World of Warcraft: Season of Discovery has brought many changes to the Classic formula, and Healers are no exception.
As well as welcoming a new class into the fold in the Mage, existing Healing classes have received a ton of utility and more general buffs via the Rune Engraving system.
Though the landscape is not as vastly altered going into Season of Discovery as it is for Tanks, Healers have received more subtle, but just as significant, attention.
Here’s our complete tier list of all Healing classes in Season of Discovery.
All Healer classes for Season of Discovery ranked
As with every other role in Season of Discovery, all Healers have access to significant power boosts via the new Runes. This has meant that even the weakest classes (relative to the other choices) have ample opportunity to participate in the game’s most strenuous activities.
| Tier | Classes |
| S | Priest |
| A | Druid, Mage |
| B | Paladin, Shaman |
Season of Discovery Healer tier list explained
Priest (S-Tier)
In news that will surprise few, the Holy Priest will be still the creme de la creme of Healers in Season of Discovery. Though Discipline is no slouch either, no class is able to keep up with Holy’s raw healing output. Serendipity is a great choice in the Chest Rune slot, reducing the cast time of multiple healing spells after casting Flash Heal, stacking up to three times. Strength of Soul is another excellent alternative in the Chest slot.
Prayer of Mending is a profoundly useful Rune in a group setting, chaining healing across up to six close-knit allies and Power Word: Barrier is excellent in a crisis scenario. Extra output via Circle of Healing or, less likely, Penance only serves to cement the Priest’s position as the best Healer around.
Mage (A-Tier)
When making this tier list on the eve of release based on the data available, Mages were near the bottom. As covered in our overall look at the new class/role combinations on offer, the Mage relies on clever use of the application of Temporal Beacon to heal the target it is applied to using the Rewind Time Rune.
Mass Regeneration is the other significant addition, arguably the most crucial spell of all available to Mage Healers. This Leg slot Rune heals all party members in a 15-yard radius in a similar way to the Druid’s Healing Rain, though this does give a damage debuff to Frost and Fire spells. Mages would have ascended all the way to S-Tier if they had held on to the 80% heal of Temporal Beacon, but the recent nerf relegates them to A-Tier.
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Druid (A-Tier)
Druids may have a solid claim to being the best Healers in a raid setting, with their Healing over Time (HoT) specifically designed to maintain health throughout lengthy encounters. Where DPS caster Druids can easily suffer thanks to their high mana usage, this has proved to rarely be an issue for Restoration Druids in Season of Discovery.
Unlike some other classes in this list, the three Rune choices for Druid Healers are essentially locked in. All three Runes add to the class’ HoT output as well. Living seed is a passive that heals the target over time, the next time they are attacked after a critical heal. Lifebloom and Wildgrowth are both HoT spells for single targets and groups, respectively. All three work well together to make Druids a potent choice in any setting.
Paladin (B-Tier)
At their best, Holy Paladins can keep up with Druids in many scenarios, but the class has weaknesses that Season of Discovery has not addressed sufficiently in the first phase. The talent tree scales well for the class, but mana-hungry, instant heals (that is to say, not HoT) create a reliance on gear that is difficult to address by the level 25 cap.
There are some excellent options in the Rune Engraving slots via the Divine Storm group healing effect, while the significant new healing boosts come from Beacon of Light in the Glove slot. Though these have undoubtedly made great additions to an already solid toolkit, they don’t do enough to elevate the class further up the list.
Shaman (B-Tier)
Restoration Shaman has always been one of the more finicky classes to play in the role, but significant new utility in active healing has made them much more accessible. The big new Rune that all Shaman Healers have been on the lookout for is Ancestral Guidance, which converts 25% of damage to healing, distributed across up to three party members.
Healing Rain is also a very powerful AoE heal, affecting all party members in a 15-yard radius for ten seconds. Though much of the attention has been on Blizzard’s decision to seemingly push the class towards Dual Wield over 2H, Resto Shamans should be quietly encouraged with the state of their spec in this first phase of Season of Discovery.
