Holy Priest Guide — Class Guides · WoW Classic

Pure healing: stronger and cheaper heals and group healing.

A cloth-wearing healer who also deals Shadow damage. Priests heal single targets and groups, shield allies with Power Word: Shield and fight with Shadow Word: Pain and Mind Blast. More about the priest

Class: Priest
Roles: Healer
Used for: Raids and dungeons
Top talent: Lightwell
Popular builds: 1
Version: WoW Classic

How to play

Holy is the raid healing tree. Spiritual Guidance turns a quarter of your Spirit into +Healing, Spiritual Healing raises all your healing by 10%, Holy Specialization adds crit to Holy spells, and Inspiration gives targets of your critical heals more armour.

The rhythm is to stop heals that would overheal. Start a Greater Heal on the tank and cancel it by moving if the tank is already full. Use Prayer of Healing when a whole group is hurt, Renew for steady damage and Flash Heal for emergencies.

Most raid priests take 21 points or more in Discipline for Divine Spirit and Inner Focus; Holy's deepest talent, Lightwell, is only useful now and then. Spirit of Redemption lets you keep healing for a few seconds after you die.

At a glance

Single-target healing
Group healing
Survivability
Utility for the group
Solo play and leveling
Ease of play

Rated 1 to 5 against the other specs in WoW Classic.

Rotation and priorities

1Renew on targets taking light, steady damage.
2A lower rank of Greater Heal (or Heal) on tanks, cancelled if the target is already full.
3Prayer of Healing when four or five members of a group are hurt.
4Flash Heal for emergencies; Power Word: Shield on someone about to die.
5Inner Focus on a big Prayer of Healing or Greater Heal.
6Keep Fortitude and Divine Spirit up; Fade if you pull threat.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

The strongest raid healer in Classic.
Prayer of Healing heals a whole group at once.
Spirit of Redemption: you keep healing after you die.

Weaknesses

Very low damage and survival on your own.
Managing ranks and cancelling casts takes practice.
Prayer of Healing only heals your own party.

Stats and gear

Stat priority

Most valuable first. Bars compare each stat with the best one; a cap in the note means the stat drops off once you reach it.

1
+Healing
2
Spirit+Healing via Spiritual Guidance and regeneration
3
Mana per 5 sec
4
Intellect
5
Critical strike
6
Stamina

What to look for

+Healing gear; Spirit is unusually valuable for Holy priests thanks to Spiritual Guidance.
Mana per 5 seconds keeps you casting through long fights.
A healing staff or mace; Benediction if you can finish its quest.

Items worth chasing

BenedictionA priest's healing staff from a quest.
Rejuvenating GemHealing and mana regeneration in a trinket.
Cauterizing BandA strong healing ring.
Hide of the WildCrafted cloak with healing and Intellect.

Builds

Each bar splits the build's talent points by tree.

Discipline
Holy
Shadow

Spiritual Guidance Healer
HealerPvE
2130
21/30/0
The standard raid healer: Spiritual Guidance and Spiritual Healing boost every heal, Inspiration protects tanks, and Discipline adds Divine Spirit and Mental Agility.
- Inner Focus 1/1
- Divine Spirit 1/1
- Holy Nova 1/1
- Spiritual Guidance 5/5
- Spiritual Healing 5/5
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level

Key talents

Lightwell · top talent, up to 1
Creates a holy Lightwell near the priest. Members of your raid or party can click the Lightwell to restore 800 health over 10 sec. Being attacked cancels the effect. Lightwell lasts for 3 min or 5 charges.
Improved Renew · tier 1, up to 3
Increases the amount healed by your Renew spell by 15%.
Holy Specialization · tier 1, up to 5
Increases the critical effect chance of your Holy spells by 5%.
Divine Fury · tier 2, up to 5
Reduces the casting time of your Smite, Holy Fire, Heal and Greater Heal spells by 0.5 sec.
Holy Nova · tier 3, up to 1
Causes an explosion of holy light around the caster, causing 29 to 33 Holy damage to all enemy targets within 10 yards and healing all party members within 10 yards for 54 to 62. These effects cause no threat.
Inspiration · tier 3, up to 3
Increases your target's armor by 25% for 15 sec after getting a critical effect from your Flash Heal, Heal, Greater Heal, or Prayer of Healing spell.
Holy Reach · tier 4, up to 2
Increases the range of your Smite and Holy Fire spells and the radius of your Prayer of Healing and Holy Nova spells by 20%.
Improved Healing · tier 4, up to 3
Reduces the Mana cost of your Lesser Heal, Heal, and Greater Heal spells by 15%.
Spiritual Guidance · tier 5, up to 5
Increases spell damage and healing by up to 25% of your total Spirit.
Spiritual Healing · tier 6, up to 5
Increases the amount healed by your healing spells by 10%.

Holy abilities by level

When each ability arrives: trained abilities at the level a trainer first teaches them, talent abilities (gold frame) at the first level the talent can be taken.