Raid healing: help me understand pros/cons

[Hinastorm]

Hello, I was wondering if some experienced healers could give me some thoughts. I am trying to choose a heal alt, and am having some trouble.

This could be a long ass post, but i'll keep it to the most important point: When choosing a healer, i'm very wary of picking one that has very situational, strong healing in one fight, and then terrible healing in another fight. I've played resto druid forever, looking for a change.

Going by this criteria, based on my research and experience, priest is probably the safest choice. Holy is very versatile, and when disc CAN shine, it SHINES, otherwise I can be holy.

Regarding shaman, I really enjoy shaman healing, but reliance on raid positioning for chain heal seems like a huge downside to their potential usefulness. Is this not as big a deal as i think it is?

Paladin, my concern is weak spread/raid healing. I know paladins have alot of utility, but when the big raid wide damage is going out, are paladins at a big disadvantage?

Monk, my concern is the rng involved with spreading renewing mist around, in preperation for uplift when damage hits. Is there some way to reliably have renewing mists on who I need it to be on?

I know thats alot of questions, but any input is appreciated.

[Saphyron]

Holy/disc is very versatile.

Disc shines really well tank healing and aoe healing.
Holy is only really good at aoe healing.

Until they buff holy to the level of disc the rule of thump for the most part.
Is there a disc priest in raid? yes/no.
If yes go holy else disc.

[Topornic]

After healing rework in WoD I can honestly speak only about Paladins POV.
It can be sometimes frustrating being unable to raid heal or heal on the move due to very few instant casts. For this moment I hardly ever cast Holy Radiance due to its high cost and low numbers it it gives.
However it feels good to be this holy plate healer throwing lights everywhere. Awesome tanking heals due to beacons, LOTS of utility (HoP,HoS, Lay on Hands, Devo Aura and so on) which makes you more useful.
Also we did our Ko'ragh first hc kill with 3 pallys

Shaman is very reliable on the group and placement currently so nothing new here, also lots of utility and totems (not so many as earlier like in wotlk tho, when I used to main shammy :/ )

[IxilaFA]

Regarding your specific concerns:

Resto Shaman: Spreading is no longer an issue with their lv100 talent and the glyph of chain healing. Your Chain Heal could easily jump 60 yards or so. The problem with Shaman is that currently their healing in general, at all levels, is just not comparable to any other healing class (except for stack fights like Butcher.)

Holy Paladin: My main, and yes their spread healing is absolutely terrible. But if you want to be one of the most consistent healers out there (next to Druids) Holy Paladin is your best bet. Our healing is essentially the same every fight, and unless there's absolutely no tank damage going out, you will be able to keep up pretty easily on the meters.

Mistweaver Monk: I don't have a max level Mistweaver yet, but I know with Pools of Mist their Renewing Mist is not as RNG as it once was. But the truth is, you have to be really proactive to succeed as a Mistweaver Monk. If you're bad about losing focus during fights and letting buffs fall off, you might as well kiss any decent healing goodbye. Otherwise they're fairly strong and are USUALLY consistent, so long as enough raid damage is going out.

As for Priest, rolling a Priest main is going to leave you having to deal with the tides of Disc balance. They repeatedly go from being absolute shit healers (like on beta) to being ridiculously OP (like right now). If you're OK with your class sometimes being absolutely terrible in exchange for the times you're absolutely overpowered, then go for it. Otherwise, I think you're looking at the wrong things when it comes to choosing a healer class. Find one you enjoy playing and don't worry about the numbers. Every class is capable of healing each type of content (except at the very highest level of raiding) so you're never going to be exempted from content because of your class. Some fights will be less fun with a less powerful class, but they all have their pros and cons.

[sfeeney37]

Holy/disc is very versatile.

Disc shines really well tank healing and aoe healing.
Holy is only really good at aoe healing.

Until they buff holy to the level of disc the rule of thump for the most part.
Is there a disc priest in raid? yes/no.
If yes go holy else disc.

This ^

You're not going for FoTM, because that can change with a single hotfix. Priest directly addresses your concerns by being a dual spec healer. There are patches & fights where one is weaker but rarely, if ever, are both weak in any given situation.

[Bigbazz]

If you don't want to stay Resto Druid then you should try Disc Priest. Those two classes in my experience have been the strongest healers so far in almost all situations. Shamans appear to do the least amount of actual healing, but I speak not from playing experience but from observation only.

[Pur1tas]

Disc = Fuck op all meters
Holy = do stuff that druids and shamans do, but worse
Druids = hot everything and tranq when there is a lot of dmg incomming to top the meters
Shaman = Singletarget heal, Chainheal and HTT when there is a lot of dmg incomming to top meters
Monk = No clue at all
Paladin = Have not looked at them this expansion

So I play a shaman heal and I have to say I feel very weak and I think it might be the class with the most actual viable options to heal a target in a specific situation. During MoP it was mindless chainheal spam, but today you have to be very careful with choosing your spells in order to not oom yourself to quickly. I really like being a shaman heal, while I think we need a small buff to compete with druids even in mythic (which I did not expect to be honest). You have a lot of options to safe people from dying and your mastery really feels great when it crits for 250k.

For Priest I would never suggest going holy. Even if there is a second priest in the raid holy is just essentially doing the same thing as shamans and druids just way way worse in my opinion. It does depend on the raid setup though, at least a little.

Druids are strong and you probably know that

Paladins look wierd to me but I think they definately have the power to top meters in some fights and are strong in a number of situations from my experience

Monks .... well Monks. I have no clue about this class but I see them putting out very high numbers and very low numbers, so I guess it is possible to be very strong as a Monk heal and it depends a lot on your playstyle.

Overall I think most classes are very equal with holy priest being at the very bottom and disc at the very top. It depends on what you prefer playing like to be honest and I think you should just read through some guides to see what sounds the most interessting to you.

[Silvaren7]

So I have all 5 healing classes at lvl 100 and have done normal as 5/6 of the healing specs (not pally) and heroic and 2/7 mythic as 3/6 specs (druid, disc, hpriest). This is my general, summarized impression of end game healing on these classes.

In terms of breaking apart the 6 healing specs there are 3 groups:
1) Disc, Hpriest, and Resto druid all play similar. They are not exactly the same, but they have a similar feel because of Bubble, Rejuv, and Renew along with just many instant casts. There are differences though.
-Disc is really based around 3 abilities: Bubble, Penance, and Cascade. Bubble is instant and will be most of your healing, penance is your O SHIT large heal and is channeled, but glyphed you can move so its like an instant, and cascade if your ultra efficient AoE Heal. Clarity of Will also exists, but is fight dependent as a talent vs Words of Mending.
-Hpriest is almost pure AoE healing, they are quite terrible at single target for raiding. Their class relies on 4 abilities to heal: Renew, Circle of Healing, Cascade, and HW: Sanctuary. The basis of this class is CoH spam using renew and the chakra, both of which are instant cast abilities allowing for easy movement and AoE healing.
-Resto druid is more complex then the 2 priest specs, but uses many instant cast abilities and is play style dependent based on wanting to maximize rejuv or WG. In general this class uses 6 healing abilities: Rejuv, Wild Mushroom, Wild Growth, Swiftmend, Regrowth, Lifebloom. In most cases you are focusing on pre-empting damage using rejuv or quickly healing AoE damage using WG while maintaining high Lifebloom and Harmony (mastery) uptime, while maintaining rejuv/lifebloom on tanks. Regrowths are occasionally free from lifebloom or are more of an emergency cast. Knowing when and where to Wild Mushroom takes experience as mana is a constant problem as a druid. Maximizing talent ability usage plays a larger role for druids then other classes due to mana concerns.

2) Shaman and Paladin play similar because they mostly must stop to cast spells. Unlike group 1 most of your time on these classes will be spent immobilized casting a spell of some kind.
-Shamans have 5 spells they cast: Chain Heal, Healing Stream Totem, Riptide, Healing Wave, Healing Rain, but their class is built specifically around casting Chain Heal. Chain Heal is the bread and butter of the class and seems to always be either OP or UP. Riptide and Healing stream totem are highly efficient instant casts. Healing Wave is mostly a filler heal spell. Spirit Walker's grace allows shamans to cast while moving and knowing when to use this can be complicated as it has either a 1 or 2 min CD. In general you will spend most of your time casting Chain Heal as a shaman.
-Paladins are built around Beacon of Faith and Holy Power (HP). To this end they focus on 8 abilities: Holy Light, Flash of Light, Holy Shock, Eternal Flame, Judgement, Holy Prism, Holy Radiance, and Light of Dawn. They may sound complex, but there are basically 3 lines to paladin healing. Single target cast times: Holy Light, Flash of Light, and Eternal Flame, AoE cast times: Holy Radiance, Light of Dawn and instant spells: holy shock, holy prism, and judgement(no healing, but gives HP). In general you are spamming Holy Shock and getting HP to use. The lines allow for moderately obvious healing like a flow chart. There is more complexity to the class, but its one of the easiest classes to learn.

3) Monk is in a tier of its own because their mains spells are instant cast, but also have cast times, putting them in between the 2 groups above. Renewing mist is the main focus of the class (though not your main healing spell) and is instant cast with charges, yet your other instant cast abilities require you to channel Soothing Mist. Uplift is your main healing spell and has a cast time, but requires no mana just chi. Their play style is closer to a resto druid, but more technical. The basic idea is to preempt every AoE phase with renewing mist out and then spam uplift. In return for more complex AoE healing they get Mana Tea, which is basically amounts to a Mistweaver entering every raid fight with a 200-300% mana pool.

In general if you want mobility and AoE healing look at playing a healer from group 1. If you want strong single target healing group 2 is where its at, but at the price of mobility. If you want more technical AoE healing and the highest mobility group 3. All 6 specs are viable, but if you are the only priest in a raid expect go Disc.

In terms of having to watch mana: Monk > Priest > Paladin > Shaman > Druid
In terms of my personal fun: Druid > Disc > Hpriest > Paladin > Monk > Shaman
In terms of my personal viability: Disc > Paladin/Druid > Hpriest/Monk >> Shaman
In terms of recommending to other players(no order): Druid, Paladin, Monk
In general I would recommend any class, but shaman currently. I would honestly only recommend priest if you don't mind playing both holy/disc as being able to play just one of those specs (let alone on an alt) is quite rare.

This is just a basic summary to each class and what you should expect. You can read the abilities I mentioned further as those are your main abilities (not only ofc) for healing on each class.

[Bethrezen]

Paladins are a Godsend for mythic highmaul, especially tank heals, and their utility to keep tanks alive through the stupid tank damage and raid cooldowns. Especially powerful if have two, or paired with disc priest. Such good absorbs.

[Simulacrum]

Ideally, you want a disc and a paladin in every raid. They're extremely reliable and super strong in most situations. There are a few where they're outshone very slightly by the superior aoe or consistent, low-damage healing of druids or monks, but even in those unfavourable situations they still perform almost on par with them.

After that, the remaining healers are close enough that it doesn't really seem to matter much, though it's worth noting that shamans perform really poorly if you're overhealing, and that if you're not overhealing, then holy priests are probably the weakest healer - though it's still close enough to not be that big of a deal.

On a personal note, I add that I find disc "healing" very unsatisfying. There is something to be said for being able to accurately predict damage and mitigate it before it even happens, but I've always found it more satisfying to make people's health bars go up after they've dropped down, and disc is just shit for that. Hpaladin is my healer of choice as a result. Great, sustained tank healing, great spot healing, and great utility still - all-around very strong healer. Only major weakness is lack of healing while moving (thanks for removing instant cast HP finishers, assholes), but you can get around that with talented AW or by just bubbling and hardcasting while sitting in the aoe unaffected.

On the other hand, if you like that different take on healing, then I suppose disc would be very satisfying. Gets boring just spamming (or setting-up for the spamming of) PW:S nearly all the time, though. I preferred MoP disc, even if that was kind of broken.