Heal Rotation & Cooldowns (5.3)
Maintaining a proper Rotation and using the right Cooldowns is essential to maximizing your Restoration Shaman. Use this guide to optimize your single target and AoE rotations while learning how to get the most out of your cooldowns.
Single Target Rotation
Buffs: Maintain these buffs at all times.
Healing Priority: Use this spell priority for single target healing.
- Earth Shield Maintain on the target taking the most damage.
- Riptide Maintain on as many targets as possible. Provides Tidal Waves.
- Healing Wave Use to heal low to moderate damage.
- Greater Healing Wave Use to heal moderate to high damage.
- Unleash Elements Combine with Greater Healing Wave for a very large, efficient heal.
- Healing Surge Emergency heal to save players facing death.
Restoration Shaman single target healing follows the priority above. Maintain Earth Shield on the target taking the most damage and use Riptide or Healing Wave as much as possible. Work your way down the priority list based on the amount of damage received by your target. Unleash Elements provides Unleash Life which is best paired with Greater Healing Wave for a more Mana efficient large heal. Consume Tidal Waves charges with Healing Wave or Greater Healing Wave based on the amount of healing required.
What are the best totems?: The most relevant totems to Restoration Shamans are all used as healing cooldowns and are discussed in the cooldown section of the this guide. However, you should keep Searing Totem up at all times for a slight DPS gain.
Telluric Currents: If you have Glyph of Telluric Currents, then you should try to cast Lightning Bolt when possible for some extra Mana.
AoE Rotation
- Riptide Maintain on as many targets as possible. Provides Tidal Waves.
- Chain Heal Use to heal moderate to high damage. Provides Tidal Waves.
- Healing Rain Use to heal heavy raid damage.
Chain Heal should be used when a nearby group of ~3 players need healing. Try to cast Chain Heal on targets with Riptide or Earth Shield for additional healing. It is often most effective to cast Chain Heal on the tank to heal the melee or any one else around.
Healing Rain should ideally be used when it is going to affect at least 5-6 people. For this reason, it may be more beneficial in a 25M raid as opposed to a 10M raid setting.
Effective Cooldowns
These effective cooldowns are available if you chose them in your talent build.
- Ancestral Swiftness Combine with Greater Healing Wave for a large emergency heal.
- Healing Tide Totem Use for emergency group healing.
- Unleashed Fury Best used with Greater Healing Wave or Riptide.
These are effective cooldowns to try and incorporate into most all encounters.
- Ascendance Use for emergency raid healing with Healing Rain and Chain Heal.
- Bloodlust Epic group cooldown. Use as directed by your party/raid leader.
- Earth Elemental Totem Emergency cooldown to try and save yourself or group members.
- Healing Stream Totem Use on cooldown for passive smart healing.
- Mana Tide Totem Use for raid/party wide Mana regeneration.
- Spirit Link Totem Use for emergency group healing.
- Spiritwalkers Grace Use during periods of high movement to maintain healing.
- Stormlash Totem Use as directed by your party/raid leader. Stack with Bloodlust.