Introduction
Welcome to this guide for PvM Holy Paladins in WotlK. Holy Paladins are versatile and powerful healers, able to provide exceptional support for their allies both in PvE and PvP scenarios. This guide covers talent builds, glyphs, gear, consumables, gems, and rotation, providing all the details you need to excel like a Holy Paladin in PvM content.
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Races
For races, Blood Elves would be the only selection for Horde Paladins, while Alliance players can pick between Draenei, Human, or Dwarf. Blood Elves and Humans would be the strongest selections for Holy Paladins, with Blood Elves having useful racials like Arcane Torrent and magic resistances, and Humans having higher Intelligence.
Dwarves have Stoneform, which may be a powerful defensive cooldown, while Draenei provides the situationally useful heal, Gift from the Naaru, and also the beneficial Heroic Presence. Humans also provide Perception, which is strong against stealth classes in PvP, and Mace and Sword Specialization, which could influence gear choices.
Professions
The best professions for Holy Paladins are Engineering and Jewelcrafting. Engineering offers increased mobility and private HPS from various enchants, while Jewelcrafting offers the largest stat increase, specifically in Intellect. Both professions concentrate on endgame benefits and don't offer significant gold farming opportunities.
Talent Builds
There are two primary talent builds for Holy Paladins in WotLK. The first concentrates on maximizing healing output, while the second emphasizes increased utility and mana efficiency.
Maximizing Healing Output
Holy (51 points): 5/5 Spiritual Focus, 3/3 Healing Light, 1/1 Aura Mastery, 5/5 Illumination, 5/5 Improved Lay on Hands, 3/3 Improved Concentration Aura, 5/5 Holy Power, 1/1 Light's Grace, 2/2 Blessed Life, 1/1 Holy Shock, 3/3 Holy Guidance, 3/3 Sacred Cleansing, 5/5 Divine Illumination, 1/1 Beacon of Light.
Protection (12 points): 5/5 Divinity, 5/5 Stoicism, 2/2 Improved Righteous Fury.
Retribution (8 points): 5/5 Benediction, 3/3 Heart from the Crusader.
Utility and Mana Efficiency
Holy (51 points): 5/5 Spiritual Focus, 3/3 Healing Light, 1/1 Aura Mastery, 5/5 Illumination, 5/5 Improved Lay on Hands, 3/3 Improved Concentration Aura, 5/5 Holy Power, 1/1 Light's Grace, 2/2 Blessed Life, 1/1 Holy Shock, 3/3 Holy Guidance, 3/3 Sacred Cleansing, 5/5 Divine Illumination, 1/1 Beacon of Light.
Protection (9 points): 5/5 Divinity, 4/5 Stoicism.
Retribution (11 points): 5/5 Benediction, 3/3 Heart from the Crusader, 3/3 Judgements from the Wise.
Glyphs:
Major Glyphs
Glyph of Holy Light: A must-have glyph, because it provides a significant boost for your healing output by healing additional nearby allies.
Glyph of Seal of Wisdom: Helps with mana conservation, particularly in longer fights.
Glyph of Flash of Light: Increases your crit chance on Flash of Light, synergizing well with Illumination.
Minor Glyphs
Glyph of Lay on Hands: Reduces the cooldown of Lay on Hands, upping your emergency healing capabilities.
Glyph of Blessing of Kings: Reduces the mana price of Blessing of Kings, letting you conserve more mana.
Glyph of Blessing of Might: Reduces the mana price of Blessing of Might, helpful for raid-wide buffing.
Gear:
Your primary goal would be to reach the spell haste soft cap (676) while maximizing spell power, critical strike, and intellect. This is the optimal setup.
Slot
Item
Head
Conqueror's Aegis Headpiece
Neck
The charm of Meticulous Timing
Shoulders
Conqueror's Aegis Spaulders
Back
Drape from the Sullen Goddess
Chest
Breastplate from the Devoted
Wrist
Bindings of Winter Gale
Hands
Conqueror's Aegis Gauntlets
Belt
Star-beaded Clutch
Legs
Conqueror's Aegis Greaves
Feet
Treads from the False Oracle
Rings
Starshine Circle
Nebula Band
Trinkets
Meteorite Crystal
Soul Preserver
Weapon
Val'anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings
Shield
Wisdom's Hold
Libram
Libram of Renewal
Gems:
Meta: Insightful Earthsiege Diamond or Ember Skyflare Diamond
Red: Run Scarlet Ruby or Run Cardinal Ruby (in higher item level content)
Yellow: Luminous Monarch Topaz or Luminous King's Amber (in higher item level content)
Blue: Purified Twilight Opal or Purified Dreadstone (in higher item level content)
Note: Always match socket bonuses once the bonus provides a minimum of +7 spell power.
Consumables:
Flask: Flask from the Frost Wyrm
Food: Fish Feast or Firecracker Salmon/Imperial Manta Steak
Potions: Runic Mana Potion and Potion of Speed/Wild Magic
Scrolls: Scroll of Intellect VIII (if you don't have Arcane Intellect buff)
Drums: Drums of Forgotten Kings (if you don't have Blessing of Kings buff)
Rotation:
Healing like a Holy Paladin is reactive, but this is a priority list for the healing abilities:
Holy Shock is on cooldown
Holy Light for heavy single-target healing
Flash of Light for light single-target healing or quick heals
Beacon of Light around the tank or high-priority target (refresh when needed)
Sacred Shield around the tank or high-priority target (refresh when needed)
Cleanse debuffs as required
Judge Wisdom/Light when possible to keep Heart from the Crusader debuff and/or regen mana
Addons:
Grid: A highly customizable raid frames addon for tracking buffs, debuffs, and heals
Clique: An addon for creating mouse-over healing macros for simple and efficient healing
PallyPower: An addon to simplify the control over Paladin blessings
Decursive: A simple debuff management addon for quick dispelling
Deadly Boss Mods (DBM): An addon to assist manage boss encounters with timers and alerts
Tips
Always maintain a Beacon of Light around the main tank or any other priority target.
Keep Sacred Shield on your Beacon of Light target to lessen incoming damage.
Use Divine Plea if you have a few seconds of low healing requirement, ideally coupled with Avenging Wrath and/or Divine Illumination.
Remember to make use of Aura Mastery in high-damage situations or when utilizing Concentration Aura to avoid interrupts.
Use Hand of Protection to save a low-health ally from physical damage to remove aggro.
Be prepared to make use of Hand of Sacrifice around the tank or any other ally taking heavy damage.
Lay on Hands could be a lifesaver in emergencies, but be mindful of its high mana cost and long cooldown.
Don't ignore your utility spells, for example, Hand of Freedom and Hand of Salvation, to support
your allies in a variety of situations.
Conclusion
With this informative guide, you now have all the details you need to excel like a Holy Paladin in PvM content. Focus on mastering your abilities, preparing, and dealing with your raid team, and you'll become an excellent healer along with a critical person in any group.