Healing Wave

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Power over the elements is power over creation itself.^{TCGDP 102}

Healing Wave is the first healing spell that a Shaman starts with. It is a shaman's most powerful single-target heal, and in most cases it is also the most mana efficient.

Contents 1 Rank table 2 Notes 3 Improvements 4 Tips and tactics 5 Patch changes 6 References 7 External links

Rank table

Rank	Level	Base Mana Cost	Cast Time	Healing	Cost
1	1	32%	1.5 s	34 to 44	Starts with
2	6	32%	2.0 s	64 to 78	1
3	12	32%	2.5 s	129 to 155	7 20
4	18	32%	3.0 s	268 to 316	18
5	24	32%	3.0 s	376 to 440	31 50
6	32	32%	3.0 s	536 to 622	72
7	40	32%	3.0 s	740 to 854	1 8
8	48	32%	3.0 s	1017 to 1167	1 98
9	56	32%	3.0 s	1367 to 1561	2 70
10	60	32%	3.0 s	1620 to 1850	58 50
11	63	32%	3.0 s	1725 to 1969	3 78
12	70	25%	3.0 s	2134 to 2436	7 92
13	75	25%	3.0 s	2624 to 2996	18
14	80	25%	3.0 s	3034 to 3466	18

Notes

Healing Wave is the biggest heal in a shaman's arsenal, and also the most mana efficient single target heal. The long casting time makes it somewhat unwieldy to use, but it provides a very large amount of instant healing when used together with Nature's Swiftness or Maelstrom Weapon.

The casting time of Healing Wave starts out at 1.5 seconds, then increases with each rank up to level 18, where it reaches the final casting time of 3.0 seconds. At level 20 the spell is complemented by Lesser Healing Wave, which has a 1.5 second casting time regardless of rank.

Improvements

• Bonus Healing: Healing Way causes Healing Wave to place a buff on any target healed by the spell, increasing healing done by Healing Wave on that target by 6%, stacking three times for a maximum of 18% additional healing done. This effect lasts 15 seconds. It 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. Purification increases the amount healed by 10%, Nature's Blessing increases it by up to 15% of your Intellect, and Tidal Waves gives it 20% of your Spell power in bonus healing.

• Casting Time: Improved Healing Wave will bring the casting time down to 2.5 seconds at the highest rank. Activating Nature's Swiftness turns Healing Wave into an instant cast spell.

• Critical Effect Chance: Tidal Focus is an activated ability that increases Healing Waves' critical effect chance by 60% that is reduced by 20% each time you get a critical heal, while Tidal Mastery increases the critical effect chance of the spell by 5% at max rank. Blessing of the Eternals adds a further 2 or 4%. Thundering Strikes from the Enhancement tree adds another 5% when fully talented.

• Interruption: Healing Focus reduces interruption caused by damage by up to 70%. Since Healing Wave has a long cast time, this is vital for ensuring your heals get through.

• Mana Cost: Tidal Focus reduces the mana cost by 5%. Improved Water Shield returns mana every time the spell crits, further increasing mana efficiency. The Clearcasting effect from Elemental Focus will also reduce its cost by 60%.

• Threat: Healing Grace reduces the threat caused by 15%.

• Miscellaneous: Ancestral Healing causes the spell to increase the target's armor when it crits. Ancestral Awakening allows the spell to heal a secondary target for 30% of the amount healed every time the spell crits.

• Glyph: Glyph of Healing Wave will heal you for 20% whenever you heal someone else.

Tips and tactics

• Combine with Nature's Swiftness for a powerful instant heal.

• The large amount healed and the relatively slow casting time means that it is often useful to begin casting Healing Wave on a target that's taking damage before the target needs the full amount of healing done, as the target will continue to take damage while you cast the spell. It can even be situationally useful to begin casting the spell on a target that has not yet taken any damage, if you expect them to take a lot of damage during the next seconds. If the heal turns out not to be needed you can simply abort the cast when it is almost finished.

Patch changes

• Hotfix (2009-04-22): "The Thunderfall Totem will no longer increase the casting time of Healing Wave or Lesser Healing Wave when Tidal Waves is active. ^[1]"
  
• Patch 1.10 (2006-03-28): Mana cost on all ranks reduced approximately 9%.
  

References

External links

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