Holy Paladin Healing Spell Summary in Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.0.1

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 8.0.1 Changes for Holy Paladins
  • 3. Holy Paladin Strengths
  • 4. Holy Paladin Weaknesses
  • 5. Holy Paladin Viability in the Current Patch
  • 6. Contents
  • 7. Changelog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. Foreword
  • 2. The Basics of Holy Paladins
  • 3. Talent Choice for Holy Paladins
  • 4. Stat Choice for Holy Paladins
  • 5. Basic Playstyle for Holy Paladins
    • 5.1. Single Target / Tank Healing
    • 5.2. Group or Raid Healing for Holy Paladins
  • 6. Cooldown Usage for Holy Paladins
  • 7. Azerite Traits for Holy Paladins
    • 7.1. Best Outer Ring Azerite Traits
    • 7.2. Best Middle Ring Azerite Traits
    • 7.3. Best Inner Ring Azerite Traits
  • 8. Changelog
• ×Spell Summary
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Main Resource of Holy Paladins
  • 3. Basic Abilities for Holy Paladins
    • 3.1. Utility for Holy Paladins
  • 4. Important Procs
  • 5. Cooldowns for Holy Paladins
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices for Holy Paladin
  • 2. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents for Holy Paladins
  • 3. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents for Holy Paladins
  • 4. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents for Holy Paladins
  • 5. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents for Holy Paladins
  • 6. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents for Holy Paladins
  • 7. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents for Holy Paladins
  • 8. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents for Holy Paladins
  • 9. PvP Talents (War Mode)
    • 9.1. General PvP Talents
    • 9.2. Holy Paladin PvP Talents
  • 10. Changelog
• +Azerite Traits and Armor
  • 1. Choosing Azerite Gear for Holy Paladins
  • 2. Relative Strength of Azerite Traits for Holy Paladins
    • 2.1. Outer Ring Traits
      • 2.1.1. S Tier
      • 2.1.2. A Tier
      • 2.1.3. B Tier
      • 2.1.4. C Tier
    • 2.2. Middle Ring Traits
      • 2.2.1. S Tier
      • 2.2.2. A Tier
      • 2.2.3. B Tier
      • 2.2.4. C Tier
    • 2.3. Inner Ring Traits
      • 2.3.1. S Tier
      • 2.3.2. A Tier
      • 2.3.3. B Tier
    • 2.4. PvP Traits
  • 3. Find Azerite Armor By Trait/Power
  • 4. Changelog
• +Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Rotation / Playstyle for Holy Paladins
    • 1.1. Single Target / Tank Healing
    • 1.2. Raid Healing for Holy Paladins
    • 1.3. 5-Man Healing
    • 1.4. A Word on Light of the Martyr
  • 2. Cooldown Usage for Holy Paladins
  • 3. Optional Read: Mastering Your Holy Paladin
    • 3.1. Mastery: Lightbringer
    • 3.2. Infusion of Light
    • 3.3. Abilities and Cooldowns from Talents
      • 3.3.1. Tier 1 Talents
      • 3.3.2. Tier 2 Talents
      • 3.3.3. Tier 5 Talents
      • 3.3.4. Tier 6 Talents
      • 3.3.5. Tier 7 Talents
  • 4. Changelog
• +Mythic+ Tips
  • 1. Holy Paladin in Mythic+
    • 1.1. Holy Paladin Mythic+ Rotation
    • 1.2. Holy Paladin Utility
  • 2. Mythic+ Talents for Holy Paladins
  • 3. Mythic+ Affixes
    • 3.1. Tier One Affixes
    • 3.2. Tier Two Affixes
    • 3.3. Tier Three Affixes
    • 3.4. Seasonal Affix
  • 4. Mythic+ Azerite Traits
    • 4.1. S Tier
    • 4.2. A Tier
    • 4.3. B Tier
    • 4.4. C Tier
  • 5. Changelog
• +Common and Worst Mistakes
  • 1. Excessive use of Light of the Martyr
  • 2. Not Using Your Short Cooldown Spells Often Enough
  • 3. Not Using Your Longer Cooldowns Often Enough
  • 4. Directly Healing Your Beacon(s) Too Often
  • 5. Poor Positioning
  • 6. Analyzing Your Mistakes as a Holy Paladin
• +Frequently Asked Questions
  • 1. Holy Paladin Frequently Asked Questions
  • 2. Why Do You Recommend Devotion Aura over Aura of Mercy?
  • 3. Is There a Critical Strike Cap?
  • 4. What Happened to the Holy Light Animation?
  • 5. Can I use my Silver Hand Transmog with a Sword and Shield?
  • 6. Changelog
• +Boss by Boss Strategies
  • 1. Introduction for Holy Paladin Boss Advice
    • 1.1. Talent Cheatsheet for Holy Paladin in Uldir
  • 2. Taloc
    • 2.1. Suggested Talents for Holy Paladin on Taloc
    • 2.2. Holy Paladin Playstyle on Taloc
  • 3. M.O.T.H.E.R.
    • 3.1. Suggested Talents for Holy Paladin on M.O.T.H.E.R.
    • 3.2. Holy Paladin Playstyle on M.O.T.H.E.R.
  • 4. Fetid Devourer
    • 4.1. Suggested Talents for Holy Paladin on Fetid Devourer
    • 4.2. Holy Paladin Playstyle on Fetid Devourer
  • 5. Zek'voz, Herald of N'Zoth
    • 5.1. Suggested Talents for Holy Paladin on Zek'voz, Herald of N'Zoth
    • 5.2. Holy Paladin Playstyle on Zek'voz, Herald of N'Zoth
  • 6. Vectis
    • 6.1. Suggested Talents for Holy Paladin on Vectis
    • 6.2. Holy Paladin Playstyle on Vectis
  • 7. Zul, Reborn
    • 7.1. Suggested Talents for Holy Paladin on Zul, Reborn
    • 7.2. Holy Paladin Playstyle on Zul, Reborn
  • 8. Mythrax the Unraveler
    • 8.1. Suggested Talents for Holy Paladin on Mythrax the Unraveler
    • 8.2. Holy Paladin Playstyle on Mythrax the Unraveler
  • 9. G'huun
    • 9.1. Suggested Talents for Holy Paladin on G'huun
    • 9.2. Holy Paladin Playstyle on G'huun
  • 10. Changelog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. The Basics of Stats for Holy Paladin
    • 1.1. How Good is Haste?
    • 1.2. Holy Paladin Mastery
    • 1.3. Talent Choices and Stats
    • 1.4. A Word About Leech
  • 2. Getting a Better Understanding of Holy Paladin Stats
    • 2.1. Statistics Explanations
  • 3. Changelog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems for Holy Paladins
  • 2. Enchants for Holy Paladins
  • 3. Consumables for Holy Paladins
  • 4. Changelog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Macros
    • 1.1. Generic Macros for Paladins
      • 1.1.1. Blessing Mouseover Macros
      • 1.1.2. Lay on Hands Mouseover Macro
      • 1.1.3. Divine Shield
    • 1.2. Specific Macros for Holy Paladins
      • 1.2.1. Beacon of Light Mouseover Macro
      • 1.2.2. Mouseover Cleanse Macro
  • 2. Addons
    • 2.1. Generic Addons for Paladins
      • 2.1.1. ElvUI
      • 2.1.2. Boss Mods: Deadly Boss Mods or Bigwigs
      • 2.1.3. GTFO
      • 2.1.4. Parrot or Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
      • 2.1.5. Recount / Skada / Details!
      • 2.1.6. Weak Auras
      • 2.1.7. Raeli's Spell Announcer
      • 2.1.8. Exorsus Raid Tools
    • 2.2. Specific Addons for Holy Paladins
      • 2.2.1. Grid and GridClickSets
• +Gear and Best in Slot
  • 1. Best in Slot List for Holy Paladins
  • 2. Trinkets for Holy Paladins
  • 3. Azerite Gear for Holy Paladins
    • 3.1. Azerite Helms
    • 3.2. Azerite Shoulders
    • 3.3. Azerite Chests
  • 4. Comparing Azerite Pieces
  • 5. Changelog
• +Simulations
  • 1. Simulations for Healers?
  • 2. Spreadsheets
  • 3. Combat Logs

General Information

On this page, we list the spells that you will often use as a Holy Paladin.

The other pages of our Holy Paladin guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

About Our Author

This guide has been written by Holy Paladin Theorycrafter Adamselene. He currently raids with War Front of Kel'Thuzad-US. You can find him on the Hammer of Wrath class Discord and the most up to date version of “The Light and How to Swing It” — the spreadsheet he maintains with Rhyno — can be found here.

1. Introduction

If you are new to Holy, this is a great place to start to get an understanding of how the spec works. On this page we will discuss what abilities you have, what they are used for within the specialisation, how they interact with each other and also with important cooldowns. If you already have experience with Holy and are comfortable with it in Legion, it is recommended you skip this section and move on to the rest of the guide.

2. Main Resource of Holy Paladins

Mana is your only resource as a Holy Paladin. All of your healing abilities cost Mana, so managing it so that you do not run out over the course of each encounter is crucial to being able to heal competitively.

3. Basic Abilities for Holy Paladins

These are your core skills that are available regardless of talents, and form the core gameplay of the specialization.

Beacon of Light is not a healing spell in itself, but rather a buff you place on an ally. The buffed player will receive 40% of the healing you do to all other players, and any healing done to the Beacon target directly with Holy Light and Flash of Light will refund 25% of the Mana cost. Beacon of Light can only be up on one player at a time, and you should essentially always have this buff active.

Holy Light is your most basic, single target heal. It is has a long cast time and it is relatively inexpensive.

Flash of Light is the emergency variant of Holy Light, it is more expensive and faster, and it also heals for slightly less per cast. Using Flash of Light extensively will probably be unsustainable in terms of Mana.

Holy Shock is an instant-cast single-target heal that has a 9-second cooldown, which is reduced by Haste, and a 30% increased critical strike chance. This is typically used on cooldown, as it is not expensive.

Light of the Martyr is a strong and cheap instant-cast spell that has no cooldown, but which has the drawback of damaging you for 50% of the amount healed. Moreover, its healing does not heal the Beacon of Light target.

Light of Dawn is an instant-cast spell with a 12-second cooldown, which is reduced by Haste, that heals up to 5 injured allies in a cone in front of you. It is relatively inexpensive.

3.1. Utility for Holy Paladins

Divine Shield makes you immune to all damage and loss of control effects for 8 seconds, and is an excellent way for you to survive dangerous mechanics and continue healing your raid in the meantime.

Blessing of Freedom removes movement-impairing effects from the targeted ally, also granting them immunity to such effects for 8 seconds.

4. Important Procs

Infusion of Light causes your Holy Shock critical strikes to reduce the cast time of your next Holy Light by 1.5 seconds or to increase the healing of your next Flash of Light by 40%.

Typically, it is best to use Infusion of Light procs on Flash of Light, assuming that your Mana is sufficient and that the healing will not be wasted as overhealing.

5. Cooldowns for Holy Paladins

Holy Paladins have a number of cooldowns in their arsenal.

• Avenging Wrath increases your healing done and Critical Strike chance by 30% for 20 seconds. It is very useful during periods of high sustained damage.
• Lay on Hands heals the targeted ally for an amount equal to your maximum health, and has a 10-minute cooldown. It should be used to save dying raid members, especially tanks.
• Blessing of Sacrifice lasts 12 seconds, transferring 30% of the damage taken by the target to you, and reducing this damage transferred by 25%. The effect is automatically canceled if the transferred damage would cause you to fall below 20% health. This cooldown is excellent for reducing the damage taken by the tank, or other raid members.
• Aura Mastery empowers your chosen aura (tier 4 talent), increasing its range to 40 yards and also improving its efficiency. It is a raid cooldown, and it should be used at a time designated by your healing officer or raid leader.
• Blessing of Protection protects the targeted ally from all physical damage for 10 seconds, and it has a 5-minute cooldown. It can be used to clear harmful physical damage debuffs and bleeds from the target. Bosses will not attack targets affected by Blessing of Protection.