They are important, yet often neglected and forgotten: The healers of World of Warcraft: Legion. The survival of group members largely depends on them. We take a closer look at the strongest ones!
First of all, it must be said: It is very difficult to establish a “tier list” of healers. Each class has different advantages. They excel in specific areas, bring unique abilities, or synergize particularly well with other classes.
Creating a ranking is still possible, even if it should be taken with caution. The different healers require varying amounts of gear or “skill” to be comparably strong.
The HPS Rankings for the Tomb of Sargeras
For our list, we rely on the numbers from warcraftlogs, as well as personal experiences with healers or as a healer.
The present log values refer to the heroic version of the Tomb of Sargeras with a percentile value of 75% across all item levels. Different numbers apply for the Mythic raid!
Healers in WoW – The early bird gets the worm!
As with the damage classes, all healers are very close together. Unlike their colleagues with the white numbers, evaluating them is more difficult because: If one healer heals a lot, there is nothing left for the others. Characters with full health do not receive healing.
This may not necessarily be advantageous for the ego of the “slower” healer, but it is very good for the raid. This should always be kept in mind. The fewer healers needed, the easier the boss becomes. So, if your numbers are a bit lower, but your healing colleague’s are higher, it is no reason to despair as long as the boss goes down!
The present list is therefore more of a guideline. The individual player’s skill is clearly more decisive than the class!
Tomb of Sargeras – The Healers Comparison
With this thought in mind, the tier list of healers should be read now:
Rank 1: The Holy Priest
Holy Priests are not only the currently strongest healing class in the raid, but also the second most popular. Only Restoration Druids are played more frequently. They have a very balanced repertoire of healing spells that are above average in all situations.
Through their mechanics with Holy Words and their set bonuses, Holy Priests can relatively easily replenish the group’s health to full, as well as intensely heal a target and absorb strong damage spikes.
They also bring supportive abilities like Leap of Faith or Spirit of Redemption. With the talent “Symbol of Hope”, they can enable all other healers in the raid to cast spells free of cost for 12 seconds. The Holy Priest just needs to pay a bit more attention to their own mana.
Since the Holy Priest is also very beginner-friendly and a strong healer even at a “medium” level, they can comfortably rest on the first place.
Rank 2: The Mistweaver Monk
Monks are among the least popular classes in WoW. Only on certain bosses are tanks welcome, otherwise they are usually avoided. Also among healers, they rank second in the least played – only Discipline Priests are played less.
However, their healing is very strong. In raw numbers, they are quite a bit behind the first place, but still clearly in second place. Mistweavers can heal groups very effectively through Chi-Ji, even at distances that are difficult for other healers.
Another advantage is that they can heal more effectively even while dealing damage (“fistweaving”). However, this requires an extremely good class understanding and a special talent path – making the Mistweaver an interesting option between DPS and healer.
Their biggest problem is that they have to choose between group and single-target healing (for example, Chi-Ji for group healing vs. Jade Serpent Statue for single-target healing). If they try to do both at the same time, they quickly run out of mana. Even more so than their robed colleagues, they must adapt their talents to the situation.
However, with enough scrolls, this shouldn’t be a problem, which secures the monks a stable second place.
Rank 3: The Restoration Shaman
Shamans have been in the middle for some time, with some variations. Their unique playstyle distinguishes them sharply from other healers and gives them a special place in the raid.
First and foremost, chain healing must be mentioned for chain healers. Through their mastery, shamans heal targets with low health more strongly, making chain healing a powerful tool. It is the most important tool of the class.
However, what is more important for most raids are the totems. In particular, the Spirit Link Totem and the Cloudburst Totem play a significant role. The former is a raid cooldown that can absorb powerful hits for the whole group.
At the same time, it greatly facilitates healing for the raid, as the health points of all members are equalized. It is probably the reason why shamans are particularly favored as a complement to other healers.
Through their Reincarnation, shamans can also circumvent a mechanic or correct a mistake. Especially a good choice in raids to support the “main healer”.
Rank 4: The Holy Paladin
To complete the armor classes, we find the paladins in fourth place. Paladins have always been known as the healers for single targets and tanks. It is exactly this role that they continue to fulfill like no other class.
Through their incredibly strong single-target heals, they are often assigned to focus solely on supporting tanks whenever time and mana allow. They thereby make the work easier for other classes, as they no longer need to focus on the tanks.
Their supporting abilities also make the paladin a solid healer. Hand of Protection and Blessing of Sacrifice allow the paladin themselves and another target to absorb or ignore abilities. Hand of Freedom can remove effects that may become dangerous.
Through their flames, they also bring the ability to heal a second target very effectively. Their auras passively and actively (as a raid cooldown) boost healing or damage resistance. Due to their mastery, which grants stronger healing to nearby targets, they are also often close to the fight and deal damage. Their biggest weakness is that they are not very mobile.
Rank 5: Discipline Priest
From rank 4 to rank 5, there is a somewhat larger jump in healing performance. Discipline Priests are the least popular healing class in the raid, and with less than 50,000 runs, the numbers are not very conclusive.
However, they are largely accurate, as Discipline Priests are extremely difficult to play. On the other hand, they fill a niche that no other healer can fill to this extent.
The cloth wearers derive their healing primarily from the damage they deal. Through their ability “Atonement”, they heal any target affected by Atonement for 40% of the magical damage dealt by the priest. This makes them especially valuable as damage-healer hybrids.
Moreover, their main spells for “healing” are shields and damage reductions. Discipline Priests are not particularly strong at mitigating damage taken. They are, however, better at avoiding damage than other healers.
Nevertheless, their playstyle is very difficult and requires a high understanding of the class, as well as a deeper engagement with the mechanics. Not necessarily suitable for beginners, but in the right hands, they can be a good tool.
Rank 6: Restoration Druids
The somewhat sad, last place is occupied by the currently most popular healers: The Restoration Druids. The lovable “trees” are known for their ability to resurrect in battle as well as their healing spells over time (short: HoT for “healing over time”).
Druids can relatively easily heal large groups as well as single targets over time. They simply place spells on their group and wait for them to take effect. However, this is also their biggest disadvantage compared to other classes.
Since they are fairly strong but also very slow at healing, the damage is often negated by another healer before the HoT is effective. Another disadvantage is that they have an area healing spell – which is consistently ignored by many players.
Leather wearers are generally very good at what they do. They are relatively easy to learn and provide solid healing throughout battles. Their mana lasts, if played correctly, over a longer period and they are welcome supporters – but also main healers.
What should I play now?
Benedict says: As mentioned at the beginning, it mainly depends on how well healers are played. Their differences are not significant enough to objectively state: “This healer is always better than the other.”
Nevertheless, every healer has special areas in which they are particularly strong. Especially for raids, the composition of the group and the healers is important. Most areas can, however, be covered by Holy Priests and Restoration Druids. They are solid healers for every situation and are likely to find their place in every raid.
This demon hunter obviously doesn’t need any healers – he takes down Gul’dan solo!
