1.1.
New Content
With the launch of Midnight Season 1, new content is finally active.
You will have access to a new Tier set, three new raids, and the start of the
Season 1 Mythic+ and PvP seasons. If you are interested in learning more about
the new available content, please visit our dedicated sections.
1.2.
Class Tuning
Holy Paladin has received no tuning changes since the launch of Midnight.
That being said, Blizzard has mentioned that tuning will happen over the first
few weeks of Season 1, with more changes to come. We will ensure to update this guide as
soon as new changes occur, or new theorycrafting findings have been made. Even without
major or even minor changes, there is still new things to discover in this guide, from new
BiS lists to updated information on Mythic+ builds.
When it comes to tuning adjustments, our next planned pass is expected to arrive
with the Midnight Season 1 launch on March 17. Our next pass will follow immediately
afterwards utilizing data gathered during the week Heroic difficulties are available;
these changes will go live with the launch of Mythic raid difficulty and Mythic+ on
March 24.
Beyond these dates, we will look to perform more tuning passes based on data gathered
during the starting weeks of Mythic difficulty for Season 1 and the March on Quel’Danas
available the week of March 31. For these two passes we err on the side of caution with
the amount of tuning we do until their respective Mythic end-bosses die to avoid being
overly disruptive to progression. After these key dates we will have several check-in passes
planned roughly a month apart. Once players obtain higher item level and better optimized gear
sets, the throughput of several specs will shift up or down relative to others and we feel
it’s important to be diligent in looking at the current state of class balance as time goes on.
1.3.
Midnight Changes to Holy Paladin
Heading into Midnight, Blizzard wanted to focus on reducing the amount of healing sources
that Holy Paladin has while also removing the need to track multiple different buffs such
as 
Awakening. Additionally, they wanted to cut back on the number of cooldowns
available to the spec while also making 
Aura Mastery feel more impactful.
Even 
Crusader Strike has been removed as more emphasis is placed on 
Holy Shock
and 
Infusion of Light. Finally, 
Light of Dawn received adjustments its
targetting and now no longer heals players in front of you but instead players around you.
Some of the core changes will be listed below:
Holy Prism and 
Divine Toll now share a choice node.
Hammer of Wrath is no longer castable and instead replaces 
Judgment during
Avenging Wrath. Hammer of Wrath will gain all the talent benefits that Judgment does
when this occurs.- Crusader Strike has been removed, but when you talent into
Avenging Crusader it
returns during the cooldown.
Crusader's Might has been redesigned. It now causes Holy Shock to reduce the cooldown
of Judgment.- The following talents have been removed:
Barrier of Faith, 
Blessing of the Seasons,
Boundless Salvation, 
Merciful Auras, and 
Relentless Inquisitor.
- Numerous new talents were added, and some have been redesigned.
In addition to these changes, you will gain access to the new Apex Talents as well as 3 new Hero
Talent choices.
1.3.1.
Apex Talent
In Midnight, you will gain access to 
Beacon of the Savior, the new Apex talent. This ability
has 3 separate ranks that all increase its power. Below we will break down what each individual rank does:
- Rank 1 — While in combat, you will gain an additional beacon called Beacon of the Savior. This beacon
will automatically be placed on the lowest health ally and will transfer to the new lowest health ally if it heals
a player above 50% or another ally drops below 50%.
- Rank 2 — Increases the amount of healing transferred by Beacon of the Savior and increases the amount
of healing you do to the target with Beacon of the Savior.
- Rank 3 — Every 8 seconds or when Beacon of the Savior transfers, an absorb shield is placed on the
target that also provides damage reduction until the shield is broken.
The most important aspect of Beacon of the Savior is that it also benefits from any talents that amplify
Beacon of Light. This means that Commanding Light, 
Saved by the Light, 
Light's Protection
and even 
Beacon of the Lightbringer all buff Beacon of the Savior. This effectively means that you have an extra
Beacon at all times. Additionally, due Rank 2 of Beacon of the Savior also increasing the healing you do to Savior targets,
it is significantly less punishing than normal to heal directly into your Beacon of the Savior. At some times it can even
be beneficial compared to standard beacons where you tend to avoid healing into them.
1.3.2.
Hero Talent Changes
Herald of the Sun has two notable changes in Midnight. One being the new talent:
Walk Into Light. This gives you two Holy Power when entering Avenging Wrath.
You will ideally want to make sure that you aren't capped on Holy Power when pressing your
major cooldown, but it isn't the overall end of the world. The other change is the reduction of power placed
into 
Dawnlight. Throughout The War Within, Dawnlights made up a large percentage of your overall
healing. After different buffs and nerfs to the spec, Dawnlight has lost a lot of power and it will be
much less punishing. While you still will want to maximize your casts and target players where you can get
high value, it will be much less important.
Lightsmith has gained some interesting talents in Midnight that will increase its power.
Reflection of Radiance causes you to have a chance of triggering Awakening when 
Holy Armaments
are active and being utilized. While Awakening no longer triggers Avenging Wrath in Midnight, this
is still a powerful addition to Lightsmith that should improve the healing done by 
Hammer and Anvil.
It is important to note that this talent does not require you to be talented into Awakening to work, it will trigger
regardless of your talent choices.
1.3.3.
Rotational Changes
In Midnight, Holy Paladin gameplay will remain largely intact with a focus on
maximizing the amount of Holy Power you can spend on either 
Eternal Flame
or Light of Dawn. This choice will continue to depend on the form of
content you are doing, with Mythic+ wanting to cast Eternal Flame and Raid
Light of Dawn. Outside of this, you will be focused on maximizing your casts
of Holy Shock while weaving in 
Flash of Light casts when necessary.
Judgment has lost a ton of power and you will typically only press it
when doing Mythic+ content and when you want to increase your damage. Healing
will focus on Holy Shock, Flash of Light and a Holy Power spender.
Due to Crusader Strike being removed, there is also almost no reason to play
entirely in melee. If things get extremely crowded or you are having trouble
seeing certain mechanics, you can step back for a second with absolutely no punishment.
When playing a Avenging Crusader build, your rotation will look largely the same, but you will
have some slight differences in ability usage. During Avenging Crusader, you regain access to Crusader Strike.
This means that you will still follow the typical gameplay of rotating between Judgment and Crusader Strike,
while still spending as much Holy Power as possible.
Herald of the Sun
Lightsmith
