WoW Classic tier list: What are the best healers in Season of Discovery?

WoW Classic’s Season of Discovery may not have many healing classes, but they’re all potent for one thing or another. While looking over the stats and abilities that the various curative classes possess, some of the things we found while putting the tier list together were sort of a letdown. This list could easily be updated as future balance patches and runes are discovered throughout Azeroth, however.

All healers are useful for something, though. Even if a healer isn’t at the top of this list, that doesn’t mean they don't have a place in a group. Things will no doubt change as the year-long season continues, but here’s what we think so far of WoW Classic: Season of Discovery’s healing options.

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Which healers are the most potent in WoW Classic: Season of Discovery?

1) S-Tier

• Holy Priest/Discipline Priest
• Holy Paladin

As far as WoW Classic: Season of Discovery is concerned, Level 25 is too early to have major differences in how Holy and Discipline Priest specs play and so, they occupy the top spot together. Some incredibly powerful abilities were also added to their already complete toolkit: Penance, Prayer of Mending, Power Word: Barrier, and so much more were added via the Rune Engraving system. If you want to be a reliable healer that always has the answer, Priest is the pick.

We're also really big fans of Holy Paladins. I didn’t think much of vanilla/classic Paladins initially, but melee-range Holy Paladins are going to be quite in-demand when it comes to WoW Classic: Season of Discovery. Crusader Strike is a great mana sustainer, and they have some remarkable buffs. In particular, the previously unavailable Horn of Lordaeron stands out. Healadins are great at buffing and having a sustainable, reliable healing throughput.

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A-Tier

• Restoration Shaman

The problem with Restoration Shamans in WoW Classic doesn’t change with Season of Discovery. While they have tons of buffs, and have incredible AOE heals, they're lacking when it comes to single-target.

That means they aren’t likely going to be the tank healer in any situation. However, they have solid sustainability, thanks to mana regen abilities like Water Shield. They’re great, but not a must-have like a Priest.

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B-Tier

• Restoration Druid

You might be confused by this one, but there’s a good reason Restoration Druids are towards the bottom. They, again, have incredible utility. So many strong HoTs (Heal over Time), but that’s the problem - more often than not, situations that demand immediate healing aren’t as great when the heal in question is a slow HoT.

However, now that they can use spells like Rejuvenation, Regrowth, Lifebloom and Wild Growth without worrying about overriding buffs a player already has, they can really spread out their heals throughout a raid in WoW Classic: Season of Discovery.

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C-Tier

• Arcane Mage

As someone who is going to likely main Arcane Mage in Season of Discovery, this pains me a great deal. Will it stop me? Absolutely not! The Rapid Regeneration spell, alongside a few other key abilities (Regeneration, Rewind TIme, Mass Regeneration), allow Arcane Mages to heal while dealing damage.

They also have a version of Beacon of Light (Temporal Beacon), which I certainly think is amazing. However, they run out of mana pretty fast it seems, and they have to have the spell up and keep dealing consistent damage to be a healer. As an off-healer, I think they have a lot of potential - once people figure out how to maximize Arcane Mage healing.

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This tier list, like the DPS tier list for WoW Classic could certainly be updated or changed as time goes on. There are always going to be updates and adjustments, as well as new runes and other discoveries in the upcoming seasonal Warcraft content.