WoW SoD Phase 2: Healer Tier List (PvE)

Strengths:

• Holy Paladins are the strongest tank healers in the game to be sure, owing to Beacon of Light. The new Phase 2 Rune combo of Sheath of Light and Sacred Shield will ensure a ton of heal crits and even some HoT on your tank.

Weaknesses:

• Paladin's lack more than any healer when it comes to raid healing. You'll be needing a second healer to comfortably keep up the rest of the squad.
• In Phase 2 the level cap is 40, meaning the most recent rank of a Holy Paladin's key heal, Flash of Light, is 6 levels below the cap, being acquired at level 34. This makes it very weak put beside the bread-and-butter heals of other healers.

Strengths:

• Chain Heal will at last join the healing rotation for Restoration Shamans now the level cap is 40! This coupled with Healing Rain makes Shamans solid raid healers in some encounters.
• The new Rune, Power Surge, grants Shamans mana regeneration every 5 seconds equal to 15% of their Intellect. This means even more mana regeneration for what was already the biggest mana-pumping healer in SoD.

Weaknesses:

• Shaman healers are very fight-dependent. While their AoE healing is strong, it relies heavily on allies being tightly grouped up. This won't be possible in all boss fights. We'll just have to see how kind Gnomeregan's mechanics are to Shaman's healing style.

Strengths:

• Druids, on the back of Wild Growth, will remain the kings of raid healing in SoD Phase 2.
• The new Phase 2 Rune, Eclipse, allows for far more frequent crits with Wrath and Starfire. These crits combined with Dreamstate allow for a damage-weaving, mana-efficient play style in Phase 2.

Weaknesses:

• Druids aren't the strongest tank healers, often overhealing more than most healers into single entities, but given how strong they are at every other element of gameplay, this isn't much of a price to pay.

Strengths:

• While Temporal Beacon has been nerfed to severely reduce healing via AoE damage, the addition of the Missile Barrage Rune promises a surge in Arcane Mage single target damage and sustain.

Weaknesses:

• Arcane Mage will remain 'clunky' when it comes to AoE healing, simply because they now rely so heavily on single target damage to output heals. It remains to be seen how much this may impact their overall performance in Gnomeregan.

Strengths:

• Priests are by far the most versatile of all healers in SoD, and this won't change in SoD Phase 2. They have tools for every scenario and, even if these tools aren't absolutely optimal, this versatility cannot be underestimated in raids.

Weaknesses:

• Circle of Healing, Prayer of Mending, and Penance have all been nerfed for Phase 2. Additional mana regeneration from Dispersion may compensate for these nerfs, but only time will tell if Priest retains its spot in the S-Tier.