How We Rank Healers in Mists of Pandaria
The healer tier list for Mists of Pandaria Classic ranks all healing specs based on their raid effectiveness. Unlike DPS classes where power gaps create obvious stacking choices, every healer can clear content successfully. Their tier placement shows you which ones perform better and bring more value to your raid team.
What Makes a Good Healer
Raw Healing Power
How much healing can they actually pump out? This covers both steady healing over long fights and massive burst healing when things go sideways. Major cooldowns like Ancestral Guidance, Tranquility, Divine Hymn, Revival, and Avenging Wrath all factor into this evaluation.
Raid Utility
What else do they bring besides healing numbers? Top healers pack damage reduction cooldowns like Power Word: Barrier, raid buffs such as Bloodlust, and unique abilities like Spirit Link Totem. Some can even battle rez when needed.
Prevention vs Recovery
Stopping damage beats healing it after the fact in Mists. Absorption shields and damage reduction abilities rank way higher than pure throughput spells. Smart prevention keeps people alive better than reactive healing.
Current Healer Tier Rankings
Healer Performance Rankings
S-Tier: The Must-Haves
- Restoration Shaman
- Discipline Priest
These two dominate the healing meta. Most 10-man groups want both of these if possible. They combine incredible performance with abilities that no other healer can replace.
A-Tier: Solid All-Around Choices
- Mistweaver Monk
- Holy Paladin
- Holy Priest
- Restoration Druid
Every other healing spec lands in A-Tier, which shows how well-balanced Mists really is. Each A-Tier healer excels at something specific while staying viable for all content.
No Trash Tier
You won't find any healers in B-Tier or lower. Blizzard actually nailed the balance this time around, making sure every healing spec can contribute meaningfully to raid success.
S-Tier Breakdown
Restoration Shaman - S-Tier
Why They're S-Tier: Resto Shamans crush AoE healing while bringing utility that no other healer can match.
Healing Performance
Healing Rain and Chain Heal absolutely demolish grouped-up enemies when your raid stays stacked. Riptide makes Chain Heal even better without any downside, plus it gives you Tidal Waves. Mix that with Deep Healing Mastery and you've got solid single-target healing too. They also picked up two new major cooldowns: Ancestral Guidance and Healing Tide Totem.
Unique Strengths
Resto Shamans are the only healers who can drop Bloodlust/Heroism, making this a critical raid buff. Spirit Link Totem does something completely unique by redistributing damage across the raid. Purification bumps up everyone's health pools. Their totem toolkit solves problems that other healers simply can't handle.
Best Scenarios
They perform best when your raid can stay relatively grouped up for maximum Healing Rain and Chain Heal value. Strong single-target healing, superior AoE output, and irreplaceable utility makes Resto Shaman necessary for most raid comps.
Discipline Priest - S-Tier
Why They're S-Tier: Disc Priests excel at preventing damage instead of healing it afterward, which proves way more valuable.
How They Work
Spirit Shell can fire off frequently to completely ignore mechanics. Most of their spells trigger Divine Aegis for extra absorption layers. Power Word: Shield still exists despite costing more mana now. Shield Discipline Mastery makes their absorbs even stronger, stopping damage before it happens rather than healing after you take it.
Utility Arsenal
Power Word: Barrier ranks among the strongest raid defensives in the game. Power Infusion boosts raid DPS, Pain Suppression saves tanks from certain death, Mass Dispel clears nasty debuffs, and Power Word: Fortitude gives everyone more health.
Bottom Line
Their raw healing numbers might look lower than other specs, but the damage prevention approach works better for keeping people alive. Being able to completely skip dangerous mechanics through absorption shields makes Disc Priests mandatory for tough encounters.
A-Tier Breakdown
Mistweaver Monk - A-Tier
Why They're A-Tier: Strong performance with unique damage output, but they lack the utility for S-Tier placement.
Healing Style
This brand-new spec blends sustained single-target healing through Soothing Mist and Enveloping Mist combos with spread healing via Uplift. The spread healing works great when other healers focus on stacked group healing.
What Sets Them Apart
Mistweaver Monks deal more damage than any other healing spec while keeping up competitive healing numbers. They've got excellent mobility, great survivability, and ranged attacks can't target them. However, they're missing powerful damage reduction cooldowns. Ring of Peace is about their only unique utility.
The Trade-Off
Their exceptional damage makes up for the reduced utility options. They're perfect for encounters with tight DPS checks or phases where extra damage helps skip annoying mechanics.
Holy Paladin - A-Tier
Why They're A-Tier: Reliable performance with strong utility, though they've dropped from their previous dominance.
Current State
Holy Paladin healing took a hit compared to Cataclysm. Holy Radiance heals for much less with weaker Illuminated Healing interactions. They got fewer buffs compared to other healers, but they still perform well through two different build paths: Eternal Flame builds and Selfless Healer approaches.
Utility Package
Devotion Aura works as a powerful raid cooldown. Avenging Wrath gives reliable throughput boosts. Hand of Sacrifice and Hand of Protection offer targeted protection. Divine Shield provides complete immunity when you need it. Since they count as melee now, they can generate mana through Seal of Insight and build Holy Power with Crusader Strike.
Where They Excel
They're fantastic at predictable tank healing through Beacon of Light and provide consistent utility through their Hand abilities. The two build options let you adapt to different encounter needs.
Holy Priest - A-Tier
Why They're A-Tier: Incredible throughput potential with some flexibility issues and less utility than Discipline.
Healing Potential
Holy Priests can achieve amazing healing output through strong single-target and AoE abilities. You can swap Chakras frequently off the global cooldown, letting you adapt quickly to fight mechanics. Divine Hymn provides massive raid healing but requires a long channel. Lightwell becomes much more valuable on harder fights where it activates more reliably. Echo of Light Mastery adds substantial extra healing to everything you do.
Utility Gap
Unlike Discipline, Holy only brings Guardian Spirit and Spirit of Redemption for utility. These can't compete with Pain Suppression and especially Power Word: Barrier. You're trading raw throughput for raid utility.
Complexity Factor
Recent balance changes made the spec trickier to play perfectly since you need frequent Chakra swapping for maximum effectiveness. You'll need to master this complexity to get the most out of Holy Priest.
Restoration Druid - A-Tier
Why They're A-Tier: Solid performance with unique mobility, but lacks standout utility compared to S-Tier options.
Healing Approach
Resto Druids excel at spread raid healing through Rejuvenation coverage and burst healing via Genesis and Wild Mushroom blooms. Tranquility and Incarnation: Tree of Life work as solid throughput cooldowns. Most of their healing can happen while moving, making them the most mobile healing spec available.
Utility Situation
Mark of the Wild and Faerie Fire provide benefits that other raid members probably already cover. Innervate comes back as a useful mana tool for any player. Rebirth looks important, but multiple classes can battle rez now, and everyone shares the same resurrection limit, reducing its actual value.
Steady Performance
Resto Druids got fewer changes than other healing specs, keeping them solid but not exceptional. The mobility advantage and consistent healing output keeps them competitive without any standout features.
Using the Tier List Strategically
S-Tier Priority
Most 10-man raid groups should grab both S-Tier healers when possible. Resto Shamans and Disc Priests cover different strengths that handle the full range of healing needs while bringing abilities no one else can provide.
A-Tier Flexibility
A-Tier healers let you build flexible raid comps based on specific encounters, player preferences, and who's actually available. Each A-Tier spec dominates certain scenarios while staying viable across all content.
Fight-Specific Shifts
The overall tier list gives general guidance, but specific encounters can shake things up. Fights with damage amplification mechanics boost Discipline Priests and Mistweaver Monks through better Atonement and Eminence healing. Encounters needing heavy AoE healing might favor Resto Shamans and Holy Priests more heavily.
Healer Performance by Content Type
| Content Type | Best Healers | Key Factors |
|---|---|---|
| 10-Man Raids | Disc Priest + Resto Shaman | Coverage and utility |
| 25-Man Raids | All specs viable | Flexibility in composition |
| Challenge Modes | Mistweaver + Disc Priest | Mobility and damage |
Progression vs Farm Mode
This tier list reflects performance across all content types. During progression, utility and damage prevention usually matter more, potentially boosting S-Tier healers even higher. Farm content allows more flexibility with A-Tier choices based on comfort and preference.
Advanced Considerations
Gear Competition
Some healing specs fight heavily for the same gear pieces while others face minimal competition. Resto Shamans deal with little gear conflict, potentially making them more attractive when loot distribution gets competitive.
Scaling with Raid Size
While this tier list focuses on standard raid compositions, larger raid sizes might shift relative values. Additional healing slots allow more diverse compositions while keeping core S-Tier healer coverage.
Skill Requirements
Different tier placements might reflect varying skill ceilings for peak performance. Some specs need more complex management or encounter knowledge to reach their tier ranking potential.
- Based on actual raid performance data
- Accounts for utility beyond healing numbers
- Reflects balanced healing meta in MoP
- Provides strategic raid composition guidance
- Player skill matters more than tier placement
- Fight-specific scenarios can change rankings
- Gear availability affects performance
- Personal preference impacts effectiveness
This tier list gives you the foundation for understanding healer hierarchy in Mists of Pandaria Classic. Use it to make informed decisions about spec choice and raid composition while remembering that all healers remain viable options for clearing content.