Resto Shammy vs Holy Pally

[Trollmemaybe]

I am looking for some advice on a healing class. My friend is rolling a hunter and I am looking to pocked heal him. I want to roll a Resto-Shammy or Holy Pally. Which do you think would be a better healer for a hunter? and fastest to gear? I guess I am also looking for survive-ability. Any thoughts?

 

[Holypowah]

Holy pally is more overpowered.

 

[Exalt]

love this thread<3
this is a question i want to know as well.
like who has more survivability in combat and or flag carrying?

 

[Zorglub]

I am looking for some advice on a healing class. My friend is rolling a hunter and I am looking to pocked heal him. I want to roll a Resto-Shammy or Holy Pally. Which do you think would be a better healer for a hunter? and fastest to gear? I guess I am also looking for survive-ability. Any thoughts?

why not take both and see for yourself which playstyle suits you better?
leveling and (pre-BoA) gearing of a F2P takes about 20tish hours @ max

 

[Cellebate]

Either would do well pocket healing a hunter. Shaman you'd just keep earth shield on hunter most of the time, purge his target of good buffs, and heal as needed. Pally is super easy as it has more instant heals, so it might be even better for pocket healing a hunter. As stated above, pally is more OP. More armor, more cds, instant heals. Lot of people on TI will tell you that shaman is more fun, but fun is subjective. Either class will take the same amount of time to gear, easier done on alliance side of course. It really comes down to personal preference.

 

[Swoops]

Its really up to your preference/playstyle. If you're just looking to healbot your friend and follow him around, then pally is your best option. They're on the OP side in terms of raw healing output, CDs, etc. Shamans have way more potential assisting the hunters DPS though. Purging AGMs and Pally bubbles never gets old, and spamming it on a priest your hunter is focusing = dead priest. Not to mention totems, with Earthbind helping both of you kite melee (or keep multiple targets in range) and Strength of Earth totem providing a nice DPS buff (although iirc both of these will be gone come 5.0).

Both have strong survivability, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. Gearing is very similar between the two classes (outside of your BoA's eventually, I think they may be geared exactly the same.)

Overall IMO, Holy Paladins are stronger defensively/purely healing, while shamans have more offensive potential/utility. I have both classes and I personally enjoy my shaman more, but that's certainly not how everyone feels. They're both very strong (especially next to a hunter), so it really comes down to which one you enjoy more. If you aren't looking to level and gear both, I'd recommend at least reading the excellent class guides on here to get a bit better feel for how each one is played (http://www.twinkinfo.com/f148/f2p-20-holy-paladin-guide-24217/, http://www.twinkinfo.com/f148/brokens-guide-f2p-paladins-32059/ and http://www.twinkinfo.com/f148/f2p-resto-shaman-guide-26081/)

Edit. One thing I forgot about the shaman. When I get into useless games against fully buffed 24 premades, I thoroughly enjoy purging all their outside buffs (yeah, I'm easily amused). Moral victories or something.

 

[Trollmemaybe]

Thanks everyone for your input it was really helpful. I am going to roll a pally first and maybe eventually try a Shammy. Thanks again!