (free riptide,boosts next Healing Wave);
• Unleash Life (low Mana cost,low healing,boosts next heal) .

If you do not have Cloudburst Totem, Healing Stream Totem
is a good spell to use at any time there are damage ally around .

Unleash Life is good with: downpour > chain Heal
with High Tide active > Healing Wave (with primordial Wave‘s
replication effect active) > riptide.

5.

Restoration Shaman Area Heals

• Earthen Wall Totem ( double use it with Totemic Recall when possible);
• healing rain (Moderate Mana cost,high healing-over-time,requires 6
  injured people to stand in it for the duration);
• downpour (Low Mana cost,high healing,use it to heal targets inside
  your healing rain after casting a Rain);
• wellspring (high healing,moderate cooldown,use it whenever multiple
  nearby allies are injured);
• chain Heal (high Mana cost,moderate healing,no cooldown,use mostly
  when High Tide and Tidebringer are active or with Nature ‘s swiftness) .

6.

Restoration Shaman Situational Spells

• Healing Surge (high Mana cost,quick single-target healing,for emergencies);
• Healing Wave (moderate Mana cost,moderate healing,use to activate primordial Wave);
• Lightning Bolt (low Mana cost,moderate single-target damage);
• Chain Lightning (low Mana cost,moderate area damage);
• Flame Shock (low Mana cost,good single-target damage over time);
• Lava Burst (moderate Mana cost,moderate single-target damage,requires additional talents to be good) .

In order to reduce the number of buttons you have to use,we recommend learning
about macros that perform different actions when you are mousing over a friendly
target in the linked section of our dedicated guide below.

7.

Restoration Shaman Cooldowns

• Spirit Link Totem (instant group health stabilizer,combos well with darkness,personals,and immunities);
• healing Tide Totem ( high healing – over – time to 5 or more nearby ally ) ;
• Ancestral Guidance (multiplier on your healing,smart heal);
• Mana Tide Totem with Spiritwalker ‘s Tidal Totem (additional multiplier on your healing);
• ascendance (almost duplicates your healing for the duration,split among nearby allies);
• Nature ‘s swiftness ( emergency healing is saving andMana save with chain Heal) .

8 .

restoration shaman weak Auras

While most abilities are easy enough to track with generic weak aura packages,
we list four weak auras in our add-ons guide below,which are especially helpful
for Restoration Shamans,to track the multiple chain Heal buffs and
Cloudburst Totem store healing :

9.

Restoration Shaman Combos

The following image,made by Sky Rokit from the Restoration Shaman Discord,
visually showcases some of the combos andinteractions in our kit that can help
you perform better. Make sure to click it to see the full list.

10.

Restoration Shaman Tier Set in The War Within

Below are the Tier Set Bonuses for Restoration Shaman in The War
Within. After the wording of the bonus,you will find a brief note/commentary
that is italicized.

• Shaman Restoration Season 1 2pc — Tidal Waves increases the
  healing of affected spells by 10%. This is a simple bonus which translates into
  a straightforward 10% healing increase to some of your core spells such as Healing Wave,
  Healing Surge,and also chain Heal,which is often easy to forget
  about as it used to provide,rather than consume,Tidal Waves in Classic expansions!
• Shaman Restoration Season 1 4pc — Tidal Waves is 80% more
  effective andreduces the Mana cost of affected spells by 8%. This is a very
  significant increase in Tidal Waves power,and you will want to focus heavily on
  generating andspending them with your gameplay once you get this bonus.

Both set bonuses are completely passive anddo not have significant gameplay
impact,as generating andconsuming Tidal Waves is already how you should
be optimally playing,even without the tier set bonuses. Doing it correctly will
be much more powerful while failing to do so will be further punishing.

11.

Detailed Analysis of Restoration Shamans Cooldowns andAbilities

Correctly utilizing cooldowns is one of the most important things when
playing a healing specialization,and often,the organization of the healing
cooldowns is the determining factor in the success (or devastation) of a raid
group. Acclimatizing yourself to your cooldown kit andunderstanding when each
applies to your current situation is key to your success.

11.1.

Spirit Link Totem

Spirit Link Totem represents one of the most unique andflexible
cooldowns within the World of Warcraft. Every second,the health of the group
inside the totem’s area of effect is redistributed,so all targets have an equal
percentage of maximum health. It also grants a 15% damage reduction to players
inside its area of effect anda massive heal shortly after its effect starts with
spout spirit. You can use Spirit Link Totem to split overwhelming
damage on a single target to everyone in the group,making it non-threatening.
Or to instantly ensure everyone has high health just before a highly damaging
ability hits the group. If you add in darkness,you can also further
reduce the damage your group takes by 20% with no randomness involved. Finally,
because Spirit Link Totem ensures that everyone inside its effect is damaged as
long as at least one person is damaged,it allows healers to rapidly heal the
whole group efficiently with just area-of-effect healing spells.

11.2 .

healing Tide Totem

healing Tide Totem is the specialization’s baseline throughput
cooldown. As it is a totem,you can use it andimmediately be free to move or
cast other spells without needing to channel or stand still like other
healer’s raid cooldowns. healing Tide Totem heals all allies within 40 yards for
a flat amount,which is larger the fewer allies it heals,with maximum healing always
being done as soon as you have at least 5 allies within range. Its supporting talents,
Current Control and Tide Turner are not particularly powerful,
but Current Control can unlock better timings by reducing the cooldown significantly.

11.3.

Ancestral Guidance

Ancestral Guidance should be used when incoming group damage is
high andnotably heals only 3 injured targets at a time for a low amount,
allowing you to use it alongside other cooldowns,especially ascendance
which has the same cooldown when also using the First Ascendant talent,
in order to convert the high raw throughput increase into smart healing. Alternatively,
you can use it to cover lower damage periods,especially if you are using Preeminence.

11.4.

ascendance

ascendance is a powerful throughput cooldown that
works very differently from healing Tide Totem. While it is active,
it almost duplicates all of your non-totem healing andredistributes it among all
group members. Thus,in order to make the most out of it,you should aim to have
multipliers such as Cloudburst Totem andmany heals over time active when
activating it,followed by using as many high-healing abilities within the duration
as possible such as downpour, wellspring,and High Tide
chain Heals.

11.5.

Spiritwalker ‘s Tidal Totem

Spiritwalker ‘s Tidal Totem make your next 3 Healing Surges cast
instantly andcost half Mana. While this buff is not terrible,it is also not particularly
competitive when considering you also need to spend a point in Mana Tide Totem
first .

11.6.

Nature ‘s swiftness

Nature ‘s swiftness gives you an instant,Mana-free cast every minute.
If used with Tidebringer,it will consume one Tidebringer stack to make
your chain Heal jump farther away,but you will not benefit from the cast
time reduction,making it less efficient than using it for non-Tidebringer buffed
chain Heals. Besides the obvious Mana sustain benefits,this talent is great at
allowing you to burst even harder during cooldowns,especially if you time along
cast to land as damage is happening,and immediately follow up with Nature ‘s swiftness.

11.7 .

Totemic Recall

Totemic Recall instantly resets the cooldown of your most recently
used totem with less than a 3-minute base cooldown. This excludes Ancestral Protection Totem,
Spirit Link Totem, healing Tide Totem,and Stone Bulwark Totem,
but works with Earthen Wall Totem, Cloudburst Totem,and Healing Stream Totem,
which are also very powerful!

11.8 .

Cloudburst Totem

When play with Cloudburst Totem,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 between Cloudburst Totem and
your other abilities andtalents which allow for significant extra healing:

• When you are under the effects of ascendance or Ancestral Guidance,
  the extra healing provided will also be transferred to Cloudburst Totem;
• Save small cooldown healing effects for Cloudburst windows: wellspring,
  downpour, primordial Wave,and High Tide chain Heals
  should almost always be saved for when a Cloudburst Totem is active;
• You can pick the general Shaman tree Healing Stream Totem talent and
  the Restoration tree same-name talent to gain two charges of Cloudburst. You still
  cannot have two active simultaneously,however,as the second charge is only usable
  after the first totem expires or is recalled.

11.9.

Unleash Life

Unleash Life allows you to amplify many of your heals when used,with
different effects depending on the heal used. While it looks good at first glance,
its interaction with wellspring is not very good,as you are required to
overheal in order to gain any benefit,which wastes Mastery value,and even then,
only 40% of the healing is converted into an absorb shield.

Instead,try to use this on cooldown for High Tide chain Heals,
healing rain,or the primordial Wave-buffed Healing Wave
if group healing is needed,or on riptide,otherwise.

12 .

Utility Usage for Restoration Shamans

Restoration Shamans are well known for the high amount of utility
— non-healing benefits to yourself or your group —they bring. It
is not always obvious how to best use these tools to the benefit of your group,
and often,they are used as part of your guild’s overall encounter strategy.

12 .1.

Thunderstorm

Thunderstorm is a very powerful tool that can interrupt andreposition
enemies to help stack them up for AoE abilities. It can be combined with Thundershock if
the knockback is not desired for added crowd control,which shares no diminishing
returns with other common forms of crowd control. In the War Within you will also
be able to use it on other players to knock from their direction with Traveling Storms.

12 .2 .

Bloodlust / heroism

Bloodlust and Heroism allow your group to dish out
increased damage/healing for a long duration,which is of critical importance
to beating soft andhard enrages on raid bosses andsuccessfully dealing with
Mythic Keystone dungeons / PvP situations. Usually,this spell is cast at the
start of an encounter/dungeon boss when allies have their DPS cooldowns but
this can change depending on the encounter’s specifics.

12 .3.

Mana Tide Totem

Baseline Mana Tide Totem should be used when you andyour co-healers have
90% or less Mana remaining andcan be stacked up for its duration. It provides a
short-duration Mana regeneration boost to everyone within a small radius around the
totem. If used with Spiritwalker ‘s Tidal Totem,you should use it like a healing
cooldown during periods of high incoming damage.

12 .4.

Ancestral Protection Totem

Ancestral Protection Totem grants 10% extra Health Points to
everyone inside its area of effect for a long period,which helps the group
survive through the hardest mechanics this game has to offer. Even if someone
dies while this effect is active,the Ancestral Protection Totem will consume
itself to allow them to self-resurrect. As it does not count towards the battle
resurrection limit,this is one of the most powerful abilities in the game
whenever your group’s strategy implies the sacrifice of an ally at some point
in the encounter.

12 .5.

wind Rush Totem

If your group needs a movement speed increase to facilitate doing encounter
mechanics, wind Rush Totem is a great help,granting a significant
group-wide speed boost every 2 minutes. As the totem’s speed buff only lasts 5
seconds,but the totem itself lasts for 15 seconds; it is possible to get
multiple speed boosts from a single totem as long as you return to it once
your speed boost is gone.

12 .6.

Earth Elemental

Earth Elemental call an elemental with very high health to
taunt andtank non – boss enemy for you for a long duration . This is well used
to increase your dps during an encounter or as an emergency tool to relieve
some pressure off your group ‘s tank . You is gain will also gain 15 % extra health ( and5 %
damage reduction with Primordial Bond) while the Elemental is active,making
it a personal defensive.

12 .7.

Astral Shift

Astral Shift allows you to survive/ignore mechanics you usually
would not be able to andshould be used whenever you feel like you might die
in the next few seconds of an encounter,preferably while you still have plenty
of health remaining.

12 .8 .

Tremor Totem

Tremor Totem enables you to quickly remove Fear / Sleep / Charm
effects from yourself or your group members,as long as you cast it before you
are crowd-controlled. Its PvE usefulness depends on the encounter
mechanics,and it does not work on all types of Fear / Sleep / Charm you will
find,but it is nearly always useful in PvP.

12 .9.

Capacitor Totem

Capacitor Totem allow you to stun a group of enemy at will ,
allow your group to dispatch them before they can deal further damage /
heal .

12 .10.

earthgrab / Earthbind Totem

Earthgrab Totem and Earthbind Totem allow you to root/slow
enemies in an area. This is very useful whenever your group has to crowd-control
powerful enemies (and in PvP),but ultimately,its specific use depends on the
encounter mechanics you are dealing with.

12 .11.

Hex

Hex allows you to crowd-control a humanoid or beast target for a
long while. Handy in PvP andin dungeons but of limited use in raids.

12 .12 .

Purify Spirit

Purify Spirit allows you to dispel Magic (and Curse when talented)
effects,something that is often essential to completing dungeons andraids
successfully. It also has great PvP uses,depending on the enemy compositions.
Keep in mind that if you dispel a target that has just been completely
dispelled by another healer,you waste Mana.

12 .13 .

Wind Shear / Purge

Restoration Shamans make ideal candidates for doing interrupt anddispel
assignments,as they have a ranged 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.

13 .

Optional Read: Mastering Your Restoration Shaman

13 .1.

Mana Management

As with all healing classes,Mana management is at the core of this
specialization. It is important to choose your spells andtimings wisely so
that Mana can last until the end of the encounter,especially in a progression
raid setting. Ideally,you should aim to keep your Mana pool roughly at the
same percentage as the enemy’s Health Points throughout an encounter.
This ensures that you both keep enough Mana around for the later parts of the
fight andalso that you end the fight around 0% Mana,thus not wasting any of
its potential healing.

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 andhow aggressively they can afford to play with their Mana pool
while still having enough reserves to last the entire fight.

13 .2 .

deal 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 also a well-equipped class to assist in dealing
damage at minimal cost to healing time with instant cast
Flame Shock and Lava Surge procs.

13 .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 health point),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 andcannot freely choose low health
  targets. By being aware of how much damage your assignment will take,you can
  optimize your heals to benefit from your Mastery.

13 .4.

Movement Management

Proper movement/usage of movement abilities is paramount to maximizing the
time you have available to heal / DPS while dodging encounter mechanics.
Unfortunately,it is quite difficult to explain how to move andreposition
within a fight,but as a healer,there are some basic principles you should
follow as much as possible.

• position yourself central to your raid for good access to all target ;
• Ghost Wolf can allow you to avoid mechanics easily,even while
  slowed,as it stops you from being slowed below 100% movement speed;
• Take advantage of your instant-cast spells andtotems when you have to
  move. If none are available,use Ghost Wolf to get to your
  destination fast ;
• Gust of wind can help you against knockback mechanics to cross wide
  gaps,and when emergency movement is needed;
• Track mechanic timers andposition yourself in advance to avoid moving
  later;
• If you have time,take stutter steps over an extended period to reach your
  intended destination. Every time you use an instant cast,take a few steps
  while you are locked by the Global Cooldown.

13 .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 of 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 andmake your path as
direct anddecisive as possible.

13 .4.2 .

Spiritwalker’s Grace

Spiritwalker’s Grace should be used during periods of heavy
movement where healing throughput is a concern. It can also be used to allow
you to reposition while continuing to heal your group.

14.

Changelog

• 21 Oct. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.5 with new rotational tips for Farseer riptide build andnew talent.
• 09 Sep. 2024: Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
• 21 Aug. 2024 : update for The War Within launch .
• 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within pre-patch.
• 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2 .7.
• 22 Apr. 2024 : update for season 4 .
• 18 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2 .6.
• 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2 .5.
• 06 Nov. 2023 : update for Patch 10.2
• 06 Oct. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.2 andthe new tier set bonus.
• 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
• 10 Jul. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.5.
• 13 Jun. 2023: Clarified that ascendance andGuidance should not be used together.
• 01 May 2023: Added information on the new Tier Set andhow it changes the rotation.
• 20 Mar. 2023: Updated rotation for Patch 10.0.7 andadded Weak Auras link to addons guide page.
• 10 Mar. 2023: Added spell combo infographic.
• 24 Jan. 2023 : review for Patch 10.0.5 .
• 11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
• 28 Nov. 2022 : update for Dragonflight launch .
• 25 Oct. 2022 : update for Dragonflight pre – patch .

Show more

Show less