Mists of Pandaria Classic Holy Paladin Rotation and Cooldowns

Last updated on Jun 10, 2025 at 12:00 by Mytholxgy

On this page, you will learn how to optimize the rotation of your Holy Paladin Healer, depending on the type of damage your group is receiving while doing PvE content in Mists of Pandaria Classic. We also have advanced sections about cooldowns, procs, etc. in order to minmax your healing output and your mana efficiency.

1.

Holy Paladin Rotations

If you have not already, we recommend reading the Spells Summary page first. Knowing how each spell and ability works in detail will greatly increase your understanding of the topics discussed on this page.

1.1.

Spell Priority

Regardless of build choice, your primary focus will be casting as many Holy Shock Icon Holy Shocks as possible, as well as spending as much Holy Power as possible through one of: Light of Dawn Icon Light of Dawn or Word of Glory Icon Word of Glory (or Eternal Flame Icon Eternal Flame). Outside of this, you will use Holy Radiance Icon Holy Radiance for AoE healing and maintaining Illuminated Healing Icon Illuminated Healing on players, as well as single target heals such as Divine Light Icon Divine Light or Flash of Light Icon Flash of Light.

When you select a desired build, you will be given much more detailed priority lists that explain how and when to use each ability.

2.

Holy Paladin Builds

Eternal Flame Build Selfless Healer Build
2.1.

Eternal Flame Build

This build focuses on the Eternal Flame Icon Eternal Flame talent, which replaces Word of Glory Icon Word of Glory. Rotationally, you will continue the principles of generating and spending Holy Power, you will just do it at a slower rate. The priority will look something like this:

  1. Cast Holy Shock Icon Holy Shock on cooldown.
  2. Consume Infusion of Light Icon Infusion of Light procs when possible. Ideally with Holy Radiance Icon Holy Radiance, when only single target healing is needed you can instead cast one of the single target heals.
  3. Spend Holy Power on Eternal Flame Icon Eternal Flame.
  4. When you cannot do any of the above, spend time generating Holy Power through Holy Radiance Icon Holy Radiance, Crusader Strike Icon Crusader Strike, or by casting a single target heal onto your Beacon of Light Icon Beacon of Light target.

When you need single target healing, you will have the choice of casting Flash of Light Icon Flash of Light, Divine Light Icon Divine Light, or Holy Light Icon Holy Light. Your best choice will come down to the situation you are facing, but Divine Light Icon Divine Light offers the most healing and Flash of Light Icon Flash of Light offers the quickest cast meaning that you will tend to use one of these two abilities. If nothing is happening but you want to do some single target healing, then you can use Holy Light Icon Holy Light but keep in mind these casts should only occur when you cannot do the above rotation or are in desperate need of single target healing.

2.2.

Selfless Healer Build

When playing a Selfless Healer build your rotation will change quite significantly. Most notably, Judgment Icon Judgment will gain significant priority in your rotation. The overall priority will look something like this:

  1. Cast Holy Shock Icon Holy Shock on cooldown.
  2. Cast Judgment Icon Judgment on cooldown.
  3. Consume Infusion of Light Icon Infusion of Light procs when possible. Ideally with Holy Radiance Icon Holy Radiance, when only single target healing is needed you can instead cast one of the single target heals.
  4. Cast Holy Radiance Icon Holy Radiance with a Selfless Healer Icon Selfless Healer proc.
  5. Spend Holy Power on Light of Dawn Icon Light of Dawn.
  6. When you cannot do any of the above, spend time generating Holy Power through Holy Radiance Icon Holy Radiance, Crusader Strike Icon Crusader Strike, or by casting a single target heal onto your Beacon of Light Icon Beacon of Light target.

By casting Judgment Icon Judgment on cooldown, we not only generate Holy Power at a much quicker rate but we also proc Selfless Healer Icon Selfless Healer, greatly enhancing one of our core abilities. Holy Radiance Icon Holy Radiance tends to be the best way to consume this proc as it will make the ability have a much shorter cast, do more healing, and cost way less mana. This will allow you to also extend your Illuminated Healing Icon Illuminated Healing shields on players. Similarly, by consuming Holy Power with Light of Dawn Icon Light of Dawn, we are able to maintain Illuminated Healing Icon Illuminated Healing shields much easier and on more players at once.

When you need single target healing, you will have the choice of casting Flash of Light Icon Flash of Light, Divine Light Icon Divine Light, or Holy Light Icon Holy Light. Your best choice will come down to the situation you are facing, but Divine Light Icon Divine Light offers the most healing and Flash of Light Icon Flash of Light offers the quickest cast meaning that you will tend to use one of these two abilities. If nothing is happening but you want to do some single target healing, then you can use Holy Light Icon Holy Light but keep in mind these casts should only occur when you cannot do the above rotation or are in desperate need of single target healing. You should still be casting Holy Shock Icon Holy Shock and Judgment Icon Judgment on cooldown.

3.

Cooldowns

HolyHoly Paladin has some of the most potent cooldowns in the game when it comes to raw healing output. It is crucial to properly utilize them to avoid an excessive amount of overhealing while still keeping your group healthy.

  • Avenging Wrath Icon Avenging Wrath. — Increases your healing done by 20% for 20 seconds. This ability is best used in a situation where there is a considerable amount of incoming damage that would otherwise not able to be managed. This is your primary cooldown and your goal will be to use it as much as possible during the course of a fight.
  • Divine Favor Icon Divine Favor — Increases your Haste and Spell Critical Strike rating by 20% for twenty seconds. While you can combine this with other cooldowns, it can often result in you doing more healing than what is actually needed, resulting in high overhealing.
  • Holy Avenger Icon Holy Avenger — Causes your abilities that generate Holy Power to instead gennerate 3 Holy Power rather than 1. This is extremely powerful in getting out quick Word of Glory Icon Word of Glory or Light of Dawn Icon Light of Dawn casts out.
  • Guardian of Ancient Kings Icon Guardian of Ancient Kings — Summons a guardian of the light that duplicates your healing while also granting you a small amount of haste.
  • Divine Plea Icon Divine Plea — A two-minute cooldown that regenerates a large amount of mana. You should aim to use this as much as possible during an encounter.
  • Devotion Aura Icon Devotion Aura — Reduces the magic damage taken by your party during its duration, while also providing them with an immune to silence/interrupt effects.