Which character is the best at support?Follow

At the moment, I plan on leveling up a Hunter and a Warlock, so I figure if I ever get bored with that I could try leveling up a support character so that I can try the other end of the spectrum, so to speak. I was wondering which classes would be the best for support?

I know priests heal, but so do druids and shaman (yea, paladins can to, but I somehow don't see them as primary healers >> ever). At the moment, since I've never really tried a healing class, all I have to go on is what i've read in forums, and that tends to be a lot of flaming about whose better than who :P So who would you think is best in support?

Priests apparently get the best heals, but they are expensive
Druids apparently seem to have very powerful HoT spells
Shamans apparently have average healing, but they also give support with totems

What type of character tends to get the invite to groups the fastest? Who is the most useful? It's driving me nuts figuring it out on my own, since I've never really attempted a support character =/

priests make the best healers and can do some damage.

druids are the best allrounders. their healing is good, their tanking is good, and they do high damage. but it depends on gear and talent spec.

paladins are better support imo, because not only can they heal mana-efficiently and tank a bit (more in bc), they also dispel, give auras, buff, bless, judge, stun, rez and have a wipe insurance.

similar for shamans with totems, but i've never played horde above lvl 23 or so.

Yes, Paladins seem to have some handy abilities. Even at lvl 12 I can give the group 184 extra AC, I can rezz (just got it last night, and yet to try it!) and heal. They seem a decent enough tank at this level, although cannot predict what they'll be like at higher levels, naturally.

Pity they get no Range attack, but there you go :)

Priests:
are the healers, no question. A wide range of direct heals, HoTs, and shields, and very nice supplemental talents. If you want group invites, go with a priest. The downsides are that they're squishy and almost always expected to heal. Support comes directly from heals.

Druids:
are the masters of HoTs (i.e. tree form) and long-casting big heals. It's tough as the only healer since they can only rez once every 30 minutes. The animal form bag of tricks add to their utility, and their support is to fill in where needed.

Shamans:
are the reaction healers, with a nice fast heal in Lesser Healing Wave. Top-end heals and mana pool size are not as impressive though, which limits main-healing ability. If you want group support without a specific role, this is the class: they can do it all, but not as well as a dedicated class.

Pallies:
Smell bad.
(I refuse to roll one for RP reasons)

Im completely biased towards shamans, love em.



I would like to add just a few things to this, Shamans also have:
Pop-rezzing with talents means you can resurrect yourself every 45 mins/1 hour without talents. Great for instances for that occasional wipe. Great to have a rezzer with that skill.

Healing power, they dont have much of a selection for healing, and they dont have a large mana pool, but with talents they have a great skill of mana-tide and mana spring. Basically its healing # mana over 5 secs. Depending on level. Remind you, almost all totems affect all of the players in the group. So in the end your supporting all of your mana users.

Dont forget the windfury totems for the dps users, cant go wrong with that.

The resistance totems, totems to remove poisons/diseases.

I could go on for hours, but i dont feel like it. I dont kow of another class with this kind of versability.

ok


Weakest Healer? Decent Tank?
Are you an ENHANCEMENT Shaman??
Shaman (Restoration Spec) can heal just as well (if not better) than Druid in an End-game Raid (Molten Core, Zul'Gurub, Ahn'Quraj, etc).
Shaman can also main-heal 5-man dungeons quite well. (I've main healed Scholo, UD Strat, LBRS, UBRS).

I don't know where you're getting this "Weakest Healer" thing from.
Sure, our mana pool might not be as deep as other casters, but if spec'd properly (and geared properly) you can make that mana pool deeper.
I don't find this a problem.

You're in blue gear and greens. How the hell would you know?

Shamans are not very good end-game healers in comparison to the other healing classes (Druids and Priests), even when fully Resto spec'd. They're far from terrible, mind you, and they have quite a few other uses (Totems!) but they just don't even come close to matching the pure healing output of Priests and Druids, both in terms of mana longevity and actual healing done.

Shamans actually DO do very well in Molten Core because they can spam Chain Heal the Rogues/Warriors who take almost constant (if small) AE damage on the trash there, but in terms of boss-healing (i.e. 'where it matters') they come out well behind.

Don't get me wrong, Shaman can be very strong healers in 5/10-man groups if spec'd properly, but to assert that they're fantastic raid healers just isn't true.

You're absolutely right.
Because WoWReader automatically updates my toon every day doesn't it?


My current (pre-patch) spec is 0/11/40.
With that spec I can outheal (pure healing power) most Druids.
At the end of my guilds ZG run, I am always near the top of the healing meters.
Just above the Druids.

And Shaman's low mana pool is overexagerated.
It's not as bad as people say it is.
Not when you have 3 Mana Totems (Mana Spring, Mana Tide and the Enamored Water Spirit Trinket), Mana Potions, and Water.

I'm not saying Shaman are the end-all, be-all of healing.
Because we're not.
But to state that Shaman are the "Weakest Healers" is rediculous.
Every healer has it's place in a raid.

...

Edited, Dec 5th 2006 3:33pm by Galanda

I think Pallys are a wonderful support class. I'm in a guild where our main and best healer is a pally (he outheals a L 60 priest who is in kinda lousy gear-- just turned L 60). With their buffs, rez's, great mana efficiency they're a great support to the team.

In fact, where Pallys fall short is in tanking. They certainly can fight (and take damage) but I've never met a Pally that can tank with a warrior or well equipped feral Druid.

Druids are a versatile class but can only be one thing at a time, at least within a battle.. they're either spec'd and geared to tank, or spec'd and geared to heal. Certainly they can switch armor in an instance to fill in where needed between battles. That said, a well geared and spec'd feral Druid is a very good tank, and a well geared and spec'd restoration Druid is a very good healer. But you rarely meet one that can be both simultaneously (which is probably a good thing, as they'd be overpowered otherwise).

Obviously not, but the whole topic was about being a support class.

To me being a support class is great and dandy, but its even better that you can handle the healing role, in the instance that a better healer isnt available, i find the people appreicate you more for even trying.
Since for some god awful reason, healers are so hard to find...

Sorry, guys i hate to make the shaman seem godly, they arent godly.

Pop rez makes me feel godly, i dont care which race ya are (warrior with a soulstone, whatever? at least i dont have to ask for it, just have a 20s ankh). Gotta love that pvp jump when someone just kills you, you pop back to life, and kill them. They think they won, really?

Wow, I mean freaking wow. /rate UP! I mean i love hearing peoples opinions, I heard one yesterday from a priest who lost decursive, and didnt like my comments, then intentionally ripped me a new one (after thinking about it, i deserved it). It felt good to read it from someone else. Please dont rip me another new one. I already got 2.

BTW - I agree, sentence structure of any form no matter how you slice it, double spacing, breaking up into paragraphs, makes my eyes happy. Glory.

Back on topic, If you really wanna discuss a support class you cant, every class is good no matter how you slice it. Some are just better for support, others good for dps, others good for healing, and others good for tanking. Nothing wrong with that. And opinion is only that, an opinion.

I'll preface this reply with the fact that my only "end-game" character is a Paladin.

When talking about support classes and which is a better choice, I think it's important to look at the whole picture and what each class brings to the table with regard to healing ability, longevity or survivability, and secondary benefits such as buffs and the like.

As a Paladin I can say that the class, when specc'd properly, are excellent healers. Does this mean we can perform as main healers in some of the larger end-game raids? Absolutely not, what it does mean is that in most 5 man instances, a skilled Paladin can effectively heal for a group. I know I've main healed plenty and while it got a little hairy in some of the more heal intensive battles, I found that with a well timed mana pot, I was able to pull the group through the encounter. When talking about mana efficiency, Paladins aren't at the top of the list by any means. This is the major draw back with the class but then again, we're not supposed to be a mana efficient main healer.

When speaking to the survivability of the support classes, other than maybe a Druid in bear form (though I think the Paladin will beat the bear form just because of our healing ability), I don't think there is a more hardy class. You just can't beat a plate wearing, shield toting healer for lasting power, and let us not forget the ever popular bubble and Lay on Hands.. all of this adds up to us staying around for a long time and absorbing a lot of damage. We have the ability to rez which is a very nice addition to any group and, if things go very wrong, we have wipe insurance in the form of divine intervention. Put this in with a couple of Warlocks and you have several "training" runs in the later instances without having to run back.

When we get into the buffs and auras a Paladin brings to a group, we again have the edge in the support class group. Our auras are essential in certain situations and at the least, a valuable addition to any raid or instance group. The buffs we bring to a grouping are vital pieces of the raiding puzzle and our ability to cleanse is a must have in some raid encounters.

So in conclusion, on the Alliance side I would say that the Paladin is the best support class. I've not ever played a Shaman since I've not explored the Horde side of the house, but they seem interesting and I'll probably explore the class once the expansion hits. With regard to the Druid class, my guild has a few excellenct Druids. The class can main heal most encounters with ease if properly specc'd and I've run with a couple of incredibly talented tanker bears, but I think the Paladin again edges them out with our wider array and variety of auras and buffs.

My most important advice to you would be to try several classes of characters, take them up through level 20 or so to get a good feel for the class and then go with the class you most enjoy. That after all is the most important part here... You're going to spend far too much time on your character and you have to enjoy playing your character or else why are you doing this? Second and probably most importantly, learn to play your class. I don't care what class you ultimately decide upon. If you can play it well and do a good job, you'll be a welcome addition to ANY group or raid. In the end, every class has it's place and benefits, it's more about the person behind the controls.

Good luck with your search.

** Edited for spelling and grammar **[/sm



[sm]Edited, Dec 5th 2006 2:56pm by SDWarrior