Dungeon PvE Healer

How we ranked them

A level-60 character the only healer in a dungeon group, in five-player dungeons in general, played with a level-60 character's full kit: the talents, abilities, ranks and gear it has at the cap. The list is not tied to one dungeon. The dungeons run at the cap are the sample of what dungeons ask: Blackrock Depths (48), Lower and Upper Blackrock Spire (53), Dire Maul (54), Stratholme (55), Scholomance (57) by the client's levels, and any level-60 dungeon Blizzard adds, such as the announced Blackmore Hold. They are mostly trash packs pulled one after another, short boss fights, one tank, one healer and three damage dealers, one of each buff at most.

The subjects are the 5 specs whose tree is built to heal: Restoration Druid, Holy Paladin, Discipline and Holy Priest, Restoration Shaman. Damage and tank specs are rated on their own lists. With five subjects, two healers in the same tier is a normal result.

This is a forecast. The beta stops at level 30, so nobody has played any spec at 60 in a group. The ratings come from the client's level-60 spell ranks and talent trees, the class guides' projected builds, and what Blizzard has announced.

Dungeons are rated in general, on a level-60 character's full kit, not one dungeon: the sample is Blackrock Depths, both Blackrock Spires, Dire Maul, Stratholme and Scholomance, whose undead, demons, elementals, beasts and humanoids decide which crowd control works, and whose curses, poisons, diseases and magic decide which dispels matter.

Every score is a whole number from 1 to 5 against written anchors, and the tier comes from the weighted score alone: no spec is placed by hand. Two scorers rated every spec without seeing each other's work; where they differed, the score the facts supported better was kept, never an average, and a final pass checked that specs with the same tools got the same scores.

No spec reaches S. The highest score is Discipline Priest at 4.15, short of the 4.25 S needs: nothing yet measures play at 60, so no spec could be called clearly the best on the heaviest criteria. A spec that proves stronger at 60 than its kit suggests would move up in a later version.

With five subjects, two healers in the same tier is a normal result. This is the first healer list; the raid list ranks the same five against its own rubric.

The formula is open to change: a different weight or threshold makes a new version of the list, with every spec that moves saying why.

The rubric: each criterion scored 1 to 5

Criterion	Weight	What it measures
Keeping the tank up	30	Alone, keeps a tank up through big pulls and spiky dungeon bosses, with heals sized and timed for it: 5. Holds a tank on steady damage, but a big pull or a spike needs a cooldown or luck: 3. Its single-target heals are slow, small or costly; a big pull goes wrong: 1.
Mana per pull and between pulls	20	Heals several pulls in a row without drinking, and recovers fast when it does: 5. Drinks every few pulls, or needs potions on a long boss: 3. Drinks after nearly every pull: 1.
What it brings the party	15	Dispels for the magic, curse, poison and disease effects level-60 dungeons use, plus crowd control, a combat resurrection or a party buff the run plans around: 5. Dispels one or two of those kinds, or one party buff: 3. Nothing beyond its own healing: 1.
Healing the party	15	Heals the whole party at once through AoE damage, efficiently: 5. A party heal that is costly, slow or short-ranged: 3. Heals one target at a time in practice: 1.
Threat and staying alive	10	Survives the healing aggro of a big pull: a shield, an escape, armour, or threat it can shed: 5. Must watch healing aggro on pulls; one defensive: 3. Pulls easily and dies quickly when it does: 1.
Emergency tools and movement	10	Instant heals, absorbs or HoTs and a strong emergency cooldown; heals well while moving: 5. One emergency tool, or some healing on the move: 3. Cast-time heals only, nothing for an emergency, stops healing when it moves: 1.

An entry’s tier comes from its weighted score: 4.25 or more is S, 3.75 or more is A, 3.25 or more is B, 2.75 or more is C, 2.25 or more is D, and anything lower is F. A tier set by hand instead says why in its write-up. Within a tier, the best score comes first.

What the ratings assume

• Talents: the spec's recommended level-60 healing build from our class guide, or the nearest the guide has; a dungeon variant where the guide gives one.
• Gear: pre-raid: dungeon blues, crafted and reputation items. No raid gear, no world buffs.
• Consumables: the ordinary ones a group player brings: potions, elixirs, food, oils and stones.
• Group: a balanced party: one tank, one healer, three damage dealers, the buffs one of each class gives.
• The game rules of the stated build. A patch that changes them makes a new version.

Confidence: Forecast

Rated from the client data and our research, before anyone has played it at this level on this build. Where the data stops, the write-up says what it assumed.