Class Choice

[kenjou]

Hi there,

I'm planning to level a Horde Healer.

But i just cant decide on what to level, so i came here to ear your opinions.

The only class i wont level it's a paladin, cause i allready have one in the Alliance.

Thanks for your time.

[sifuedition]

It's all about your preferences. I see them this way:

Druid - great raid heals, great flexibility, especially wolith your second spec. Only class in the game that can fill all four roles

Shaman - strong raid healer with excellent tank healing support. Unique play style with the utility of totems and ofc, heroism

Priest - the thinking man's healer. Has the most healing tools which can make them the most interesting healer. It also tends to make them not the strongest at any one aspect of healing.

TL;DR

Role what you like.

[Insahnity]

To add to this.

Shamans have fewer buttons to push, so it's simpler. If you aren't into tanking but like either melee or ranged dps, this is a good class to take

Druids have a lot of minding to do, refreshing hots. If you play afflic or spriest, you know the drill.

Priests have a lot of buttons to push, and a lot of flexbility. If you like a lot of tools and flexibility, this is the toon for you.

[Mmiz]

as you have a pally I'd say go with a shaman (all my pally friends that rolled shammy alts love them)

What druid only one to fill all rolles? Shammans are probably the only class to be able to fill all roles tbh. when did you last see a druid able to keep up a tank tanking hardmode alone? and you say shamans have fewer spells well they have more spells they use. (ch,hw,lhw,rt,es you use them all and in cata you gett a extra healing wave and reign of life)

all thought I have to say priests are tons of fun aswell I'd say if you like playing pally you will love playing shammy.

[Shieldie]

as you have a pally I'd say go with a shaman (all my pally friends that rolled shammy alts love them)

What druid only one to fill all rolles? Shammans are probably the only class to be able to fill all roles tbh. when did you last see a druid able to keep up a tank tanking hardmode alone? and you say shamans have fewer spells well they have more spells they use. (ch,hw,lhw,rt,es you use them all and in cata you gett a extra healing wave and reign of life)

all thought I have to say priests are tons of fun aswell I'd say if you like playing pally you will love playing shammy.

shamans cant tank. druids can

4 roles = tank, melee dps, ranged dps, healer

[Mr.Winkle]

Remember that both the current healing style and the mechanics of each healing class are being overhauled for cataclysm. Currently it's very hard for anyone to know how each class will play out.

All 4 healing classes will probably end up being pretty well balanced though so there's little harm in choosing any of them.

[Mmiz]

Shieldie he's asking in a healing thread and when you talk about rolles in a healing thread its more like:
Raid
Tank
filler
(very simplified)

Above post has a good point.
I duno but have a feeling druids will draw the short straw this time. (if anyone draws a short straw)

[Errvalunia]

I think if you're used to a paladin you might want to try a priest or druid. While I think shamans are way better than any other healing class (I may be a wee bit biased) you might want to try a class that has a very different toolset than a paladin. While paladins have way more cooldowns to consider and shamans have the gem that is chain heal, I would say that druids with their hots and priests with such a wide and varied toolbox would be farther from the paladin playstyle than a shaman.

The main difference between a druid/priest and a paladin/shaman, in a 5 man, is that druid/priests have some amount of set-and-forget, especially disco priests. You kind of line all your ducks up in a row and then play around wanding or DPSing if you have the mana until your tank needs you. Paladins and shamans don't have as much healing/mitigation to be set in motion ahead of time--the tank gets hit, and then you heal them. Action & reaction.

[kenjou]

Thanks for yours explanations,

I've decided to go with druid cause it can tank as well and with all its forms, makes it fun to play with.

Best Regards,
Kenjou

[Shieldie]

Shieldie he's asking in a healing thread and when you talk about rolles in a healing thread its more like:
Raid
Tank
filler

he said
"Druid - great raid heals, great flexibility, especially wolith your second spec. Only class in the game that can fill all four roles"

he was refering to druids refering all game roles not just healing im pretty sure, because we all know what druids are capable of, it wouldnt make much sense meaning anything else.

Yes hes asking in a healing thread because his main spec he wants a healer, but that doesnt mean he wouldnt be interested in considering offspecs, and in this case, yes a druid can do it all

and Kenjou, goodluck on your druid

[Mr.Winkle]

No his post was just confusing.

What Sifu meant was:

Druids: They can raid heal well but not tank heal too great, however as a bonus they can play as all 4 specs.
Shamans: Can both raid and tank heal well, all have ranged and melee dps specs available.

[Straife]

My main toon is a holy priest, and I really enjoy what small amount of raid healing I've done. The amount of abilities priest healers have is a little daunting, I warn you, but if you read through them all you'll get a pretty good idea of when to use them very quickly.

I can't really say much about druids or shaman because I don't know those classes as well.. Though I will say that if you're planning to level solo, a druid or shaman would be a better bet than a priest because of the dps ability they have. I leveled as a holy priest until around 44, and it was a nightmare - I won't lie. It takes forever to kill mobs, questing was horribly inefficient, and it's just plain boring.

Disc priests have better mana regen from my experience, and the absorb focus makes soloing more doable. Shadow priests are easy and fun to solo with, so if you do roll a priest, level as shadow until you can get a dual spec at 40, and then go shadow/holy or shadow/disc -- it makes your life a heck of a lot easier to have that dps spec available, and low level dungeons aren't much fun to heal for anyway.

[joe1010011010]

ide say if you have a pally allreaddy, go with a shammy simply because of the gearing options!

a shammy can wear what ever they want (save plate) this might make it easyer to end game gear with more options for haste/crit/int/SP between all available gear

[Errvalunia]

ide say if you have a pally allreaddy, go with a shammy simply because of the gearing options!

a shammy can wear what ever they want (save plate) this might make it easyer to end game gear with more options for haste/crit/int/SP between all available gear

Gear is a super boring reason to choose a class. Especially considering shamans can't roll need on cloth or leather (not to mention cloth & leather are loaded with spirit, the bane of a shamans' existence)

[swollenpickles]

Downside of a druid is that you look like a tree. Lets face it, looking like a tree 99% of the time isn't for everyone.

[swollenpickles]

Gear is a super boring reason to choose a class. Especially considering shamans can't roll need on cloth or leather (not to mention cloth & leather are loaded with spirit, the bane of a shamans' existence)

I actually found it easier to get gear for my shaman because there was little competition for healing mail (eg. druids and priests can't roll on it, and numpty mage's and warlocks can't either).

[mistrale]

i dont have any experience with shammys but i do play a druid and disc priest. between the two, i prefer the priest for tank healing in instances. but when im not healing, i find the druid a lot more fun, just because there are so may different facets to the class.