Best Healers in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
Now that World of Warcraft: Shadowlands has launched, you might be wondering which healer to level up for PvP or PvE action. While no new healer specializations or classes were introduced with the expansion, the previous ones can still help you decide which healer is right for you.
PvP
Discipline Priest
Discipline Priests are the strongest healers in Shadowlands. They can flex between shielding, dealing damage, and healing, making them a valuable partner in the arena. Some new abilities, Legendaries, and Covenants make Discipline Priests even stronger. One great ability added in this expansion is the Hearthstone card “Thoughtsteal,” which allows you to use your victim’s spell for 20 seconds.
Mistweaver Monk
Mistweaver Monks are efficient healers and haven’t changed much from the previous expansion. They can easily survive burst damage and quickly heal allies. However, they don’t contribute much to the offensive aspect of the game, so they may not be the best choice if you need to deal damage.
Restoration Shaman
Restoration Shamans’ playstyle remains mostly unchanged. They received some higher mana costs, but Mana Tide Totem compensates for that by restoring a lot of mana. While they are a decent pick for arena composition, they shouldn’t always be your first choice as a healer.
Restoration Druid
Druids have received some nice abilities back, but their healing relies on healing-over-time effects, which isn’t effective in the current burst-focused meta. They struggle to survive and can’t keep up with the damage done by most DPS classes.
Holy Paladin
Holy Paladins were strong in the previous expansion but have been toned down. They now have to manage their Holy Power resource more carefully. They bring a wide array of tools to deal with mechanics but lack the utility and damage output of Discipline Priests.
Holy Priest
Holy Priests lack in most departments compared to Discipline Priests. They don’t bring much damage, shield, or utility to the table, and their slow healing style is not suited for the fast-paced PvP environment.
PvE
Discipline Priest
Discipline Priests excel both in PvP and PvE. Their unique way of healing, which combines damage and healing, makes them perfect for dungeons and raids. They can shield entire groups and their damage output matters, especially during progression weeks when players are undergeared.
Restoration Shaman
Restoration Shamans are great in PvE content due to their AoE heals. Their ability to equalize raid health pools with Spirit Link Totems is a valuable asset in case things go bad. They will prove useful in upcoming dungeons and raids.
Holy Paladin
Holy Paladins, despite losing some power in Shadowlands, are still a staple healer for raids. They have tools like Divine Protection, Blessing of Sacrifice, Lay on Hands, and Devotion Aura to handle various mechanics.
Mistweaver Monk
Monks are great healing classes in PvP, but their capabilities in PvE are limited. They focus more on single-target healing and lack the tools compared to other classes in Shadowlands. They are required for fights with a lot of single-target damage.
Restoration Druid
Restoration Druids should be some of the best healers in PvE due to their healing output, but they are mediocre compared to other healers like Discipline Priests or Restoration Shamans. They lack offensive capabilities and mainly rely on healing-over-time effects.
Holy Priest
Holy Priests are at the bottom in both PvP and PvE. While they have tools to deal with mechanics, they can’t match the utility of Discipline Priests. Bringing a Holy Priest sacrifices damage output for slightly more healing.