Resto Shamans get more buffs in 5.3?

Resto Shamans have been struggling this tier to keep competitive with other healers, and they did get a nice 20% buff on Healing Rain, Chain Heal and Earthliving that was hotfixed on March 26th and a mana cost reduction for Healing Rain back in February.  The new 5.3 PTR patch notes bring more good news to Shamans, although some are merely tooltip updates but others are brand new healing buffs.

Chain Heal had a ~18% increase to healing and SP scaling.
Earthliving had a 20% increase to healing and SP scaling.
Healing Rain had a 20% increase to healing and SP scaling.
Healing Rain now costs 36.6% of Base Mana, down from 43.1%.

For those into theorycraft and want the exacts, here they are:

• Chain Heal Heals the friendly target for [ 6,325 + 57.3% [ 7,590 + 68.76% of Spell Power ], then jumps to heal the most injured nearby targets. If cast on a party or raid member, the heal will only jump to other members. Each jump reduces the effectiveness of the heal by 30%. Heals 4 total targets. 22.5% of Base Mana. 40 yd range. 2.5 sec cast.
• Earthliving Heals the target for [ 3,648 + 8.3% [ 4,376 + 9.96% of Spell Power ] over 12 sec. 40 yd range. Instant.
• Healing Rain Healing rains blanket the area, restoring [ 2,170 + 19.7% [ 2,604 + 23.64% of Spell Power ] health to the Shaman’s allies. 100 yd range. Instant.
• Healing Rain Calls forth healing rains to blanket the area targeted by the Shaman, restoring [ 2,170 + 19.7% [ 2,604 + 23.64% of Spell Power ] health to allies in the area every 2 sec for 10 sec. Healing effectiveness diminishes for each player beyond 6 within the area. 43.1% 36.635% of Base Mana. 40 yd range. 2 sec cast. 10 sec cooldown.

How much of this is a tooltip update and how much is a new buff is unclear, however none of the patch notes for the previous hotfix included any mention of the increased spellpower scaling, so it is likely that portion of the buff is new.  From the March 27 hotfix patch notes:

Chain Heal now heals for 20% more.
Healing Rain now heals for 20% more.

Restoration

• Earthliving Weapon now heals for 20% more.

Definitely no mention of the spellpower scaling, and Ghostcrawler hasn’t weighed in yet.  We will keep you updated!