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With the introduction of World Of Warcraft: Dragonflight's new talent trees, many specs have received a variety of new builds. Holy Paladin is one such example, and a healthy number of viable builds have risen to prominence, providing the iconic healer with a plethora of enjoyable options. A flashy and powerful healing spec, Holy enjoyers, both old and new, are sure to find a playstyle to suit them.
This guide will teach you how to play Holy Paladin in PvE content, as well as suggest why you may want to try it out in the first place. The strongest available talent builds will be covered alongside the best healing rotations, consumables, races, and gameplay tips.
Updated on April 7, 2023, by Alex Ferriday: The 10.07 Patch brought heavy changes to the Paladin class, as large sections of its various talent trees were shuffled around. This freed up some room in the specialisation trees, meaning specs like Holy got to choose new build options. This guide has been updated to reflect these changes and provide new advice on how best to build your Holy Paladin talents.
Why Holy Paladin?
The recommended advice when choosing a spec is always to play what you enjoy. You tend to perform better if you are having fun, and picking something just because it's parsing well at the time is not always a great option. Every spec has strengths and weaknesses, and Holy Paladin is no exception.
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Pros |
Cons |
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Best Holy Races
Most players will pick their race based on visuals and one that they feel embodies their character. Saying this, some nice perks synergise well with playing Holy Paladin, so if you're not concerned with how your character looks, these are the best options in terms of power.
The difference between races in WoW is minimal, and you shouldn't feel you need to worry about choosing the 'strongest' race unless you are taking part in very high-end content or if you want to completely min-max your performance.
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Race |
Racial Name |
Effect |
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Human |
Gain 2% increase to all secondary stats |
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Tauren |
Extra 2% on critical damage and healing |
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Zandalari Troll |
Chance for a 4% critical strike buff |
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Draenei |
Active, which places a small heal over time on you or an ally (3-minute cooldown) |
Best Talents For Holy Paladin
Holy Paladin Class Talent Tree
A shared tree between all three Paladin specializations, the class tree allows you to pick up a healthy amount of useful spells, alongside some powerful passives. Your class talent tree route will vary slightly depending on your build, but the core spells remain very similar.
Being able to talent into an interrupt is great for Mythic Plus, and you can also invest in increased damage if you are comfortable with the healing requirements of your chosen content. Your class tree path will vary depending on your build, as Avenging Crusader will benefit much more from sources of increased damage.
Melee Build Talents
- Talent Build Code: BEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAABAQAAACQJJQUSLJ0EpIRSJwBaJCSQSJJkkQkGIJCAIAQBIE
The standard build that Holy used throughout Shadowlands, relies on using your Holy Shock to spread Glimmer of Light for increased passive healing. Staying in melee and attacking the enemies is core to playing this build at max effectiveness.
The major strength of this build is the damage that it can output, and Holy Power generation is substantial due to all the attacks you will be performing.
Keeping Glimmer of Light up on as many people as possible is vital, and Holy Shock should be used nearly on cooldown. This setup can suffer when having to move far away from an enemy, as your ranged healing options are weakened compared to other builds.
Maraad's Build Talents
- Talent Build Code: BEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAABAQAAACQJIJRJtkQTkiEJlAaJCSQSJJkkQkGIJCAIAQBIE
A more niche build is the Maraad's, which focuses on utilising the Maraad's Dying Breath talent. This causes your Light of Dawn to increase the power of your next Light of the Martyr. A spell that is normally only used as an emergency heal quickly becomes your primary source of healing, and you can output some exceptional bursts when playing this setup.
Spot healing-wise, this build is probably the best in the game and could be pivotal in a difficult progression fight. However, it does take some adjustment to your normal gameplay and might take a little while to fully learn.
Avenging Crusader Build Talents
- Talent Build Code: BEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQAASAAACQJJQUSLJ0EpIRSLwBaJCSQSRQSCRKESiAACABgQA
A more damage-focused build sees you playing the Avenging Crusader talent. This turns your major healing cooldown into a five Holy Power, 45-second cooldown spell that empowers your Judgment and Crusader Strike with reduced cooldowns and makes them heal up to three nearby allies depending on their damage.
Due to this build seeing you make greater use of Judgment and Crusader Strike, Holy Shock becomes lower in priority. During your Avenging Crusader you should always try to lead off with a Judgment, as this will increase the damage of your next Crusader Strike.
During Avenging Crusader, Holy Shock should only be used if the other two spells are on cooldown.
Talents that increase your damage now increase your healing and playing around a slightly less bursty but more consistent cooldown is a playstyle you might prefer, especially for encounters with consistent damage over time.
Mythic Plus Talents
- Talent Build Code: BEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAABAEBAAIAtkAUiko0EpIRSJBaJHIaESSRQSCRaAiAACEQBIE
A hybrid between the caster and melee builds, for dungeons, Holy Paladin picks up a new selection of talents that empower their own damage and augment their burst healing.
Healer damage is very important when trying to push keys, and Holy is a good choice when it comes to DPSing. Consecration is vital to use on cooldown, and when weaving in your Crusader Strike, Judgment, and Holy Shock, you should be able to contribute effectively to the meters.
For higher keys, you will need to make use of your Beacon of Virtue to burst heal, and your low AoE healing might be tricky to get used to, so practice using your cooldowns to get you out of tough spots.
A nice bonus of playing Holy is that you will rarely, if ever, need to stop for mana.
How To Play Holy Paladin
Due to being a healing spec, Holy does not rely on a strict rotation. Instead, you will need to decide on a moment-to-moment basis how best to keep your group alive.
Whether your group is taking damage, about to take damage, or if you need to deal damage has to be considered, and it makes for a playstyle where there is no set-in-stone rotation.
In essence, you want to build Holy Power and spend it on your strongest healing spells. Holy Power can stack up to five and can be spent in groups of three.
Try not to waste Holy power by overcapping, and always be looking to generate, as your smaller healing spells are not sufficient enough to deal with heavy damage.
Your best healing rotation will vary depending on which build you are playing, but some fundamental spells you need to understand are:
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Ability |
Explanation |
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You should always have your Beacon on the target who requires the most healing. For dungeons, you can keep one Beacon on the tank, and transfer the other around depending on the situation. In raids, having both on the tanks is viable, although a skilled Holy player will adjust them throughout the fight. The Beacons cause healing to be replicated onto that target, and you can generate extra Holy Power when casting on them. |
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World of Glory is your single target Holy Power spender and is a moderate instant cast heal. Many talents will augment this ability but just know that this is your primary option for spot healing. |
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Light of Dawn is the AoE equivalent of Word of Glory and fires a cone of healing in front of you. It provides another reason to play in melee. Some skill is required in terms of your positioning, as you will need to hit as many allies as possible. Standing just behind the melee group is a good spot, and the 15-yard range is not very large, so make sure you are also in range of the tank(s). |
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Holy Shock is a core spell and casts a small instant heal. The cooldown is very low and can be reduced with certain talents, such as Crusader's Might. With Glimmer of Light, you will want to be frequently using this spell, although don't expect it to fully heal somebody. It will also generate Holy Power, something you should always be looking to build so that you can fire off your stronger heals. |
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Divine Toll is an excellent one-minute cooldown spell that fires off up to five Holy Shocks at nearby allies or enemies, depending on what is targeted. This is a very strong spell, particularly in dungeons, where you can often top up your entire group. Make good use of this in situations where you need quick AoE healing and Holy Power. |
Some general rules to follow with any of the Holy Paladin builds are:
- Build Holy Power with Crusader Strike, Judgment, and Hammer of Wrath, as well as Infusion of Light procs
- Keep Consecration down underneath the enemies
- Keep Judgment of Light (if talented) up on the boss
- Spend Holy Power with Word of Glory, Light of Dawn, or Shield of the Righteous (for damage)
- Use cooldowns such as Avenging Wrath, Divine Toll, or Aura Mastery to deal with heavy incoming damage
Holy Paladin Macros
One of the best macros you can use as a Holy Paladin is the mouseover macro, meaning you don't need to click player frames to heal them. You will have to make a macro for each ability you wish to mouseover cast, e.g. Holy Shock.
- #showtooltip /cast [@mouseover,exists][@target,exists][@player]Holy Shock
Another helpful macro is using your active trinket(s) with your Avenging Wrath cooldown to further empower your healing/damage. You can easily do this by calling whichever slot the trinket is placed in, either 13 or 14.
- #showtooltip /cast Avenging Wrath /use 13
Sometimes you will want to cancel certain buffs. For example, Blessing of Protection will make you completely immune to Physical Damage, but there may be times when you need to be hit by an ability, and instead of right-clicking the buff, you can use this macro to remove it.
- #showtooltip /cast Blessing of Protection /cancelaura Blessing of Protection
If you are talented in Rebuke for Mythic Plus difficulty, you might need to be interrupting enemies, and setting them as your focus target will allow this macro to interrupt them instead of retargeting them during the fight.
- #showtooltip /cast [@focus,harm,nodead] [ ] Rebuke
As a healer, you often cast utility spells on other players. Instead of targeting their player frame, you can instead use this macro, e.g. for Blessing of Sacrifice
- /cast [@NAMEOFPLAYER] Blessing of Sacrifice
Best Stats And Gear For Holy Paladin
Once Season One begins, you will find the majority of your BiS (best in slot) PvE gear will come from the Vault of the Incarnates raid or high-level Mythic Plus. Before that, however, there are certain pieces you can target that can reliably be sourced from either Mythic Zero dungeons or early Renown levels.
Although your best stats will vary between builds, all of them heavily rely on Haste, and this list will prioritise acquiring as much of that as possible. Here are the following recommendations for your Best in Slot Pre Raid gear.
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Slot |
Gear Name |
Source |
Boss |
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Head |
Brackenhide Hollow |
Decatriarch Wratheye |
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Neck |
Uldaman |
Bromach |
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Shoulders |
Uldaman |
Chrono-Lord Deios |
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Back |
Ruby Life Pools |
Kokia Blazehoof |
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Chest |
Ruby Life Pools |
Umbrelskul |
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Wrists |
Iskaara Tuskarr |
Renown Level 14 |
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Hands |
Dragonscale Expedition |
Renown Level 12 |
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Waist |
Brackenhide Hollow |
Gutshot |
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Legs |
The Nokhud Offensive |
Granyth |
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Feet |
Maruuk Centaur |
Renown Level 11 |
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Ring |
Halls of Infusion |
Khajin the Unyielding |
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Ring |
The Nokhud Offensive |
The Raging Tempest |
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Trinket |
Crafted |
Alchemy |
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Trinket |
Neltharus |
Warlord Sargha |
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Weapon |
Algeth'ar Academy |
Vexamus |
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Off Hand |
The Azure Vault |
Umbrelskul |
The true pre-BiS gear is a full set of level 384 epic gear from Blacksmithing. However, at the start of the expansion, these pieces will be very expensive and may be tricky to acquire, depending on your gold reserves.
This list shows you more easily obtainable gear, but if you want to splash out for the start of the season, those 384 items are the way to go.
If you can only choose one crafted item, then try to focus on acquiring your Sustaining Alchemist Stone, as it will be your best Trinket for quite a while.
If you are not able to craft one yourself as an Alchemist, you can place a work order to obtain one instead.
Stat Priority
Your primary stat is Intellect, which will increase the power of all of your abilities. Alongside this, there are four secondary stats available.
- Critical Strike, which increases the chance for extra effective attacks and heals.
- Haste, which increases your attack speed and decreases certain cooldowns.
- Mastery, which increases your healing based on proximity to your target.
- Versatility, which increases damage and healing as well as reduces damage taken.
As far as a general priority goes, your stats will change depending on what build you are running and what content you are taking part in. Try to adhere to the following orders:
For Melee and Maraad's Build:
- Intellect > Haste > Mastery > Versatility > Critical Strike
For the Avenging Crusader Build:
- Intellect > Critical Strike to 24 percent > Haste > Versatility = Critical Strike > Mastery
For Mythic Plus:
- Intellect > Haste > Versatility > Critical Strike > Mastery
It is heavily recommended you learn to sim your character, using the special healer simming website called QuestionablyEpicLive. This will be able to give you a very precise breakdown of all your gear and stats and allow you to develop a better understanding of your performance.
The above priorities are quite flexible, as their relative values will fluctuate due to stat breakpoints. For all-around gameplay, you should be trying to take the highest item-level gear you can acquire, and it will provide you with the most Intellect, which is always your most important stat.
The exceptions to this rule are the Neck, Ring, and Trinket slots, where it is better to focus on acquiring your best stats, or the highest-performing healing/DPS Trinkets, sacrificing a certain amount of item level to gain these.
Gems, Enchants, And Consumables
For customising your gear, there is nearly always the best option. Following on from the previous section on stat priority, you will normally want to increase your Intellect, followed by whichever secondary is best for your build.
Buffing your gear correctly and using the proper consumables will provide a large bonus to your healing and can prove pivotal in saving your allies in a tight spot.
Your best gems are:
- One Fierce Illuminated Diamond (Intellect and Haste)
- Multiple Keen Ysermerald for raiding (Haste and Mastery) or Energized Ysemerald for Mythic Plus (Haste and Versatility)
As with all consumables created via professions, you need to try and use the highest quality gems you can find, which will increase their power.
Your best enchants are:
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Gear Slot |
Enchant Name |
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Weapon |
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Neck |
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Cloak |
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Chest |
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Wrists |
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Legs |
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Feet |
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Rings |
Your list of consumables is as follows:
- Phial: Phial of Elemental Chaos
- Potion: Potion of Chilled Clarity (for mana), Elemental Potion of Ultimate Power (for damage)
- Health Potion: Refreshing Healing Potion
- Food: Grand Banquet of the Kalu'ak
- Weapon Buff: Howling Rune
As with gems, try to procure the highest quality consumables you can, and remember to be well-supplied before taking on any end-game content.