Who is the Strongest Healer in Dragonflight? A Deep Dive
Determining the single “strongest” healer in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight isn’t straightforward, as “strength” can mean different things depending on the content – Mythic+ dungeons, raids, or PvP. However, if we’re looking at overall impact, consistent performance, and adaptability, the Holy Paladin emerges as a strong contender for the title of strongest healer in Dragonflight, especially in the current meta. This doesn’t diminish the strengths of other healers, who all have their niches, but the Holy Paladin’s blend of powerful single-target healing, strong damage contribution, unique utility, and survivability makes them incredibly versatile and effective across various forms of content.
Why Holy Paladin is a Top Contender
The Holy Paladin is not just a reactive healer. They are proactive, able to anticipate damage and mitigate it with their toolkit. Their Mastery, Lightbringer, which boosts healing output based on proximity to the target, encourages them to play closer to the action. This also positions them well for contributing to group damage, which is a crucial element in Dragonflight.
Here’s a breakdown of what makes Holy Paladin so powerful:
- Exceptional Single-Target Healing: Holy Paladins excel at keeping tanks and single targets alive. Their direct heals are powerful, and with the right talent build, they can consistently pump out high numbers on targets taking consistent damage. They have an arsenal of abilities that can save someone from the brink of death.
- Strong Damage Potential: Unlike many healers, Holy Paladins are very capable of contributing meaningful damage. They weave damage abilities in with their healing, making them potent healers who can also significantly speed up fights, especially in dungeons. Abilities like Holy Shock, Crusader Strike, and Judgment make them viable damage dealers when healing isn’t urgently required.
- Unique Utility: Holy Paladins have access to key utility spells. They are the only healer class with access to Blessing of Sacrifice, a powerful ability that redistributes damage from one target to themselves. They also bring Blessing of Protection, an immunity to physical damage, and Lay on Hands, a powerful single target heal and full hp restoration.
- Survivability: Holy Paladins are surprisingly durable. With heavy armor and defensive abilities like Divine Shield, they are notoriously difficult to kill, allowing them to focus on their healing and damage roles without constantly worrying about their own safety.
- Scalability: As gear and player skill increases, the effectiveness of a Holy Paladin also improves. Their ability to balance healing and damage makes them scale well through the different stages of the game.
While other healers might be dominant in specific areas, the Holy Paladin’s well-rounded nature provides them with the most impact overall.
The Other Contenders
While the Holy Paladin is a leading contender, other healers are also strong choices in Dragonflight. Here’s a brief look at some of them:
- Preservation Evoker: Evokers bring unique mobility and strong group healing. They are an excellent choice for raid environments and can provide powerful burst healing. They also provide decent utility with their unique abilities.
- Restoration Shaman: Restoration Shamans boast strong AoE healing and bring raid utility, such as Spirit Link Totem, that can be crucial for damage mitigation. Their crowd control and supportive capabilities make them effective in both raids and Mythic+ dungeons.
- Discipline Priest: Discipline Priests are effective at damage mitigation and have strong single-target and AoE healing. They offer a proactive playstyle centered around atonement, making them unique and competitive healers, but they also have a very high skill cap.
- Restoration Druid: Restoration Druids excel in Mythic+ dungeons due to their strong mobility, healing-over-time spells (HoTs), and consistent throughput. They bring a versatile toolkit and can adapt well to most situations.
- Mistweaver Monk: Mistweaver Monks can provide strong single-target and raid healing and are a mobile healing class. They have a unique toolkit centered around weaving between melee and healing.
- Holy Priest: Holy Priest is considered a strong raid healer with excellent single-target abilities and raid cooldowns. However, they often lack the mobility and damage of other healing classes.
The Bottom Line
While the current meta highlights Holy Paladin as a top contender due to its all-around strengths and adaptability, “best” can be subjective. The most “powerful” healer for you will ultimately depend on your playstyle, the type of content you engage with, and your comfort level with each spec. All the healers are viable in Dragonflight, with the ability to clear the highest levels of content.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What is the easiest healer to play in Dragonflight?
According to most sources, Holy Priest is often cited as the easiest healer to pick up and play. It has a straightforward healing kit and less reliance on complex rotations. Holy Paladin is also considered to be one of the more forgiving healers.
2. What is the hardest healer to master in Dragonflight?
Discipline Priest is generally considered one of the most challenging healers to master due to its reliance on damage dealing to fuel healing, proactive mechanics, and high skill ceiling.
3. Which healer is best for Mythic+ dungeons in Dragonflight?
Restoration Druids are often considered the premier Mythic+ healers due to their strong mobility, HoTs, and utility. However, Holy Paladins, Restoration Shamans, and Preservation Evokers also perform exceptionally well.
4. What healer is best for raiding in Dragonflight?
Holy Paladin, Preservation Evoker and Holy Priest are strong raid healers. Restoration Shamans also provide excellent utility for raid encounters.
5. Which healer is the most fun to play?
“Fun” is subjective. However, many players enjoy Restoration Druids for their mobility and proactive playstyle, Holy Paladins for their damage contribution and tank healing, and Discipline Priests for their unique healing mechanics.
6. Which healer has the highest healing throughput?
This varies greatly depending on the situation, but Preservation Evoker is often considered to have the highest raw healing output, particularly in raid environments.
7. What healer has the best damage output?
Holy Paladins are notable for having the most consistent and impactful damage output while still being able to heal efficiently.
8. Which healer has the best utility?
Restoration Shamans are often cited as having some of the best utility due to their various totems, crowd control, and raid cooldowns. Holy Paladin utility is also extremely strong in both raids and dungeons.
9. Which healer is the most mobile?
Restoration Druids are often cited as the most mobile healer due to their ability to cast while moving using several instants and shapeshifting, with Evokers also having good mobility.
10. What is the most beginner-friendly healer in Dragonflight?
Holy Priest and Holy Paladin are often recommended for beginners due to their relatively simpler mechanics and strong healing output.
11. Which healer is best for solo play?
Holy Paladins are great for solo play due to their self-healing capabilities, damage output, and survivability, allowing them to easily deal with most content by themselves.
12. What is the best healing potion in Dragonflight?
The Refreshing Healing Potion is a good option for most healers because of its instant heal with a heal over time component. However, the best choice can vary depending on the situation.
13. Are Mistweaver Monks good in Dragonflight?
Mistweaver Monks are viable healers and can excel in both raids and dungeons. They require more active management and skill to play at their full potential but can be a strong choice in the hands of a proficient player.
14. What are the weaknesses of a Holy Paladin?
While Holy Paladins are strong, their weaknesses include potentially being out of position if not played carefully and they are not as effective in a heavy spread damage raid situation as a class such as a Restoration Shaman.
15. How do I decide which healer to play?
Consider your preferred playstyle, the type of content you plan to engage in, and your willingness to learn. All healers are viable in Dragonflight, so choose the one that you find the most engaging and fun.