*pokes the empty forum with a stick*
It looks kind of lonely in here, so I thought I'd make a thread about holy paladins.
Any questions on gearing, specs, how to play, things like that... fire away and I'll answer them to the best of my ability.
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Basic PVE Holy Pally Info
Stat Priority: Intellect > Spirit to comfort > Haste > Crit > Mastery. Try to avoid Hit rating unless it's unavoidable, if you do have a piece of gear with Hit on it, reforge to Spirit or Haste. Stay away from Expertise, Dodge, and Parry.
Gemming: Unless the socket bonus is +20 or more to Intellect, stick a Brilliant Inferno Ruby in everything. If you have a blue socket with a +20 intellect bonus, use a Purified Demonseye (+20 int +20 spirit). If you have a yellow socket with a 20 intellect bonus, use a Reckless Ember Topaz (+20 int +20 haste)
Enchanting: Enchant everything with Intellect if you can, enchant it with Haste where you can't. For your chestpiece, use +20 all stats. Weapon enchants to go for are Power Torrent or Heartsong if you aren't rolling in gold.
Essential non-healing skills: Divine Protection, Aura Mastery, Hand of Sacrifice, Hand of Protection (NEVER ON THE TANK except for specific encounters like Halfus Wyrmbreaker's Malevolent Strikes), Divine Plea
In PVE, you should always be running with Resistance Aura. It befuddles me when I run across holy paladins in randoms using Concentration Aura. Why? Conc aura only benefits you if you're getting hit (it will decrease the pushback), and if the holy paladin is getting hit enough to significantly hinder spellcasting, the tank needs re-evaluation. Resistance Aura when coupled up with Aura Mastery can greatly cut down on Fire/Frost/Shadow damage taken by the whole raid. Less damage taken = less healing needed = more mana saved = happy holy pally.
I’ll try to chime in as well whenever possible. My realm of expertise is mainly PvP, but I’ve done some raiding too.
[H] Evalain, Vynaerion, Velyndae, Cein, Liyat, Shayotani, Blaire,
[A] Alaai, Cilloran
Awesome! I focus mostly on PVE because I find PVP healing too stressful for me, we can cover all the bases now! \o/
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I am the cuddlepally
I will hug you
How about some notes on situational Healing in the post-Cata world, IE which heal to use when, both in PVE and PVP?
How about an examination of the relative importances of different stat values in gear/enchanting/gem-ing?
"It is better to be silent and appear a fool than to speak and remove all doubt"
And someday, I'll take that advice...
A number of factors come into play.
First off, it really helps to have at least a basic understanding of the fight (either by reading guides on WoWpedia/WoWhead, or looking through the dungeon journal) so that you'll be able to guess when bursts of damage might come in.
If it's just the tank taking heavy, spikey damage, I use a rotation of Flash of Light > Holy Shock > Flash of Light > Word of Glory on the tank. (If you've specced into Tower of Radiance, your Beacon - which should almost always be on the tank, in a 5-man - will generate Holy Power if you cast FoL/DL on its target.)
Use your cooldowns too, but whatever you do, never put Hand of Protection on the tank. The DPS will thank you for this. Hand of Sacrifice + Divine Protection is a nice combination. Avenging Wrath + Divine Favor + Guardian + any on-use trinkets you might have is also a really good combination for those moments of imminent death.
If everyone's taking AOE damage, I like to use Holy Radiance > Flash of Light on tank > Holy Shock on person at lowest health > Flash of Light on tank > Light of Dawn on as many people as I can hit.
For a more general guide...
If you're topping people off and no one is in any real danger of dying, Holy Light.
Holy Shock on cooldown.
If you know that heavy damage is about to hit someone, use Divine Light.
If you suspect that heavy damage is going to hit someone, get ready to use Flash of Light, when the damage does go out, use it on whoever it hit. (Example: Fireball Volley from the flamecasters in ZA, assuming no one's dispelling/interrupting. If I use Divine Light someone's going to die before I get enough casts off.)
If there's AOE damage going around, use Holy Radiance and use your holy power on Light of Dawn.
Always remember to watch your mana usage, though. If you focus too much on throughput, you might that your team is dropping dead around you and your mana bar is empty.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I am the cuddlepally
I will hug you
Though my pally is mainly Protection, she started as Holy..which I would like to eventually get back to.. My question is, what stats am I looking for gear.I never got a pally to 78 before so I'm absolutely clueless.
Characters
( A) Roseleen, Shiksa, Galadthalas, Rhialynne
( H) Yvhaine,Albionne ,Voll, Marantha
The basic preference for holy paladin stats is Intellect > Spirit to comfort zone > Haste > Crit > Mastery, I believe. However, I have heard of builds that focus on Crit and Mastery over Spirit and Haste, I think tank healing paladins in 25-mans use it. I have no experience with the Crit/Mastery build, I do 10-mans, so unfortunately there isn't much help I can give with that kind of playstyle.
Enchanting: Enchant your stuff for Intellect where you can, haste where you can't put intellect. The +20 stats is better than +40 spirit, because +20 int/+20 spirit (okay, and +20 stam :P ) is better than +40 spirit.
Weapon enchants... Most people use Power Torrent but I've seen a few people say that Heartsong is better, something about Heartsong having more overall uptime.
Gemming: Unless the socket bonus is +20 or more to Intellect, stick a Brilliant Inferno Ruby in everything. If you have a blue socket with a +20 intellect bonus, use a Purified Demonseye (+20 int +20 spirit). If you have a yellow socket with a 20 intellect bonus, use a Reckless(?) Ember Topaz. Not sure about the name but it's +20 int +20 haste.
Gear: Generally, you want haste and enough spirit that you're comfortable with your mana regen. For me, that's 2.9k spirit (I might be able to get by with less, though.) Some holy paladins can get by with 2k, it depends on your play style. Anyway, crit and mastery and maybe hit rating are reforged into haste and spirit.
Think I covered the basics.
@ Roseleendhu: Look for plate pieces that have intellect on them. Don't use leather, mail, or cloth. Try to get a shield with Intellect on it, you'll have to compete with Shamans for them. Rings, trinkets, and necklaces - look for things that have Intellect and Spirit. Try to avoid things that give hit, but if hit rating things are all that's available, reforge the hit rating off. Read the descriptions of trinkets closely, some spellcaster ones only proc off harmful spell effects.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I am the cuddlepally
I will hug you
What exact situations in PvP are you having issues with? Teammates dying too fast? You dying too fast? Also which venue of PvP? It matters if you’re arenaing or BGing or RBGing.
Your stats for PvP in my experience are going to want to be resil>int>spi. I stack spi more than anything because I raid heal in my pvp gear. (Lulz.) I find that you can have a bit less resiliance as a Holy Paladin than other classes, as I rarely ever find myself dying even without stacking it further than what my gear already gives me. I gem for int and spirit, both when possible.
As for spells on a general pvp scale: You priority is going to be Holy Shock/WoG. These spells are the most mana neutral thing you can EVER DO AND IT’S AWESOME. Occasionally, you will get procs that give you an extra Holy Shock. Use them on the nearest target possible if your main target is not dying. Only use HoP on casters unless you’re healing a melee you know and love; otherwise, they get mad at you. Jerks.
I like to use Divine Protection and Holy Radiance as sprints in PvP (YOU MUST TALENT INTO THESE), rather than for their primary effects. The AoE heal can be beneficial, but the sprint is what really helps out when you’re in a tight situation against melee. Use HoF and one of your sprints to escape pesky rogues and feral druids. Bubble, I usually use in arenas not when -I- am dying, but when my teammates are about to and the opposing team is CCing me to hell. Remember to always pop your guardian in tough situations and your other heal increasing cds.
Aaaand this is all just a huge pot of mumbo jumbo until I know what avenue of PvP people are looking for advice in. Healing areas is much different from BGs in my opinion.
[H] Evalain, Vynaerion, Velyndae, Cein, Liyat, Shayotani, Blaire,
[A] Alaai, Cilloran
Jadoth is the cuddliest of healers and I <3 him.
[H] Inathia [A] Faronne
The Phoenix Guard
/cuddlehugs
Just bear in mind that when 4.3 hits, Holy Radiance will no longer make you sprint.
Once I'm no longer as braindead I'm going to consolidate some of the stuff I just posted in that huge wall of text earlier into something easier to read, and stick it in the OP.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I am the cuddlepally
I will hug you
Yes, I know they are removing that feature. They’re also removing my nice mana return from judgement. I’ll have to see how holy plays out once the patch hits.
/sad
[H] Evalain, Vynaerion, Velyndae, Cein, Liyat, Shayotani, Blaire,
[A] Alaai, Cilloran
The life of a holy paladin is riddled with nerfs. But we press on!
OP updated
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I am the cuddlepally
I will hug you
Has anybody even found a use for Holy Radiance? I've been doing fine without it.
I use it when I'm bored. That's a bad thing.
Alliance: Liotuse, Balderon, Galthian, Bolos, Malford, Evelo
I use it in PvP.
Sometimes...
[H] Evalain, Vynaerion, Velyndae, Cein, Liyat, Shayotani, Blaire,
[A] Alaai, Cilloran
Holy Radiance used to be fun/decent pre 4.3. I'd pop it in places where I knew everyone was going to get an even coating of damage at one time, like Anraphet in Halls of Origination. But now? I don't really know the application for it anymore now. I liked it more when you were the AoE focus without fail and didn't have to cast it on anyone in the party. Especially since the actual healing it does is just SAD.
Hahah, I actually came into this thread hoping someone ELSE found a better time or use for it since the patch. GUESS NOT, HUH.
I'm a paladin. I'm MADE of willpower.
Yeah. It was fantastic for holding people's health. The same amount that people had whenever some mass AoE occurred or something. The thing that made it great prior to this patch that they completely broke? The healing on it was forgettable, but the fact the duration was so long and so many ticks went off.
Now it's... 2.7 seconds with my haste for... five ticks? It's as unused as Light of Dawn for me now. Doing just fine without 'em like I said.
Alliance: Liotuse, Balderon, Galthian, Bolos, Malford, Evelo
Holy Radiance is amazing for AOE boss fights like Ultraxion in Dragon Soul raid, especially how heavy AOE it is. Combined with Alextraszasa's buff (that increases healing by 100%), Holy Radiance is not to be underestimated, even better with haste to increase the ticks. It may not be as efficient as priests/druid/shaman's AOE heals, it still does the job well.
Ezidran | Zaifar | Zain
In short, this.
I've been poking about with Holy Radiance in raids - so far, I can get a nice display of green numbers by doing Holy Radiance > Holy Shock > Holy Radiance > Light of Dawn when the raid's stacked up.
It's like a really short Wild Growth with no limit, a cast time, and some initial heal on the target you hit. I think the initial heal also carries over through Beacon of Light.
Basically, if you're approaching a stack phase with heavy AOE damage, start rattling off those holy radiances. It has no cooldown. Just watch your mana.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I am the cuddlepally
I will hug you
I am finding I use it in Tol Barad a lot, and also in the Darkmoon arena thing when I’m in a group. Everyone is so stacked together that I don’t have to worry about targets being too spread apart. I don’t generally ever run OoM in PvP, even spamming HR. I find something to judge and whack, who usually ignores me because LOLNODAMAGE, and I get my mana right back.
[H] Evalain, Vynaerion, Velyndae, Cein, Liyat, Shayotani, Blaire,
[A] Alaai, Cilloran
Just to contribute something as a druid healer - Holy Radiance and Healing Rain = fantastic HPS when the groups are clumped together. /jealous
Hm, been a while since I've checked here...
The next patch points to more nerfs for the Holy Paladin, mana cost of Holy Radiance is being raised by 5%.
More news to come, hopefully.
Gather, all ye holy pallies, and ... we can talk about holy pally things here!
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I am the cuddlepally
I will hug you
So this one time at Knight camp..
[H] Evalain, Vynaerion, Velyndae, Cein, Liyat, Shayotani, Blaire,
[A] Alaai, Cilloran
This reminds me of my old raiding guild. Our main tank (a paladin) started it with "So this one time, at Paladin camp..." followed by stories of Paladin skills used in awkwardly suggestive ways.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I am the cuddlepally
I will hug you
Jadoth, I am cuddling you with my mind. I'm Holy spec as well but extremely inexperienced at raiding in general--teach me, O Master!
The Light does not abandon its champions.
Avatar by Penwyn!
:D *cuddle*
I forgot what level you are but...
Raiding as a holy pally is pretty much a game of reverse whack-a-mole. See someone's health go down? Pop it back up. Place your Pallybacon upon one of the tanks, I personally prefer to stick it on the squishier one. Holy Radiance in AOE phases, but its mana cost just got increased so you might want to hold off on the Holy Radiance spam for a bit. Save up your Holy Power so that you can either bomb a Word of Glory on some target, or Light of Dawn if everyone's stacked up and taking damage.
Also, keep an eye out for nasty things on the ground. Try and avoid them if you can, but if it comes down to a "I can get out of fire, OR I can keep the tank alive" then drop Hand of Sacrifice on the tank who's about to die, pop your bubble, and stay in the fire for as long as you can. Holy paladins have some useful tools that let them do things that other healers can't.
Finally, read up on fights and/or watch videos. The basic Holy Paladin playstyle is relatively easy to get the hang of in my opinion, but if you're trying to learn a new boss while you're healing, it gets kind of tough. It helps to know when you should be moving or when everyone will be stacked up, or when the tank will start taking heavy damage.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I am the cuddlepally
I will hug you
80, at the moment. Once I get a few more under my belt I could use some practical, in-game training from my Argent comrade, perhaps.... :-D
The Light does not abandon its champions.
Avatar by Penwyn!