I want to make a priest for healing. In PvP and PvE, which Horde race is better?
World-of-warcraft – What Horde race is better for a priest
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It sounds like you're looking for a restoration (healing) spec. The classes capable of healing are druid, monk, paladin, priest, and shaman. Racially there aren't a lot of significant differences, though specific races can only play certain classes. (Alliance races are listed below as well, though the original question was about Horde)
- Druid (Horde: tauren, troll; Alliance: night elf, worgen) - limited to leather armor; tree form (cooldown ability) increases healing throughput; good profession choices: skinning/leatherworking, herbalism/(inscription or alchemy), mining/jewelcrafting
- Monk (any except Horde: goblin; Alliance: worgen) - limited to leather armor; use brews and teas as the primary basis of skills; similar professions to druid (I've never played a monk healer, so can't really address the specifics...)
- Paladin (Horde: blood elf, tauren; Alliance: draenei, dwarf, human) - can train to use plate armor at level 40(?), limited to mail previously; some people think they are limited to single-target (tank) healing, but do have some raid utility too; professions: any of the combinations mentioned above, or mining/blacksmithing
- Priest (Horde: any except orc; Alliance: any) - limited to cloth armor; best professions: tailoring/enchanting or herbalism/alchemy
- Shaman (Horde: goblin, orc, pandaren, tauren, troll; Alliance: draenei, dwarf, pandaren) - can train to use mail armor at level 40, limited to leather previously; can also use shields; in addition to direct healing spells, also have totems that provide passive effects and healing; professions: similar to paladin
For all, you can learn first aid, cooking and fishing as secondary professions that will come in handy.
Note that resto is much easier to level as primary spec now that you get access to the LFD tool at level 15. And, they're in big enough demand that you shouldn't normally have queue times that are very long.
ETA: Cataclysm/Mists updates
First off: I would warn against basing any decision like this on month to month balance considerations. Things change so often in WoW that you should really decide based on how much you enjoy a particular classes playstyle, toolbox, and yes, even aesthetics. Healing Balance is Pretty Good right now. All five healing specs have a role to play, and a (25 man) raid which doesn't have the flexibility to see them all represented is a 25 man raid that is going to run into trouble. At the five man level, all five specs are more than capable of handling any content you'll see, though Discipline Priests in particular may find Heroics somewhat more challenging than most due to increased gear dependency.
That said, the current state of PvE healer balance at the high end is this: Priests are somewhat above average at Group and Raid healing - this is reflected by the nerfs to Prayer of Healing in the upcoming 4.0.6 patch, but those nerfs don't really change the overall state of things. Additionally, Priests bring extremely powerful cooldowns to a group such as Pain Suppression, Guardian Spirit, Leap of Faith, Divine Hymn, and Power Word: Barrier, all of which are defining abilities that have had entire strategies built around them. If you see raids specifically looking for Priests to heal, this is why.
Shaman by contrast, are currently the kings of PvP healing because they are extremely durable, mobile thanks to the new Spiritwalker's Grace ability, and bring substantially more offensive utility than other healers thanks to Heroism/Bloodlust, Wind Shear, Totems and Purge. In PvE, every 25 man raid wants at least one Resto Shaman for Mana Tide - and 10 mans love to have it as well. Mana Tide is the single most powerful mana regen ability in the game, and it is absolutely essential for success for many groups in many encounters. Additionally, you may find it easier to gear up a Shaman for healing because there will be less competition on mail pieces with intellect than you will find on similar cloth pieces - and because if you already have decent DPS gear, you always have the option of DPSing your way to a healing set.
My advice to you? Try out healing on the shaman. Chain Heal, Spiritwalkers Grace, Riptide and Healing Rain are all enormously fun abilities, and the Shaman healing style is unique among healers in WoW. Unless you're pushing bleeding edge content the class balance issues seen there are going to be largely moot for you - what matters much more is your own competence and gear.
As an aside, checking the WoW forums will always find you nothing but gripes. A saying I'm fond of is that the forums are as much an indicator of players happiness as a hospital is an indicator of public health.
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Best Answer
Short answer
It depends. Here's a quick sheet based on my experience if you'd rather not think too much about the options:
Long Answer
Race differences are pretty negligible. Any race can be an effective priest. What it usually comes down to are the professions you want to roll and whether you are going to be a raider or a PvP player and how much fun you'll have playing the starting area or simply walking around looking like a member of that race.
That being said, you have 5 options as Horde. Here are their noteworthy abilities. I don't bother mentioning things like resistances or extra time underwater as they really aren't all that helpful overall. I already indicated my opinion above, but depending on your personal preference (maybe you really hate being feared and favor an Undead for their ability to break fear effects overall), the lists below may guide you in another direction.
Blood Elf
Goblin
Tauren
Troll
Undead