Help decide on PvP healer class.

[Deleted]

Help me out MMO-champs, I can't decide which healer to make for Cata (purely for PvP).

I've narrowed it down to Holy Paladin and Resto Druid (totems get on my nerves and I just dislike the priest class). Any ideas that can help me decide? Pros and cons? I'll add a Poll too.

Thanks for any help.

[Pwnpaw]

I've actually had both a holy pala and a resto druid before.

The main differences are that Holy palas are more vulerable to cc since they dont have hots, he has more survival himself tho due to bubble/freedom.
Resto druid however has more mana issues then a Paladin and can not cleanse magic.

Imo I think the Paladin is slightly simpler to play since he has less buttons to push, but that doesn't make the class easier in general. Having less abilities to use doesn't always make it easier.

They are both overall good healers.
So it depends on how you want your playstyle to be.

[Dayn9]

I've actually had both a holy pala and a resto druid before.

The main differences are that Holy palas are more vulerable to cc since they dont have hots, he has more survival himself tho due to bubble/freedom.
Resto druid however has more mana issues then a Paladin and can not cleanse magic.

Imo I think the Paladin is slightly simpler to play since he has less buttons to push, but that doesn't make the class easier in general. Having less abilities to use doesn't always make it easier.

They are both overall good healers.
So it depends on how you want your playstyle to be.

Druids are actually able to dispel magic btw, they used to be immune to hex/polymorph (it's over since 4.0.1 tho). Imho Holy Paladins and Resto Shamans will be very strong in season 9.

[Deleted]

Holy pala. Immortality at your fingertips. Can only be killed if mana drained heavily which only a couple of classes can do.

[nuk1]

resto druid is also very strong and what do you do if someone want to sheep you?-> bearform

[Spoonman]

Holy Pala...

Resto Druid takes some playing in order for it to be successfull.

[Omnus]

My advice: wait until December if you can. We'll know a lot more and have a better picture by then.

[Ormula]

In cata, of course.

Resto Druid
Pros: Very mobile. Very easy to fakecast since cancelling a cast or two will not be as devastating since hots are ticking. Tree of Life is an amazing cooldown, both defensively and offensively. Getting rid of snares with one GCD. Able to cleanse curses, poisons and magic. Great CC capabilities (Especially the new Roots glyph).

Cons: Must pre-empt damage (This is true even on the Beta), since you have a ramp-up time to your heals. Unable to cure diseases (Makes them more susceptible to DKs and Spriests). More susceptible than other healing classes to poly/fear (Paladins can HoS, priests can death, shamans can ground, but druids can't do any of that since all forms can be poly'd, hex'd and blind'd now). Must be very good at fake casting.



Holy paladin
Pros: Very resilient. Many self-healing capabilities while healing other players. Wears plate. Good offensive utility (HoJ, Denounce-Exorcism, Holy shock, Judge). Many cooldowns. Able to cleanse disease, poisons and magic. Beacon of Light (60 yd range 50% of all healing done also goes to the beacon target, and healing the beacon target generates holy power = Win)

Cons: Very cooldown reliant (Without cooldowns, it's tough to come back). Very susceptible to both interrupts and CC. Can not dispel curses (Going to hurt against Warlocks with Bane of Havoc).


They're two very different playstyles. The resto druid is more about finesse and the holy paladin is more raw power. Whichever appeals to you more, they'll both be very good in Cata.

[fizikz]

Holy Pala...

Resto Druid takes some playing in order for it to be successfull.

Resto druid, for exactly this reason. you can pick up holy pally and (if you're a good player) be *almost* as good as you'll ever be in maybe a week, possibly less... and in about 2 weeks after that, you'll be bored as %$^($. pally it's also very frustrating having very little control or utility other than HoJ. yeah, HoJ is nice, but....it's pretty much all you got.

I have played every healer at level 80 , and this is my opinion of them:
Pallies, high defense, low offense, boring after a short while - nothing to do if no one needs healing (lol what, you gonna chain cast exorcism now?... c'mon)
Druids, high utility, hard to 'master' but that's what makes them fun.
Priest, high offense, poor mobility (can't ever 'escape' anyone, gets annoying) good utility(manaburn will be more important when mana matters), lots of fun if played right.
Shaman - least experience with, but they have lots of utility but they're pretty hard to play, I didn't like totems either.

[AlexGrey]

I've played a Paladin for over 2 and 1/2 years, and its mobility is incredible. However, for the poll I chose Resto Druid for you because despite that Druids are much more aggressive and effective when it comes to taking the enemy out of the picture. Sure, you may not have Feral charge anymore, but if you utilize your cyclone and roots correctly you can dominate. Also, be sure not to forget that druids along with Shams have the strongest ranged spells in healing spec.

In short, Go Druid.

[FuriousD]

I've got both these classes with both over 1200 resil (not a ton but I do pvp with both)
Holy pld has less to do and more powerful heals/mana efficiency depending how u play.
Resto druid has more to do, a tougher time punching out big heals but way more offense and quite honestly op cc.

For this reason I predict hpld will be the bomb in bgs, but resto druid will totally dominate arena.