In arena, Resto Druids are one of the strongest options for healers. The addition of
Wirbelsturm alongside
Wucherwurzeln,
Hieb, and
Griff der Natur make Druids one of the best crowd control classes. They are also extremely mobile with
Reisegestalt,
Spurt, and the fact that most healing can be done on the move with instant casts. Druids are also very tanky in
Terrorbärengestalt and if used at the right moment to predict a stun, can save you from a rogue stunlock death.
While Resto Druids rule in arena, they do have a few weaknesses. Druids do not have a way to dispel magic effects, meaning your teammates might have to sit in crowd control effects. On the other side, if the opposing team does have a magic dispel, they can dispel Druid roots. Another downside to Resto Druid healing in arena is that a lot of the healing is heal-over-time buffs on players, such as
Verjüngung and
Blühendes Leben that can be purged off.
Without slighest doubt, Discipline Priest an extremely potent PvP contestant, with unique and adaptable utility that is unique to the specialization. What makes Discipline Priest this potent in Arena is
Magiebannung, whose versatility cannot be possibly described in the span of this very paragraph. It counters all magic effects, no matter the class or specialization of enemy, and as if that was not enough, it dissipates enemy buffs into thin air, at times nullifying game-changing effects.
Machtwort: Schild stands out as a pre-emptive measure, allowing strategic planning and in a way providing healing before even being damaged.
Massenbannung may remove
Eisblock and
Gottesschild, countering these effects much to dismay of their users.
There are, however, certain chinks in the armor, pun intended. Discipline Priest is particularly susceptible to damage from melee classes, quickly taken care of if a single mistake is made. Armor is obviously extremely low with Cloth armor being no better than paper, even with
Inneres Feuer. Talents are vexed in their application and cannot be relied upon. In general, this specialization heavily relies on the teammate, oferring extremely strong support, yet being particularly vulnerable.
Unfortunately the amazing anti-caster toolkit is not enough against many a comp—
Restoration Druid has a comparable range of utility, but its defensive nature and straightforward usage find much more application against melee classes so abundant in PvP. Furthermore,
Blühendes Leben is an effective counter against Discipline Priest as it actually procs when dispelled. Another counter are all the other caster classes that can dispel magic, bringing the tussle for triumph to equal ground.
All in all, these warrant Discipline Priest the A tier, somewhat below Druid. Nonetheless, Discipline Priest has a high skill cap and outstanding players may make it to the top no less than Druids. Skill floor is high as well, making this spec not recommended for beginners and advised to be practiced outside of Arena first.
The 5v5 Arena is a Restoration
Schamanes playground: 5 targets for
Kampfrausch and your Totems, as well as 5 enemy targets to disrupt with
Erdschock,
Reinigen and
Totem der Erdung!
Geringe Welle der Heilung spam during the Bloodlust window makes your team almost unkillable, and that is enough to get at least one kill, snowballing the Arena match in your favor.
In the 3v3 and 2v2 Arenas, the prolonged nature of the games means less
Kampfrausch value, and it is much easier for enemy Shamans and Priests to dispel it.
Fluch der Sprachen cannot be removed by
Schamanes and is an absolute nightmare to deal with, as Shamans heal mostly through hard casts.
The unfortunate truth at Holy paladins in arenas is that they are the worst healers to bring. They lack mobility, have to hard cast all of their heals, and are generally very easy to counter. While this doesn't mean there won't be Holy paladins in arena comps, it's important to realize their shortcomings and utilize the entirety of their toolkit to try and make up some ground in that respect.
Important things to remember to use would be things like
Segen des Schutzes and
Segen der Freiheit to aid your teammates and
Segen der Opferung on yourself if you are consistently being sheeped, for example. Wearing plate armor is helpful against melee comps, and utilizing fake casting will be important to try and bait out interrupts early and often.