Introduction
Hello I’m Joki and I’ve been playing holy paladin since TBC and I’ve been hardcore raiding since BFA (Crucible of Storms) when I joined Honolulu.
Holy Paladin is an ever versatile spec with a wide range of utility spells such as stun, immunity, freedom and damage reduction, coupled with a powerful reactive healing kit and an emphasis on spot healing.
While classes are buffed and nerfed over time, and metas shift, holy paladins have always endured and carved out a seemingly permanent group spot in all forms of content. The War Within is no different and the spec is in its best state in years. So if you’re considering picking up holy paladin, now is the perfect time to dive in.
Strengths
- Strong spot healing
- Brings a raid-wide damage reduction with Devotion Aura that can be empowered with Aura Mastery
- Game changing utility kit with Blessing of Sacrifice, Blessing of Protection and Blessing
- of Freedom
- Strong passive damage
- Good personal defensives with Divine Protection and an immunity Divine Shield
Weaknesses
- Poor mobility
- Melee Healer
- Lightsmith mechanics are unappealing to many players
What has changed
Patch 12.0 Recent Changes
The Midnight Prepatch has implemented a major overhaul across all classes and roles. For healers the goal of these numerous changes is to reduce our reliance on long ramps, precise timings and heavy reliance on cooldowns, while also slowing down the pace of healing overall.
Paladins, however, have never had long ramps or relied on particularly powerful cooldowns. Instead, the spec has always been focused on reactive healing, moment to moment decision making and target selection, as a result Holy Paladin is the spec that will likely be the least affected by mentioned changes, as our core gameplay remains largely unchanged.
The most significant—and very welcome—change is the effort to reduce button bloat, a problem healers in particular have been struggling with for multiple expansions.
Here are the most important changes coming to Holy Paladin in patch 12.0 that you need to know:
Light of Dawn now heals in a 15 yard radius around the paladin and reduces its healing beyond 5 targets (was capped at 5), rather than being a frontal cone.
Holy Prism has moved to the Class tree from the Holy tree and is now a choice node with Divine Toll .
Hammer of Wrath and Judgement have been merged into one button
Crusader Strike is now only available during Avenging Crusader.
Blessing of Seasons, Merciful Auras, Rebuke, Repentance, and Relentless Inquisitor have been removed