Holy Paladin Guide: Midnight Season 2 Builds, Rotation, Stats

This Holy Paladin guide covers Midnight Season 2 on patch 12.1.5: Herald of the Sun vs Lightsmith, beacons and the apex talent, the raid and Mythic+ healing priorities, cooldowns, stats, best weapon and trinkets, utility for keys, and Holy in PvP. Blizzard's October 27 hotfixes buffed Holy Paladin in PvP only (+5% healing and cheaper Holy Light with Divine Favor), so the PvE advice below is unchanged (Icy Veins hotfix summary). Builds and priorities follow Icy Veins' Holy Paladin guide and Method, cited inline.

Quick summary

• Herald of the Sun is the default hero tree for raid and Mythic+. Icy Veins and Method both recommend it, and Lightsmith trades healing for damage.
• Stats: Icy Veins puts Mastery first for every build. Method agrees for raid but puts Versatility above Mastery in Mythic+.
• The rotation in one line: cast as many Holy Shocks as you can, never cap Holy Power, and keep Divine Toll, Holy Prism and Beacon of Virtue on cooldown (Icy Veins).
• Top trinkets: Soulcoiler Ritual Vessel from raid, and Twisted Horror's Tendril in Mythic+ only, are both S tier on Icy Veins.
• New players in keys should hold Holy Power at 4 to 5 before spending it on Shield of the Righteous, so they always have an emergency heal ready.
• It's the best Mythic+ healer this season. Holy Paladin healed 85.7% of the world's top 2,000 timed keys on October 28 (Raider.IO) and is S tier on our Mythic+ healer and tank tier list.

Holy Paladin strengths and weaknesses

Strengths	Weaknesses
Strong single-target healing with Holy Shock and Word of Glory (Icy Veins)	Can struggle with very hard-hitting group damage if you underuse cooldowns
Strong externals, such as Blessing of Sacrifice and Blessing of Protection	Low mobility
Group damage reduction with Aura Mastery	No standard interrupt and limited crowd control
Good damage for a healer	Heavy mana pressure from Holy Light and Beacon of Virtue

Best Holy Paladin build: Herald of the Sun or Lightsmith

Content	Pick	Why	Source
Raid	Herald of the Sun	Passive boosts to Light of Dawn, Eternal Flame and Holy Shock. Lightsmith "is not competitive in raiding"	Icy Veins
Mythic+ (default)	Herald of the Sun	More reliable healing. Solar Grace adds 5% Haste, and Sun Sear and Second Sunrise add Holy Shock healing	Icy Veins
Mythic+ (damage-focused)	Lightsmith	A bit more damage and sometimes seen in the highest keys, but you lose Divine Toll	Icy Veins, Method
For fun (melee)	Lightsmith Avenging Crusader	Melee playstyle built on Hammer and Anvil and Judgment. Icy Veins says it's a "noticeable healing loss"	Icy Veins

Icy Veins has import strings for Herald Raiding, Herald Mythic+ and Lightsmith Mythic+ on its talent page. Use the in-game import button instead of copying talents by hand. Method notes that when you switch to Lightsmith in M+, you should swap Liberation for Tirion's Devotion.

Choose your beacons

In Mythic+, Icy Veins takes Beacon of Virtue because it works with Pillars of Light, Saved by the Light and Glistening Radiance. Beacon of Faith "is still a fine choice for players who hate Virtue," with a small healing loss.

Understand the apex talent

Beacon of the Savior is the Midnight apex talent, with three ranks (Icy Veins):

1. Rank 1. Adds a beacon in combat that jumps to the lowest-health ally.
2. Rank 2. Increases the healing it transfers and your healing on that target.
3. Rank 3. Places an absorb shield with damage reduction every 8 seconds or when the beacon moves.

Icy Veins notes that it benefits from every talent that boosts Beacon of Light, such as Commanding Light and Saved by the Light.

Set the Omnium Folio

Icy Veins recommends the Rune of Unleashed Fire, Self-Mending, Lingering, Masterful Cunning and Overload. Masterful Cunning can be swapped for any secondary rune you like. See our Omnium Folio guide.

Holy Paladin raid healing rotation

Icy Veins' raid priority, in order:

1. Never waste Holy Power. If you're at 5 or about to cap, spend it.
2. Keep Divine Toll, Holy Prism and Holy Armaments on cooldown.
3. Cast Beacon of Virtue right as damage hits.
4. Use Infusion of Light procs on Flash of Light. If nobody needs healing, use them on Judgment.
5. Cast Holy Shock, then Judgment, as often as you can.
6. Spend Holy Power on Eternal Flame (Herald) or Word of Glory. Use Light of Dawn instead when single-target spending would mostly overheal, or when you don't have an Empyrean Legacy proc.
7. Cast Holy Light when you can afford the mana and it won't overheal.
8. Fill with Judgment. When nobody needs healing, spend Holy Power on Shield of the Righteous for a little mana.

Avenging Crusader windows change the priority. Crusader Strike replaces the button, so cast Judgment and Crusader Strike on cooldown, spend Holy Power on Light of Dawn, and fill with Holy Shock.

Example. A big raid-wide hit is about to land. Cast Holy Light, then queue Beacon of Virtue right after it so the beacons land as the damage arrives. Icy Veins calls this spell-queueing trick the last step in getting the most out of Virtue, and Moment of Compassion makes Flash of Light heal more on beaconed targets.

Holy Paladin Mythic+ healing rotation

Icy Veins' Mythic+ priority keeps the raid core but gives more weight to damage:

1. Never waste Holy Power. When nobody needs healing, Shield of the Righteous is always an option.
2. Keep Divine Toll and Holy Prism on cooldown. Cast Beacon of Virtue as damage hits, and keep Holy Armaments on cooldown.
3. Use Infusion of Light on Flash of Light for healing or on Judgment for damage.
4. Cast Holy Shock as much as possible, and spend on Eternal Flame or Word of Glory.
5. Cast Holy Light for big healing when you can afford it.
6. Cast Judgment for damage. When healing is heavy, swap it for Flash of Light.
7. When nobody needs healing, spend on Shield of the Righteous.

Use the 4-to-5 Holy Power rule

Icy Veins says the most common mistake is spending Holy Power on Shield of the Righteous as soon as you have 3. Until you know a dungeon's damage, bank 4 to 5 Holy Power and spend only from there. That keeps an instant Word of Glory or Eternal Flame ready for surprise damage. For mana, you can drink between packs and bosses (Icy Veins).

Example. On a new route, a Holy Paladin sits at 4 Holy Power through trash. When a pack's surprise cast hits the group, they press Eternal Flame on the lowest player right away instead of building from zero, then go back to Shield of the Righteous once everyone's topped off.

Holy Paladin cooldowns

Cooldown	What it does	How to use it	Source
Avenging Wrath	More damage, healing and crit for 30 seconds on a 2-minute cooldown	Use it often, ideally lined up with longer damage windows	Icy Veins
Aura Mastery	12% damage reduction for all allies with Devotion Aura	Use it right before big damage. In raid, it gets assigned	Icy Veins
Avenging Crusader	Replaces Wrath. Judgment and Crusader Strike heal nearby allies	Cast Judgment and Crusader Strike as much as you can	Icy Veins
Divine Toll	Casts 5 Holy Shocks	Press it often. In Herald builds it gives Dawnlight	Icy Veins

Holy Paladin stat priority, gems and enchants

Build	Icy Veins	Method
Herald raid	Mastery > Haste > Crit > Vers	Mastery > Haste = Crit > Vers
Lightsmith	Mastery > Crit > Haste > Vers	Crit gains value from Hammer and Anvil
Mythic+	Mastery > Haste > Crit > Vers, dropping Mastery once you're comfortable	Versatility above Mastery

Item level comes before secondary stats. Icy Veins points to QuestionablyEpic for personal gear comparison. Method's advice on Mastery is "Don't play around this." In Midnight all your healing can be done from range, so stand somewhere safe. Icy Veins adds that Beacon of the Lightbringer also counts your beacon targets' distance, which is a reason to put beacons on ranged players.

Gems (Icy Veins): Flawless Quick Amethyst, Flawless Masterful Garnet, Flawless Masterful Peridot and Flawless Masterful Lapis.

Slot	Enchant
Weapon	Acuity of the Ren'dorei
Helm	Empowered Hex of Leeching
Shoulders	Silvermoon's Mending
Chest	Mark of the Magister
Legs	Arcanoweave Spellthread
Boots	Shaladrassil's Roots
Rings	Zul'jin's Mastery, or Silvermoon's Alacrity for damage

Consumables (Method): Hearty Silvermoon Parade food, Flask of the Blood Knights or Flask of the Magisters, Lightfused Mana Potion, Concentrated Silvermoon Health Potion and Thalassian Phoenix Oil.

Races: "all of them are viable." Method suggests Dwarf for Alliance (Stoneform's cleanse and physical damage reduction). It also notes Zandalari Troll's two raid racials, Blood Elf's Arcane Torrent for extra Holy Power, and Human's 2% secondary stats.

Holy Paladin BiS gear, best weapon and trinkets

Best weapon: Icy Veins' best-in-slot main hand is Baleful Hexblade from the Coiled Altar in The Venomous Abyss, with Bubblefin Splash Guard from Nymrissa Wavecaller as the off-hand. If you won't clear the raid early, Icy Veins says to craft Magister's Mana Sword with Darkmoon Sigil: Hunt and Haste/Mastery first, then Spellbreaker's Rebuke with Arcanoweave Lining. Our crafted gear guide covers Sparks and embellishments.

Ascendant Venomstones (live since October 20) go on your weapon first, then trinkets, then the off-hand (Icy Veins). Ten stones raise a fully upgraded Myth-track piece from 334 to 340.

Voidcores: Icy Veins says raiders should bonus-roll Heroic or Mythic Ula'tek until they have Chausses of Unbound Rancor and Aqirbane Reliquary, then Mythic Nek'zali for Soulcoiler Ritual Vessel. Fresh characters get the most from Murder Row, which drops two best-in-slot tier-slot pieces you can catalyze right away. Our Great Vault guide covers where Voidcores come from.

Icy Veins says that in Season 2 you can convert any item to a tier piece and keep its stats. Reckless Spirit Breastplate and Chausses of Unbound Rancor from the new raid are highly desirable. The tier set works like this (Icy Veins):

• 2-piece: more Flash of Light healing and a bigger Greater Judgment absorb.
• 4-piece: Judgment has a 20% chance to grant Infusion of Light, Holy Light always grants it, and Holy Light costs more mana.

Tier	Trinkets
S	Soulcoiler Ritual Vessel (Nek'zali the Soulcoiler), Twisted Horror's Tendril (Mythic+ only)
A	Gebbo's Bottomless Bag (The Lost Explorers), Wavecaller's Seastone, Lightspire Core, Drum of Renewed Bonds, Ruby Whelp Shell, Hex Lord's Dooming Idol
B	Effigy of Ula'tek's Faithful, Glorious Crusader's Keepsake, Vile Vial of Volatile Venom, Gaze of the Alnseer

Icy Veins says trinkets within a tier are roughly equal, so item level matters a lot. For upgrade tracks, see our Season 2 gearing guide and catch-up gearing guide.

Holy Paladin in Mythic+: utility and stops

• Stops: Hammer of Justice is your main single-target stop. Blinding Light disorients enemies within 10 yards and is your AoE stop. Repentance works only on certain enemy types and doesn't put you in combat (Icy Veins).
• Blessing of Protection removes bleeds such as Grievous and blocks physical damage for 10 seconds. It's often used on melee DPS who pull threat.
• Blessing of Freedom removes or prevents slows, including many that Cleanse can't remove.
• Devotion Aura plus Aura Mastery for big hits. Stay in range of the tank.
• Xal'atath's Bargains. On Ascendant, Blinding Light can stop orb waves, usually every other wave. On Pulsar, healers often soak the orbs.

You have no standard interrupt, so tell your group in advance which casts your stuns cover. Our interrupt coordination guide shows how to plan stops, and the Season 2 dungeon guide lists this season's dungeons.

Holy Paladin in PvP

Holy Paladin is C tier on our Midnight PvP tier list: seventh of seven healers in Solo Shuffle, fifth in 3v3 and 2v2, and seventh in Blitz on Murlok's October 28 ladders. It wins 49.0% of Shuffle rounds on ArenaCoach. Its strength is externals: Blessing of Protection, Sacrifice and Freedom can save a partner in a way few healers can. Its weakness is raw healing.

Blizzard is trying to fix that. On October 26 it stopped Spreading the Word from putting Cleanse on cooldown when you cast Blessing of Protection. On October 27 it raised Holy's PvP healing by 5% and made Divine Favor cut Holy Light's mana cost by 50% (was 30%), to "promote casted healing." Those changes aren't in the ladder data yet. If you want to try Holy in arena, 3v3 with a coordinated team is its best bracket.

Common Holy Paladin mistakes

1. Capping Holy Power. Spend before you'd generate a sixth point.
2. Sitting on Holy Shock charges. Icy Veins' rotation starts with casting as many Holy Shocks as you can.
3. Casting Holy Light into overheal. It's expensive; Icy Veins says use it only when it won't overheal.
4. Spending all your Holy Power on Shield of the Righteous in keys. Keep 4 to 5 for an emergency Word of Glory while you learn.
5. Not telling the group which casts your stuns cover. You have no standard interrupt, so plan Hammer of Justice and Blinding Light in advance.

Boosted, returning and alt players

• Returning players: Midnight's healing all works from range (Method), so you don't need to stand in melee anymore. Import Icy Veins' Herald string first, then set your Omnium Folio and apex talent.
• Boosted or catch-up characters: item level comes first in Icy Veins' stat lists. Fill empty slots and convert off-pieces to tier before you chase secondary stats.
• Alts: use the Herald Mythic+ build and the 4-to-5 Holy Power rule until you know each dungeon. Our first key checklist covers the basics.

Holy Paladin pairs well with the top Mythic+ tank, covered in our Blood Death Knight guide. If you play Paladin as DPS too, see the Retribution Paladin guide, and for the other top key healer, the Restoration Shaman guide. More Midnight guides are on the World of Warcraft hub.

Want a hand with this?

If you would rather not grind this part yourself, World of Warcraft dungeon and Mythic+ services are listed on FullBoosts. Read Blizzard's End User License Agreement before you buy any service from anyone, FullBoosts included — a marketplace listing isn't publisher permission.

FAQ

Is Holy Paladin good in Midnight Season 2? Yes. It healed 85.7% of the world's top 2,000 timed keys on October 28 (Raider.IO) and has the highest Mythic+ top-player score of any healer on Murlok. It's weaker in PvP.

Herald of the Sun or Lightsmith? Herald of the Sun for raid and most keys. Lightsmith gives more damage but less healing and loses Divine Toll (Icy Veins).

What is the Holy Paladin stat priority? Icy Veins puts item level first, then Mastery > Haste > Crit > Versatility for Herald. For Mythic+, Method puts Versatility above Mastery.

What are the best Holy Paladin trinkets? Soulcoiler Ritual Vessel and in Mythic+ only, Twisted Horror's Tendril are S tier on Icy Veins.

What is the best weapon for Holy Paladin? Baleful Hexblade from the Coiled Altar, with Bubblefin Splash Guard as the off-hand (Icy Veins). Magister's Mana Sword is the crafted option if you won't clear the raid early.

Which race is best for Holy Paladin? Method says all races are viable and the difference is minor. It recommends Dwarf on Alliance for Stoneform, which removes harmful effects and cuts physical damage, and Blood Elf on Horde for Arcane Torrent's extra Holy Power.

Related guides

• Midnight Mythic+ healer and tank tier list
• Midnight PvP tier list
• Retribution Paladin guide
• Midnight Great Vault guide
• Midnight Season 2 Mythic+ dungeons and rewards
• Midnight Omnium Folio guide