WoW WotlK Holy Paladin Guide

Introduction

Welcome to this guide for PvM Holy Paladins in WotlK. Holy Paladins are versatile and powerful healers, capable of providing exceptional support to their allies in both PvE and PvP scenarios. This guide will cover talent builds, glyphs, gear, consumables, gems, and rotation, providing all the information you need to excel as a Holy Paladin in PvM content.

Races

For races, Blood Elves are the only option for Horde Paladins, while Alliance players can choose between Draenei, Human, or Dwarf. Blood Elves and Humans are the strongest choices for Holy Paladins, with Blood Elves having useful racials like Arcane Torrent and magic resistances, and Humans having higher Intelligence.

Dwarves have Stoneform, which can be a powerful defensive cooldown, while Draenei offer the situationally useful heal, Gift of the Naaru, and the beneficial Heroic Presence. Humans also have Perception, which is strong against stealth classes in PvP, and Mace and Sword Specialization, which can influence gear choices.

Professions

The best professions for Holy Paladins are Engineering and Jewelcrafting. Engineering offers increased mobility and personal HPS from various enchants, while Jewelcrafting provides the largest stat increase, particularly in Intellect. Both professions focus on endgame benefits and do not offer significant WotLK Classic Gold farming opportunities.

Talent Builds

There are two primary talent builds for Holy Paladins in WotLK. The first focuses 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 of 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 of the Crusader, 3/3 Judgements of the Wise.

Glyphs:
Major Glyphs

• Glyph of Holy Light: A must-have glyph, as it provides a significant boost to your healing output by healing additional nearby allies.
• Glyph of Seal of Wisdom: Helps with mana conservation, especially 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, increasing your emergency healing capabilities.
• Glyph of Blessing of Kings: Reduces the mana cost of Blessing of Kings, allowing you to conserve more mana.
• Glyph of Blessing of Might: Reduces the mana cost of Blessing of Might, useful for raid-wide buffing.

Gear:

Your primary goal is to reach the spell haste soft cap (676) while maximizing spell power, critical strike, and intellect. This is the optimal setup.

1. Gems:

• Meta: Insightful Earthsiege Diamond or Ember Skyflare Diamond
• Red: Runed Scarlet Ruby or Runed 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 when the bonus provides at least +7 spell power.
  
  Consumables:

• Flask: Flask of 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 do not have Arcane Intellect buff)
• Drums: Drums of Forgotten Kings (if you do not have Blessing of Kings buff)

Rotation:
Healing as a Holy Paladin is largely reactive, but here is a priority list for your healing abilities:

1. Holy Shock on cooldown
2. Holy Light for heavy single-target healing
3. Flash of Light for light single-target healing or quick heals
4. Beacon of Light on the tank or high-priority target (refresh as needed)
5. Sacred Shield on the tank or high-priority target (refresh as needed)
6. Cleanse debuffs as required

1. Judge Wisdom/Light when possible to maintain Heart of 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 easy and efficient healing
• PallyPower: An addon to simplify the management of Paladin blessings
• Decursive: A simple debuff management addon for quick dispelling
• Deadly Boss Mods (DBM): An addon to help manage boss encounters with timers and alerts

Tips
Always maintain Beacon of Light on the main tank or another priority target.

• Keep Sacred Shield up on your Beacon of Light target to reduce incoming damage.
• Use Divine Plea when you have a few seconds of low healing requirement, ideally combined with Avenging Wrath and/or Divine Illumination.
• Remember to use Aura Mastery in high-damage situations or when using Concentration Aura to prevent interrupts.
• Use Hand of Protection to save a low-health ally from physical damage or to remove aggro.
• Be prepared to use Hand of Sacrifice on the tank or another ally taking heavy damage.
• Lay on Hands can be a lifesaver in emergencies, but be cautious of its high mana cost and long cooldown.
• Don't forget about your utility spells, such as Hand of Freedom and Hand of Salvation, to support
  your allies in various situations.

Conclusion

With this guide, you now have all the information you need to excel as a Holy Paladin in PvM content. Focus on mastering your abilities, gearing up, and working with your raid team, and you will become an invaluable healer and a critical member of any group. 

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