Easiest Healer to Learn

[Deleted]

Hi guys, apologies if this topic has come up recently (I did search the forums but couldnt find it). I decided to resub yesterday after not playing for about a year. I have all classes between 80-90 the majority at 90. I have never ever healed on any class but I decided to give it a bash as something a bit different.

Whats the common consensus for the easiest healing class to learn. From just casual research without any player feedback I would guess at a shaman. Ideally I would prefer to play as an undead so if monks or priests (D/H) are easy then that would be preferable. Obviously I dont expect to be amazing from the get go as I've never healed before so I imagine they all take a while to master.

I'm pretty much going to be just LFR etc to begin with until I feel comfortable with the class. I imagine vuhu/grid is a must?

Any additional hints and tips would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

[arizonapriest93]

While I can't attest to which is easiest to learn, here are my tips to make the learning process not half bad.

Vuhdo/grid/solid unit frame you understand how to read and how to modify it to your needs.

Mouseover macros will make you a champ, really saves a ton of time and I think required to heal (well no required but it certainly makes shit a lot easier)

Learning to heal? Throw yourself into a few random BGs. Its what I do because there is no oh fuck someone is dying then in random BGs, its what I've done since WotLK to learn to heal and to practice because there is so much damage going out. Extra points if your gear is weak because you'll have to work harder to keep yourself alive (seriously often overlooked I feel, can get so focused on others and forget about yourself) and your allies.

I haven't played anything but an R Druid in MoP and it wasn't too difficult to learn, however I've played on in the past (WotLK, Cata beta) so I feel like that had an impact. However R Druid is also unique because the power of hots allowing for some error in terms of casting too early.

I honestly would pick the class you seem most interested in, while I have a R Druid, and I do enjoy it, I feel I'd enjoy a shaman more, and while I haven't started leveling one, it is on my mind when I heal. All the healers, counting Disc/Holy separate, heal in a different manner, with some pretty different play styles. Haven't played a monk heals but I've heard its incredibly different than other healing classes. Good luck man and enjoy.

[Kuromega]

Vuhdo/grid/solid unit frame you understand how to read and how to modify it to your needs.

Mouseover macros will make you a champ, really saves a ton of time and I think required to heal (well no required but it certainly makes shit a lot easier)

Well said, plus

I can't say which class is easiest to learn, but I would go for a class you enjoy the most. I usually love healing w/ my shammy and priest.

That water effects on shammy casting heals is too damn awesome

[UncleHank]

Of the three I've played at cap the Priest and Shaman are about equal in terms of ease of playstyle, while Paladin seems considerably more difficult (atleast at the lower gear levels I've played with).

[cityguy193]

By far, priest is the easiest healer to play. You are in luck too, disc priest are the best healer atm for most situations too.

Hardest would be paladin and/or monks.

In terms of easiest to hardest, imo

priest>>>>>>>>>Shaman>=Druid>Monk>Paladin

[Deleted]

It is tricky.. Priests are quite good and fun, but I do think that Monks are a better 'introduction' class.. and if you don't like it, you can always spec either tank or dps.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm surprised that Priests seem to be the overwhelming choice. I would have thought that the atonement portion of healing would have made them harder to play.

Some good tips in there aswell about healing some BGs. I hadnt thought about that. Double positive points for being able to be undead aswell!

[calinass]

What makes priests so easy to learn?

[Spotnick]

Resto druids are BY FAR the easiest to play..

And well, since holy priests while in sanctuary chakra are basically resto druids.. that would put holy priests a close second.

[Deleted]

I have played all at 90 and i find shammys the easiest, disc priest being pretty close. Shammmy seems to suffer less from low gear levels. I used to love pala, but find it a bit clunky and difficult now and it seems to need better gear to do as well? druid and monk i's say are about equal, not really hard but not super easy either.

At the end of the day you need to play something you enjoy, that can be a race that you want to look at, and preferably has a dps offspec that you dont hate for doing those necessary bit of questing etc. Different people are good with different healing styles, play arund and see what suits you.

[Canopy185]

I'd say Shaman is probably the easiest.

[lunchbox2042]

Shaman. Nearly all of your heals are smart heals.

[Aliessil]

Right now this far into the expansion, I'd go with Disc Priest. The reason is because with the gear people have at the moment you can do an awful lot of healing with atonement (so Smite & Penance) plus some shields. This'll give you plenty of slack to play around with your other spells and see what they do, work out when you're likely to want them, etc.

Once you've got the hang of how your spells work you can look at also trying Holy, just needing to learn how their power's changed between specs. Then you can learn the skills Holy has which Disc doesn't.

[Haywire5714]

Disc, Shaman and Druid are the easiest to learn, I wouldn't recommend trying the others.

[Bodom]

Resto druids are BY FAR the easiest to play..

And well, since holy priests while in sanctuary chakra are basically resto druids.. that would put holy priests a close second.

I struggled a bit with Proven Healer on my disc priest (wrong gear I guess, not enough spirit) and read that druids were easier, so I specced resto on my druid for the first time since TBC and did Proven Healer as resto on the same day. So I can confirm that druids are definitely easy to learn.

[ro9ue]

I have all of them. I also use the base UI, never really got into that healbof stuff etc. In 5 mans I find Holy Paladins to be the easiest. They have a lot of oh shit stuff and never seem to run out of mana. If were talking a raid group, I'll go with shaman because if you can maintain healing rain and put drop a healing tide when things get messy you can skate by. As far as PVP goes, monks are super OP. They are a little more complex, but i think the potency of their abilities gives you an easier time overall so you can make more mistakes.

Good luck.

[Aldrahan]

I have all of them. I also use the base UI, never really got into that healbof stuff etc. In 5 mans I find Holy Paladins to be the easiest. They have a lot of oh shit stuff and never seem to run out of mana. If were talking a raid group, I'll go with shaman because if you can maintain healing rain and put drop a healing tide when things get messy you can skate by. As far as PVP goes, monks are super OP. They are a little more complex, but i think the potency of their abilities gives you an easier time overall so you can make more mistakes.

Good luck.

Personally when I tried to use the base UI instead of healbot it kept breaking on me and people would disappear from my frames leading to unnecessary wipes, but if that doesn't happen to you I agree that while an addon makes it easier, it's not necessary. Though it does free up your action bars for more utility.
OT: I play shaman, paladin, monk, druid all as healers having the most experience with the shaman. I'm levelling a priest right now, so I can't really speak for difficulty, but personally I think, if i was going at it as a beginner, probably druid>shaman>paladin>monk. Druid's have a lot of ways to blanket heal with HoT's that allow you to react to more sources of damage. Shaman is easier at a lower item level due to having a lot of built in regen that allows you to be a bit more carefree with your mana. Paladin I only heal with for PvP, so I can't really talk much for PvE, but they have strong single target and duo target due to beacon, but you have to be a bit more careful with your mana. Monk's I personally find rather difficult, probably because I'm still not completely familiar with it, but if you mismanage your mana you can go oom very quickly, and though mana tea helps, it can take a while to regen up. These are just my opinions though, you mention that you have a majority of classes between 80-90, so my advice would be take each one that can heal out for a bit of a spin and see how you feel. Even in just normal dungeons you should be able to get a feel for general style and find which one suits you best! Good luck, healing is a lot of fun, especially when you find the class whose playstyle suits you best!

[Tehterokkar]

Shaman by far is the easiest.

[Alroxas]

Currently in Mists:

Priests and Druids are fairly easy. Monks are probably the toughest with their rotation between using mana, using Chi, and using mana tea (to gain back mana).

In WoD:

Unknown as all healing classes are getting revamped. Visiting those specific class forums opens a can of worms on various discussions about the changes.

IMO, Disc Priest gameplay looks like it could be very different in WoD with the changes in Atonement and removal of Spirit Shell. Druids won't be able to rely on Efflorescence as much. Holy Priests does look more interesting without Chakras and I'm still unsure about Shaman and Holy Paladin healing.

[Janetheripper]

Honestly it depends on how someone plays imho. I have played every healer and I have always detested healing on a druid or shammy. I dont know why but I cant stand it, and I think it is boring. Just try a few to see what you like
Happy healing