Kirise's Shadowlands 49 Resto Shaman Guide

REP GEAR OBSOLETE AS OF 9.1.03984, 49s CAN NO LONGER ACQUIRE NOR WEAR REP GEAR

49s get games in Shadowlands!? Nope. I'm just nuts about resto shamans. Gearing a 49 will take a ridiculous amount of time. To even get started, we must have a level 60 character (faction doesn't matter) complete the entire Shadowlands campaign questline that takes us through all four Shadowlands zones, then progress 1/9 of the way through the endgame campaign. Only then does the Threads of Fate option appear for 49s, which you do not want to accept until the 49 completes the first two chapters of the Shadowlands Bastion campaign. After all of that, the real grind begins.

If you have questions or suggestions for this guide, please send them my way. Thank you to @DeLindsay, @dirtypaws and other 49s who laid the groundwork early on in Shadowlands to figure things out, and to @mirrorbender for clearing up how mastery rating works!

Contents:

I. Stat Priority
II. Shadowlands ilvl Scaling
III. Gear and Enchantments
IV. Covenants!
V. What to Expect When You're Expecting...Rep

I. Stat Priority

Stat priority for 49 resto shamans is largely moot, because each gear slot (other than trinkets) offers one clearly BiS piece of gear. Nevertheless, let's break down the math in case more gearing options appear in the future.

Resto shamans leverage two primary stats (stamina and intellect), four secondary stats (crit, haste, versatility, and mastery), and can also obtain two relevant tertiary stats (speed and leech). Our stat priority is as follows:

int = mastery > vers > haste > crit

In essence, a point of int (or spellpower, since 1 int = 1 spellpower) or a point of mastery is better than a point of vers, which is slightly better than a point of haste (in part because haste stacks so high for 49 resto shamans as to reach diminishing returns), which in turn is better than a point of crit. Tertiary stats get allocated independently. Given the sheer amount of secondary stats available on Shadowlands rep gear, diminishing returns affects further stacking for some stats, as noted. A point of each stat provides (roughly) the following boost:

Healing Spell Throughput
int = 0.137% to 0.132% (depending on consumable use to boost int)
vers = 0.085%
haste = 0.072% (0.103% combined with 30% diminishing returns)
crit = 0.073% (remember crit is 175% in PvP, not 200%)
mastery = 0.134% at 50% health, 0.263% at 0% health (0.146% and 0.292% combined with 10% diminishing returns)

Damage Reduction and Tertiary Stats
vers = 0.043% damage reduction
armor = 0.056% physical damage reduction
leech = 0.162%
speed = 0.34%

Because diminishing returns affects mastery points (see mastery points) and not mastery rating or %, it takes 309 mastery for a 49 resto shaman to attain the 30 mastery points to reach diminishing returns (which a 49 will easily do).

Remember that the bonus healing from Mastery: Deep Healing scales inversely with the remaining health of our target, such that we see almost no benefit if we're just topping off a comrade, and almost full benefit when healing an almost-dead teammate. For example, if we have 4% mastery, then our healing spells will gain a 1% bonus on targets at three-quarters health, a 2% bonus for half-health targets, a 3% bonus for targets at one-quarter health, and a 4% bonus on nearly-dead teammates. Mastery ramps up when we need it the most. For any target at 50% health, Mastery is at least as good for us point-for-point as int before diminishing returns. When a teammate gets closer to dying, mastery can scale to double the impact of int. However, mastery augments only healing, while int (and vers) also boost damage, and resto shamans can do considerable damage. Stat prioritization depends greatly on playstyle priorities.

Since primary stats are additive i.e. they contribute by number rather than by percentage, each extra point of INT makes slightly less of an impact than the point before it. This makes sense, as going from 500 int to 501 int is a bigger step than going from 700 int to 701 int. Nevertheless, grab a Greater Flask of Endless Fathoms if you want your best elixir.

II. Shadowlands ilvl Scaling

For maximizing gear, characters must reach at least level 48 to gain access to the Shadowlands and BiS equipment. In theory, a 48 will see slightly better secondary stat scaling than a 49 outside instanced PvP because BiS gear remains the same. In practice, we don't know if 48s have access to everything, given how Shadowlands content can be buggy even for 49s. Going to 49 opens up a little more interim gear before attaining BiS.

Shadowlands gear uses a different proportion of main stats (higher) to secondary stats (lower) compared to non-Shadowlands gear. However, this difference is academic, since Shadowlands rep armor and rep jewelry far outclass any non-Shadowlands options, and the BiS options in the remaining slots (other than trinkets) also step ahead of non-Shadowlands selections.

III. Gear and Enchantments

Please note that WoWhead links do not show correctly scaled stats, and the weapon and boot enchants will require a level 50+ character to apply the enchants via the trade window. Unlisted Shadowlands enchants either don't work for 49s or aren't relevant for PvP.

The two Siege of Orgrimmar Trinkets actually boost haste, versatility, and mastery by just under 10% instead of 1%, so a fully geared 49 resto shaman will receive over 90 secondary stats from each trinket (before diminishing returns), on top of a 99 int proc.

Head: Cowl of the Path.

Neck: Reinforced High Collar.

Shoulder: Courtier's Shoulderguard.

Back: Glitterwing Scarf.

Chest: Chainmail of the March Warden.

Wrist: Bracers of Regret.

Hands: Rattling Bonefists.

Waist: Ostentatious Buckle.

Legs: Gormscale Leggings.

Feet: Gametender's Wading Boots + Soul Treads.

Rings: Two Gnarled Boneloop.

Trinkets: Prismatic Prison of Pride, Purified Bindings of Immerseus. Or, Inherited Insignia of the Horde/Alliance, Siphoning Blood-Drinker, Glowing Endmore Stinger, or Instructor's Divine Bell.

Main Hand: Inquisitions Final Judgment + Celestial Guidance.

Off Hand: Barrier of the Forgotten.

Farming the weapon and shield may appear like a tremendous task, but shamans bring a unique advantage. Wowhead's maps for both types of treasure chests remain accurate, if lacking in detail. To scout out possible treasure chest locations, cast Far Sight on a good vantage spot, and then from that spot, recast Far Sight to check out the next spot, and so forth! You can scout areas and even get inside buildings to check potential treasure chest locations by recasting the spell. Once you find a chest, travel to that location (often pulling a huge swath of mobs), then use your earth elemental to hold the mobs for a few seconds while you loot and escape. Other level 60 mobs will typically converge on your earth elemental and give you a few extra seconds.

IV. Covenants!

Covenants are the four main Shadowlands factions. From a gameplay perspective, each Covenant offers two abilities: a "class ability" defined by class and spec, and a "signature ability". Players immediately gain a Covenant's pair of abilities upon joining that Covenant. Note that unlike 60s, 49s cannot change their Covenant after choosing. This is a permanent choice for 49s. Choose well from the four Covenants. No pressure.

1. Necrolord (in Maldraxxus, associated with The Undying Army rep). Offers Primordial Wave and Fleshcraft. Arguably the strongest choice for PvP.

2. Kyrian (in Bastion, associated with The Ascended rep). Offers Vesper Totem and Summon Steward. The weakest of the four Covenant ability pairs.

3. Night Fae (in Ardenweald, associated with The Wild Hunt rep). Offers Fae Transfusion (meh) and Soulshape (whoa), the latter of which works like an augmented version of a mage's Blink spell.

4. Venthyr (in Revendreth, associated with Court of Harvesters rep). Offers Chain Harvest and Door of Shadows.

Reputation association is only for story purposes. We grind all four reps regardless of the Covenant we choose, and Covenant choice does not affect that grind.

V. What to Expect When You're Expecting...Rep

The vast majority of 49 BiS resto shaman gear comes from one source, and one source only: reputation grinds. Once we complete all Shadowlands quests available to us, our only option to attain rep with each of the four main factions is through daily world quests. We can't do Shadowlands dungeons, because they require level 50 (We can queue for them after attaining an average ilvl of 80, but we still can't enter).

It will generally take four straight months of daily world quest grind to get BiS gear. Note that 49s cannot see world quests on the map, so a 50+ needs to screenshot active world quests on the map (no traveling necessary, and quests remain the same across all servers) for the 49 to pursue, or consult a world quest tracker like on WoWhead. Not all world quests are available to 49s, and not all world quest items drop for 49s*. Side effects include blurred vision, hair loss, and profanity. Consult a doctor before partaking.

This arduous undertaking offers a silver lining. Of the four reps to grind, the most important for a 49 resto shaman goes the fastest, while the least important takes the full four months. Maldraxxus features an extra daily quest (from Au'narim) and weekly quest (Callous Concoctions) for Undying Army rep. Ardenweald treasures that start a quest** give Wild Hunt rep, and a minimum of 25 in any Shadowlands profession enables access to the corresponding World quests (thank you, @flippinfloppah !).

In addition, each of the four zones offers a daily World PvP quest (also earning faction rep), which requires us to have Warmode on. Every six hours, the current zone's quest ends, and the next zone activates its daily World PvP quest. Express Dominance (in Bastion), Seed Hunting (in Ardenweald), For Honor (in Revendreth), and State of Decay (in Maldraxxus) seem to go in a different order after each daily reset. While each quest does earn us honor, the honor vendors in Oribos require level 60 to make a purchase.

If you really want to optimize your rep, the week of the Darkmoon Faire offers a repeatable one-hour 10% bonus to rep gains by riding the carousel, which will shave a couple of days off the total span of the rep grind. Way better, a world quest bonus event provides 50% bonus rep for the week while active. Also, some daily quests include pet battles. That's right -- Shadowlands 49s gain the dubious distinction of being the first bracket to ever include pet battles as part of the gear grind. Thankfully, you can use a group of level 1 pets, which scales down your opponent pets to level 1 for an easy (not always) victory. Note that one battle pet trainer in Northeastern Revendreth will not provide a quest for 49s.

*i.e. Muck It Up
**Enchanted dreamcatcher, lost satchel, swollen anima seed
 
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