I think its more like Shaman = Cleric > Druid Depending on the content/approach you intend to have and skill level/discipline you have to box a healer. Often times for group missions a cleric makes it so much easier then trying to box a shaman and cover the heals, or in multi mob tanking scenarios. Either option is decent, If you play to the strengths of the option you do pick. *** Also anyone that brings up Shaman never running out of mana? Druids and clerics also do not run out of mana, its not a major selling point anymore.
The extra raw healing power of a cleric can be considered overkill when you factor in the large healing potential of paladins (both group and personal healing).
As a pally, my first choice is shaman, followed by Druid followed by Cleric. Cleric healing is indeed overkill with my personal healing and would prefer the utility a Druid offers.
It's with a paladin, so a lot of the cleric advantages don't matter as much as with other tanks. Slow is recognized as a powerful ability, but 14 years later shaman still whine about mitigation; however, it's a ridiculously powerful ability in group content, and makes up for the gap in blast heals between cleric and shaman. Plus, shaman are quite box friendly and stack better with cleric mercs in the case you'd need one. Not true for druids. I haven't done a grind group since ROF T2, but if you pull fast enough, you can even make a raid level cleric's mana feel strain.... as I would in CH. Haven't grouped a druid healer since VoA, but druid mana is a joke compared to clerics. The druid class shouldn't be taken seriously for boxing situations these days. It I don't like that people irrationally hype them and recommend them for boxing setups. You're encouraging people to spend 100s of hours leveling up a druid just to find out they did it wrong.
Eh pull size is irrelevant with knights. Multiple defensive discs paired with self healing means I'm already pulling enouth that 'pulling more' wont increase efficiency. I have yet to run into a scenario that I strain my MERC cleric's mana with my sk pulling ... agressively is the wrong word ... Recklessly? ive never seen my cleric merc below 75% mana unless I'm moloing some named slowly with necro/mage. For simplicity sake i usually pull with my sk who also tanks. Pull size ranges from 3 on the low end to 5 without cc ... upwards of 8+ with a bard or enchanter i trust. PC healers are even less likely to have mana woes. No healer is going to be runnin into mana problems from healing alone. On my Druid mana only steadily drops over time when I'm chain nuking between expensive blast heals. At any point that I drop low, falling back to only heals results in mana climbing over time. Mana for healers just healing isn't an issue these days if your tank is competent. It's the 'other' stuff that players can use their mana for that makes it drop over time.
