Yeah, but holy is unique in that it does not have ANY other school to cast.

Priests have Shadow
Shamans have multiple elemental spells to choose from
Druids have some arcane if I am not mistaken

Priests.

Disc and holy.

Don't be hating on pallies just cause.

Yes, but a Shaman, Priest or Druid can offensively cast a Fire, Shadow or Arcane spell so they're not just totally standing there doing nothing. It's true that an interrupt will stop all healing, but HPallies really don't have other options when locked out of the Holy tree, like he said.

ya druids have 2 arcane spells which r pretty useless in damage and the cast time on starfire is stupid long theres no point in using unless its to draw out a kick in itself.

but once a nature spell is kicked u cant do a thing to keep someone alive in any way. no cyclone root or even the useless wrath cannot be cast.

if a priests heal gets kicked they can fear, manaburn, and mind control. they also have innerfocus to prevent from being kicked or silenced

shamans r at a disadvantage as well theres not much use for their fire/frost spells but they can still use totems and unleash elements

pallies are on the same boat as druids the only defense they have is aura mastery which is a rather long cd

just wonder if blizzard forgot about resto druids theres just so little representation of resto druids in high rated brackets

Unleash Elements and all the multi-totem casts are nature spells, you can't use them. Shamans have only Lava burst and shocks, which have cooldowns, and earth shock isn't usable.
Lightning bolt is nature. Starfire does negligible damage and requires standing still. Priests have mana burn which is a stupidly powerful spell and I have absolutely no pity for priests in pvp.
Also, paladins have aura mastery to prevent interrupts, druids' nature's swiftness at least buffs the spell, but for shamans, it's the only healer 'cooldown' they have, and it's not at all on par with inner focus and aura mastery.

The point is that no one can heal once their heal has been interrupted. Conversely, most (but not all) offensive casters are able to cast from a different school when interrupted.

Sorry, I disagree completely that Pallies are "best off" after being locked out of their healing school. Let's go down the list:
-Priests can dot, mana burn, fear, mind control, or cast a mind spike into mind blast crit
-Shaman can snare (frost shock), dot, or cast a lvb
-Druids can dot, cast a starfall or switch to travelform and at least escape incoming dmg
And, the three other healing specs can do all of the above AT RANGE.

H

@Zenotho
None of those things do any healing at all. None of them contribute to future healing. None of them really do anything useful except for mana burn and potentially mind control.

@sm

@Windswept

Actually, there are 3 spells that are non-nature spells:
Flame Shock
Frost Shock
Lava Blast

That's it, nothing else. Your misconception that Shaman are packed full of elemental schools is something that only someone that hasn't ever played the class would say. That's like saying that Disarming a Warrior doesn't lock them out of all their abilities because they can still use shouts and Thunderclap. School lock on a resto Shaman is exactly the same as Silencing them, it shuts them down completely for the duration of the lock (unless for some reason they have Lava Blast on their bars lol), so please, before you post something like this in the future, check your information first, it'll make the rest of us not hate you.

@Zenotho

Uh, 90% of school locks come from MELEE, so the ability to hit people at range is moot, as the person doing the spell lock is IN YOUR FACE!

@Smoke - Reasonable people can agree to disagree. Unfortunately, you aren't being reasnoable. Your claim that holy pallies are "best off" following a holy school lockout is laughable. They can lolcs if they're within melee range, which they're usually trying to avoid in the first place, and that's the ONLY THING THEY CAN DO. I listed a dozen things the other healers can do, and you claimed that only mana burn was useful (with MC being "potentially useful".)

Psychic Scream, arguably the single best insta-cast aoe CC, isn't useful? Slowing your enemy healer who is trying to kite your dps with frost shock isn't useful? Finishing off a wounded enemy with Mind Spike or Moonfire isn't useful? Come on, man - crusader strike is holy pallies ONLY option. If you think they're the "best off" - your words - then you're playing a different game than me.

"Vorken Oct 16th 2011 8:38PM
Priests.

Disc and holy.

Don't be hating on pallies just cause."

Disc and holy are different talent trees, not different magical SCHOOLS. All priest healing and many utility spells are of the holy school. The rest are shadow, with the exception of mind spike, which is shadowfrost.

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While I agree that lock-outs can be rough for holy paladins, you can't discount the potency instant casts give in combat. Every cast is a vulnerable point, and being able to instant heal forces enemies to have to use the longer CDs of silences rather than just interrupting. Instants can ALSO be cast on the move, which is very helpful, especially in BGs. IMHO, these benefits are very much something which should be taken into account.

I play both a disc priest and a holy paladin in PvP and, even undergeared, the holy paladin feels like she can push out heals more easily. They simply don't have as many vulnerable casting windows - on the other hand, it's fun to actively peel for yourself and help with offence. In short, each class is different and brings its own flavor. Debating which is more powerful is a fruitless task.