Talent Builds
Totemic Chain Heal (Raid)
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This build is focusing on optimizing your spell usage through totem usage. Whenever you use key-totems, you heal free Chain Heals. It’s a safe bet build, that has a lot of free hps throughput. Whenever you are not dropping totems, Chain Heal usage is very strict and should mostly be used during High Tide.
There are some optional talent picks like Ancestral Vigor instead of Acid Rain and Living Stream instead of Cloudburst if you need more spothealing.
Farseer Chain Heal (Raid)
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Much like the Totemic build, the Farseer build revolves around not overusing your Chain Heal. Whenever you have your Ancestors out, they will duplicate the healing you do. This build falls off slightly hps wise compared to the Totemic build.
The Restoration specific talents are the same, and the options for a different style of healing are also the same. Farseer can use Ancestral Swiftness, to slightly smoothen out mana consumption from Chain Heal.
Totemic Chain Heal (Mythic+)
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Healing wise will not have a different style from how you play Totemic in raids. Unleash life becomes Undulation for more Healing Surge usage and Reactive Warding becomes more hps in picking Ancestral Awakening. You will also find dropping Earthen Wall Totem and Spouting Spirits for Ancestral Vigor and Master of the Elements, for additional single target survivability and damage is a more solid choice.
In the Shaman talent section, you may find use in some dungeons for Tremor Totem or Purge, so these are preferential and dungeon specific.
Farseer Chain Heal (Mythic+):
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Same goes for the Farseer build in m+, as for Totemic. You will want to pick the same talents. However, where Totemic shines in m+ hps wise, you will find that Farseer has greater damage potential. So alternating these two depending on the dungeon is definitely a choice. Farseer has some significant aoe damage potential along with a slightly better single target. It is personal preference which one you decide to play in m+.
Class Talents
In this section, we are going to talk about a few key talents for Restoration Shaman. I will explain how they work, when they find good use and how to maximize their potential.
Stone Bulwark Totem
Stone Bulwark totem is a defensive totem that gives you a flat absorb shield for 15 seconds. In addition, it gives you a small additional shield every 5 seconds for 30 seconds.
This is a very powerful personal damage reduction totem that has great use in rot-type fights. It’s on a decent cooldown timer and essentially works as a large defensive ability. Although it does not give you any % damage reduction, the numbers the shields provide are substantial.
Totemic Recall
Totemic Recall resets the cooldown of your most recently used totem, with a base cooldown of less than 3 minutes.
This is a very undervalued talent, that has the potential to give you either extra stacks of Cloudburst totem, for more hps throughput. Alternatively, you may use it to reset the cooldown of your Wind Rush totem, should your raid/group need two speed boost abilities in a shorter window.
This talent paired with Call of the Elements (reduces Totemic Recall cd by 60sec) puts Totemic Recall on a 2 minute cooldown. A very strong combination and a pick you will always want to make.
Gust of Wind
Gust of Wind is a utility spell, where the Shaman is pushed forward through a ‘leap’.
This spell has so much usage for Restoration Shamans in all content. Often times, we are stuck hardcasting spells like Healing Wave and Chain Heal, a spell that can leap us forward or away, will help so much with positioning and surviving. It’s on a fairly low cd timer (20sec) and the animation and speed of the leap sequence are decent.
Spec Talents
In the Spec Talents section, I will be talking about a couple of key talents specifically. Mostly our Spec talent tree is in a very balanced position, where you can choose to pick more single target healing or group healing. It also doesn’t feel like we have to make bad choices or leave out key talents in order to be relevant.
Spirit Link Totem
The most notorious totem in our arsenal, the Spirit Link totem. It summons a totem for 6 seconds that reduces all friendly targets' damage taken by 15% within 13 yards. Immediately and every 1 seconds the health of all players is redistributed evenly.
The Spirit Link Totem has been the strongest ability for Restoration Shamans since forever. It is the main tool why Shamans are relevant in both raids and m+. The Spirit Link totem can single-handedly carry a whole group or raid through some very nasty damage, by redistributing health to make all friendly players have equal health. Make sure you know when the best time to use this ability is, it will help your raid and group significantly.
Ascendance
Ascendance transforms you into a Water Ascendant, duplicating all healing you deal at 70% effectiveness for 18 seconds and immediately healing allies for X amount. Ascendant healing is distributed evenly among allies within 40yds.
Ascendance is our key hps throughput cooldown. It has the potential to be one of the most powerful raid wide healing cooldowns if played correctly. A couple of pointers how to make use of it the most when you have entered the Ascendant form:
- Make sure to have at least one stack of Cloudburst Totem when you plan to use Ascendance. Cloudburst will fill up to become a huge heal after you have fed into it during Ascendance.
- Cast your Healing Rain/Surging Totem right before entering Ascendant form.
- Make sure to have your Unleash life and Ancestral Swiftness/Nature’s Swiftness also ready, to have an instant big Chain Heal ready for when you start.
- Use Chain Heal as much as you can - bear in mind that this is very mana costly. So if you have an Innervate from a Druid at your disposal, this is the time to make use of it.
- Other totems don’t feed into Ascendance healing.
Ancestral Protection Totem (Ankh Totem)
The Ancestral Protection totem or commonly referred to as ‘Ankh totem’, is a totem that is placed where needed for 33 seconds and has a 23yds radius around it. All allies gain 10% increased health. If an ally dies, the totem will be consumed to allow them to Reincarnate with 20% health and mana. If they die of massive damage, the cannot reincarnate.
This totem is widely used throughout raids and m+ to counter or deal with mechanics that would else be very difficult to deal with. Mechanics targeting players that are impossible to overcome with else, will have great assistance from this spell. It is also a very handy raid cooldown, due to its 10% increase to health for all allies. This spell along with Spirit Link Totem will make Restoration Shamans very feasible in any content.
Hero Talents
Both Totemic and Farseer are great options in both Raid and Mythic+, so here’s a quick rundown of what each of them does and what builds they focus on.
Totemic
All Totemic builds focus on Chain Heal because of one of the passive talents called Lively Totems. This will make your totems fire off Chain Heals for you, rather than you needing to cast them yourself. Surging Totem replaces Healing Rain and instead places a Healing Rain around the location of the Surging Totem. This is instant-cast, and lasts for 24 seconds, which cuts back on some of the button bloat that Shaman has. Totemic builds have an endless amount of AoE healing, with the catch of being quite mana intensive if you’re not careful. If you enjoy playing builds that focus on Chain Heal, then Totemic is the build for you.
Farseer
This tree has a lot more flexibility when it comes to talent choices, but it primarily focuses on Riptide. The goal here is to summon Ancestors by pressing Unleash Life, getting undulation, or randomly by pressing Riptide, and using those Ancestors to help you heal or deal damage. This tree has a little bit of RNG associated with it, but is a pretty passive tree if you’re not looking to change up your gameplay too much.