Welcome to the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm healer tier list! We will be ranking each healing specialization available for the expansion, as well as explaining each spec’s position on the tier list.
- Holy Paladin (S-Tier)
- Discipline Priest (A-Tier)
- Restoration Druid (B-Tier)
- Restoration Shaman (B- Tier)
- Holy Priest (C-Tier)
The first two phases of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm come with four available raids that feature a good balance of single-target and area-of-effect healing. The most important factor to take into consideration is that each specialization’s performance heavily relies on the encounter itself, with some specializations that rank lower on the list outperforming higher-ranking tiers in certain specific scenarios.
All five healing specs are competitive in Cataclysm and the differences are small enough that individual player skill will be a much bigger factor in high-end PvE content. Healing in Cataclysm is much more dynamic than it was in Wrath, when the optimal way to play was usually to spam your strongest spell. You’ll also find that gear makes a big difference, with healers at higher gear levels having the stats to pump out more heals without worrying as much about their mana supply. With that being said, let’s get into the rankings!
S-Tier
The S-tier represents the most powerful healing specs in the current meta – those with the best healing and utility. Nearly every 25-player raid team will want at least 1 of these specializations, and may in fact recruit multiple.
Holy Paladin
Holy Paladins were the dominant healers in Wrath of the Lich King Classic, and they will retain that title throughout Cataclysm Classic. Many 25-player teams will even opt to have two Holy Paladins on their core roster — they are just that strong. Having two means that you can have a Beacon of Light on both tanks, which generally frees up your other healers to focus on the raid. They also retain their excellent utility in the form of their Hand spells and their new interrupt, Rebuke.
But wait, there’s more! Holy Paladins now have an incredibly strong raid heal in Holy Radiance. In the patch we are getting, this ability has no cooldown, which means that Holy Paladins will be among the best raid healers as well as the best tank healers. You also get Light of Dawn, which heals in a frontal cone, although this ability can be a little awkward to use at times. Anytime their group is stacked, a Holy Paladin will be capable of putting out just as much AoE healing as a Resto Shaman. And if that all wasn’t enough, your Mastery causes your heals to leave an absorption shield on the target, soaking up even more damage.
Holy Paladins come with plenty of useful healing cooldowns, including Aura Mastery, Lay on Hands, Avenging Wrath, and Guardian of Ancient Kings. They’re also extremely tanky in full plate and a shield, and with Divine Protection and Divine Shield at their disposal, they’ll often be the last ones standing.
The spec is certainly more dynamic and interesting to play in Cataclysm than it was in Wrath, with a more flexible toolkit and the new Holy Power mechanic. The skill cap is a bit higher since you won’t be able to mindlessly spam Holy Light anymore. The payoff is that a skilled Holy Paladin will dominate the healing meters on most fights.
If all that wasn’t enough, the Speed of Light talent turns Divine Protection into a short-cooldown movement buff, largely resolving the build’s former mobility woes.
There are two downsides to playing a Holy Paladin. For one, positioning is much more important than on any other healer. You’ll need to stand in melee to use Crusader Strike for generating Holy Power. You also have to aim your Light of Dawn, since it’s a cone. The other downside is that the spec doesn’t share gear with its DPS offspec, so Holy Paladins don’t make good flex healers. Luckily you won’t have to, since a Holy Paladin is probably the last healer that your group will want to give up.
A-Tier
The A-tier represents strong healing specializations that offer a great amount of healing and utility, frequently having a unique trait that makes them worth bringing on their own. Most raid groups will have 1 of each of these specializations, and it won’t be extremely uncommon to see more than 1, either.
Discipline Priest
Discipline Priests occupy very much the same place they did in Wrath of the Lich King, but for slightly different reasons. Most raid teams will want to have a Discipline Priest as one of their core healing spots alongside their Holy Paladin(s). Stacking Discipline Priests still isn’t ideal, but it’s more feasible now that Power Word: Shield isn’t your primary spell.
While Holy Paladins have stronger direct heals, a skilled Discipline Priest can deny other healers of having anything to heal at all. Damage to the group will eat up the Disc Priest’s absorption effects before making a dent in anyone’s health. This makes the Disc Priest a very efficient healer since their absorbs are very rarely wasted. It can also mitigate damage that might otherwise kill your team. Groups without a Disc Priest will see a big difference in how low their health bars get after a big AoE goes out.
Discipline is also one of the most fun and challenging specs to play well in Cataclysm, with the most varied toolkit. You’re a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, capable of solid tank healing with Penance and Greater Heal as well as strong raid healing with Prayer of Healing. Although Power Word: Shield isn’t quite what it was in Wrath, it’s still valuable for preemptive or emergency defense. And now you have the unique Atonement/Archangel mechanic which can really elevate your overall contribution to the group if used appropriately.
Priests bring some very useful utility to the raid, including Mass Dispel, Fear Ward, Divine Hymn, and Hymn of Hope. Discipline adds some strong cooldowns to the list: Power Infusion, Pain Suppression, and Power Word Barrier.
Priest healers aren’t particularly sturdy, and you don’t have Spirit of Redemption to fall back on like a Holy Priest. You’ll also have a harder time with fights that require a lot of movement since most of your spells are hard-cast or channeled. The Discipline tree doesn’t offer anything to increase your movement speed either.
B-Tier
The B-tier represents healing specializations that are very much viable — you won’t ever wipe because your healers are “only” B-tier. However, they are generally not as powerful as the healing specializations in tiers above them; they typically have slightly lower healing throughput or weaker utility, and usually aren’t as stackable.
Restoration Druid
A Restoration Druid may not have a guaranteed raid spot like a Holy Paladin or a Discipline Priest, but most groups will have a place for one. One surefire way to secure that spot is to be willing to flex to Balance. Druids are a great option for a flex healer/DPS since their DPS offspec can use most of the same gear and Balance is a desirable DPS spec even on its own.
Druids continue to be the best healers for filling gaps and smoothing out damage with their HoTs. They can be effective in either a raid healing or a tank healing role, but they will shine the brightest as raid healers on fights where the group is spread out. Rejuvenation and Wild Growth will still be effective when other healers’ AoE heals don’t reach far enough. They also have a lot of mobility between their many instant-cast spells and Dash.
Druids of all flavors offer valuable utility to the raid, including Innervate and Rebirth, which a healer will know when to use since they are already watching their raid frames. A Druid can drop a Stampeding Roar to help everyone run away from an AoE. A Resto Druid can also maintain Faerie Fire if there’s no Feral Druid in the raid. They’re surprisingly tanky for leather wearers, and can even drop into Bear Form if things get really hairy.
Playing a Resto Druid well requires careful HoT management, which can be challenging. It also makes it hard to catch up with unexpected damage since the spec relies on stacking HoTs in advance. Druids are also lacking in useful healing downs, as Tranquility is very weak. You’re mainly limited to Tree of Life for raid healing and you don’t have any tank cooldowns to speak of.
Restoration Shaman
Restoration Shamans are in somewhat of the same boat as their Druid counterparts: they’re capable healers, but not quite as in demand as a Holy Paladin or Disc Priest. They make an even better option for a flex healer/DPS role than a Druid. A Resto/Elemental Shaman can use most of the same gear for both specs and can swap according to the needs of the group, providing a lot of the same utility in either role. Some 25-player raids will look to have both a flex Druid and a flex Shaman and swap them according to the fight – Resto Shaman for a stacked fight, and Resto Druid for when the group is spread out.
That’s because while Resto Shamans are okay healers in general, they will rise to the top of the healing meters on any fight where there are a lot of people packed close together. Healing Rain and Chain Heal are both incredibly effective when the group is stacked, much more so than the Restoration Druid’s Efflorescence or the Holy Priest’s Holy Word: Sanctuary. In these scenarios you will find yourself spamming your Chain Heals and laughing as you soak up all of the damage like in the good old days of Blackwing Lair.
Although Shamans are best suited to raid healing, their Earth Shield and Riptide have been improved to help them keep steady coverage on a tank when needed. Ancestral Healing has also been upgraded to be a step up from the Priest’s Inspiration, giving your tanks more health to work with.
In terms of utility, Shamans bring Spirit Link Totem, an extremely powerful raid healing cooldown. Equalizing everyone’s health can save your group a lot of deaths. And since no one will be at full health while it’s active, you won’t waste any of your Chain Heal bounces on overheal. Shamans also bring a ranged interrupt in Wind Shear.
Resto Shamans are a bit weak in the mana regeneration department compared with other healers, though they won’t struggle quite as much as Holy Priests. Totems aren’t as unique as they were before, and are used more for filling gaps in your raid buffs. That can be really useful for a 10-player team, but is not as needed in a 25.
C-Tier
The C-tier is comprised of healing specializations that are, frankly, a bit on the weaker side. It could be argued that they’re still viable, having acceptable healing throughput and some useful utility and other unique quirks, on top of being very fun to play. However, they will generally lag significantly behind S-tier and A-tier healing specializations, and you might struggle to find a raid spot with one of these specs, as they aren’t in high demand.
Holy Priest
Holy Priests are perfectly good healers in Cataclysm, with strong raid healing and a reasonably flexible toolkit. The spec’s biggest problem is that with limited healing spots, most groups will not be looking to stack Priests, and many teams will want to have a Discipline Priest as one of their core healers. Holy will often be relegated to an off-spec option for when a Shadow Priest is asked to heal or if a Disc Priest wants to trade their utility for a Guardian Spirit cooldown.
But don’t discount them altogether. As we said earlier in this guide, all of the healers are very close in terms of their raw healing capability in Cataclysm, and a skilled Holy Priest will still be a solid addition to any healing team. Guardian Spirit is an amazing tank cooldown, and a Holy Priests’s Divine Hymn is much stronger than a Discipline Priest’s. You still have your powerful raid healing tools in Circle of Healing, Prayer of Mending, Prayer of Healing, and Renew, plus Holy Word: Sanctuary providing even more throughput when the raid is stacked, and with all of it being enhanced by your new Chakra stances.
Holy is more mobile than Discipline as it makes more use of instant cast spells. You can also spec into Body and Soul to gain even more mobility, not only for you but for anyone else who needs it. Although you’re one of the squishier healers, you have Spirit of Redemption to fall back on, and if you can get a Soulstone or Rebirth lined up you can even use it as a mana and healing cooldown (spam your biggest heals for 15 seconds for free, and then resurrect with some of your mana restored).
Unfortunately, there is also a lot of unrealized potential in Holy’s toolkit in Cataclysm. Lightwell can be a highly efficient raid healing tool, but good luck getting your team to use it. Although you have Chakras to buff your tank healing, your raid healing, and your damage, it will almost never be worth dropping out of your raid healing stance for a full 30 seconds, so you can’t really use them to change your focus mid-fight. Holy’s cooldowns are much weaker overall than Discipline’s, and Holy Priests have the fewest mana regeneration tools of any healer.
On the flip side, if you enjoy playing an underdog class, the Holy Priest can be very rewarding. There will be fights where Holy will outperform Discipline for one reason or another. And as for any individual healer’s capabilities, well, you know what they say: “bring the player, not the class.”
D-Tier
Simply put, specs in the D-tier are considered to be not viable. They can be fun to play, but you will struggle to get invited to raids when playing one of these, and you may even find yourself getting kicked from groups, as your healing will be really bad.
Fortunately, no healer is so weak that we’d say they’re not at all viable in Cataclysm Classic.
- Holy Paladin (S-Tier)
- Discipline Priest (A-Tier)
- Restoration Druid (B-Tier)
- Restoration Shaman (B- Tier)
- Holy Priest (C-Tier)
The first two phases of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm come with four available raids that feature a good balance of single-target and area-of-effect healing. The most important factor to take into consideration is that each specialization’s performance heavily relies on the encounter itself, with some specializations that rank lower on the list outperforming higher-ranking tiers in certain specific scenarios.
All five healing specs are competitive in Cataclysm and the differences are small enough that individual player skill will be a much bigger factor in high-end PvE content. Healing in Cataclysm is much more dynamic than it was in Wrath, when the optimal way to play was usually to spam your strongest spell. You’ll also find that gear makes a big difference, with healers at higher gear levels having the stats to pump out more heals without worrying as much about their mana supply. With that being said, let’s get into the rankings!
S-Tier
The S-tier represents the most powerful healing specs in the current meta – those with the best healing and utility. Nearly every 25-player raid team will want at least 1 of these specializations, and may in fact recruit multiple.
Holy Paladin
Holy Paladins were the dominant healers in Wrath of the Lich King Classic, and they will retain that title throughout Cataclysm Classic. Many 25-player teams will even opt to have two Holy Paladins on their core roster — they are just that strong. Having two means that you can have a Beacon of Light on both tanks, which generally frees up your other healers to focus on the raid. They also retain their excellent utility in the form of their Hand spells and their new interrupt, Rebuke.
But wait, there’s more! Holy Paladins now have an incredibly strong raid heal in Holy Radiance. In the patch we are getting, this ability has no cooldown, which means that Holy Paladins will be among the best raid healers as well as the best tank healers. You also get Light of Dawn, which heals in a frontal cone, although this ability can be a little awkward to use at times. Anytime their group is stacked, a Holy Paladin will be capable of putting out just as much AoE healing as a Resto Shaman. And if that all wasn’t enough, your Mastery causes your heals to leave an absorption shield on the target, soaking up even more damage.
Holy Paladins come with plenty of useful healing cooldowns, including Aura Mastery, Lay on Hands, Avenging Wrath, and Guardian of Ancient Kings. They’re also extremely tanky in full plate and a shield, and with Divine Protection and Divine Shield at their disposal, they’ll often be the last ones standing.
The spec is certainly more dynamic and interesting to play in Cataclysm than it was in Wrath, with a more flexible toolkit and the new Holy Power mechanic. The skill cap is a bit higher since you won’t be able to mindlessly spam Holy Light anymore. The payoff is that a skilled Holy Paladin will dominate the healing meters on most fights.
If all that wasn’t enough, the Speed of Light talent turns Divine Protection into a short-cooldown movement buff, largely resolving the build’s former mobility woes.
There are two downsides to playing a Holy Paladin. For one, positioning is much more important than on any other healer. You’ll need to stand in melee to use Crusader Strike for generating Holy Power. You also have to aim your Light of Dawn, since it’s a cone. The other downside is that the spec doesn’t share gear with its DPS offspec, so Holy Paladins don’t make good flex healers. Luckily you won’t have to, since a Holy Paladin is probably the last healer that your group will want to give up.
A-Tier
The A-tier represents strong healing specializations that offer a great amount of healing and utility, frequently having a unique trait that makes them worth bringing on their own. Most raid groups will have 1 of each of these specializations, and it won’t be extremely uncommon to see more than 1, either.
Discipline Priest
Discipline Priests occupy very much the same place they did in Wrath of the Lich King, but for slightly different reasons. Most raid teams will want to have a Discipline Priest as one of their core healing spots alongside their Holy Paladin(s). Stacking Discipline Priests still isn’t ideal, but it’s more feasible now that Power Word: Shield isn’t your primary spell.
While Holy Paladins have stronger direct heals, a skilled Discipline Priest can deny other healers of having anything to heal at all. Damage to the group will eat up the Disc Priest’s absorption effects before making a dent in anyone’s health. This makes the Disc Priest a very efficient healer since their absorbs are very rarely wasted. It can also mitigate damage that might otherwise kill your team. Groups without a Disc Priest will see a big difference in how low their health bars get after a big AoE goes out.
Discipline is also one of the most fun and challenging specs to play well in Cataclysm, with the most varied toolkit. You’re a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, capable of solid tank healing with Penance and Greater Heal as well as strong raid healing with Prayer of Healing. Although Power Word: Shield isn’t quite what it was in Wrath, it’s still valuable for preemptive or emergency defense. And now you have the unique Atonement/Archangel mechanic which can really elevate your overall contribution to the group if used appropriately.
Priests bring some very useful utility to the raid, including Mass Dispel, Fear Ward, Divine Hymn, and Hymn of Hope. Discipline adds some strong cooldowns to the list: Power Infusion, Pain Suppression, and Power Word Barrier.
Priest healers aren’t particularly sturdy, and you don’t have Spirit of Redemption to fall back on like a Holy Priest. You’ll also have a harder time with fights that require a lot of movement since most of your spells are hard-cast or channeled. The Discipline tree doesn’t offer anything to increase your movement speed either.
B-Tier
The B-tier represents healing specializations that are very much viable — you won’t ever wipe because your healers are “only” B-tier. However, they are generally not as powerful as the healing specializations in tiers above them; they typically have slightly lower healing throughput or weaker utility, and usually aren’t as stackable.
Restoration Druid
A Restoration Druid may not have a guaranteed raid spot like a Holy Paladin or a Discipline Priest, but most groups will have a place for one. One surefire way to secure that spot is to be willing to flex to Balance. Druids are a great option for a flex healer/DPS since their DPS offspec can use most of the same gear and Balance is a desirable DPS spec even on its own.
Druids continue to be the best healers for filling gaps and smoothing out damage with their HoTs. They can be effective in either a raid healing or a tank healing role, but they will shine the brightest as raid healers on fights where the group is spread out. Rejuvenation and Wild Growth will still be effective when other healers’ AoE heals don’t reach far enough. They also have a lot of mobility between their many instant-cast spells and Dash.
Druids of all flavors offer valuable utility to the raid, including Innervate and Rebirth, which a healer will know when to use since they are already watching their raid frames. A Druid can drop a Stampeding Roar to help everyone run away from an AoE. A Resto Druid can also maintain Faerie Fire if there’s no Feral Druid in the raid. They’re surprisingly tanky for leather wearers, and can even drop into Bear Form if things get really hairy.
Playing a Resto Druid well requires careful HoT management, which can be challenging. It also makes it hard to catch up with unexpected damage since the spec relies on stacking HoTs in advance. Druids are also lacking in useful healing downs, as Tranquility is very weak. You’re mainly limited to Tree of Life for raid healing and you don’t have any tank cooldowns to speak of.
Restoration Shaman
Restoration Shamans are in somewhat of the same boat as their Druid counterparts: they’re capable healers, but not quite as in demand as a Holy Paladin or Disc Priest. They make an even better option for a flex healer/DPS role than a Druid. A Resto/Elemental Shaman can use most of the same gear for both specs and can swap according to the needs of the group, providing a lot of the same utility in either role. Some 25-player raids will look to have both a flex Druid and a flex Shaman and swap them according to the fight – Resto Shaman for a stacked fight, and Resto Druid for when the group is spread out.
That’s because while Resto Shamans are okay healers in general, they will rise to the top of the healing meters on any fight where there are a lot of people packed close together. Healing Rain and Chain Heal are both incredibly effective when the group is stacked, much more so than the Restoration Druid’s Efflorescence or the Holy Priest’s Holy Word: Sanctuary. In these scenarios you will find yourself spamming your Chain Heals and laughing as you soak up all of the damage like in the good old days of Blackwing Lair.
Although Shamans are best suited to raid healing, their Earth Shield and Riptide have been improved to help them keep steady coverage on a tank when needed. Ancestral Healing has also been upgraded to be a step up from the Priest’s Inspiration, giving your tanks more health to work with.
In terms of utility, Shamans bring Spirit Link Totem, an extremely powerful raid healing cooldown. Equalizing everyone’s health can save your group a lot of deaths. And since no one will be at full health while it’s active, you won’t waste any of your Chain Heal bounces on overheal. Shamans also bring a ranged interrupt in Wind Shear.
Resto Shamans are a bit weak in the mana regeneration department compared with other healers, though they won’t struggle quite as much as Holy Priests. Totems aren’t as unique as they were before, and are used more for filling gaps in your raid buffs. That can be really useful for a 10-player team, but is not as needed in a 25.
C-Tier
The C-tier is comprised of healing specializations that are, frankly, a bit on the weaker side. It could be argued that they’re still viable, having acceptable healing throughput and some useful utility and other unique quirks, on top of being very fun to play. However, they will generally lag significantly behind S-tier and A-tier healing specializations, and you might struggle to find a raid spot with one of these specs, as they aren’t in high demand.
Holy Priest
Holy Priests are perfectly good healers in Cataclysm, with strong raid healing and a reasonably flexible toolkit. The spec’s biggest problem is that with limited healing spots, most groups will not be looking to stack Priests, and many teams will want to have a Discipline Priest as one of their core healers. Holy will often be relegated to an off-spec option for when a Shadow Priest is asked to heal or if a Disc Priest wants to trade their utility for a Guardian Spirit cooldown.
But don’t discount them altogether. As we said earlier in this guide, all of the healers are very close in terms of their raw healing capability in Cataclysm, and a skilled Holy Priest will still be a solid addition to any healing team. Guardian Spirit is an amazing tank cooldown, and a Holy Priests’s Divine Hymn is much stronger than a Discipline Priest’s. You still have your powerful raid healing tools in Circle of Healing, Prayer of Mending, Prayer of Healing, and Renew, plus Holy Word: Sanctuary providing even more throughput when the raid is stacked, and with all of it being enhanced by your new Chakra stances.
Holy is more mobile than Discipline as it makes more use of instant cast spells. You can also spec into Body and Soul to gain even more mobility, not only for you but for anyone else who needs it. Although you’re one of the squishier healers, you have Spirit of Redemption to fall back on, and if you can get a Soulstone or Rebirth lined up you can even use it as a mana and healing cooldown (spam your biggest heals for 15 seconds for free, and then resurrect with some of your mana restored).
Unfortunately, there is also a lot of unrealized potential in Holy’s toolkit in Cataclysm. Lightwell can be a highly efficient raid healing tool, but good luck getting your team to use it. Although you have Chakras to buff your tank healing, your raid healing, and your damage, it will almost never be worth dropping out of your raid healing stance for a full 30 seconds, so you can’t really use them to change your focus mid-fight. Holy’s cooldowns are much weaker overall than Discipline’s, and Holy Priests have the fewest mana regeneration tools of any healer.
On the flip side, if you enjoy playing an underdog class, the Holy Priest can be very rewarding. There will be fights where Holy will outperform Discipline for one reason or another. And as for any individual healer’s capabilities, well, you know what they say: “bring the player, not the class.”
D-Tier
Simply put, specs in the D-tier are considered to be not viable. They can be fun to play, but you will struggle to get invited to raids when playing one of these, and you may even find yourself getting kicked from groups, as your healing will be really bad.
Fortunately, no healer is so weak that we’d say they’re not at all viable in Cataclysm Classic.
- Holy Paladin (S-Tier)
- Discipline Priest (A-Tier)
- Restoration Druid (B-Tier)
- Restoration Shaman (B- Tier)
- Holy Priest (C-Tier)
The third phase of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, Rage of the Firelands brings out the spectacular Firelands raid and the newly created heroic dungeons, Elemental Rune Dungeons! While the new dungeons may be far easier when compared to the Titan Rune Dungeons from WotLK, Firelands has been historically difficult for all players due to its many tactics. The raid is even more difficult for healers than for other roles, as they suffer the most from any scenario where the tactics are not respected.
This Healer Ranking List was created exactly one month after the release of the Firelands raid, factoring in the current performance of multiple player brackets with the help of WarcraftLogs.com and the expected performance based on the expected overall performance of the classes.
The third phase is difficult to evaluate due to the existence of Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa’s Rest. While the staff is not a priority for healers, and not all can use it, it can highly boost the Direct Healing performance of any Healer Class utilizing it!
As always, the most important factor to consider besides those mentioned before is the encounter itself! Each specialization’s performance heavily depends on the encounter itself and its role in that particular encounter. While all Healer specializations should take care of dispels, in some encounters, different specializations have a better chance of dispelling than others, due to the nature of their Healing Spells (HoT vs Direct Healing).
Remember that due to the Human Error component and the individual player skill involved in high-end PvE content, Tier S through B is highly relative, with only a few select specializations ranking higher than the other specializations based on the currently available information.
S-Tier
The S-tier represents the most powerful healing specs in the current meta – those with the best healing and utility. Nearly every 25-player raid team will want at least 1 of these specializations, and may in fact recruit multiple.
Discipline Priest
The third phase of Cataclysm changes things for Discipline Priests, as they now find themselves at the top of the food chain, displaying the overall best performance on both Heroic and Normal Fireland. Their overall performance was always strong, even in the previous phases, with them being considered by many an S-Tier specialization even before the release of Phase 3. Their newfound performance is largely owed to the new T12 set bonuses, providing them with one of the strongest 4-item set bonuses among all healer classes.
The T12 (Vestments of the Cleansing Flame) 2-item set bonus grants them amazing Mana Regeneration while the 4-item set bonus empowers both their Single-Target and AoE Healing by a considerable amount. The 2-item set bonus does interfere with the Cataclysm way of healing as a Discipline Priest but it does favor any dangerous situation where Greater Heal or Flash Heal might be needed. The 4-item set bonus functions perfectly for any scenario since it spawns the Cauterizing Flame effect which may be triggered multiple times in succession.
As all Discipline Priests know, their kit got severely changed in Cataclysm becoming way more versatile. From a Power Word: Shield and Penance spam bot to a Smite spam bot with a bit of Prayer of Healing, Flash Heal, Penance, and Greater Heal sprinkled into the mix. Discipline Priests are highly desired in raids since they not only deal an amazing amount of healing by spamming Smite through the Atonement effect but also cover quite a considerable amount of the Overall Damage dealt. The new Archangel mechanic can also elevate your overall contribution to the group if used appropriately.
In addition, while it might be impractical to get the Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa’s Rest staff on a healer, its effects synergize tremendously with both the T12 4-item set bonus and the Atonement effect.
Priests bring some very useful utility to the raid, including Mass Dispel, Fear Ward, Divine Hymn, and Hymn of Hope. Discipline adds some strong cooldowns to the list: Power Infusion, Pain Suppression, and Power Word Barrier. Discipline Priests are also the preferred dispelers out of all the Healing specializations, with only some of the others holding up to their capabilities.
Holy Paladin
Holy Paladins remain some of the most dominant healers in Phase 3 of Cataclysm, retaining their S-Tier spot and having very similar overall performance as Discipline Priests. While their playstyle is entirely different, with Holy Paladins needing to stay in the melee group while Discipline Priests have the luxury of staying with the caster group, their overall performance is almost the same. Just like in the last phase, many 25-player teams will even opt to have two Holy Paladins because you can have a Beacon of Light on both tanks, which generally frees up your other healers to focus on the raid.
Their current performance is due to their amazing overall kit but also due to their strong T12 set bonuses. To those unfamiliar with how Holy Paladin works in Cataclysm, the paradigm shifted entirely from its previous WotLK version where Holy Paladins were the strongest Single-Target healers. They are now among the strongest AoE healers thanks to the addition of Holy Power and the subsequent new Holy Radiance and Light of Dawn abilities. In addition, besides their newfound overpowered AoE healing, their new mastery effect also allows them to function like Discipline Priests, placing Absorption Shields on their allies whenever they heal a target.
The T12 set (Regalia of Immolation) plays very well into their new kit! The 2-item set bonus provides them with a strong Mana Regeneration tool that gives them some relief from their expensive Healing Spells. The 4-item set further enhances their AoE capabilities allowing them to heal allies other than their targets even in Single-Target scenarios for 10% of their Divine Light, Flash of Light, and Holy Light.
While the other Healing specializations can acquire Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa’s Rest, Holy Paladins don’t have that luxury. Nonetheless, while some Healers might acquire the legendary staff, the number of players who will actually own the staff won’t be high enough to dampen Holy Paladin’s performance compared to the other Healing specializations.
Holy Paladins come with plenty of useful healing & utility cooldowns, including Aura Mastery, Lay on Hands, Avenging Wrath, and Guardian of Ancient Kings. They’re also extremely tanky in full plate and a shield, and with Divine Protection and Divine Shield at their disposal, they’ll often be the last ones standing. If all that wasn’t enough, the Speed of Light talent turns Divine Protection into a short-cooldown movement buff, largely resolving the build’s former mobility problems.
A-Tier
The A-tier represents strong healing specializations that offer a great amount of healing and utility, frequently having a unique trait that makes them worth bringing on their own. Most raid groups will have 1 of each of these specializations, and it won’t be extremely uncommon to see more than 1, either.
Restoration Druid
Restoration Druids in Phase 3 find themselves in a stronger spot than the previous phases, providing incredible AoE healing for their raid and many powerful Single-Target HoT effects. Their current performance lands them in the A-Tier, and in some cases, compares directly or even overtakes the performance of some of the S-Tier specializations. This is somewhat due to the new T12-item set bonuses but rather because of the Stats upscale that directly benefits their spells.
Restoration Druids are well known as some of the best, if not the best AoE healers for raid healing, with Wild Growth being the strongest AoE spell for the entire raid group. They are generally considered “spread” healers by the community, able to fully restore entire raids through their HoT effects. Their new Mastery effect, also plays a heavy role in their rotation, as their Direct Healing spells are now mostly used to empower their Hots. Wild Growth, combined with Rejuvenation, Lifebloom, and Efflorescence, caused by Swiftmend, make up their most important tools.
The T12 set (Obsidian Arborweave Vestments) is quite strong for Restoration Druids, enhancing their already strong Mana Regeneration and powerful AoE healing. The 2-item set bonus enhances their overall Mana Regeneration passively by a considerable amount as it can proc from multiple instances of Lifebloom, making the effect a guaranteed trigger. The 4-item set bonus empowers their AoE through Swiftmend, however, it is not as strong as the other 4-item set bonuses that the other Healing specializations get since it’s tied to a much higher cooldown. Although, unlike the other effects, it’s a guaranteed effect, rather than a proc chance-based effect.
However, unlike other Healing specializations that may fully benefit from Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa’s Rest, Restoration Druids are the worst Healing specialization to use the item. Since most of their effects are HoTs, the double spell effect provided by the item would simply refresh the duration of the HoT, making the staff rather useless to them for anything other than Direct Healing spells.
Besides their strong AoE Healing, Restoration Druids bring many utility effects while possessing extreme mobility. Their strongest and most desired effects are Innervate, Rebirth, Stampeding Roar, and Faerie Fire. However, what sticks them down to the A-Tier is the overall ramp-up they require for their overall healing. Since most of the effects are HoTs, they fall behind Discipline Priests and Holy Paladins due to that.
Even so, their performance is also highly dependent on the encounter they are currently facing, as in some encounters they perform better than both S-Tier specializations while in others they perform far worse.
B-Tier
The B-tier represents healing specializations that are very much viable — you won’t ever wipe because your healers are “only” B-tier. However, they are generally not as powerful as the healing specializations in tiers above them; they typically have slightly lower healing throughput or weaker utility, and usually aren’t as stackable.
Holy Priest
Holy Priests have the same issue in Phase 3 as in phases 1 & 2, mainly being the weaker specialization for the Priest Class in general, with the Discipline Specialization overshadowing them completely. Don’t get me wrong, the specialization is still strong, displaying some really high numbers on the logs, especially when compared to Restoration Shamans and Restoration Druids, but they simply fail to bring the enticing mechanics that Discipline does.
The specialization focuses on increasing overall healing through Spiritual Healing, without any specific healing quirks other than increased mobility through Body and Soul and a failsafe mechanic through the Spirit of Redemption to fall back on, in case the situation gets dire. Their empowered healing spells also deal an additional HoT effect on their targets for a percentage of the entire healing, thanks to their new Mastery effect, Echo of Light.
Guardian Spirit is an amazing tank cooldown, and a Holy Priest’s Divine Hymn is much stronger than a Discipline Priest’s. You still have your powerful raid healing tools in Circle of Healing, Prayer of Mending, Prayer of Healing, and Renew, plus Holy Word: Sanctuary providing even more throughput when the raid is stacked, and with all of it being enhanced by your new Chakra stances.
Unfortunately, the general throughput of the Holy Priest doesn’t match the ones of the S-Tier specializations. While it is a mix of both hard casts and a lot of instant casts, the sad reality is that it lacks power, even with all the Direct Healing empowerment it receives. Continuing in the same idea, the issue where a lot of Holy’s kit for Priest is unused in Cataclysm persists. Lightwell is simply not viable, at all.
However, while their kit is a bit underwhelming, it synergizes very well with the T12 set (Vestments of the Cleansing Flame). The 4-item set bonus especially is their strong point, since it directly empowers two of their main spells, Greater Heal or Flash Heal. In addition, if they manage to get their hands on Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa’s Rest, they do have a chance of generating a high Healing Output, which might make them on par with the other higher Healing specializations.
C-Tier
The C-tier is comprised of healing specializations that are, frankly, a bit on the weaker side. It could be argued that they’re still viable, having acceptable healing throughput and some useful utility and other unique quirks, on top of being very fun to play. However, they will generally lag significantly behind S-tier and A-tier healing specializations, and you might struggle to find a raid spot with one of these specs, as they aren’t in high demand.
Restoration Shaman
Phase 3 of Cataclysm brings sad news for Restoration Shamans, as they display the worst performance across the board, generating the lowest Healing Output, even when parsing almost perfectly. The reason for this is somewhat of a mystery in all fairness, as the specialization/class shouldn’t feel so weak in PvE as it currently does, especially when compared to its PvP counterpart which is nigh immortal. Their AoE healing is their strong suit, however, the new T12 set does enhance Single-Target healing as well.
Their overall performance is highly tied to the mechanics of the encounter, and since Firelands requires a lot of movement and mechanics that need to be fulfilled, Restoration Shamans suffer direly because of it. They continue performing extremely well while their group members are stacked thanks to Healing Rain and Chain Heal, making fights such as Baleroc and Beth’tilac most favorable. Although Shamans are best suited to raid healing, their Earth Shield and Riptide have been improved to help them keep steady coverage on a tank when needed. Ancestral Healing has also been upgraded to be a step up from the Priest’s Inspiration, giving your tanks more health to work with.
The T12 set(Volcanic Vestments) is a great addition to the Single-Target capabilities of Restoration Shaman and overall Mana Regeneration, but it sadly doesn’t improve AoE healing by much. The 2-item set bonus grants improved Mana Regeneration through Riptide while the 4-item set bonus simply allows Chain Heal to no longer consume Riptide.
On the other hand, Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa’s Rest works spectacularly in combination with their Direct Healing spells, expanding their overall capabilities by extreme amounts.
While they may fail in raw Healing Output when compared to the other Healing specializations, their utility saves them. Shamans bring Spirit Link Totem, an extremely powerful raid healing cooldown. Equalizing everyone’s health can save your group a lot of deaths. And since no one will be at full health while it’s active, you won’t waste any of your Chain Heal bounces on overheal. Shamans also bring a ranged interrupt in Wind Shear. However, their totems are a bit more generic now and are used more for filling gaps in your raid buffs.
D-Tier
Simply put, specs in the D-tier are considered to be not viable. They can be fun to play, but you will struggle to get invited to raids when playing one of these, and you may even find yourself getting kicked from groups, as your healing will be really bad.
Fortunately, no healer is so weak that we’d say they’re not at all viable in Cataclysm Classic.