Casual healer possible? Returning player....

[Nubster 0]

I'm making a return. Been off and on since vanilla. Last time I stopped was 2 years ago just as WoD was dropping. I pre-ordered but never downloaded or played. I ordered a bunch of cpu upgrades that will be here next week to improve my play experience and just because my 8 year old cpu needed an overhaul.

Anyways...always been a casual player. Spent lots of hours in game but just piddled around and never did a lot of raiding. Just didn't/don't have the time or dedication or honestly, skill, to be a good raider. So that brings me to my question(s)....

I love healing. Especially lower level stuff when there's not too many spells or situations to get overwhelmed with. Again...very casual player here. Is there a place in WoW for someone like me? I'd like to take on a new healer main but stay casual...heal for quest and dungeon groups but probably do very little if any raiding. Unless I can get my skills up then I might reconsider. I realize I'll miss a lot of end game content...but I just don't know if I have hours a day to dedicate to playing seriously.

What class in Legion might fit me best? I've healed with a pally and holy priest over the years off and on. Tried with a druid too and liked that well enough but made the mistake of leveling to 60 I think and then boosted to 100 which really hurt me because I was way behind by not just playing through those 40 levels. (Or was 60 to 90? I can't remember) Enjoyed all three. But I know things are WAY different now. I'd like to start at level 1 and try to heal as much as possible throughout leveling if possible. I've always hated spec'ing dps and getting used to playing like that until later levels and then making the switch to healing and having to relearn a whole new spec. I'd rather start and play as one spec all the way through. 

I'm going to be reading the guides and watching videos until I'm up and running next week. I might even do some free 1-20 play and mess around with the different classes to see if that gives me enough taste to figure out what I want. But if anyone can offer some tips or advice...I'd be grateful!

[Lamuria 6]

holy paladin or holy priest they're in a good spot atm and your already played them. holy paladin has has some changes though light of the martyr being a big one. they have also made some changes healer dps wise while it is still slower to level as a healer its not as slow now a holy paladin is actually capable of keeping up with a main spec dps character now shockadin spec is back :p 

[Valks 2,375]

I absolutely love my Resto Druid and Disc Priest, but for the sake of easy-ness, I'd take RDruid. There are very forgiving talents for the class that still allow strong output. You can put out decent damage while your HoTs heal. You have multiple strong off-specs. 

What's not to love?

[Wolfcookie 5]

Good Evening Nub,

I wanted to say Welcome back to Azeroth!  I too am a vanilla player and always have a soft spot for our kind.  I'd like to help if I can!

First, watching the videos and reading the guides puts you so far ahead of about 60-75 percent of the warcraft player base!  You'll find that normal level raiding is ridiculously easy especially with your pre-knowledge (Videos and guides), you really are doing it right if you've ever a mind to raid.  I can't tell you how many raids I've sat listening to people say "First time here, don't know anything...just need some gear"  Truly.

Please remember that the secret to raiding as a healer is knowing when to use your cooldowns, (Much like a tank knows the encounter, a healer too must be able to recognize High DMG situations and respond appropriately!  I play a tank as well)  You have the skill, it requires very little!

As of now, your game plan of playing a healer to 110 is entirely doable though probably a bit more troublesome.  With the random system and a healer que you'll always be needed somewhere!  If you can, grab some BoA gear, they recently added levels to it.  And make some tank friends in real ID!  Having a friend ready for adventures is always helpful!  Also, the random system is entirely available for raiding if you weren't aware already!

As for a class suggestion, I try to refrain from leading players on a class decision, one day one class is great, 2 patches later it might hurt or another overtakes it.  In reality, whatever returns the most enjoyment for you as a player is your best choice.

Azeroth has changed since vanilla, mostly the player base...a reflection of the world at large I suppose.  However, if you make it to 100 and are alliance, I have a warrior tank at 100 and I will gladly run content with you if you choose.  Battletag:  Wolfcookie#1289

Eitherway, best of luck and Adventure well, Hero!

V/R

Wolfie

Edited June 25, 2017 by Wolfcookie

[SinanDira 6]

It's not that I'm an experienced healer at all, I main a pally and he's my only one. However, I'd like to bring up a point that's rarely talked about. I think that the holy paladin is an especially difficult class to play from a casual point of view due to the ridiculous number of spells you have and the restrictive effect of forbearance. Classes are not equal, as everyone knows. I can rotate the dozen-or-so spells of my level-75 fire mage with ease. But once I switch to frost, and with the water elemental's spells, my action bar's bind-count is increased by about 50%! Now although I can't compare the holy paladin to other healers, I can say that it's very similar to the frost mage in that switching to the holy spec floods your action bar, and 3 of the binds you will be dealing with are the three strong defensive CDs can't successively cast on the same target for 30 sec. A scatterbrained person can really mess their sequence up.