In Dragonflight, no-healer team comps have been on the rise in both everyday runs and pro play, as guilds Echo and Cheese showcased in the finals of the Mythic Dungeon International 2023 on April 2. Although World of Warcraft players tried to break down this unique meta, there’s nothing like deep analysis of Mythic+ dungeons with WoW streamer, caster, and content creator Tristan “Dratnos” Killeen. So, Dot Esports talked with Dratnos on April 6 and asked him to break down this latest fad in Dragonflight.
Since the dawn of WoW, all dungeon runs have followed one simple and Blizzard-approved formula—one tank, one healer, and three DPS. Although this has time and time again proven to be the optimal team composition for both leveling and end-game content, the introduction of Mythic+ dungeons marked the beginning of a new era for dungeons as pro players started experimenting with namely four DPS team comps.
The most recent example of this came at the Mythic Dungeon International 2023, where Echo and Cheese replaced their healer with additional DPS in Legion dungeon Court of Stars. This, however, wasn’t the comp’s first appearance in the game and WoW pro play. The first four DPS team comps appeared in Legion and came back a couple of times during Battle of Azeroth and Shadowlands.
This time, however, the no-healer meta has been taking over both pro play and the average level of play. Thus, Dratnos has helped us demystify the no-healer meta and shared tips on how you can find success with this team comp.
Four DPS Mythic+ meta in a nutshell
Looking back at the MDI 2023, Dratnos explained that four DPS team comps in Dragonflight are centered around having Protection Paladins as your tanks since they offer a lot of utility and, more importantly, healing that can easily make up for the lack of a proper healer. But the tradeoff here is that your Protection Paladin tank will have a lot more on his plate because he will have to now juggle both healing and tanking responsibilities. Another thing Dratnos noted is this strategy is extremely easy to execute in Court of Stars because it “doesn’t really do any group-wide damage except for damage that you can avoid with interrupts.”
“If you look at the way the dungeon works, aside from one of the mini-bosses before the second boss, the second boss itself, and to a lesser extent, the last boss, there’s not really any damage that happens unless you miss an interrupt,” Dratnos said.
Although Court of Stars is the ideal Mythic+ dungeon to run a no-healer team comp, Dratnos thinks you could get away with running this team comp in other Dragonflight Mythic+ dungeons, namely Shadowmoon Burial Grounds. But regular team comps featuring healers remain superior in high-end keys.
Four criteria you need to meet to run no-healer team comps
Dratnos noted that you could get away with running different specs, namely Protection Warriors, in your no-healer team comps. But ideally, he thinks you should meet these four criteria to have a successful run:
- Protection Paladin as a tank
- Off-healing from your DPS
- Not too high key level
- Running either Shadowmoon Burial Grounds or Court of Stars
Essentially, if you tick all the boxes here, you should have a good time in a Mythic+ dungeon without a healer. But bear in mind that team composition is of the utmost importance here and you should always look for Shadow Priests, Druids, and Shamans as your DPS.
“This expansion in particular, there are some DPS specs like DPS Shaman with Ancestral Guidance, DPS Druid with Nature’s Vigil, DPS Priest with Vampiric Embrace, and those effects are really powerful at healing your group, especially during big damage moments,” Dratnos said.
But Dratnos warns that both the Paladin and DPS should optimize their talent builds for these runs specifically. While Protection Paladin should pick up any World of Glory talents at their disposal, the DPS classes should make sure to have access to good defensives and damage reduction talents. But there’s no need to go full off-heal build.
“You don’t need to go with an off-healer build on any of the DPS,” Dratnos said. “You don’t need to go with a healing trinket or anything like that. You can play your usual stuff, but Leech is good and Avoidance is fine too.”
No-healer team comps are good, but healer team comps are better
No-healer team comps are all fun and games, but healers are still the way to go since you will be saving a lot of time and have a way smoother run—at least according to Dratnos.
“No healer is probably better for 26 Court of Stars, but most dungeons, or even higher Court of Stars keys, I think it’s both faster and easier to play with the healer,” he said. “As the key level goes up I think you’re still saving time by having the healer… I think it will always be just easier to have a healer unless you have a really good Protection Paladin.”
If you want to run Court of Stars without a healer, you will be better off running this dungeon with a four DPS team comp up until level 26. But in most cases, you should have a healer to back you up since they can also help out with damage, interrupts, and, of course, heals.
Looking at this trend as a whole, Dratnos thinks the stars of the show are Protection Paladins and that they are due for a nerf in Dragonflight season two. So, we could be back to square one soon where your life purely depends on the mood your healer is in today.
