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  1. #1

    Need help picking a pvp healer for 2s/3s

    *Disclaimer* - I'm not asking for FOTM heals...I already know the answer to that one.

    I realize the most common response to this question is to "play what you find most fun". The issue here is that although I've played WoW since vanilla, I've never EVER played a healer. I have no idea what any of the healers play or feel like, so I'm really not sure what I would find fun.

    I'm hoping someone could give me a quick pro/con/feel for the different healers. I'm ideally looking for a class with a lot of options/decisions to be made, and if possible some offensive prowess as I dislike the thought of being totally defensive.

    Appreciate any input

  2. #2
    Here's a quick rundown on the 4 healers I have, I'll leave Paladin open to somebody who plays one.

    MW Monk: My favorite healer at the moment. Even though they aren't the strongest, they have a ton of utility and they're very unique. In 2s their ability to do significant amounts of damage (~20k Rising Sun Kicks) is a massive advantage, and in 3s their utility is quite strong in cleave comps. They have a lot of CC with Paralysis/Leg Sweep/Kick, more than other healers at least. Their healing is kind of weak, and it can be hard to catch up if you fall behind without bubble up. But once you get good at rotating your CDs (namely trinket, Nimble Brew, Aura Mastery, Bubble) you can keep people up very well for a long time.

    Disc Priest: This class makes me want to blow my brains out. It's not fun to play at all unless you're ahead at all times. Falling behind is miserable, you rely on PW:S to recover and it just gets instantly dispelled. On top of that, the main benefits of the Priest class is offensive dispels, and if you fall behind you won't have any free globals to use them. Add to that the fact that you get thrown into the ground the second you get attacked and it's just a miserable time all around. Think I've seen ~5 Disc Priests in the last 100 games past 2200. They are strong if they get ahead though, only good comp is RMP imo.

    Resto Druid: Definitely the strongest of the healers, but not as faceroll god mode as everybody thinks. They're easy to play at low ratings, but it gets harder against good teams. A decent CC chain will land put you behind against any team that can dispel all your HoTs off, and even with all the mobility you're still a good kill target for most comps. The class has a lot of control though with Cyclone and Roots, plus mobility to avoid CC, kite, or play more offensive. On top of that they basically have a get out of jail free card with 150k Nature's Swiftness every minute. Definitely a fun class, but you're very viable to hard swaps after you've trinketed. Not uncommon to die in a 5 second Kidney against Rogue/Mage, even through Barkskin.

    Resto Shaman: Kind of an odd class, it's really fun if you have good partners and it's absolutely miserable if you don't. You'll be the target of approximately 99% of your games, and if you don't have people peeling for you it's not even worth trying. Your partners really have to know when to go into peel mode and when to play offensive, so it requires really good communication. The class is certainly strong, with very good heals and strong mobility, but they can't kite forever and once they get stunned they're in a lot of trouble. Not the worst healer, but it can be incredibly frustrating to play.



    Like I said I know nothing about Paladins so maybe somebody else can chime in with that. The most offensive healer is definitely MW Monk, especially in 2s, but even in 3s with Touch of Death, Leg Sweep, and decent damage sometimes I find myself running in to help kill people (especially other healers). Disc Priests can be decently offensive if they're ahead, but since that doesn't happen often most of the time you're forced to play very defensively. Shamans can't be offensive at all at any point in the game. Druids can be very offensive in 2s, and in 3s their offense comes from their CC more than their damage.

  3. #3
    Thanks for the writeup - very much what I was hoping for.

    I actually hadn't even considered MW...I very rarely see one in BGs or arena and I somewhat assumed that they weren't very good right now. Resto druids were also the only healer I had previously read about being offensive (something about hotw + Ferocious bite) so it's good to know that MW has some offense as well. Definitely going to do some more research on MWs

  4. #4
    Mechagnome Sforza's Avatar
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    Im pretty much in the same position as u except i already tried holly pala and do not recommend them, they die in a kick.

  5. #5
    i play holy and its true if u get kicked atthe right time /afk ur dead they are easy imo to catchup with if u do fall behide and yes HOTW+anything is super awesome ive played druids since 04 i got 5 lvl 100 druids currently all with almost full primal so its alot of fun

  6. #6
    Holy Pally healing isn't the worst---that's Disc Priest by far. With melee teams, you want to use Clemency talent, so you have 3 bubbles (1 normal bubble and 2 hands of protection). With the Improved Forbearance perk, the forbearance debuff is only 30 seconds, which does help. To avoid caster interrupts, you will want to use LOS to your advantage, and you'll want the Aura Mastery glyph as well. And you'll use Speed of Light (often with Hand of Freedom) to buy you some breathing room. Unfortunately, Rebuke (interrupt) is melee range, so you need to try to get close to use it. 30 second cooldown on ranged 6 second stun is pretty decent--but nowhere close to druid triple cyclone, bash, root. Don't forget Turn Evil can be used on lock/DK/priest pets. Holy Prism give yous a pretty short cooldown ok heal to use as well in addition to Holy Shock.

  7. #7
    Deleted
    Just play resto druid, they are vastly better than every other healer and the only healer that is enjoyable to play in the current game.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Rucati View Post
    Resto Druid: Definitely the strongest of the healers, but not as faceroll god mode as everybody thinks. They're easy to play at low ratings, but it gets harder against good teams. A decent CC chain will land put you behind against any team that can dispel all your HoTs off, and even with all the mobility you're still a good kill target for most comps. The class has a lot of control though with Cyclone and Roots, plus mobility to avoid CC, kite, or play more offensive. On top of that they basically have a get out of jail free card with 150k Nature's Swiftness every minute. Definitely a fun class, but you're very viable to hard swaps after you've trinketed. Not uncommon to die in a 5 second Kidney against Rogue/Mage, even through Barkskin.
    There are more resto druids at high ratings than every other healer combined, thats pretty much god mode.
    Everything that druids "struggle" with every other healer gets wrecked by 10x worse.
    They are so much better than every other healer right now you cant even compare them, especially if you want to play offensive, on my shaman its a miracle if i get a 2 sec window to hex something, ive seen druids just sitting wrathing while keeping two targets ccd.
    The only other healer that is comparable is monk.
    Last edited by mmocb7e0cd2af6; 2015-02-09 at 08:41 PM.

  8. #8
    Brewmaster Thundertom's Avatar
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    I...I kinda like healing PvP on my Paladin, sorry. I like that you have so many tools to help others, and the healing is pretty raw; Just fucking heal, no bullshit with keeping hots rolling and stuff. Just fucking heal.

    I like it.

    I should add that I do not play a Holy Paladin on a competitive level, but I know Bahjeera runs with Holy Paladins, who plays pretty high rating, I'm not sure how good of an example that is.
    Warlock (SL main)

  9. #9
    Deleted
    Priest strength has always been their offensive power. In teams like Priest/Mage or Priest/Rogue they would play like 1.5 DPS teams most of the time and pressure the enemy team with Dispels and damage while still getting some defense from Atonement+Shields+PoM. With the slower pace of the game now this playstyle has become a lot less viable unfortunately, and in defensive mode Priests are just worse than any other healer currently.

    Currently MW Monks kind of take over that role a bit because they have strong damage and decent healing in their melee stance and have their 55s bubble to keep pressure up if they want before going defensive. They also have nice CC with stun and paralyze and decent mobility with their rolls and port. Their raw healing output is hardly any better than priests though, but they just have more tools.

    Paladins are the most defensive healer as it basically always has been. Their healing is actually quite strong I think and they have lots of defensive tools with bubble, bop etc. Traditionally this makes them most viable with melee and quite a bit worse in caster comps.

  10. #10
    Pit Lord RH92's Avatar
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    I only have Restoration Shaman at max level, I think they are pretty strong Healers right now. The thing with them is, they depend more on other players than any other Healer. This combined with a very broad, but hard to use well toolkit makes them rather difficult class to play I think. One mistake can lose you a game.

    I also think playing Shaman is much more about the actual player, how he can cope with the stress, or I should probably say what he finds stressful. I switched to Shaman from Warlock, so being trained by melees wasn't something new to me. If you want to play Shaman you need to be prepared to play well under constant pressure.

    I would say Shamans are better in large scale PvP, this means 3v3 and RBGs. I don't think they are a very good 2v2 class.

  11. #11
    The Lightbringer
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    Not even considering the power of their hots, let look at what the Resto Druid brings to a team:

    Best mobility of any other healing spec.
    -The ability to heal a primary target at perhaps 80-90% output (If they can manage their Harmony buff intelligently via swiftmend.) While at the same time healing two or more secondary targets for 40-50% output. All without ever having to stop and hardcast.
    -Can shift to cat form for +20-25% run speed.
    -Talented +15% Base run speed that stacks with cat form/Cat form Blink/whatever the third option is, never tried it as resto.
    -Poly immunity in cat/bear/tree form (At the cost of a global. And tree form makes you susceptible to a Warlock's Banish, not that many Locks seem to know that.)
    -The ability to shift out of (read: dispel) any ability that snares or roots them (Again, at the cost of a global. Or two if they have a poor hotkey setup.)

    Largest arsenal of control abilities of any healing spec.
    -25y Ranged incapacitate: Cyclone. No CD.
    -40y Ranged root: Entangling Roots. No CD.
    -Talented 40y ranged snare/targetable aoe vacuum snare/or an aoe root. Zero to one min CD, depending on talent chosen.
    -Talented 4s stun/Aoe 3s disorient/or an aoe frontal arc knockback. 20s to one min CD, depending on talent chosen.
    -Most importantly, they have the time to effectively utilize their control abilities. Unlike other specs who have to focus more on keeping people topped off. Those hots are still ticking away while the Druid is hammering the other team with CC.

    ---

    Id say in terms of pure utility, the Resto shaman has more tools than anyone else in the form of his totems. But the global cooldowns that that utility costs the shaman are far more precious to him than they to the Resto Druid. It is harder for the Rshaman to effectively utilize his utility because he is public enemy number one - always.

    I have not played my MW this xpac, but from what i hear they are being carried by their 1min CD Godbubbles. And they lose their highest output healing abilities when they are fistweaving (Renewing Mist/Uplift.)

    Cant comment on Priests or Pallies either, because im not doing any pvp with either of them.
    Last edited by Nihilan; 2015-02-10 at 11:05 PM.

  12. #12
    Druid. They're just too strong to be ignored right now. Literally this is pro / con list of ALL healers:

    Druid: Can survive being trained with a ton of different escapes and on the off chance you arnt being focused all to hell you can help your team with cyclone, however if you're being CCed by a (lol)huntard, you still do healing via hots and NS heal is extremely powerful.

    All other healers: Enjoy having people sit on your face all game and if they arnt, they're CCing you and you do 0 healing.

  13. #13
    Resto Druids OP, until they get nerfed at least.

  14. #14
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    As strong as Druids are in general they are still vulnerable to switches. Their burst healing outside of NS and Tree Form is quite low actually and keeping up HoTs on all targets costs LOTS of GCDs. Also, Druids that CC a lot (3x Cyclone chains) tend to not have hots running on all targets at all time.

    When I play against Druids it is often a valid strategy to just focus the target that has the lower amount of hots currently. Once the target has full hots, switch to the other target and so on. Rejuv lasts 12 seconds iirc, so if the druid wants to keep hots on both targets in 2v2, he has to spend half his GCDs just on refreshing the 4 Rejuvs on both targets. Also has to switch Lifebloom every time you switch the target. If you have purges on top of that, you can really get a Druid team under pressure.

    One of the strongest comps against Druid teams currently is Warlock + Resto Shaman, because a Warlock can keep DoTs up on both targets in 2v2 and make very fast switches by just casting Haunt+Drain Soul on the target he wants to switch to. The Shaman and Warlock pet can both assist with purges.

    A lot of Druid's power currently comes from their strong synergy with CC classes, not even from their mechanics being strong per se. They have insane synergy with Hunters and Mages and strong synergy with Rogues. I think making Cyclone DR with Poly and Freezing Trap alone would bring them more in line with other healers.

    Over the last weeks I have not lost a single match against Hunter + Druid on my Warlock, playing as Warlock + Resto Shaman and Warlock + Holy Paladin. A big part of Druids high presence in 2's is really their insane synergy with Hunters, especially when playing against melee teams. And 2v2 is currently plagued with melee teams in general.
    Last edited by mmoc576a872d3e; 2015-02-11 at 08:29 AM.

  15. #15
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Thundertom View Post
    I...I kinda like healing PvP on my Paladin, sorry. I like that you have so many tools to help others, and the healing is pretty raw; Just fucking heal, no bullshit with keeping hots rolling and stuff. Just fucking heal.

    I like it.

    I should add that I do not play a Holy Paladin on a competitive level, but I know Bahjeera runs with Holy Paladins, who plays pretty high rating, I'm not sure how good of an example that is.
    I also go into arena as Holy Pal. I find playing against two melee classes easier than going against ranged. Warriors feel like the easiest opponent. I have had cases where I could survive 2x rogue and 2x warrior bashing at me. When magic damage comes into play, things get rough.

    When getting slowed non-stop, getting away is hard as hell. It quickly turns to stand still and heal. I certainly miss my MoP instants then.

    Holy paladins don't feel like kings of pvp. Every fight is hard work.

  16. #16
    just go druid. they've always been viable (if not op) so it's a save bet it will stay that way.

  17. #17
    Deleted
    I liked the summary of Rucati, but at one point I have to strongly disagree:
    Shamans can't be offensive at all at any point in the game.
    Shamans can be quite offensive, especially in 2on2. A stuntotem into hex on the healer, dispells and even a Lavaburst can be quite effective. Next patch we will hit for 60k with it. So although shamans are probably the most defensive healer they can still influence the game offensively.

    I have had cases where I could survive 2x rogue and 2x warrior bashing at me.
    So you're saying you play at 1300?
    Last edited by mmoc1647189497; 2015-02-19 at 01:21 PM.

  18. #18
    Whats the deal with holy pallys .8 sec casts? Is there a trick to know when theyre coming to help me interrupt it easier?

  19. #19
    The Lightbringer
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    One of their procs. I cant remember it offhand but i want to say... Daybreak? I dunno, they have so many procs. But the one you are referring to increases the cast speed of their next Holy Light or Divine Radiance by xx%.

    If you look at the class guide on Icyveins you can find out which proc it is and set up a weakaura indicator to show you when they have the proc up.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Nihilan View Post
    One of their procs. I cant remember it offhand but i want to say... Daybreak? I dunno, they have so many procs. But the one you are referring to increases the cast speed of their next Holy Light or Divine Radiance by xx%.

    If you look at the class guide on Icyveins you can find out which proc it is and set up a weakaura indicator to show you when they have the proc up.
    Ok cool. i figured thats what it was. I played a holy pally back in wrath and cata. Guess i gotta be more observant. They never juke those casts so if im quick enough, i can normally guarentee an interrupt

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