So, based on my own recent adventures through parts previously unknown, here’s some healing challenges to keep you busy as we bide time before the end of the world (which, by all accounts, is going to be simply amazing):

1. Old Instances

Stop by some of the places you haven’t been in ages, before the entire landscape changes and you’re left wondering why desert bugs make sense in a lush tropical setting (*ahem* Tanaris designers …) or why Magtheridon holed himself up in Hellfire.

• Zul’Gurub – Farming a mount is fun, but the real challenge is to head in there with a friend and pull Hakkar while all of the bosses are alive. Who knew wiping in a Level 60 instance could be so hilarious, especially when it involves a Resto Shaman meleeing down an Spriest? Also, with ZG closing its doors come Cata, now is as good a time as any to get to know this sprawling instance (and it’s many, many different types of Bijous.)
• Molten Core – Okay, I’d be hard-pressed to see anything in MC as a challenge these days, but healing a cloth tank can still provide some heart-stopping moments. (Note: Cloth gear + Mortal Strike + lots of mobs = Oh my.) No points for bringing a plate wearer with you, cause that’s just cheating.
• Sunwell – Although it’s a little hard these days to re-create Resto Shamans’ heyday, heading into a Sunwell run can be a pleasant reminder of the simpler days when the solution to everything was Chain Heal. Tank damage? Chain Heal. Inside portals? Chain Heal. Someone not moving while marked? Scream in terr. … erm, *Chain Heal.
• Check off some of those BC heroics – I’d highly recommend bringing a buddy, since some mechanics aren’t very solo-friendly, but for the real adventurer, solo can be an enticing challenge. Extra points for chain pulling half the instance and hearing your buddy say “uh oh … maybe I pulled too much” as the horde of mobs barrels down on you. But mostly, it’s fun to trounce those bosses who used to make you grind your teeth. (I seriously hate you Quagmirran, diaf.)
• And you can bet that you’ll get special love from your current guild (or maybe a new one you pick up in Cata) if you start farming now for the items to make those oh-so-precious legendaries of old. While it was thought that the Dark Phoenix was going to be the reward for this illustrious achievement, it seems Blizzard isn’t tipping their hat just yet on this one … But I’m betting it’s something pretty special.

2. WotLK Instances

Venture into some more current content and test your (and the tanks’) limits by stepping up the healing challenges (extra points if you scare the group to the point where they threaten to leave):

• Heal as DPS, or conversely, DPS as a healer. I do this all the time in low level dungeons, where the combination of Flame Shock, Earth Shock and Fire Nova can generally assure my dps that rivals most noobs out there.
• Zero Overheal – A challenge pioneered by a former Holy Pally guildie in BC, who managed to do a complete Kara run with ~5k total overhealing, and which I absolutely stink at doing. I’ve been trying for months to head into heroics and do as close to 0 overhealing as possible, but I think I’m ready to concede—I’m not that pro nor that composed. But if you love the micro game, and want to prep for the rumored raid healing of Cataclysm, I can think of no better way to pratice.
• Be a Missionary. The ToC25 run that’s forming and requires only 5k GS? Send that raid leader a tell and the promise that you can do the job of 3 healers. Then, challenge yourself to not be an ass while healing like you’ve never healed before. I
• Get your alts into Ulduar and get them some 310 mounts. The buzz is that once Cata goes live, having a 310 mount will “unlock” that speed for all your mounts and save you a 5k investment. Not too shabby a savings for a couple hours’ work (although I’m sure Gevlon might have a different cost-benefit perspective!)

3. Newbie healing

Sometimes it takes going back to the beginning to remind you of how far you’ve come, and even grizzled altaholics can appreciate the view from behind a different set of action bars.

• Level a new shaman and enjoy having Healing Wave and only Healing Wave until level 20. Yeah, it stinks but you’ll be able to brag about it when Cata launches and all those baby Shaman get ES.
• Venture into those twink battlegrounds sub-19 and sub-29 and try to heal some n00bs in greys.
• Walk around in spirit BoA gear and get a million whispers from random group members advising you that Spirit does absolutely nil for a Resto Shaman. After the first 25, seriously consider buying the mail set so that you don’t have to keep telling people that you’re just ahead of the Cataclysm leveling curve.

4. DPS

If you’re a raider of almost any level, chances are you have an entire xpac worth of gear sitting in your bags and/or bank on the offchance that you need to *gasp* do something other than heal. With gem prices falling and badges flowing freely, there’s no hindrance to giving that offspec a try. So socket and enchant your stuff and then shake off some of the rust that comes from having been a healer for far too long. Hey, you even have my permission to stand in fire.

5. PVP

The area that Vix does not enter into unless otherwise compelled by boredom or a string of very bad I-hate-cheesy-SC2-strat losses. (Plenty of those this weekend, ugh.) That being said, I still get an occasional thrill jumping into a couple PVP environments from time to time:

• Arena Help-my-Nublet – If I actually did break out of my PVE comfort zone and seriously got into PVP, this would definitely be the solicitation I’d send out to my guildmates. Unfortunately, I’ve not yet amassed enough courage to have my butt handed to me on a silver platter, so my friends list remains nicely plump with people who simply don’t know what terror awaits them in a 2v2 queue with me.
• Arena Boost-a-Nublet – If you are one of the many Resto Shaman out there who are enjoying the ego boost that comes with being above a 2600 rating, sharing the wealth might be just the ticket to filling all those hours until Cataclysm. Yes, your Nublet partner(s) will probably do everything they possibly can to make things hard on you, but think of the joy you’ll have when they realize that LoS can be a bad thing and that letting the rogue beat on you probably isn’t winning them any games. Oh the joys of being a teacher …
• Secret Pocket Healing – by far and away, this has to be the most fun I’ve ever had in Bg’s—secreting myself away in some cubby, snickering my arse off while a team of the opposite faction try to smoosh an OP plate-wearer. I imagine them frustrated and screaming “Why won’t he die?! ARGH!” all while I ES/RT/HW away. If there was a way to make a rogue-shaman hybrid, I’d reroll in a second.

Thank you, Bob

As much as players love to sing the blues about WoW in the summertime, there’s something to be said for downtime and the freedom it gives you (both inside and outside of the game). As much as I love to raid (and thus, as much as I hate doing anything other than raiding) it’s good to be able to take a step back from it all to appreciate some of the things I’d otherwise never see. Whether it’s rolling an alt of the opposite faction (cause hey, their environments will be changing right along with yours), switching your PVE/PVP game up a bit, going back through instances you never raided, trying your hand at dps/healing/tanking, or simply roaming about the continents, there’s still a vast number of experiences to be had out there.

A friend and I have an ongoing joke that we trade back and forth when we happen upon something easily dismissed and yet equally notable in game–we attribute it to “Bob the Intern”. Bob the Intern is responsible for horrid questlines that lead you all over the world (Shaman you know Bob, he designed the Call of Water quests), bad drop rates, awkward models (knives that look like sticks or helms that look like helmets), but he’s also responsible for the little things in game that just pop out and surprise you as really well done. Vortex effects in Netherstrom, dancing fireflies in Ferelas, and secret mountain ledges that don’t look climbable but actually are–Bob’s done them all. So for me, the downtime at the end of an instance, the lull before xpac release, is a time to take a step back and appreciate all of Bob’s hard work. Because if I don’t, who will?

(For those of you just getting into the Raiding Scene (ToC/ICC), I’d suggest checking out the Raider’s Answer Bag for more advanced discussion of stats and gearing.)

1. Heroics ‘till you’re blue!

Triumph badges are incredibly easy to come by, especially as a healer, and thankfully they can be the source of a whole host of upgrades for your recently-dinged shaman. A few hours (maybe a weekend) in the LFD queue can net you a whole host of badges and possibly some heroic-level upgrades to fill in the gaps:

• T9 Resto Chest (50 badges) / T9 Resto Gloves (30 badges) – While not necessary, 2pc t9 provides a great healing boost in 5- and 10-mans, and the stats on the chest and gloves will help round out your starter set.
• T9 Elemental Shoulders (30 badges) – with haste, crit, and spellpower, you can’t go wrong with these offspec shoulders.
• T9 Elemental Helm (50 badges) – another great Elemental item which you can use to supplement your Resto set, this is also a great alternative if Helm of Spirit Shock refuses to drop in H-FoS.
• Talisman of Resurgence (50 badges) – an amazing trinket for the cost, it should last you until you can pick up Sliver of Pure Ice or Purified Lunar Dust
• Heartmender Circle (35 badges) – yes, it has crit, but for starting shamans the Int, Spellpower and Mp5 are what make this ring worth picking up
• Band of the Invoker (35 badges) – although not ideal, because of the spirit, the stats on this ring make it worth picking up if you’re lacking good alternatives
• Totem of the Calming Tides (25 badges) – I use this totem to this day, because for a raid-healing shaman, there really is no substitute. The caveat to this is, if you’re just starting out, you’d be better served picking up the PVP totem, since 5-mans rarely call for CH.
• Leggings of the Weary Mystic (39 Emblems of Conquest) – Although they’re a downgrade from the t9 gear, I’d strongly suggest picking up these leggings because of the haste, solid mp5, and double sockets.

2. PVP

No doubt, the second easiest way to fill up your toon’s offset pieces is through BGs and the Wintergrasp battles. Despite the fact that the PVP items are laced with resilience and only offer one supplemental stat, they are definitely viable stand-ins. However, it’s important to consider PVP pieces carefully, because although they have a higher ilvl, you’re losing out on longevity stats like mp5 and Int, to the point where oftentimes a 245 item will be better to use than a ilvl264 PVP piece. So, two PVP pieces is about the max I’d recommend for any PVE gearset.

• Wrathful Gladiator’s Band of Dominance (52.2k honor) – although I’d advocate taking the Heartmender’s Circle over this ring with more crit and spellpower, if you have the honor to spare, it isn’t a bad pick-up.
• Wrathful Gladiator’s Cloak of Subjugation (52.2k honor) – With spellpower and haste, this is a very tasty item for starting restos. And while you will likely want to pick up a cloak later with a greater amount of Int and possibly mp5, this will provide a good stand-in in the meantime.
• Wrathful Gladiator’s Pendant of Subjugation (52.2k honor)
• Furious Gladiator’s Totem of the Third Wind (12k honor) – With the large majority of healing that I do in 5′s and 10′s being LHW (especially when I tank heal our ICC Heroic runs with a priest or druid), this totem can be a shaman’s best friend and a greater starter piece.

3. Craftables

If you have money to spare, or some alts with crafting professions and mats lying around, crafting some solid supplemental pieces can make your gearing a lot easier and should last you well into ICC. Below are some of the pieces I’d pick up to help my resto along, ranked in terms of longevity:

• Bejeweled Wizard’s Bracers – I wore these until I got Bloodsunder’s Bracers, so in terms of bang for your buck, these are worth the investment. And, because they use Crusader’s Orbs, they shouldn’t be that costly.
• Earthsoul Boots – Although these boots can still set you back 3-6k, the only piece which will replace them are the Heroic Plague Scientist’s Boots off of Festergut 25 Heroic (which I just picked up last night, after 6 months of farming hard modes).
• Leggings of Woven Death – A high-ticket item, I’d only encourage you to spend the G on these if you have tons of money to spare. Otherwise, you can pick up far less expensive options elsewhere.
• Merlin’s Robe – I would strongly recommend picking up the T9 chest over these easily-crafted robes, but because of their good stats and accessibility, I couldn’t leave them off the list. But only buy these if the thought of farming another Heroic makes you violently ill.

4. BOEs

Prices on BDF have been dropping steadily over the past several months on most BOE items, to the point where they’re now generally 2-4k apiece. So, while I wouldn’t have advocated picking up any of these items 6 months ago (when they were upwards of 10k) they’re now in that price range where they can be a good value for your nublet 80:

• Belt of the Blood Nova – With 3 potential sockets and all the right stats, I bought and wore this item until I received the Heroic equivalent. It’s a solid investment and hands-down the best BOE (drop) for restos.
• Leggings of Dubious Charms – although equivalent to the T10 legs in terms of stat distribution, these BOE legs can provide a good boost to players who have the gold to burn.
• Je’Tze’s Bell – An amazing starter trinket (which can generally be picked up for a few hundred gold), this can make quite the difference for the starter shaman in terms of spellpower and regen. I picked ones up for both my disc priest and my holy pally, until their trinket luck finally kicked in.

5. Get Into ICC 5-mans

Yes, I know they can get old and boring and repetitive, but the easiest way to gear yourself out for raiding on your Resto Shaman is to pile into Heroic Forge of Souls, Heroic Pit of Saron, and Halls of Reflection (I wouldn’t recommend hitting the Heroic version of HoR until you have a very geared tank friend or are above ~5k GS.). On your shopping list for these instances should be:

• Surgeon’s Needle (PoS Heroic)
• Protector of Frigid Souls (PoS Regular)
• Helm of Spirit Shock (FoS Heroic)
• Arcane Loops of Anger (FoS Heroic)
• Tears of the Vanquished (ToC Normal)
• Ephemeral Snowflake (HoR Heroic)
• Nevermelting Ice Crystal (PoS Heroic)
• Mudslide Boots (PoS Heroic)
• Strip of Remorse (HoR Heroic)
• Blackened Ghoul Skin Leggings (PoS Heroic)

What to Aim For

So now you’re ready to start working your way into the above gear, you have one looming question: what sort of stats should I shoot for? Well, first, take everything that you read on my blog about haste stacking and throw it out the window. Stacking supplementary stats like haste and spellpower is only beneficial if the rest of your gear is up to snuff (ie: is hovering around ilvl245 and above). Until that point, you need to set your sights on longevity and throughput.

For those just getting into their resto shamans my suggestions are almost the polar opposite of the advice I give to top-end players:

• Use Int as a primary stat. Yes, at higher levels of gear Int loses its usefulness, because mana is rarely a concern and throughput is more focused on speed. But as a starting player, Int is your best bet because it boosts everything–your spellpower, your mp5, your crit, and your overall mana pool (which is the determining factor for Replenishment).
• Match sockets when you can. Anyone who has ever asked me for a gear critique is probably raising an eyebrow at this one, but when you’re just starting out and can benefit from every stat out there, ignoring a socket bonus is just bad practice. While on Vix, the 5 spellpower gain from matching a bracer socket is inconsequential (I have 3811 sp unbuffed), on a starting shaman it’s worth the investment. Socketing pure haste is a sure way to go OOM and have nothing to show for it.
• Aim for regen trinkets. Similar to Int, when you start out as a Resto Shaman you will have two main problems—longevity and power. Haste/Crit/throughput trinkets may seem great, but you’ll need everything you can get to keep your mana above 0 in almost every encounter.

But there are also some rules which apply no matter your gear level:

• FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, STOP USING GLYPH OF WATER SHIELDMASTERY. For the somewhat rational explanation why, please see my Raider’s Answer Bag post.
• Use epic gems. If this is your first toon ever, you have a pass on this one. For anyone else, you have no excuse. Not using epic gems or max-level enchants because “it isn’t good gear” is the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard. Suck it up and commit to doing it right, ffs.
• 100%. WS. Uptime. It’s the primary reason new restos struggle with longevity, and can be fixed in the time it takes to download an addon.
• Work with what you have. Gear is a state of constant flux, but what matters is what you do with what you have. A new chestpiece or belt isn’t going to fix fundamental or philosophical issues. So work on the problems that are within reach and stop thinking that “things will be better when I get [that new item]”.

In terms of the gearset that I’ll be aiming for when my shaman hits 80 and starts getting into the 5- and 10-man scene, this is what I’ll be hoping for: Pre-raid Resto Shaman set.

Investing in T10 items

So at some point along the way, as you work your way into Daily Heroics, VOA, and the raid weekly, you’ll find yourself with enough Frost Emblems to start picking up a piece or two of new, shiny gear. For players with a steady stream of badges, which can only come from doing ICC 10/25 on a weekly basis, tier holds the obvious attraction. But for those who maybe need to shop more selectively, I’d suggest the following purchase order:

• Purified Lunar Dust (60 badges) – Outside of ICC and ToC/ToGC Solaces, this is the most powerful throughput/regen trinket available.
• Frost Witch’s Spaulders (60 badges) – The cheapest t10 piece with all the right stats. Although you’ll get bigger upgrades from the chest and helm, getting 2pc should be a priority, so aim for this purchase first.
• Frost Witch’s Helm/Chest (95 badges ea.) – Depending on which is your worst piece, picking up either the helm or the chest will provide you with a good helping of main and supplemental stats.
• Waistband of Despair (60 badges) – a purchase which should last you all of ICC, maybe only to be replaced by a drop off of Heroic Halion 25.

There’s a reason that the above list is missing two items which a good number of Shaman look to first—Totem of the Surging Sea and Drape of the Violet Tower—because they are purchases that most resto shaman choose to discard once they have viable alternates (more so with the cloak than with the totem). So, forget about the low-hanging fruit, and aim for getting 2pc t10 plus a trinket before you even consider any other options. The quality of life improvement that those 3 items will make is absolutely unparalleled.

Final Notes for the Newly 80

There’s no better way to go back to healing basics than to roll a healing alt and struggle again through the trials of gearing and climbing back up the GS ladder. And having done the climb on 3 healing toons (with a 4th soon enough), there are some standard assumptions that I have when playing my struggling newly-80, sometimes that I need to repeat to myself when I feel like saying “ARGH, why am I having such issues?!”:

• I will need to drink, often and longer than I’m used to
• I will need to use mana pots, frequently
• I will need to drop MT on CD and not a moment after
• I might need to use a regen flask
• I will do very badly when Replenishment isn’t up
• I will need to pay very, very close attention to uptime of whatever crucial buffs I have (for starting resto shaman, please oh please, monitor your WS and ES uptime. No, I don’t mean “monitor” as in “I feel like I have good uptime on WS”, but rather “I downloaded an addon and I review my combat logs to confirm I have good WS uptime”. )
• I will not perform like I have a 6.4k GS. I might get trounced on meters. I will still work my ass off.

All the above being said, I always find healing on newbie 80s incredibly fun and engaging. Yes, the wrong group can make me feel like a complete dud and leave me sputtering the claim “IM THE BESTEST HEALER EVER ON MY MAIN YOU JERKS”, but with the right group it can be an exciting way to shake things up and get back to those days where you actually breathed a sigh of satisfied relief when the final boss died.

So best of luck on your baby shaman. May your Chain Heals be speedy, your crits be plentiful and may Lady RNG smile on you whenever you really-really-really need that upgrade.

Current State

Presently, Resto Shaman have two spells which will buff the maximum output of their other spells—Riptide and Chain Heal—both of which provide complementary benefits through the Tidal Waves talent. In terms of Chain Heal, a single cast will garner the Shaman two applications of Tidal Waves, which will then provide either additional haste to your Healing Wave (30%) or additional crit (25%) to your Lesser Healing Wave, and which will remain a buff on the shaman until 2 such spells are cast or the 15 second timer expires. If your focus is raid healing, and thus you are participating in the very rigorous practice of spam CHing, then the Tidal Waves buff that you gain for each CH cast will go largely unutilized. However in a tank healing or single-target healing environment, a CH + LHW/HW rotation can be greatly beneficial for ensuring optional output.

Riptide is similar to CH in that it is the only other way to activate the Tidal Waves buff, so it provides direct benefit to Shamans’ single-target spells. In addition, RT also provides some benefit to the raid healing side of Shamans’ arsenal by providing a 25% modifier to CH’s healing on any target with RT active. Unfortunately, while this buff has good application for the tank-healing shaman, providing a compensation for the long cast time of CH by increasing the effective healing amount on the RT’ed target (assumed to be the tank), its application when raid healing is severely limited in today’s raid environment. The problem is that in a raid healing rotation, you either have one of two scenarios: 1) specific and singular targets are taking heavy damage (think Razorscale), or 2) groups of players are taking moderate damage (think Blood Queen). In the case of the former, single-target heals will deliver heals faster and at a lesser cost. In the case of the latter, the benefit of casting an RT prior to the CH does not offset the 1 sec GCD cost you incur because of that initial cast. And, in terms of HPS, you would be better served to cast CH x2 (instead of RT+CH).

Future State

Although nothing is set in stone, with the talent trees in some state of design and Beta testing through level 83, I think it’s safe to at least start talking about some of the changes on the horizon. Included in our new toolset for Cataclysm are two very particular additions to our arsenal—a spell: Unleash Elements, and a talent: Focused Insight. And while neither are particularly mind blowing at present, what I find interesting about them is the message that they reinforce for restos everywhere—sequencing matters.

Just as a refresher, let’s look at how these spells and talents are playing out in the Cataclysm Beta (note that the healing numbers here are from BETA and are therefore *not* fined tuned, so no freaking out like I did when I first started healing in Alpha):

• Riptide – Tidal Waves (10% of base mana) – will provide a 30% healing bonus to Healing Wave and Greater Healing Wave and a (tentative) 25% crit effect to Lesser Healing Wave, as well as an initial heal of approximately 4100 – 6100, with 1300 per 3 seconds for 15 seconds thereafter.
• Chain Heal – Tidal Waves (17% of base mana) – will provide a 30% healing bonus to Healing Wave and Greater Healing Wave and a (tentative) 25% crit effect to Lesser Healing Wave.
• Unleash Elements (7% of base mana) – an instant-cast ability which changes based on your weapon embue, it provides a base 3100 – 5000 heal when used with Earthliving Weapon. This spell *does not* count as a shock so it will not proc Focused Insight although, at present, it does provide a 20% boost to the next healing spell (within a 7sec window).
• Focused Insight (17% of base mana, when procced by FS) – a talent in the Resto Shaman tree which, subsequent to a Shock cast (this includes: Earthshock, Flameshock, Frostshock), will reduce the mana cost of the shaman’s next spell by 50% of the cost of the shock and increase the heal’s effectiveness by 30%. The mana reduction and healing buff do not presently stack, so there’s no abusing this talent by casting a series of shocks.

In all, Shaman stand to have 3 insta-cast spells which will up the healing power of their next heal. CH will continue to be a viable way to maintain Tidal Waves, though its applicability in a raid healing environment remains to be seen. (Given its long cast time and relatively low heal value, I’m not hopeful.) What’s worth pointing out here is the comparative mana cost of the above spells (all assessed at level 83), and the bonus differential for each:

• RT (1200 mana, 6sec CD) – 25% sp to CH, 30% haste to HW and GHW, 25% crit to LHW
• UE (840 mana, 15 sec CD) – 20% sp to all
• FI (2040 mana, 6 sec CD) – 30% sp to all

So, looking at the latter two options, the cost of using Unleash Elements over a shock is an approximate 3-4k heal and 1200 mana on a strict one-to-one comparison. However, assuming that the shock in question is the lowest cost option—Flame Shock—it would have a net -1530 effect on the next cast, thus making up for the additional cost of the shock; so the only benefit tonot using FI would be the heal itself (because the 10% differential in output could not be made up by the subsequent cast, unless its base heal was 30-40k). With all 3 insta-casts applicable during relative downtimes in raid damage or during movement dictated by encounter mechanics (void zones, fire, cutters, etc.), provided the meager Unleash Elements heal isn’t absolutely needed, then Focused Insight will likely compete with RT (haste/crit versus pure throughput) for the more beneficial cast.

What’s interesting to consider here are a couple things:

1. Though instant-cast, all of the above spells will cost you at least a 1-second GCD, meaning that your delivery time of heals will be delayed, and further indicating that heals will need to be cast very proactively.
2. None of these predecessor spells and talents appear to affect Healing Rain (for its entire duration; current modifiers appear to affect only the first tick of the first target healed).
3. The mana benefit of FI is completely trumped by the mana gain of Telluric Currents. (However, to make Telluric Currents workable, I would highly suspect that Resto will need to take an Elemental sub-spec instead of Enhance, so that they can have sufficient hit to reliably return good chunks of mana. I’ll have to put this on my beta-testing list!)
4. We have no more T10 effects to bolster our RT usage.

The cynic is getting riled up

So, as it stands, Shaman will have four spells and three talents (Focused Insight, Tidal Waves and Nature’s Blessing), that buff other spells. Thus, the implication is that in Cataclysm, the order in which you cast will start to have a significant impact on your output. The counter to this is, however, that the buffs provided by all 3 insta-cast abilities are temporary at best, and can only be applied within the confines of the CDs on shamans’ shock spells and on the CDs of Unleash Elements and Riptide.

But do consider that a rotation like: RT – HW – Shock – CH – UE – LHW, would allow you to benefit from the increased healing of all of the spells and talents, all within a span of approximately 8 seconds, more than enough for all of the “filler” buff spells to come off of CD. Also consider that when you have spells that provide healing over time effects (like RT and ES) a predecessor argument becomes all the more valid, because each of these spells uses a calculation based on the caster’s stats at the time of the initial cast. So that “super-charging” practice we all loved back in BC, could make a rousing comeback.

When it comes to Healing Rain, shamans’ new massive AOE heal which costs a whopping 43% base mana, we have a case when the predecessor argument ceases to be a debate and becomes a “best practice” that trumps all others. A 30% buff to Healing Rain (which is ticking anywhere from 650 – 1000 for 10 seconds at level 83), is no small amount when applied to a majority of the raid, especially when the net reduction is estimated at around 2% per person. (It’s worth noting that it’s currently not performing this way on Beta; percent increase modifiers are only applying to the first tick on one person. It remains to be seen if this is a bug or not.)

At this point, (at least as I have to remind myself when I log onto the Beta,) numbers are inconsequential. They are easily adjusted and not set in stone. But the quality of life consideration, which is what Beta testing centers on, is huge. As Acoustic of Covenant so wonderfully described in his/her post on the Beta forums:

Deferring heals for more powerful heals a second later is a gameplay decision that could be interesting, and Riptide and Tidal Waves certainly are. But … frequent use of a Flame Shock Macro [shouldn’t] be a part of the best practices of Shaman healing. Source

I agree, it shouldn’t. Nor should a complicated conditional tree which penalizes you for not having enough foresight to select RT, or UE, or FI, in advance of the damage occurring. When we talk about Resto Shaman, we’re talking about a class with typically very long cast times, where being proactive is used, in part, to distinguish our good healers from the not-so-great. But with more layers of intricacy being introduced, I wonder if we aren’t maybe tripping over our own feet, making a functional and adaptable class into one which actually has an “optimal” healing rotation, just for the sake of a few more “fun” spells in our toolbox?

If you want to make waves in the Shaman community and you don’t want to mention the now-taboo Spirit Link, then you would be well advised to follow Ghostcrawler’s lead. His response to a fairly innocuous forum post on Monday raised many an eyebrow in the Resto and Healing communities and might have permanently affixed a winkled crease in my brow. But one thing’s for certain, no one could accuse the crab of giving too much away, beyond of course, that Shaman are performing “as intended”. So what does that mean for the future of healing?

In case you missed out, here’s the except from Bluetracker:

I think it’s fair to say that the shaman was probably the closest to the Cataclysm healing style even in Lich King. On the other hand, you are getting some new toys that should change your moment to moment decisions from level 80 upwards.

Was Shaman healing a big factor in how you wanted other people to heal because of how fluid Shaman healing is?

Yeah that was a big part of it. The other 3 classes (a little less so Holy priests) basically had their favorite spell and used it nearly all the time, with other spells just being filler. Shaman really did feel like they had a choice between HW and LHW and then Chain Heal more situationally. (Source)

The first time I saw GC’s brief response, I confess I actually mis-read it—thinking that he was referring *only* to the Lich King fight and not the whole of the shaman experience throughout Wrath. Upon realizing my mistake, my brow managed to furrow even more than it already had been as I wondered—um, which fights is he talking about? Surely not fights like General, where ES and stop-casting reigned supreme, or fights like Twin Valks, where I mashed CH with the fury of a pissed off pterodactyl, or fights like Valithria where I switched to a very strict Tidal-Waves-or-bust rotation. No, if we’re talking about fluidity, then it makes sense that LK would be the fight that epitomized the shaman healing model, because it is a fight where everything finally came together.

Based on everything I’ve compiled about Blizzard’s stance on the Cata healing model and everything I’ve experienced on the PTR, it’s an easy parallel to make. Consider what we’ve heard thus far from Blues on the intent/design for Cataclysm healing:

“… the healing game ultimately becomes more about using the right tool for the job” (Source)

“Mana efficiency is ideally part of this calculus.” (Source)

“…we’d like to see more coordination among the healers (again because the risk of going OOM exists).” (Source)

“You care more about your whole arsenal of heals instead of just the biggest, fastest [heal].” (Source)

“Occasional stress is more fun than non-stop stress.” (Source)

As I think we all agreed during the Resto segment of the Shaman Roundtable, for most Resto Shaman, the LK fight (especially the hard mode version) is all of these things. While for disc priests, LK is bubble x 9000, or for Holy Pallies it is HL x 9000, or for our leafy friends it is all about Rejuv and WG, or for spell-overloaded holy priests it becomes mostly about CoH+Renews, for Resto Shaman the fight asks us to use it all, arguably not an insanely difficult feat when our “all” is a whopping 4 active healing spells, and use it at just the right time. Yes, I’m biased in this perspective, but before anyone starts arguing that the fight is more than that to them (holy priests and druids have a good argument there), let me explain what I mean.

The Shaman Lich King Model

When we first started into Heroic Lich King attempts, all those months ago, before I ever had an inkling that there was a very precise order of things to the fight (link), I really disliked the Lich King encounter. To me, it felt disjointed, and the overlap between “hey, you need to heal now” and “hey, you need to move now” was enough to make me one cranky shaman. But as we started getting deeper into the fight, and we became more adept at designing and defining healing assignments, I started to have a new appreciation for the mechanics. The fight became my shaman heptathlon, with circuits for each healing tool I have (CH, RT, LHW, HW, ES) and the two healing practices that restos seem to struggle with (movement and timing).

When I went into the encounter on Wednesday night, and recorded my best performance to date, I tried to pay particular attention to the various “circuits” in each of the phases. As a matter of practice, I’m generally responsible for healing G2 and G3, our tank and melee groups, and providing direct spot healing on any targets still suffering from Infest. What this means, is that I generally do the following (bear with me through the technical stuff here, there is a point to it):

• Phase 1: Base practice: RT + LHW Tanks + ES on OT. On Infest: CH on melee, start cast 1sec prior to Infest cast, followed by another CH on melee, with RT+LHW on first target, HW on second target (since they’ll be dipping pretty low by that point). Tank heal until next Infest.
• Transition: RT on self or ranged as needed, ES on MT, CH through tanks into melee (pop Glowing Twilight Scale and watch hots fly)
• Phase 2: Base practice: RT + LHW + ES on MT, with a switch to HW if either paladin is picked up. On Infest: CH on melee, start cast 1sec prior to Infest cast, followed by another CH on melee, with RT+LHW on first target, HW on second target. (If a holy pally has Defile, switch to CH through tank). Tank heal until next Infest.
• Transition: RT on self or ranged as needed, ES on MT, CH through tanks into melee
• Frostmourne Room: HST in mid for max coverage, ES left on MT, RT on CD, CH through raid (pop Glowing Twilight Scale and watch hots fly)
• Phase 3: Base practice: RT + LHW Tanks + ES on MT/soaker. Soak: RT on soaker + CH on initial hit, CH on raid until soak is complete.
• (Redux)

If you’re not a shaman and reading this, I hope I’ve blown your mind slightly, because this is the resto shaman toolbox at work. This is the antithesis of the mindless CH spam used by the stereotypical Resto. And although my WoL for the encounter would seem to indicate that I simply threw out a number of CH’s punctuated by some other spells, the point in fact is that I didn’t stand there spamming my highest HPS spell (CH) because I had the mana pool to do so (I don’t). Nor did I use my biggest fastest heal (RT+LHW) exclusively. Nor were healing assignments so loose as to allow me to just “heal raid” (g2 + g3 are my babies and no pansy Infest or badly dropped defile pool from a slightly drunk Elemental shaman is going to take my groups down).

I didn’t need a separate spec to heal tanks effectively (in fact I was slightly below our main Holy Pally in healing done to the main tank, 25 v 22%) and I didn’t require a different gearset to pump out a massive amount of healing on the raid (I did the most non-tank healing out of our raid healers as well). And I used everything I had to do it, including NS, Tidal Force, Beserking, Tide and 2 Innervates (Kaillee and Zb are my saviors). Fluid, is precisely the word I’d use to describe it.

What About Ruby Sanctum Heroic?

In fact, there’s another encounter which I would say better represents shaman healing, and therefore maybe Cataclysm healing, and that’s Halion hard mode on the “inside team”. Frankly speaking, the portal healing experience is a switch-hitter’s delight. With players taking ~4500 damage per 2 seconds while inside the dream realm, and your healing team not only having to deal with an intense amount of movement but also with the possibility that one of the 3-4 inside healers will be rendered almost useless for the 10-15 seconds that they’re handling Mark of Consumption, it is a veritable wonderland of healing challenges requiring very agile healers.

Similar to my role on Sindragosa, on Halion I’m responsible for backing up tank heals and switching to them full time if our tank healers are taken out of commission (on Sindy, by Unchained Magic, and on Halion, by Mark of Consumption). Whereas my spell distribution on LK HM generally has 40 -45% CH (because of the high raid damage on transitions and in the Frostmourne room), on any given night of Halion attempts, LHW+HW makes up 15-25% of my total healing, versus only 30-40% CH. The contribution from my other supplemental heals—ES, AA, ELW, Chained Heal, and RT—fill out the rest of my healing distribution.

While this may not reveal a good lot about healing versatility, let me give you a solid example from this week’s kill. When our inside holy pally fell victim to a bad Consumption tick slightly over halfway into the fight, leaving myself, a disc priest and a druid remaining, it didn’t take any adjustment for me to switch into a tank-healing role while still tossing out the occasional CH. Likewise, the disc priest and the druid threw on their tank-healing hats as well, and together our heals made up for the loss of long-bombs. I don’t know how smooth a transition it was for either of them, but for me it simply meant switching my RT to the tank (instead of Marked players) and substituting HW for the LHW I had been using to supplement the Pally’s HL. And aside from a few dips, and one Ardent Defender proc, we were able to keep things in line. Just the 3 of us, with no “true” tank healer in sight. When the inside druid was taken out by another nasty Mark of Consumption with ~30 seconds to go on the kill, things shifted into overdrive. Another slight adjustment was made and triage mode engaged, but again, the disc priest and I had the tools (and luck) to pull it off. And the kill was had.

It was one of the most thrilling fights I’ve had to date, but the point of the story is not to toot my own horn or that of my healing partner. The point is that the latter half of the fight, and certainly not those last 30 seconds, would not have been possible without the healing versatility that’s currently in place. While it’s true that the handful of Greater Heals that the disc priest threw out might have been the only time in the past several months that he’s even touched the darn spell, designing an encounter or a situation where it was ideal to use them was all it took to dust them off. While shaman may be able to switch between our options without missing much of a beat, it isn’t a far stretch for other healers to do the same.

What this means for Healers

For most of this xpac, I’ve been ranting on and on about shaman’s versatility being a boon, a beneficial move away from the CH-spam that was prevalent at the end of BC and a step towards a healing environment where we could fill in the gaps in a healing team’s composition. As much as I liked being the undisputed king of raid healing in Sunwell, there’s something to be said for having more depth to what I can offer. There’s something to be said for having the option to be what’s needed, instead of trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. And to this end, I’m really looking forward to Cataclysm’s healing changes.

But … (there’s always a “but” isn’t there?) … it’s easy to take on this sunshiney, Kumbaya perspective, and forget that the Resto Shaman model as it exists in ICC/t10 works because of the interplay of spells and the very limited nature of our arsenal. Like pallies, we don’t have a whole host of options to choose from. But, I don’t feel that the same is true for priests or druids, who strike me as a tad bit overburdened as it is. (Maybe I’m wrong?) So, as our spellbooks in Cataclysm expand, and the variations of spells increase, it becomes a greater task to find the right one for the right job. And at some point, when given too many options, a player will stop trying to find the perfect fit and just strive to find an acceptable fit. It is an incredibly fine line, and so I don’t envy the balancing act that Blizzard has tasked themselves with.

Ultimately, I think it becomes a battle of quality versus quantity with a splash of specificity thrown in. In terms of a fluid and agile spellbook, Shaman, right now, are at one end of that spectrum, whereas I would speculate that Holy Priests are at the other. (Druids, I don’t know where you fit in because I don’t have the balls to take my feral druid resto.) So, to me, the 3-level spell change (eg: Lesser Healing Wave, Healing Wave, Greater Healing Wave) is a great step towards that middle area, establishing a quality base that can empower healers to keep a fight going, instead of saying “oh, so-and-so is dead, we might as well wipe”. Maintaining the diversity of the classes outside of those 3 supposedly “homogeneous” spells, then becomes the flavor to the class and the unique approach that they bring to the table. In the ideal fight, you may not need your base spells, but when the shyte hits the fan, you won’t be left without a way to soldier on.

Because in the end, healing shouldn’t be about being the 100-function Swiss army knife and it shouldn’t take a massively complicated If/Then tree to determine the right course of action, but it shouldn’t be about being a 1-trick pony either. Healers should be, need to be, equipped to be MacGuyvers: saying to their team, “Give me a rubber band, a green bean and a twilight scale and I’ll give you a healer who can handle whatever you throw at me.”

So if this is what Shaman have contributed to the Cataclysm healing model, then I say, bravo to you small crab … Now give me my bloody defensive CD and we’ll call it a day.

After months of abstaining from the discussion of BiS, aside from the one grudging post which I made back in January of this year, and which has had more traffic lately than all the posts I’ve had mentioned on WoW.com (okay, it’s only been 2, so that’s not a hard threshold to meet!), I’ve finally swallowed my own philosophical objections. All those “BiS is a myth” and “BiS only matters during progression” and intense raging disclaimers won’t make an appearance in this post! (heh)

Instead, I’m (hopefully) giving a good number of curious restos precisely what they’ve been trying to Google—the Best in Slot Resto Shaman shopping list. I’m not going to give you the numbers behind the evaluation, because frankly speaking, these items are really only relevant when you’re talking about a set, so the calculated 10 HEP difference between The Pants of Uber and the Pants-of-not-as-much-Uber, doesn’t really matter here. (Visit EJ’s Resto Shaman TTT if you’d like the complete list.) Also, please do assume that I’m referencing the heroic versions of the loot listed; as pure stat upgrades there’s never a time where a normal version will outpace its heroic equivalent.

Weapon: [Val’anyr]

• Amazingly enough, Val’anyr still comes out on top, even with its decreased stat levels, due to of Protection of Ancient Kings. Because absorbs are by-and-large the best healing you can do in ICC and RS encounters, Val’anyr-equipped healers are still seeing significant contributions from this Ulduar legendary.
• Runners up: [Royal Scepter of Terenas II]*, [Trauma]

Off-Hand: [Bulwark of Smouldering Steel]*

• There’s no debate here; this shield will give you every stat you need and none of that pesky mp5.
• Runner up: [Bastion of Resolve]

Totem: [Totem of the Calming Tides]

• As the debate on Totemspot.com pointed out, because most Shaman find themselves raid healing these days, this Triumph badge item far outpaces the Frost badge option on the basis that the large majority of your heals will be CH, or at least one every 15 seconds, thus netting you a constant 234 spellpower increase.
• Runners up: [Totem of the Surging Sea], [Relentless Gladiator's Totem of the Third Wind]

Head: [Sanctified Frost Witch’s Headpiece]*

• Another no-brainer; with no mp5 and no shortage of stats, the t10 helm is leagues beyond any offset piece.
• Runners up: None. Get thee thy t10.

Neck: [Blood Queen’s Crimson Choker]

• While at the start of ICC I might have argued that non-tier slots were where you needed to pick up some mp5, in today’s ICC environment, unless you’re doing heroic LK25, that additional regen is largely wasted. So, although you’ll have to fight off all your caster teammates, the throughput to be found on this neck is greater than any alternative.
• Runners up: [Soulcleave Pendant]*, [Choker of Filthy Diamonds]

Shoulder: [Sanctified Frost Witch’s Spaulders]*

• Because all of the alternates to this tier piece have the same SP/Haste/Crit distribution, your best gain will come from using the tier to complete your 4pc t10.
• Runners up: None. T10 or bust. ([Horrific Flesh Epaulets], ONLY IF you’re behind on badges)

Back: [Cloak of Burning Dusk]

• Part of the largest loot table in game for any boss, this cloak is one of many items that you’ll want to set your sights on for Ruby Sanctum.
• Runners up: [Frostbinder’s Shredded Cape], [Aethas' Intensity]

Chest: [Sanctified Frost Witch’s Tunic]*

• As with the tier shoulders, because all of the alternates to this tier piece have the same SP/Haste/Crit distribution, your best gain will come from using the tier to complete your 4pc t10.
• Runners up: None. Pony up and spend those badges. ([Robes of Azure Downfall] ONLY IF you’re behind on badges)

Wrist: [Phaseshifter’s Bracers]

• Although HEP calculations on EJ put Bracers of Fiery Night slightly ahead of these mail ones, you’ll likely have little to no luck convincing the casters in your guild to part with them.
• Runners up: [Bracers of Fiery Night], [Bloodsunder’s Bracers]*

Gloves: [Changeling Gloves]

• The gloves versus pants debate has raged on for almost all of ICC, with HPS values being presented for both sides of the argument. With all other items being the same, the winner in terms of pure stats becomes offset gloves + tier legs.
• Runners up: [Unclean Surgical Gloves]*, [Gloves of False Gesture]s

Waist: [Split Shape Belt]

• Another amazing item from Ruby Sanctum, it’s combination of crit/haste is ideal for a shaman not in need of additional regen (and it should make your cloth-wearing caster friends breathe a sigh of relief because it’ll keep your greedy mits off their Marrowgar belt!)
• Runners up: [Crushing Coldwraith Belt], [Belt of the Blood Nova]*

Legs: [Sanctified Frost Witch’s Legguards]

• As mentioned above, with HEP values of 2 for haste and 1 for crit, the BiS combination becomes offset hands with Sanctified Legs. (The Wowhead comparison; calcs utilized Haste = 2, Crit/SP/MP5 =1, Int = 0.8)
• Runners up: [Leggings of Woven Death], [Rippling Flesh Kilt]

Feet: [Plague Scientist’s Boots]

• Another item that you’ll have a hard time wrangling away from your dps casters (or maybe pallies who haven’t surveyed the RS loot table), the slight bit of additional haste and Int has them moving past the RS10 and craftable mail options.
• Runners up: [Boots of Divided Being], [Earthsoul Boots]*

Rings: [Ashen Band of Endless Wisdom]* / [Ring of Rapid Ascent]

• With the proc on the Ashen Verdict Ring on a 60-sec internal CD, the contribution from this ring is greater than any other item out there so it should definitely be in one of your two rings slots. The other slot becomes a matter of preference and longevity, though technically Rapid Ascent will win out from a pure throughput perspective.
• Runners up: [Ring of Phased Regeneration], [Marrowgar’s Frigid Eye]*

Trinkets: [Glowing Twilight Scale]*

• While Solace was amazing up through ICC hardmodes, now at the tail end of the xpac, I’d have a hard time arguing that the additional mana (which is generally worthless on anything other than RS) makes it more valuable. With the on-use proc from the Twilight Scale equating to anywhere from 6-12% of my healing on some encounters, its throughput is simply unrivaled.
• Runners Up: [Solace of the Fallen]*, [Althor’s Abacus]

What if I can’t get all these pieces?

First, understand that you’re not alone. Hell, in our main runs, Vanquisher 277 tokens are being distributed to third offspecs, but Protector 277s remain as elusive as a Resto Shaman CD. (Oh sorry, was that my beta bitterness creeping through there?) So, if some of the pieces above are out of your reach, there are some great alternatives which will put you right with the pack.

The one thing to keep in mind when you’re upgrading your Resto Shaman’s gear is that you want to go for the biggest overall upgrades first, not just the low-hanging fruit. Meaning, although that Totem of the Surging Sea is only 30 Frost Emblems, you’ll want to pick up your 4pc first because the performance gains are so much greater.

So when you’re deciding between pieces, kitting out your Resto for some fun before Cataclysm is released, keep the following in mind:

1. Stats – with a higher average level of gear, you’re going to need less longevity stats (mp5 and Int) and can spend more stat points on throughput (haste and crit).
2. Upgrade the big items first – there’s a reason 3 t10 set pieces cost 95 badges, instead of 60—because the item budgets are greater overall, and thus represent a bigger stat gain for the wearer. So head for these pieces first, and hope that your luck holds out during VOA runs.
3. Gear to your issues – If you’re having issues with seemingly weak heals, look to spellpower. If your spells aren’t getting there fast enough, look to haste. If you’re running out of mana, look to Int and mp5. And keep in mind that stacking one stat to the exclusion of all others only works when your gear is of sufficient level to back it up (and that means good levels of Int and Crit).
4. Don’t gem Regen – Aside from your IED meta, gemming and enchanting for regen isn’t a good idea because the relative gains are comparatively small. The one notable exception to this is Shaman just making their way into raiding who need an overall stat boost, in which case going with a mix of SP/Int and SP/Haste gems with Int trinkets can be quite beneficial.
5. Don’t gem crit – Just. Don’t. At all. It makes kittens cry.

So, hopefully the above guidelines and shopping list will prove of use when you make your next foray inside the last major instance of Wrath. But don’t feel bad if RNG strikes you down; take heart in that a gear wipe is mere months away!

(I included (*)s on the list showing the pieces that I use in my haste-heavy gear set to illustrate that, no matter if you’ve been downing content for months, you can still be behind the BiS curve.)

The Origins of Healing Waste

Oh the joys of healing in Vanilla … Although largely touted as the pinnacle of “intelligent” and “challenging” healing, the fact remains that fights in those days were quite a bit different than the encounters to be found in ICC and Ulduar. Raid teams were 20- or 40-person groups, comprised of anywhere from 10 – 16 healers. And fight mechanics assumed that at any given time, maybe 50% of your healing team would be focused on regen. (Hell, they probably also assumed that ~10% of your raid was afk!) Druids Healing Touched between Innervates, Shamans decried the lack of Chain Heal, Pallies cleansed and buffed, and Dwarf Priests, the only priests with Fear Ward, were the de facto healing standard.

There was no such thing as “replenishment”, nor was mp5/regen at such a level where you could assure your own longevity. So, frequent regen breaks, innervate staffs, JoW wanding, downranking, stopcasting, and the OOR 5-sec rule were all common work-arounds for the mana-strapped healer. Healing assignments were set in stone to assure that you didn’t have overlap, and tank deaths were progressive not instant. Healing was a game within a game, more akin to the micro-management found in RTS than the cause-and-effect exchange in an MMO. It was in this type of environment where healers fussed about mana like penny-pinchers, and determined overhealing to be the worst kind of evil imaginable—wasteful.

“TPS Reports” (not just a line from Office Space)

In thinking about the Vanilla healing model, with its narrow definition of excess, I couldn’t help but think of another model out there which views waste in a similar (although more broad) perspective—the Toyota Production System (TPS). (Some of you might remember me mentioning this system when I wrote about the 5 Whys of Wiping.) For those of you who aren’t familiar with TPS, here’s the crash course (bear with it, it’s only a paragraph, and it’ll have immediate relevance!) …

The second major principle in the Toyota Way, TPS seeks to redesign processes to eliminate overburden, inconsistency, and waste such that a smooth flow of work and production are achieved. According to TPS, “waste” can be classified as any one of the following:

1. over-production – eg: making 5 widgets even though you need 3
2. motion (of operator or machine) – eg: needing to walk the 2×4 from the table saw to the belt sander across the room, instead of having the two machines right next to each other
3. waiting (of operator or machine) – eg: waiting for someone to finish assembling the widget that you’re going to paint
4. transportation – eg: having parts sent to someone else who then brings them to you, instead of just having them shipped to you directly
5. over-processing – eg: designing the widget so that it works counterclockwise and clockwise when the customer stated they only needed it to work counterclockwise
6. (unused) inventory – eg: raw materials which are sitting and waiting to be used
7. Repair and rework – eg: installing a widget incorrectly the first time and needing to reinstall it again later so that the machine functions properly

As you can see, some of the above “wastes” derive from a need to do something “just in case” while others address bad system design. Beyond understanding that the two are intimately intertwined (who hasn’t left their house early “just in case” they hit traffic? Is that you wasting time or bad traffic engineering at play?) there’s something else to consider–even in the most perfect system, waste will always exist. And so, the system designer or participant attempting to apply TPS theory to reality, eventually faces a question–what constitutes acceptable waste?

The Wasteful Debate

With that explanation of TPS, I hope you’re starting to get an inkling about what I’m getting at—the healing game within WoW has a lot in common with a production system in which the users are striving to eliminate multiple kinds of waste. (Yes, it’s a nerdy perspective, but hey, what did you expect from a nerd like me?!) Healing is, at its very core, a production model / delivery system, focused on meeting a precise and finite need at the moment it occurs. Anything that occurs outside of that very specific solution is seen as waste. And while many players would argue that the wastes found littering the healing landscape– overhealing, spamming, healing the wrong target, running unnecessarily about the room, excessive mp5, bringing too many healers or too many of the same type–are all user-based, I don’t think that’s entirely correct. In fact, I think the production system itself, which tasks players to deliver heals which fit the incoming damage, is more to blame for wastes than lazy play.

While I concede that many of the aforementioned elements are in fact user-controlled wastes (excessive movement, incorrect targeting, excess mp5, and bad healing team composition, to name a few), when it comes to overhealing and spamming, I have a hard time viewing them in the same light. Yes, bad and/or an inattentive healers fall prey to these wasteful habits quite quickly, but a correlation between “bad” healers and these practices does not necessarily mean that the practices themselves are “bad”. In an encounter where damage is random, unpredictable (to an extent), and demonstrates significant fluctuation of effect, spamming and overhealing are not wastes by themselves, but rather wasteful practices which were developed to address variation in system design. (Remember the example I gave about leaving early because you think you might hit traffic on the way to your destination? Same thing. You’re technically wasting time if you arrive early BUT it is the only way to mitigate the potential impact of heavy traffic, which represents a flawed transportation system.)

So, in an environment like ICC, where an offtank on Heroic LK can die in 1 second, (a death which cannot be mitigated via CD or a pre-cast heal because the kill is simply a matter of RNG alignment), a healer doesn’t have the luxury they were afforded in Vanilla WoW encounters. You simply cannot play a micro-management game because decision and reaction time have been reduced to a minimal window while variation and inconsistency have been exponentially increased. The only way to give your tanks the best possible uptime is to provide them with a continual stream of healing, regardless of the waste. Thus, overhealing and spamming are *necessary* to the encounter.

Applying “Just in Time” Healing

In TPS, the inherent goal of streamlining a process is to eliminate variation and inconsistency (known as “mura”) so that an even flow can be achieved. Good healing practice, in essence, is about achieving this same flow; delivering the right heals in the right quantity to the right person at the right time. Thus, becoming a good healer, one that can quickly master fights, is about moving from one type of healing perspective and practice to another:

1. Just in Case Healing – letting a heal land without stopcasting “just in case” the tank takes spike damage or casting shields/hots on targets “just in case” they take splash damage.
2. Just in Time Healing – pre-casting a heal so that it will land “just in time” to bring a tank back up from 20% HP or casting a shield/hots on a target “just in time” for them to be immediately effective.

But, what is implied in the two above philosophies is a variation in the knowledge the healer has of the encounter and its damage mechanics. The more a healer is able to predict encounter effects, and develop an appropriate solution, the more he can practice “Just in Time” Healing and the more healing waste he can eliminate from his delivery system. While some of this information needs to be incorporated into the encounter (because a fight with pure RNG would be absolute hell), it is really up to the player to bridge that knowledge gap by any means necessary.

So why does this matter now? Because with Cataclysm, Blizzard is touting a return to the Vanilla micro-management model for healer mana, and is thus promoting (again) that overhealing and spamming are wastes which good healers will need to manage and strive to eliminate. If fights maintain their level of complexity and immediacy of damage,  healers will have an even more limited number of options to address the problems in front of us. Much like someone using TPS to refine a process, and its inherent wastes, so too will we be tasked to become better at our healing delivery. And, while we won’t be able to address the encounter design mechanics (which, to date, have made overhealing and spamming necessary strategy), we can address the knowledge gap between “Just in Case” and “Just in Time” healing.

In the months before Cataclysm, we healers have an opportunity to hone our skills, to start developing practices which will let us achieve better delivery, and enable us to exert better control of the tools we do have at our disposal. Hopefully Blizzard will offer us some help along the way, by keeping our tanks from being 1-shot and not punishing us too much for the reactionary (and wasteful) healing that is sometimes necessary. But we have to meet them halfway, and that, friends, means a change for us all.

Unlike my disc priest, who I’ve been healing on for about 8 months, my holy pally is a recent convert, limited in experience to very fast gearing and alt raids (I’m currently 10/12 in ICC25 hardmodes, since our PuG leader refuses to even let us burn attempts on HM Sind. Boooo!) But through my gearing and raiding adventures I’ve discovered a number of things about Horde’s (pretty) odd race out, not one of which relates to facerolling.

The Paladin stigma + gear reality

When I first started gearing out my holy pally, and ventured into a few low-expectation PuGs, I was a slight bit shocked to discover that most of the players, let alone the healers, had high expectations of me, none of which centered around my guild tag or an amazing gearscore (which I didn’t have; I ran ToC25 with 4k and Heroic HoR with 4.3k. Yeouch). Instead, they seemed to innately subscribe to what I’m going to call the “Pally Healing Stigma”, which suggests that: a lone pally can keep up one or two tanks with no assistance regardless of gear level. Yeah, um … no. Despite the fact that I got into heroic farming with an almost BiS Naxx set, which isn’t blues mind you, as I re-geared myself to current standards, I really had to work my arse off to keep tanks and my teammates from faceplanting. And when I first set foot into our alt ICC (which was 7/12 HM at the time), with a whopping 5k GS, I was quite naturally assigned to solo-heal tanks. Needless to say, my mana regen was crap, my thoughput incredibly low, and I quickly was speaking up that I needed serious help if we wanted to keep the run successful. I got it, thankfully, but I got a serious wakeup call that day—while paladins are the tank healing class to beat, that expectation unto itself can be the source of some serious misunderstandings.

CD Management

Otherwise known as holy-hell-I-want-to-use-wings-but-I’m-sacred-I’ll-need-DSac, CD Management is one of the biggest differences between Shaman and our long-bomb brethren. While CD management on rets essentially translates to “keep everything on CD”, the utility of CDs that a Holy Pally provides oftentimes leaves me guessing. To use or not to use, that is the question. More so, the effects that CDs like Divine Plea have on output (pre-t10), or that Avenging Wrath has on the ability to Bubble Sac, mean that a very macro-level perspective is often required of good pally healers, in order to assure that they can maximize their contributions without letting their teammates down when they need some Pally CD love. Now if only there was a way to set up a Power Aura for those perfect times when tank damage won’t be spikey or scary so I can afford to regen.

The Damage Prediction Flip

In line with the preceding point … Whereas on my disc priest I focus on predicting when damage will occur, I’ve discovered on my holy pally that I need to think about when damage won’t be occurring, so that I can time my regen, movement and re-beaconing to not adversely impact the tank’s health or my raid responsibilities. In fact, in the absence of 2pc t10, my pally took a pretty significant hit whenever she needed to utilize Divine Plea. Whereas on Vixsyn and Psyrin, I can (and need to) use my regen when it’s most beneficial, on my pally I have to time it when it will have the least impact on the raid and my assignments. Interestingly enough, since I equipped 2pc t10, the impetus for my use of Divine Plea has changed from “oh god, I really need the mana”, to “oh hey look, DP is coming off of CD”. What a change a tier set makes!

Do you have those lead feet in a size 13 ½?

In my years of healing I have developed, tested and refined one overarching hypothsis—instant casts require leaping to work correctly. I point to every tree I’ve ever played with as irrefutable proof that, in fact, jumping increases HPS. So, as I mentioned in my Disc Priest writeup, as I became more comfortable in my sissy robes, I found myself really enjoying the freedom of movement that I don’t have on Vixsin. Jump + Right click became my foundation of success. And then, I tried on those Holy Pally shoes; I might as well have agreed to nail my feet to the floor. As FH’s great holy pallies can attest, a few steps at the wrong time can spell death in heavy-hitting encounters, to the point where movement becomes almost less desirable than encounter damage. (All you holy pallies out there can admit it, you’ve bubbled through void zones, flame walls, and aoe just so you didn’t have to move.) It seems almost comical that the de facto tank healers out there are possibly the least mobile class out there, especially given that they’re tied to tanks who like to charge, intercept and LoS their way from fight to fight.

Raid Utility != Healing Utility

Arguably, paladins are masters of raid utility—they offer one of every spec type (tank, healer, dps), one variation of almost every buff, a handful of additional on-demand CD buffs/debuffs and an aura for almost every spell type in game. Whereas shaman amble about with our slightly-dorky-but-still-efficient fanny pack of spells, pallies are the sole traveler who needs 3 dollies for all the crap they packed for the weekend holiday. Now this wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, except that for all their utility baggage, holy paladins aren’t the most agile of healers. A group full of players taking damage is still enough to send me into a slight panic, although it is quite a relief to not have my heart skip a beat when tank health dips significantly.

Looking forward as a plate-wearer

With the announcements as of late regarding new healing spells and new resources (it’s like Runic Power, only not!), the future seems to be an interesting place for holy paladins. Supplemental spells like Healing Hands, Light of Dawn, and Guardian of Ancient Kings seem poised to add some much-needed dimension to the class. And although I think it will take a very powerful and concerted efforts to remove the Scarlet Letters [TANK HEALER] emblazoned across their chests, I can definitely say that the swap to something other than single-target healing will be a blessing for pallies everywhere. Because despite the perception that the holy pally life is an easy one, there is an inherent stress to the tank-healing role that I didn’t fully recognize until I stepped into their shoes. And after two xpacs of being the sole class propping the raid’s meat shield, I think it’s time to give them the break that they deserve.

(Oh yeah … My name is Vixsin, and I’m a switcher.)

I started out in WoW like most other players, leveling slightly solo, a member in a guild through a friend of a friend, bumbling my way to 70 without knowing what lay ahead once I got there. And when I finally did get the chance to go into Kara for the first time, wearing those big boy epics, I knew I’d be hooked on this thing called “raiding”. But my little 10s guild, with its cliques and petty bickering, simply couldn’t hold my interest for very long, and so I was left looking for more after a couple months—more fights, more experience, more exposure, more challenges, more reason to work my arse off. What I didn’t know at the time, and didn’t discover until much later, is that “hardcore” raiding fit me like a glove.

So, as you set about answering your own questions about what you may or may not want in a guild, I thought I’d provide a little insight into what you can expect if you set your sights on hardcore raiding, and what climbing the ladder to get there will entail. (It’s important to note that the following issues are not an exclusive or exhaustive list; some may be present in one guild that won’t be present in another.)

What’s it really like?

The real thing that I lacked when I jumped into my first hardcore guild—one that raided 6 nights/week in BT/MHJ/Sunwell—was an understanding of what the experience would be like. Sure, I knew we’d be raiding more often than not, and sure, I understood that the GL was a toughie. But lacking that resource to tell me what I really should expect, my grasp on the “hardcore experience” was loose at best. Would that someone at the time would have told me about The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, that lay in wait.

The Good

When you think of top guilds on your server, in your battlegroup, on your continent, or in the world, the good stuff is always quick to come up. There are perks that come with being a top guild, even before those gained in Cataclysm, which help soften the blow of hardcore raiding and which can help you sleep easier at night knowing that you’re provided for. Oftentimes the “good” perks of a hardcore guild include some of the following:

• Flush gbank – Beyond the personal benefits of progression, gbanks in top guilds rake in money from a variety of means, including selling BOEs, achievements, and GDKP runs. For a couple hours’ work, on a medium population server, players can get 5-10k apiece for a hard mode LK10 kill. In Ulduar, a 25-man mount run, with gear drops along the way, could net a gbank upwards of 200k. And with most guilds providing free gbank repairs, flasks, and consumables, players generally see their wealth increase without any concerted effort.
• Knowledgeable players – Have a macro, configuration, add-on, or strat question? Chances are a couple of your guildies will know the answer. Want to know more about the class you’re rerolling? Your guildie can probably give you a novel’s worth of information. While top guilds’ players may not log incredible amounts of hours in game (some do), these plugged-in players have a wealth of knowledge that rivals Wowhead and can go toe-to-toe with you on a range of topics at the drop of a hat.
• Record content clears – While it may be true that top-end guilds raid for hours and weeks upon end when content is first released, rest assured, they’re not doing it for long. It doesn’t take long before they’re clearing all relevant content and then some, in just a few short hours. Meaning that as much as people say “I can’t raid that much”, chances are your casual guild is raiding more than top-end guilds these days.
• Easy access to guild achievements and server recognition – Having never been in the top guild on my previous servers (Cho’gall – VANQUISH (back in the day) / Laughing Skull – Dues Vox / Mal’Ganis – Vigil/Juggernaut), I never really saw this as a positive trait of top guilds before. But after going to BDF, there’s something to be said for the recognition that comes with having the <FH> tag under my name. Everyone loves a compliment, whether it’s someone whispering you to compliment your gear or ask your opinion on some fight/class issue. Server first titles (and accompaning announcement spam) are just icing on the cake, especially when the community is as supportive as they are on BDF.
• Connections – The top end of the raiding spectrum is a small community, full of players who have been playing since original beta, so it should come as no surprise that these folks know fellow top players and Blizzard developers alike. Alpha invites, pre-release information, contacts inside Blizzard, and sometimes direct discussions with developers, are all possibilities (not assured, mind you!) in an accomplished and established progression guild. The downside to this interconnectivity is, when you make a bad name for yourself in the top end, word spreads very quickly.)
• When you’re in, you’re in – Whereas up-and-coming guilds might be quick to push you to the bench after a short absence, I was quite surprised to discover that hardcore guilds *tend* to be more accommodating about long absences and breaks. With burnouts and time off seemingly more frequent at top levels of play, I can certainly see why, once you’ve proven yourself in their eyes as a serious raid asset, they’ll make room for you again after you tire of HoN or L4D.

The Bad

On the flip side of all of the great things you hear about progression guilds, chances are you’ve also heard some bad things as well. But the reality is that these items aren’t so much downsides as they are concessions for operating in a high performance environment.

• It’s a job, not a tea party – One of the biggest and most apparent distinctions when you get into a hardcore guild is the social environment. While, in general, players are on civil terms, it’s also not uncommon for player rifts to develop and endure. Much like in a business, progression guilds are there to get the job done, and so long as a player doesn’t adversely impact the guild’s progress or create too much unnecessary strife, personality conflicts are left alone. So while you shouldn’t expect to be at odds with everyone, don’t expect to be friends with everyone either.
• Limited learning mistakes – My old collegiate coach had a rule when it came to practice—if, after he had explained a concept to someone else, you made the same boneheaded mistake as the other person, we all ran lines. Needless to say, this meant that when someone else was getting reamed, we all paid attention. It’s the same concept in hardcore progression guilds; one stumble with Defile is fine, but if you repeat the same error someone else made simply because you couldn’t be bothered to learn from their mistakes, expect some hard words (and possibly some bench time).
• High level of common knowledge – As I mentioned above, playing in a top-end guild generally means you’re dealing with players who have a broad and deep range of experience with a host of issues and classes. This knowledge does come with a downside though, as you can expect other players to have fairly good insight into your class and its nuances. So a comment from the fury warrior about the spriest having low DP uptime is highly likely, entirely acceptable and probably dead right.
• Recruiting is all about timing – A good number of hardcore progression guilds run with a relatively small roster for good reason—the less variation you have, the less likely you are to suffer “learning mistakes”. (Stars is one such notable exception to this rule, as they run multiple raid groups and cull the best into one All-Star team. Pun intended, heh). As a result, recruiting for top guilds tends to be on an as-needed basis and for specific holes in the roster. And although most every “Apply to our Guild” site out there encourages “exceptional candidates should apply no matter current recruiting needs”, the fact remains that a top guild isn’t likely going to bring on another prot warrior or uber mage just because.
• Longevity isn’t assured – Of the 4 progression guilds that I’ve been in, 3 have folded under their own weight. Even Aftermath, which was around since the days of AQ and had been a stable force through the entire expansion, couldn’t manage to sustain itself once its driving leadership stepped out of the picture. It’s unfortunate, but when you exist in such a highly competitive environment, a high turnover rate is a given.

The Ugly

While a number of these qualities are fairly acknowledged as being part of the downside of hardcore progression guilds, oftentimes new raiders (and old raiders as well), underestimate the potential powder kegs that these issues can be. These are the qualities that really set hardcore guilds apart (on the whole, mind you—they may not each be applicable to every top guild out there).

• The performance focus – There is a fine line between personal performance and guild performance, and members in top-end guilds walk it every day. When the difference between your top dps and your bottom dps (or top healer and bottom healer) is marginal, you can expect that the pressure to prove your worth may sometimes overtake the obligation to do something for the team. Thus, the real challenge becomes doing enough for the team so that you don’t get called on it, but doing enough for yourself that you can withstand the fierce competition between players.
• BiS is a reality, for everyone – While most of you may think this is, in fact, a positive thing, because who doesn’t like being shiny, let me assure you that it is not; it is the source of constant strife in a hardcore progression guild. If you think the petty squabbles over items are bad with your current guild, I can assure you they’re nothing compared to the heat given to someone standing between a dps and his precisely-calculated 54.6dps increase boots. (I use dps as an example here, but tanks and healers are just as guilty.) Not that I’m condoning the flurries, but when the longevity of your membership depends on the perception of your contribution, I can certainly understand why tempers rise where loot is concerned.
• You’re expected to raid hard when it counts – While I may be getting away with raiding 4 hours a week at the moment (on Vixsyn), the start of ICC found me raiding almost every night. However, my 30-hour a week raiding commitment (6 nights/wk for both 25s and 10s, at 5 hours/night), pales in comparison to those guilds pursuing top 10 world kills, where 8- to 12-hour raiding sessions are not unheard of. And while we won’t see the dual 10s and 25s raiding requirement come Cata, rest assured that the “alt learning raid” will likely be something that most progression guilds will require on limited attempt encounters.
• Faith does not come easily – Hardcore guilds, whether newly formed or established, have very definite comfort zones, oftentimes because founders and/or leaders have been playing together for years. Even if your performance remains unquestioned, expect to spend time beyond your trial period working to gain the level of comfort that will assure you a position on progression encounters. (As a point of reference, it took a good 5 months before a former guildmaster was comfortable enough with me tank healing that I didn’t get the 3rd degree when a tank hit the floor.)
• You think you can take the heat – While most players think that they have thick enough skin to endure even the harshest of criticisms, the reality is that most don’t live up to the claims of resilience that they make on guild applications. Progression guilds, whether they’re joking or serious, can dish out some pretty biting and scathing comments after your flaws are put in harsh relief. And if your first response, or second, or third, in the face of warranted or unwarranted criticism is anything other than a desire to improve, you’ll likely be in for a second blasting. As it was so wonderfully put in a recent Entrepreneur article, like any successful business, a hardcore guild is rarely a democracy, and leadership isn’t nearly as effective unless it is both feared and respected by the guild’s members.
• 1 SP is worth whatever it takes – Remember when epic gems weren’t in game yet and the only ones you could get were from fishing? Remember how they sold for ridiculous amounts? Want to know who bought them? Every min/maxer who operates within this very narrow margin. I always joke about Ensidia being the one guild who could find the random quest item that makes a boss fight trivial, but it really is no joking matter. When your position depends on your resourcefulness and your ability to completely maximize your character, that mob grind or expensive gem isn’t optional.
• Meters matter – No matter how team-focused the guild, the whole “the boss died, therefore we’re all winners” isn’t something top-end performers subscribe to. These are teams built around being the best and the fastest; these are players who, even in today’s ICC romp, use 2 speed/magic/armor/etc. pots on every boss kill. So like Cuties Only states in their app template, they’re only interested if you can meet or exceed their current players. If you’re “okay” or a “great team player”, you generally won’t make it in the front door. They’re not there to gear you up or carry you along; if you aren’t at their level at Day 1, you won’t be there for very long after that point.

Still Interested?

By now, some of you are probably thinking “blech”, in which case a hardcore progression-focused guild probably isn’t right for you. And that’s more than fine; if anything, it’s completely understandable. But for those of you still interested in progression raiding, suffice to say, you’ve a difficult road ahead of you. Finding your way into a Top 100 guild, nonetheless a Top 10, isn’t the easiest of tasks and can largely be based on luck. I say this because, in my experience, a good number of players get into top guilds through referrals—a friend from a guild back on Whatsit server made it into Uberleet and is willing to vouch for your skill—and/or by being in the right place at the right time. To this end, and I cannot stress this enough, networking is your ultimate friend. I actually wound up in my first Top 100 guild because a GM from a short-lived BC guild (one that I found based on trade chat recruitment) wound up in a guild that, in the middle of Ulduar, needed an infusion of Resto/Elemental skills, and he thought of me. (Thank you, Kurono/Jds). And although that guild disbanded about 4 months after that, I gained the hard mode credentials and performance logs while there to qualify me for entry into a higher level of play. If I never would have responded to that original call for newly-dinged level 70 healers looking to venture into BT, I would likely have had a different WotLK raiding experience; better or worse, I don’t know.

So now that I’ve completely turned everyone off on hardcore raiding, let me finish by saying that, without a doubt, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Yes it’s a time sink, yes it’s full of clashing personalities, and yes-yes-yes it’s stressful. I may not be climbing Everest, I may not be backpacking across the Outback, but the challenge of performing in an environment where seconds matter makes me that odd sort of player for whom hardcore, progression raiding is just as thrilling as any other adventure.

Leveling

A mounted combat quest in Hyjal

It’s with a red face that I’ll admit … I haven’t been as diligent with leveling as I imagined I would be when I first managed to wrangle an Alpha invite. With the distractions offered through Goblins, Worgen, my priest, flying in Old World (yes, I flew around almost every zone, I was so entranced with the new landscape), new instances (which sadly don’t award XP proportional to the number of times that you wipe) and my efforts on Live servers with 3 different raiding toons, poor Beta-Vixsin is only level 82, and slowly trudging her way onward to the new level cap. But, through all my involvement in Beta, both in the starting zones and post-80, I’ve had some surprising revelations about the Cataclysm leveling experience:

• Linear progression – Although this could change in the next patch or so, I’ve been surprised to discover that the new questlines implemented (both in new starting areas and 80+ zones) are surprisingly and refreshingly linear in nature, quickly moving you from one quest hub to the next. Quests, thus far at least, have been in direct proximity to their quest-giver, and gone are the days when a new hub had 15 quests for you to pick up all at once. In terms of a leveling experience, I can definitely say it’s an improvement; though on release night, I’m sure it will be a different story entirely!
• Clear Directives – Despite the fact that I’ve leveled a small army of characters to 80, there are still quests in the game that I have to read, re-read and tap into my rusty old memory to complete. Where was that item again? What special thing do I have to remember about this mob? Etc. But, through all my quest feedback in Beta, the one response that I’ve been giving quite often is that the quests are very easy to understand. Gone are the vague directions that oftentimes had me wandering around zones for upwards of 30 minutes, wondering who dropped the Chalice of Wonderful Stuffz that Joe Bob in Tanaris wanted. As an added bonus, quest hubs are nicely lumped together, with not much of the back and forth to the ends of the earth missions that we saw in the old world.
• Ima chargin my fireball – Shocking, mob health in the starting zones isn’t such that you’re left beating on them for hours in order to get a kill. As a n00b elemental shaman in a patchwork of ICC gear and tier, mobs are actually dying quite quickly, as in 2-3 hits, and named mobs fall over shortly after that. Although I’m not the masochist that Lodur is, (leveling as Resto …. the insanity!) having a second elemental spec and the gear to support it, is going a long way to getting me through the plethora of kill quests that populate various zones. And although Blizzard recently stated that mob health would be increased ~200%, I wouldn’t expect many of the starting zone mobs to pose any threat to your mana or HP.

Dungeons

The Stonecore (Levels 81 - 85)

Currently, there are 3 dungeons available to players to test—Throne of Tides (lvls 78 -83), Blackrock Caverns (lvls 78 – 83), and The Stonecore (lvls 81-85). All are available to players through the LFD tool, although upon my first wipe in Blackrock Caverns, I discovered why it might be a good idea for Blizzard to insist you visit the dungeon before being able to be ported there—if you wipe in an instance you’re never been to, it’s a little hard to find your body. There are also some additional things to keep in mind in these new instances:

• They aren’t designed to be LOL-AOE: My groups in all of these instances wiped repeatedly, horribly, and stupidly to a variety of effects which could have been avoided through CC, kill orders, interrupts, etc. While some groups took it in stride–this is the beta remember? things aren’t as fine-tuned as they would be on live–other groups stomped and fussed and name-called before dropping. And although I think there’s some tuning to be done before these dungeons go live, the point here is clear–don’t expect to breeze through them like you do ICC with a 30% buff.
• Brace yourself for a change: Although some tuning may be in order, it’s worth preparing yourself for it early–your uber levels of most stats will not be as inflated as they are today. While mana and health pools are larger, chances are you’ll see a shift in your stats and their respective values simply on the basis of normalization for level 85.
• Segmented boss fights: Of the dungeons that I’ve tested (and the bosses that have been available and unbuggy), I don’t think I’ve come across one straight tank-and-spank encounter. And while we’re not talking a mirror of the level of complexity that’s found in the LK fight, each boss requires a bit more participation than spamming “2″.

UI

An amazing, astounding, and generally wonderful change went into Beta with the last patch—a fabulous new party UI. Although it seems a bit disjointed from the raw UI we all love to hate, with its sleek party layout a la Grid or Vudho, I’m delighted to have something significantly more informative and visual to work with. As with most raid frame mods, names are displayed within party frames, along with a “power” bar at the bottom, displaying the characters’ rage, runic power, mana, energy or focus. Buff and debuffs appear on a middle row, although it quickly becomes overwhelmed. (And much like the Doodad door in Naxx, I’m hoping Blizzard chooses to leave in the very appropriate tag they’ve assigned to these “New Frames”. Heh)

"New Raid Frames" for Cataclysm

Save the Resto Shaman CD!

I wouldn’t be a Resto Shaman if I didn’t bring it up—the recent Twitter mention about our beloved Spirit Link has been the subject of more than one mini-rant for me over the past couple of days. For those of you hiding under a rock:

Q. Will Spirit Link make a return after all? Ghostcrawler mentioned he’d like to bring it back, but no sighting of it yet.

A. Anything’s possible, but at this point it isn’t looking good for our beloved talent…. If we changed it to be an absorb or a different sort of mechanic, then it wouldn’t be the iconic Spirit Link that we all remember from Warcraft III. But that core damage-sharing mechanic poses major design and balance challenges (e.g. does a rogue really want to start taking damage suddenly because the shaman in his group decided to link him to the tank?).

So while I’m very disappointed that I’ve once again fallen for the old Spirit Link bait-and-switch, I don’t think that Blizzard needs to scrap the idea entirely. As everyone agreed during the Shaman Roundtable, a CD would be a godsend for Restos, filling a gaping hole in our repertoire and giving us value (beyond mana tide) in hardmodes and progression encounters. Thinking about it on a recent drive into work, I came up with a couple alternates that might just fit the bill:

• Force of Nature – You call upon the elements to empower your Earth Shield with the forces of nature. While empowered, your ES increases the target’s armor by X% and resistances by #Y. 15sec duration, 5 min CD. When the forces of nature fade, the Shaman’s ES is consumed.
• Infusion of the Eternals – You call upon the ancestral spirits to infuse your target, increasing the target’s health by XX% and increasing healing taken by XX%. 15sec, 3 min CD.
• Ancient Protector’s Bond – You summon an ancient stone protector to aid the target. Damage incurred by the target over the next 15sec is split between the target and the protector. As his last act, after 10sec, 40% of the stone guardian’s remaining HP is transferred to the target. (The stone guardian would have ~60k HP, and take maybe 150% direct damage so he wouldn’t be incredibly hard to kill in PVP.)

To End with an Anecdote …

One of the things that I enjoyed doing while I was growing up, and still enjoy doing to this very day, is standing in a new home or building, where only the framing is in place, breathing in the smells of construction (wood, steel, earth, concrete), and imagining all of the potential of the space before it gets filled in with people and stuff. There’s a sort of zen feeling you get, combined with excitement and anticipation, like the feeling that comes with being a child with a box of crayons at your side and a line drawing in front of you. Sappy as it may seem, I can think of no better way to describe the feeling I get when I log onto WoW’s beta realm. Cataclysm, as it exists on those servers, is a world in flux (both lore-wise and quite literally). It is a world where the framework exists, but all of the nooks and crannies haven’t quite been filled in. And as stunning as it may be when it’s completed (and believe you me, the environments are breathtaking), I can’t say I won’t be slightly disappointed to lose that space where I can close my eyes and dream.

Because I’ve been in an audit mindframe for the last several weeks (a joy if there ever was one), it should be no surprise that at the announcement of the “new” talent trees, I jumped at the chance to provide some detailed commentary on the status of the resto spec and the relevance of its revised talents. For the sake of the review, I’m only going to only be addressing Resto talents, because although I will likely be taking Enhancement as a sub-spec, I see the value in developing Enhancement talents to suit Enhancement players first, and Restos/Elementals second.

Tier 1: 0 – 5 points (levels 10-17)

As a starting tier, designated by characters just getting into the Resto spec, these talents should provide some very basic healing buffs which aid these low level toons through questing and dungeons like RFC, WC, and Deadmines. Play at this level is very simple and talents should encourage players to explore their class and not overly punish them for making a “bad” choice.

• Ancestral Resolve – Although it features some interesting wording (“damage taken WHILE CASTING”) which would lead one to believe this talent would go hand-in-hand with pushback protection, which is now a base Resto skill, as a starter talent I think this is one most Restos will skip over until there’s a demonstrated need for the additional protection. At 10% damage reduction, this talent actually fares better than Elemental Warding’s 6% reduction, (which in my Ulduar days was almost a required talent for any raiding Elemental because of shamans’ comparatively low base HP.) However, with Shamans within reasonable range of other classes these days, I don’t see this talent holding much interest for raiders or for new players.
• Tidal Focus – In the mana conservation environment that Blizzard has been preaching about for Cataclysm raiding, I cannot imagine this talent being anything other than necessary for Resto shaman everywhere. And, given that I’ve recently been leveling another resto shaman (via LFD), I can say this easily-accessible reduction in mana cost will be a boon to healers just getting their bearings. In all, I think this is good placement for the talent and one that will be well-used by both new and veteran players alike.
• Spark of Life – When compared with its damage-reduction counterpart Ancestral Resolve, Spark of Life strikes me as an interesting approach to Resto Shaman survivability, which has been an issue on Shamans’ radars for almost the entire xpac. Keeping ourselves alive has always been particularly challenging given our single insta-cast and lack of personal survivability CD. So while I don’t think this talent will make or break any pressure situation, much in the way to Divinity doesn’t make or break a Paladin’s survival, I certainly won’t turn down an extra 1k direct healing on a Riptide or Unleash Weapon crit cast as I’m running out of fire. (It’s worth noting that this sort of easy “Increases Healing by X” talent exists in every healing tree, presumably so that healer output can be easily adjusted in the future).

Tier 2: 6 – 10 points (levels 18-27)

A second tier of points, these talents should aid players as they finish up the first quarter of levels. At this point, low level Restos will be encountering mana issues and will have very low levels of all supplemental stats (like crit and haste). Players at this level will be doing SFK, RFK, Gnomer and BFD

• Improved Water Shield – A must-have for any Resto Shaman, the value of Improved Water Shield has been irrefutable since the changes brought on with patch 3.2. And while we will be switching to a Spirit-based regen table in Cataclysm, I would be shocked to see anything take Water Shield’s place as our primary source of regen. The one thing left out of this talent revision is its relation to Greater Healing Wave and Unleash Weapon, but I would hope that both would fall under the “100% mana restore” rule. It’s also worth noting here that this talent, which is seemingly placed low in the tree because of its comparative value to other talents, is of almost no use to low-level Restos, who at this point have somewhere in the neighborhood of 5-10% crit. This talent might be better placed at a higher tier and replaced with Restorative Totems (because Call of Water is available at level 20).
• Totemic Focus – While the reduced mana cost of totem placement is a must-have for any Resto Shaman leveling in dungeons (since you have to redrop almost every pull), in end-game raiding this is largely a waste of points. As I mentioned in the Shaman Roundtable segment, PVE shamans rarely switch up their totems mid-fight as most crucial buffs/debuffs are constantly present through the encounter, so reduced mana cost at the onset of the pull is a non-issue. In PVP however, this talent proves its worth, allowing for some very involved totem-swapping without adversely affecting the Shaman’s mana bar. So while this may be a personal preference at end-game, this talent is at precisely the right location for leveling players.
• Focused Insight – When details of this spell were first released, I was excited to hear that Blizzard was working another dependency-based healing talent into the shaman arsenal to address some of the longevity problems we have when tank healing. So when I hopped into Beta and set up my Resto spec, I happily dropped points into it and went about my business. Until I realized that Unleash Weapon, the new Shaman judgement-esque talent, doesn’t count as a shock and therefore doesn’t proc Focused Insight; the only spells that will proc the effect are Frost Shock, Flame Shock and Earth Shock (I’m unsure if Wind Shear does, because *bashful* I forgot to test it.) I’m not so much disappointed about the loss of a mana CD, but rather the loss of another supplement to the Shaman’s arsenal. I had forseen an environment where you would turn to Unleash Weapon instead of Riptide when mana was tight, and then switch back to Riptide when you needed the additional healing and/or hot effect. Similarly, with Spiritwalker’s Grace on a 3-min CD, using Unleash Weapon while moving out of fire would help balance out your need to move with a buff to your next healing spell. Instead, I think I’m largely going to discount this talent as PVP only, since the loss of a GCD prior to casting a necessary heal isn’t a gamble that I’ll be willing to take on progression encounters (which is when the mana cost reduction would be most welcome).

Tier 3: 11 – 15 points (levels 28-37)

By these levels, players have received a basic introduction to their spec of choice and identify either as a tank, healer or dps. So, this third tier is where players should start seeing talents which indicate the underlying stat characteristics of their spec and their class. This is where you should start to feel like you’re a Resto Shaman and not just a healer.

• Ancestral Awakening – Although my first Resto builds in Wrath excluded this talent, I’ve since come to appreciate the supplemental heal provided by AA. Although it proves a great deal more effective at high levels of crit (naturally, it didn’t perform too well in the early days of Naxx, when Shaman were ~20-25%), it consistently provides about 8-10% overall healing on fights where RT/LHW/HW factor heavily into my rotation. However, I see two main issues going forward with AA: first is that in the great purge, shaman lost two talents (Tidal Mastery and Thundering Strikes) which provided a 10% crit to boost AA’s performance. Thus, unless these crit values are made up elsewhere, Shaman will effectively be back at Naxx levels of crit and thus see significantly reduced contributions from AA healing. Secondarily, and this is more of a design critique, I have a major issue with healing talent existing in a world of “triage” where the healer cannot control the target of the heal. As we’ve seen with trinket procs like Althor’s Abacus, the benefits of this type of heal are greatly situational and can result in a complete waste of the proc if your initial cast does not align with incoming damage. Instead, I would highly advocate changing AA to an effect similar to Reign of the Dead, where a crit direct heal will proc a stacking buff on the Resto, which could then either be accumulated or instantly cast on a target of the Healer’s choosing. Yes, it would require more management, but would provide a supplemental and variable mini-CD for shamans to insert into their rotation (similar to the variability introduced with Elemental’s Lava Surge or Paladins’ Holy Power).
• Nature’s Swiftness – I’m actually surprised that this talent made the cut when Blizzard went through with their sweeping renovation of trees, because if ever there was a talent aside from Mana Tide that the absolute majority of shamans feel obliged to spec into, it’s Nature’s Swiftness. Prior to Riptide it was our only way to gain an instant-cast, and currently it is relegated to many Shamans’ macro pages, to be used in case of an Emergency which never develops. It is the essence of a begrudgingly-taken mandatory talent, one that sees so little play time as to render it almost useless but which Restos largely take because popular perception holds it to be necessary. Much as Swfitmend was moved to a base Resto druid talent, or Paladins’ LoH is a trainable ability, so too do I think it’s time to retire Nature’s Swiftness from the Resto Shaman tree and make it something that we don’t have to waste a point in any more.
• Ancestral Healing – In line with the issues that Ancestral Awakening will see in light of reduced crit values, Ancestral Awakening is also in line to suffer a slight setback. In my current gear healing LK25 HM, I can generally maintain about 80-90% buff uptime on the tank, even when he isn’t my primary healing assignment. This sort of uptime wasn’t possible in Ulduar or Naxx, because again, general crit levels were simply too low. Moving forward into Cataclysm, I’m not sure I understand why it would be acceptable for a 15% damage reduction to be at anything less than 90% uptime, especially if the lack of the buff would equate to an additional 6k damage on a 40k hit, because that’s not a paltry difference. In terms of placement in the tree, I think it could be swapped with Nature’s Blessing, because the latter talent would provide more of a benefit to low-level players and encourage new Restos to start keeping ES up on tanks.

Tier 4: 16 – 20 points (levels 38 – 47)

By level 40, players are really starting to come into their own in terms of class mechanics. If they managed to survive the drudgery of SM Graveyard over and over again in LFD, and they’re still interested in playing at all, chances are they see some potential in the spec they’ve chosen.

• Improved Chain Heal – As so many other trees had their talents pruned of bonuses like Improved Chain Heal, I’m ashamed to say that the distinction of this talent’s inclusion didn’t make much sense to me until I ranted about it to a friend. This sage player pointed out to me that with elemental and resto sharing the same stat preferences, Improved Chain Heal was the only talent which made a Resto’s CH better than an Elemental’s CH. And after I picked myself up off the floor, I realized that he was right, and the question became more—why is this the only talent which separates offspec and mainspec Chain Heals? While I might have once acknowledged the need for hybrid classes to be somewhat viable when tossing out a heal or two, today’s specialization I think further emphasizes the need for distinction between specs. That the difference between a Resto CH and an Elemental CH boils down to one talent, seems a bit too narrow of a margin. It additionally seems disjointed to me to be able to pick up Improved Chain Heal before you can even train Chain Heal at level 40, thus making the “Improved” version baseline for every Resto who chooses it at that level.
• Restorative Totems – Back in early 2009, if memory serves, there was some discussion about the merging of Mana Spring and Healing Stream into one Restorative Totem. While the implementation of the concept never came to pass, I think the Resto community was almost overwhelmingly behind the merge, because although it eliminates the complicated evaluation of whether or not the group has Imp Wisdom, what it did was reinforce the idea that Healing Stream (like Judgement of Light) was a viable part of a Resto’s healing arsenal and should be a constant buff. When the subject came up recently during RaidWarning’s Shaman Roundtable, Healing Stream was one of those spells that I brought up as needing serious attention, if for no other reason than this: right now HS is stuck in an odd limbo of being a heal that you don’t quite need but which *should* be contributing to your healing numbers. As a hot, it’s underwhelming (which maybe won’t be the case in Cataclysm) but the loss of a HS totem is never a big deal unless you’re doing Heroic Anub in ToGC. The 5% buff that HS received in the recent tree revisions does nothing to either reinforce the fact that HS is a spell that Restos shouldn’t count on or suggest that it is something that provides a viable benefit to the party.
• Blessing of the Eternals – Another spell which contributed to Shamans’ increased crit chance, I was a little surprised to see Blessing of the Eternals’ description remain intact despite the loss of both Tidal Mastery and Thundering Strikes. As a straight crit modifier, it would seem the ideal place to roll in some of the crit lost through the tree cleansing, and provide a boost to lower level shamans still suffering from depressed stat values. As a buff to low-health targets, I would in fact argue that the threshold of 35% is too low to benefit from the increased chance to proc Earthliving, because the benefit of Earthliving is the hot that’s applied and allowed to tick. However, at <35% HP, a player moves in most healers’ eyes, from the secondary list to a priority position, a move that generally results in the play receiving an influx of heals, which makes the Earthliving hot almost complete overhealing. Thus, most players often take this talent for the pure stat value, and largely ignore its effect on Earthliving. In terms of placement in the Resto tree, it seems an ideal place to give shaman a stat boost prior to the big jump they receive when they enter into Outlands.
• Nature’s Guardian – Since I rolled Resto, I have always regarded Nature’s Guardian as a talent that with a split personality—the first half of the description alluding to PVP and the second half of the description addressing PVE. While the HP boost and threat dump were my saving grace a number of times in TK, with healer threat now a non-issue in raiding, the talent seems more suited to a PVP environment. And yet threat reduction is lost in Battleground or Arena play, and thus, Nature’s Guardian remains an odd talent which attempts to provide both PVP and PVE benefits without actually providing benefits to either.

Tier 5: 21 – 25 points (levels 48 – 57)

The last levels spent in the Old World, this segment will find players approaching the second half of their talents. They’ll be making their way through a number of the revamped level 50+ dungeons while preparing for the foray into Outlands.

• Improved Cleanse Spirit – I think the dispel debate raged on for long enough when announced, so in atypical fashion, I’m going to leave this talent along and say that I hope old world dungeons are being retuned to address the proliferation of magic-removing talents and the loss of poison- and disease-cleansing, because there are a good number of lowbie instances with some very rough diseases and poisons.
• Mana Tide – Similar to Nature’s Swiftness, this is another talent in the Resto tree which I’m surprised survived the talent tree edits. As a mandatory Resto talent—since we have no other source of on-demand regen or mana-cost reduction CD—Mana Tide was almost the only viable reason why progression guilds took Shaman to Ulduar hard modes. (Yes, those were some dark days for us). To date, I have not met or spoken with a Resto Shaman who skips this talent on the basis that “mana isn’t an issue”. Like NS, I see no reason that Mana Tide remains a talent that Restos are obliged to spec into, when all other healing classes are awarded their regen sources via class trainers. Maintaining the epic feel of “Ooooooh Mana Tide” could easily be accomplished through yet another totem quest. (Wait, did I really just suggest that? Ugh >.<)
• Nature’s Blessing – I must admit, I was equal parts excited and disappointed to see this remake of Glyph of Lesser Healing Wave find its way into the Resto talent tree. My excitement stemmed from the idea that it seems Shamans are being boosted on their single-target healing output, which furthers our position as viable alternates to Paladin tank-healers. However, what I found disappointing about this talent was that it was so high up in the tree that it felt isolated from Earth Shield, which is now being made available to Shamans at level 10. As I mentioned previously, I think there’s a wonderful opportunity to be had by switching the placement of Nature’s Blessing and Ancestral Healing and thus making this talent available sooner to Restos without impacting overall choices within the tier.

Tier 5: 26 – 30 points (levels 58 – 67)

The level before the final tier, these talents should introduce core talents and emphasize the general healing approach of the class. By this time, a seasoned healer will have developed a good understanding of basic mechanics and should be moving on to fine tuning their various healing “rotations”.

• Tidal Waves – Arguably, one of the greatest buffs to shaman’s ability to tank heal was the inclusion of Tidal Waves into the talent tree. By providing us with a way to segregate our heals into a low end, middle, and high end spectrum by way of the Tidal Waves buff, Restos had a more diverse array of choices. In addition, the distinction of a crit buff to LHW meant that Shaman had a very mana-efficient go-to tank heal that they could depend on, unlike the mana sink that HW continues to be. It’s worth noting that the design of Tidal Waves is such that it buffs only one side of shaman healing, while neglecting to address raid healing (which at the time of development of WotLK talents, Shaman needed absolutely no boost to doing). Regardless, Tidal Waves provides a solid boost where one was decidedly needed, and its placement in the talent tree assures that up-and-coming shamans gain exposure to its effects long before they’re asked to master its uptime. (One minor note is that in the absence of Improved Healing Wave, Healing Wave and Greater Healing Wave will be 3sec base casts, 2.1sec with Tidal Waves up. As a healer starting out in dungeons, you’d better start casting that heal when the tank pulls, because by the time it lands, the tank will likely be at 20% HP.)
• Telluric Currents – Being so deep in the Resto tree (available at a minimum level of 59), I think it’s safe to assume that this talent is intended to be more geared towards high level and end-game players, than it is the Resto attempting to level through questing. On that basis, it strikes me as odd that the problem that this talent addresses is not a resto shaman’s ability to cause damage, which suffers incredibly from our lack of hit and lack of modifiers, but rather the mana impacts of a dpsing Resto. So, while this talent might provide some benefit to the Resto who outgears an instance and is looking to pass the time, the value of the 2 point investment to anyone else seems to be almost zero. (What confuses me further is the incorporation of these healer-as-dps talents in only 2 of the 5 viable healing trees—weren’t all healers supposed to have the option of dpsing when bored?)L2 look at trees more closely, Vixsin.

Tier 6: 31 points (level 68+)

At this point in the leveling experience, healers are faced with a crossroads of sorts as they finally acquire their spec’s ultimate talent and are then faced with deciding if their investment of time was worth it. Now that trees are locked until the 31-point investment, players are set to be looking forward to this level of play for the 67 preceding levels; this talent should convince them that they made the right choice and that playing a Resto Shaman is the best thing since cake. And so they can finally get:

• Riptide

Brace yourself; I have a lot to say about this one …

By design, Resto Shaman are one of the only caster classes in game where throughput is limited by cast time and not by any other supplemental issues like GCD management, Spell CDs, AOE caps, etc. Healing Wave was our only spell which saw its cast time reduced through talents. Thus, as we saw at the end of ICC, haste stacking became the approach most shaman took to increase their HPS and prove themselves as viable healers in an instant-cast dominated raid healing environment or in a long-bomb tank-healing scenario. It was for this reason that 2pc T10 became an incredible boost for Resto Shaman, its haste contribution finally allowing us to drop CH down below 1.6sec and have HW approach a 1sec cast. In fact, despite previous tiers’ attempts to bolster the use of RT, it was really only when the additional haste component was added that you saw Shaman start talking about RT’s increased value in a healing rotation.

Thus, at its most powerful, RT is a lead-in, a spell used to keep up Tidal Waves, boost our sinlge-target healing numbers, and in some cases, provide that extra bit of oomph to Chain Heal. But its blessing is also a curse (as Holy Paladins will attest to with Holy Shock); a 1-sec lead in is oftentimes too great a cost for the fast response time necessary in progression encounters and PVP. Thus, at its best (in a spot- or tank-healing encounter), RT is your lead-off spell, and at its worst (in a raid-focused environment), RT is near useless. (Upon first acquiring my t10 4pc bonus, I made this spreadsheet showing the comparative value of spells in a variety of encounters. Bearing in mind that this was before the 10% buff, the max sampled EHPS of RT was ~480 in BQ, when compared with ~600 of Chained Heal and ~5000 of Chain Heal, in the same encounter.)

As much as I hate to provide class-to-class comparisons, when it comes to our “penultimate Resto” talent, I feel it’s slightly justified. Historically speaking, looking at the contributions of other healers’ top-tier talents–including: Divine Illumination, Tree of Life, Power Word Barrier, and Guardian Spirit, and formerly Wild Growth and Beacon of Light—you’re looking at very powerful HPS or CD-focused spells. And while I still think Divine Illumination falls short of the “defining” healing talent we see with other classes, Riptide falls even shorter as a situational, low-throughput, commensalistic talent.

This 31-point talent was an excellent place for Spirit Link—be it a constant buff like Beacon or a powerful CD like Divine Sacrifice—and when it was scrapped late into WotLK beta, I understood that another easy stand-in was needed. I don’t doubt that Riptide was given serious consideration and a lot of design attention, and I think it was worth the effort. But now, after an entire xpac of testing, with development time in hand, I think it’s time to finally acknowledge that Resto Shaman are in need of a helping hand, a way to handle those “oh shyte” moments that can make or break healers. Resto druids actually suffered from a similar problem through this xpac, not having any CDs to provide them with a way to burst during intense healing environments. And while they may not appreciate the loss of an iconic tree form, the revamped Tree of Life fills a solid hole in their ability to address stressful healing periods. With Spirit Link back again on the “highly unlikely” list, I fear my pessimism is starting to get the better of me, as I look at an expac where Shaman once again are the odd healer out. Because as of this point, when the stuff hits the fan, I have absolutely nothing to offer a tank or teammate aside from my condolences. And that is a very unfun situation to be in.

In Summary

As a first pass, I think the Resto talent tree addresses some of the necessary talents that make it possible for Restos to serve as the swing hitter they’ve been for the latter portion of Wrath. But, aside from the continued lack of any Resto healing CD, what concerns me most of all is the absence of talents which support our raid healing role, save the inclusion of Improved Chain Heal. (I’ve not been able to test Healing Rain in a raid environment, so I’m undecided about its potential). Resto Shaman, at least from my biased perspective, came into their own this xpac, transitioning from the days of Chain Heal spam into a more nuanced class, capable of filling the holes in any healing team from the perspective of one single spec. But I wonder in this new role, if we’re suffering unduely for being a jack-of-all-trades. And while I always relish the challenge to earn and keep a raid spot, there is a certain amount of frustration (and a genuine lack of comfort) that comes from having to deal with the perception of a class as “unnecessary”. Because the unfortunate thing is, when you can cover every role, you generally excel at none.