Holy Paladin Guide — Class Guides · WoW Wrath of the Lich King

The healing tree: more powerful Holy Light and Flash of Light, cheaper heals and the tools to keep a tank or a raid alive.

A plate-wearing holy warrior who heals with the Light, protects with blessings, auras and seals, and fights in melee. Paladins heal, tank or deal damage with a two-handed weapon. More about the paladin

Class: Paladin
Roles: Healer
Used for: Raids and dungeons, Player versus player
Top talent: Beacon of Light
Popular builds: 2
Version: WoW Wrath of the Lich King

How to play

Holy is the best tank healer in Wrath. Beacon of Light copies your heals on any target onto the beaconed tank, Sacred Shield absorbs damage, Infusion of Light makes your next Flash of Light or Holy Light faster after a Holy Shock crit, and Judgements of the Pure gives haste when you Judge.

Put Beacon of Light on one tank and heal another (or the same one) with Holy Light, keep Sacred Shield on a tank, and Judge to keep the haste up. Divine Plea restores mana at the cost of some healing.

Holy's weakness is area healing: it has almost none, so raids pair it with priests, druids and shamans.

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 Wrath of the Lich King.

Rotation and priorities

1Beacon of Light on the main tank.
2Sacred Shield on a tank.
3Judgement to keep Judgements of the Pure's haste up.
4Holy Light on tanks (the Beacon copies it); Flash of Light for lighter damage.
5Holy Shock for fast heals and Infusion of Light.
6Divine Plea when mana is low; Divine Illumination and Avenging Wrath for heavy phases.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

The best tank healer in Wrath.
Beacon of Light heals two targets at once.
Plate, Divine Shield and the Hands.

Weaknesses

Almost no area healing.
Holy Light is a long cast.
Mana-hungry without Divine Plea.

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
Spell power
2
Intellect
3
Hastefaster Holy Light
4
Critical strikeIllumination
5
Mana per 5 sec
6
Stamina

What to look for

Plate with spell power, Intellect, haste and crit.
Intellect gems: they add mana, crit and spell power through Holy Guidance.
A healing mace or sword with a shield.

Items worth chasing

Val'anyr, Hammer of Ancient KingsThe legendary healing mace: its heals leave absorb shields.
Purified Lunar DustA healing trinket with mana regeneration.
Althor's AbacusA healing trinket with a haste proc.
Soul PreserverA healing trinket that sometimes makes a spell cost less.

Builds

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

Holy
Protection
Retribution

Holy Raid Healer
HealerPvE
5120
51/20/0
Raid healing with 51 points in Holy, down to Beacon of Light, and 20 in Protection.
- Divine Illumination 1/1
- Judgements of the Pure 5/5
- Infusion of Light 2/2
- Enlightened Judgements 2/2
- Beacon of Light 1/1
Glyphs: Glyph of Holy Light (major), Glyph of Seal of Wisdom (major), Glyph of Beacon of Light (major), Glyph of Lay on Hands (minor), Glyph of Sense Undead (minor), Glyph of Blessing of Kings (minor)
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting
Holy Arena Healer
HealerPvP
5219
52/19/0
Arena and battleground healing with 52 points in Holy, down to Beacon of Light, and 19 in Protection.
- Divine Illumination 1/1
- Judgements of the Pure 5/5
- Infusion of Light 2/2
- Enlightened Judgements 2/2
- Beacon of Light 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting

Key talents

Beacon of Light · top talent, up to 1
The target becomes a Beacon of Light to all members of your party or raid within a 60 yard radius. Any heals you cast on party or raid members will also heal the Beacon for 100% of the amount healed. Only one target can be the Beacon of Light at a time. Lasts 1 min.
Light's Grace · tier 7, up to 3
Gives your Holy Light spell a 100% chance to reduce the cast time of your next Holy Light spell by 0.5 sec. This effect lasts 15 sec.
Holy Shock · tier 7, up to 1
Blasts the target with Holy energy, causing 314 to 340 Holy damage to an enemy, or 481 to 519 healing to an ally.
Blessed Life · tier 7, up to 3
All attacks against you have a 10% chance to cause half damage.
Sacred Cleansing · tier 8, up to 3
Your Cleanse spell has a 30% chance to increase the target's resistance to Disease, Magic and Poison by 30% for 10 sec.
Holy Guidance · tier 8, up to 5
Increases your spell power by 20% of your total Intellect.
Divine Illumination · tier 9, up to 1
Reduces the mana cost of all spells by 50% for 15 sec.
Judgements of the Pure · tier 9, up to 5
Increases the damage done by your Seal and Judgement spells by 25%, and your Judgement spells increase your casting and melee haste by 15% for 1 min.
Infusion of Light · tier 10, up to 2
Your Holy Shock critical hits reduce the cast time of your next Flash of Light by 1.5 sec or increase the critical chance of your next Holy Light by 20%. In addition, causes your Flash of Light to heal targets with Sacred Shield for an additional 100% over 12 sec.
Enlightened Judgements · tier 10, up to 2
Increases the range of your Judgement of Light and Judgement of Wisdom spells by 30 yards and increases your chance to hit by 4%.

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.