Question about healing

[Vampiregenesis]

1. What classes/specs aoe heal when attacking with spells or melee attacks?

2. What classes/specs have the best and most mana efficient aoe heals right now?

[Throwme]

1. What classes/specs aoe heal when attacking with spells or melee attacks?

No spec or class will always heal others when fighting. You will only get cooldown abilities like the Shadowpriest casting Vampiric Embrace to heal others for 50% of the singletarget Shadowdamage the priest does. It lasts for 15 seconds and has a 2 minute cooldown, so not a reliable or constant aoe heal.

The closest you can get to that, is Discipline Priests, because they heal when doing damage, but they are also actual healers, so that makes sense.

[Thoramir]

elemental shamans has something like that with Ancestral Guidance, though it is all damage or healing they do that is copied but only 25% and only last 10 sec and copies to 3 targets

[Darsithis]

1. What classes/specs aoe heal when attacking with spells or melee attacks?

Discipline priests - my personal favorite and my off-spec in raid this expansion - heal through dealing damage. We can heal directly, of course, and we frequently do (either to apply atonement or to react to severe damage we couldn't prevent), but if you want a damage-dealing healing spec, discipline is the only one.

[VinceVega]

1. What classes/specs aoe heal when attacking with spells or melee attacks?

2. What classes/specs have the best and most mana efficient aoe heals right now?

Are you asking for healer specs or DD Specs?

There are not many DDs who do significant healing to be honest. Druids with heart of the wild and restro affinity can pump out a good deal for a moment.
Otherwise disciplin priest is the onyl one who needs to do damage to heal. Monks to a degree. Everyone else does not need to do damage at all.

For mana efficency... Palas and Shamans are not able to go omm this time it seems. BUT the moment everyone knows what to do mana is not really a problem anymore but the ability to dish out huge amounts of healing in s short amount of time on as many players as possible. And shamans are the raining chapions with that right now. They don't even use chain healing anymore for it.

[arkanon]

1. What classes/specs aoe heal when attacking with spells or melee attacks?

2. What classes/specs have the best and most mana efficient aoe heals right now?

Disc priest and to a lesser extent MW monks who focus on 'fistweaving' will heal party members as a direct or indirect result of dealing damage. My gut tells me a fistweaving monk may fit your expectations the best, however dont expect to simply tunnel through a standard dps rotation, and just magically heal everyone. It does offer some "keep everyone topped off" healing, but direct healing is still very much a part of their playstyle.

Think of it this way - how can you have a damage dealer that deals respectable damage, AND is passively providing respectable healing - it just doesnt fit with the trinity. Which is a shame, because it is a playstyle that very much appeals to me - and in my head is something a Pally could have a spec designed around and it would feel very natural and "in theme". From my foggy memory, I ran a "pally" spec in Rift that essentially just delt damage and provided strong passive healing from said damage.

The flip side is why would anyone bring a "mediocre" damage dealer, or a "mediocre" healer, when they can bring a full time healer or full time dps. Fact is, the trinity and WoWs tight balancing means this just isnt an option outside niche encounters and group makeups. Still something i would like, but just isnt gonna happen.