Restoration Shaman

How the spec changed

Blizzard's deep dive moved Mana Tide Totem from the 31-point milestone to the 16-point one. It made Water Shield the 11-point milestone and Riptide the new capstone, which makes Chain Heal 25% stronger on its target. Mindfulness lets half your mana regeneration continue while you cast, and Blizzard placed it so Elemental Shamans can reach it too. Tidal Focus now also adds hit chance, and Improved Reincarnation adds 4% maximum health. Wowhead's overview welcomes the Healing Way change, since the old version only stacked after repeated casts on one target.

Talents

Level 20: Wowhead says always take Mindfulness and Water Shield first, for mana. ForeverDB calls Mindfulness the biggest mana talent you can reach by 20.

Icy Veins' 26-point note adds Healing Way, worth 25% more Healing Wave healing.

Healing priorities

ForeverDB's level 30 card:

1. Before the pull, Call of the Elements for your water totem, Stoneskin Totem and the rest.
2. Keep Water Shield up.
3. Healing Wave on the tank, started early.
4. Lesser Healing Wave when the tank falls faster than Healing Wave can land.
5. Cure Poison and Cure Disease as needed.
6. Totemic Recall after the fight, for 25% of your totems' mana back.

ForeverDB adds that Healing Wave rank 3 casts faster than rank 4 at about half the cost, which suits small steady damage. With no direct multi-target heal until 40, let Healing Stream Totem tick and heal whoever is lowest. Put Tremor Totem down before fights with fears, not after.

Wowhead and Icy Veins agree on totems first and Healing Wave as the workhorse. Both say that when nobody needs healing you should help kill: Fire Nova from a Fire totem on packs, or Lightning Bolt (Icy). Icy Veins says to keep buff totems such as Strength of Earth up, as your main contribution to group damage.

From level 40 the loop changes. ForeverDB describes it as Riptide on the tank, Chain Heal starting on them, then Healing Wave or Lesser Healing Wave as filler. Wowhead's overview expects Chain Heal to be stronger than ever because of Riptide.

Levelling

Wowhead recommends levelling as Enhancement and keeping Restoration for Dual Specialization (level 40) or endgame. If you must level as Restoration, it suggests a strong melee weapon with an imbue, a Fire totem and Fire Nova on cooldown, saving mana between kills. Group levelling suits it well. ForeverDB presents Restoration as a way to quest and heal dungeons with one set of talents. Its level 30 Restoration build saves Nature's Swiftness for an instant Healing Wave when a pull goes wrong.

Gear and consumables

• Stat order: Icy Veins gives spell healing, critical strike, Intellect, Spirit, mana per 5, Stamina. It values crit for Water Shield mana and Ancestral Healing's armour buff. ForeverDB's order is healing power, mana per 5, Intellect, Spirit, crit, Stamina; it says crit matters little before Tidal Mastery at 25.
• Spirit and Mindfulness: Icy Veins suggests casting heals in bursts when you rely on Spirit, so you spend longer at full regeneration.
• Gear: Icy Veins recommends Tidebringer's Claw and Elementalist's Guard from the level 30 Call of Air quest. ForeverDB lists Leatherworking pieces such as the Mender's Leather Belt at 30. The Polished Driftwood Icon relic from Enchanting keeps some mana regeneration going while you cast.
• Consumables: Icy Veins suggests water, mana potions, Lesser Cleric's Elixir, Mender's Potion and experience-boosting food. WoWSims' level 60 default sets only Soaring Pamplona and Major Mana Potion.
• Professions: Wowhead and WoWSims suggest Leatherworking and Enchanting.

Where guides disagree or are unsure

• Racials: the older Orc/Dwarf/Tauren comparisons are stale. Blizzard’s 26 October notes remove Tauren’s critical-healing bonus and give Dwarves hit instead of critical damage/healing. Hit does not improve heals landing on friendly targets. Orc Command is a pet bonus, not a Restoration healing bonus; do not select a healing race from those obsolete rankings.
• Above 30: Chain Heal (trainer, 40), Riptide (40) and Purification (35) are untested. WoWSims doesn't yet model the spec.