70-79 Tirise's BfA 79 Resto Shaman Guide

Oooh, the grinding you'll see! BfA's gear scaling changes mean that several pieces of gear stand out as best (mostly from dungeons) for 79s, leaving customization to the gems we choose. The gems resto shamans want most, drop from specific heroic TBC dungeons. Expect at least 60 days of grinding to fill all gem sockets. Thankfully (?), 79s can easily solo these dungeons.

The first section of this guide starts with a short summary, then enters in-depth discussion if you want to get into the details and arithmetic of why certain choices stand above others. The proceeding sections discuss the impact of gear choices, and how to leverage talents and playstyle to do the most with our stats.

I'm always interested in suggestions for changes/additions/etc!

Contents:

I. Stat Priority
II. 79s and 70s
III. Gear and Enchantment Options
IV. Gems
V. Impactful Talents
VI. Playstyle Approaches

I. Stat Priority

Resto shamans see two primary stats (stamina and intellect), plus four secondary stats (crit, haste, versatility, and mastery). 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 or a point of haste, which in turn are both 2X better than a point of crit. Enough BiS gear comes with stamina such that health isn't a concern.

A point of each stat provides the following boost to healing spells (and damage reduction, as noted):

int = 0.14% to 0.12% (varies a little, depending on spell coefficients and consumables)
vers = 0.077%, and 0.038% damage reduction
haste = 0.096%
crit = 0.045% (remember crit is 150% in PvP, not 200%)
mastery = 0.136% at 50% health, 0.272% at 0% health
armor = 0.08% physical damage reduction (varies slightly on total armor, and assumes a shield)

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 200 int to 201 int is a bigger deal than going from 600 int to 601 int. For battlegrounds, 79s can leverage the Flask of Supreme Power or Flask of Distilled Wisdom and Superior Wizard Oil for ~88 extra spellpower. While gearing and consumables choices can push int farther up the diminishing returns ladder, int will still provide more benefit than secondary stats on a point-for-point basis, outside of mastery.

Let's examine how Mastery: Deep Healing works for resto shamans. The bonus healing from mastery 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 a teammate that is one sneeze away from dying. 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. 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.

Shaman healers bring tremendous utility and firepower at 79, often overshadowing the healing that shamans do. Therefore, 79 shamans work best as secondary healers. Prioritize CCs, slows, and interrupts to help teammates, or pile on damage to a target. Resto shamans use more instant cast spells (riptide, cleanse, numerous totems, flame shock, lava burst instants, etc.) than hard casts, but hard casts do matter when called for.

With this in mind, versatility (the stat) allows a shaman to boost healing throughput while providing incoming damage reduction and an outgoing damage boost. If you plan to play a shaman as a primary healer (i.e. spend more time casting healing surge and chain heal), you'll want to prioritize mastery, then int, then haste over versatility. Shamans may choose a middle ground by prioritizing versatility over haste. Crit ranks last for resto shaman secondary stats, although the high amount of crit from the Desolation Gear 2-piece bonus outranks any other option for those two slots.

II. 79s and 70s

Perhaps one of the strongest twink communities in the game resides at 70. Raids, heroic dungeons, and other group activities provide an ongoing attraction for a bracket with one of the most colorful and interesting histories in WoW. Base main stat scaling (not gear stat scaling) adds around 32 int and 26 stam in instanced PvP for resto shamans, but secondary stats drop by almost an eighth (11.8%) e.g. if we have 24% versatility at 70, we'll see just over 21% in battlegrounds and arenas. Gear differences aren't too significant, as total stat impact is about the same as a good consumable.

However, two significant differences between 79s and 70s remain. Gaining the fifth tier of talents at level 75 and especially attaining Mastery at level 78 can easily boost a resto shaman's healing throughput by 20% in a normal battleground, and surpass 35% in particular situations. If and until Blizzard moves Mastery to level 80 (where it would make much more sense, especially now that Cata random dungeons don't start until 80), 79 offers an attractive performance boost.

III. Gear and Enchantment options

Gearing a 79 sees Northrend quest gear, battleground crate gear, and a massive number of instance runs. While Throne of the Tides and Blackrock Caverns are available as walk-in instances, their mastery gear still gets outclassed by TBC and Wrath gear with better overall stats. The following list omits grandfathered gear and enchantments. Some tooltips may not show the correctly scaled stats, and "Of the X" gear will not show secondary stats.

Head: Plunderer's Helmet or Shamanistic Helmet of Second Sight.

Neck: Talisman of the Breaker + Mark of the Ancient Priestess or Mark of the Hidden Satyr. Stats will reach higher on other necks, but a 20% reduction of one of the biggest threats to casters makes a soaring impact.

Shoulder: Pauldrons of Desolation + Greater Inscription of Faith/Greater Inscription of the Oracle or Greater Inscription of the Crag. The two-piece set bonus yields 35 crit, comparable to gaining two extra sockets. Of the five pieces of Desolation Battlegear available, this is one of two that lose the least, to gain the set bonus.

Back: Drape of Distilled Hatred + Gift of Mastery. The movement speed enchant stacks with the Minor Speed foot enchant.

Chest: Hauberk of Desolation + Glorious Stats. The other of the two Desolation Battlegear pieces that lose the least, to gain the 35 crit 2-piece bonus. Glorious Stats provides primary stats i.e. extra stam and int.

Wrist: Bracers of the Forest Stalker + Superior Spellpower.

Hands: Gauntlets of the Tranquil Waves + Greater Mastery or Superior Mastery.

Waist: Tarren Mill Defender's Cinch + Eternal Belt Buckle.

Legs: Wyrmscale Greaves + Shining Spellthread.

Feet: Auchenai Boots + Minor Speed. Run speed bonuses cap at +10% and don't benefit ghost wolf, except for this +10% speed enchant.

Rings: Jasper Ring (of the Harmonious, or Feverflare) and Circlet of the Forgotten Mercenary + Binding of Mastery. Or, Cold-Touched Band (of the Savant, Harmonious, or Feverflare), Earthbinder's Regenerating Band or Nimblefinger Band.

Trinkets: Abyssal Rune (full proc in battlegrounds), Forge Ember (full proc in battlegrounds), Cold-Touched Distinction (of the Savant, Harmonious, or Feverflare).

Main Hand: Cudgel of Saronite Justice + Major Spellpower.

Off Hand: Cold-Touched Barrier (of the Savant, Harmonious, or Feverflare) or Jasperlode Shield (of the Harmonious or Feverflare) + Enchant Shield - Mastery.

IV. All the Gems

Note that some gems are unique-equipped i.e. you can only get one, though other sources may give you gems with the same stats. Any gem works in any socket, except for meta gems, which only work in meta sockets (specifically in Plunderer's Helmet).

Heroic Dungeons
Purified Tanzanite: While bosses from several heroic instances drop this gem, only the bosses from Heroic Blood Furnace and Heroic Old Hillsbrad see the highest scaled stats (5 int, 4 vers).
Reckless Fire Opal: From Heroic Shattered Halls or Heroic Steamvaults.

Crafted
Nightmare Tear (6 stam, 6 int)
Tireless Skyflare Diamond
Tireless Starflare Diamond
Trenchant Earthsiege Diamond
Trenchant Earthshatter Diamond
Shielded Skyflare Diamond
Destructive Skyflare Diamond
Destructive Primal Diamond
Mystical Skyfire Diamond

Honor vendors
Master Sergeant Biggins / Brave Stonehide (requires 1 Mark of Honor, note that WoWhead says the source is no longer available, but it is indeed available in 8.1)
Potent Ornate Topaz

Blade's Edge Mountains
Requires farming Apexis Shards, and to do the event that triggers Aether-Tech Adept, then Aether-Tech Master.
Imbued Unstable Diamond
Reckless Citrine
Purified Amethyst

If you go with Plunderer's Helmet to get a meta gem, several interesting choices await. Given that the BiS neck significantly helps reduce silences, a stun reduction or avoidance meta gem may serve best, but it's hard to go wrong with any of them.

V. Impactful Talents

Unleash Life takes top honors from the first tier. In the rare event you find yourself as a primary healer, Earth Shield from the second tier will help, but choose Echo of the Elements instead whenever possible. Two charges of lava burst adds significant damage potential, and the extra HoT healing makes a larger impact at 79 than in other brackets.

The third tier goes to Earthgrab Totem unless you're the FC, in which case you'll want Spirit Wolf (and the Spectral Recovery PvP talent). Earthen Wall Totem and Ancestral Protection Totem both offer situational benefits from the fourth tier, and appear more useful in arenas. Ancestral Vigor makes a bigger impact when healing larger, longer fights (or kites), more typical of battlegrounds.

Finally, the fifth tier brings welcome survivability from Nature's Guardian. While the other two options can bring situational benefits, stuns abound at 70-79, and the extra recovery time makes an impact.

Gladiator's Medallion remains the superior first-tier PvP talent. The other PvP talents depend on playstyle. Tidebringer makes for a great battleground choice, albeit one that brings attention to your casting. Ancestral Gift can garner precious seconds when you need them the most. Really, you could make an argument for any of the choices besides Grounding Totem or Electrocute.

VI. Playstyle Approaches

Thanks to Mastery: Deep Healing, viable gems with versatility, and fifth tier survivability talents, 79 resto shamans live longer than any of their counterparts in the brackets below. When healers live longer, battles prolong. Therefore, resto shamans perform best by determining how to tilt battles toward the elimination of key opponents, and preservation of key allies.

While that may sound like trite healer advice, realize that for such a mobile utility healer as a resto shaman, priorities change very quickly. If two ranged dps teammates struggle with a couple of melee and manage to interrupt an enemy priest's penance, it may be best to root the melee, purge the priests bubble, then hit the priest with a flame shock and lava burst while waiting to interrupt the priest's inevitable shadow mend. Or, attracting the melee's attention and kiting them while our ranged teammates deal with the priest may yield better results. Or maybe our teammates counterattack the melee, so we hex the priest and try to burn down one of the melee.

With so many cues to read, playing a resto shaman can feel overwhelming. But while some success comes from timing and reading the field, a significant portion of our impact comes from relentless pressure. Flame Shock doesn't do much by itself, but left to tick (especially two or three flame shocks), a resto shaman can suddenly turn a damage hose toward those targets. Purge doesn't damage, but nullifying a fort buff or a bubble brings an opponent down just as well. Be bold with a shaman's toolkit, and lure opponents into misplays by giving your teammates either more longevity or more opportunity to complete a kill.
 
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