The Egregious Classic Resto Shaman Progressive Best in Slot (BiS)

It is important to understand that MP5 and +healing solve different problems for the Resto Shaman. Utilize more MP5 on long encounters or in situations where your downtime will be restricted due to an aggressive pace or enforced objective within your party or raid (see speed running). Utilize more +healing to maximize your impact in short encounters or in situations where you are comfortable with your mana management. By the time you reach BWL it becomes impossible to avoid certain amounts of MP5 and essentially solves the question of which stat to focus on.

I find it is almost universally a bad idea to use pieces with only MP5 in the early game as encounters are too brief and, even when speed running, there are enough windows to drink for a few ticks and you can always abuse flask twisting. Later content, or in instances where you will be in combat for over 10 minutes, you can consider using pure MP5 items.

Some notes:

• Ideally you carry as much gear as you can for set swapping in raid
• “Or” items exist as backups
• Get every single trinket you can lay your hands on
• All the items that are listed with (Phase X) at the end of a line are upgrades for the items they precede
• Explanation of T2 3pce and T2.5 5pc at end
• Phases are marked by number

Pre-Raid BiS – Phase 1

Prioritize +healing pieces over MP5. Get MP5 pieces as backup if your raid struggles on some encounters.

MC BiS – Phase 1

T1 8pc is a viable set ideally for MT/OT healing and can be utilized throughout Classic. Especially useful if your roster lacks Priest/Druid tank healers. If you have Crystal Adorned Crown, it is better than Helm of the Lifegiver.

Pre-Raid BiS – Phases 2-6

• MP5 is backup for when encounters are longer than your normal +healing gear can sustain.
• More hybrid pieces of +healing and MP5 exist in later phases and are great options for an up and coming Resto.

MC BiS – Phases 2-6

• Both Crystal Adorned Crown and Deviate Growth Cap are better than Helm of the Lifegiver
• Hibernation Crystal is not listed in trinkets but is now #3 BiS

BWL BiS – Phase 3

If you aren’t using T1 8pc, maintain T2 3pc

• Only use T2 3pc, pick the better OR option as your off piece
• Both Crystal Adorned Crown and Deviate Growth Cap are better than Helm of the Lifegiver. Swap Helmet of Ten Storms for Breastplate of Ten Storms to keep 3pc and use either WB helm
• Hibernation Crystal is not listed in trinkets but is now #3 BiS

AQ40 BiS – Phase 5

If you aren’t using T1 8pc, maintain T2 3pc. Select which pieces of T2 to wear based off of the gear available to you.

• Throughput Trinkets are selected for maximum HPS potential
• Utility Trinkets are for encounter-specific needs
• Crystal Adorned Crown is better than Don Rigoberto’s Lost Hat from a pure output perspective
• Both WB helms and Don Rigs can be considered on par and are down to player preference
• Hibernation Crystal is not listed in trinkets but is now #3 BiS

Naxx BiS – Phase 6

If you aren’t using T1 8pc, maintain T2 3pc. Select which pieces of T2 to wear based off of the gear available to you.

• Throughput Trinkets are selected for maximum HPS potential
• Utility Trinkets are for encounter-specific needs
• Crystal Adorned Crown is better than Don Rigoberto’s Lost Hat from a pure output perspective
• Both WB helms and Don Rigs can be considered on par and are down to player preference
• Hibernation Crystal is not listed in trinkets but is now #3 BiS

Highest +heal Sets

These are the highest +heal options in the game for players who are not using T2.5 or want to direct tank heal without T1 8pc. These items are selected using only the highest possible +heal value and do not take into consideration any other useful stats.

Tier 2, 3-Piece Explained

T2 3pce is mandatory in PvE from the first day you get it until the end of Vanilla. Primarily you will be utilizing the helmet-of-ten-storms, bracers-of-ten-storms and gauntlets-of-ten-storms.

However, I consider the set to be split into three tiers of priority:

• Priority 1: Get all 4 for gear swapping
  • helmet-of-ten-storms
  • bracers-of-ten-storms
  • gauntlets-of-ten-storm
  • belt-of-ten-storms
• Priority 2:
  • breastplate-of-ten-storms
  • greaves-of-ten-storms
• Priority 3:
  • epaulets-of-ten-storms
  • legplates-of-ten-storms

Priority 1 of the set will be the most valuable items with the highest amount of useful stats when building out your gear set. The priority 2 items of the set are mediocre options but, if they are what is available to you, definitely get them should they drop and you don’t have 3pc. T2 Chest is a funky option if you have a BiS belt & helm option (see Corehound and Crystal Adorned Crown or other top end helm) and can be utilized for raw stats and a decent healing bonus. Finally, the priority 3 options of the set are awful for PvE and should be avoided as much as possible.

Tier 2.5 Explained

T2.5 5pc must be used in conjunction with T2 3pc and can be used once equipped for the remainder of Classic while primarily utilizing CH. This means that, if you are gearing in MC/BWL toward future AQ/Naxx content, you will want to obtain the T2 Bracers, Belt and Gloves as early as possible and leave the other T2 and non-set BiS options for the other Shaman in your raid.

T2.5 5pc is an alternative style of Shaman healing similar to T1 8pc. Your CH is now on a different cast interval than all the other slow heals in the game. While in Classic there are technically 5 distinct cast intervals; instant for NS heals or PWS, 1.5 sec, 2.1 sec, 2.5 sec and 3 sec you will most often encounter only the 1.5 and 2.5 sec cast intervals and will likely never see players, hopefully should never see players, using a 3 sec single target heal. The introduction of this new cast interval allows you to operate in between other healer’s slow cast intervals and address damage more immediately. This set will be most valuable for the more aggressive paced Shaman who is also adept at mana management. I would not recommend using this set if you are not prepared to be or are not already the Shaman who burns MMPs and Runes on trash as you will suffer the haste drawback to HPM.

Equipping this set means you will be sacrificing anywhere between 100 and 230 +healing compared to the non T2.5 Shaman. You will also output a greater number of CHs within a given time frame further complicating mana management. I outlined two potential BiS sets, one using T2.5 and one without, and drew up some numbers in the Shaman Throughput and Efficiency Calculator.

In summary, assuming all other factors are equal, T2.5 outperform non T2.5 by between 2 to 7% over a 60 second period depending on the rank of CH used. The set will only concretely outperform a non T2.5 Shaman after 25.2 seconds of continuous casting. Prior to that time each set outperforms the other when viewing combat time from the perspective of the set’s cast interval. This is to say the T2.5 set will be ahead after 3 casts every 2.1 seconds whereas a non T2.5 Shaman will be ahead on every cast up to the 25th second every 2.5 seconds. Keep this in mind when considering the value of T2.5 for you and your raid. This information is on the theoretical side assuming all things are equal between players; however, in practice a T2.5 Shaman can net a significantly higher margin than 7% when compared to their co-healers.