PvP Healer Alliance

[ROCKnONEsock 0]

Since we will have 7-8 months of MC/Ony rolling an alt for me will be a no brainer. My questions is if I want to play PvP healer what are some of the pros and cons of druid, priest and paladin? Druids arguably are essential for flag running in WSG however I think priests and paladins bring a lot of utility. Your thoughts?

[Xylon666Darkstar 4]

Druids have a large skill cap + package of skills that all should/need to be used to be a successful druid. If you're playing druid JUST to only heal, and not utilize it's feral cat/bear/balance skill sets, you're wasting the class, and wouldn't be playing it best in it's flag carry role either. This includes buffing, and timely use of sleep on hunter pets/beast form druids, roots on melee/hunters, feral charge use, timely use of bear bash CC, etc. Druids lack magic dispel, and only decurse/depoison(Viper Stings!).

Priests are pretty solid, they have bubbles, shields, fears, and always useful manaburn to counter play opposing casters. But if you don't know when/how to move between casts, strategic movement mind you, you're just an easy target for rogues/warriors/hunters. Don't forget to also be buffing. Priest have defensive and offense dispels, but no depoison/decurse.

Paladins are imo most solid of the pvp healers for the Alliance, given bubble immunity, LOH utility, as well as being the buffbot they've always meant to be that gives Alliance the power they need against Horde players. With enough gear/crit, they potentially have limitless mana with their talents. They still take some skill to use, know when to swap which to what auras depending on the situation to maximize their strength, as well as their partymates in PvP. Paladins can defensive dispel as well as depoison(Viper Stings!), no offensive dispel/decurse. They have hardy armor, standing up a bit better vs melee/hunters, but more prone to CC vs smarter players. HOJ is always fun to have on hand, and blessing of protection on mages/warlocks/shadow priests in a timely manner is almost like God Mode for them vs melee/hunters. Freedom is also a boon to use often, and essentially on self/others for masterful kite/escape from constant snares/roots. They have buffs that must be used.

 

TBH, all three require a strategic mindset of movement, and shouldn't be used as an AFK standstill heal mindset in pvp. But w/e, anyone will take anything if its heals these days...

Edited February 1, 2017 by Xylon666Darkstar

[Briar 0]

I've played a Priest at 60 and twink 39, I've also played hPal at twink 39. I'm playing a Druid now and I honestly do feel it's a matter of personal choice. As Xylon mentioned, they all bring things to the table. I would rate hPal > Priest, on the grounds of mana use (Priests can go oom quick), durability (+more tools vs healer killers), and utility (HoFreedom, HoProtection, BoM/W/K). That said, if you want a change up from the usual, Ret is boring (Seal of Command with a great 2H kills people anyway), while Shadow can melt faces but still suffer from Silence/Kick/Pummel/Counterspell during Mind Flay/Blast.

Now Druids... I will give them the crown of highest skill cap between the three. I still haven't taken Briar heavily into PvP since she's only about to hit 37, but the class provides a ton of things to do while fights provide a limited number of GCDs in which to do things. Unparalleled in being a mobile HoT dispensary, I can't even wait for the days of Swiftmend despite being Feral right now. I think Druids can force multiply in group PvP the same way they do in a 5 man instance, which is more than a single Priest or hPal. Root, Nuke, Heal, Kite, Stealth, Ambush/CheapShot/Backstab/SinisterStrike (with Seal Fate in Feral tree), Tank, Charge, Stun, Decurse, Antivenom... if the class had Dispel it would be completely broken. Add Engineering and the only limit to being absolutely ridiculous is the skill of the player and utilization of GCDs. Even if I only ever become slightly above mediocre, it's hard to get tired of having so many tools until people just assume they can use you for whatever the group requires in an instance while claiming every class has a higher priority on loot because Druids don't have a pure role (<- of all the things Druid related, I hate this one the most).

Still, I like the challenge/freedom of gearing my char using all the primary stats except Spirit, and Leather is, for the most part, diverse enough to cover all the things Druids do. I will also add, of the three, Druids are the most comfortable leveling experience by far. If you want to Priest/Warrior/Rogue, you can. Lastly, Alliance has more Druids and more 60s, while Druids are still the least played class on both sides. 10/10 would roll Druid again. Fears and stuns (in cat/elf) ruin your life, but they do that to everyone except Orc Fury Warriors.

Edited February 3, 2017 by Briar

[flowqz 34]

priests get fucked by sheeps, viper, tongues

palas only get fucked by tongues

druids by none

 

id pick paladin for pvp.

[ROCKnONEsock 0]

Sweet thanks for the responses! I have noticed a lack of Druids in my guild and on the server in general. I like the fact that they can do everything. Taking all specs into account I think I will either go Druid or Priest.