Mythic+ Healer Rankings: Beta Tier List for Midnight (Patch 12.0 / Season 1)

Restoration Druid has received its fair share of changes advancing to the Midnight expansion, with a highlight of that being intense pruning on their rotational core aimed at lowering the barrier to entry of the specialization. Healing-over-time management will now be much easier, as you now only have to maintain 1 Lifebloom (compared to 2 in Midnight) and have Power of the Archdruid, making room for more GCD and better planning and quicker healing setups. Their current healing performance is amazing and is likely one of the highest in Mythic+, and although it is early to have any definitive opinion, they are looking just, if not better, compared to the last season (where they ended up being meta).

Discipline Priest received quite a few changes leading up to the Midnight expansion, with a major focus on pruning its core rotation and easing the requirement for good cooldown management. Ultimate Penitence is now a choice node with Power Word: Barrier, Evangelism and the removal of Renew are some of the major changes the spec has endured during the Beta period. The current healing profile of Discipline Priest (especially Oracle) is looking great, and it hasn't really been an issue so far in the testing. The mana management, on the other hand, might need some optimisation in the long run, but that's a small price to pay for the toolkit they provide. So far into the Beta testing, we are uncertain where Discipline power lies against other Healing specs, so make sure to come back next week and check out its placement once we have more information.

Restoration Shaman is the healer that got thorn to pieces and rebuilt in Midnight, as the design of the spec is totally different compared to before. Your Ascendance is now a choice node with Healing Tide Totem, while Cloudburst Totem has been removed. Your core gameplay loop will consist of Riptide, Chain Heal / Healing Wave and Healing Rain. Your Apex talent will also support this playstyle, as providing passive healing will be a good addition to your overall HPS profile. It's also important to note that Restoration Shaman is the ONLY healer that still has an interrupt, making it extremely valuable to have one, on top of retaining the majority of its group-wide utility and mob-control (exept Thunderstorm).

Holy Paladin received a major rework as we advance to the Midnight expansion, with some of the most notable changes being: Avenging Wrath having lower cooldown, massive focus on Holy Shock as Crusader Strike is gone, Holy Prism is now a choice node with Divine Toll and Light of Dawn iw now baseline 40-yard spell. Quite a massive shift has taken Holy Paladin to focus entirely on Holy Shock as both offensive and defensive to support their playstyle without having to rely on abilities like Crusader Strike to do damage. This will overall help with gaps where previously they were struggling with HPS outside of their major cooldowns. At this point, it is quite early to determine how well they do compared to others, but the overall design of the spec and the features they provide are within our liking (except for the mana issues).

Mistweaver Monk received quite a few changes leading up to the Midnight expansion, with the most notable being Jadefire Teachings is now a passive and Mending Proliferation & Chi Harmony removed. One downside of Mistweaver is that your external defensive options are the weakest out of any healing, as Life Cocoon is the weakest external option out of all healers. We are now quite happy with the current tuning of Mistweaver has neither a DPS nor an HPS profile, which looks to be strong compared to the rest of the healing specializations. Further tuning will show their final placement, we will keep a close eye on them.

Preservation Evoker received a major rework going forward to the Midnight expansion with some of the highlights being: Lifebind can't be echoed, removal of Spiritbloom, Emerald Communion and Cycle of Life. The core of healing will instead be shifted towards Verdant Embrace, Dream Breath, Echo, Reversion and your Apex Talents ( Merithra's Blessing). Overall the spec should play easier compared to the previous expansion, allowing newcomers to playing it smoothly.

Holy Priest, received its fair share of changes leading up to the Midnight expansion, with some of the highlights being: Heal, Renew, Symbol of Hope Lightwell and Divine Word removed, shifting its focus towards Holy Words gameplay paired with Prayer of Healing, Prayer of Mending and Flash Heal. Although quite a few things have changed for Holy Priest, their core gameplay will remain similar to what they were playing in TWW. We are not ready yet to rank Holy Priest against the rest of the healing specializations, as further testing must be present before we do, so keep an eye out for them!