Talent Builds
Raid Build - Avenging Crusader
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Lightsmith with Avenging Crusader is currently the most optimal build for raiding. The majority of your healing in this build will come from semi-smart healing provided by AC so familiarize yourself with the following rotation when in AC
- Judgment
- Crusader Strike with Blessed Assurance buff
- Spend Holy Power
- Crusader Strike without Blessed Assurance buff
- Holy Shock
Don’t stress too much about your Holy Armament targets. Sacred Weapon performs the same no matter who you cast it on, as long as they’re a DPS and don’t already have a Sacred Weapon. Holy Bulwark should be used the same as any other absorption spell, either cast it on a tank or on a DPS if you know they’re about to take damage.
Reminder: When playing this build your stat priority changes to Int > Haste >Crit >Mastery/Versa
Raid Build - Melee (Herald of the Sun)
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This build is designed to maximize the effectiveness of Holy Shock and Holy Power spenders as these will be the main sources of our active healing. Your primary focus should be on casting Holy Shock as frequently as possible and to generate as much Holy Power as possible, which you’ll then use on Eternal Flame and Light of Dawn. Both of these abilities will also apply the Dawnlight HoT, providing sustained healing to your raid.
To support this playstyle, we’ll select all of the talents that improve Holy Shock and since it's a melee build we’ll focus on generating Holy Power through Crusader Strike and Judgment rather than casting Flash of Light, so we’ll pick Crusader’s Might for that.
Flex Options
- Beacon of Faith - Both beacons are viable options in M+ and Raid, which one you’ll end up playing depends on the content and difficulty you’re doing. I've defaulted to Beacon of Virtue as it provides the highest HPS potential, but if you’re just learning an encounter or struggling with mana Beacon of Faith is a fine choice.
- Merciful Auras - If you find yourself struggling to keep track of Blessing of Seasons, Merciful auras offers a more user-friendly alternative, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your gameplay.
- Relentless Inquisitor - This is a great talent that provides a lot of haste - a stat which is particularly useful at the start of an expansion. Unfortunately it’s locked behind Tyr’s Deliverance which has fallen behind other options of the same tier and why I can't justify picking it.
Raid Build - Caster (Herald of the Sun)
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This build is designed to maximize the effectiveness of Holy Shock and Holy Power spenders as these will be the main sources of our active healing. Your primary focus should be on casting Holy Shock as frequently as possible and to generate as much Holy Power as possible, which you’ll then use on Eternal Flame and Light of Dawn. Both of these abilities will also apply the Dawnlight HoT, providing sustained healing to your raid.
To support this playstyle, we’ll select all of the talents that improve Holy Shock and since it's a caster build our filler Holy Power generating spell will be Flash of Light.
The main difference between this version and melee is that instead of Crusader’s Might we’ll spec into Inflorescence of the Sunwell which will provide us with a second Infusion of Light and buff both Flash of Light and Holy Light.
Flex Options
- Beacon of Faith - Both beacons are viable options in M+ and Raid, which one you’ll end up playing depends on the content and difficulty you’re doing. I've defaulted to Beacon of Virtue as it provides the highest HPS potential, but if you’re just learning an encounter or struggling with mana Beacon of Faith is a fine choice.
- Merciful Auras - If you find yourself struggling to keep track of Blessing of Seasons, Merciful auras offers a more user-friendly alternative, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your gameplay.
- Relentless Inquisitor - This is a great talent that provides a lot of haste - a stat which is particularly useful at the start of an expansion. Unfortunately it’s locked behind Tyr’s Deliverance which has fallen behind other options of the same tier and why I can't justify picking it.
In the caster build it's a bit more viable than in melee, so if you want to give it a try you can drop Empyrean Legacy and Reclamation and take Tyr’s Deliverance and Relentless Inquisitor.
Mythic+ (Herald of the Sun)
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The build remains much the same as raid - melee but we’ll incorporate some more damage focused talents such as Shining Righteousness, as well as some extra utility like an interrupt - Rebuke.
Flex Options
- Beacon of Faith- Both beacons are viable options in M+ and Raid, which one you’ll end up playing depends on the content you’re doing. For Mythic + I've defaulted to Beacon of Virtue, but for lower keys and especially at the start of the expansion when you’re still unfamiliar with damage patterns Beacon of Faith will work just as well. This is also a great way to conserve a large amount of mana.
- Merciful Auras - If you find yourself struggling to keep track of Blessing of Seasons, Merciful auras offers a more user-friendly alternative, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your gameplay.
- Relentless Inquisitor - This is a great talent that provides a lot of haste - a stat which is particularly useful at the start of an expansion. Unfortunately it’s locked behind Tyr’s Deliverance which has fallen behind other options of the same tier and why I can't justify picking it.
Mythic+ (Avenging Crusader)
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When playing Lightsmith don’t stress too much about your Holy Armament targets. Sacred Weapon performs the same no matter who you cast it on, as long as they’re a DPS and don’t already have a Sacred Weapon. Holy Bulwark should be used the same as any other absorption spell, either cast it on the tank or on a DPS if you know they’re about to take damage.
During Avenging Crusader remember that your spell priority will change to the following:
- Judgment
- Crusader Strike with Blessed Assurance buff
- Spend Holy Power
- Crusader Strike without Blessed Assurance buff
- Holy Shock
Class Talents
Let's talk about the Paladin Class Tree. I want to talk about it in the "Row" sections and explain why you should pick specific talents, I’ll only cover the important/interesting ones.
Row 1 - 4
Lay on Hands - is picked by default. While its 7-minute cooldown might make you hesitant to use it, don't hold back. It's a crucial ability that can save lives.
Auras of Resolute - is also picked by default. This is some of that famous paladin utility that earns us a raid spot even when the class isn’t in a good place.
Hammer of Wrath - has gained a lot of value since the launch of TWW and is now back to being a must pick in any build.
Greater Judgment - You're going to be casting a lot of Judgments no matter what content you do or what talents you run, so this will be a nice source of some passive healing that you don’t have to think about.
Divine Steed and Cavalier are absolute must-picks. One of paladin's biggest weaknesses is its lack of mobility, these talents are all we have to work with in terms of movement.
Blessing of Freedom/Steed of Liberty - With 11.0.5 this has been turned into a choice node. Steed of Liberty will remove your ability to throw freedom on other people and will also shorten its duration, there is no reason to pick this talent. Always pick Blessing of Freedom.
Improved Cleanse - lets you dispel disease and poison, it might sound situational but it also unlocks other important options so there’s very little reason to spec out of it.
Blinding Light/Repentance and Rebuke is some more of that famous paladin utility. Depending on your party composition you can probably afford to drop one of these, but you can comfortably run both of them in most situations.
Row 5 - 7
Divine Toll and Quickened invocation are an absolute must-have, this is a great bust-healing mini-cooldown that will also fully fill your Holy Power bar.
The reason we pick Quickened Invocation over Divine Resonance is because of Divine Tolls interaction with Rising Sunlight, shortening its cooldown will result in more Holy Shocks overall.
Blessing of Sacrifice and Blessing of Protection these life saving abilities will further bolster your already impressive utility toolkit.
Sacrifice the Just - reduces the cooldown of Blessing of Sacrifice by 15 seconds. This talent used to be a 1 minute reduction and a must-pick. In its current state, just like Improved Blessing of Protection, it’s highly situational and should only be picked with very specific strategies in mind.
Divine Purpose - has been turned into a choice node with Sacred Strength.Unfortunately the new talent is so undertuned that picking Divine Purpose is a nonbrainer.
Row 8 - 10
Worthy Sacrifice - at first glance, this talent seems pretty exciting. While the idea of granting your entire M+ team a 30% damage reduction might sound overpowered, there are two significant drawbacks that ultimately make it less effective than it appears.First is the fact that it removes your ability to cast Blessing of Sacrifice normally, taking away your agency over the ability. The Second, and even more egregious problem is that it triggers when your friends have already dropped below 35% HP, so it’s a DR that gets applied AFTER the damage has already hit.
Lightbearer - hugely disappointing for a capstone talent. This only works when you receive healing from someone else making it a small HPS boost in raid and completely worthless in M+. Clearly this was designed with Protection in mind.
Light's Revocation - this is a nice quality of life talent that i’d welcome if it were positioned lower on the talent tree. Unfortunately as it’s supposed to be a capstone talent, I find it to be yet another disappointment.
Of Dusk and Dawn will provide you with stronger Holy Power spenders and will also give more self survivability. These talents have also greatly benefited from buffs to holy power spending.
Spec Talents
Row 1 - 4
Holy Shock - this is your bread and butter as Holy Paladin, it's your signature spell learn to love it, you’ll spend a lot of time together.
Light of Dawn - is a semi-smart heal that targets injured allies in a cone in front of you. It’s a somewhat polarizing ability among Holy Paladins, but it's an integral part of our toolkit. You use it almost exclusively in raid and you’ll primarily use it when you need to spend Holy Power and Eternal Flame would result in overhealing, or when you can reliably hit at least five injured targets.
Aura Mastery - will give the whole raid 12% damage reduction, this is our big raid cooldown that buys a raid spot even when we’re not very good at anything else.
Beacon of the Lightbringer - Holy Paladin mastery has always been a point of much contention, the main argument being that it’s just awful to play around and for the longest time it was just ignored. This talent is the developers way of trying to fix this issue. With this talent you can put Beacon of Light on the range stack and get full benefit of your mastery even if you yourself are locked in melee.
Light’s Conviction - Holy Shock is our bread and butter so having 2 charges of it is an absolute must-have.
Tower of Radiance - This talent is picked in both melee and caster builds but serves different purposes. In caster builds this will be one of the chief ways you generate Holy Power. In melee builds this serves as a back-up, it’s a way of ensuring you always have the ability to generate Holy Power.
Row 5 - 7
Holy Prism - Not only is this a solid source of healing that should be picked on its own merits, but it's also integral in spreading Dawnlight, so it’s an absolute must-pick.
Divine Favor - this ability has been reworked, it’s great. Not only will it help you conserve some mana but it will also turn Holy Light into a monster spot heal when used to consume Infusion of Light.
Commanding Light - Simple buff to Beacon healing, unremarkable but important enough to mention, must-pick.
Imbued Infusions - As mentioned earlier Holy Shock is very integral to everything we do so reducing its cooldown is enough to spend a talent point on.
Lights Protection - Even on double beacon this is a great way to give your squishy party members some passive protection. However it becomes especially powerful in M+ when you spec into Beacon of Virtue as it allows you to give your entire party even more DR on top of what they already get from your Devotion Aura.
Light of the Martyr and Bestow Light - this is a controversial one because technically it’s an overall healing loss when you account for the healing absorb. However it buffs Holy Shock, a spotheal we rely on heavily, so it could be the difference between someone dying and not. Be a team player, pick it up.
Row 8 - 10
Beacon of Faith/Beacon of Virtue - One of these is a must-pick. Beacon of Faith will be easier to manage and wont consume any mana. Beacon of Virtue has a higher HPS ceiling but you have to contend with a high mana cost and you have to be aware of damage patterns in order to get full use out of it. It’s highly encouraged you swap between these depending on what encounter you’re facing.
Rising Sunlight - Simply more Holy Shocks, must-pick.
Crusader’s Might - Key talent for melee builds, completely ignored in caster builds.
Avenging Wrath: Might/Avenging Crusader - These will buff your wings, your most fun and powerful cooldown. Both of these are viable and both have their respective builds centered around them.
Awakening - Must pick, having more uptime on wings is always a good thing.
Inflorescence of the Sunwell - This is a key talent in caster builds that gives you an extra stack of Infusion of Light, on top of buffing both Flash of Light and Holy Light.
Merciful Auras/Blessing of Seasons - It’s recommended you go with Blessing of Seasons as it’s the more powerful talent overall. It will provide you with the bulk of your damage, mana regen, as well as cooldown-reduction that can be key for certain tactics. However if you’re still new to Holy Paladin and learning, or just plain lazy, there’s no shame in going with the easier to use alternative.
Tyrs Deliverance has received a major nerf and the main reason to spec into it is unlocking Relentless Inquisition. As of the time of writing this guide I think there’s better options.
Hero Talents
Herald of the The Sun
In addition to a bunch of passives that enhance some of our core abilities there are three talents that stand out:
Eternal Flame - this ability will replace your Word of Glory. In addition to a large upfront heal this will also leave your target with a HoT. The main use of this spell is still spot healing and its main feature is the massive single-target heal, so don’t worry about tracking the HoT.
Dawnlight - this is a deceptively intricate ability. At first glance it's just a simple HoT that gives you some free passive healing. However if you consider its interaction with Sun’s Avatar, applying Dawnlight and proper setup for Sun’s Avatar will be the main skill-ceiling differentiator in TWW. Also it's a fun mechanic that breaks some of that pop-a-mole monotony that hpala can have.
Sun’s Avatar - This talent will provide you with an immense amount of throughput and make wings the impactful and fun cooldown we’ve been starved of for the whole of Dragonflight.
Lightsmith
The talents that really stand out in this tree are:
Holy Armaments - This is the core mechanic of the talent tree. It will allow you buff yourself and your allies with either Holy Bulwark - providing a large absorb shield, or Sacred Weapons - providing extra damage.
Solidarity - A common pitfall of buffs is that they feel unfun to play because someone else is getting all the benefits. This talent ensures you don’t have to choose between buffing yourself or your allies.
Hammer and Anvil - Judgment critical strikes cause a shockwave around the target, dealing healing at the target's location. This talent does a lot of healing and is the reason crit gains so much value when playing Lightsmith.
Blessing of the Forges - Though not as powerful as Sun’s Avatar it still upgrades wings to be more impactful.