Resto Shaman Surge or Wave question

Classes Shaman
1

Hi, so I’m new to Shaman but not healing. I have a Pally and Priest both around the same ilvl.

My question is about when to use Healing Wave over Healing Surge?

As Pally I have Holy Shock procs that help me determine whether to use my faster heal or the slower Mana efficient version.

Shaman, as of my low level, doesn’t seem to have anything like that.

So the question I guess is simple: when determining to go for a Wave or Surge cast is it just a matter of Mana consumption?

It feels like as far as throughput efficiency it would be better to just use Surge, so does it just come down to Mana?

I’m aware of Chain Heal and can see it’s obvious potential in AOE healing but at the moment with this question, I’m just considering single target.

Thanks friends!

P.s. Shaman is hella fun!

2

I normally use surge for emergency healing since it’s a shorter cast time than wave and then wave for non-emergency general healing. Additionally, when mana conservation isn’t an issue, I just use surge. I spec into undulation, echo of elements, cloud burst totem, and high tide. I’ve been messing around with unleash life and the healing bonus you get from it lately though and working that in with other healing spells and procs. Just my 2 cents. I’m about a month newer to resto switching from elemental from time to time. I read the resto guide on icyveins when I was just starting out

3

It is just a matter of trading mana for time.

Surge is generally the go-to, with Wave being a good spot heal when consuming Tidal Waves. Wave is used where saving mana is a bigger deal.

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I’m not sure the level of your Resto shaman as this moment so I’ll just go with the 120 version; keep in mind whenever Resto Shamans critically heal they get some of the mana back they used to cast the heal, this is their way to regen mana (this may feel very new to you compared to Holy Paladins).

Tidal Waves, is a buff that you get from casting Riptide or Chain Heal, and it is effectively the Shaman’s version of your Holy Paladin’s Infusion of Light proc. It will make your Healing Surge have a higher crit chance or Healing Wave cast faster. Neither of this are as strong as IoL procs, but the purpose is the same, most Shamans prefer surge over wave for reasons below - which is opposite of Paladins, who tend to prefer Holy Light on their Proc.

To keep the rest short:

  1. Cast Riptide to get Tidal Waves.
  2. If you have tidal waves: The crit bonus to Healing Surge also makes it more mana efficient due to almost guaranteed crit. Wave just gets faster. Pref Surge.
  3. If you don’t have tidal waves: Pref Healing Wave but its a long cast, if you even somewhat think the target won’t live long enough to use wave, use Surge.

TLDR;
Most of the time, the right move is to use Healing Surge over Wave. Almost always use Tidal Waves buff on Healing Surge over Healing Wave (basically opposite to Holy Paladins so this may take getting used to).

4 Likes
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Yeah baby this is what I was looking for. I’m only level like 20 something but I am starting to feel out keybinds and such so I was curious if Healing Wave is worth a critical bind or not. As of now I think I’m gonna set it up like my Holy Pally with Wave on 1 and Surge on 2 and with Riptide mouseover Macross to Flame Shock somewhere vital.

Appreciate the detailed response. I likely would have soon discovered this but I have a habit of getting comfortable with keybinds locations early. Your information has helped me tremendously.

Thanks so much!

1 Like
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Lava Burst, Flame Shock, Riptide, Healing Surge, and Healing Wave are bound to 1, 2, Q, E, and backtick. (I hold right click and use WASD to move/strafe.)

I have needed to move the relatively new essences to ‘R’.

Once you have Frost Shock, this too will be a critical bind for PvP.

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