| Table of Contents |
| 1. | What has changed since Cataclysm? |
| 2. | Race |
| 3. | Professions |
| 4. | Talents |
| 5. | Roles as a Holy Paladin |
| 6. | Gear |
| 7. | Tips |
| 8. | Macros |
| 9. | Addons |
| 10. | Final Words |
1. What has changed since Cataclysm?
Paladins have gained and lost several abilities with the release of Mists of Pandaria.
What Paladins Lost:Paladins have gained and lost several abilities with the release of Mists of Pandaria.
Haste/Mana regeneration increase from judgement.
Hand of Protection
Exorcism
Holy Light
Old Talent system
Intellect no longer increases mana pools.
What Paladins Gained:
Divine Shield
Seal of Command
Mana has been changed, all mana using classes at 19 now have a baseline 110 mana
Holy Insight
New Talent system
2. Race
Human
Every Man for Himself
Mace Specialization
Sword Specialization
The Human Spirit
Draenei
Gift of the Naaru
Heroic Presence
Shadow Resistance
Dwarf
Stoneform
Frost Resistance
Mace Specialization
Horde: Blood Elf = Tauren
Blood Elf
Arcane Torrent
Arcane Resistance
Tauren
War Stomp
Endurance
Nature Resistance
3. Professions
Herbalism: Lifeblood: This provides a small heal and 94 haste.
Skinning: Master of anatomy: This provides 9 critical strike ~3% crit
Mining: Toughness: This provides +7 stamina
Engineering: Engineering provides no passive buffs, but picking up engineering allows you to use big bronze bombs. Big bronze bombs are a great additional CC.
I recommend picking up Herbalism and Skinning, but engineering is a great choice if you make good use of bombs.
4. Talents
Speed of Light: I’m not a fan of this one. First off it can be dispelled; secondly it limits your overall movement compared to the others due to its short up-time. However I can see this being a great cooldown for getting out of trouble.4. Talents
Long Arm of the Law: I don’t recommend this talent. The big downside to it is that it requires you to judgment. So if you’re crossing mid you will be moving as slow as everyone else.
Pursuit of Justice: This talent provides the most overall mobility, it also frees up your boot enchant because minor speed to boots and this talent do not stack. I highly recommend choosing this talent.
5. Roles as a Holy Paladin
Healing the Midfight
Midfield fights are very common and as a holy paladin positioning is key. You want to position yourself as far away from the enemy team while being in range to heal your teammates. Since there is no LoS in the middle of WSG this is the only way to avoid incoming CC. It is very important to avoid tunnel visioning while healing midfield, you don’t want to be left behind while your team is pushing the enemy team back or left for dead when your team is falling back.Healing the Midfight
Healing the Offense
Your top priority when healing offense is keeping your offense alive, remember damage comes second. Paladins have decent overall damage with offensive holy shocks, judgment, and crusader strike. Try to use your hammer of justice wisely to help land a kill on the EFC. Also pay attention to your own flag carrier, if you know he’s dropping go for the repack.
Healing the Defense
It is more common for paladins to heal defense. This is due to paladin’s strong heals and big defensive cooldowns (bubble and lay on hands). When healing in the Alliance and Horde bases take advantage of LOS. It is also important to keep some distance between you and your flag carrier, when your healers are all stacked up your defense is more vulnerable to CC.
Flag Carrying
Being able to flag carry is a very important part of playing a holy paladin, especially when pugging often. Holy paladins make great flag carriers for pugs due to their high armor, high mobility, and heals. As a flag carrier you need to be aware of your teammate’s positions as well as the other team’s positions. Making the mistake of line of sighting your healers or running away from your teammates will result in being returned on. It’s hard to write about flag carrying, flag carrying is something that you learn as you go on and learn from your mistakes. Don’t shy away from picking up the flag; it just takes time, practice, and experience to become comfortable with flag carrying. Don’t give up!
6. Gear
Here I will be listing different gear options for Holy Paladins. I will include several different options for each slot. Note that horde has much better gear for paladins, but alliance paladins don’t be discouraged. I played my paladin for over a year with alliance only gear, the gear difference doesn’t make as big of a deal as people think! (I included gear available to alliance for every slot in this section)
*Holy Paladins no longer need hit rating for spells
** No Grandfathered gear will be included in this guide
If an item is in bold that means I recommend using this piece if it is available to you, same goes for enchants.
With patch 5.4 there is a wide variety of enchanting options to choose from. Mix and match and see what you like.
Thanks to Aelobin You can see a complete list of enchants and what they scale to here.
Standard Healing Set
Head:Tattered Dreadmist Mask l Mystical Coif of Elements l Lucky Fishing HatHere I will be listing different gear options for Holy Paladins. I will include several different options for each slot. Note that horde has much better gear for paladins, but alliance paladins don’t be discouraged. I played my paladin for over a year with alliance only gear, the gear difference doesn’t make as big of a deal as people think! (I included gear available to alliance for every slot in this section)
*Holy Paladins no longer need hit rating for spells
** No Grandfathered gear will be included in this guide
If an item is in bold that means I recommend using this piece if it is available to you, same goes for enchants.
With patch 5.4 there is a wide variety of enchanting options to choose from. Mix and match and see what you like.
Thanks to Aelobin You can see a complete list of enchants and what they scale to here.
Standard Healing Set
Neck: Voice Amplification Modulator l Thick Bronze Necklace
Shoulder: Pristine Lightforge Spaulders l Mystical Pauldrons of Elements
Enchant: Greater Orb l Greater Discipline l Heavy Borean
Back: Ancient Bloodmoon Cloak l Tumultuous Cloak of the Sorcerer (+4 Stamina, +4 Intellect, +4 Haste)
Enchant: Mighty Stamina l Greater Intellect l Greater Critical Strike l Greater Speed
Chest: Mystical Vest of Elements
Enchant: Exceptional Mana lHeavy Borean
Wrist: Uninsured Bracers l Fortified Bracers of Intellect or of the Eagle (+5 Intellect l +3 Stamina +3 Intellect) l Mindthrust Bracers l Cuffs of the Black Elements
Enchant: Healing Power l Greater Crit l Greater Speed l Major Stamina
Hands: Wild Rider’s Gloves l Serpent Gloves l Serpentis’ Gloves
Enchant: Minor Haste l Healing Power l Blasting l *Glove Reinforcements
*Only usable on BoE items.
Waist: Earthbound Girdle of the Sorcerer (+5 Stamina, +5 Intellect, +5 Haste)
Legs: Tattered Dreadmist Leggings l Mystical Kilt of Elements
Enchant: Sapphire Spellthread
Feet: Merger Boots l Spidersilk Boots
Enchant: Surefooted l Haste l Boar's Speed l *Heavy Borean
*Only usable on BoE items.
Ring 1: Stillwater’s Signet l Seal of Argas l Lorekeeper’s Ring l Solid Bronze Ring
Ring 2: Seal of Argas l Garrosh’s Pardon
Trinket 1: Arena Grand Master l Discerning Eye of the Beast l Swift Hand of Justice l Inherited Mark of Tyranny
Trinket 2: Inherited Insignia of the Alliance/Hordel Arena Grand Master l Discerning Eye of the Beast l Swift Hand of Justice
Main Hand: Devout Aurastone Hammer l The Blessed Hammer of Grace
Enchant: Mighty Intellect l Spellpower l Windsong l Jade Spirit
Shield: Shield of Talrendis Point l Weathered Observer's Shield l Seedcloud Buckler
Enchant: Vitality l Greater Intellect l Major Stamina
Flag Carrying Set
Head: Burnished Helm of Might l Lucky Fishing Hat
Neck: Thick Bronze Necklace
Shoulder: Strengthened Stockade Pauldrons l Pristine Lightforge Spaulders
Enchant: Heavy Borean
Back: Tumultuous Cloak of Stamina (+8 Stamina)
Enchant: Mighty Stamina
Chest: Burnished Breastplate of Might l Toughened Leather Armor
Enchant: Heavy Borean
Wrist: Sparkmetal Bracers l Fortified Bracers of Stamina (+5 Stamina)
Enchant: Major Stamina
Hands: Thorbia’s Gauntlets l Bristlebark Gloves
Enchant: Glove Reinforcements
Waist: Earthbound Girdle of Stamina (+10 Stamina)
Legs: Burnished Legplates of Might
Enchant: Sapphire Spellthread
Feet: Silver-Linked Footguards l Spidersilk Boots
Enchant: Heavy Borean
Ring 1: Seal of Argas l Blood Ring
Ring 2: Seal of Argas l Garrosh’s Pardon
Trinket 1: Arena Grand Master l Inherited Mark of Tyranny
Trinket 2: Inherited Insignia of the Alliance/Horde l Arena Grand Master
Main Hand: The Blessed Hammer of Grace
Enchant: Colossus l Mighty Intellect l Spellpower
Shield: l Flamescarred Draconian Deflector l Weathered Observer's Shield l Gold-Plated Buckler l Redbeard Crest
Enchant: Major Stamina
7. Tips
Reckoning (Taunt):This is often an overlooked ability, but it can come in handy. This ability is useful for keeping yourself and rogue in combat.
Be aware of your surroundings: This is one of the most important things as a holy paladin (any healer really). Know who is around you at all times. I would recommend turning on friendly and enemy nameplates.
Spellfaking/Juking: This is something you learn over time. You will get interrupted, it happens to everyone. Most rogues/shamans/mage have interrupt patterns and you will notice them. Use this to your advantage. Don’t get discouraged if you find yourself getting locked out often, it just takes practice.
Don’t be afraid to word of glory (Pursuit of Justice People): Word of glory is still a strong instant heal, don’t be afraid of dropping your PoJ stacks for the heal!
Don’t give up!: You will make mistakes, we all do. It is important you keep a positive attitude and keep trying to improve. The more you work at it the better you’ll get!
8. Macros
Focus Hammer of Justice: /cast [target=focus] Hammer of Justice
Focus Reckoning (Taunt): /cast [target=focus] Reckoning
Stopcasting(This allows you to cancel your cast without moving): /stopcasting
CCd macros These are important for letting your teammates know that you are sitting in a CC when not communicating over Audio:
/s ccd full duration
/s ccd half duration
/s ccd short duration
9. Addons
Battleground Targets
Grid
*I recommend having some sort of second raid frame addon, blizzard raid frames often bug*
Interrupt Bar
OmniCC
10. Final Words
This is where the guide ends, I hope it has helped. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, compliments, criticism, contributions, please feel free to contact me.
This guide is up to date as of patch 5.4.
All Ability/Item/Enchant links used are from www.wowhead.com
Big thanks to Aelobin for creating the enchants spreadsheet.
/s ccd half duration
/s ccd short duration
9. Addons
Battleground Targets
Grid
*I recommend having some sort of second raid frame addon, blizzard raid frames often bug*
Interrupt Bar
OmniCC
10. Final Words
This is where the guide ends, I hope it has helped. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, compliments, criticism, contributions, please feel free to contact me.
This guide is up to date as of patch 5.4.
All Ability/Item/Enchant links used are from www.wowhead.com
Big thanks to Aelobin for creating the enchants spreadsheet.
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