Healer Rotation & Cooldowns

This rotation offers a general priority list for Restoration Shaman abilities, along with key cooldowns at the bottom. It's based on a standard build and is here to help while we work on a smarter, build-aware system. If you are very new to the game or this class, we added info on the new assisted rotation features at the bottom of this guide. Updated for the latest patch in World of Warcraft: The War Within (11.2).

Single Target

Ensure Water Shield and Earth Shield are active before the encounter begins.

• Cloudburst TotemView detailsPlace ahead of incoming damage to collect healing.
• Unleash LifeView detailsBoosts next healing spell.
• RiptideView detailsUse on cooldown to generate Tidal Waves.
• Healing SurgeView detailsFor single-target healing, ideally with Master Of The Elements.
• Chain HealView detailsUse when multiple allies are injured, especially with High Tide.

Maintain Cloudburst Totem for healing collection, use Riptide on cooldown, and prioritize Healing Surge for single-target or Chain Heal for group healing.

AoE

• Cloudburst TotemView detailsPlace ahead of incoming damage to collect healing.
• Chain HealView detailsUse when multiple allies are injured, especially with High Tide.
• DownpourView detailsFor burst healing in Surging Totem radius.
• RiptideView detailsUse on cooldown to generate Tidal Waves.
• Healing Stream TotemView detailsUse as an emergency heal or when charges are full.

For AoE healing, prioritize Cloudburst Totem and Chain Heal for group-wide damage, with Downpour for burst healing and Riptide to maintain Tidal Waves.

Cooldowns

• Spirit Link TotemView detailsRedistributes health and reduces damage taken.
• Healing Tide TotemView detailsProvides high HoT to nearby allies.
• AscendanceView detailsAmplifies healing and redistributes it among allies.
• Earthen Wall TotemView detailsReduces damage taken within its range.
• Ancestral Protection TotemView detailsGrants health boost and combat resurrection.

Use Spirit Link Totem for health redistribution, Healing Tide Totem for sustained group healing, and Ascendance for burst healing. Earthen Wall Totem and Ancestral Protection Totem provide defensive utility.

New to Class? Try Assisted Rotation

Patch 11.1.7 introduced new features that make it eaiser to pick and play new characters. These new settings can be enabled from settings » gameplay enhancements:

• Single-Button Assistant
• Assisted Highlight
• Cooldown Manager

If you are new to World of Warcraft or a certain class, enabling Assisted Highlight and Cooldown Manager can help you learn which abilities to prioritize and use.

While the Single-Button Assistant can be a much easier and more accessible way to play the game, it does come with a slight performance hit due to a small GCD penalty, as you will have to wait 25% longer in between spells and abilities.

To see which specs are best with the Single-Button Assistant feature, you can check out our DPS Rankings which uses SimC to sim every class using this feature.