How much has shaman healing changed?

[mcturnip]

Hi, long time lurker here. I was thinking about getting back into playing, and hopefully raiding. I'm a long time shaman healer and I checked out a Blizz trial linked to my account for MoP, but I found that healing felt a bit different from what I remembered. Is it just me? I had quit playing during Cata, so maybe i'm just a bit behind the curve.

[Deleted]

well, it changed to the point that shaman is one of best healers if not best at the moment. Resto stack healing is strong, but right of now, Resto shammy can get into any fight without any problem. Stats prio - well, depends on what you want to raid, 10 or 25? At least in ToT times, on 25 man Mastery was the stat you wanted most, on the other hand in 10 man, strong haste cap - crit after, and keeping yourself above 50% mastery is a must. Compared to Cata, not really much more changed, oh wait Resto has 2 more Cooldowns compared to Cata - that in SoO are esential and makes them strong )

[Jester Joe]

Totems are really the only huge change. Just check them out a bit in game to get the hang of it, they were all for the most part changed to short term CD type totems.

The other post covers the rest pretty well.

[Elios]

well, it changed to the point that shaman is one of best healers if not best at the moment. Resto stack healing is strong, but right of now, Resto shammy can get into any fight without any problem. Stats prio - well, depends on what you want to raid, 10 or 25? At least in ToT times, on 25 man Mastery was the stat you wanted most, on the other hand in 10 man, strong haste cap - crit after, and keeping yourself above 50% mastery is a must. Compared to Cata, not really much more changed, oh wait Resto has 2 more Cooldowns compared to Cata - that in SoO are esential and makes them strong )

You are wrong in every single word you just said O-o.

[Jester Joe]

You are wrong in every single word you just said O-o.

Elaborate? I don't see anything wrong per say, except maybe mastery, but usually from what I've seen 50% is the cutoff, and it's really hard to stay under 60% even personally at least, and if shamans are one of the best healers, which is sort opinion based anyway.

[mcturnip]

Hey, thanks. I was on Mr. Robot checking out stat optimizations and I actually noticed that there was an option for both Mastery and Crit builds. I put my guy in, and while I was close to optimal for both specs, I was surprised at what they had suggested to change for gems. As far as raiding goes, I always preferred 10-mans. However, it's looking pretty difficult to find a team (even 25s) that's not already looking into Heroic SoO this late into the expansion

[Koor]

Hey, thanks. I was on Mr. Robot checking out stat optimizations and I actually noticed that there was an option for both Mastery and Crit builds. I put my guy in, and while I was close to optimal for both specs, I was surprised at what they had suggested to change for gems.

I wouldn't use Mr. Robot with the default stats weights, since they tend to value spirit way too much in my opinion.

As far as raiding goes, I always preferred 10-mans. However, it's looking pretty difficult to find a team (even 25s) that's not already looking into Heroic SoO this late into the expansion

I also prefer 10-mans, I find healing much more fun the less healers there are around. Unfortunately Mythic is going to be 20 man

[Deleted]

well, it changed to the point that shaman is one of best healers if not best at the moment. Resto stack healing is strong, but right of now, Resto shammy can get into any fight without any problem. Stats prio - well, depends on what you want to raid, 10 or 25? At least in ToT times, on 25 man Mastery was the stat you wanted most, on the other hand in 10 man, strong haste cap - crit after, and keeping yourself above 50% mastery is a must. Compared to Cata, not really much more changed, oh wait Resto has 2 more Cooldowns compared to Cata - that in SoO are esential and makes them strong )

The first sentence is true. Other than that, mastery has been the worst stat ever since 2012's launch of MoP. And there is no such thing as 50 % mastery, myth proved to be bs numerous times.

[Jester Joe]

I wouldn't use Mr. Robot with the default stats weights, since they tend to value spirit way too much in my opinion.

Seconded, it told me to regem everything for spirit. I'm already at 13k spirit about usually with the legendary meta, I don't need more spirit, crit does regen nicely for me.

The first sentence is true. Other than that, mastery has been the worst stat ever since 2012's launch of MoP. And there is no such thing as 50 % mastery, myth proved to be bs numerous times.

I dunno, is there even a way to get below 50%? I feel like no matter what I've always ended up stuck above it somehow

[Seriss]

I dunno, is there even a way to get below 50%? I feel like no matter what I've always ended up stuck above it somehow

Yeah, there is. I only get mastery from neck, weapon and the legendary cloak at this point. Still sitting at 49.55% though. If I had a different neck (I have Spoils hc-wf because it drops like candy and that in a 10-man, it's ridiculous, would need Sha hc-wf) and a different weapon (have Shamans hc, would need Garrosh hc), I could get rid of even more of it.

[mcturnip]

Seconded, it told me to regem everything for spirit. I'm already at 13k spirit about usually with the legendary meta, I don't need more spirit, crit does regen nicely for me.

That's exactly what it was telling me to do, but perhaps I could use more. I figured it was better to value +Int than to limit yourself by exclusively gemming spirit. But then I suppose a follow up question would be: "How much spirit is optimal"?

And as for Mastey: It was always a stat that I thought was stupid. I didn't play much into Cata, but I recall it being pretty useless there as well.

[Jester Joe]

Yeah, there is. I only get mastery from neck, weapon and the legendary cloak at this point. Still sitting at 49.55% though. If I had a different neck (I have Spoils hc-wf because it drops like candy and that in a 10-man, it's ridiculous, would need Sha hc-wf) and a different weapon (have Shamans hc, would need Garrosh hc), I could get rid of even more of it.

Gimme your gear then, I've been considering myself lucky to get under 60% lately...

That's exactly what it was telling me to do, but perhaps I could use more. I figured it was better to value +Int than to limit yourself by exclusively gemming spirit. But then I suppose a follow up question would be: "How much spirit is optimal"?

Everyone seems to have their own comfort zone. I run fine with ~13k spirit, but raid buffed I have 35% crit, and when my trinkets proc it goes up to 45% about, so I get mana back from resurgence(?), and I have the legendary meta which gives you 4 seconds or something of free casts. So I guess I would suggest personally trying 13k and see how it feels if you can reach that point easily.

[Socialhealer]

well, it changed to the point that shaman is one of best healers if not best at the moment. Resto stack healing is strong, but right of now, Resto shammy can get into any fight without any problem. Stats prio - well, depends on what you want to raid, 10 or 25? At least in ToT times, on 25 man Mastery was the stat you wanted most, on the other hand in 10 man, strong haste cap - crit after, and keeping yourself above 50% mastery is a must. Compared to Cata, not really much more changed, oh wait Resto has 2 more Cooldowns compared to Cata - that in SoO are esential and makes them strong )

this guy just dumped a massive 100 ton of bullshit all over this thread.

saying anything other than disc priest is king makes you clueless at this game, not opinions just facts.

[Jester Joe]

this guy just dumped a massive 100 ton of bullshit all over this thread.

saying anything other than disc priest is king makes you clueless at this game, not opinions just facts.

Disc priest is terrible at healing a raid up, they just prevent damage, so no, they're not wrong. A disc priest cannot solo heal fights(well, maybe if overgeared for the fight, I'm talking about progression wise though), so a shaman can still be ONE of the best healers.

[Deleted]

I think you haven't played with a good disc priest.

[Deleted]

Even a good disc priest will have a lot harder time solo healing heroic content. Not saying its not possible but there are a lot of other heal specs that can do it much better.

[Adirah]

Honestly I didn't like the way Resto Shamans got changed in MoP. Not only the way the talents and glyphs changed, but the whole totem setup was a big change. Kinda took away the core of being shaman for me. Now we use totems as a periodic buff with a cd. It took me some time to adjust to this new style of healing and I almost just quit healing on my shaman. I also feel that shamans are now the weakest of all the healing classes with palas and disc priests being way overpowered...

[Eliot123]

Tbh other than the slight change to totems themselves (realistically, it wasn't such a big change) and a few new cooldowns, I don't think restoration shaman healing mechanics have been much modified since... the beginning of WotLK? Other not having to refresh Water Shield. :P