I have just gotten the [Gladiator's Ringmail Helm] and was unsure how to best socket it. I was thinking of putting in a [Powerful Earthstorm Diamond] for the meta and a [Royal Nightseye] for the red socket. Is there another set up that would be more beneficial to me? Thanks in advance for any help.

It should all depend on what you're lacking in gear. If you're low on everything that might not be a bad choice. I tend to put all stam + resilience in all of my pvp gear, but I pvp with some pve gear, so I like having the extra stam and resilience to help with the lack of it in pve pieces.

You should really think about what you bought that helmet for, and gem it for that. If you play in arena and are focused first and need more survivability, then you need more stam and resilience. If you heal in battlegrounds from behind people, and your heals are weak due to low +heal and regen then you should gem for that. If you bought it for pve for some reason, gem it for that.

if you just started pvp'ing, and it appears so, then sta and resilience is the way to go. It will make you feel safer, if nothing else.

This isn't bad advice. But I would also suggest spec'ing 0/20/41 if you are having problems feeling "safe". The toughness and dodge are helpful, this way you can gem for +heal. If you do happen to go with this spec, have a friendly rogue that is good at PvP duel you so you get used to facing a melee target to get some shield blocks, dodges, ect. Also I would make sure you have the appropriate HP also, I would shoot for ~300 and 9k=> 10k HP in order to be competitive!

Hey Guys,

I need some advice in general how to play a restro Shaman in Arena cause im rerolling from Enhancement to Restoration for Season4.

I will play 2on2 with a Rogue.
What will be my main Healing Spell?
LHW or HW. I guess i wont use chain heal that much cause i wont have imp. chain heal for PvP..
I red a bit of the Shaman Restro Mechaniks Thread and about different Ranks of LHW and HW.
Can you copy that 1to1 for PvP(Arena)?
Or do i just use max Rank HW and max Rank LHW?
I saw a Video from the US Qualifiers to the Blizzard Tournament and he was pretty much just using 3 Buttons:

a)Purge
b)Earthshock Rank1
c)Spam LHW (Rank X???)

I hope i can get some advice

Thank you guys

Cheer Ausn

Sometimes you want to be using max rank earth shocks, for when you need to help the rogue with some dps. You'll also want to have lightning bolt and chain lightning quickly available, because there will be times when that extra dps is a huge help.

I always use max rank LHW, since you want to make sure you can get the most healing possible with the fastest cast possible. Depending on the opposing group and the position of everybody I try to cast a full HW whenever possible. You don't want to do it vs a class that can interrupt you.

The important things about Shaman arena gameplay come with experience. It's all about positioning of yourself, !your totems!, LoS, knowing when to help to DPS, dropping the right totem at the right time, how to kite and lust but not least - fake casting.

Although I'm not able to see your gear, 2 heal 5s setups with a resto shaman are becoming obsolete by design. Paladins have longevity and throughput, druids have decent longevity and great healing potential, priests have greater survivability with big heals, and shamans have really quick "ok" heals that are only maintainable for a little while. In the 5s bracket for resto, you optimally want a team with targets more favorable than yourself, and for you to be the single healer. A buddy of mine runs spriest/frost mage/warlock/shaman/rogue, kind of the middle of the road between euro and 2345, and successfully maintain 2-2.1k. This team setup requires a great amount of skill at ccing and stretches you to the limit, but obviously pays off fairly well.

And you also hinted at it at the end, going elemental is also a wise decision for 5s, but its hard to pull off much over a 1700 in 2s or 3s. Its like playing rogue/frost mage with no sheep or nova.

Teams like that are generally referred to as 4 DPS. I wouldn't really say that that team has anything in common with the playstyle of Euro or 2345.

It's a 4 DPS team with a heavy emphasis on CC, as opposed to the cleave melee team counterparts. Warlock/rogue/mage are the best CCers in the game, and are found in euro! A shaman can replace a priest and give bloodlust, and thus kill something very fast and use their cc to protect the spriest.

I tried searching the forums for info about twisting in pvp as a resto shaman I probably use the wrong keywords so I apologize if the questions have already been asked. Im wondering if is it viable or does anyone spec 2/2 enhancing totems with 3/5 anticipation, and try to twist WF/GoA if your running mainly melee arena teams? I am currently running ret pally, warrior, resto shaman and wondering if twisting would be worth it when able to. 2nd do people down ranking HW and/or LHW? If so what rank(s)?

Chain Heal still has it's uses if you find yourself next to your partner(s) in 2v2 and 3v3. You can use it like a binding heal if you are both down a bit (such as being up against a warlock/druid team where you are both taking constant damage).

LHW will end up being your main heal simply because using anything longer than that is begging to be interrupted. Healing wave is good when you can get it off when you can be sure you won't be interrupted. Faking your casts is your main protection because of the lack of instant casts. So paying attention to their interrupter is crucial.

Positioning is key for healing as a resto shaman in arenas. Because you don't really get an escape abilitiy, once you get caught you will have a lot of trouble getting away. The key ? Don't get caught in the first place. Use pillars extensively. If the guy chasing you isn't getting CCed drop EB totems and Searing Totems to keep him away and in combat. Turn enemy bars on so you can keep track of him through the pillar.

As far as downranking heals in arenas, I wouldn't. Get off the big heal and then get out of sight. You want to cast as little as possible and be out in the open as little as possible unless you are putting pressure on them and you can be sure they aren't going to turn on you. If they aren't harassing you and are double teaming your partner, start tossing some LBs and earth shocks once you get your partner topped off. With full arena gear you will have a decent amount of spell damage and crit, so your damage isn't great, but it's decent. This should either make one of them back off or start healing and get your partner some space.

Really your utility will come from your totems and using earth shock/ grounding totem/ and purge to annoy their casters/healers.

You can be very effective, but don't get caught. The real trick to playing a resto shaman in arenas is using your totems and instant abilities and staying out of dodge as much as possible until an oppurtunity presents itself.

A useful trick, if you are an orc, when you are up against rogues is to use the Orc racial to bump wounding poision stacks off to let you get straight at Crippling. Since the racial has a 15 sec duration (longer than wounding) it will overwrite it and leave you with only one poision. Makes it a lot easier to get them off you.

Again this has been a standard concept for a 4dps team for a long time, and is more or less the only reason why it is successful. I'm not sure I've even seen a melee-focused 4dps team ever, because melee tend to not have CC. The idea of a 4dps team is to CC healers, pop cooldowns, and kill something.

I just got my shaman to 70 and grinding honor now to save up for s4. On my mage however im going for a full set of haste, now that honor gear is available in haste healing is that a more viable way to go then the regular pieces. (mainly focussing on 2v2 with a warrior)

I have a gearset I pvp in that has 219 haste, which brings my lhw/gcd down to 1.32 seconds. I think it's worth it since so much of what I do revolves around my gcd, and it being shorter is huge.

It does however take a bit of pve gear to get it to a worth while level of haste though(I use the pvp haste ring/neck/cloak/trinket + boots/belt/bracers of t6). I don't think I'd bother trying to stack haste unless I had pve gear or the s4 weapon, you won't really notice much of a difference with haste until you're knocking off a decent portion of cast time on your spells.

So for a team make up of:

resto and ele shami, what else would i want for my 5's team?

I have all of my S1 gear and have started to replace some of them with S2/S4 gear. The new gear will be enchanted /gemmed for use in Raids until I can get good PvE replacements.

As for my old S1 gear, I was thinking of re-enchanting/gemming so I can be a Teflon (nothing will stick) Don that Jon Gotti would be proud of. I would like to know if the gems/enchants in this set up would be any good for PvP (Specifically Arenas) or should I spend my gold in other endeavors.

Head: [Cataclysmic Gladiator's Ringmail Helm]
Meta Gem: [Powerful Earthstorm Diamond] (+18 stam & 5% stun resist)
Red Gem: [Void Sphere] (+4 all resistances)
Enchant: [Item not found!] (+18 Stam +20 Resilience)

Neck: [Vindicator's Pendant of Salvation]
Yellow Gem: [Design: Steady Seaspray Emerald](+5 resilience +7 stam)

Shoulders: [Cataclysmic Gladiator's Ringmail Spaulders]
Red Gem: [Void Sphere](+4 all resistances)
Yellow Gem: [Steady Seaspray Emerald](+5 resilience +7 stam)
Enchant: [Inscription of Endurance](+7 all resistances)

Cloak: [Sergeant's Heavy Cape]
Enchant: [Formula: Enchant Cloak - Major Resistance](+7 all resistances)

Chest: [Cataclysmic Gladiator's Ringmail Armor]
Red Gem: [Void Sphere](+4 all resistances)
Yellow Gem: [Design: Steady Seaspray Emerald](+5 resilience +7 stam)
Yellow Gem: [Design: Steady Seaspray Emerald](+5 resilience +7 stam)
Enchant: [Formula: Enchant Chest - Major Resilience](+15 resilience)

Bracer: [Vindicator's Ringmail Bracers]
Yellow Gem: [Design: Steady Seaspray Emerald](+5 resilience +7 stam)
Enchant: [Formula: Enchant Bracer - Superior Healing](+30 Healing +10 Spell Damage)

Gloves: [Brutal Gladiator's Ringmail Gauntlets]
Enchant: [Formula: Enchant Gloves - Major Healing](+35 Healing +12 Spell Damage)

Legs: [Merciless Gladiator's Ringmail Leggings]
Enchant: [Golden Spellthread](+66 Healing +22 Spell Damage +20 Stam)

Boots: [Vindicator's Ringmail Sabatons]
Enchant: [Formula: Enchant Boots - Surefooted] (+5% Snare/Root Resist +10 Hit Rating)

Shield: [Cataclysmic Gladiator's Shield Wall]
Enchant: [Formula: Enchant Shield - Resistance] (+5 All Resistances)

In Battlegrounds it seems like I am already pretty much unstoppable. However, as a Shaman in Arenas it seems like I am ALWAYS the first to be focused fired on. My thoughts were if I stack up on Stam/Resist/Resiliance it will help me live through that first volley of damage long enough for my team mate(s) to hopefully take down one or two of the other team. If you have run arenas with gear enchanted / gemmed like this, or have thoughts on better gems/enchants for Arenas I would LOVE to hear your feedback.

Here is the other gear I use in Arenas...

Weapon: [Cataclysmic Gladiator's Relic of Salvation]
Enchant: [Formula: Enchant Weapon - Major Healing](+81 Healing +27 Spell Damage)

Belt: [Vindicator's Ringmail Girdle]
Ring: [Vindicator's Band of Salvation]
Ring: [Veteran's Band of Salvation]
Totem: [Gladiator's Totem of the Third Wind]
Trinket: [Battlemaster's Perseverance]
Trinket: [Medallion of the Horde]

Don't enchant/gem for resistance, any spell caster will have enough spell penetration to make those enchants pointless.

While the 31 extra resistance that the gems / enchants provide are not a lot in and of itself, this season I will be running 3v3's with a druid and priest. With the druids’ mark (+33 resist all), the priests’ shadow protection (+70 shadow resist) and the frost resist totem I always toss up out of the gate (+70 frost resist) will make my overall resistances look something like this...

Arcane: 31+33=64
Fire: 31+33=64
Nature: 31+33+10=74
Frost: 31+33+70=134
Shadow: 31+33+70=134

So far it seems like Ice Mages, Shadow Priests and Warlocks are three of the biggest spell damage dealers and 134 resistance to their spells at least SOUNDS good. If I have done my math right I should still have 413 resilience with this set up. Do spell casters really stack 100+ spell penetration?

While the resist sounds good to me, I am completely open to suggestions on the best way to gem / enchant to live through that first volley of focus fire. What gems / enchants would you recommend I use in place of resistance?

I have 103 spell penetration without socketing for it, and I'll be at 111 later in the season when I have the S4 Grimoire/Piercing Touch. If either of your shadow resistance buffs get stripped then all of your enchants go to waste.

Mages usually have a bit less spell penetration, but a quick Ice Lance of your totem and you're back at 0 resistance against them.

Shadow Priests can dispel Shadow Protection/MotW, and will have enough spell penetration to negate your enchants.

For reference, relevant DPS caster items:
[Guardian's Band of Dominance]
[Vindicator's Band of Dominance]
[Enchant Cloak - Spell Penetration]
Every caster will have this. This is 48 spell penetration so far.
[Brutal Gladiator's Grimoire]
[Brutal Gladiator's Piercing Touch]
Every Warlock will have both of these. This is a total of 111 spell penetration. Mages usually won't have the Grimoire, but will probably have the Piercing Touch (to kill Warlock/Warlock pets, primarily), but they get 10 spell penetration from Arcane Subtlety. Also keep in mind almost every Mage is grouped with a Priest in a RMP, and the Priest can dispel your MotW. Shadow Priests can dispel your buffs themselves.

FYI, I'm pretty sure MotW and resistance auras/totems do not stack.

After some research I think you are right, MotW and resistance totems do not stack . I have not confirmed this yet, but will the next time I log in. (I am working atm and can not log into the game).

Even though the resist totems do not seem to stack with the Druid MotW, most good Shaman will still hide their totems so they are not easily Wanded/Ice Lanced.

So what enchants / red gems should I use instead? The purpose is to live as long as possible during a focus fire from 3+ enemies. (I can stand up against any 2 until I run OOM, but 3 or more and it starts to get rough).