Content:
Midnight Best Healers
Reviewed on 12 October 2026, before patch 12.1.5 lands. Source dates: Icy Veins’ healer list 24 September, Method 5 October, wow.gg 10 October.
In Midnight Season 2, Holy Paladin is the only healer in the top tier on both Icy Veins and Method. Restoration Shaman is also S tier on Icy Veins and A on Method. Restoration Druid is A+ on Icy Veins. By average healing, Holy Priest leads wow.gg’s top-100 Mythic+ and Heroic raid logs. Holy Paladin was reworked in 12.1, and Icy Veins now says it is “back to the top”.
No healer is unplayable: the spread between the top and bottom healer on wow.gg is under 20K average HPS in Mythic+. For tanks and DPS, see Midnight Best Tank and Midnight Best DPS.
Midnight Best Healers: Key Facts (October 2026)
| Item | Status in early October 2026 |
|---|---|
| Live content | Season 2 under patch 12.1 “Curse of Ula’tek”, live since 11 August |
| Top healers, Icy Veins (24 September) | S: Holy Paladin, Restoration Shaman. A+: Restoration Druid. A: Mistweaver Monk, Preservation Evoker. B: Holy Priest, Discipline Priest |
| Top healers, Method (5 October) | S: Holy Paladin. A: Restoration Shaman. B: Restoration Druid, Mistweaver, Preservation, Holy Priest, Discipline |
| Highest Mythic+ average HPS, wow.gg (week 8) | Holy Priest 197K, Restoration Druid 189K, Holy Paladin 188K |
| Highest Heroic raid average HPS, wow.gg (week 8) | Holy Priest 422K, Restoration Druid 387K, Preservation Evoker 383K |
| Highest key by spec, wow.gg | Holy Paladin and Restoration Shaman +23; Preservation +21; others +22 |
| Only healer with an interrupt | Restoration Shaman (Wind Shear, per Icy Veins) |
| Next change | Patch 12.1.5 (13 October US, 14 October EU) changes five healer specs |
Icy Veins grades healers on HPS and DPS output, external cooldowns, utility, durability and mobility in Mythic+. wow.gg only measures average healing of the top 100 players by rating, which also reflects how many strong players choose a spec and what their groups ask them to do. Healing numbers are the weakest guide to healer value.
Midnight Healer Tier List
| Spec | Icy Veins M+ (24 Sep) | Method M+ (5 Oct) | wow.gg M+ avg HPS | wow.gg Heroic raid avg HPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holy Paladin | S | S | 188K (+23) | 364K |
| Restoration Shaman | S | A | 179K (+23) | 382K |
| Restoration Druid | A+ | B | 189K (+22) | 387K |
| Mistweaver Monk | A | B | 186K (+22) | 365K |
| Preservation Evoker | A | B | 180K (+21) | 383K |
| Holy Priest | B | B | 197K (+22) | 422K |
| Discipline Priest | B | B | 185K (+22) | 318K |
The number in brackets is the highest key among the top 100 players for that spec. Sources: Icy Veins Mythic+ healer list, Method Mythic+ tier list, wow.gg Mythic+ healer and raid healer pages (week 8, updated 10 October).
Icy Veins’ list is from before the 3 October class changes. Icy Veins’ 1 September article said Mistweaver had become the third-best healer and Preservation had dropped to A, which is where they sit now.
Restoration Druid
Restoration Druid is A+ on Icy Veins, B on Method, second by Mythic+ and Heroic raid healing on wow.gg (189K and 387K). Icy Veins’ spec guide (10 August) describes strong bursts of healing after cooldowns in raids and good performance healing a small number of targets over a long time, for example in dungeons. It also says the spec was bugged for most of the Season 2 testing, so there was less data to judge it, and that a Druid’s raid position depends on how strong the other Druid specs are, because Mark of the Wild is an essential raid buff.
The Season 2 set gives Rejuvenation a chance to grant Genesis, which boosts all your heals over time (2-set), and makes Nature’s Swiftness, Tranquility and Convoke or Incarnation grant it reliably (4-set). Patch 12.1.5 redesigns Nature’s Bounty (below).
Discipline Priest
Discipline is B on Icy Veins and Method and last in Heroic raid healing on wow.gg (318K, against 422K for Holy Priest), but it has the largest 2v2 sample on wow.gg (302 players in week 8). Icy Veins’ spec guide (18 August) calls its output “solid”: consistent healing through Atonement, plus a larger effective health pool from Power Word: Shield, Lenience and Power Word: Barrier. That means Discipline helps through damage reduction and shields as well as raw healing.
Current Heroic raid logs do not put Discipline near the top. Patch 12.1.5 shortens Master the Darkness from 1 minute to 30 seconds. The Season 2 set raises Penance and shortens Mind Blast’s cooldown (2-set), then strengthens the next Power Word: Shield after Mind Blast (4-set).
Restoration Shaman
Restoration Shaman is S on Icy Veins, A on Method, and reached +23 on wow.gg. Icy Veins’ spec guide (2 September) describes an extremely flexible healer that shines on clumped groups. It has unique tools against sudden spikes, such as Spirit Link Totem, which redistributes health among nearby players. It also has the only healer interrupt (Wind Shear) and burst movement from Gust of Wind. In Season 2, Healing Rain is central to the spec because of buffs and the set bonus, which creates Rains randomly on your healing targets, so good RNG and stacked groups matter for high throughput.
The Season 2 set adds a chance for Healing Wave and Chain Heal to create a Healing Rain (2-set) and gives allies in the Rain a water shield (4-set). Patch 12.1.5 changes how Riptide extensions through Swelling Tides work: they now extend the timer instead of resetting it.
Mistweaver Monk
Mistweaver is A on Icy Veins and B on Method. Icy Veins’ spec guide (3 September) describes it as a pure throughput healer that has no powerful mitigation or utility to bypass mechanics, so it depends on keeping health bars topped up. The same guide says patch 12.1 nerfed several of Mistweaver’s throughput auras and buffed almost every other healer, which makes its niche in raid questionable “at the time of writing”. Wow.gg’s data agree: 186K in Mythic+ (fourth) and 365K in Heroic raid (fifth).
The Season 2 set boosts Rising Sun Kick and Rushing Wind Kick (2-set) and gives them a chance to ignore their cooldown (4-set).
Holy Paladin
Holy Paladin is S on Icy Veins and Method and +23 on wow.gg. Icy Veins’ spec guide (1 October) says it has struggled with output for several expansions but, as of 12.1, it is back near the top of the healing meters. It offers exceptional single-target healing through Holy Shock, Flash of Light, Holy Light and Word of Glory, plus Blessing of Protection and Devotion Aura, and it keeps the targets in the most danger alive during the hardest moments. Wow.gg shows it in the middle by raw numbers (188K Mythic+, 364K Heroic raid), so its placement is about utility and single-target saves, not meter numbers.
The Season 2 set makes Infusion of Light stronger (2-set) and gives Holy Light a guaranteed Infusion of Light at the cost of higher mana cost (4-set), which keeps mana management part of the spec.
Preservation Evoker
Preservation is A on Icy Veins and B on Method. Icy Veins’ spec guide (1 October) calls it a healer for stacked groups with extremely strong AoE heals (Dream Breath, Emerald Blossom). Utility includes a party-wide damage reduction in Zephyr, raid buffs in Time Spiral and Blessing of the Bronze, and Fury of the Aspects. Rewind is described as by far the strongest healing cooldown in the game, because it heals more the more damage you take. In wow.gg’s Heroic raid logs it is third (383K), but the highest key in Mythic+ among its top 100 is +21, the lowest of any healer.
The Season 2 set sends a Living Flame at your target when you spend Essence Burst (2-set) and makes green spells heal more (4-set). Patch 12.1.5 shortens Merithra’s Blessing from 1 minute to 30 seconds and increases the healing of Flameshaper’s Consume Flame by 20%.
Holy Priest
Holy Priest is B on Icy Veins and Method, but first by average healing on wow.gg in both Mythic+ (197K) and Heroic raid (422K). Icy Veins’ spec guide (25 August) calls it a fantastic reactive healer: healing revolves around the two Holy Words (Sanctify and Serenity) and Prayer of Mending, with filler spells that reduce the Holy Words’ cooldowns. Apotheosis and Divine Hymn give two easy-to-use cooldowns. The gap between a high number on wow.gg and B tier on the grading lists suggests that the Icy Veins and Method grades give weight to utility and survivability, not only healing.
The Season 2 set raises critical strike chance per Renew and boosts Renew healing (2-set and 4-set). In patch 12.1.5, Holy Celerity and Ultimate Serenity swap places in the talent tree.
Midnight Best Solo Healer
“Solo healer” usually means Solo Shuffle in PvP: you queue alone with random teammates and no voice chat. No source I could find ranks healers for Solo Shuffle in Season 2. The Icy Veins PvP healer list we checked is from 19 May (patch 12.0.5), before the season, and is out of date. Wow.gg’s PvP healer page shows 2v2 data for patch 12.1 (week 8), covered below.
For solo PvE (leveling, Delves, world content), the tier lists above do not apply either. Our Midnight PvP overview covers the current PvP season.
Best Solo Healers in WoW Midnight
The only current PvP numbers are wow.gg’s 2v2 data, for each healer spec (week 8, updated 12 October): the number of players in wow.gg’s sample, their average rating and the highest rating. They show how common and how successful each healer is in that mode, not a Solo Shuffle ranking:
| Healer | Players in sample | Average rating | Highest rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discipline Priest | 302 | 2,259 | 2,876 |
| Mistweaver Monk | 147 | 2,294 | 2,721 |
| Preservation Evoker | 119 | 2,315 | 2,790 |
| Holy Paladin | 100 | 2,293 | 2,975 |
| Restoration Shaman | 97 | 2,252 | 2,504 |
| Restoration Druid | 93 | 2,285 | 2,933 |
| Holy Priest | 84 | 2,261 | 2,655 |
Source: wow.gg PvP healer meta, 2v2 filter. Holy Paladin has the highest rating of any healer (2,975) with a sample of 100 players, and Discipline has by far the largest sample.
How to Choose the Best Solo Healer in Midnight
Decide by the kit rather than a tier, because the sources do not rank solo play:
- Want a defensive button for a teammate: Holy Paladin has Blessing of Protection and Devotion Aura (Icy Veins).
- Want to stop a cast: Restoration Shaman is the only healer with an interrupt, Wind Shear, plus Gust of Wind for movement (Icy Veins).
- Want to save a teammate after the damage already landed: Preservation Evoker has Rewind, which heals more the more damage was taken (Icy Veins).
- Want to heal while dealing damage: Discipline Priest heals through Atonement while attacking (Icy Veins).
If your goal is rating rather than preference, check wow.gg and Icy Veins again after patch 12.1.5.
Midnight Best Group Healer
For groups, the best healer differs between Mythic+ and raid. A rough guide from the sources above:
| Group | Healers to look at | Why (source) |
|---|---|---|
| Mythic+ pushing | Holy Paladin, Restoration Shaman | S on Icy Veins, both reached +23 on wow.gg; the Shaman brings the only healer interrupt and Spirit Link Totem |
| Heroic raid healing output | Holy Priest, Restoration Druid, Preservation Evoker | Top three by average HPS on wow.gg (422K, 387K, 383K) |
| Raid buffs and utility | Restoration Druid, Preservation Evoker | Mark of the Wild, Blessing of the Bronze and Zephyr (Icy Veins) |
| Stacked groups | Restoration Shaman, Preservation Evoker | Both specs are described as strongest on clumped players (Icy Veins) |
Best to Average Group Healers in WoW Midnight (Season 2)
Combining the three sources, here is the Season 2 order for Mythic+ groups. Ties inside a tier follow wow.gg’s average healing.
- Holy Paladin: S on Icy Veins and Method, +23.
- Restoration Shaman: S on Icy Veins, A on Method, +23.
- Restoration Druid: A+ on Icy Veins, B on Method, 189K.
- Preservation Evoker: A on Icy Veins, B on Method, best stacked-group tools.
- Mistweaver Monk: A on Icy Veins, B on Method, nerfed throughput auras in 12.1.
- Holy Priest: B on both lists, but the highest average healing on wow.gg.
- Discipline Priest: B on both lists, lowest Heroic raid healing on wow.gg.
This order is our synthesis of the three lists, not any one source’s ranking. It will change after patch 12.1.5.
Patch 12.1.5 Healer Changes
Five of the seven healers are on the tuning list in Blizzard’s 12.1.5 content update notes; the update is scheduled for 13 October on US realms and 14 October on EU realms. Holy Paladin and Mistweaver are not on it.
- Largest rework: Restoration Druid. Nature’s Bounty now lets Regrowth heal as many as three allies that have Rejuvenation, for 15% of the healing it does.
- Shorter buffs: Merithra’s Blessing (Preservation) and Master the Darkness (Discipline) both drop from one minute to 30 seconds. Preservation’s Flameshaper also gets 20% more healing on Consume Flame.
- Talent tree: Holy Priest only swaps the positions of Holy Celerity and Ultimate Serenity.
- Shaman: a Riptide extended through Swelling Tides now gains time instead of restarting, which affects how you keep Riptide rolling.
The spec sections above give the context for each change. We will re-check this page once the first logs from the new patch are available.
Midnight Best Healers FAQ
Which healer is best in Midnight Season 2?
Holy Paladin: S tier on both Icy Veins and Method. Restoration Shaman is S on Icy Veins. Holy Priest has the highest average healing on wow.gg.
Is Restoration Druid still the best healer?
No. It is A+ on Icy Veins and B on Method. It is second on wow.gg by average healing in Mythic+ and Heroic raid.
Which healer is best for Mythic+?
Holy Paladin and Restoration Shaman: both are S on Icy Veins and both reached +23 on wow.gg.
Which healer is best for raids?
By Heroic raid healing on wow.gg, Holy Priest (422K), Restoration Druid (387K) and Preservation Evoker (383K). Raid placements on wow.gg are based on Heroic only.
Which healer has an interrupt?
Restoration Shaman, with Wind Shear. According to Icy Veins it is the only healer interrupt.
Is Discipline Priest weak now?
It is B tier on both lists and has the lowest Heroic raid healing on wow.gg, but it has the largest 2v2 sample on wow.gg.
Will rankings change?
Yes. Icy Veins last updated on 24 September for healers, and patch 12.1.5 changes five healer specs.