Hey, I have been healing as a shaman ever since tbc came out, and i have experienced ups and downs in my role of healing, and i felt like it was time to give some tips to new comer shaman healers. Below you fill find Gear links, Tactics, Specs and much more help. This guide will basicly get you prepared to start naxx seen as no proper threads have been made by blizzard yet :)

It all begins somewhere

So you have decided to become a resto shammy!? Has a nice ring to it hey? ;) Wheter it is to help out your guild or to explore a new side to the game it does not matter, but as a healer there are some basic concepts you need to grasp. For instance you may not be fully aware of what you need to do. It is pretty obvious and all that you keep the raid/party alive but nothing in life is that simple. Just begin by reading these basic things just so you get to grasp what you are about to embark upon.

1) Healing is a part of the game, if you dont enjoy it then maybe it is not for you:)
2) Dont expect to jump right up there into the big league, just start off slowly and work your way up.
3) Everyone has their bad days, learn from your mistakes and do not give up!
4) PuGs tend to blame the healers when it is not always your fualt, I have been there. Just ignore them and carry on.
5) You are entitled to a mana break once in a while, dont let them pull when your not ready.

etc. etc. I'll add any points on if people think there are some major points i shud add to the intro.


Building the spec

Oki, you have just clicked the button to re spec and waved goodbye to your money. You click your talent tree and then you realise.. omg what do i do with all these numbers!? Well there are some basic healing specs you can use, and it helps to maybe test a few and see which you like the most. This is a list of all the specs me and my friends have had and used and we find proves most effective in each area. Ofc smoe specs are not suited for some people.


http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=hZ0xxIZxcxuAeoxkbhRt
This is the basic but effective combo. It proves most effective on group healing and it will allow you to heal your max, it will also allow you some nice moves to play around with during and instance.

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=hVcZ0xTZxchu0esEzbhRt
This spec is built for pvp, but can be compatible to do a bit of easy pve content. It is most popular for surviability in arena, and you have a few talent points to help you dish out the damage to kill the other faction!

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=hZ0xxIZxsezVxoxkrIRt
This spec is your one way ticket to raid healing. If you are just starting to raid this gives great chain heal spamming combos and with the right gear your mana will be pretty hard to be killed.

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=hZ0xghoZxsxuVeoxkrhRt
This is my spec and it suits what i do. I do casual raiding, i farm Heroics and on special occasions i like to anoy some of you horde in Battle grounds ;)

So pick one of these and feel free to change and adapt it in a way to suit your game playing, after all, you should be playing for fun.

Glyphs

Glyphs are basic scrolls to give you a permanent buff, but you can only have 3 so choose them wisely. But below is a list of all Major and Minor Glyphs avadible to the shammy family. Inscirption has proved popular so you can ask in /2 for someone to make them or look on AH where they should be at an average price ( btw these are just ones that will benefit resto shamans )

MAJOR GLYPHS

Glyph of Healing - Level15
Your Healing Wave also heals you for 20% of the healing effect when you heal someone else.

Glyph of Healing Stream Totem - Level20
Your Healing Stream Totem heals for an additional 20%.

Glyph of Lesser Healing Wave - Level20
Your Lesser Healing Wave heals for 20% more if the target is also affected by your Earth Shield.

Glyph of Water Mastery - Level20
Increases the passive mana regeneration of your Water Shield spell by 30%

Glyph of Earthliving Weapon - Level30
Increases the chance for your Earthliving Weapon to trigger by 5%.

Glyph of Chain Heal - Level40
Your Chain Heal heals 1 additional target.

Glyph of Mana Tide Totem - Level40
Your Mana Tide Totem grants an additional 1% of each target's maximum mana each time it pulses.

MINOR GLYPHS

Glyph of Water shield - Level20
Increases the number of charges on your Water Shield spell by 1.

Glyph of Renewed life - Level30
All stats increased by 5% for 1 min when you Reincarnate.

Glyph of Ghost wolf - Level20
Your Ghost Wolf form regenerates an additional 1% of your maximum health every 5 sec.


Phew, bet your glad we got the glyphs out of the way!? :D
Know our glyphs or sorted, are talents are set, and we know what we are doing.. ready to get going?
Well not quiet yet, we need to get some gear sorted out first. The below are listed with a link and where they are got from. The link will provide further deatil on the item ( Good old wowhead ) This is just a list of BASIC gear you will need to collect to be able to provide good healing in starter WotlK raiding / heroic content.

If you really really really really dont want to go through all the links and your guna be a lazy healer then here is just some basic sets you can look at / gear that you can grind

Gearing for Heroics? Just craft stormhide set
Gearing for Raiding? Just go through heroics, collect rep and buy badge rewards
( You really are lazy :P )

ARMOR


Head

Volkhan's Hood - Source: Halls of Lightning normal
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=36985

Helm of the Majestic Stag - Source: Kirin Tor Honored
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44170

Helm of the Lightning Halls - Source: Halls of Lightning Heroic
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37857

Battle Mender's Helm - Source: Argent Crusade Revered
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44248

Battlemap Hide Helm - Source: Heroic Utgarde keep
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37180#comments




Neck

Amulet of Dazzling Light - Source : The Nexus Heroic
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37141

Amulet of the Spell Flinger - Source: Old Kingdom Heroic
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43285



Shoulders

Epaulets of Market Row - Source : Normal Strat
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37116

Mantle of Discarded Ways - Source: Utgarde Pinicle Heroic
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37398


Back

Wispcloak - Source: Tailoring Crafted
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41609

Ancient Dragon Spirit Cape - Source: The Oculus normal
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37291


Chest

Revenant's Breastplate - Source: Leathworking Crafted
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43461

Dalronn's Jerkin - Source: Utgarde Heroic
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37184


Feet

Revenant's Treads - Source: Leatherworking Crafted
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43469

Sabatons of the Ages- Source: Halls of Stone Heroic
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37654

Boots of Twinkling Stars - Source: Kirin Tor Exalted
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44182


Hands

Fiery Obelisk Handguards - Source: Heroic Old Kingdom
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37623

Grips of Fierce Pronouncements - Source: The Wyrmrest accord Exalted
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44204

Lightning- Charged Gloves - Source: Halls of Stone Heroic
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=38615

Cracked Epoch Grasps - Source: Heroic strat
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37686


Legs

Giantmaim Legguards - Source: Leatherwork Crafted
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43458

Kilt of Dark Mercy - Source: Knights of Ebon blade Exalted
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44305

Frozen Forest Kilt - Source: The Nexus Heroic
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37155

Kilt of Molten Golems - Source: Normal Hall of Lightning
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=36986


Waist

Mail Gridle of the Audient - Source: Halls of Lightning Heroic
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=36986

Slad'ran's Coilder Cord - Source Heroic Gundrak
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37628

Stormhigh belt - Source: Leatherworking Crafted
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43450


Wrist

Limb Regeneration Bracers - Source: Heroic Drak'Tharon Keep
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37788

Bands of Channeled Energy - Source: Heroic Nexus
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37138

Bands of the Sky ring - Source: Heroic Oculus
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37365

Stormhide Wristguards - Source: Leatherworking Crafted
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43452


Rings

Annhylde's Ring - Source: Utgarde Keep Heroic
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37192

Signet of Hopeful Light - Source: Argent Crusade Exalted
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44283

Band of Enchanted Growth - Source: Heroic oculus
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37195

Solitaire of Reflecting beams - Source: The Violet Hold heroic
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43408

Signet of Ranulf - Source: Utgarde Pinicle
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37058


Trinket

Spark of Life - Source: Halls of Stone Heroic
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37657

Winged Talisman - Source: Halls of Lightning Heroic
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37844

Soul presever - Srouce: Heroic strat
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37111

Cannoneer's Morale - Source: Quest
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44015


Weapons

War Mace of Unrequited Love - Source: The Nexus Heroic
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37169

Gravel of the Fleshcrafter - Source: Heroic start
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37681

Screw-Sprung Fixer-Upper - Source: Quest
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41822


Shield

Facade Sheild of Glyphs - Source: Heroic Azjol-Nerub
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=372

Totem

Totem of the Bay - Source: Quest
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=38368

________________________________________________________

Phew, a lot of work to get done hey? Well dont worry. It is not as much work as it may seem. Most gear you will pick up will come from the same instances, and you will grind badges, rep and money during instances / heroics so even if you dont get gear you are still beomcing one step closer to being the greatest healer ever known to Blizzard!

________________________________________________________

What is next you may ask? Well... we are nearly ready to go get some shiny epic loots, but now we need to do the expensive part.. enchanting!

Enchanting

Enchanting is one of Wows wants, you do not need it. But if you want to be good you will. So here are the enchants you want to get on your items. ( If you have any proffesion enchants use them over these of course )

Head - Anything that involves +spell power and mp5
Chest- +8 all stats
Wrist- As much + Spell damage as you can afford
Legs- Depending on how rich you are - buy +spell power and stamina
Feet- Greater Vitality
Back- Simple Haste will allow you to cast faster.
Shoulders- Any Mp5 and spell damage enchants from rep vendors will do
Shield- +Intelect
Wepon- +Spell power

_____________________________________________________________________

Now you have your gear you may have some gem slots waiting to be filled, well not everyone is loaded with cash so it is best to keep it simple if you aint. Some gems you might want to have are..

Dazziling Forest Emerald - +8 Int and +3 mp5 ( Fits Blue & Yellow )
This will be your main one as it gives a small amount of +healing and gives some mp5

Runed Scarlet Ruby - +19 Spell power ( Fits red )
Fit red sockets with +spell power to help you get more healing

Lustrous Sky Sapphire - +6 mp5 ( Fits blue )
Fit Blue sockets with mp5 to increase you mana regan during fights

Quick Autumn's Glow - +16 haste ( Fits yellow )
Yellow is best equpied with haster, although you can get a bit of +int if you want to


OMG! yes yes! You are finaly geared, enchanted (Bought gems) and glyphed up. It is time to show your realm what you are made of! So, if you are new to resto shammys these next few sentences may be something you want to remeber ;)

Oki, your guna start off in an instance / heroic and the tank it about to pull... what do you do?
You chuck earth shield on and get your totems down asap! You dont want to look like a fool and your totems will help the slakcer dps to kill faster, therefore the tank takes less damage.

In an instance realted scenario you want to keep you tank topped off and ready to go, so make sure there is always a riptide tick on the tank but DONT refresh it as soon as it comes of CD it is a waste of mana, only refresh it when the tick has faded from the tank.

Your basic totem set up is going to be Str totem ( For tanks parrys and dps damage ) Falmetounge totem ( Casters +damage and your +healing ) Health steam ( This will allow a bit of breathing space while the tick outheals most simple aoe abilitys mobs use ) annnnd Grouding totem ( Spells can be damn anoying when they hit your tank for a lot, so these will easily absorb them so you have time to target the mob and do /lol )

Once you start healing you will get the grasp of it, you have a brain, SO USE IT!
_________________________________________________________

Well, this is about all i can pass onto you. and i hope you use my advice well.
If there is anything you would like me to add or go into more detial about please dont hesitate to ask. I will post another after this where i will answer any question if needed. Thanks and Good luck!:)

<ReSeRvEd>

add this to list of pre raid gear

Battlemap Hide Helm
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37180#comments


better than the ones u listed

It is okay, but capping crit is not as essintial as capping your mp5 and healing:)

Overal decent, some comments of my own:
Enchants
Crit+Spellpower enchant on shoulders can suit you just as well as Spellpower+mp5.
Greater vitality is decent, but on some fights there's a lot of moving around. Tuskarr's vitality (15 stamina and minor speed increase) is a good enchant as well.
You can enchant Haste on your cloak. There's a cheap version that adds 15 Haste rating and only costs 6 Infinite Dust. Really cheap and it helps.
You can enchant your chest with mp5 as well if you're hurting on mana regeneration (I know stats gives passive mp5 with replenishment, a tad of spellpower, etc)
Just a few enchants that also have use for a Restoration Shaman.

On glyphs:
The Chain Heal and Water Shield major glyphs are mandatory for any Restoration Shaman.
The third glyph is a glyph of your choice. I personally use the LHW as I only do 10mans and often have to heal the tank. The minor Water Shield glyph is also great and 1 of the better Restoration glyphs.

On builds:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=hZ0xxIZxcxuAeoxkbhRt
No improved CH, no Improved Water Shield?
Chain heal is our best healing spell, I use it nearly évery fight.

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=hZ0xghoZxsxuVeoxkrhRt
Best alround build? I personally disagree. I'd use: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=hZ0xxIZxcfuVeoxkruRt . You can take points out of Healing Focus and max Ancestral Awakening if you want. I haven't encountered many fights where the anti-pushback was noticed...
Excellent single target (especially with the LHW glyph) and raidhealing potential. Tidal Focus is a sad talent, I only ever put 2 points in it, just to get to the next talents.

Totems:

---

Q u o t e:
Your basic totem set up is going to be Str totem ( For tanks parrys and dps damage ) Falmetounge totem ( Casters +damage and your +healing ) Health steam ( This will allow a bit of breathing space while the tick outheals most simple aoe abilitys mobs use ) annnnd Grouding totem ( Spells can be damn anoying when they hit your tank for a lot, so these will easily absorb them so you have time to target the mob and do /lol )

---

My basic totems are (in 10man raids):
Strength of Earth (melee boost, and extra dodge (not parry) for the tank)
Wrath of Air (5% haste for all casters, faster heals=nice)
Flametongue (Spellpower for myself and the other raidmembers)
Mana Spring Totem (It's a passive 106mp5, and benefits other mana users as well. You have Chain Heal to counter raid damage).

On fights that require a specific totem, I use that 1 ofcourse (Earthbind on Gluth, ...)

You should also give a bit of gem advice, if you cover enchants/glyphs/armour. Perhaps some useful macros?

My 2 cents ofcourse :-)

I've spoken with my 80 friend (he's doing alot of raids and is experienced)
and we figured out the best raid healing shaman talent tree (in our opinion).
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=hZ0xxIZxsezVxoxkrIRt

--- By the way, my healing tactic is always Earth Shield on tank, Chain Heal all the time,
2xLesser Healing Wave if the tank gets low on HP (you'll benefit from Tidal Waves),
and I'm only 75, but the LHW is 1 sec cast (with Tidal Waves) and crits for about 5k.
Nice tactic for steady healing and emergency healing.

---

Q u o t e:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=hZ0xghoZxsxuVeoxkrhRt
Best alround build? I personally disagree. I'd use: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=hZ0xxIZxcfuVeoxkruRt . You can take points out of Healing Focus and max Ancestral Awakening if you want. I haven't encountered many fights where the anti-pushback was noticed...

---

I should of mentioned that all around includes pvp, where pushback is a mjor key. But i understand whre you are coming from.

---

Q u o t e:

My basic totems are (in 10man raids):
Strength of Earth (melee boost, and extra dodge (not parry) for the tank)
Wrath of Air (5% haste for all casters, faster heals=nice)
Flametongue (Spellpower for myself and the other raidmembers)
Mana Spring Totem (It's a passive 106mp5, and benefits other mana users as well. You have Chain Heal to counter raid damage).

---

The idea of this was to help people to get up to scrath in raiding :) so this would be good to tell them what they need to do once they are ready.

Thanks for your feedback, post edited to add some of your info in ;)


Edit to say: If nobody else added there opinion then it would not be a very good guide, because some people play in different ways, so thansk for all the feedback so far

This is great thanks!!!

I disagree with your spec for raiding, but the rest is very nice :-)

nice , for pre-raiding gear , nice advices

< comments will follow >

< if you ( OP ) are around , maybe we can make this worth a sticky ;) >

that guide was been maybe not so bad in that time when he wrote it.. but builds are now out of date, because talent trees was been changed.. than don't click on that talent builds... or stop bump it.. or update it...

and i disagree that chainheal is nice spell
disagree that capping mp5 is better than crit
and disagree that CH glyp is good choice..

that opinions was been from someone stucked in BC .. when "chain heal bot" shaman was been "in"

---

Q u o t e:
It is okay, but capping crit is not as essintial as capping your mp5 and healing:)

---

Well since we are now tank healers and are therefore using LHW alot then crit is one of our most important stats given that we get mana back from critting with LHW.

Spellpower>crit>mp5<haste

gem for intellect not mp5. Intellect gives crit and will increase your manapool and as mana tide and replenishment both work off your manapool its more useful than plain old MP5.

I still have some MP5 gems that I havent changed but thats just me being lazy. Intellect>MP5

---

Q u o t e:


Well since we are now tank healers and are therefore using LHW alot then crit is one of our most important stats given that we get mana back from critting with LHW.

Spellpower>crit>mp5<haste

gem for intellect not mp5. Intellect gives crit and will increase your manapool and as mana tide and replenishment both work off your manapool its more useful than plain old MP5.

I still have some MP5 gems that I havent changed but thats just me being lazy. Intellect>MP5

---

This.. LHW/riptide is healing style now.. not CH - basically CH will consist of lower than 10% of your overall healing..

See as i dont use the tier gear i focus on the Mp5 gear so im currently using http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#hZ0xxIZxdezIxoxkrIRt because with my Mp5 being so high i dont need the reduce mana of totems because i can get that mana back easyily

Totems:
Strength of earth
Flame tongue
Mana spring
Wrath of air

but if there is a enahncement shammy in my group i will just put down
Stone skin
Mana spring
Wrath of air
because enhancing totems talent spec increase flame tongue so they will have a better flmae tongue then you as well as a better strength of earth

Boots of the Twinking Star (feet) has Agility and AP on it, you might want to remove that one :p