Frozen Halls: Resto Loot
I’ll list some good Resto loot out of the new 5 man instances. This should help you gear up your shaman if you’re often doing Heroics, but 10 man raids are your goal. This means: I’ll rate haste as a very good stat, but not as good as for a full time raider. I’ll also try to help you decide between gear from Emblem of Triumph and loot from the new heroics. Your goal should be the 2pcT9 Bonus. The 4pc Bonus isn’t necessary, especially if your main Focus is 5 and 10 mans. The best choices for T9 resto: Chestpiece and Gloves.
On with the list, slot by slot:
Helm:
Helm of the Spirit Shock (FoS Heroic) is a fantastic Resto and Elemental piece. I’d take it over Nobundo’s Headpiece of Conquest, the regular T9 helm, any day. I’d even consider the 245 Emblem of Triumph Helm, Helm of Inner Warmth, only a very very minor upgrade over this piece. Save your 75 Emblems, this helm is really all you need. I also think it’s pretty decent looking. The helm is clearly better than Conqueror’s Worldbreaker Headpiece, if you like 2pcT8, you can stick with your T8 pieces. I’d recommend wearing the helm as soon as you get it though. If you get Polished Mirror Helm (PoS Normal), you get a decent starter helm, not as good as the T8 helm though.
Neck:
Arcane Loops of Anger (FoS Heroic) is already the second mp5 free piece. The only downside to this piece: Caster DPS might be interested as well. Love’s Prisoner (FoS Heroic) is nearly as good, mp5 could be helpful considered how much haste you’ll get through the new instances.
Shoulders:
Whoa, third slot, still no mp5 and even cloth? Frayed Abomination Stitching Shoulders (HoR Normal) Is a decent shoulder option anyway. Be nice though and don’t roll Need against clothies. Your goal should be Thrall’s Shoulderpads of Conquest. Yes, you heard right: Elemental shoulders. If you ever plan to raid 10 mans, this is the way to go. If you’re doing exclusively 5 mans and run out of mana all the time, you can go for the resto shoulders.
Back:
Cloak of the Fallen Cardinal (PoS Normal) is a decent healer cloak. If you’re already wearing Cloak of Kea Feathers, I’d stick with this one.
Chest:
Shroud of Rime (PoS Normal) is a very nice starter piece. It just lacks sockets. This makes it weaker than 213 iLvL loot from Naxxramas25 (Valorous Earthshatter Tunic, Fallout Impervious Tunic or Valorous Earthshatter Hauberk). Of course Conqueror’s Worldbreaker Tunic is a better choice, if you have it, stick with it. Your goal should be Thrall’s Tunic of Conquest, a very strong chest piece really worth its Emblems. Crafting alternative: Ensorcelled Nerubian Breastplate. This isn’t a huge upgrade over the 232 chestpiece though and doesn’t add to your Tier set bonus.
Wrist:
Nothing exciting here. If you’re wearing Limb Regeneration Bracers or Pigmented Clan Bindings, stick with it. Option: Crafted items. Bejeweled Wizard’s Bracers is incredibly strong but cloth, Black Chitin Bracers is nearly as good and not too pricey, considered how cheap arctic fur is at this point.
Hand:
Nothing exciting here. Stick with Gloves of Dismal Fortune, aim for Thrall’s Handguards of Conquest.
Waist:
Strip of Remorse (HoR Heroic) is cloth but excellent nonetheless. It beats Windchill Binding and Girdle of the Dauntless Conqueror. Don’t sell the belts with mp5 though, you might find them useful for mana intensive fights.
Legs:
Blackened Ghoul Skin Leggings (PoS Heroic) are all you need and superior to the T9 alternative, Thrall’s Legguards of Conquest. Black Dragonskin Breeches (PoS Normal) are decent entry level leggins, not as good as Leggings of the Snowy Bramble from ToC Heroic though.
Feet:
Two excellent options: Mudslide Boots (PoS Heroic) without mp5 and Soul Screaming Boots (FoS Normal) for your mana regen set.
Ring:
Two good rings with mp5 and crit. The heroic version Oath of Empress Zoe (HoR Heroic) is of course better than the iLvL 219 ring, Spiteful Signet (FoS Normal). Both rings are inferior to the rings you can get through Emblem of Triumph: Heartmender Circle and Band of the Invoker, the latter is stronger if you raid and cast a lot of chainheal, it’s very good, even with the spirit.
Trinket:
The snowflake (HoR Heroic). Is it good? Is it bad? If you don’t have mana problems, it’s bad. A haste bonus on a 2 min cooldown just isn’t fantastic. The regen bonus though is very Interesting. It seems to proc off all our direct heals, CH bounces and RT ticks. The internal cooldown is 0.4 seconds, still you’ll get a lot of those 11 mana ticks. I’ll heal some instances with this trinket and add some data. My guess: very good trinket if you tend to run out of mana.
MH:
Surgeon’s Needle (PoS Hero) is what you want. Except if you get the Battered Hilt and finish the quest line up to the Hammer of Purified Flame. Yeah, the hammer itself is ugly, it’s a fantastic healer mace though and the questline is great. Bone Golem Scapula (HoR Normal) is still a small upgrade over Mariel’s Sorrow.
OH:
Protector of Frigid Souls (PoS Normal) is your best bet. Unless you like walking around with a Shriveled Heart (HoR Heroic) in your hand. If given the choice, stick with the shield.
That’s it. Great Resto loot. Excellent to gear up for raiding. And the new LFG tool loves all healers.
Did I forget anything?
Boned (25 player)
The Frozen Throne (10 player)
The Crimson Hall (25 player)
500 Daily Quests Complete
Ice the Frost Lord
Hadronox Denied
Vehicular Gnomeslaughter
Split Personality
Epic
Better Off Dred
The Culling of Stratholme
Heroic: The Culling of Stratholme
The Culling of Time
What T9 bonus should I be aiming for? So far I have the 2pc bonus. Which T9 pieces should I be combining? I am currently still 2pc T8/2 pc T9.
Also, I am scared shitless of actually trying to heal the new instances, but I am really tired of my Naxx-10 shield.
I actually anticipated those questions. You should find all the answers at the very beginning of the post. 2pcT8/2pcT9 is excellent. 4pcT9 isn’t necessary.
Just go for the instances on normal mode. FoS is very easy. PoS is easy, but there’s some annoying trash packs. HoR is a tiny bit more difficult, but shamans are an excellent choice to heal the instance (blood lust, lots of decursing, cleansing totem, interrupting..). If you’re comfortable with the instances, go for heroic. It’s not really a big step. And the loot is really really good.
Apparently I have no reading comprehension. I just went back to this post and read that. Doh.
I think I might queue for FoS on normal in a bit and see how that goes.
Thank you for this post. I haven’t had a chance to look through the new instance loot list yet, and therefore I had no clue what was potentially in there. Luckily, I got Helm of Spirit Shock and Blackened Ghoul Skin leggings on my first run through H FoS, and the Surgeon’s needle on my third through H PoS, so I’m about halfway through the gear I want.
Kadomi, I would suggest at least the 2-piece Tier 9 for 20% riptide bonus, gloves and chest if you need to choose. The 4-piece bonus is good for raiding, helpful (but not necessary) for 5-mans. Healing the new instances is not that tough, really, if you have a decent group. Watch out for the first boss of Halls of Reflection, though, and have Heroism ready for when his aura hits full power.
It’s okay, Kadomi, neither do I. >_> But I feel good knowing that my answer was pretty much the same as drug’s. I must be doing something right.
Thanks a ton for this post, I’m completely lost with Shaman gear as it seems
Although I’ve had all the pre-3.3.0 stuff you’re approving, so I still have hope.
My only remaining questions are now how the ToC10 Sabatons of Tortured Space fare against your choices.
If you need mana, the Sabatons are the better choice, if you need throughput, go for the Mudslide boots. There really isn’t a “better” item, they are just different.
My list is also favoring throughput items. This will help you through raids. For heroic instances, some more mp5 is a good idea.
Great post! Wish I saw this before I started farming the Frozen Halls, but it’s good to see someone else share my opinion on what loot to grab and what to forget about. A few questions though. Would you really recommend the Protector of Frigid Souls over the Shriveled Heart? Because the Shriveled Heart looks way better to me with all that haste on it. Also, would you say that the Emblem of Frost caster cloak is an upgrade to the Cloak of Kea Feathers? Thanks
I think shamans should wear shields. Especially in 5 mans. To a lesser extent in 10 mans. In 25 man raiding it doesn’t make a difference.
If you the heart, don’t sell it. It’s a good piece for throughput. For heroic instances I recommend a shield though.
I’m going to make an Emblem of Frost post at a later point. Sadly recommending pieces to buy with Emblem isn’t easy. For someone who does the heroic daily every day the priority is very different than for a regular 10 man raider, who has a different priorities than a 25 man raiders who does 10 man raids as well. You are right though, I guess the first piece to buy for most resto shamans is going to be the cloak or that trinket.
Ugh, I’m never going to get that belt. I’m always running with clothie casters and I feel bad rolling on it even though it’s great. I also hate healing that first boss, since I can’t dispel magic. So much easier on my priest.
I’m also failing at getting a Battered Hilt, even though I’ve seen like 4 of them drop.
This shaman needs better dice.
Zigi´s last blog ..Patch 3.3 after 1 week
I got my Battered Hilt on my first FoS run and haven’t seen the item drop since. Which is a good thing, because now I have a good healing mace, but a bad thing because I don’t have any motivation now to run the instances on my shaman.
From yesterday’s patch notes:
The drop rate for the Battered Hilt has been increased.
Why do they toy with me so!
Zigi´s last blog ..Patch 3.3 after 1 week
Don’t you think Chilled Heart of the Glacier (reg HoS) is a viable MH?
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=49846
less int then Bone Golem Scapula, but more haste
you could socket int or MP5 and you get hit to boot
I don’t list items with +hit, I just don’t want to encourage healers to roll on caster dps items. It’s pretty easy though to do the math and see if it’s an upgrade or not.
Also, PoS Heroic is so easy, so you should really aim for the healer dagger anyway.
Thanks a lot for this list. I’ll definitly be coming back to it once I get my shaman alt to 80.
Really useful list, thank you. I’m feeling like switching back to resto, and I need to fill a few gear gaps.
One thing I’m curious about – you don’t list http://www.wowwiki.com/Nevermelting_Ice_Crystal, which looks to me a definite yes, mainly for the SP it gives, rather than the maybe of the snowflake?
I didn’t list the trinket because I don’t have it and assumed this is the caster DPS trinket. Can someone please confirm if this procs from critical heals? If yes: good trinket. If it doesn’t: leave it to caster dps.
Great post. Resto shaman are getting some nice gear choices from these new instances. For some reason, the people I know have been having trouble getting that shield. It seems to have an unusually low droprate. I’m not sure if I agree with you on the Shield vs Hart thing though. In most cases, I’d actually opt for the hart given its stats.
Thanks for an informative post. I got surgeon’s needle last night as well as the nevermelting ice crystal mentioned above. Seems like a caster dps trinket, has anyone got any view as to its viability as a healing trinket?
Can anyone recommend a good addon which will help me monitor the trinket’s effectiveness? I don’t have anything suitable at the moment.
I could be mistaken but did you leave out relic? Also, what should i be looking at as far as head, weapon, and boot enchants? Great post through and through, keep up the good work!