Totem Talk: Resto Gear in Throne of Thunder
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Totem Talk for elemental, enhancement and restoration shaman. Want to be a sultan of swing healing? A champion of Chain Heal? Totem Talk: Restoration, brought to you by Joe Perez (otherwise known as Lodur from World of Matticus and content creation at InternetDragons.TV), shows you how.
Today, we are one step closer to the release of new content in patch 5.2 and a brand new tier of content to entertain ourselves with. We'll have everything from a loot grabbing scenario, new profession crafted gear, and a new raid to play with complete with new bosses and loot rewards. I mean, we play the game to have fun, sure, but part of that fun is definitely the rewards we obtain.
The period of time when a new tier is in testing on the PTR, it can sometimes be a bit of a tease since early items tend to be based off of data mined items. Add to that the fact that since it's a PTR, things can change. I think though, that we're close enough to a release that we can safely start taking a bit of a look at the gear that you can expect to see in the next tier. This is not a best in slot list, nor a gearing guide for 5.2, this is simply a list of what will be available to us when the patch goes live. Also bear in mind that even though we are close to release on the patch, stats, drop locations and other variables may change between now and then.
There are some really cool pieces of loot, to be sure, but some of the items we'll list may not actually have a boss associated with them. At first this may seem like a flaw in the data that was mined up, but a recent twitter reply from Gregg Street, other wise known as Ghostcrawler Blizzard Entertainments Lead System Designer, may reveal otherwise. Information that these items may actually be rewards from trash drops in normal and heroic, or may have a chance at dropping out of bags that contain gold in LFRs. I don't know about you, but I like the idea of that. There are also some pretty cool crafted patterns to look forward to as well.
Head
Faceguard of the Witch Doctor Tier token drop from Twin Consorts.
Clear-Mind Helm Dropped by Primordius.
Cloud Serpent Helm Crafted Leatherworking.
Neck
Passionfire Choker Dropped by Twin Consorts.
Soul Prism of Lei-Shen Dropped by Lei-Shen.
Mender's Battletags Shado-Pan Assault at Neutral.
Necklace of the Terra-Cotta Mender Unknown, possible trash or bag reward.
Horridion's Tusk Fragment Dropped by Horridion.
Shoulders
Mantle of the Witch Doctor Tier token drop from Iron Qon.
Spaulders of Quaking Fear Dropped by Tortos
Abandoned Spaulders of Renewal Unknown, possible trash drop or bag reward.
Lightning Strike Mantle - Shado-Pan Assault at Exalted.
Cloak
Drape of Booming Nights Dropped by Jin'rohk the breaker.
Dreamweaver Drape Shado-Pan Assault Honored.
Constantly Accelerating Cloak Dropped by Dark Animus.
Deadly Glare Cape - Dropped by Durumu the Forgotten.
Shimmershell Cape - Dropped by Tortos.
Chest
Tunic of the Witch Doctor Tier token drop from Dark Animus.
Skinsealer Tunic Shado-Pan Assault Revered.
Ro'shak's Molten Chain Dropped by Iron Qon.
Chain of Consuming Magic Dropped by Megaera.
Wrist
Spiritcaller Cuffs Shado-Pan Assault Friendly.
Vein-Cover Bracers Dropped by Durumu the Forgotten.
Loa-Ridden Bracers Dropped by High Priestess Mar'li
Gloves
Handwraps of the Witch Doctor Token drop from Council of Elders.
Fingers of the Night Dropped by Twin Consorts.
Grasp of the Ruthless Mother Dropped by Ji-Kun
Totemshaper Gloves Shado-Pan Assault Honored
Waist
Craklebite Links Shado-Pan Revered.
Abandoned Zandalari Waterchain Unknown. There are heroic, normal and raid finder versions.
Links of the Bifurcated Tongue Dropped by Megaera.
Legs
Legwraps of the Witch Doctor Token drop from Ji-kun.
Legguards of Scintillating Scales Dropped by Horridon.
Leggings of the Violent Gale Dropped by Lei Shen.
Kilt of Rising Thunder Shado-Pan Assault Honored.
Feet
Spiritbound Boots Unknown. There are heroic, normal and raid finder versions.
Ghostbinder Greatboots Dropped by Jin'Rohk the Breaker.
Cloud Serpent Sabatons Crafted Leatherworking.
Rings
Durumu's Captive Eyeball Dropped by Durumu the Forgotten.
Signet of the Shado-Pan Assault Shado-Pan Assault Friendly.
Ring of the Shado-Pan Assault Shado-Pan Friendly.
Ro'shak's Remembrance Dropped by Iron Qon.
Petrified Eye of the Basilisk Dropped by Horridon.
Trinkets
Soothing Talisman of the Shado-Pan Assault Shado-Pan Assault Friendly.
Horridon's Last Grasp Dropped by Horridon.
Inscribed Bag of Hydra-Spawn Dropped by Megaera.
Stolen Relic of Zuldazar Dropped by Primordius.
Lightning-Imbued Chalice Dropped by Lei Shen.
Weapons
Torall, Rod of the Shattered Throne Dropped by Lei Shen.
Jerthud, Graceful Hand of the Savior Unknown. There are heroic, normal and raid finder version.
Amun'Thoth, Sul's Spiritrending Talons Dropped by High Priestess Mar'li.
Giorgio's Caduceus of Pure Moods Dropped by Ji-Kun
Suen-Wo, Spire of the Falling Sun Dropped by Twin Consorts
Off-hand
Orb of Arcing Lightning Dropped by Iron Qon.
Lei-Shen's Orb of Command Dropped by Lei Shen.
Tortos' Discarded Shell Dropped by Tortos.
Shield of Twinned Despair Dropped by Twin Consorts.
Briefly Examining the gear
There's a lot of cool gear to look forward to, and some that we have yet to figure out where it exactly comes from. While their files are in game, they did not appear in the in-game Dungeon Journal or seem to be attached to any bosses quite yet. There is a variety of gearing paths you can take, and quite a number of attractive pieces. Personally, I think that we're going to see a swing back towards haste. Quite a number of pieces come with a healthy dose of haste, and with one of the tier set bonuses giving your non-crit heals the ability to spread the healing around, crit may become less important for us. That said, there are still plenty of crit pieces to try to pick up.
I think though, that the most exciting piece of gear on that list is that spell fist weapon. That spiritrending talon not only looks really awesome, but it is the first time since Wraith Strike that the idea of a spell fist weapon has been re-visited. It also comes with spirit and mastery, which definitely fits the resto shaman check list. I just really like odd items like that, they just have a cool flavor about them. The inscribed bag is also something I'm looking forward to as well. Something about recreating a shield like effect like Val'anyr makes me pretty darn happy, also the fact that we're moving away from on use trinkets as the majority makes me pretty happy as well. I would much rather have real PPM trinkets any day. So, any gear you're looking forward to?
Totem Talk: Restoration lends you advice on healing groups, DK tanks and heroics and mana concerns in today's endgame -- or take a break and look back at the rise of the resto shaman. Happy healing, and may your mana be plentiful!