Which healer would you recommend

Discussion in 'Priests' started by Nerrei, Apr 1, 2020.

  1. Nerrei New Member

    Hey guys , every class has their pro and con. I decided to roll a priest class but am unsure which class to pick. Years ago i played every priest to about 75. Cleric had the best Overall healing but nothing else to offer. Also Mercenaries nowadays can replace them pretty well in Group situations.
    Shaman and Druid ...bit more difficult here. Shaman was more tanky and could solo better. Also with splash heals etc it was the best healer in Groups and raids. Canny gives him super mana regen ....nothing negative at all here. DPS ...no clue ...probably inbetween cleric and druid.
    Druid back then had the weakest healing and also weak DPS. Nobody really wanted me in Groups. The Reptile Skin buff was good in the beginning and procced often but then got nerfed hard. Did this Change?

    What priest class would you recommend? I plan on Solo/Molo mostly ...wouldnt mind having some oh Buttons. And would love getting into Groups / being wanted...since most People box healers /use mercs ....
  2. Conq Augur

    Shaman. Overpowered atm in both healing and dps. Loved in groups and raids and at parties too.
    Conq
    Annastasya and Celephane like this.
  3. code-zero Augur

    2 J5 healer mercs with all the necessary merc AA's and gear can almost replace a real live player Cleric. That means that moloing you can go a lot farther with a tank merc

    Druids have much better DPS nowadays and evac is the most "O sh**" button that there is
  4. Liin Edud (Tunare) Augur

    I main a 115 shaman so I'm biased. I think every group should have a shaman in it.

    Heals,ADPS, DPS, ,Mana utility, even has a pseudo useful pet.
    Celephane likes this.
  5. Mehdisin Mahn Augur

    as any priest class, if you're not wanted in groups it's because you don't know how to play your toon... if you're able to be replaced by a merc at 85+… as any class, it's because you don't know how to play your toon....

    I know plenty of shamans out there that complain there's never any groups.... just sayin'.
    Celephane, Duder, Danaleigh and 2 others like this.
  6. Daedly Augur

    Mana utility? I am curious what you are referencing as I have not noticed any Mana utility abilities on my shaman.
  7. Liin Edud (Tunare) Augur

    Sorry, there should have been a comma there.

    Just referring to the fact that a shaman doesn't run out of mana as well as all the debuff and CC utility type things that they have at their disposal.

    this is one of those "let's eat Grandma" versus "let's eat, Grandma" things.
    Tatanka and Daedly like this.
  8. Genusii Journeyman

    Shaman.

    Daedly, I believe the mana-utility is Canni. The shaman uses it's hps to regain mana. Curently, one of the best mana regens in the game.

    The dps is sweet. In two spells, they land up to 5 dots. The healing is sufficient; research alliance and how it works.

    When played and equipped well, it's the most beneficial "priest" class in the group game. Currently, Melee dps is the way to go, and Shaman adps is all melee enhancement.

    I don't think the shaman is OP. However, the shaman is, right now, a class that can do two very important things - dps and heal.
    Celephane likes this.
  9. Skaara New Member

    Personally for me, I choose my healer based off of synergies.

    If I am running with melee (Zerker, Monk, Rogue, etc.) then I want a Shaman for the aDPS while still healing.

    If I am running with casters (Wizard, Mage, Enchanters, etc.) then I want a Druid for the aDPS while still healing.

    This is obviously how raid groups do it as well but the synergy cant be denied.

    Druid is more of a DPS class at this point with weaker healing. After they get their healing AAs and such they can still main heal in group content but its more involved.

    Shaman is my favorite healer overall but I also lean towards melee-centric groups. Their Maw line is great and their splash heals make it so you dont get eaten by bad AoE's.

    Cleric is my least favorite for the fact they dont bring DPS to the group. I prefer to kill fast and ask questions later. That being said, a cleric can make it much easier to pull far more mobs but unless your DPS are top-notch you will feel the difference in DPS when swapping out the Sham/Druid.
    Duder likes this.
  10. Skuz I am become Wrath, the Destroyer of Worlds.

    Clerics are absolutely most desired for raid healing Tanks, in groups they are strong healers with less dps than the Druid or Shaman.

    Just my view maybe but best use of Clerics in group content is with caster DPS which doesn't rely on a Shaman as much as melee does, instead the group will ideally want a Bard or Enchanter to boost the caster dps & they also help the Cleric do the dps they can bring. Even an average player Cleric is way stronger than a Merc though, saves like arbitration even some rooting for cc in a pinch, Clerics don't have to be entirely one-dimensional.

    Druids are basically a DPS with Heals, some DPS from dots but mostly from nukes, average Druids can heal a group well enough though their dps will be a lot less if focused on keeping you alive, may well prefer a Cleric merc to do standard healing while they just act as a pinch healer when the merc doesn't cut it.

    Shaman - the best healer for melee based groups, heavy dot damage & lots of strong buffs & short term boosts they can bring, strong healer in groups though cannot put out the same single target healing a Cleric they tend to be helping out clerics when healing for raids or providing ae healing & group boosts.

    Overall for desirability to group & strong solo I would say Shaman wins that battle.
  11. Pzoresh New Member

    First off, just choose the class you like to the most. All 3 are awesome when well played and if you work on getting friends and being a friendly and a good player you will be able to get groups.

    This post is assuming that you are aiming to hit lvl 110-115, for playing lower lvls and best class to lvl up, I can't say what is best to choose. Also I have only played a shaman, so that will be my point of view.

    I like to play my shaman a bit "zerker style". Up in the face on the mob and melee while I cast spells. Most of the time I can actually do dps the same time as I am playing mainhealer. A good reason for that is I am lucky to have(can also be gained as a group version):
    https://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?item=132512

    The last couple of expansions, I have seen druids do amazing dps and out dpsing me as a shaman by alot, while they are also healing...but it all depends on the setup. I have seen both druids and shamans do better dps than dps classes, simply because they are well played and the dps classes where not. These days a rogue merc can be better dps than real dps classes when they slack.

    For solo/moloing. I think both druid and shaman are a viable choice. Cleric you want to go an undead route.


    Disclaimer: Been afk ingame sometime, so atm I am not max lvl. Also sorry for any bad typing, english isn't my native language :).
  12. Zalamyr Augur

    Cleric is definitely the worst solo/molo choice of the bunch and since that's important to you, I'd take them off the board straight away.
  13. Nylrem Augur

    Given your wants, shaman hands down.

    Cleric cannot solo/molo worth a crap, so thats out, for you.

    Shaman has best 'long fight' solo dps. Druid can hang pretty close, but at much higher mana expenditure, and not near the mana recovery options shaman has.

    Shaman heals twice as well as a druid, because their fast cast heals arent linked, and have relatively fast recast. Druid fast heals have horrible recast, and share timers still, so cant cast new > old > older like clerics and shaman can for fast heals.

    That's not even talking about shamans AE heals, buffs, haste, slow, etc.

    Shaman, hands down, most wanted in group setting. Played well, sure, any priest preferred over crappy merc, but shaman most preferred by any pickup group.
  14. Annastasya Augur

  15. Crystilla Augur

    When I trio with my husband (mage) and one of our boxes (ranger or enchanter-who doesn't know how to AE mez FYI), as a cleric, we do have a cleric merc out, but I act as puller and extra DPS, and even melee/tank (though obviously on slightly weaker content than current expansion). In the current expansion it's very undead friendly.

    Druids, however, have two critical things I think a lot tend to overthink or forget about - track (my #1 requirement for a group since killing named to get better gear/augs/weapons is the only way I can gear up) and porting capabilities.

    It really comes down to what you want to do most. Shaman cast the most out of any class, so if you have any hand/wrist issues (carpal tunnel, arthritis, etc.), while shaman are fantastic for melee groups, they don't offer quite as much for other groups. Slow is huge for sure, but it's the highest maintenance class of the 3.
    Wulfhere likes this.
  16. Szilent Augur

    wait what?
    Duder likes this.
  17. Ninelder Augur

    They have the fast dots and fast heals(OP recourse heal is 1.0 base;and its a group heal that recasts itself...repeatedly...) And it stacks with all their other Group HoTs and clicks. Their sting-bite line is 0.5 cast time. They have instant and combo dots. Thats just personal DPS and healing capabilities. It doesn't take into account canni or ADPS.

    Druids still trudge along with 3.0 to 4.5 seconds on everything at base. Even their AA clicks have cast times on them and use mana which they have no easy way to recover(canni.) Unless you carry around 120 clickies like my druid does, you spend a lot of time waiting for spells to cast or be able to recast spells. Especially your long recast group heal when you are having to triage which group mates to keep alive during AEs.

    Playing a shaman is more likely to give you carpal tunnel syndrome, playing a druid is more likely to give you a stroke.

    As for which class is more useful:

    My one druid is my main, it is never requested to do anything. While he has no problem keeping a group alive people still specify that they are looking for a cleric or a shaman healer for missions, never a druid. You can kite, but the last "good" kite spot was in EoK. Many TBL and ToV mobs mystery summon, which means you can kite one trash but the next one of the same name will summon and one-round you(Druid armour is still useless even raid armour.)

    On the other hand I have three shaman. One of them stays in the guild hall 24/7 just to buff guildees, as that is how OP shaman buffs are. The other two are used to mix into groups so that I always have shaman power available.

    I retired the one cleric a couple of years after mercenaries came out. Cleric mercs are hella OP and good enough for 99pct of the group game, and they can be stacked so that a monk or ranger can tank just as well as a tank class. While tank mercenaries are useless in any combination of well... anything, generally requiring one real healer and two cleric mercs to keep them alive on T1 trash. This disparity left no justifiable reason to keep the already struggling cleric on life support. I kept him up in level for a time by having my druid kite for him. But then they took away kiting so... he is used for storage now.

    The obvious hands down choice for pick based on power is shaman, it always has been. There is an old joke going all the way back to at least 2001 about how the devs develop the shaman class, but It's not repeatable in mixed company.

    There is one big downside to playing a shaman. The class is so OP that they are the most boxed class in game. Most forming groups will already have someone's shaman box in them. Most raiding tanks and melee have shaman alt-boxes, and they all think they play their alt better than YOU. Both of my brothers played raiding shaman, and the raid game killed EQ for both of them. Trying to satisfy the different desires of rogue/monk/ranger/berserker prima-donnas(who all had shaman bots of their own,) ruined EQ irrevocably. That is the one caveat to the class.

    You may just want to main what ~30pct of everyone in EQ already mains and play a shadowknight instead.
    Rolaque and Runzen like this.
  18. kookoo Augur

    well many have a boxed shm for the buff they can add , for them and pets , ( unity line ) hp and also avoidance and stamina , ect.
    merc can cast clr hp buff ( who last twice as long as symbol ) so i don't really need druid skin on my boxed * team *.

    druid should not have their aa DD to take mana imo, and reducing some of their cast time heals,

    SHM got 2 good group heals, one ( recourse heal ) is 24 sec recast and other one 3 min ( 90 sec maxed ), and one aa line who will cast the best intervention group heal we have scribe and 3 min ? refresh if i remember right
  19. Thraine Augur

    cleric, for group IVU
  20. Runzen Elder

    BEST QUOTE EVER !

    Druids def got left behind in the ability to quickly get a group up or keep them topped off regular like. Their dps is nice, but cast time and mana regen is bane without a full compliment of SE (bstlrd thing now) Chanter buffs, Skin, self buffs, a mod rod, some potions and your silly bear pet thing which is just a joke and being outside on a mount your ability to maintain any prolonged dps for great amounts of time say doing grind groups is underwhelming.
    Ninelder likes this.