Neg's guide to Optimal Chain healing

Neg from Nihilum wrote:

This is a PvE focused Resto (healing) shaman guide, both because I am a PvE focused player and because shamans are horrible in PvP. The only tips I could think of for PvP is reroll Resto drood (would be a short PvP guide) for small brackets or go Elemental and hope for a good 5vs5.

Resto shamans are generally considered to be the weakest healing class in game, this mainly has two reasons. First and foremost, in Vanilla-WoW resto shamans were the weakest healers around. Poor itemization, spirit based mana regeneration and low +Healing made resto shamans without a doubt the worst healers around and people remember this, thus labeling resto shamans weak. The second reason for the bad reputation is the fact that quite a lot of resto shamans out there aren’t resto by free will, but forced into healing by their guild or friends, this obviously doesn’t lead to good, dedicated healers.

But don’t be fooled by all this prejudice. Resto shamans are more than competent in TBC and once a resto shaman gets the needed gear, he’ll be a healer that is superior to all other healing classes. All you have to do is get the needed gear.



If you want to be successful as resto shaman in raids, the first thing you have to fix is the group setup. Shamans buff group wise, so make sure you get a spot in a DPS group, either with casters for Wrath of Air/Mana Spring/Mana Tide or in a melee group for Windfury /Strength of Earth. For the shaman a group with a shadow priest is preferable, the mana efficiency of shamans is quite poor so the added mana regeneration from the SP helps very, very much and can even be considered a must for some fights.

Also make sure that you are assigned to the right target. Shamans healing a tank while pallies raid heal is not a good way to go in general. The other way around where pallies spam the tank and shamans take care of the splash damage on the raid with Chain Heal is more efficient. If your raid leader keeps on refusing to assign the resto shamans to raid healing, replace him.



Gear is very important for resto shamans. Now you would say: “Gear is important for every raider?” Well yes, but for shamans it’s crucial. Shamans are mediocre healers by nature, we lack mana efficiency and diversity in healing spells. A holy paladin with crappy gear is a decent healer, a shaman with crappy gear is absolutely horrible. But on the other side we do scale better than any other healing class in the game. A holy paladin with good gear is an excellent healer, but a shaman with good gear is just insane, both in HPS (health points per second) as in HPM (health points per mana).

Which stats to focus on depends on where you are in the game, so I’ll split this section into three categories: pre-raid, T4/T5 and T6.

Pre-raid.

With this I mean new resto shamans who just hit 70. Gear comes from 5-mans, quests and PvP. Biggest problem at this point will be the mana efficiency, in other word, you’ll run out of mana way too fast and people die because you aren’t able to heal them anymore. Your focus at this point should be:

Mp5. Mana per 5 is king at this stage; any increase in your mana regeneration makes you a stronger healer.
Int. Fights don’t last that long yet, and it isn’t till 3.5 minutes that Mp5 is outperforming Int in efficiency, so getting more Int is good at this moment.
+Healing. +Healing is a strong stat, but at this point the ability to keep on healing (with more mana) is more important then the impact of your heals. This doesn’t mean you should avoid +Healing, absolutely not, just don’t focus on it yet.
Stamina. The ability to stay alive is of course very important, but a luxury at this moment. Being able to keep on healing is all that matters.
Spirit. Absolutely worthless. Doesn’t mean you should never use an item with spirit, if it’s an upgrade then of course use it, but if you are using an item with spirit there is an item out there which is better, you just need to go get it.
Spell Crit. Same story as spirit, not a stat you want.
Spell Haste. Doubt you’ll get items with that at this point.

T4/T5

You’re now starting to get some gear, full epic even. Your mana pool should be able to last way longer, mana can still be a problem of course, but you can manage most of the time. With a shadow priest in your group you are able to cast Healing Wave or Chain Heals 75-85% of the time, not full time spammage yet, but close.

Mp5. Mana per 5 is still your most important stat, not as crucial anymore as before, but still king.
+Healing. The amount of damage people are taking is going up fast, so your heals need to have more impact. You’ll also be asked to raid heal with Chain Heal while the raid takes substantial damage, CH scales insanely good (125% of +Healing), so getting more + healing is starting to pay off.
Stamina. Splash damage is getting more and more significant, so having more HP is becoming necessary.
Spell crit is a bonus, don’t look for it, but if an item has it, not bad for Ancestral Healing.
Int. Int lost its value now, fights last too long to make Int worth the item points. Your mana pool should be more than big enough with the Int you get from your epic gear.
Spirit is absolutely a no-no, there are better items for you.
Spell haste is a no-no also, items with spell haste only tell you that there are better items for that slot out there.

T6.

You are starting to feel better now, you can't remember the last time you ran oom anymore or when a paladin out healed you in a serious encounter. You are necessary for the raid, a raid without you will have troubles with quite a few encounters.

+Healing is the absolute king now. Mana problems are something of the past and you can spam your heals as much as you want. It’s all about the impact of your heals, so the more +Healing you have, the better.
Mp5. Mana regeneration is a must, but it is limited. Once you reach around 550mp5 (gear, buffs, pots, SP, MT) you won't really need anymore as you can't spend it. Ending a fight with 90% mana won't make you a better healer than ending it with 10% mana.
Stamina. Stamina could be #2, staying alive is everything and you’ll be taking a lot of splash damage in raids.
Spell crit. You’ll hardly see it, the itemization is too good, but don’t be afraid of it.
Spell haste. Still a luxury and more something you want to collect for if Blizzard ever makes an encounter that requires spell haste.
Int. Your mana pool is nothing more than an unknown number, mana regen is the name of the game.
Spirit. Having spirit on items should endanger your raid spot.

I always use a little formula (roughly based on StatMods for items) to see which item is best for me.

Stamina = 1 point per 1 Stam
Intellect = 1 point per 1 Int
+Healing = 1 point per 1+Healing.
Mp5 = 5 points per 1mp5
All other stats have 0 value.

Now you simply add up all the points an item gets and the higher the score, the better an item is. A small example:

Cosmic Lifeband has a total of 92 points, 57 (for 57 +Healing) + 35 (for 7mp5) = 92 points.
Ring of Fabled Hope has a total of 71 points, 12 (for 12 Int) + 0 (for 11 spirit) + 59 (for 59 =Healing) = 71 points.

Both items have the same ItemValue according to Blizzard, 115, but for you as resto shaman the Cosmic Lifeband is clearly a better choice than the Ring of Fabled Hope.



Your spec shouldn’t stay the same throughout these stages. Early on you need more mana related talents, later on you can take more survival based talents.

Pre-raid Spec 0/5/56 Standard resto shaman spec, focus is your mana.

T4/T5 Spec 8/0/53 Raiding resto spec, because of the large amount of splash damage involved in modern raiding, Elemental Warding should be used.

T6 Spec 8/0/53 The raiding spec for the shaman with uber gear. You can afford to use the fast but mana inefficient LHW all the time, so no more need for Improved HW and Healing Way.



As professions for a raiding resto shaman I would recommend Alchemy and Enchanting.

- Alchemy: You take alchemy for two reasons. First and foremost it gives you access to the mighty Alchemist's Stone, the best healing trinket you can get until you kill Illidan. The second reason is that while it is a very lousy profession, you do need a few alchemists in the guild to make your pots and elixirs, and as a healer you actually benefit a bit from being alchemist.

- Enchanting: There aren’t many professions that really have an impact on your stats, but enchanting does. +20 Healing per ring is just nice, nothing major, but more than what most other professions have to offer.