I have been playing my shaman
since six months after the release of World
of Warcraft. I
have personally experienced ALL the changes, nerfs and twinks that
Blizzard has dished out after each patch or expansion to the
class. What has always interested me is the evolution of Chain
Heal, from its rise to the single most powerful heal to its
falling out of favor and then back again. I
remember the src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/72780"/> glory
days in Sunwell Plateau where it had the nickname "Shamanwell"
or "Shaman Plateau"  because you LITERALLY had to have
at least five or six Restoration Shamans spamming non-stop chain heal
just to survive even on the trash pulls.  I also remember my
poor keyboard #9 key screaming painfully each time I whacked it on
fights like Felmyst and Twins where the amount of raid damage was so
overwhelming that a Restoration Shaman could not stop chain healing
or people would die.



Then came the expansion, The
Wrath of
the Lich King, and with it came
new talents for all classes and
the level cap increase.  Restoration Shamans cried a
bit
inside when raiding Naxx and Ulduar because they saw their beloved
chain heal drop off compared to Prayer of Healing, Circle of Healing,
and Wild Growth. Shamans across the globe started scratching their
heads and asking themselves "Am I needed anymore?" other
than being a Manatide and Bloodlust/Heroism wench?



Once
again Chain Heal SPAM LIVES!



* In my last
color="#0000ff"> lang="zxx"> href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/72501">article
I made the mistake of misinterpreting what they changed in chain
heal.  I thought after each jump the strength of the heal
dropped 10% instead it is actually the other way around.  I
like
to thank our faithful readers for pointing that out to me. I love you
all!  



It has been a week and half since the injection of
Patch 3.2 and I have been able to test out the new 5-man, new 10-man,
Ulduar 10 and 25 man, and even did some badge farming in Naxx 25.
 With Patch 3.2, the Restoration Shaman can safely and boldly
say we can be both a effective raid healer and a main tank healer or
BOTH at the same time! Here is my experience healing Ulduar
25
last week (and yes go ahead and pick me apart, BRING IT ON!)
 With
the incredible buff to Chain Heal I was able to main tank heal and
raid heal at the same time by using the rotation ES, RT, HW, HW, RT,
CH, and CH.  With the raid healing composition of 7 Healers -
1
pally, 1 resto shaman (me), 2 druids, and 3 priests and setting
healing assignments as follows:



- Paladin and Restoration
Shaman on the Main Tank

- 1 Priest on the Off Tank

- 1 Druid on
the Off Tank (if needed, depending on the fight)

- 1 Druid float
HOTs on all three tanks

- 2 CoH Priests Raid Heal



With
these healing assignments and the rotation I set up above I basically
told the CoH Priest to worry about the range DPS and other healers
because I can heal the main tank and the melee at the same time.



The
Great Debate - Tidal Waves - LHW or HW - Which to use?





*
I have been scouring both the Healing Forums and Shaman Forums on the
WoW site and 99.9% of the shamans believe the change in Tidal Waves
is a nerf both in PvP and PvE.  Let's face it, having those
two
quick
LHW for emergency quick heals was heaven, in my opinion, both
in PvP and PvE content.  Now here comes the big debate that
shamans have been arguing on the official WoW color="#0000ff"> lang="zxx"> href="http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=19109951868&sid=1">forums ,
talking at Starbucks, and spitting at each other while waiting in the
endless line at the DMV.  Which heal to use after triggering
Tidal Waves?  Lesser Healing Wave or Healing Wave?
 Based
on what I have read on the forums and other sites and MY OWN personal
experience I believe using Healing Wave is the most beneficial to a
Restoration Shaman.  The main reason I believe this is the
redesign of Healing Way and Nature's Swiftness.  With the
talent
change to Healing Way becoming much more effective plus the Tidal
Waves 30% haste buff along with Nature's Swiftness cooldown brought
down to two minute using HW over LHW is the best fit in my opinion.
 You
have to ask yourself, do you really like the idea that
the
major effect from a 51 talent is wasted roughly 25% of the time if I
cast LHW?  When I
have a guaranteed
30% haste buff for
two HW with a cast time of roughly 1.60 for 1044 mana is a whole lot
better than a chance of
two LHW with a 25% crit buff with a
cast time of 1.38 for 626 mana.



OMG I almost forgot Ancestral
Healing!  This change to the talent is fantastic, especially
for
tanks where they have a guarantee 10% physical damage reduction
instead of a increase armor buff which has a "chance" to
decrease physical damage.



I like to wrap up by saying that the
Shaman Class made out like bandits robbing an unarmed caravan and I
personally have enjoyed playing my Restoration Shaman and watching
myself once again rise to the top of healing meters.  Like my
fellow writer, Medawky, stated in his color="#0000ff"> lang="zxx"> href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/72537">article,
patch 3.2 has been mostly very successful based on the scope of
changes introduced. So all of you Shaman around the world let
us
celebrate and party it down at my house this weekend!