New Raider's Guide
From "I press buttons" to "I know why I press them" in three steps. Pick the mode that matches how comfortable you feel, play it until it is boring, then move up one.
Start here
Easy
Six buttons in a fixed priority. Beacon on the tank, Holy Shock on cooldown, spend Holy Power, Avenging Wrath when it is up.
Move up when you never sit at 5 Holy Power and you still have mana when the boss dies.
Intermediate
Adds Divine Toll, Beacon of Virtue, Infusion of Light procs and Aura Mastery assignments. Plans around damage events.
Move up when you stop dying to mechanics and your cooldown count matches the fight length.
Full Send
Triage order, mana planning, cooldown assignment language, and doing damage when nobody needs a heal.
For when you are comparing your logs to the top healers and want the last 10%.
Three rules apply in every mode:
- Stay alive. A dead healer heals nobody, and someone else has to spend a battle resurrection on you. Any healing you lose moving out of fire is tiny next to dying.
- Keep pressing buttons. If nobody is hurt, Judgment the boss and spend Holy Power on Shield of the Righteous. A healer who stands still is wasting Holy Shock charges and mana regeneration.
- Never sit at 5 Holy Power. Holy Power is your currency. A full bar means every new Holy Shock and Judgment throws its Holy Power away.
What to check in your logs
Open your character on Warcraft Logs after a raid night and look at these five things, in this order. They tell you more than the big HPS number does. Healing numbers also depend on how much damage the raid took, so compare yourself to the other healers in the same fight, not to a different night.
| What to look at | Where it is | What "good" looks like for a new player |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths per boss | Fight summary, Deaths tab | Zero for you. Every death is the single biggest healing loss on the night. |
| Active time | Healing Done tab, Active column | 90% or higher. Below 85% means long gaps where you were neither healing nor doing damage. |
| Casts of Avenging Wrath | Casts tab | One per 2 minutes of fight. A 5-minute fight should show 2 to 3. Divine Toll should show about twice as many. |
| Holy Power wasted | Resources tab, Holy Power, Wasted column | Close to zero. Wasted Holy Power means you were at 5 when a Holy Shock or Judgment landed. |
| Flash of Light casts vs Infusion of Light procs | Casts tab and Buffs tab | About equal. Every Flash of Light should be eating a proc. Holy Light casts should be rare, because they drain mana. |
Fix these in order. Deaths first, then active time, then cooldown count, then wasted Holy Power, then proc usage. Healing percentile climbs on its own once those are right.
Holy 101: the five ideas behind every button
Holy is a resource loop. You build Holy Power with short-cooldown spells, spend it on strong instant heals, and press cooldowns to make the whole loop heal for more. Learn these five ideas and every priority list below will make sense.
- Holy Power is your currency. You hold up to 5. Holy Shock and Judgment each generate 1, and so does Flash of Light. Eternal Flame, Light of Dawn and Shield of the Righteous each cost 3. Sitting at 5 means new Holy Power is thrown away, so never cap.
- Holy Shock is the engine. Instant, two charges, short cooldown. It heals an ally or damages an enemy, generates Holy Power, and when it critically strikes it gives you Infusion of Light. Everything flows from pressing it every time a charge is up.
- Infusion of Light makes Flash of Light good. The proc lights up Flash of Light. Spend it on Flash of Light, which then heals for more and refunds a Holy Shock charge. Without the proc, Flash of Light and Holy Light are expensive emergency buttons.
- Beacons copy your healing. Beacon of Light stays on the tank and a share of everything you heal is copied to them. Beacon of Virtue is a short beacon on five people at once. It is your biggest raid heal and your biggest mana sink.
- Two cooldowns, two timers. Avenging Wrath (2 minutes) makes everything heal and hit for more. Divine Toll (1 minute) fires Holy Shock at five allies and fills your Holy Power bar. Press both on cooldown unless your healing officer has given you a specific job.
Easy Mode: six buttons, one order Mode 1
This is the whole rotation. Read the list top to bottom every time a cast finishes and press the first thing that is true. It uses the Beacon of Faith build from the setup section, which Method calls the simpler raid build. Put Beacon of Light on the main tank and Beacon of Faith on the other tank before every pull.
- Avenging Wrath if it is off cooldown and the raid is taking damage. Press it the moment the first big damage lands and every time it lights up again.
- Eternal Flame on the lowest player if you have 5 Holy Power. Always. Spending at 5 keeps you from wasting the next Holy Shock.
- Holy Shock on the lowest player whenever a charge is up. If nobody is hurt, Holy Shock the boss instead. It still builds Holy Power.
- Flash of Light if Infusion of Light is glowing and somebody is hurt.
- Eternal Flame on a hurt player if you have 3 or more Holy Power.
- Judgment on the boss. When nothing above is true, cast this. It builds Holy Power and has a short cooldown.
That is it. Ignore Divine Toll, Beacon of Virtue, Light of Dawn and Aura Mastery for now. They are a bonus, not the foundation. Holy Light is your emergency button only: it is a slow cast and a massive mana drain.
The opener
During the pull timer, check both Beacons are up and your flask is running. When the tank pulls, cast Judgment on the boss, then Holy Shock the tank after the first hit lands, and fall into the list above.
When you have to move
Holy Shock, Eternal Flame and Judgment are instant, so keep pressing them while you run. Do not try to finish a Flash of Light while standing in something that will kill you. Divine Steed gets you across the room.
Aura
Keep Devotion Aura on at all times. It reduces the damage everyone near you takes and it is what Aura Mastery boosts later. Check it is still on after every death and every wipe.
Intermediate Mode: three bonus buttons and a plan Mode 2
Same skeleton as Easy Mode, with Divine Toll, Beacon of Virtue and Aura Mastery slotted in. Switch to the Beacon of Virtue build from the setup section. Each addition is worth a chunk of your healing, and together they are the gap between a passable healer and a solid one.
- Eternal Flame or Light of Dawn if you have 5 Holy Power. Eternal Flame on one hurt player is the default. Light of Dawn when three or more people in front of you are hurt and Eternal Flame would overheal.
- Divine Toll on cooldown, unless a big raid damage event is coming within 15 seconds. Then hold it for that.
- Flash of Light with an Infusion of Light proc.
- Holy Shock whenever a charge is up.
- Eternal Flame on a hurt player with 3 or more Holy Power.
- Judgment on cooldown.
- Holy Light only when somebody will die without it and nothing above is available. It costs a lot of mana.
Avenging Wrath and Aura Mastery
Avenging Wrath on cooldown, unless your healing officer has given you an event to use it on. Aura Mastery is a raid cooldown, not a personal one. Ask for an assignment before the pull ("Paladin AM on second Breath") and press it a second before that damage lands, not after. If you took Ringing of the Heavens, press Beacon of Virtue first and Aura Mastery straight after.
The opener
Beacon of Light on the main tank. Judgment on the boss as the tank pulls, Holy Shock the tank, then when the first raid-wide damage is 2 seconds away: Beacon of Virtue on the raid, Avenging Wrath, Divine Toll, then spend the full Holy Power bar on Eternal Flame and Light of Dawn. From there, use the list.
Beacon of Virtue: your group heal
Beacon of Virtue puts a short beacon on five nearby allies. For its duration every heal you cast is copied onto all of them. The rule of thumb:
- Cast it when three or more people are hurt or about to be, never on a full-health raid.
- Follow it immediately with Divine Toll if Divine Toll is ready. Method calls this your biggest burst.
- Then Holy Shock, Flash of Light with procs, and Eternal Flame until it ends.
- It drains mana much faster than Beacon of Faith builds, so use it as close to on cooldown as the damage pattern allows, not more.
Planning movement
Before the pull, ask the raid leader or read the boss guide for the two or three moments when everyone has to move. Walk into those moments with both Holy Shock charges and 3 or more Holy Power so you can heal on the run. Stand where you can see the whole raid and the boss without turning the camera.
Full Send Mode: the complete priority Mode 3
This is the Beacon of Virtue list as the top guides write it, plus the habits that separate a 70th-percentile healer from a 95th. Nothing here is new. It is the Intermediate list with tighter timing and a clear idea of who to heal first.
Triage: who gets the heal
- Anyone who dies in the next 2 seconds. Lay on Hands, Blessing of Protection or an instant Eternal Flame. Nothing else matters until they are safe.
- The tank. Beacon of Light copies to them for free, so a tank below half health means Holy Shock and Eternal Flame on them directly.
- People with a debuff that is still ticking. They keep dropping. Eternal Flame's heal over time is built for this.
- Everyone else, lowest first. Holy Shock and Light of Dawn. Let the heal-over-time effects and the other healers finish the job.
- Nobody. Then do damage. See below.
Healing priority
- Spend Holy Power if you are at 5. Eternal Flame by default, Light of Dawn only if there are no good targets and Eternal Flame would overheal.
- Beacon of Virtue when a damage event is landing, then Divine Toll inside it.
- Flash of Light with Infusion of Light. With Moment of Compassion, aim it at a Beacon of Virtue target.
- Holy Shock on cooldown.
- Spend Holy Power at 3 or more.
- Judgment.
Mana planning
Your mana bar should hit about zero as the boss dies, not before. The three things that empty it are Beacon of Virtue, Holy Light and Flash of Light without a proc. The three things that save it are Shield of the Righteous (restores 1.5% mana per cast), Lightfused Mana Potion, and simply not healing people who are not hurt. Check your mana at the first phase change. If you are under 60% with more than half the fight left, stop casting Holy Light altogether and let Beacon of Virtue sit a few seconds longer between uses.
Cooldown assignment language
Healing officers plan raid cooldowns on a timeline. You will hear "AM on first Breath, Wings on second" or "Paladin externals on the Soulcoil target". AM is Aura Mastery, Wings is Avenging Wrath, externals are Blessing of Sacrifice, Blessing of Protection and Lay on Hands cast on someone else. Write your assignments on a sticky note or in a Method Raid Tools note, and say "AM used" in voice when you press it so the next healer knows their turn is coming.
The 4-piece trick
With the Season 2 tier set, Method suggests pre-casting Holy Light and queueing Beacon of Virtue as the cast finishes, so the Infusion of Light procs it generates land inside the Beacon window. Try this only once the rest of the list is automatic.
Damage when nobody needs healing
- Judgment on cooldown. In Mythic+ it also triggers Consecration under the target.
- Shield of the Righteous with 3 or more Holy Power. It deals damage and gives mana back.
- Holy Shock on the enemy if the raid is full and both charges are up.
- Crusader Strike if you took Crusader's Might and you are standing in melee.
Two hurt targets is still Holy Shock on one and Eternal Flame on the other, not Beacon of Virtue. Beacon of Virtue is a 3-plus answer.
Fight-specific habits
Before a progression night, open the boss guide and write down three things: when raid-wide damage lands (plan Beacon of Virtue and Divine Toll), when the raid has to move (hold Holy Shock charges), and when Bloodlust is called (Avenging Wrath inside it if you can). Those three notes are worth more than any sim.
Talents, consumables and setup
Import one of these talent strings and the guide above matches your bars. Open the talent window, click Import, paste, and save as a loadout. All three are from Method's talents page, updated 13 Oct 2026 for patch 12.1.5.
| Use it for | Build | Import string |
|---|---|---|
| Raid, Easy Mode (simpler) | Beacon of Faith | CEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALAwMAAwyMzMjZ2mZmNYMsM2mZWMTTMMmZGGzWGAGA2AbsMjZWmtZmZrBAAAYBMwmhxMGYAAMzwMGjGA |
| Raid, Intermediate and Full Send (recommended) | Beacon of Virtue | CEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALAwMAAw2MzMjZMzYxYmZYZwMLmpJGGzMDjZLDADAbgNWmxMLz2Mzs1AAAAsAGYzwYGDmBAwMDzYMaA |
| Mythic+ | Herald of the Sun | CEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALAwMAADWGzMzMjZmZBGDLjNzsY0EDjZmhxslBgBgNwGLzMzsMbzMzWDAAAwCLMzwmHAmxgZAAMzwMGjGA |
Method says Beacon of Virtue heals for more but costs far more mana, and Beacon of Faith is easier to manage, so switch between them per boss. Take Divine Toll over Holy Prism, Avenging Wrath over Avenging Crusader, and always Blessing of Freedom over Steed of Liberty. If you play Lightsmith, swap Liberation for Tirion's Devotion.
Stat priority
Intellect first, then Mastery, then Haste and Critical Strike about equal, Versatility last. In Mythic+ Versatility moves above Mastery because it also reduces the damage you take. Too much Haste empties your mana early, so once you are comfortable, compare pieces with a sim or a healing-focused stat tool rather than chasing one stat. Until then, take the higher item level piece.
Consumables checklist
Bring these to every raid. Half of them are provided by the raid, but a new raider should carry their own.
Addons that matter
BigWigs for boss timers, Method Raid Tools for raid notes and cooldown assignments, raid frames you can read at a glance such as Grid2 or DandersFrames, and a Holy Power tracker such as SenseiClassResourceBar. Ellesmere's Beacon Reminders nags you when a Beacon is missing. Nothing else is required to start.
Macros
Put these on your bars. The first two heal whatever your mouse is over on the raid frames without changing target. The third interrupts whatever you have set as focus, if you took Rebuke.
#showtooltip
/cast [@mouseover,exists] Holy Shock; Holy Shock#showtooltip
/cast [@mouseover,help,exists] Eternal Flame; Eternal Flame#showtooltip Rebuke
/cast [@focus,exists,harm] Rebuke; RebukeYour utility kit
Healing is only half the job. Raid leaders remember the paladin who saves someone with Blessing of Protection, uses Aura Mastery on time and cleanses fast, not the one who parses 5% higher. Cooldowns below are the base values. Talents shorten some of them, so trust your tooltip over this table.
| Ability | Base cooldown | What it does | When to press it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rebuke | 15 sec | Your interrupt. Melee range only, and it is a class talent, so check you took it. | When the raid leader assigns you a kick and you are standing in melee. Most Holy Paladins heal from range and are not in the kick order. |
| Divine Shield | 5 min | Immune to everything for 8 seconds. You can still heal while it is up. | When you would otherwise die, or to stand still and heal through a mechanic everyone else has to dodge. It applies Forbearance, so Lay on Hands and Blessing of Protection cannot be used on you for a while. |
| Divine Protection | 1 min | Reduces damage you take by 20% for 8 seconds. Instant, no global cooldown. | Every big raid-wide hit. It is cheap, so press it early and often. |
| Lay on Hands | 10 min | Heals an ally to full instantly. | Someone about to die with no other save. Applies Forbearance to them. |
| Blessing of Protection | 5 min | Ally is immune to physical damage for 10 seconds and physical debuffs fall off. | A melee player about to be hit by a physical tank buster or add. Never on a tank: the boss stops attacking them. |
| Blessing of Sacrifice | 2 min | Ally takes 30% less damage and you take that damage instead. | The tank during a big hit, when you are healthy. Pair it with Divine Shield if the redirected damage would kill you. |
| Blessing of Freedom | 25 sec | Removes and prevents slows and roots on an ally for 8 seconds. | Anyone slowed while running out of a mechanic. Also for yourself. |
| Aura Mastery | 3 min | Empowers Devotion Aura: everyone near you takes much less damage for 8 seconds. | Only where the healing officer assigns it. Press it a second before the damage lands. |
| Cleanse | 8 sec | Removes one Magic, Poison or Disease debuff from an ally. | When the raid leader calls a dispel, or when you see a dispellable debuff on the raid frames. Learn which debuffs must not be dispelled early. |
| Intercession | 10 min | Resurrects a dead ally in combat. Shares the raid's limited battle resurrection charges. | Only when called. The raid leader decides who gets a battle resurrection. |
| Divine Steed | 45 sec | A mount that doubles your movement speed for a few seconds. Usable in combat. | Long runs across the room. You can still cast instants while riding. |
| Hammer of Justice | 1 min | Stuns one enemy for up to 6 seconds. | Dungeon adds, or any add the raid leader asks to be stopped. |
| Blinding Light and Repentance | 1.5 min (Blinding Light) | Blinding Light disorients every enemy near you. Repentance puts one humanoid, demon, dragon, giant or undead to sleep for a minute. | Rarely in raids. Useful in dungeons to buy time. Check with the tank first because disoriented mobs wander. |
| Devotion Aura | None (toggle) | Everyone near you takes a little less damage. Your raid buff. | Always on. Check it after every wipe. |
Two habits to build now:
- Make a mouseover macro for every heal. Holy Shock, Eternal Flame, Flash of Light, Lay on Hands, Blessing of Protection, Cleanse. Hover the raid frame and press. You never have to click a target again.
- Beacon before every ready check. Beacon of Light on the main tank is the first thing to check, then your aura, then your flask. Only then click yes.
Reading your logs and what to practice next
After each raid night, open your character on Warcraft Logs and spend five minutes on one boss. Pick the fight with the most raid-wide damage. Check the five items from the logs section, then do the one drill below that matches your mode.
| Mode | Ten-minute drill at a target dummy | Pass mark |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | Run the six-button list for 3 minutes, healing yourself and Holy Shocking the dummy, without looking at your keyboard. | Holy Shock is never sitting at 2 charges. Holy Power never hits 5. |
| Intermediate | Add Divine Toll and Avenging Wrath. Press both the instant they come up for 3 minutes, and every Flash of Light has a proc. | Three Divine Toll casts and two Avenging Wrath casts in 3 minutes. No Flash of Light without Infusion of Light. |
| Full send | Walk into the second Avenging Wrath with Beacon of Virtue ready, both Holy Shock charges and 3 Holy Power, then cast Virtue, Divine Toll and spend everything inside the window. | Two Eternal Flames or Light of Dawns and two Holy Shocks land inside the Beacon of Virtue window. |
Three things to compare against a top log of the same boss (Warcraft Logs, Rankings tab, filter to Holy Paladin, metric HPS):
- Count their Holy Shocks and yours. If theirs is 50% higher on a fight of the same length, you are sitting on charges or standing still.
- Count their Avenging Wrath and Divine Toll casts and yours. The gap is almost always one missed cast at the start or end.
- Look at their Deaths and yours, and the raid's deaths. If they have zero and you do not, that is the whole gap.
The Venomous Abyss is the current Midnight Season 2 raid, with eight bosses from Nek'zali the Soulcoiler through Ula'tek. Read the Icy Veins page for each boss before the night you first see it, and write down the three notes from Full Send Mode: when raid damage lands, when you move, when Lust is called.