So you want to play a healer. That’s great! Next step is to choose which class you’d like to play. Your options are varied and range from a Priest, to a Druid, Shaman and Paladin. This post will briefly outline the play-style of the 4 healing classes, it is in no means an in-depth breakdown of how to heal, more an overview of what to expect. Also, I’m not going to touch on the DPS specs that all 4 classes have.
Priest: The priest class has 2 healing based specs, Discipline and Holy.
A Disc healer is focused on damage prevention as opposed to health return. Very strong shielding talents coupled with excellent mana efficiency make the Disc priest a strong single target healer. They are usually best for MT (Main Tank) healing or healing a ranged tank due to the massive damage they can mitigate through shields and other talents.
A Holy priest is almost the exact opposite. With massive AoE healing capability, they are usually best served watching the raid overall when there is significant widespread damage. CoH (Circle of Healing) and renew are great ways to top up a raid after a lot of damage.
Paladin: The Paladin has one healing spec, Holy. Blessed with the single biggest healing in the game (Holy Light) coupled with the ability to have that land on a 2nd target (Beacon of Light) make Paladins extraordinary tank healers. Limited to 1 instant heal (especially as Holy Shock is on a CD), a Paladin will suffer if forced to be on the run the whole time, Flash of Light will be near 1sec cast for a well geared healer and still hits very hard given the high crit chance of the talented spell. That’s not to say that a Paladin can’t beacon the MT and raid heal with flashes as they can, but generally, with such strong single target healing, a Paladin will usually be a tank healer in raid.
Shaman: Shaman also have one healing spec, Restoration. The shaman healing niche is interesting. They have strong AoE healing through Chain Heal, but it is limited by range. If people are too spread, the spell won’t jump, thereby dramatically decreasing its effectiveness. The class also brings strong group buffs in the form of totems, some which contribute to healing as well. As a shaman, you’re a very versatile healer and can be called on to heal tanks, to raid to everything in between. Keep up your Earthshield and your totems down and Chain Heal away!
Druid: Druids, like Shaman and Paladins have one healing tree (entertaining pun to those who’ve played resto druids), Restoration. A Druid healer is defined by the HoTs (Heals Over Time) the class brings to the table. While this can make them extremely effective raid healers, a good resto shaman or holy priest can significantly hinder a druid’s ability to heal the raid as their heals are direct and often will cut off the HoT as the latter will take time to heal. That being said, a druid can make an extremely effective single target healing by rolling all available HoTs and keeping a nourish cast active. Tanks will rarely drop in health at all due to the constant healing. As a druid, be prepared to vary your healing based on the raid make-up. If you need to raid heal, HoT away. If you have a few resto shaman and a holy priest, gogo tank healing.
Again, this is a quick overview of the healing classes and what to expect. All the best.
~Q
Through A Healer's Eyes 