Restoration Shaman Guide — Class Guides · WoW Wrath of the Lich King

Healing with Chain Heal, Healing Wave and healing totems.

A caster and fighter in leather, and later mail, who calls on the elements with shocks and totems. Shamans heal, deal damage with Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning, or fight in melee with weapon enchantments. More about the shaman

Class: Shaman
Roles: Healer
Used for: Raids and dungeons, Player versus player
Top talent: Riptide
Popular builds: 2
Version: WoW Wrath of the Lich King

How to play

Restoration in Wrath adds Riptide (an instant heal with a heal over time), Tidal Waves (faster Healing Wave after Riptide or Chain Heal) and Ancestral Awakening (your crits also heal a nearby hurt player). Earth Shield and Chain Heal remain central.

Keep Earth Shield on a tank, Riptide whenever ready, Chain Heal on the raid's damage, and Healing Wave or Lesser Healing Wave with Tidal Waves on single targets. Mana Tide Totem and Water Shield keep your mana up.

Restoration shamans still bring Heroism and totems to their party.

At a glance

Single-target healing
Group healing
Survivability
Utility for the group
Solo play and leveling
Ease of play

Rated 1 to 5 against the other specs in WoW Wrath of the Lich King.

Rotation and priorities

1Earth Shield on the tank; Water Shield on yourself.
2Riptide whenever it is ready.
3Chain Heal on the raid's damage.
4Healing Wave or Lesser Healing Wave, faster with Tidal Waves, on single targets.
5Mana Tide Totem when your party runs low.
6Nature's Swiftness for emergencies; Heroism when called.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Chain Heal and Riptide: strong raid and tank healing.
Heroism and totems.
Mail armour.

Weaknesses

Chain Heal needs players close together.
Totems only reach your party.
Low solo damage.

Stats and gear

Stat priority

Most valuable first. Bars compare each stat with the best one; a cap in the note means the stat drops off once you reach it.

1
Spell power
2
Haste
3
Intellect
4
Mana per 5 sec
5
Critical strike
6
Stamina

What to look for

Spell power and haste first, then mana per 5 seconds.
Mail healing gear; a healing mace with a shield.
Intellect gems help long fights.

Items worth chasing

Val'anyr, Hammer of Ancient KingsThe legendary healing mace.
Purified Lunar DustA healing trinket with mana regeneration.
Althor's AbacusA healing trinket with a haste proc.

Builds

Each bar splits the build's talent points by tree.

Elemental
Enhancement
Restoration

Restoration Raid Healer
HealerPvE
1358
0/13/58
Raid healing with 58 points in Restoration, down to Riptide, and 13 in Enhancement.
- Ancestral Awakening 3/3
- Earth Shield 1/1
- Improved Earth Shield 2/2
- Tidal Waves 5/5
- Riptide 1/1
Glyphs: Glyph of Chain Heal (major), Glyph of Earth Shield (major), Glyph of Earthliving Weapon (major), Glyph of Water Shield (minor), Glyph of Renewed Life (minor), Glyph of Ghost Wolf (minor)
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting
Restoration Arena Healer
HealerPvP
1952
0/19/52
Arena and battleground healing with 52 points in Restoration, down to Riptide, and 19 in Enhancement.
- Ancestral Awakening 3/3
- Earth Shield 1/1
- Improved Earth Shield 2/2
- Tidal Waves 5/5
- Riptide 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting

Key talents

Riptide · top talent, up to 1
Heals a friendly target for 639 to 691 and another 665 over 15 sec. Your next Chain Heal cast on that primary target within 15 sec will consume the healing over time effect and increase the amount of the Chain Heal by 25%.
Mana Tide Totem · tier 7, up to 1
Summons a Mana Tide Totem with 10% of the caster's health at the feet of the caster for 12 sec that restores 6% of total mana every 3 seconds to group members within 30 yards.
Cleanse Spirit · tier 7, up to 1
Cleanse the spirit of a friendly target, removing 1 poison effect, 1 disease effect, and 1 curse effect.
Blessing of the Eternals · tier 8, up to 2
Increases the critical effect chance of your spells by 4%, and increases the chance to apply the Earthliving heal over time effect on the target by 80% when they are at or under 35% total health.
Improved Chain Heal · tier 8, up to 2
Increases the amount healed by your Chain Heal spell by 20%.
Nature's Blessing · tier 8, up to 3
Increases your healing by an amount equal to 15% of your Intellect.
Ancestral Awakening · tier 9, up to 3
When you critically heal with your Healing Wave, Lesser Healing Wave or Riptide you summon an Ancestral spirit to aid you, instantly healing the lowest percentage health friendly party or raid target within 40 yards for 30% of the amount healed.
Earth Shield · tier 9, up to 1
Protects the target with an earthen shield, reducing casting or channeling time lost when damaged by 30% and causing attacks to heal the shielded target for 150. This effect can only occur once every few seconds. 6 charges. Lasts 10 min. Earth Shield can only be placed on one target at a time and only one Elemental Shield can be active on a target at a time.
Improved Earth Shield · tier 9, up to 2
Increases the amount of charges for your Earth Shield by 2, and increases the healing done by your Earth Shield by 10%.
Tidal Waves · tier 10, up to 5
When you cast Chain Heal or Riptide, you have a 100% chance to lower the cast time of your Healing Wave spell by 30% and increase the critical effect chance of your Lesser Healing Wave spell by 25%, until two such spells have been cast. In addition, your Healing Wave gains an additional 20% of your bonus healing effects and your Lesser Healing Wave gains an additional 10% of your bonus healing effects.

Restoration abilities by level

When each ability arrives: trained abilities at the level a trainer first teaches them, talent abilities (gold frame) at the first level the talent can be taken.