Cataclysm Beta: Build 12942 restoration shaman changes
by Joe Perez 
Sep 10th 2010 at 11:00PM
A new build for the Cataclysm beta has gone live and with it have come some changes for the restoration shaman. Build 12942 includes a few tweaks to existing talents and spells, with some powers being adjusted and some simply being renamed. Nothing terribly earth-shattering or devastating -- but it has been a while since restoration shaman have really gotten any adjustments on the beta.
So let's take a look, shall we?
So let's take a look, shall we?
- Cleansing Waters When your Cleanse Spirit successfully removes a harmful effect, you also heal the target for 1,341 to 1,462. Up from 958 to 1,039.
- Blessing of the Eternals No longer grants spell critical strike rating.
- Purification Now also reduces the casting time of your Healing Wave and Greater Healing Wave spells by 0.5 sec.
- Soothing Rains Name changed from Restorative Totems to Soothing Rains. Increases the amount healed by your Healing Stream Totem by 25/50%, and your Healing Rain spell by 15/30%.
- Healing Surge Name changed from Lesser Healing Wave to Healing Surge.
Blessing of the Eternals' no longer granting spell critical strike is par for the course at this point. There has a been a big movement to remove our passive critical strike bonus, so this just seems to make sense. Purification's reducing the cast time of both Healing Wave and Greater Healing Wave is very nice and gives both spells a little push, since HW is the staple go-to heal and GHW is the big nuke in our arsenal. Any reduction in cast time is a good thing.
Soothing Rains replaces Restorative Totems and now offers a boost to Healing Rain. That 30 percent buff looks like it could be quite nice. I haven't had a chance to test it out yet, but I plan on it as soon as possible.
The last noted change is a bit of a rename and one that confuses me slightly. Lesser Healing Wave will now be known as Healing Surge. I don't really know why they changed the name, as the effect has not been altered. Seems almost silly, especially for a spell that has been around for as long as it has been.
In addition to these changes, we also got a sneak peak at the tier 11 set bonuses for the restoration armor.
- Item -- Shaman T11 Restoration 2P Bonus Increases the critical strike chance of your Healing Wave spell by 5%.
- Item -- Shaman T11 Restoration 4P Bonus Grants 540 Spirit for 6 sec after you cast Riptide
That is all of the changes for restoration shaman this beta build, and as you can see, there isn't anything really earth-shattering about this set of changes. It's mostly some minor tweaks with a couple of good cookies thrown in. Keep in mind that the game is still in a beta phase, and this information may change at any time. Be sure to check back here at WoW.com for our Cataclysm beta coverage, as we keep you up to date on any changes that occur.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Natsumi Sep 10th 2010 11:14PM
I may have to dust off my Resto Shammy again. WotLK wasn't fun to heal and I got stuck at level 72 XP
Mike Sep 10th 2010 11:36PM
Funny, wrath, and in particular Resto, got me into healing :P
Sciarc Sep 11th 2010 1:03AM
Hmm, I thought resto healing in wrath was a blast. /shrug
Natsumi Sep 11th 2010 4:33AM
For some reason I had more fun healing in BC than Wrath, maybe it was the lack of non-tank DKs trying to tank in DPS gear :p
Myst Sep 12th 2010 1:54AM
That's interesting that you didn't care for it, WoLK actually got me to switch my main from a hunter to a resto shammy.
Mike Sep 10th 2010 11:19PM
I think they thought the name "Lesser" Healing Wave was confusing when it healed for more than Healing Wave. This wasn't really a problem with Flash Heal/Flash of Light/Regrowth.
Noah Sep 11th 2010 12:14AM
Exactly, in this case the spell is no longer a "lesser" one, but now a powerful, mana-destroying one.
Brett Porter Sep 11th 2010 10:20AM
Personally, I like the change. I think it will help those new to shammy healing; it makes it sound like, "this is something that will heal right now!" perfectly in line with what Blizz wants it to be, an emergency heal.
Plus I always thought it was boring, when you have Heal, Small Heal and Big Heal. I like having different names. The only healing spells left that is just GHW and Greater Heal for Priests. Hopefully they'll get flashy new names as well?
Mike Sep 11th 2010 10:31AM
Greater Heal makes sense in the Priest toolkit, since they have so many Heals. I would like to see Greater Healing Wave renamed. Maybe something like Healing Deluge?
Healing Surge - quick, big
Healing Wave - slow, soothing, common
Healing Deluge - slow, big
Hm, I think I like that a lot actually. I'm going to go post that on the forums now! Anyone who sees this and agrees (or has a better name!), find my post, by Shoqua.
Vogie Sep 11th 2010 2:58PM
I'm kinda sad they went with surge.
I was really hoping for Healing Splash.
Surge would be a great name for Greater Healing Wave.
Now all resto needs is a minor glyph to turn it's spell animations blue, and it'll be the perfect healing spec.
Gigafreak Sep 12th 2010 9:34AM
Wasn't Healing Surge a term used in Dungeons and Dragons, actually? They're like a kind of "Heal fuel" consumed each time a character receives healing effects, in order to limit the number of heals they receive each day. This prevents players from overcoming boss fights through zerg-spam-healing. (Yes, I am a nerd, and I hang around other nerds. And they play D&D.)
Perhaps it's an appropriate name, considering "Lesser Healing Wave" is extremely limited by mana, and it'd be a bad idea to spam it.
Mike Sep 12th 2010 9:37AM
@Gigafreak Actually, D&D was also my first thought :). Like you, it seems, I don't play D&D, but have lots of friends who do.
alpha5099 Sep 11th 2010 12:47AM
Mike above probably has the right idea, given the changes to LHW, it's really not "Lesser" in any significant way.
Another possibility is that it might be part of Blizzard's plan to make everything a bit more intuitive, particularly for new players. Imagine your leveling a shaman, hell any class at all for the first time, and after 19 levels of Healing Wave, you get Lesser Healing Wave. If you're going solely by the name (and I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of new players didn't scrutinize tooltips that much; hell, sometimes I'm surprised by tooltips still), it sounds kind of useless. Look at it from a DPS perspective, if at 20 I picked up Lesser Lightning Bolt, would I have much incentive to downgrade from the Lightning Bolt I know and love?
It sounds a little silly, but Healing Surge likely better job of distinguishing itself as a useless but situational heal in the Resto toolbox.
alpha5099 Sep 11th 2010 12:55AM
This isn't a Resto specific issue in the new build, but it will likely affect all the specs, and I'm pissed about it:
The nerf to Ghost Wolf.
For some ridiculous reason, Ghost Wolf has had its movement speed reduced to 30%. Alright, you might say, so it's kinda sucky, but you can always use the redesigned Ghost Wolf glyph, get yourself back up to the speed on live. It's not fun to need to use a glyph to counteract a nerf, but it's not the end of the world.
Except, the Glyph of Ghost Wolf's also gotten nerfed, and it only gives us a 5% speed increase. I would really love an explanation as to how Ghost Wolf was too fast at 40%. Particularly as I've compared it with our neighbors the Druids' Travel Form, which remains at 40%. I think I'd be more fine with this if Travel Form were undergoing a similar nerf. Yes, Ghost Wolf will work indoors now, but I hardly see how we needed to be nerfed.
I was so excited about the redesigned Glyph of Ghost Wolf last week, and Blizzard has seen to it to make one of my favorite Shaman spells worse. You can cruel, Blizzard. You can be very cruel.
mpmoore84 Sep 11th 2010 1:46AM
Well... at least you'll be able to run back after a wipe quicker than everyone else... ha
AltairAntares Sep 11th 2010 4:29AM
Druids can only use travel form outside, and as far as I know this isn't changing unlike shamans.
Yttarion Sep 11th 2010 4:33AM
Im guessing LHW got renamed because... it's not actually THAT much 'lesser' than HW itself. It heals for roughly the same amount, just with a shorter cast time and massive increase on mana cost. The 'Lesser' tag didnt seem to make a great deal of sense. Healing Surge, on the other hand, fits the spell (and its intended use) nicely -- a quick, expensive heal.
I like the cross-over to D&D terminology, also XD
Magicslime Sep 11th 2010 7:43AM
I thought LSW got renamed because priest's have their heals gain new ranks, and switch to a new one. So a lesser heal is less powerful than heal, and greater heal. Blizzard probably wants to make the naming system more standardized.
Merinna Sep 11th 2010 7:48AM
Missed the removal of Improved Chain Heal from the tree. So, that's 20% off our iconic heal. Putting the buff over to Healing Rains, I think they are trying to make our two AoEs a bit closer to equal but with different niches.
That said, does anybody have much experience with Healing Rains yet. I have heard it described as a similar amount of healing as a Healing Stream totem. Only Rains has a huge mana cost and only lasts 10 seconds. Since I have never relied on the totem to save anybody's life in a fight, I just don't quite get the feel for why I would use Rains.
Honestly, too, I know I haven't been able to try it and the Developers aren't idiots, but I would really love to hear some Healing Rains experiences
bighappo Sep 11th 2010 1:24PM
The question that I want to know is when do we get our big tank shielding spell. If they want us to be able to fill in all roles like all the other healers, that should be the next thing on the list. I understand the shuffle around with the heals but that is the one thing that seems to be making us fall behind is the "that dps tank is about to take 50k, how can i make it a little less ugly" button. Earth shield is good unless your meat shield takes a one shot kill lol. I figured that was what spirit link was going to do to us but with that being removed i'm still waiting for the oh Sh#@ fixer.