TheHolyPaladin Healing Styles
January 3, 2009
This is where you learn some fun stuff. This is where you start to put it all together.
There are basically three main Holy Paladin healing styles. Two of these styles are good. Both are very powerful. Both use about the same item enhancements, the same gems etc, but their execution to each fight is slightly different.
The 3 Styles are:
- Spam Holy Light
- Toolbox
- Non-Reactive Spammer
The two schools of thought and the basic behind the difference between the styles is "Efficiency" Vs. "Endurance".
Efficiency cares about both heals per second and heals per mana and getting the most out of each piece of mana.
Endurance cares mainly about casting lots of Holy Light, sacrificing most in the name of being able to cast for the longest time possible.
Spam Holy Light: (Endurance)
This is the "Endurance" healing. Intellect is so important to this style, almost all enchantments, gems and even items are chosen with Intellect or getting fast mana in mind.
This is the most common style that Holy Paladins aim for. The reason that it’s called that is you primarily spam Holy Light as your main healing spell.
Your primary focus is on the tanks, with your Holy Light Glyph splashing onto the Melee.
When two tanks are taking damage, keep Beacon of Light up on one, and chain cast Holy Light the other.
Your primary aim is to reduce the cost of your Holy Light spells and increase your Mana back from Divine Plea, Meta Gems, Libram, and your 4 Piece T7 bonus.
Although it’s known as spamming Holy Light, its not only Holy Light that is cast. It’s more like HL, FOL, HL, HL, FOL, HL, HL, FOL etc. etc. There are very few encounters or situations where continually casting Holy Light is needed. However preparing for those situations is important to aim for.
Holy Shock is also a tool used when damage spikes and a fast heal is needed. It’s usually Holy Shock in a macro to ensure a crit happens, followed by a fast cast Holy Light, thanks to the Infusion of Light Talent.
The downside on this style is the gear required to be able to keep it going. You will find Holy Paladins that do this style will sacrifice performance and stack on Intellect to increase sustainability. You will need to buy a [Nobles Deck] and hand it in to get a [Darkmoon Card: Illusion]. A heroic badge reward: [Libram of Renewal] is also a must have. [Glyph of Seal of Wisdom] is another must have and must be up at all times. The last piece of the puzzle is your 4 Piece Tier 7 Bonus.
The beauty of this style is you can have multiple healing paladins in the raid and not get under each others feet, which can happen with multiple healers with the Toolbox style.
Keeping Judgments of the Pure talent up for most of the time is also a very good idea.
Keeping Divine Plea on cool down is essential.
Toolbox: (Efficiency)
This is the "Efficiency" healing.
This style is quite a fair bit harder to pull off, but if you get it working, it’s well worth it.
Beacon of Light is up on your healing assignment all the time. The main exception is if your assignment is the only one taking damage.
It's all done through a combination of keeping Sacred Shield up on your target and anyone else you know that will take continual damage and healing those who are taking damage. This healing is done through chain casting of Flash of Light, ramping it up to casting Holy Light when the damage is getting heavy, especially into groups where the [Glyph of Holy Light] will splash onto others. Most of this healing is copied on to your healing assignment by way of Beacon of Light.
This style needs your user interface set up very well, with raid frames able to keep track of whether Beacon of Light is up and who is in range, who has Sacred Shield up and who has agro. Setting up multiple macros that work with mouse over, normal cast and enemy boss assist is also recommended.
Keeping Judgments of the Pure up all the time is essential. The 15% haste has you casting your spells faster and reduces the Global Cool Down.
It's also worth noting that having two Toolbox healers in a raid means they often get under each others toes since two Beacon of lights cannot be on a single target. At a minimum being assigned to heal different targets is esseitial. Both healers work well together.
All the primary stats are important for this style. Spell Power, Crit, Intellect and Haste.
Non-Reactive Spammer:
This style is what its name indicates. It pretty much spams an individual healing assignment with Flash of Light, ramping it up to Holy Light when the fight dictates. Keeping up Sacred Shield all the time.
While learning raiding, or while your gear isn’t that great, this style is what we’d suggest to use. While you’ll never be on top of the healing meters, your target will never die.
For this style to work best, stack on Haste Rating (up to 675) and stack on as much Spell Power as you can get your hands on. During a fight, if you need to, don’t be afraid to use Divine Plea if you’re going to need more Mana in a battle.
Conclusion:
It's important to know and understand the healing styles that are out there. While being a Non-Reactive Spammer is a bad thing, both Spam Holy Light and Toolbox both have their place.
While a lot of the top end paladins simply use the Spam Holy Light style and this is fine, there are others who don't have the gear and aren't going to be able to get it in a hurry.
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