Holy Priest Healing Easy Mode

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 7.2.5 Changes
  • 3. Patch 7.2 Changes
  • 4. Contents
  • 5. ChangeLog
• ×Easy Mode
  • 1. The Basics
  • 2. Talent Choice
  • 3. Stat Choice
  • 4. Basic Playstyle
    • 4.1. Single Target Healing
    • 4.2. AoE/Raid Healing
  • 5. Cooldown Usage
  • 6. ChangeLog
• +Spell Summary
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Main Resource
  • 3. Basic Abilities
    • 3.1. Utility
  • 4. Important Procs
  • 5. Cooldowns
  • 6. ChangeLog
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices
  • 2. Talent Cheat Sheet
    • 2.1. Raids
    • 2.2. Dungeons
  • 3. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents
  • 4. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents
  • 5. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents
  • 6. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents
  • 7. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents
  • 8. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents
  • 9. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents
  • 10. ChangeLog
• +Artifact Traits and Relics
  • 1. Artifact Progression
  • 2. Relic Choice
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Rotation
    • 1.1. Single Target Healing
    • 1.2. AoE/Raid Healing
    • 1.3. Binding Heal Playstyle
  • 2. Cooldown Usage
  • 3. Optional Read: Mastering Your Holy Priest
    • 3.1. Artifact Abilities
      • 3.1.1. Holy Mending and Prayer of Mending
    • 3.2. Serendipity
    • 3.3. Healing Cooldowns In Detail
      • 3.3.1. Divine Hymn
      • 3.3.2. Guardian Spirit
      • 3.3.3. Tier 4 Talents
      • 3.3.4. Tier 5 Talents
      • 3.3.5. Tier 6 Talents
      • 3.3.6. Tier 7 Talents
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. Basics
  • 2. Getting a Better Understanding
    • 2.1. Statistics Explanations
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems
  • 2. Enchants
  • 3. Consumables
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Macros
    • 1.1. Generic Macros for Priests
      • 1.1.1. Leap of Faith Mouseover Macro
    • 1.2. Specific Macros for Holy Priests
      • 1.2.1. Apotheosis / Circle of Healing Mouseover Macro
      • 1.2.2. Angelic Feather Macro
  • 2. Addons
    • 2.1. Generic Addons for Priests
      • 2.1.1. ElvUI
      • 2.1.2. Clique
      • 2.1.3. Boss Mods: Deadly Boss Mods or Bigwigs
      • 2.1.4. GTFO
      • 2.1.5. Parrot or Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
      • 2.1.6. Weak Auras
      • 2.1.7. Recount / Skada / Details!
    • 2.2. Specific Addons for Holy Priests
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot
  • 1. Best in Slot List
  • 2. Trinket Recommendations
  • 3. Tier 20 Set Bonuses
  • 4. Legendary Items
  • 5. Loot Competition
  • 6. ChangeLog

This page is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty, or simply want a more straightforward way to play their specialisation without being overwhelmed by the numerous subtleties and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.

1. The Basics

Holy Priests are better suited to AoE/raid healing, where they are able to provide relatively smooth output. That said, they are also capable single target healers. They lack mobility, however, which is a small disadvantage.

2. Talent Choice

These are currently the best talent choices as a Holy Priest. Note that some of the suggestions sacrifice a bit of performance for ease of use, but overall the difference is not great. Consult the detailed talents page for the complete picture.

• Level 15: Enlightenment (raids) or Trail of Light (dungeons)
• Level 30: Angelic Feather
• Level 45: Afterlife
• Level 60: Light of the Naaru
• Level 75: Piety or Binding Heal
• Level 90: Divinity
• Level 100: Benediction

3. Stat Choice

Currently, you will want to prioritise secondary stats as follows for raid content:

1. Mastery;
2. Critical Strike;
3. Haste;
4. Versatility.

For dungeon content, the priority is:

1. Critical Strike;
2. Haste;
3. Mastery;
4. Versatility.

4. Basic Playstyle

4.1. Single Target Healing

• low to medium damage: use Heal and Prayer of Mending (on cooldown). In dungeons, you can also use Renew if the damage is low enough.
• medium to high damage: begin incorporating Flash Heal (as your Mana allows, and any time you have a Surge of Light proc, if you have taken this talent).
• high or very high damage: use Holy Word: Serenity; if this is still not enough, you also have access to Guardian Spirit.

If you have taken the Binding Heal talent, then you should use Binding Heal instead of Heal and Flash Heal.

Make regular use of your Light of T'uure (Artifact ability); use it on cooldown, unless you need to save it for predictable meaningful damage. Note that it buffs the target to increase your healing done to them by 25% for 10 seconds, so make sure to follow up on it with spells such as Holy Word: Serenity.

Prayer of Mending should be used on cooldown, unless the encounter has only single target damage (which is very rare/unlikely) or unless you cannot afford the global cooldown because single target damage is too high.

4.2. AoE/Raid Healing

• low damage: use Prayer of Mending on cooldown, and use Heal on the players that require healing. You can supplement this healing with Holy Word: Serenity as needed.
• high sustained damage: turn to Holy Word: Sanctify and Prayer of Healing. In addition to this, you should continue to use Holy Word: Serenity and Prayer of Mending. Renew and Heal are too slow to be worth using.

Power of the Naaru, an Artifact trait, buffs Prayer of Healing for 15 seconds after using Holy Word: Sanctify. You should try to maximise your AoE healing by playing around this buff, namely by using a Holy Word: Sanctify before casting Prayer of Healing (provided that you have unlocked this trait).

5. Cooldown Usage

As a Holy Priest, you have two cooldowns. Here is how you should use them:

• Divine Hymn should be used during periods of very intense raid damage. Keep in mind, however, that your raid leader may instruct you to use it a very specific time.
• Guardian Spirit should be used depending on many factors, including on your raid leader's instructions. If you do not have to save Guardian Spirit for a specific event, then just use it as a "life-saver" on the tank or another raid member who needs it.

About Our Reviewer

This guide has been reviewed and approved Niphyr, a generally knowledgeable, long-time healing Priest and theorycrafter. You can follow him on Twitter.

6. ChangeLog

+ show all entries - show only 10 entries

• 10 Jul. 2017: Updated the playstyle section to mention usage of Binding Heal.
• 12 Jun. 2017: Updated this page to reflect various changes made to the rest of the guide.
• 22 Apr. 2017: Changed tier 4 and 5 talent recommendations.
• 08 Feb. 2017: Updated tier 1 talent recommendation to Enlightenment.
• 10 Jan. 2017: Updated tier 7 talent recommendation to Benediction.
• 22 Dec. 2016: Added easy mode page.