Soda4Matt
Grandfathered
So would panda be BIS for well fed bonus?Due to some request I have decided to make a guide on how to effectively and efficiently play Restoration shaman in both duel and BG settings.
I will keep this guide updated throughout BFA and update everyone interested on any gear/playstyle changes that may occur. If you have any questions on my thought processes or any suggests on how I may improve something, feel free to let me know!
Contents:
I. Stat Priority
II. Gearing + Enchant List
III. Talent Pro's and Con's
IV. Playstyles
I. Stat Priorities
Main Stat Priority for resto shaman should look something like this;
Int (At least 195) > Haste (At least 10%) > Vers (At least 7.5%) > Crit (At least 5%) > Stamina
I believe with these stat choices you will effectively be the most offensive and defensive healer on the battle ground.
Having a high amount of intellect right now makes your damage abilities hit like an absolute truck. It should be noted that the heals are very effective as well.
I've decided to prioritize haste over versatility in this stat setup because I feel it's more important to get damage out quicker, rather than slower for a slight damage increase. So far my experience with this setup has been nothing but successful.
Also something to note, stamina isn't as big of a deal as most people think. I strongly believe as long as you're above 1200HP, you're set! With having a lower health pool however, you MUST be good at predicting when damage is coming your way and pre-casting damage (Pre-healing). I will get more into detail on how to look at for that later on in the Playstyles section.
II. Gearing + Enchant List
Helm: Spellpower Goggles Xtreme Plus
Neck: Eternal Amulet of the Redeemed + Enchant Neck - Mark of the Hidden Satyr
Shoulders: Aged Pauldrons of The Five Thunders + Greater Inscription of Faith
Cloak: Sporid Cape + Enchant Cloak - Intellect
Chest: Slither-Scale Hauberk + Enchant Chest - Glorious Stats
Bracers: Chain Bracers + Enchant Bracer - Greater Spellpower
Weapon: The Blessed Hammer of Grace + Enchant Weapon - Major Spellpower
Off-Hand: Flamescarred Draconian Deflector + Enchant Off-Hand - Major Intellect
Gloves: Slither-Scale Gauntlets + Glove Reinforcements
Belt: Slither-Scale Cord
Legs: Slither-Scale Britches + Light Armor Kit
Boots: Slither-Scale Boots + Enchant Boots - Greater Versatility
Ring #1: Advisor's Ring + Enchant Ring - Gift of Versatility
Ring #2: Black Widow Band + Enchant Ring - Gift of Versatility
Trinket #1: Discerning Eye of the Beast
Trinket #2: Discerning Eye of the Beast
Now some items that are gf'd (not listed here) are clearly a better option, for example if you have Inferno Robe that is easily the better option, as well as Arctic Buckler. I should also mention that if you cannot afford the Black Widow Band, a healthy alternative is the Recruit's Band of the Aurora, blue quality of course.
III. Talent Pro's & Con's
Talent choices are dependent on playstyle. I think all 3 talent choices are viable in their own ways. Let's go in detail on each talent choice.
Torrent:
This talent increases the initial heal from Riptide by 30%.
This talent is very good when you're pushing offensively and you need a quick heal to keep your team alive. This talent is chosen over Unleash Life when you know you'll have to either manage your globals effectively, or if you need faster instant output healing. Unleashed + Riptide combo heals for more than this talent, but is on a 9 second longer cooldown, giving you more instant healing output in a 20 second period if you were to use Torrent.
Undulation:
This talent makes it so every third Healing Surge you cast heals for 50% more.
This talent is great for turret healing. What I mean by this is if you're struggling to find globals to press anything else except Healing Surge, then this talent is for you until you're more comfortable. I personally think this is the weaker talent choice of the 3, but it's a great talent choice if you're just starting off on Resto Shaman and aren't familiar with global management.
Unleash Life:
This talent not only heals your target for around 300 non-crit, but it also increases the effect of your next heal by 45%.
This talent choice is by far my favorite. It's an extra instant heal and paired with Healing Surge it gives me a HUGE heal to top anyone I need. Or if a rogue is opening on me, I can normally save my trinket with ease by pressing this talent followed by Riptide. It can be a bit weird getting familiar with this talent, but if you're really good at managing your offensive/defensive globals, this is the talent to use!
IV. Playstyles
For playstyles Rsham has quite a few. You've got the Passive Rsham, Medium Aggro and Aggro Rsham playstyles.
In a Passive rsham playstyle, your objective is to keep people alive while making sure you're the furthest away from danger. Essentially, you'll be positioning yourself behind everyone else. This playstyle is especially good when your team fight isn't the best, making you a less viable kill target.
In a Medium Aggro rsham playstyle, your objective is to be pushed up with your team, not initiating anything but shearing and keeping your flame shock dot up on the team kill target. With this playstyle you rely more on your other healers to keep your team up while you're shearing and applying flame shock for pressure. Keep in mind to use your Healing Stream totem, it's a great tool for AoE healing while you're offensive.
In an Aggro rsham playstyle, your objective is to kill. Your team mates are still important, but the taste for blood is more important. You'll position yourself just behind your teams main pusher casting as much damage as possible with offensive shears on healers. In most situations if you're going to go Aggro you need to inform your team and pick a healer to kill. CC MUST be landed on the other 2 healers with your shear on the kill target. This is where your instant heals also kick in, you aren't going to have much time to cast heals, so the instants are necessary for keeping yourself aggro.
I mentioned above something called "Pre-healing". This is as simple as it sounds, you take your best judgement on when damage is coming your way and you heal before the damage hits you. For example Marksmanship hunters aimed shots do a decent chunk right now. If you time your healing surge with the cast of the aimed shot, you can top yourself right after the aimed shot lands, pre-healing acts almost like an absorb in a sense. You can get better at this simply by playing and gaining awareness.
I hope this guide helps you new and veteran Rshams get into the BFA swing of things! Like I mentioned above if you think there's something I should also mention or improve, please let me know!
This is my Resto Shaman. any gear changes/updates you'll be able to see here in case I don't mention it on this post.
Deceptionsz
*Guide has been updated as of 7/24/2018*
