Review of the Restoration Shaman Changes in Patch 11.0.5 - Guide Writer Feedback

Restoration Shamans have been highly coveted in Mythic+ since the War Within launch, and they'll be getting an extra coat of polish in Patch 11.0.5. Our Restoration Shaman Writer, Theun, discusses the changes in Patch 11.0.5 including talents, Ascendance, Chain Heal, and more.

Restoration Shaman Guide

Our Class Writers share their expert opinions based on rigorous testing and theorycrafting in hopes of contextualizing the changes coming in future patches of the War Within. Check out all of our released editorials in our new Editorial Section.

Wowhead Editorials

What is Coming in 11.0.5

Restoration Shaman is shaping up to be a very popular healer in Season 1 of The War Within, largely thanks to its abundance of utility. While there aren't many changes for the spec coming in 11.0.5, one of them is quite significant and should be a pretty substantial power increase for the spec. There are 2 key class changes coming to Restoration Shaman in 11.0.5, as well as some new Ascendance forms coming as Glyphs which is detailed here.

New Talent: Coalescing Water

Coalescing Water is a new talent that connects Tidebringer and High Tide for 1 talent point. If you've played Restoration Shaman at all throughout Season 1 thus far, you'll know that High Tide is a staple in a lot of our builds. In 11.0.2, taking High Tide had some drawbacks, as neither Wavespeaker's Blessing or Ancestral Awakening interacted with Chain Heal, and neither were super strong talents on their own. This was an okay tradeoff, as High Tide is a super potent capstone talent, so spending 2 talent points on something like Ancestral Awakening which doesn't give you a lot of throughput was still worthwhile.

Come 11.0.5, Restoration Shamans will no longer need to make that tradeoff and will even free up a talent point in the process. Coalescing Water only costs 1 talent point, which means getting High Tide is now cheaper, and Coalescing Water actually buffs builds that occasionally cast Chain Heal — Read more on wowhead.com