Resto Shaman Talents & Specs
Welcome to the Resto Shaman Talents & Specs page! There are no longer “cookie cutter” or straight forward talent builds, meaning each character can be individual and players are more free to choose. However, this also means it can be harder for those just starting out as a Resto Shaman with less guidelines provided.
So we’re going to help you out by providing you with a starting point with regards to choosing talents. You’re free to choose others straight away or you can wait until you’re more comfortable with the Resto Shaman class, and then re-jig your setup, but we’ll provide you with an “almost” fool-proof setup to get you started healing successfully.
First thing to do is to of course, choose your specialization and because we want to focus on healing, your specialization will be Restoration. Choosing Restoration as your specialization will immediately give you access to all the restoration spells and passive abilities that your level allows to improve your ability to heal. To learn about the spells you will receive when choosing your specialization at maximum level, you can see all spells on the Resto Shaman Spells page and get a grasp for what each does.
In terms of talents, here’s the setup we recommend choosing, what tier they appear in, what level you can gain it, what the talent does and the suggested key bind (if applicable) for that spell. Hover over the spell name to get the detailed tool tip of that spell.
Not a bad option for a first-timer, due to it’s passive effect and can be quite helpful while learning encounters. If this does proc, you will retain the health percentage when the effect expires.
A tough Totem to execute properly and relies on not using other totems in the same category (Earth). Basically gives you multiple 10 second absorbing shields for 30 seconds.
Another decent option for your own survival. Better for times where damage is heavy and constant and you know exactly when it’s coming. Though this talent is on a 2 minute cooldown and needs precise timing.
Not a bad talent, though due to it being a single target crowd control rather than multi-target, we recommend other talents in this tier.
A great multi-target AoE Crowd Control totem that grabs and slows enemies around the area it is dropped. Great for when you’re being attacked, giving the tank a chance to pick mobs up.
This can also be a very useful talent, as it provides a benefit to all raid members. Can be great should your raid’s movement be hindered. If no movement hinderance, best to choose another talent in this tier.
A good talent allowing you to reset the cool downs on totems, meaning you can use them again.
Allows you to summon another totem from the same category such as water or earth. We find the other talents more user friendly.
A good talent should you find your moving around a lot and out of range of your totems, however due to the fact most PvE encounters happen within a 40 yd radius and most totems have this range, we suggest choosing another talent.
A straight-up increase to your haste (casting speed and HoT ticks) speed, allowing you to cast more in a shorter time. But remember, the faster the spells, the more spells cast and the more mana used.
Not only gives you a instant-cast heal, such as Healing Rain, but also provides a constant passive (always on) 5% increase to your haste which is almost always beneficial.
With this talent, using any spell gives you a chance to get a cool down free Riptide, Unleash Life, or Purify Spirit. Do not use Glyph of Riptide with this talent.
A good talent for non-stacked AoE damage encounters. Otherwise Conductivity is the way to go.
Probably the weakest of the 3. Requires successful damage or healing casts to be effective.
A strong talent but it requires Healing Rain to have been cast on the ground. A viable talent to choose if you find yourself constantly casting Healing Rain and then single target healing. Great during stacked heavy damage phases.
As a passive increase to Unleash Life, it’s a set and forget as it’s built into normal spell use. Great for single target & tank healing.
Quite a fun talent that provides you with a pet that aides you when using Fire or Earth Elemental totems, providing you the buffs Empower or Reinforce respectively.
A long cast time and a long cool down, but the boost to your spirit stat by 1000 for 8 seconds every 12 seconds can be great if you’re struggling for mana. Must use on an enemy.
When timed precisely, can be a decent heal for the entire raid in a 40 yard range. 30 Second cool down is good. Not as controlable as High Tide.
Not super great. Likely to attack a target with only melee in range of the 15 yard heals the damage causes. Not great for raid-wide heals.
Our favorite spell and also the strongest for most occasions, Ensure you’ve got 2 Riptide HoTs up when you can. Use with Glyph of Riptide or Echo of the Elements (but not both).
Again, we wish to stress that all talents are viable for a healer, depending on your play style, but these are what we recommend for those starting out as they are the simplest.
Now that you’ve got a basic idea of the spells and talents available to a Resto Shaman, now head to the Resto Shaman Glyphs page.
