Holy Paladin Overview

In this guide you'll find everything you need to know to prepare you for playing Holy Paladin in The War Within Season 1. The first few sections will cover the basics: talents, stat weights, gear, etc. Once you get a hang of that, we'll dive into more advanced information like playstyle, rotations, dungeon/raid specific info, and much more. If you already know the basics or want to skip to a specific section, use the header navigation to go directly to the part of the guide you're interested in.

Just a bit about myself, my gamer name is Ellesmere and I'm known for pushing world first keys as a Holy Paladin. I've played in Blizzard's most competitive tournaments including many MDI/TGP Global Finals and multiple Race to World Firsts. If you're curious about my current characters on live you can check out my Raider IO profile.

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Why Choose Holy Paladin?
As with any healer, obviously our core responsibility is to keep everyone alive, but what makes us unique? Let's dive into what sets us apart and makes us a strong choice in Mythic+ and raid environments.
Strengths
Survivability|
Damage Reduction|
Damage|
Utility
One of our biggest strengths is how survivable we are due to our extremely high armor and powerful group/personal defensive abilities. We're also the only healer with a full immunity both for ourselves, and others (Blessing of Protection).
Our DR (Damage Reduction) cooldown Devotion Aura is another thing that makes us highly desired in PvE content. Between the Devotion Aura passive, the new Beacon DR talent Light's Protection, the active DR from Aura Mastery, a strong external and multiple immunes, we can mitigate a huge amount of incoming damage.
Holy Paladins have historically always been a powerful damage dealing healer and that will continue to be a selling point of Hpal throughout The War Within. The large passive damage we deal with Consecrate and Judgment/CS, combined with the active damage from Holy Shock and Shield of the Righteous give Hpals a very high ceiling for damage output.
Paladins carry some of the strongest situational utility available in the game. Between Freedom, Blessing of Protection, Hammer of Justice, Blinding Light, Rebuke and Battle Res, we have a lot of special utility that can be game changing if you know when and how to use it.
Weaknesses
Melee Healer|
Low Mobility
The War Within brings a heavy dose of anti melee mechanics both in raid and dungeons, which can make playing in melee hectic at times. It's crucial to learn how to heal when you do have to leave melee and how to get back in as fast as possible.
In addition to being melee, we also have extremely low mobility which can be difficult in the ever increasingly fast paced playstyles of retail WoW.
Best Races for Holy Paladin

In general, the throughput difference between races is very minimal so which race you want will largely be determined by the usefulness of their active racial ability in The War Within dungeons and raids. Alliance definitely has the best racials for Mythic+, but Horde has Blood Elf which is generally the meta in raids.

Blood Elf
Remove a beneficial effect from enemies and generate Holy Power
Blood Elf has been the best Horde race for Holy Paladins for a very long time, and that won't be changing any time soon as Arcane Torrent remains strong in The War Within. In addition to generating Holy Power, the AoE purge has some nice uses in Mythic+. Top that off with a passive 1% crit buff and, most importantly, the best transmogs in WoW... What's not to love?
Tauren
Briefly stun all nearby enemies
Although non Blood Elf races are much less common for Paladins, Tauren is still a great pick if for any reason you don't want to play a Blood Elf. Provided your group doesn't have a large amount of stuns, having an extra AoE stun/disrupt is very powerful for dungeon trash.
Zandalari Troll
Concentrate to heal quickly over a short time
As a last option if you dislike both Blood Elves and Taurens, Zandalari Troll does bring something fairly unique although definitely not as strong. The self heal they have is very powerful but has to be channeled and breaks if taking damage.
Dwarf
Removes all harmful effects and reduces damage taken
Dwarf has been one of the strongest races in Mythic+ for many expansions now due to its racial and just how many mechanics you can neutralize with it. This season in particular, Dwarf will be stronger than ever so if you're really looking to min/max your character for High Keys, you'll want to be a Dwarf (sorry tmog fans).
Human
Instantly clear all stun effects on yourself
The active racial for Humans is actually not very useful in Mythic+, but their passive is so strong that they can still be considered a good pick for dungeons. They are also the strongest choice for raiding which typically makes them a very popular race.
Best Tanks to Play With in Mythic+
Vengeance Demon Hunter
Extreme Self Healing
Their self healing is so strong that most of the time you don't even have to worry about tank healing.
Sigils
Because they bring an AoE grip/slow, the need for druid utility like Typhoon and Ursols is significantly lessened when running with a DH.
Magic Damage Buff
The 5% magic damage buff DH's provide is a solid increase to our damage.
Protection Warrior
Extreme Mitigation
Prot Warriors mitigation scales very well with keys. Heavily utilize Sac to bridge the gaps in their mitigation and you shouldn't have to worry much about tank healing.
Rallying Cry
Similar to Aura Mastery, this is another way to get through a massive AoE damage hit to your group.
Battle Shout
While it may not give us much damage directly, it's a great group wide damage buff for physical comps.
Blood Death Knight
Extreme Self Healing
Similar to Vengeance DH, Blood DK's also have such strong self healing that you rarely have to worry about tank healing.
Mass Grip
Also in common with Vengeance DH, Blood DK's mass grip makes up for a lack of Typhoon and Ursol's.
Anti-Magic Zone
Similar to Aura Mastery, this is another way to get through a massive AoE damage hit to your group.
Best Ranged to Play With in Mythic+
Fire / Frost Mage
Burst Damage / Slows
Fire mage is a burst damage class, which synergizes very well with a burst healer like Holy Paladin. Frost mage brings slows to help with kiting.
Bloodlust and Intellect
Having a class that brings both a unique intellect buff and a real bloodlust is a big plus for everyone in your group, especially Holy Paladins.
Decurse
Mages bring a Decurse, which is the one dispel you don't have. This is only important for certain dungeons.
Hunter
Mechanics Slave
Hunters are the only non caster ranged, making them perfect to do all the ranged mechanics you can't, without losing any damage.
Soothe
Since you don't have soothe, running with a hunter is extremely helpful for the Raging affix and any dungeons that require a soothe.
Bloodlust
Having a class that brings a real bloodlust is essential for any Mythic+ comp, and since you don't bring one Hunter can fill in that gap.
Balance Druid
Extreme Utility
Boomkins bring all the utility you could possibly ever dream of. They bring Typhoon for knocks, Innervate for mana, Trees for tank survivability, Soothe, and huge off healing.
Decurse
All Druid specs bring a Decurse, which is very strong in certain dungeons.
Stealth
Every group should always have at least one player that can stealth. Since you don't have stealth, a druid is that much more important.
Best Melee to Play With in Mythic+
Windwalker Monk
Ring of Peace
When used correctly, Ring of Peace will more then make up for your lack of Typhoon or Ursol's Vortex.
Physical Damage Debuff
The 5% physical damage buff Monks provide is generally a significant increase to the overall damage of your group.
Unique Defensives
Monks always have a defensive up their sleeve, many of which counter major boss mechanics, which means more uptime for your dps.
Rogue
Obvious Reasons
Rogues bring a host of unique utility that make them a great teammate for mythic+ (immunity, tricks, vanish, evasion, cheat death, 3% damage reduction, etc).
Stealth
Every group should always have at least one player that can stealth. Since you don't have stealth, a rogue is that much more important.
Havoc Demon Hunter
Magic Damage Buff
Since you often need to run with at least one ranged (typically a caster), and most of our kit is magic damage, the 5% damage buff Demon Hunters provide is a huge increase to overall damage for your group.
Utility & Survivability
Demon Hunter's bring a lot of unique, very strong utility to M+ (Darkness, AoE stun/slow, purge, insane mobility, etc). You will also be hard pressed finding a more survivable spec then Havoc Demon Hunter. Because of how much they self heal, you'll rarely need to focus heal a Demon Hunter.
New Player Section
if you know the basics of Holy Paladin

The rest of this guide requires a basic level of understanding of how to play Holy Paladin, so I'll use this section to go over some of the things you'll need to know. Holy Paladin is a very versatile healer that uses its core cooldown Avenging Wrath to get huge bursts of healing and damage. Most of our core abilities are used for both healing and damage, giving us lots to do even when group damage is low.

Holy Power Builders
Holy Shock (HS)
Heals an ally or damages an enemy
Generates 1 Holy Power
This is our most important ability and should always be used on cooldown. Holy Shock is instant cast, costs low mana, generates Holy Power, procs our Infusion of Light passive and can be used for either healing or damage.
Crusader Strike (CS)
Damages an enemy in melee range
Generates 1 Holy Power
For most builds, Crusader Strike is our most consistent way of generating Holy Power as it's instant cast and has a very low cooldown. The biggest downside is that it doesn't do any healing, but with the Crusader's Might talent, it also reduces the cooldown of Judgment and Holy Shock.
Judgment
Deals damage and prevents damage dealt by the target
Generates 1 Holy Power
Judgment is another single target dps ability that also generates Holy Power. Additionally, this ability prevents incoming damage with Greater Judgment, and is used to proc the Awakening talent.
Hammer of Wrath (HoW)
Damages an enemy below 20% health
Generates 1 Holy Power
This ability is only usable when you have Avenging Wrath (Wings) active, or when an enemy is below 20% health. Keep in mind that this is still one of our lowest priority abilities and should be treated more as a rotation filler.
Holy Power Spenders
Light of Dawn (LoD)
Heals 5 allies in front of you
Costs 3 Holy Power
Light of Dawn is our main AoE heal and will be your main holy power spender in raid, but will see little use in Mythic+ due to the heavier desire for spot healing in small group settings. Remember that this is a conal ability so aim well and be within range of the players you're aiming at.
Word of Glory (WoG)
Heals an ally for a large amount
Costs 3 Holy Power
This is your biggest single target heal and should be used for single target "spot" healing when one player requires significantly more healing then others.
Shield of the Righteous (SotR)
Deals damage to all nearby enemies
Costs 3 Holy Power
This is our Holy Power "Dump" ability which does AoE damage and reduces the cooldown of Crusader Strike. Make sure you're always dumping excess Holy Power into this ability when there isn't any healing required.
Other Core Abilities
Beacon of Light (Beacon)
Heals on allies also heal your beacon target
Beacon of Light is completely free to cast and provides huge passive healing to whichever target you keep it on. Typically you should always have this on your squishiest ranged dps (hunters, evokers, priests, etc), but can also be placed on the tank if they are struggling to stay alive.
Consecration
Deals damage to all enemies within the effect
Keeping consecration down is your highest priority for dealing damage in Mythic+. It only costs 1 GCD and lasts 12 seconds so it will do the majority of your damage for very little effort. In raid you should typically only use this if there is nothing else happening and no one is injured.
Infusion of Light
Reduces the cost of Flash of Light or increases Judgment/Holy Light's healing by 100%
Infusion of Light is granted whenever you critically strike with Holy Shock. This should be used on different abilities based on what you need: Judgment for tank healing, Flash Heal for a quick spot heal, or Holy Light for a slow but large spot heal.
Holy Light (HL)
Heals an ally (slow cast)
Holy Light is a strong but slow single target heal that should only ever be used when you have an Infusion of Light proc.
Flash of Light (FoL)
Heals an ally (fast cast)
Flash of Light is a very fast single target heal that has its mana cost reduced with Infusion of Light procs. This should be your go to button when you're out of Holy Power and need emergency spot healing.
Divine Protection
Reduces all damage you take by 20% for 8 seconds
This is your main defensive, which is free to cast and off the GCD. With the Unbreakable Spirit talent, it's on an extremely low 42 second cooldown so you should be using it very frequently. Any time you know any type of significant damage is incoming, don't hesitate to use it.
Major Cooldowns
Avenging Wrath (Wings)
Increases your damage, healing and crit by 20% for 20 seconds
Wings has always been the cornerstone of Holy Paladin, it is by far our strongest cooldown and the most drastic difference in your play will come from increasing your uptime and learning how to manage this cooldown properly.
Divine Toll
Instantly cast Holy Shocks on 5 allies or enemies
Divine Toll has been Paladins most versatile and strong cooldown for multiple expansions now and The War Within will be no exception. This is ability gives us huge bursts of AoE healing or damage on a 1 minute cooldown (45 seconds with Quickened Invocation).
Aura Mastery (Devo)
Provides damage reduction to nearby allies
This raid wide 15% damage reduction is often just as strong as most healing throughput cooldowns, making it one of your best tools for handling large predictable incoming AoE damage.
Divine Shield (Bubble)
Makes you immune to all attacks and spells for 8 seconds
People often think of bubble as an emergency only ability due to its 5 minute cooldown. However, with Unbreakable Spirit reducing the cooldown to 3.5 minutes, it becomes one of the most efficient ways to handle AoE healing, especially when combined with Blessing of Sacrifice.
Blessing of Sacrifice (Sac)
Reduces an allies damage taken by 30%, you take 100% of the damage prevented
This is your main tank healing cooldown as well as the best way to mitigate heavy incoming damage on your dps friends, you should be using this on any time heavy damage is incoming on one player and you don't have a lot of throughput to heal through it.
Now that we've gone over the basics, let's dive into the talents and best builds for the first season of The War Within.