I’m currently playing resto shaman at 2300 cr (top 75 r sham on NA. no one plays this spec because it’s terrible in shuffle). It’s hard enough to keep up as resto without running out of mana before monks/druids/hpals that have any clue of what they’re doing. Even the tier set is useless for restoration as it often is for arena, which is another lack of main source of power.
I have to trade multiple defensive cds (double earthen, tide+earthen, etc) just to heal through offensive cds of most classes. Healing wave is still a long cast with the tidal wave buff. Overall it feels absolutely terrible to play. Most rsham mains have stopped playing pvp, or have rerolled dps or fotm.
This brings me to my main issue with healing arena atm (outside of the horrible healer mmr). Healing used to be fun because you knew what cds to trade into other cds. Cooldowns were set in stone. However, the last 2-3 (perhaps even later) expansions have led to nearly every single dps class having cooldown reduction on their main offensive cooldowns.
This is clearly a decision to make pve more enjoyable and having higher CD uptime, but in pvp it is ruining the experience for healers where they have to have huge heals available 100% of the time as well as incredible CC avoidance, such as current hpal design where they don’t even have to cast outside of tyr’s deliverance and repentance.
These issues have increased the pace of gameplay by a neck-breaking amount for non fotm healers, and are not good for the game’s longevity. This is why 1-2 healing specs dominate every season, and the rest are thrown in the ocean to drown (thankfully i have water walking). To make things worse, the increased rate of dampening in shuffle just makes healing all the more difficult, and allows the fotm healer specs to shine even brighter. Augmentation evoker has also been introduced into the game which makes balancing pvp even more of a nightmare.
I wish I could speak highly on healing. I’ve played priest and shaman since legion, and have healed on them the entire time to avoid long wait times between arenas or finding partners easier. This role is incredibly unforgiving. You can’t even voice your opinions and give dps advice without being reported in shuffle. Either healers have to be given a way to reduce their major healing cds like dps have, or the pace of the game simply needs to change in order for there to be a more balanced display of representation. Dampening rates and mana issues are what keeps games short, not the lack of healing cds to avoid people dying through pve damage outside of CCs while freecasting. Even if we COULD drink in shuffle (we can’t, outside of mage water), we wouldn’t be able to with the current pacing due to dampening rates.
The way it stands is that you’re either strong enough to stand 40 yards away and pve heal (rdruid/hpal) or you’re just not in the race, with the exception being the jank that fistweaver is. R druid went from being one of the most skillful healing specs in the game, to standing back with a bloom on yourself and healing everyone with borderline infinite mana.
TLDR: hard to sum up, but CDR on dps offensive cds are causing only absolute fotm healing specs to be viable at the highest end of arena and solo shuffle, which also involves other factors stated above
I know this is a long read, but if anything I hope it will shine light on the issues healers are currently having, and why very few people actually choose to subject themselves to this role. Was the game more fun in mop when I had to pay $15/month to be cced for 33% of my playtime? No, of course not, but Blizzard can do better, they just have to want to devote resources to it.