Post by 2Fang
I'd suggest something like this:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=hZ0xxIZxceuVxoxkrIotI say Healing Way is inappropriate. Imp. Earth Shield is not all that needed, I'd rather put the points into Imp. Water Shield and fullfil the Tidal Mastery talent. If you really want Imp. Earth Shield you could take the points out of Elemental Weapons and put that in, but I also suggest you get Tidal Force.
Read this if you have the time; it's about Elemental Weapons vs Healing Way.
Healing Way vs. Elemental Weapons
As of the most recent past, 3.0.8, the functioning of the Shaman Restoration talent tree Healing Way was changed.
There has been some conjecture regarding which is better to put 3 talent points into as a resto-shammy. My currently research tends to lean towards Healing Way, however Elemental Weapons is just as viable as a healing spec. Below is the math I ran regarding this issue.
/cast Wall of Text
* Earthliving Weapon (Rank 6) (ELW) , 6% of base mana , Instant cast ,Requires Melee Weapon
Imbue the Shaman's weapon with earthen life. Increases healing done by 150 and each heal has a 20% chance to proc Earthliving on the target, healing an additional 652 over 12 sec. Lasts 30 minutes.
* Healing Wave (Rank 14) (HW) 25% of Base Mana 40 yd range 3 sec cast Heals a friendly target for 3034 to 3466. (3250 Average)
* Lesser Healing Wave (Rank 9) (LHW) 15% of Base Mana 40 yd range 1.5 sec cast Heals a friendly target for 1606 to 1834. (1720 Average)
Using Talent - Elemental Weapons 3/3 (Tal-EW) which will increase the bonus heal of Earthliving Weapon (which procs a maximum of 1 in 5 heals) by 30% which is 196 healing in addition to 652 with a total of 848 over 12 seconds. Question, does it also increase the 150 by 30% which is 45 brining the total healing does on the proc by 195 + 848 = 1043 which is a bonus of 241.
Using Talent - Healing Way 3/3 (Tal-HW) will increase your next healing spell by the following (3.0.8 no longer stacks)
Tal-HW Tal-EW Hot Shareable
Spell Average @18%30% Proc? Duration Buff Note
HW 3250 585 100%15 Yes
LHW 1720 310 100% 15 Yes
ELW 848 150 + 652 = 802 20% 12 No Procs anyway on its own
ELW+EW 1043 (+241) +45 +195 = +241 20% 12 No with Elemental Weapons
* Enhancement-EW: So, is 241 over 12 seconds in a 1 out of 5 chance worth it for 3/3 in Elemental Weapons in the Enhancement tree?
* Restoration-HW: 585 HW vs. 241 LHW over 15 seconds in a 19 in 20 chance worth it for Healing Way in the Resto tree? Generally, yes.
Wowwiki.com note-Elemental Weapons: Restoration and Elemental shamans benefit significantly less from this talent, as the bonuses for Earthliving Weapon and Flametongue Weapon only apply to the flat bonuses granted by those imbues, and thus do not offer the bonus to scaling that is what make the talent so powerful for Enhancement.
Wowwiki.com note-Healing Way: The effect lasts 15 seconds. Each Healing Wave that procs the effect will refresh the duration of the whole stack. Healing Way does not affect any other healing spells, but every shaman casting Healing Wave on that target will benefit from the effect even if they do not have the talent themselves. If two shamans who both have the talent heal the same target, they will 'share' a single stack, and either player can refresh or add to a stack started by the other
/stopcasting Wall of Text
Based on this math my inkling is to go with Healing Way. However, since the HW buff allows other shaman to benefit from the buff, there is certainly no real detriment for a resto shammy not to be speced into it. Healing way was originally designed to be a buff used on the Main Tank/Off Tank.
(Quoted from another thread)