by Aurael on May 16, 2007
This week's Topic of the Week can be a bit of a sore point with some people. Nevertheless, we are going to take a look at it and hopefully hear many different sides of the debate.
There are many classes in WoW that can heal - druids, paladins, shaman (shamans? shamen?), and priests. But which class heals best? It's apparent that all classes heal well, but which one would you rather have alongside you when things turn for the worse?
Now naturally, we must take into account that some players can play a healing class better than others. A good healer has to stare at health bars for the life of the party. They have to have quick reflexes and a superb attention span. But we're not going to discuss various players. We are going to discuss the classes themselves.
We'll start out with the classic healing class - the priest. Priests are the classic healers. Some people swear that this class is THE healing class. Priests have the greatest variety of healing spells. They have healing area of effect spells and are great at getting critical heals. They give awesome buffs and are often the first class looked for as a healer in groups.
Druids are at the top of the charts when it comes to healing over time spells. They are one of the more mana-efficient healing classes. Some players will argue that druids can often "out-heal" priests. They, like priests, have a good variety of healing spells at their disposal (though they are not capable of the protection spells like shield that priest has) and can find a talent path that suits them best.
Shaman are very special healers. They are not the most mana-efficient, nor do they often top the healing charts. However, for a steady healer that won't over heal, shamans are a good choice.
As plate wearers, pallies are possibly the most durable of the healing classes. The drawback of healing as a paladin is that there is very little variety in healing spells. However, they are one of the more mana-efficient healers. Their shields are the best and they do have a resurrection spell that makes them quite useful in groups.
In my opinion, the best class to have along for a healer is a druid. I like the versatility of having a healer that can also switch to dps if needed. Plus, since druids are very mana efficient and have those great heal-over-time spells you can count on them to be able to heal for the entire fight.
Priests have a lot of problems, their main problem being that they are squishy. Healing draws a lot of aggro and priests, in my opinion, don't have near enough aggro reducing spells to keep from dying. Priests are helpful in groups, but they stink when trying to solo. If you were to spec shadow in order to solo better, you lose your status as a great healer.
Paladins are great as a pvp healer. They have a high amount of armor and can really stand up against an onslaught. In a PvP battle, I would love to have a pally beside me.
Shamans are a great all-around class. They are good as back-up healers, but I don't think I would want one as a main healer. There's just not enough healing power vs mana available to last the entire battle.
As always, these are just my opinion. I realize that many people will disagree with me. So, let us know what you think!