The Egregious Classic Resto Shaman Progressive BiS
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[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]
[Literature on T2 3pce and T2.5 5pc at end]
[Phases are marked by #]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.
Pre-Raid BiS [Phase 1]
[Prioritize +healing pieces > MP5]
[Get MP5 pieces as backup if your raid struggles on some encounters]SLOT MP5 +HEALING Head Clever Hat Insightful Hood Neck Tooth of Gnarr Animated Chain Necklace Shoulders Royal Cap Spaulders Back Archivist Cape of Healing Hide of the Wild Chest Ghostwave Vest Robes of the Exalted Bracers Brazecore Armguards Loomguard Armbraces Gloves Gilded Gauntelets Harmonious Gauntlets Belt Felsurge Girdle Sash of Mercy or Whipvine Cord Legs Woollies of the Prancing Minstrel Ghoul Skin Leggings Feet Boots of the Full Moon Verdant Footpads Ring1 Rosewine Circle Fordring’s Seal Ring2 Ring of Demonic Guile Rosewine Circle Trinket1 Mindtap Talisman and Second Wind Royal Seal of Eldre’Thalas Trinket2 Mindtap Talisman Briarwood Reed Weapon Lorespinner The Hammer of Grace Off-Hand Gizlock's Hypertech Buckler Drakestone of Healing or Brightly Glowing Stone Totem Egan’s Blaster Egan’s Blaster MC BiS [Phase 1]
[If you have Crystal Adorned Crown it is better than Helm of the Lifegiver]
[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]
[Rows with ">" indicate item priority with the optimal items being listed left to right]SLOT T1 (8/8) +HEALING Head Earthfury Helmet Helm of the Lifegiver Neck Choker of the Fire Lord Choker of the Fire Lord Shoulders Earthfury Epaulets Wild Growth Spaulders Back Archivist Cape of Healing Hide of the Wild Chest Earthfury Vestments Robes of the Exalted Wrists Earthfury Bracers Loomguard Armbraces Hands Earthfury Gauntlets Harmonious Gauntlets Waist Earthfury Belt Sash of Mercy Legs Earthfury Legguards Salamander Scale Pants Feet Earthfury Boots Verdant Footpads Ring1 Cauterizing Band and Mark of the Dragon Lord Cauterizing Band and Mark of the Dragon Lord Ring2 Cauterizing Band Cauterizing Band Trinket1 Shard of the Scale Briarwood Reed Trinket2 Second Wind and Burst of Knowledge Eye of the Beast and Second Wind Weapon Fang of the Mystics > Aurastone Hammer Off-Hand Malistar's Defender Drakestone of Healing or Brightly Glowing Stone Totem Egan’s Blaster Egan’s Blaster Pre-Raid BiS [Phases 2-6]
[Again, 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]
[Rows with ">" indicate item priority with the optimal items being listed left to right]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 BiS throughout Classic]BWL BiS [Phase 3]
[If not T1 8pc must maintain T2 3pc]
[Only use T2 3pc, pick the better "OR" option as your off piece]
[Rows with ">" indicate item priority with the optimal items being listed left to right]
[Both Crystal Adorned Crown and Deviate Growth Cap are better than Helm of the Lifegiver. Swap Helmet of Ten Storms for Brestplate of Ten Storms to keep 3pc and use either WB helm]
[Hibernation Crystal is not listed in trinkets but is BiS throughout Classic]AQ40 BiS [Phase 5]
[Must maintain T2 3pce unless running T1 8pc]
[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]
[Rows with ">" indicate item priority with the optimal items being listed left to right]
[Crystal Adorned Crown it 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 BiS throughout Classic]Naxx BiS [Phase 6]
[Must maintain T2 3pce unless running T1 8pc]
[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]
[Rows with ">" indicate item priority with the optimal items being listed left to right. ">>" indicates the previous item is significantly stronger]
[Crystal Adorned Crown it 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.
SLOT Highest +Heal w/ T2 3pc Highest +Heal Overall Head Crystal Adorned Crown Crystal Adorned Crown Neck Amulet of the Fallen God Amulet of the Fallen God Shoulders Wild Growth Spaulders Wild Growth Spaulders Back Cloak of Suturing Cloak of Suturing Chest Robes of the Guardian Saint Robes of the Guardian Saint Bracers Bracelets of Royal Redemption Bracelets of Royal Redemption Gloves Gauntlets of Ten Storms Wasphide Gauntlets Belt Belt of Ten Storms Corehound Belt Legs Empowered Leggings Empowered Leggings Feet Greaves of Ten Storms Boots of Pure Thought Ring1 Ring of the Martyr Ring of the Martyr Ring2 Pure Elementium Band Pure Elementium Band Trinket1 Eye of the Dead Eye of the Dead Trinket2 Rejuvenating Gem Rejuvenating Gem Weapon Hammer of the Twisting Nether Hammer of the Twisting Nether Off-Hand Sapphiron's Right Eye Sapphiron's Right Eye Totem Totem of Life Totem of Life Brief T2 3pc Literature
T2 3pce is mandatory in PvE from the first day you get it until the end of Vanilla. Primarily you will be utilizing the Helm, Bracers and Gloves. However, I consider the set to be split into three tiers of priority:
Priority 1: Helm, Bracers, Gloves and Belt [get all 4 for gear swapping]
Priority 2: Chestplate and Boots
Priority 3: Spaulders and PantsPriority 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.
Brief T2.5 5pc Literature
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.
Video
Progressive Pre-Raid BIS video:
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Hallelujah!
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@Egregious Could you explain why you bypass the aq40 tier set?
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really awesome, great post. I'm interested and I'm not even rolling shaman on launch
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@sealtest said in The Egregious Resto Shaman Classic Progressive BiS:
@Egregious Could you explain why you bypass the aq40 tier set?
Because the average user will use it incorrectly. In the hands of the average user it's only good for sniping (think cosmetic healing increase). Basically useless on progression unless your roster is specifically working with it in mind.
*I have amended this statement.
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@Egregious interesting I would've thought the -4s would've been useful because of being able to cast more, I know all the other lists being posted seem to keep listing the set if you're able to get 5PC.
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@sealtest In practice, you're not actually impacting the raid. Damage output never really coincides with a need for Haste. Additionally, so few fights have the consistent damage output to benefit from the set bonus it renders it rather unnecessary. Encounters where it does have a high impact are limited pretty much to Patchwerk and Faerlina. This is because most AoE damage that happens in Classic is output in pulses where damage hits the raid and the healing roster has more than enough time to address it prior to the next pulse. Think of Gluth when he chunks the raid to marginal HP. There is no rush to heal the raid prior to life threatening incoming damage. Because of that, all Haste will earn you are one or two extra spell lands prior to the raid being topped off which is fluff healing.
Encounters like Patchwerk where the damage is constant make the set useful, however, your mana return is so severely impacted by the set acquisition you OOM yourself on progression making it useless. Faerlina has consistent unpredictable damage making the set great and, unlike Patchwerk, there is enough downtime to keep you from OOMing on progression.
Only if your boss kills are super fast somehow on progression would this set be viable. Typically progression kills are not very fast, especially in the latter raids. I find the set to be great in theory but not so in practice.
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What's your opinion on the 5pce Tier 1?(i read somewhere that it effectively gives you 48mp5), combining it with 3pce TIer 2, i think i prefer this combo over raw stats up until naxx.
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@k00l It's definitely a viable combo along with T2 3pc. For the period of time prior to BWL, full T1 8/8 is going to be your go-to. Unless your guild is pushing long times on BWL encounters I don't really feel that extra MP5 is necessary outside of a potential few encounters.
I personally don't prioritize MP5. I think it's an inferior playstyle which is much more cautious. Additionally, with a full consumable rotation you're getting a far more marginal benefit from the 5pc MP5 comparative to the HSP from future content items. Consumables are the bulk of your mana return and you will passively gain a similar amount of MP5 from gear using T2 3pc and offpieces.
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@Egregious Just out of curiosity, but is there another way to obtain the Helm listed for Pre-Raid Phase 1? As far as I can tell it's from an alliance only quest?
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@Robert-Crow I have both Crown of the Penitent and Tribal War Feathers of Fire Resistance
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@Egregious Looking at fights in a 'general sense' (I know specific fights will potentially favor one stat or the other), how do you go about min/maxing the 'balance' of the mp5 vs +healing lists. I know you just mentioned you favor hsp over mp5 but is there a certain amount of mp5 you consider 'optimal' and then build around that? Do you just go for the '+healing' list all the way? Additionally - in you're interviews you've talked about how you favor intellect slightly more than hsp in your 'value point' system due to the available mana pool - are there certain guidelines you'll run as far as a baseline +healing or a baseline int you try to hit?
I'm mostly trying to maximize the efficiency while juggling the hsp, intellect, and mp5 stats and when you're looking at gearset as a whole instead of just piece-to-piece I'm having some trouble valuing the relative value of stats that contribute similar amounts of 'healing value.' Any insight would be much appreciate!
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@protean2213 I am currently building a +healing heavy set with almost no MP5 if I can help it. Certain items like Salamander Scale make picking up some unavoidable but, as far as preraid BiS goes, I am using items only from the +healing column of the sheet. I can do this because my encounters are typically sub 2 minutes. At that duration MP5 is rendered worthless. However, if you are progressing or on encounters greater than 4 minutes you can start swapping in more MP5 to carry you through.
I don't have a baseline Int I aim for, simply pick up items that are Int heavy in the early game to benefit from the front loaded mana Int provides. MP5 is conversely backloaded mana and not valuable until fights are longer.
It's easiest to pick up as much +healing on fights 2 minutes or less, use a small amount of MP5 on fights between 2 and 4 minutes, and then prioritize MP5 more heavily on fights 5 minutes or more. However, once you get better gear, it is harder to avoid MP5 so gearing specifically toward it is irrelevant. I would always avoid picking up pure MP5 items in all stages of progression and encounter duration unless you are aware of a pressing need for it. Do the math and find out how much mana that will give you to decide whether it will be worth your while.
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hey in BWL BIS 8/8 t1 u have boots not as t1. Intended?
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@Kenny Thanks for the catch. Was not intended.
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Will there be an update since DireMaul comes early? Maybe a BIS List for MC and DM mixed up would be nice.
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What are your thoughts on Milli's Lexicon as an offhand in P2 prebis? I'd say it beats the rest as it gives 2 more mp5 while losing only 3 intellect compared to Gizlocks, unless you also take account for armor in your analysis?
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@Frakkie I did take armor into account. It's sort of niche but you do get hit occasionally and wearing a shield is something I do often on new encounters or fights with adds. The Lexicon is a better item from a stat perspective and, if you have faith you will not be struck by mobs during trash or an encounter, I'd say use it. Similar to Lei of the Lifegiver. It's up to you as that armor does make a difference and can be the factor that saves you in tight spots.
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@Egregious Does 8/8 T1 function like chain heal in that it is smart healing? If so, does that mean HW replaces CH? If you could talk a little bit about it, I would appreciate it. Thanks.
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@Egregious How do you value armor overall? I know you previously mentioned that you take it into account and that you will wear a shield for new fights or fights with adds. I noticed you seem to take it into account even beyond shields though with the inclusion of items like Merciful Greaves in the Final MC BIS (phase 2-6). In the phase 2-6 Pre-Raid BIS you list Boots of the Full Moon and Verdant Footpads. Merciful Greaves has 240 armor but you're giving up 6 healing and 9 spirit for that 180 armor and 2 Int/Stam compared to Full Moon. Curious why the Greaves are excluded from the Pre-Raid Phase 2 BIS list but included in the Final MC BIS.
