So, you're interested in trying out to heal, but you don't know which class to pick? This guide is intended to help you make out your choice. Ultimately, it's a matter of preference. NEVER, and I stress, NEVER EVER, pick a class because it is the "best" in that role. Each healing class will perform differently based on combat mechanics and boss tactics. This guide will mainly discuss the healing styles of each healing class, to help you choose which will fit your playstyle. I'll list the class based on my opinion, which is the easiest to heal, and which is more.. challenging.
Take note that I will write my personal thoughts on each class, and these sections should NOT be used as a baseline to make your choices. Also, I've played every healing class and level them to at least 375 iLvl except Paladins, so I may not have the best information regarding them.
First of all, as a healer, your main role is to, well, heal! You are tasked with keeping the party alive through the dungeon mechanics. You are expected to heal through both minor and heavy damage spikes, single and party-wide damage, etc. Unlike DPSes, you do not follow a set rotation. You are free of the 'restriction' of having to follow spell priorities. You lean more towards TRIAGE healing. This basically means that you are expected to make the decisions on: which spell you should use, and who should you heal first. Healers have to learn how to manage their mana well, and make good judgments. But! This thread is not a guide on how to heal. You can find that elsewhere, but this thread is more on which class would fit you better. Also, the descriptions should give you the gist of each class, and what they can do.
1. HOLY PALADINS
Spoiler:Show Healing style :
Paladins' healing spells are mostly big, single-target direct heals. They are excellent at tank healing because of Beacon of Light, which duplicates 50% of all direct heals (100% in the case of Holy Light, their cheap yet slow healing spell) to the target that has the Beacon. They have an array of defensive and offensive COOLDOWNS, such as their Hands, and 2 emergency buttons, namely Lay on Hands (which heal the target to max health), and Hand of Protection (which makes the target immune to all damage for several seconds). Their Mastery also provides all of their direct-healing spells a small, stacking shield.
They also have Guardian of Ancient Kings, an extremely powerful cooldown which duplicates a number of your heals to the same target and a percentage as a splash heal (meaning they hit party members near the target)
Holy paladins' healing style revolve around gaining up to 3 HOLY POWER to power 2 healing spells, Word of Glory, and Light of Dawn. Spells that use holy power are FREE, and the amount they heal depends on the amount of holy power consumed. Holy Power is gained from Holy Shock, a cheap and instant single-taget direct heal, and other spells.
Their mana return spell, Divine Plea, regenerates some of their mana at the cost of reduced healing while the spell is up.
Strengths :
- Tank healing > Paladins excel in tank healing. Their heals are mainly single target ones, but they are also equipped by two multi-target heals.
- Regeneration > Paladins are similar to priests in that they have 80% in-combat regeneration from the buff called Judgments of the Pure, which they gain by casting Judgment at the target. However, this buff is NOT passive, so they have to refresh this buff every minute.
- Armor > as plate wearers, they are the toughest of the healing classes. Their high armor stat makes them very resilient towards damage, and allow them to heal longer. This is especially beneficial for PvP, but also have its uses in PvE.
- Emergencies > they have 2 emergency buttons - 1 restores all health on the target, and the other makes them immune to all damage
Weaknesses / things to look out for :
- AoE healing > Paladins may find it harder to heal party-wide damage because they only have 2 heals - Holy Radiance is a spammable AoE heal, but it is NOT an instant heal. Instead, it heals the target party member and other allies around it over time. Light of Dawn, their second heal, heals party member in a cone in front of the paladin. The latter is harder to use, because the Paladin may need to position him/herself behind party members. The range is quite far, though another factor that makes the spell's use quite hard is the fact that it consumes holy power instead of mana. Some paladins may find gaining holy power a bit hard, hence, this spell as well.
- Expensive spells > Paladins' spells are relatively expensive compared to other classes. However, this is somewhat compensated with Word of Glory and Light of Dawn consuming another resource, namely holy power, and also by their 30% additional in-combat regen.
- Holy power > Paladins greatly rely on gaining and expending Holy Power to fuel two of their spells. During early gearing, players may find it a bit difficult to properly build up Holy Power, though this is highly subjective.
- Casting speed > although Judgment also provide spell haste, their spells are relatively slow to cast.
Reason for ranking :
Paladins' healing style is quite straightforward. They have the biggest single-target heals, are tough, and have emergency buttons for critical times that can save an ally from death. Their mana management can be as tricky as Holy Priests, though I find them less punishing than the latter.
Preferred role :
Holy Paladins are preferred as tank-healers and for PvP because they have very strong direct heals, and single-target saves. In PvE, they might not be as suitable for encounters with heavy AoE damage because the lack of AoE healing spells. In PvP, and especially in Arenas, they are excellent healers because of their high armor and defensive cooldowns.
2. RESTORATION DRUIDS
Spoiler:Show Healing style :
Restoration Druids' healing spells revolve around over-time healing. Somewhat like the Warlock of healing, if you may. Almost all of their spells have an over-time healing mechanic to it. Their spells are VERY cheap compared to other healing classes at the expense of them not being direct heals. You will often find yourself clearing trash mobs with your mana still at 100%, because they proc a lot of Clearcasting, which makes the next non-instant heals FREE. Also, a lot of their healing spells are INSTANT, allowing Druids to heal on the move, a characteristic that is favored in PvP as well (as instant heals can't be interrupted).
Their main spell, Lifebloom, is a nice heal-over-time spell that can be stacked up to 3 times. When the spell expires, the HoT heals the target instantly for an additional amount. Lifebloom can also be REFRESHED by casting direct heals, such as Nourish (their cheap, slow heal), Regrowth (a quick 'expensive' instant heal + hot), and Healing Touch (big, slow heal), making it an excellent, steady HoT that is easily refreshable. Druids need to keep this up to almost 100% uptime because, not only do they heal the target, but they are also the main source of Clearcasting procs. Lifebloom is an essential spell for single-target healing.
They have 2 unique spells - Tree of Life form, a restoration-exclusive shapeshifting form which enhances a lot of your spells (and a cool-looking idle!), and Tranquility, an AoE emergency heal similar to the Priests' Divine Hymn.
Druids' healing is also quite different. Think of it as "reducing" damage rather than healing it. As they are over-time effects, Druids do not heal spike damage as good as other classes, but they slowly heal up their allies' health. In fights like Baron Ashbury, during the last phase where the party is continuously hit by steady, party-wide damage, Druids can slowly heal up their allies to over-heal the damage by piling their HoT effects. They can put their HoT spells one on top of the other on allies to give slow, steady healing. Because of this, Druids can be said as the most 'steady' healing class.
Druids' mana return spell, Innervate, regenerates the target (so it can be cast on other party members as well)'s mana over time.
Strengths :
- Cheap spells > Druids are equipped with relatively low mana cost spells at the expense of them healing targets over time rather than instant. Also, their Clearcasting procs (from Lifebloom) help mana management even more.
- Replenishment > Druids are the only healing class that provide the party or raid with the Replenishment buff, which restores a small percentage of the user's mana to a number of party member. This almost always have 100% uptime, and can be useful to help mana regeneration.
- Soothe > Druids are also one of the two classes (the other being Hunters) that can dispel Enrage effects on enemies.
- Instant spells > Rejuvenation ('expensive' but big HoT), Lifebloom (HoT with bloom effect), Wild Growth (AoE HoT), and Swiftmend (single, instant heal that can be specced to also leave a circular AoE HoT), are all instant casts. Therefore, they can cast these spells while moving. These spells come in handy in both PvE and PvP, for fights that require them to be constantly on the move.
- Disentanglement > this is the name of a passive, druid-exclusive buff. This lets them clear all rooting (spells that make you unable to move, but can still cast spells) and snares (spells that slow your movement) by shapeshifting. This makes druids quite handy in both PvP and PvE, as they can gain their mobility back by simply changing forms
- Tranquility > Tranquility is one of the strongest AoE heals in the game, along with the Priests' Divine Hymn, and you can use it! It's a very handy emergency button for when your party receives a sudden AoE damage, as you can just pop this and let it channel.
- Rebirth > Druids are one of the few classes that have a battle-resurrection. Their Rebirth spell, is a battle-res that comes with 2 glyphs - one that removes their reagent cost, and one that makes the spell res the dead ally with full health
Weaknesses / things to look out for :
- Over-time healing > because most of their spells heal targets over-time, Druids may find it hard to handle damage spikes. A talent spell, called Nature's Swiftness, makes your next spell instant-cast, and Swiftmend, is their main healing spell during times of spike damage. However, they don't have much else, and cannot be used repeatedly as they have quite a long cooldown. The fact that they are HoT-based, however, is an advantage during fights where party members receive steady damage.
- Threat > Druids are the only healing class that does not have a threat-dropping ability, so once they aggro several mobs, they can only rely on the tank to take them off
- Unique playstyle > again, this is subjective, but do note that they heal very differently from all other healing classes. They need to 'expect' damage and place HoTs before the actual spike damage impacts the party. You may need some time between changing healing classes
Reason for ranking :
I've put them in second place in terms of simplicity because of their mana. They do not lose mana as quick as other classes because of their relatively low mana costs and Clearcasting procs. They are probably the least punishing healing class, as they can be spammy, but not lose mana as quick as if you spam with a Holy Priest.
Preferred role :
Druids are most optimized as secondary raid and PvP healers. Their stable HoT-based healing provide the raid with a steady uplift of health. They should not be primary raid healers because they do not have good spike healing capabilities. In PvP, they are excellent because not much of their spells can be interrupted, and because they can break away from movement-impairing effects by shapeshifting.
3. RESTORATION SHAMANS
Spoiler:Show Healing style :
Restoration Shamans are excellent raid healers, being balanced between direct and HoT healing. They are also notable for their VERY QUICK heals. Their main spell, Riptide, grant the Tidal Waves effect, which increases the next two Healing Wave (their slow, cheap, filler heal) or Greater Healing Wave (their big, slow heal)'s casting speed. This enables Shamans to react to damage spikes because of their very fast, big heals.
They have a very interesting Mastery, where their heals get bigger the lower the target ally's health is. You can expect their heals to be VERY big because of this particular mechanic and another talent explained below (even as high as a 100k heal). They are also highly customisable, as they don't have a definite guideline on which secondary stat is best, so they can choose between having faster or bigger heals.
Shamans have 2 unique talents. Ancestral Awakening is a very useful talent that duplicates 30% of any critical heals to the nearby party member with the lowest health. This, coupled with the option of stacking crit rating, can be extremely powerful, and somewhat help the Shaman with triage. Another unique talent is Telluric Currents, which returns mana equal to a percentage of the damage done by Lightning Bolt (a filler damage spell). This is very useful during times where party members do not receive large amounts of damage, and the party can survive while the shamans stop healing.
The Shamans' mana return spell, Mana Tide Totem, gives nearby party members 400% of the Shaman's spirit, providing a powerful mana battery for other healers in raids. They also have Water Shield, which increases in-combat regeneration and provide mana regeneration when struck.
Strengths :
- Fast heals > the Tidal Waves buff is extremely powerful. It makes the next 2 Healing Wave and Greater Healing Wave have very fast cast time. Shamans are essentially the only healing class where you can remove your fast but expensive heal spell out of your action bar.
- Utility > Shamans' totems provide a wide array of buffs. They can supply the party with equivalents of the Paladins' Devotion Aura, Resistance Aura, Concentration Aura, and the Hunters' Hunting Party, and more. They can also provide an extremely useful mana regen totem for other healers in raids. There is also the ever-useful Heroism, a 15 second cooldown interrupt (Wind Shear), and two crowd control spells (Hex and Bind Elemental).
- Multi-target heals > Shamans are equipped with a myriad of multi-target healing spells. They have Healing Stream totem (which, essentially, provides a PERMANENT HoT effect on party members in range of the totem), Healing Rain (a targetable circular AoE HoT), Chain Heal (a bouncing heal), and Ancestral Awakening (duplicates 30% healing done from crit heals)
- Mobility > Shamans also have excellent mobility using 2 spells - Spiritwalker's Grace enables them to temporarily cast while moving, while Spirit Wolf form increases their movement speed in and off combat.
- Versatility > Shamans can easily fill both tank-healing and raid-healing, though they are preferred as the latter
- Purge > Shamans are also one of the very few healing classes that can dispel buffs on other mobs via the Purge spell (the other being Priests using Dispel or Mass Dispel)
- Reincarnation > Shamans have Reincarnation, a unique self-'battle-res'
Weaknesses / things to look out for :
- Awareness > this is not as much as a weakness, but Shamans need to be able to keep several spells up. They need to keep Earth Shield (a heal that triggers with incoming damage) and Water Shield (increases mana regen, and returns mana if caster is hit) up on all times. The latter is the most important, because Shields lose a stack with each hit, and some people may not notice that their Water Shield is down, and lose precious mana regen. They also need to keep totems up, as they provide buffs that are vital to the party. Some people may find it harder to keep an eye on multiple buffs and keep them up, though there are addons like Power Auras that can be extremely helpful on this
Reason for ranking :
How hard it is to heal on Shamans vary with people. I'm one of those people who can't keep an eye on multiple buffs and keep them up by myself, so I'm lost without using Power Auras. Other people may find it easier to keep multiple buffs up, though.
Preferred role :
Shamans are excellent primary and secondary raid-healers. They can quickly react to spike damage, and have multiple multi-target / AoE healing spells. They are also decent PvP healers because of their interrupts and untility.
4. DISCIPLINE PRIESTS
Spoiler:Show Healing Style :
Discipline Priests have a very different healing style because they are equipped with numerous damage mitigation spells. Their main spell - Power Word : Shield, is a strong bubble (= shield) that also provide the Priest with mana return. They also have Power Word : Barrier, which is essentially a circular AoE damage reduction buff, and Pain Suppression, a single-target version of the prior. Discipline priests mainly have 2 spec choices - Atonement / Archangel healing, or traditional healing.
Atonement/Archangel healing is unique in that instead of having a cheap, slow, and small filler heal, they can use Smite and Holy Fire (both damaging spells) to heal the lowest party member near the target enemy equal to the damage done. With Atonement, Smite and Holy fire is VERY efficient and cheap, while they heal very big.
Traditional healing leaves out Atonement, which means that traditional discipline Priests can't heal with Smite and Holy Fire, instead they stick to the basic Heal spell (their filler heal). They focus more on shielding party members rather than the damage to heal conversion.
In both specs, they give the target party member a shield every time they crit with a direct healing spell and Prayer of Healing (party-wide heal) through Divine Aegis that also stacks. Think of it as a stronger, though harder to trigger version of the Paladin's Mastery.
Priests are also equipped with Divine Hymn, a massive, emergency AoE heal similar to the Druid's Tranquility.
Their main mana return spell is from Rapture, which regenerates a percentage of their mana whenever their Power Word : Shield is used up.
Strengths :
- Mana return > Discipline Priests have very strong mana returns coming from various spells. Priests have Hymn of Hope (increases mana pool while providing regen as well) and Shadowfiend (pet that returns mana with each hit). Discipline Priests can also regain mana from Rapture (returns mana when their shield is broken) and Archangel (gives you wings, healing buff, and regens mana). Coupled with the fact that Smite and Holy Fire is VERY cheap (as Atonement), Discipline Priests don't have to worry about their mana as much as other healing classes as long as they use their mana returns properly.
- Haste buff > Discipline Priests have something that's similar to the Shamans' Tidal Waves effect, called Borrowed Time. After you cast Power Word : Shield, you gain 30% haste for the next spell you cast, allowing the Priest to cast quick heals after placing a shield
- Versatility > Discipline Priests can be both tank-healers and raid-healers because they are equipped with spells that also ease AoE and single-target healing.
Weaknesses / things to look out for :
- (Atonement) Target switching > As an Atonement Discipline Priest, you have to watch out who you're targeting. They need to frequently switch between targeting an enemy for Smite and Holy Fire healing, and then to an ally for other heals. Because of this, you may heal the wrong target because you're targeting something else (especially with Penance, a channeled heal, that can also damage enemies if you target an enemy instead of an ally).
- (Atonement) Range > Atonement Priests need to be careful with Smite healing, because they cannot choose who Smite and Holy Fire heal. These two are 'smart' healing spells, which means they automatically target the party member with the lowest health, including pets. They also have a relatively short range, so you cannot heal ranged DPSes through this if they are too far away.
- 'Inner' Switching > this is subjective, but sometimes Priests may find it hard to switch between Inner Will (buff that reduces mana cost of instant spells) and Inner Fire (buff that increases healing and armor) to increase their mana returns. Note that some may choose to completely stick into one Inner buff.
Reason for ranking :
I've put Discipline Priests here because I find them somewhat harder to master than other classes because of how their mana returns work. Especially because Atonement healing's range and target switching issue, this is the healing spec that I had trouble with. However, the Discipline Priest's shields can prove to be a powerful tool that can save party or raid members from boss mechanics.
Preferred role :
Discipline Priests can pretty much fill any role. They are excellent PvP, tank, and raid healers. In PvP, they have a relatively high survivability due to their shields, and decent pvp utility like AoE fear, Mind Control, etc . (Note that Atonement is not viable in PvP) In PvE, their talents provide an excellent boost to healing via Divine Aegis, which makes them viable for both tank and raid healing.
5. HOLY PRIESTS
Spoiler:Show Healing style :
Holy Priests are a diverse healing class, able to switch between single and multi-target healing. They are equipped with the most healing tools compared to other healing classes. A good example of this is the Binding Heal spell, which heals the caster AND the target, and Prayer of Mending, a bouncing on-impact healing spell. They lean more towards direct heals, though their mastery adds a HoT effect to all their direct healing spells.
It is important to note that they benefit the most out of Spirit, because they have a passive 30% increase from combat-regen, so they gain a total of 80% combat regen from the Spirit stat. This means that, they have the best regeneration out of all other classes (though paladins do have this buff, it is not passive and needs to be applied). Holy Priests require players who play them to be able to manage their mana well.
Holy Priests, aside of having the Divine Hymn AoE HoT emergency, have several other utilities as well. If talent is taken, they have Desperate Prayer, a free, instant self-heal that heals them for 30% of their health, and Guardian Spirit, a pseudo-'battle res' which brings the target back to 50% should they 'die' during the spell's period, and increase healing received by 60%. Another talent, called Spirit of Redemption, allows them to continue healing for several seconds after they die.
They also have Prayer of Mending, a unique healing spell that heals the target when they receive an attack, and then bounce to another target (like a bouncing version of the Shaman's Earth Shield).
The Holy Priest's unique mechanic is the Chakra state. Basically, Chakra states are like modes where the Priest can choose to be in either single or multi-target healing modes. Chakra is activated depending on the spell cast after it. The Chakra improves healing capability respective of the mode chosen (single-target makes single heals more powerful, and so on with the other). The spell Holy Word : Chastise also changes depending on the active Chakra.
Single-target chakra shifts the playstyle of the Priest similar to that of a Druid's Lifebloom, which allows the Priest to refresh Renew (a HoT spell) by casting a single-target direct healing spell, while the multi-target chakra simply empowers the priest's AoE spell.
Holy Priests revolve around heavy mana management. Simply put, they have massive mana regen, but at the same time, they can expend mana very quickly.
Their mana-return spell is Hymn of Hope, which increases their maximum mana and regenerate them over time, and Shadowfiend, which summons a pet that restores a percentage of the Priest's maximum mana with each hit. These, when combined together, can almost reset the Priest's mana to 100% in a short amount of time.
Strengths :
- Regeneration > like I said, they benefit the most out of the Spirit stat because they have 80% mana regeneration from that, instead of the usual 50% with other healing classes
- Mana return > priests in general have powerful mana return cooldowns. Using Shadowfiend and then Hymn of Hope returns a large amount of mana to the Priest
- Versatility > the Chakra mechanic allows them to be powerful single and multi-target healers
- Raid-healing > Holy Priests are favored more as raid-healers. They are equipped with a myriad of multi-target healing spells - they have Binding Heal (heals target and caster)
- Divine Hymn > along with Druids, Holy Priests have the strongest AoE healing spell in-game. Divine Hymn is the direct-healing version of Tranquility, that heals for a decent amount per tick for several seconds, providing an extremely useful emergency heal. Their talent, Heavenly Voice, gives a massive boost, making this more powerful used by a Holy Priest than a Disc Priest.
Weaknesses / things to look out for :
- Mana management > this is something that Holy Priests have to learn. Priests choosing to be Holy need to be able to manage their mana well, as, they can burn their mana just as quickly as it regens. This can be very punishing if Priests do not choose the right spell for the right situations.
- Lightwell > there's been a debate on if this talent should be taken or not. Lightwell is a spell that puts a floating bowl of light at the target area that, when clicked, heals the clicker for a significant amount. The hard part is getting your party members to actually click the Lightwell. For its mana cost, Lightwell is the most, if not one of the most mana-efficient heals in the game. However, it's use completely depends on your party members' initiative.
Reason for ranking :
Managing mana properly can be difficult for some people, as, if not manage properly, they can burn their mana just as quick. This is very punishing, especially for old WotLK players because of the change of mana regeneration. The Chakra system and the amount of healing spells available to the priest somewhat make Holy Priest more complicated than other healing classes.
Preferred role :
Holy Priest are preferred as primary or secondary raid healers. Through chakra states, and their mastery, they can provide the raid with powerful healing tools. They can also tank-heal through single-target chakra, though this role is usually done by other classes. They are not a good choice for PvP, however. (Chakra state's visual effect also somewhat gives them off in Battlegrounds, so the opposing faction can easily spot and strike them down)
STARTING OUT HEALING :
Spoiler:Show On to the next part of the guide. This section will help new players start out with healing. First of all, every healing class will be equipped with something like this (listed spell names go along the order of Priest, Paladin, Shaman, and Druid) :
- A cheap, slow, small heal. (Heal, Holy Light, Healing Wave, Nourish). This is the healing spell that you will cast the most. It is the most mana-efficient spell in your repertoire. Cast this when the party is taking minor damage.
- An expensive, slow, slightly even bigger heal. (Greater Heal, Divine Light, Greater Healing Wave, Healing Touch). An upgrade of your small heals. These spells will usually have the same cast time as your smaller heal. This is the spell that you will cast when your party have taken quite a lot of damage (below 75% health), and you think they won't be taking more any time soon. Cast this when, say, you get a sudden damage spike, but you're sure that the wounded party member won't be taking continuous spikes soon. This spell is bigger and slightly more expensive than the next healing spell.
- An expensive, fast, big heal. (Flash Heal, Flash of Light, Healing Surge, Regrowth). This is the healing spell that you will cast when a party member suddenly takes a damage spike, and more damage is bound to come. Cast this when you need to react quickly, but at the same time, try to refrain from using this often. These spells are fast, but they should only be used if you're sure that the party member won't survive if you cast any slower heal. If they're at critical health, but you think there won't be more damage coming, you can take a breath and cast the previous, slower, but bigger spell, as it is more efficient than this one.
- A multi-target or AoE heal. (Prayer of Healing, Holy Radiance, Chain Heal, Wild Growth). This is the basic multi-target healing spell. They have a relatively high mana cost, so cast this when 3 or more party members are wounded. If the damage is not as big, you can simply cast your small heals. Refrain from spamming your AoE heal, especially with Holy Paladins, because Holy Radiance is a HoT spell. Wait for the HoT to expire, then cast again if necessary. It should also be noted that the AoE spells work quite differently. Prayer of Healing targets nearby allies in the same ally, while Holy Radiance and Wild Growth heals nearby allies around the targets over time, Chain Heal bounces from the target to nearby allies.
These 4 are spells that can be found in every healing class. However, it doesn't necessarily mean that every healing class will revolve around only these four. There will be other class/spec-specific spells that may have more use than these.
Ultimately, healing revolves around triage. You must be strict with which spell you choose to use. Do not use the expensive, fast heals when the target has only taken minor damage, nor should you use the small heals when the target has lost a big chunk of their health. Healers must learn to make good judgments, as your party's survival is on your hands (IF they follow the boss tactics properly).
After reading this guide, you should get the gist of which healing class will suit you, and a general idea of how to start healing. Have fun, and best of luck healing! All suggestions and feedback are welcome, and I will update the guide as necessary. Also, thanks to Mahariel for helping me in writing this, especially in the Holy Paladin section!
