Well, it’s that time again, a new tier means a new BiS list! And this tier, in a new & exciting change, everyone should be able to gear for output and not be relegated to Mana Battery status (as in T15, due to being the healer with the lowest throughput by a large margin). So hooray for being a resto sham in T16.
Just like in T15, there is not one correct way to resto shaman. Stat priorities, especially how much spirit to take, are entirely dependant on each persons playstyle, situation and preferences. It’s difficult to make an absolute BiS list for that reason; in old tiers it was possible, but now it’s more of a “suggestions for each slot”.
I made this list going for Haste > Crit > Mastery, as high haste builds are very popular & effective right now. I’ve been at the 8882 breakpoint myself for a while now (a few hundred over due to the totem latency issue), and am planning on going to 12115 and then possibly 15316 as gear allows. There are a lot of haste options, but it seems to be the #1 stat shaman are going for, and I treated it as such here. Mastery is a bit stronger for us this tier, since more of our output is tied to smart heals, but it is still our weakest stat overall.
Just like with the T15 BiS list, there are a lot of variables with personal situation & warforged availability, so combine this guide with your own research.
NORMAL MODE
Head: Faceguard of Celestial Harmony – Thok (See Note 1)
Neck: Necklace of Fading Light – Sha of Pride, Rising New Moon Talisman – Ordos (See Note 2)
Shoulders: Mantle of Celestial Harmony– Seigecrafter
Back: Take a guess
Chest: Tunic of the Witch Doctor – Dark Animus
Wrist: Bracers of the Pristine Purifier– Spoils of Pandaria
Hands: Handwraps of the Witch Doctor – Council of Elders
Waist: Krasari Prowler Belt – Crafted LW, Binkenstein’s Burnished Belt – Ordos
Legs: Krasari Prowler Britches– Crafted LW, Moshne’s Keen Kilt– Ordos
Feet: Powder-Stained Totemic Treads – Siegecrafter
Rings: Laser-Slice Signet– Iron Juggernaut, Seal of Sullen Fury– Malkorok
Main Hand: Horned Mace of the Old Ones– Garrosh, Hellscream’s Warmace – Garrosh
Off Hand: Visage of the Monstrous – Malkorok
Trinkets: Prismatic Prison of Pride– Sha of Pride, Thok’s Acid-Grooved Tooth – Thok, Dysmorphic Samophlange of Discontinuity – Siegecrafter, Nazgrim’s Burnished Insignia – General Nazgrim
Trinket choices are very interesting this tier. I recommend Prismatic Prison of Pride to everyone in one trinket spot, even if you’re not chasing the higher haste breakpoints (which it’s essential for). So in the other spot we have a choice of 3.
There is the usual Static INT with a spirit proc this tier, which is DSoD from Siegecrafter. Then we have the multistrike trinket from General Nazgrim, and the cleaving trinket from Thok. DSoD has a static boost to INT, while the other 2 have INT procs, which can be less than ideal for healers.
Unfortunately for us, neither the Cleave nor Multistrike trinket proc off of totem healing, which is a large % of our output. I haven’t been able to get my hands on any of these on live yet, but so far it looks like DSoD will be preferred in the 2nd trinket slot, unless you are doing heroic progression with very little overheal (especially in 25man), where Thoks will be the best choice. But for most situations the static INT plus the spirit proc allowing you to reforge into more haste/ crit pushes DSoD to the top.
Note 1 – For normal modes, it’s best to go with 2 heroic T15 peices and 2 T16 peices, especially if you took Rushing Streams. I chose the T15 hands & chest under the assumption you have all 4 T15 peices to choose from.
Note 2 – I put 2 choices in the slots that have a drop from Ordos; felt weird to only list a drop from a world boss that’s not in the 5.4 raid. Ordos drops a lot of great resto shaman loot though, if you already have a weapon \ trinkets \ tier he might be worth considering coining until you get to heroic modes.
HEROIC MODE
Head: Faceguard of Celestial Harmony – Thok (See Note 1)
Neck: Necklace of Fading Light – Sha of Pride
Shoulders: Mantle of Celestial Harmony – Seigecrafter
Back: The orange one.
Chest: Chestguard of Toxic Injections – Paragons of the Klaxxi
Wrist: Bracers of the Pristine Purifier – Spoils of Pandaria
Hands: Handwraps of Celestial Harmony – General Nazgrim
Waist: Belt of the Iron Prison – Dark Shaman
Legs: Legwraps of Celestial Harmony – Paragons of the Klaxxi
Feet: Powder-Stained Totemic Treads – Siegecrafter
Rings: Laser-Slice Signet – Iron Juggernaut, Seal of Sullen Fury – Malkorok
Main Hand: Horned Mace of the Old Ones – Garrosh, Hellscream’s Warmace – Garrosh
Off Hand: Visage of the Monstrous – Malkorok
Trinkets: Prismatic Prison of Pride – Sha of Pride, Thok’s Acid-Grooved Tooth – Thok, Dysmorphic Samophlange of Discontinuity – Siegecrafter, Nazgrim’s Burnished Insignia – General Nazgrim
Note 1 – I listed the 4-pc tier set on my list, but that isn’t set in stone yet. I have seen limited logs from heroic progression shaman with the 4pc, but it is underwhelming so far. Even so, it is still better overall to use over items in the same slot with the same ilvl, even if a few of the tier pieces have mastery on them.
However, if you get lucky and have access to the warforged shoulder and chest off-set pieces, the stat gains most likely will outweigh the set bonus. But I’m keeping hope alive that our 4-pc will look a bit better as time goes on, and as more data from live is available, so I listed it here.
Healcraft 