World of Warcraft: Shadowlands introduced players to two new end-game experiences after its release in October 2020. These include the randomized, endless dungeon, Torghast, Tower of the Damned, and the first released raid of the expansion, Castle Nathria. Players have spent the better part of the last few months optimizing and, in particular, figuring out which healing specialties look to be top tier for mythic raid progression and mythic keystone progression.
As it stands, there are six healing specs in World of Warcraft, each with its own upsides and downsides. Shadowlands has done a pretty good job of leveling the playing field for healers, with no one class falling behind significantly in healing output. When it comes to choosing a healing spec, what really matters are the circumstantial abilities that come with each unique class.
6 Priest – Holy Specialization
The Holy Priest is the classic, most user-friendly healing class available. New players will find the Holy spec abilities easy to understand. This is not a dig on the class, though, as a Holy Priest can match other healing specs in high-level mythic dungeons and Castle Nathria. It’s also just a handy beginner’s class that won’t disappoint. Spirit of Redemption allows the priest to continue healing the party even after death, Mass Dispel gets rid of all debuffs on nearby party members and buffs on enemies, and they have a variety of short stuns and single-target buffs available as well.
A Holy Priest thrives on reactive healing, healing only when a teammate has taken significant damage. It has a few proactive abilities at its disposal too, such as Guardian Spirit, which can prevent a party member’s death. The downsides to the class are that it lacks damage output and party-wide cooldowns.
5 Monk – Mistweaver Specialization
The Mistweaver Monk is a solid choice for a healer looking for something a bit more complicated than what the Holy Priest can offer. While this class also lacks damage output and party support cooldowns, it is made up for in the class’ incredible spot healing and useful single-target abilities. Mystic Touch is a passive increase to all damage the party does to the Monk’s enemy target by 5% (which is a lot more than it seems), Revival is a 40-yd-range AOE heal that also dispels a variety of debuffs, and the class is unmatched in its mobility thanks to Roll and Transcendence.
A Mistweaver Monk fits fantastically into a melee-heavy party composition, thanks to Mystic Touch, but thrives as a low-damage high-healing support class in any party.
4 Paladin – Holy Specialization
The Holy Paladin is one of the highest-damage healing specs in World of Warcraft, but the strength of the class comes at a sacrifice to the speed of its healing abilities. Holy Paladins are the only healer with a straight-up immunity spell in the form of Divine Shield, and their party-wide auras are necessary for any large raiding party. The Holy Paladin is reliant on Holy Power to maximize its potential, which is generated through various abilities. Unfortunately, this means the class is reliant on Holy Power being available in tight circumstances, making them most effective when the Paladin has time to prepare.
Holy Paladins are one of the best secondary healers in the party composition for this reason. Their combat skills, such as Avenging Wrath, oftentimes puts them on the same playing field as the party DPS, and having the ability to heal and provide party-wide buffs is invaluable for Mythic progression.
3 Druid – Restoration Specialization
The Restoration Druid is an all-around great pick for its middle-of-the-road DPS and high healing output, as well as for its circumstantial abilities unique to the class. It also has the highest mobility of any healing spec, but overall, a Restoration Druid won’t put out insane healing numbers consistently. Instead, a Restoration Druid is best when it can serve as a middle ground between damage and healing. Ursol’s Vortex is one of the best crowd control abilities in the game, allowing party members to let loose AOE spells as enemies stay trapped. Its party-wide buffs include Stampeding Roar, a massive speed boost, and it’s the only class in World of Warcraft with a combat resurrection spell in the form of Rebirth.
While the Restoration Druid won’t outshine some of the other healing specs in the game in terms of numbers, it is a consistent healer with plenty of utility. Its combat resurrection ability is a must-have for any raid, and the spec is pretty decent at defending itself if things go sour too.
2 Priest – Discipline Specialization
Discipline Priests are perhaps the most cooldown-reliant healing spec in the game, but it makes up for that reliance with extremely high damage output and party buffs that are invaluable to Mythic progression. It’s a spec that is relatively proactive (as opposed to the Holy Priest spec which is very reactive) with plenty of ways to support the group. Pain Suppression and Power Word: Barrier are incredible damage mitigation abilities with long cooldowns, and best used in boss fights and overwhelming situations. The class puts out incredible damage with Purge The Wicked and a variety of other combat spells, and retains the Mass Dispel ability from the Holy spec.
Discipline Priest is a complicated class, reliant on a huge number of abilities to be effective. It’s not a beginner’s spec, but with the right training and mindset, it becomes one of the most effective healers in the game.
1 Shaman – Restoration Specialization
In the past, Restoration Shamans received a pretty bad rap for their underwhelming output, both in terms of damage and healing. In Shadowlands, though, they are perhaps the best healing spec in the game thanks to a variety of powerful AOE healing abilities and its unique combat skills. Spirit Link Totem reduces damage done to nearby party members by 10%, and redistributes health between nearby party members to keep everybody at the same percentage level while it’s out. It’s an incredibly useful skill that becomes even more useful if party members stick together. Similarly, Chain Heal and Healing Rain are powerful but made ridiculously powerful if party members stay close.
They are also the only spec with a self-resurrection ability in the form of Reincarnation, and the only healing spec with an interrupt in the form of Wind Shear. It’s a versatile class that requires communication with party members, but when its cooldowns are popped and the party stays close, it is absolutely unmatched in its healing potential.
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