Totem Talk: Restoration gets buffed edition
by Joe Perez 
Feb 22nd 2011 at 2:00PM
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Totem Talk for elemental, enhancement and restoration shaman. Want to be a sultan of swing healing? A champion of Chain Heal? Totem Talk: Restoration, brought to you by Joe Perez (otherwise known as Lodur from World of Matticus and co-host of the Raid Warning podcast), shows you how.
Last week, we talked about healing post patch 4.0.6. I shared with you my experiences healing after our initial tweaks, and you were kind enough to share your experiences as well. It was interesting to see how everyone is handling the changes and how their healing has changed, if at all.
This week, I was going to go back into our normally scheduled posts, but as seems par for the course lately, Blizzard has seen fit to throw at us another set of changes. We're a healing class in flux right now, there is no denying it, and we're going to be going through a lot of changes in the weeks to come. Now, while Matt Low already discussed some of our changes and I've talked about it a bit elsewhere, I thought this week we could take some time and talk about it a little further and get your opinions on it from the one place it really counts: the shaman!
Last week, we talked about healing post patch 4.0.6. I shared with you my experiences healing after our initial tweaks, and you were kind enough to share your experiences as well. It was interesting to see how everyone is handling the changes and how their healing has changed, if at all.
This week, I was going to go back into our normally scheduled posts, but as seems par for the course lately, Blizzard has seen fit to throw at us another set of changes. We're a healing class in flux right now, there is no denying it, and we're going to be going through a lot of changes in the weeks to come. Now, while Matt Low already discussed some of our changes and I've talked about it a bit elsewhere, I thought this week we could take some time and talk about it a little further and get your opinions on it from the one place it really counts: the shaman!
What's the hubbub, bub?
So if you haven't heard, we got ourselves a blue post indicating that even after patch 4.0.6, Blizzard isn't quite happy with how restoration shaman are performing. While we got a bit of a boost and could certainly push some good numbers, the tweaks did not have the desired effect Blizzard had planned on.
NethaeraSince the release of patch 4.0.6, we've been keeping an eye on healers and how they are performing and are currently in the process of making some additional adjustments.
Shaman
We are also applying a hotfix for Purification for the Restoration shaman passive from 10% to 25%. We think that shaman healing per second is not as competitive with other healers and while we hoped to bring down Holy priest and Holy paladins (in particular) in 4.0.6, which we did, shaman still appear to be behind. In this case, it is simply easier to buff Restoration shaman rather than nerf everyone else or rebalance the encounters.
In Addition- Restoration Druids and Restoration Shaman
We agree with the sentiment among some players that Restoration druids and Restoration shaman are lacking in the healing cooldown department. The shaman buff and Power Word: Shield adjustment above should bring all healers reasonably close in terms of throughput. The decision on who to bring then might end up being dictated by the strong cooldowns offered by paladins or priests. This isn't the kind of thing we can address via a hotfix, but it is something we are looking at for the next major content patch.
As always, we appreciate your continued constructive feedback and will do our best to keep you informed of ongoing developments.
Shaman
We are also applying a hotfix for Purification for the Restoration shaman passive from 10% to 25%. We think that shaman healing per second is not as competitive with other healers and while we hoped to bring down Holy priest and Holy paladins (in particular) in 4.0.6, which we did, shaman still appear to be behind. In this case, it is simply easier to buff Restoration shaman rather than nerf everyone else or rebalance the encounters.
In Addition- Restoration Druids and Restoration Shaman
We agree with the sentiment among some players that Restoration druids and Restoration shaman are lacking in the healing cooldown department. The shaman buff and Power Word: Shield adjustment above should bring all healers reasonably close in terms of throughput. The decision on who to bring then might end up being dictated by the strong cooldowns offered by paladins or priests. This isn't the kind of thing we can address via a hotfix, but it is something we are looking at for the next major content patch.
As always, we appreciate your continued constructive feedback and will do our best to keep you informed of ongoing developments.
Pretty substantial tweak incoming there. The buff to Purification boasts a hefty jump from 10% passive bonus to 25% passive bonus to our healing effectiveness. So essentially, this means flat out that every single healing spell we have will be increased by an additional 15%. That is pretty darn good, if you ask me, and honestly was more than I could have expected. This change does come with a few very interesting points, though, beyond just a flat out boost.
The mentality behind it is that it is easier to buff a class than it is to nerf all the other healers or to nerf the various encounters. That makes sense, really, considering Blizzard already tried to bring down the healing numbers on two classes, but it didn't work as intended.
The other interesting thing is that this is being done as a hotfix. While we've been seeing quite a few of these hotfixes since patch 4.0.6 was released, the types of changes we've been seeing are ones that previously we would have had to wait for a major content release or a major patch before we would see them. Now, though, when Blizzard needs to fix a problem, it seems the developers don't have to wait and can just get it taken care of. This is good news for us, because that means we don't have to wait too terribly long for this tweak to go through.
Anything you can do ...
The second part of the big blue announcement is that of Blizzard's acknowledgment that restoration shaman are lacking in the healing cooldown department. From the sound of it, the developers seem to be leaning toward giving us one with the next major content update.
Despite our offensive cooldown, Spiritwalker's Grace, I think that a defensive cooldown is exactly what the doctor ordered, especially with regard to smaller content. Looking at healer composition for 10-man raids and even healing through heroics, it can easily be seen why some people would prefer to have healers with some great defensive cooldowns. Shaman unfortunately do not have a Pain Supression or a Guardian Spirit to pop when tank healing gets rough, and there are several fights when it does in fact get rough.
So now it's time for some speculation, I think.
The first thing to consider is how the developers would fit this into our arsenal. Adding it as a base spell available to all shaman would potentially unbalance our DPS counterparts and would defeat the purpose of giving it to us in order to balance us against other healers. I think the most logical thing would be to move it in as the top-tier talent in the restoration tree. Every restoration shaman I know takes Riptide, so to me, it would also seem logical that Riptide could be made a spell given to a shaman who has chosen restoration as his specialty. Basically, make it a perk of choosing the role. This will also add another healing tool to early restoration shaman, making healing earlier dungeons a little bit easier and allowing starting players more time to get acquainted with the spell. This also lets the cooldown be reserved for later on in the levels when a healer is more likely to need it.
The other question, then, is what would the cooldown be? Should we get a copy of an existing spell like Pain Supression or Guardian Spirit? Should we get something completely different and unique? My money is on something unique, and as I said to Matt for his post and in my previous ramblings, I think it should have something to do with the element of air. All the other elements are well represented already. We use water to heal and fire and earth to blow things up, but air is woefully underrepresented. We get one spell in the form of Wind Shear and a few totems, but otherwise that's about it.
So far, my favorite idea was the following.
It's unique in that it increases dodge, something the other cooldowns don't do, while still reducing damage. It's expensive enough compared to the other cooldowns, considering what it does, and gives us another air spell to use. Is it perfect? No, probably far from it, but it's something.Aegis of the Tempest
15% of base mana
40-yd. range
3-min. cooldown
The shaman summons the spirits of the very air to protect a friendly target in the form of circling cyclones. Increases dodge rate by 80% and reduces incoming damage by 30% for 10 seconds.
So now I'd like to hear from you, the readers. What do you think of the buff to purification? Do you think it will be enough to remain competitive when compared to other healers? Are you excited at the idea of a cooldown? What ideas do you have for a new restoration shaman defensive cooldown? How would you work it in for our use?
Totem Talk: Restoration will show you the basics of endgame resto shaman play as well as how to find the expansion's best reputation gear for resto shaman and tips for easier leveling. Happy healing, and may your mana be plentiful!Filed under: Shaman, (Shaman) Totem Talk
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Foneybullony Feb 22nd 2011 2:05PM
are these changes live right now?
Joe Perez Feb 22nd 2011 2:15PM
The Purification buff is being implemented on a hotfix, but no ETA was given.
ljrk99 Feb 22nd 2011 2:43PM
So it has or hasn't been added yet? I noticed a significant increase in my healing during my raid this past weekend, and I just assumed its been increased but the tooltip just hasnt been updated.
synerage Feb 22nd 2011 3:09PM
It's definitely been added. You can do the math yourself by just switching between specs. I'm pretty sure it's been live ever since Wednesday.
Venomosity Feb 22nd 2011 9:19PM
Due to the fact that purification is still showing only 10% in game. I am pretty sure they have not applied the buff yet.
Sky Feb 23rd 2011 1:46AM
@Venomosity
That is actually not true. Just because the tooltip still says 10% does not mean that the change hasnt been implemented yet. The paladin talent 'Tower of Radiance' actually had the wrong tooltip for about 2 weeks after it got nerfed. I have personally seen an increase in my healing although I cannot be sure if it is due to the 15% luck of the draw or the 15% increase in purification.
Zeb Feb 22nd 2011 2:12PM
I think blizzard was going to implement that spell but now that you have posted here they will have to come up with something else.
Sterb Feb 22nd 2011 2:24PM
"The buff to Purification boasts a hefty jump from 10% passive bonus to 25% passive bonus to our healing effectiveness. So essentially, this means flat out that every single healing spell we have will be increased by an additional 15%."
For a game based so firmly in math, you'd think this mistake wouldn't appear every time they change one of these modifiers. One more time:
0.15/1.1 = 0.136363636
That's right, it's actually a 13.6% (approximately) boost over the current state. It's 15% of the base, but that's no worth factoring because no one heals without that 1.1 modifier currently.
synthparadox Feb 22nd 2011 2:55PM
Sorry to be technical, but if you analyze the sentence you'll notice the word "additional" in "increased by an additional 15%." If we were to take out the word "additional" (and the "an" to make it grammatically correct), you'd be left with "increased by 15%," which consequently is incorrect. However, the word "additional" actually is correct in this case because the change provides an additional 15% on top of the original 10% modifier. It provides a 13.6% increase over the state of healing before it, but that's not what the blues said.
Again I apologize for being technical, but calling someone out when they were technically correct just rubs me in the wrong way. No offense to you, really.
Henrah Feb 22nd 2011 3:02PM
I think the key word you're missing in the original statement is additional.
Multiplicatively, you're absolutely correct.
Boobah Feb 22nd 2011 4:17PM
Sterb's right; nobody really compares a resto shaman's healing versus non-resto shaman healing. We're comparing resto shaman from before the hotfix to after, and as Sterb pointed out, it's a 13.6% buff, since 1.1 * 1.136 = 1.25
The blues didn't say anything about a percentage increase, of course. They've (intermittently) learned that lesson; they just mentioned the old and new values.
Sterb Feb 22nd 2011 4:28PM
The blues didn't say 15% once. Joe did. Like I wrote, the real impact of the change is a 13.6% increase. The fact is that the baseline modifier was 1.1, and as such, all future changes should be compared to it, or the modifier that preceded it.
Otherwise, what are we comparing to? Elemental healing strength?
I'm taking issue with the fact that referring to the modifier change the way it is isn't communicating useful information. What if the base modifier was 1.85? Would describing the change in terms of 15% be anything meaningful when in reality it was actually 8% change over the former state of the game?
Discussing the modifier change in terms of base healing is pointless. Context matters.
Chokaa Feb 22nd 2011 4:32PM
Wouldn't it just be a 1.25 multiplier instead of the 1.1?
Nero Feb 22nd 2011 6:21PM
Where Purification affected our heals by 10% before, it now has been increased by 15% and increases our heals by 25. Joe is comparing the previous effect of Purification on our heals to its current effect. NOT our old heal amounts to our new ones (Which, yes, is less than 15%) He is identifying what the buff is (not how much)
It is possibly misleading, but certainly not incorrect.
Chickee Feb 22nd 2011 2:43PM
First of all, I really like your idea of giving Riptide as a basic spell rather than as a deep talent.
Secondly, your idea of an Air Elemental...a great visual would make it pretty cool. WInd shear is fun but as you said the Air Element would be fun.
Other ideas would be to take an exising spell and give it a deep talent. Unleash Elements buffing the already existing Earth Shield into an Earthen Barrier woudl be an example.
Finally, the funniest idea I could think of woudl be to bring back the Sentry totem with a different purpose.
Jackwraith Feb 22nd 2011 3:07PM
Sure. Something like:
Sentry Totem
For the next 20 seconds, 50% of damage to targeted party/raid member is intercepted by the Sentry Totem.
3 minute CD.
Unfortunately, as with our other issues (Fire Nova, Mana Tide, etc.), we'd have to give up Wrath of Air for almost 30 seconds to enact this CD. So, unlike every other class (except self-application by holy pallies), we'd take a hit to our efficiency to make this work.
If we're going to involve totems, the base system of the totems really needs an overhaul (Fire Nova back to launching off any fire totem, Mana Tide launching off any water totem, etc.)
chickee Feb 22nd 2011 3:59PM
Agreed that the totem system could be ammended. Get rid of Bloodlust/Heroism and call it Whirlwind -- air totem.
Fire Nova from any Fire Totem
Mana tide from any water totem.
Make the Earth Totem have one that protects whomever the earth shield is on with the Stoneclaw effect. Increases aggro to the target shields it to protect it or something like that.
Dave Feb 22nd 2011 2:30PM
Shamans have a long and wonderful history of being one of the most unique classes in the game, one of my main reason for rolling a Shaman was the vast array of unique spells that, while similar to those of other classes, were unique. With our primary unique raid utility spell (heroism/bloodlust) having been given to other classes and with Blizzard moving in a general direction of class homogeneity, it would be nice to see a completely unique buff for shamans. I like your suggestion of incorporating the air element, though I might consider utilizing totems to summon an Air or Lightning Elemental that could buff the tank in the same way (we already have an Earth and Fire elemental, but no wind...and Mages have the Water Elemental).
MattKrotzer Feb 22nd 2011 2:34PM
With Aegis of the Tempest, it looks like Shaman will become my favorite healer as a tank again.
MattKrotzer Feb 22nd 2011 2:34PM
Assuming they use it, that is.