Will groups accept Holy Priests as healers in heroics?

[RobertoLarcos]

So with the optimization meta, will alliance groups accept priest as healers? Or will they stick to shamans (due to bloodlust)?

I want to play a priest but I'm afraid that I will not get accepted into groups or raids because everyone will want a shaman and their raids/pugs will be shaman only or at least 3-4 resto shamans, 1 pala, 1 priest 1 drood

[BobAwesome]

Heroic groups are going to take whatever healer they can get.

[Mysterymask]

5 man heroics are usually fine...

[Eldar45]

Heroism isn't that good. You would get use on it on one boss fight or hard trash pull unless the run goes really badly. Plus healers are going to basically have the pick of the groups they want no matter the class.

Also priests are still a fine healer.

[Denso]

No, they can't stealth. All groups will be Guardian Druids, Restoration Druids and a mix between Feral Druids and Rogues. No other specs will be wanted for Heroic, as it brings the pace down. If you're thinking about rolling any class outside of these two you'd likely see no playtime in heroics in TBC.

[Grimbolt]

Optimization meta? For heroics? Dude please.

Play the class you want to play you will be able to find groups with whatever. Jesus... I can't believe people would invest hundred of hours into playing X class because of some imagineable optimization meta that isn't needed at all in BC instead of the class they want to play.

People will take any class and any spec. Especially any tank and healer to clear heroics.

[sam86]

while raids do need BL, but that was only in last tier sunwell
I don't remember a single hc that asked for shaman during entire tbc specifically, just healer, only early wrath they avoided holy pally when daily hc was HoL since holy pally will get f8cked with the insane aoe dmg from loken
also during tbc they did ask for protadin specifically for how easy it was to do hcs with him spam aoe, still i don't remember a group refuse any other tank spec either, just prefer pally, i did it with bear and warrior, and boss-wise specially i prefer warrior over all else, druid was great in some hcs where mobs deal massive dmg and he can absorb it easily (2nd dungeon in hellfire where that f8cking demon in last pulls can 1 shot uppercut a protadin with them having least hp in all tanks)

[RobertoLarcos]

Thank you for your input guys!

Optimization meta? For heroics? Dude please.

Play the class you want to play you will be able to find groups with whatever. Jesus... I can't believe people would invest hundred of hours into playing X class because of some imagineable optimization meta that isn't needed at all in BC instead of the class they want to play.

People will take any class and any spec. Especially any tank and healer to clear heroics.

I don't know man... I've been looking for guilds to raid in TBC and most of them are running 3 resto shamans, 1 priest 1 resto druid 1 pala so getting raid spots as a priest could be difficult, whereas shamans are in high demand

[ONCHEhap]

The kind of person who'd be that anal about heroics in TBC is probably the kind of person you don't want to play with.

Not only because they're usually insufferable,but also because the vast majority of people like that are genuinely terrible at the game. 1% of minmaxers are good at the game,99% of them believe that they're the 1%

[Nitros14]

They'll take any healer they can get if it's a pug.

[hortrorog]

No, they can't stealth. All groups will be Guardian Druids, Restoration Druids and a mix between Feral Druids and Rogues. No other specs will be wanted for Heroic, as it brings the pace down. If you're thinking about rolling any class outside of these two you'd likely see no playtime in heroics in TBC.

You forgot the /s.

[Radaney]

Yes, they'll be so many pugs going that people won't be pushy about heroic group composition.

Having said that, guilds in Classic can be quite social and you'll easily be able to find a guild group as a healer.

[Mysterymask]

Not even sure why this is a question...in about 4 weeks after bc comes out the only heroic people will actually run is Mechanar

[A Blue Smurf]

Not even sure why this is a question...in about 4 weeks after bc comes out the only heroic people will actually run is Mechanar

Ehhh, I don't know how accurate that will be considering the daily lockout. Badges are still very relevant thoroughout BC, especially with Primal Nethers and gems being purchasable later.

I think it's more likely people with do world tours minus the few that just aren't worth the time per boss (Aucheni Crypts, Slabs, Botanica)

[BananaHandsB]

So with the optimization meta

By definition the meta is always about optimization (Most Effective Tactics Available). The community as a whole is just better at it now.

Many people who are slaves to the meta still fail. It's really only really important when skill and effort are no longer a significant barrier. "Non-Meta" but skilled players, putting in significant effort are almost always still better (especially in a non-cutting edge scenerio) than low skill, low effort meta slaves. So I wouldn't worry about it; as long as you can play your class well and put in a decent amount of effort.

[varren]

All depends on how much of a hassle Heroics end up being. For example, the classic vanilla 5 man dungeons are easy enough that nobody min maxed them outside of maybe the first couple weeks.

If Heroics end up being a challenge for pugs, then they absolutely will be meta'd to death.

[ifrah]

No. Zero chances.
What are you guys smoking, there's a ton of people running decent level mythics with "non-meta" classes. Heroics will be a challenge for few weeks at tops. And even during that, if it is the case in the first place, the shortage of healers/tanks will get invites for anyone and everyone. Once the initial rush to 70 calms down and people get few rounds of gear upgrades, expect heroics being like.. well.. sort of like heroics. "Let's pull this room, the next, the hallway, the boss." Limited by your warrior tank's, should you be running with one, ability and willingness to mash buttons like an animal (multimob tanking was good finger gymnastics). But now you might say that the pally meta will reign supreme, and I'll just say stop right there. Aside from few selected few, nobody will give a toss. It sure is fun to aoe a gigantic pack in oblivion, but if that's not on the menu, the dungeon will be facerolled with smaller pulls anyway.
Feel free to quote me later if this turned out to be an utterly false forecast.

[Low Hanging Fruit]

The good news is if heroics are meta'ed that hard then you will know pretty quickly the community of the game is pretty much shit and you can just move on with your life. Odds are some people will certainly be that "META" but the truth is tons of people will just be happy to be getting by and getting it done like usual. I wouldn't worry much about it unless you are in some sort of "realm/world first" mindset.

[Marakara]

Most groups are put together by dps spamming in general/lfg for 15 minutes desperate for tanks/healers and will take anyone who are appropriately specc'd.

[Prag]

I’d take whatever competent healer is available. Going to have to run them every day, would rather get them done than over-meta a 5-man.