Mythic+ Healer Guide for Midnight Season 2
Healing Mythic+ in Midnight Season 2 is as much about dispels and planning as it is about raw healing. The Season 2 pool is full of poison, magic and curse effects, from Heartstop Poison at Zaen Bladesorrow in Murder Row to Stormslam in Ruby Life Pools, and from +12 every death costs 15 seconds through Xal'atath's Guile. Below you'll find how Mythic+ healing differs from raid healing, how to plan cooldowns around each week's affixes, every debuff worth dispelling in the eight dungeons, the hardest healing checks in each one and how to keep your mana up between pulls.
How Mythic+ Healing Differs From Raid Healing
In a raid you heal 20 players through set fights. In Mythic+ you heal four players through a timer, and every second you spend topping up health you could spend dealing damage, dispelling or stopping a cast. The job breaks into five parts:
- Dispel. Season 2 has more dispellable debuffs than most seasons, especially poisons, so a fast dispel is often the strongest heal you have.
- Triage. Heal the player who will die next, not the one with the lowest health bar. The tank usually comes first on big pulls, the group during boss abilities.
- Use externals on the tank. Save Pain Suppression, Ironbark, Life Cocoon or Blessing of Sacrifice for tank busters.
- Stop casts. Restoration Shaman has Wind Shear, the only healer interrupt; other healers help with stuns and knockbacks such as Capacitor Totem or Leg Sweep.
- Deal damage in quiet moments. Every bit of damage shortens the pull, and some specs, like Discipline Priest, heal through damage.
Your group has a job too: at high keys, players should press their own defensives during big damage instead of waiting for the healer to save them.
How to Plan Healing Cooldowns in Mythic+
Plan your major healing cooldowns for the two or three moments in each dungeon that hit the whole group hardest, and use smaller ones on big trash pulls. The weekly affixes decide which of those moments is worse.
- Fortified weeks give non-boss enemies 20% more health and up to 20% more damage from +7. Trash pulls hurt most; some groups use Bloodlust on the hardest packs.
- Tyrannical weeks give bosses 25% more health and up to 15% more damage from +7. Save cooldowns for the hardest boss abilities.
- From +10, both are active, so you need a plan for trash and bosses.
- Xal'atath's Guile from +12 adds 90 seconds to the timer, but every death costs 15 seconds. Keeping everyone alive matters more than speed.
What Healers Do for Xal'atath's Bargain
From +5 to +11, one Bargain affix is active each week. Two of them matter most to healers:
- Xal'atath's Bargain: Devour puts a healing absorb on each player that must be healed or dispelled within 15 seconds, or it explodes and empowers nearby enemies. Any dispel type works, and players can use their own, such as Cloak of Shadows or Stoneform.
- Xal'atath's Bargain: Voidbound spawns a Void Emissary; killing it gives the group 30% faster cooldown recovery for 30 seconds, which also speeds up your healing cooldowns.
On Xal'atath's Bargain: Ascendant and Xal'atath's Bargain: Pulsar weeks, help with stops on the orbs and drag pulsars over your group when you can.
Debuffs to Dispel in Every Season 2 Dungeon
Season 2 is full of poison and magic effects worth dispelling, plus a few curses and one disease. That's why healers and DPS who can remove poison are so valued this season. Use this table to know what to watch for before you enter.
| Dungeon | Poison | Magic | Curse or disease |
|---|---|---|---|
| Altar of Fangs | Envenom | Paralyzing Shots | Regurgitate (disease) |
| Den of Nalorakk | Toxic Spores | Cryo Surge, Glacial Torment | Insatiable Hunger (curse) |
| Murder Row | Heartstop Poison | Corroding Spittle, Seduction | Curse of Doom (curse) |
| The Blinding Vale | None | Bloodthorn Roots | None |
| Voidscar Arena | Corrosive Essence | None | None |
| Kings' Rest | Lingering Fluid, Putrid Seekers | Pit of Despair | Hex (curse) |
| Temple of Sethraliss | Cytotoxin, Poison Spit, Poisoned Cheap Shot | Imbued Conduction | None |
| Ruby Life Pools | None | Cold Claws, Rolling Thunder, Stormslam | None |
"None" means the dungeon has no important debuff of that type. Some bleeds, such as Murder in a Row at Zaen Bladesorrow and Savage Maul in Kings' Rest, can't be removed by normal dispels; heal through them or use a racial or class ability that clears bleeds.
Hardest Healing Moments in Season 2 Dungeons
Each dungeon has one or two moments where the whole group takes heavy damage at once. These are where your major healing cooldowns belong.
| Dungeon | Hardest moments | How to handle them |
|---|---|---|
| Altar of Fangs | Rav'i's stacking Carrion Burst until her shield breaks; The Writhing Coil's Death Rattle; Zul'jan's Ritual of the Fang | Cooldown on Carrion Burst; make sure everyone runs from Death Rattle; soak Ritual of the Fang to avoid group damage |
| Den of Nalorakk | The Hoardmonger's Bellows; Sentinel of Winter's Frozen Tempest; Nalorakk's Overwhelming Onslaught | Cooldowns on each; stack behind the Defensive Stance shield during Onslaught |
| Murder Row | Kystia Manaheart's Destabilized window; Zaen Bladesorrow's Killing Spree and Heartstop Poison; Xathuux's Legion Strike cuts tank healing | Major cooldown on Killing Spree; dispel Heartstop Poison fast; external on the tank after Legion Strike |
| The Blinding Vale | Lightblossom Trinity's group damage; Lightwarden Ruia's Grievous Thrash, which only clears at full health; Ziekket's constant holy damage | Top Grievous Thrash targets to full; steady healing on Ziekket |
| Voidscar Arena | Taz'Rah's Dark Bloom; Atroxus's roaring add; Charonus's Condensed Mass | Cooldown on Dark Bloom; kill the add quickly; cooldown on Condensed Mass |
| Kings' Rest | The Golden Serpent's Serpentine Gust; Mchimba's Drain Fluids; the Council's Poison Nova | Major cooldown on Serpentine Gust; heal the Drain Fluids target; make sure Poison Nova gets interrupted |
| Temple of Sethraliss | Merektha's Serpentstorm; the Avatar's healing phase, where Defiling Taint and Shadowlash reduce your healing | Cooldown on Serpentstorm; have DPS kill the adds that block healing |
| Ruby Life Pools | Big trash pulls before the first boss; Stormslam on the tank at Kyrakka and Erkhart | Cooldown on the big pull; dispel Stormslam immediately |
How to Manage Mana in Mythic+
In Midnight, drinks restore a percentage of your mana, so a short drink between pulls refills a lot. Sanguithorn Tea is the strongest healer drink: it restores 8% of your maximum mana every second for 20 seconds while you sit. Ask your tank for a few seconds before the next pull when you're low, since a short break is faster than a wipe.
In combat, a Lightfused Mana Potion restores 26,200 mana for emergencies. Holy Priests and Discipline Priests feel mana pressure most this season, so plan their cooldowns around the biggest damage windows instead of spending mana on small hits.
The full list of flasks, food and potions is in our Mythic+ consumables guide.
Which Healer to Play in Season 2
Holy Paladin and Restoration Shaman are the strongest and most played healers this season. Holy Paladin has the highest throughput, while Restoration Shaman is the most forgiving, brings Bloodlust, a poison dispel through Poison Cleansing Totem and the only healer interrupt. Restoration Druid got large healing buffs on October 27 that Blizzard aimed at dungeon burst damage.
The full ranking is in our Mythic+ healer tier list, and the best Mythic+ comps guide shows which healer fits which group.
More Guides for Season 2 Healers
Compare every healer in the tier list, see what your tank faces in the tank guide, and stock up with the consumables guide.
Mythic+ Healer FAQ
These are the questions healers ask most about Season 2 keys.
It helps a lot. Season 2 has many dispellable poisons, especially in Temple of Sethraliss, Kings' Rest and Murder Row, so groups value healers and DPS who can remove them.
No. From +2 to +5, Lindormi's Guidance stops player deaths from reducing the timer. From +6 they cost time again, and from +12 each death costs 15 seconds.
Remove each healing absorb within 15 seconds by healing through it or dispelling it. Any dispel type works, and players can clear their own with abilities like Cloak of Shadows or Stoneform.
Only Restoration Shaman has a true interrupt, Wind Shear. Other healers help with stuns and knockbacks.
On the two or three moments in each dungeon that hit the whole group, and on the biggest trash pull on Fortified weeks. The table above lists those moments for every dungeon.
Yes, whenever the group is healthy. Extra damage shortens pulls and saves time on the timer.
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