The Restoration Shaman heals with three spells in Forever: Healing Wave for single targets, Chain Heal for the group and Riptide, which now only heals over time but boosts your next Chain Heal on that target by 25%. It is rated A for raids. Since every shaman spec brings the same totems in Forever, groups want you for your healing, not for exclusive totems.
Talents and builds
The links open the talent calculator with the finished build, including why the points go where they go.
- Leveling: Restoration leveling (points 0/17/34). Simple deep Restoration build that is fairly strong early on, because Tidal Focus, Mindfulness and Water Shield come quickly. The calculator shows the point-by-point order below the tree.
- Raid: Restoration PvE (raid & dungeons) (points 0/17/34). Water Shield and Ancestral Healing give Restoration strong synergy with critical strikes, which return mana and grant an armor buff.
- PvP: Restoration PvP (points 0/17/34). Like the PvE build, but trades Restorative Totems for Earth's Grasp, 3 points in Tidal Focus for nearly the PvP hit cap on Earth Shock, Shamanistic Focus for a cheaper Earth Shock and Guardian Totems for more frequent Grounding Totems.
Where it ranks
| Category | Tier | Range |
|---|---|---|
| PvE healers | A | A–S |
| PvP (battleground/open world) | B | D–S |
| Leveling | C | D–B |
- PvE healers: Some lists see S for Chain Heal, raid-wide totems and Mana Tide Totem, most new ones say A. Second in the simulation.
- PvP (battleground/open world): B: since launch Riptide is only a heal over time with no instant part. The lists disagree widely, from S to the very bottom.
- Leveling: B and D: slow while questing but wanted in dungeons. For solo leveling Enhancement is clearly better.
The tiers combine several tier lists and level-60 simulations. Raid logs only exist from 9 December, so treat this as a snapshot. Every spec side by side: rankings.
Single-target healing
- Drop your buff totems, fastest through Call of the Elements.
- Searing Totem for free damage.
- Riptide on cooldown on the most injured target. 12-second cooldown, heals over time and works on the move too.
- Healing Wave, happily at a lower rank when the full one isn't needed. Healing Way gives it a flat 25% extra healing.
- Lightning Bolt only when healing allows.
Group damage
Riptide on injured targets, then Chain Heal on a target that has Riptide, again at a lower rank when possible. If someone has Riptide, that is who you Chain Heal. When things calm down, Magma Totem with Fire Nova or Chain Lightning is fine while your mana holds.
Water Shield and crit
Water Shield has three globes. Each returns 2% of your maximum mana when you are hit or a spell crits. Ancestral Healing gives the target 25% more armor after a critical heal. Crit is mana and protection for you at the same time.
Cooldowns
- Mana Tide Totem: drop it at around 80% mana so nothing overcaps. 12 seconds, your group only, 5-minute cooldown.
- Nature's Swiftness makes your next Nature spell instant. Save it for emergencies, usually Nature's Swiftness plus a full Healing Wave on the tank.
- Earth Shock interrupts when needed.
Stats
Healing power first, then crit rating because of Water Shield and Ancestral Healing. After that, Intellect, Spirit and mana per 5 seconds. With 3/3 Mindfulness half your regeneration keeps running while you cast, and Spirit mostly helps in quiet phases without casts. You don't need hit at 60.
Common mistakes
- Dropping Mana Tide too early.
- Using Nature's Swiftness casually.
- Chain Heal on a target without Riptide when one with Riptide is right there.
- Always casting the highest rank.
- Doing damage while healing is needed.
Leveling
Solo, Restoration levels slowly; the spec lives in groups. Level as Enhancement and add Restoration with dual talent specialization from level 40. If you level as Resto anyway, Tidal Focus, Mindfulness and Water Shield give you a lot of mana early.
In groups and raids
Besides healing you bring the shaman totems, Cure Poison, Cure Disease and the Poison and Disease Cleansing Totems. You can't remove magic or curses from allies. On top: Purge against enemy buffs, Tremor Totem against fear, Grounding Totem and Reincarnation.
Further reading
- Shaman class guide: races, new abilities and every build of the class
- The other specs: Elemental Shaman, Enhancement Shaman
- Raid comp planner: put your raid together and see which buffs are still missing
- Shaman talent calculator: plan your own build and share it as a link
