TBC Classic Restoration Shaman Stat Priority

The list below tries to estimate the relative value of 1 point of the stat or rating against 1 point of Spell Healing, the golden standard of Restoration Shaman stats, and the stat you should look for in your gear the most.

1. Spell Healing = 1 point;
2. Spell Haste = 1.5 points;
3. Mana every 5 seconds (Mp5) = 2 points;
4. Spell Critical Strike = 0.6 points;
5. Intellect = 0.5 points;
6. Stamina = 0.2 points;
7. Spirit.

Gem and meta sockets can be estimated as well by evaluating the stat bonuses they provide. Red gems grant 18 Spell Healing, and are thus, worth 18 points, yellow gems cannot have Spell Haste yet, and are thus worth 13 points, Blue gems are worth 15 points and the Meta socket is worth a full 46 points, making it quite useful!

Here are some Pawn strings for your convenience:

• Intellect=0.5, Spirit=0.1, Mp5=2, Healing=1, SpellCritRating=0.6, SpellHasteRating=1.5, Stamina=0.2, RedSocket=18, YellowSocket=12, BlueSocket=15, MetaSocket=46

This is a PvE-focused take on stats as Stamina, Armor and Spell Hit are all much more important in PvP, at least to an extent.

Spell Healing is applied to each spell based on its casting time.

The coefficient is calculated by dividing the cast time of a spell by 3.5. This is because a 3.5 second cast benefits from 100% of your gear's Spell Healing. For example, if you have 20 additional Spell Healing from gear, then this will simply affect your spells as follows:

• Healing Increase per spell cast = n * 20
• n = spell's coefficient

Instant single-target spells typically only get around 43% of the benefit, while a spell with a cast time, like Chain Heal, gets roughly 71%.

This means that 100 Spell Healing on your gear would cause Chain Heal to heal for 71 more. A table with the exact coefficients for all spells in TBC Classic can be found in this Reddit thread, by u/RobertVests.

Something to take into account is that in TBC there is a new scaling penalty for downranking spells, which decreases Spell Healing benefits for spells learned below your current level. The penalty is highest for your first rank of the spell, and gradually diminishes as you increase in ranks until you reach your current maximum rank, which has no penalty.

Talents that increase healing done by spells such as Purification and Improved Chain Heal also increase the contribution the affected spells get from Spell Healing, making them scale better.

Spell Haste decreases the cast time of your spells. This is especially useful for Shamans, as almost everything is hard-casted and the strongest spells, Chain Heal and Healing Wave, have very long cast times.

Unfortunately the gems that grant Spell Haste only become available later, but Tier 6 does have a lot of gear with Spell Haste, much of which is part of our best in slot recommendations!

Mana every 5 seconds, or simply Mp5, is a common stat found on healing gear. This is the best stat for getting more Mana during a fight because it works constantly, even if you cast something in the last 5 seconds (contrary to Spirit) and should thus be taken whenever possible, until you feel comfortable with your Mana sustainability.

Spell Critical Strike allows your spells to occasionally heal for more. Due to Ancestral Healing, a Restoration Shaman's critical strikes increase their target's armor significantly, which is a huge boost for tanks and people getting focused in PvP.

Intellect is a good stat for Restoration Shamans, as it increases total Mana pool and Spell Critical Strike chance. The Mana pool gain is very significant during leveling and while soloing, but not so significant during raids, where Mana regeneration and Mana consumables will typically play a bigger part in your sustainability.

Stamina is the only stat that will help you survive any type of attack and as such should always be valued highly, especially in PvP.

For Restoration Shamans, Spirit provides Mana regeneration, as long as you are outside the 5-second rule, which means you have not used any Mana consuming spell for the past 5 seconds. Because we are constantly casting, this is usually not very useful. Sitting (through the /sit command, or when eating or drinking) increases Spirit regeneration by 33%.

Resilience is a new stat in TBC which is only found on PvP gear and reduces your chance to suffer a Critical Strike, as well as the damage you take from those, the Mana burned by effects such as Mana Burn and the damage taken from damage over time effects such as Corruption. This is a great stat in PvP as it makes you a lot more durable, increasing the value of your healing in the process.

Spell Hit allows your hostile spells to land more often, which is a huge DPS increase, and can allow you to more reliably land interrupts with Earth Shock. Keep in mind that you will always have at least a 1% chance to miss with spells. Depending on the level of your enemy, you might need more, or less Spell Hit to reach this 1% cap:

• For an enemy of the same level as you, 3% Spell Hit is needed to cap.
• For an enemy 1 level higher than you, 4% Spell Hit is needed to cap.
• For an enemy 2 levels higher than you, 5% Spell Hit is needed to cap.
• For an enemy 3 levels higher than you, such as raid bosses, 16% Spell Hit is needed to cap.

Resistance, while inherently niche due to different bosses dealing different magical damage types, can be very useful while progressing specific bosses. Wearing resistance gear of a type makes you take less damage or even completely avoid damage when hit by that type of magical damage.