PvE Restoration Shaman Best Races

Nevermore • Published September 27, 2022

With the launch of Wrath of the Lich King, Alliance now have the opportunity to bring shamans into the battlefield with the addition of Draenei. Meanwhile, the Horde has Trolls holding the number one spot as spiritual leaders in their community.

Horde

Troll is the most powerful Horde race that you can choose as a Restoration Shaman. Since Restoration Shamans gain huge benefits from Haste Rating, Berserking alone places them in the top spot.

The best race when it comes to playing a Restoration Shaman, Trolls provide several powerful racial effects that can increase your PvE potential.

Berserking is an on-use spell that offers +20% increased casting speed for 10 seconds on a 3-minute cooldown.
- The fact that this is an on-use ability has big implications for burst phases / stacking your cooldowns. Considering that haste is an extremely powerful stat for Restoration Shamans, this racial effect alone can elevate Trolls to the first place.
Beast Slaying increases your damage dealt to Beast type enemies by 5%
- 5% is a significant increase. Unfortunately, you will not benefit from this racial effect as a healer.
Da Voodoo Shuffle passively reduces the duration of movement slowing & immobilize effects on you by 15%.
- Generally a PvP racial, but it can occasionally come in handy in PvE as well.
Bow Specialization and Throwing Specialization increase your critical strike chance with bows & throwing weapons by 1%.
- This racial effect will be useless to you, as you will not use a bow or a throwing weapon.
Regeneration increases health regeneration by 10% and allows you to regenerate health during combat at 10% of your normal regeneration rate.
- This racial effect is very potent when leveling, providing you with an early survivability tool.

The second-best race when it comes to playing a Restoration Shaman, the Orcs provide interesting bonuses when it comes to PvE content.

Axe Specialization increases your expertise by 5 when using axes or fist weapons.
- As a healer, we will not benefit from this racial effect.
Blood Fury is an on-use spell that increases your Attack Power and scales with your level. At level 80 it will provide +163 spell power for 15 seconds on a 2-minute cooldown.
- The fact that this is an on-use ability has big implications for burst phases / stacking your cooldowns.
Hardiness provides you with resistance to crowd control effects.
- While this ability is better suited for PvP scenarios, it can also help you during certain PvE encounters.
Command is a very powerful racial, that unfortunately does not apply to Shamans, as they have no pets.

The most underwhelming choice when it comes to playing a shaman, Taurens provide the least beneficial effects when it comes to PvE scenarios.

Endurance increases base health by 5% — meaning your natural health at level 80, without your extra health or stamina from equipment, buffs, etc.
- This can help you survive slightly better than other Shaman races, but is generally not very noticeable.
War Stomp gives you an on-use AoE stun with a 2-minute cooldown.
- While it’s mostly useful in PvP situations, it can also be used to provide a quick crowd control effect to save yourself in sticky situations.
Nature Resistance reduces the chance you will be hit by Nature spells by 2%.
- This is mostly a negligible racial when it comes to PvE.
Cultivation increases your initial Herbalism skill by 15.
- This doesn’t have a gameplay impact besides minor convenience.

Alliance

Draenei is the only available race for the Shaman class in the Alliance. They provide you with an assortment of useful racial effects, some of them being a lot stronger than others.

Draenei is the only option when it comes to playing a Restoration Shaman in the Alliance. Introduced in The Burning Crusade, the Draenei quickly became a fan-favorite race for the Alliance, offering multiple powerful racials while looking extremely cool in the process.

Heroic Presence increases the chance to hit with spells and physical attacks by 1% for you and all party members within 30 yards.
- Every single DPS group will want to have at least 1 Draenei for this powerful buff. Keep in mind that this effect does not work raid-wide. While we will mention that Hit Rating does not truly impact a Restoration Shaman’s gameplay, later on, it can certainly help when it comes to certain situational abilities
Gift of the Naaru places a heal-over-time effect on a single target that lasts 15 seconds, with a 3-minute cooldown.
- This racial effect will be most beneficial when leveling or in sticky situations, since it is an instant cast effect. However, even if it scales with our spell power, it is considerably weaker than our other healing spells.
Shadow Resistance reduces the chance you will be hit by Shadow spells by 2%.
- This is mostly a negligible racial when it comes to PvE.
Gemcutting increases your initial Jewelcrafting skill by 5.
- This doesn’t have a gameplay impact besides minor convenience.