On the off-chance that you missed it, the tier 12 set bonuses for patch 4.2 have been data-mined. Or rather it is what we think they are currently. Everyone has begun speculating about whether they are real, finished or just place holders as well as the impact they’ll have on the gameplay. Well, I figured I’d chime in on what the uncovered shaman tier 12 set bonus is supposed to be for restoration.
- Restoration 2 Pieces – Your periodic healing from Riptide has a 40% chance to restore 1% of your base mana each time it heals a target.
- Restoration 4 Pieces – Your Chain Heal spell will jump to one additional target.
Well, that’s what we know so far. I really like the idea of the 2 piece bonus for a few reasons. First of all, every tick of your Riptide will have a 40% chance to restore 1% of your base mana when it heals. Considering you’re likely to be rolling at least 3 of them at a time due to the nature of the spell and the glyph, the potential return on investment is pretty high here. The other thing to consider is that at our first haste plateau of 916, all of our HoTs get an extra tick. With Tier 12 gear it looks like we’ll likely be able to hit the second haste plateau with buffs, which is around 3.4k haste. At 1,573 haste (if you glyphed Riptide and have the warlock buff) Riptide will gain yet another additional tick. It will still occupy the same time on the target, and heal for the same amount, it will just tick more frequently. The point is, 1,573 is an easy number to hit, and even if you don’t have a warlock to buff you the total of 2005 (1857 if you’re a goblin) won’t be that hard to hit come patch 4.2. This increases your chances of getting some mana back with that wonderful 2 piece and honestly makes it very attractive.
The four piece does not thrill me for a few reasons. First of all, adding an additional target to Chain Heal is something our old Glyph of Chain Heal used to do. I’m not really excited by the idea that our set bonus was something that was previously a glyph, and then was just added to the spell anyways as a base component. Secondly, every jump reduces the mount of healing done by chain heal exponentially. As it stands, that last jump would be a piddly amount of healing, and that is assuming a 5th target is in range, and even needs the heal. Thirdly, it is not raid team neutral. What I mean by this is 10 vs 25 man raiding. It’s often times hard enough to get CH to hit all 4 targets in a 25 man raid, it can be downright impossible in a 10 man. That means that the set bonus could go wasted. Lastly, it hardly compares with some of the other 4-piece set bonuses that have been data-mined. Compare one additional bounce of chain heal to the other set that give free healing to nearby targets, or place a free flame-like Lightwell. It just doesn’t have the same punch, and I don’t see it really contributing to our overall healing.
That said, I’m holding out hope that this is incomplete data, that maybe the set bonus will change. Maybe if it healed two targets at the maximum value of chain heal before starting it’s declining healing value, or gave it another augment. Maybe give a bonus to another spell like Healing Rain. Something that feels a little more in line with the other healing 4-piece bonuses would be nice. Since this isn’t even available on the Patch 4.2 PTR yet, I’m hoping it will evolve into something more robust, but only time will tell.
What about you? What do you think about the data mined set bonus? Love it, hate it? What would you like to see for a restoration 4-piece set bonus for T12?
I’d take an extra hit on Chain Heal over relying on other players for my healing more than I already do, I think…
There’s so many potential issues with Cauterizing Flame – color, placement, RNG, duration, and communication – that could very easily devalue the 4pc bonus (especially in favor of the 2pc from the shadow set for reduced cooldown on Shadowfiend, more so with Veiled Shadows).
Moreover, the 2pc set for healing priests could potentially be pretty bad for 25-man holy priests, who are generally stuck with PoH/CoH/PoM/Renew usage, and don’t see a lot of Heal/GHeal/FHeal casts. It’s a nice 10-man bonus, but it leaves a lot to be desired for Holy priests, Atonement priests, and raid-healing Discipline priests. I digress.
On that note, 2-piece bonus for shaman looks amazing. Four-piece may be a little lackluster, but at least it’s potentially effective. Given that Chain Heal baseline hits four targets as is (which takes place of the old glyph), I wonder if the Chain Heal 5th target would have the same effectiveness of the 4th target, or continue to degrade in effectiveness. I’d hope the former, but that could, of course, be wishful thinking.
The two piece bonus seems a tad lacklustre. 40% chance on Riptide tick to return 1% base mana (currently 253). Even rolling 3, the numbers are low. Compared to say the Priest 2pce which is based on three spells, automatically occurs and grants 2% every 5 seconds for 15. The Priest bonus can and will most likely be in play at all times. The Shaman 2 pce….not so much.
The only way I can see the Tier 12 4 pce being useful or even used would be if it gets the additional jump WITHOUT the usual reduction in healing per jump.
It would still be hard to make use of, but at least when you could make use of it, targets 4 & 5 would get the same amount of healing.
Yes but of those three spells i rarely use any of them and the only time i really do is as filler between aoe phases. The priest 2 piece relies on single target spells and as holy i have come to accept that my single target healing is woeful so i have relighted myself to raid healing. Sure in the ten mans i run i do use heal gheal and flash but i don’t see it ever really procing in a 25man setting.
yeah don’t be jelly of a 4 piece bonus that is a pale shadow of a CD Blizz has only barely convinced us to use in the most situational of situations and it procs so you can’t even be smart about it like you can with Lightwell.
It would be sort of like a DPS class that had a bonus like “your damaging spells randomly buff a random healer if they click on it with a 5% damage buff”
Click my 4 piece!! more DPS from the healers!!! …owait…
I absolutely share your concerns about the 4pc bonus and its applicability in 10s. Shaman already have issues utilizing their iconic ability in the smaller raid team, such that I would doubt this bonus would offer much of a boost (if any at all).
But, aside from the specific bonuses, I think what’s interesting is to look at the healing bonuses as a whole–every 4pc focuses on providing additional splash healing. When combined with 2pc bonuses that emphasize longevity, I think the message here is … get ready for raid AOE to take a step up in Firelands.
Oh absolutely! honestly I’m looking forward to it.
Ok, seems like the 4-piece bonus has changed.
“Your Chain Heal spell no longer consumes your Riptide effect on the primary target”
This is much more attractive than one xtra CH jump. This means that in phases where you need to stack (Cho’Gall, for instance) you just need Riptide on one target and you can get off as many CH’s as you want, all getting the 25% bonus.
And for thos saying CH isn’t used in 10mans, and hardly in 25mans. This is just wrong. You are doing something wrong then.
And also, just for those saying that the 2-piece bonus ain’t good enough:
Good Shamans will have Riptide on 3 targets most of the time. This = 120% chance each tick, statistically. So, you’ll get 1% mana (dunno what max mana will be but say it’ll be 120k, then 1% = 1200 mana) each 3 seconds, and even less considering you got haste. It seems very very nice
Also, trinkets like Mandala of Stirring Patterns (1926 int = 19260 max mana cap increased) and many others, will buff the 2-piece effect even more.
1% of base mana thats 200mana per tick…
yea you dont know what your talking about for the chainheal clearly because alot of the time when the raid is taking dmg as a whole you are stacked, and when your stacked in either a 10 or 25 man you will be able to hit 5 targets easily.