Hello everyone! I hope this topic is allowed here and I didn't just miss some rules around before posting it... if it is not, feel free to delete it and forgive me for the issue!
Anyway, let's point out my issue now.
I just went back to my holy paladin for 4.3 (It was my main at the end of wotlk, but I never leveled him to 85 until the end of 4.2) and I seem to be having some issues getting used to the playstyle.
I played a Resto Shaman for the entirety of 4.0-4.1 so... I'm kind of used at having to know when to use a button and when to not use it. Like for example, keeping Riptide up on 3 targets and always on CD; or for AoE keeping HR on CD and spamming Chain Heal... but for some reasons, it's being hard for me to find a "playstyle" for my Holy Paladin as well. I either end up going Oom spamming big heals or HR or doing low hps spamming holy light... I'm sure this is a my own problem and I'd raelly like to fix it!
Before all, I absolutely know that healing is not like dpsing that requires rotations and priority and stuff, so no point telling me that. But I also know that using spells in a proper way helps both my healing and my raid for the better.
Is there any tips you guys can give me for the best way I can use my healing arsenal? Things like when to best use a CD, or what to spam during a set time of damage (high damage, low damage, aoe damage, etc), what to keep always up, etc. That would be insanely helpful for me!
Thanks in advance.
P.S. = I've read the stickied guide and, while I found it to be of great help, it seemed to me a bit outdated with the current changes in 4.3.
Also I hope I was clear enough... I feel like my post was either too vague or hard to comprehend.
I will try to help as best I can. As you have found out, the days of spamming HL in ICC are over
Spec wise, I see you went for speed via pursuit of justice. No problem there, I maxed out Last Word and Eternal Glory, b/c I still love WoG in the new raid, and I do 10s only. It's all preference. Gear wise, one could argue that you would probably benefit from more spirit, but I see that you're trying your best to cover that via reforging and Heartsong over Power Torrent. Glyphs look fine, although I would switch out the major glyph Light of Dawn if you are doing 25 mans (that's the one thing your post didn't cover...are you doing 25s? 10s? 5s?). Example, if you're only doing 5 mans, you can take holy radiance right off your action bar. There's no 5 man content where you couldn't get away with not using that spell. Given you have some DS raid gear though, better keep HR on there
Ok, tips on healing arsenal. First point is positioning. In DS, there's many times where the raid will have to stack. Holy pallys will do best standing a step behind the rest of the group in most cases (not too far, just a step). Most cases, it's best to beacon a tank. One exception is the start of the nefarion fight (I know, old content). I would usually beacon the add kiter. Anyway, for most cases, a tank is the best bet. Because you're not glyphed for it, I would suggest not boucing beacon around...waste of mana. Remember 3 main things about beacon. 1) It's range is a long 60 yards (from you, not the other person you're healing); 2) it transfer 100% of the heal from Holy Light only, 50% from flash, shock, divine, LoD, and WoG, nothing from any other source of healing (protector of innocent, Holy Radiance, etc etc), and 3) healing your beacon target with Divine or Flash will net you 1 holy power. Holy shock and holy radiance on the beacon target or any other target will net you a holy power charge as well. Make use of holy power as soon as you can. If you're spamming heavy heals with 3 holy power sitting there winking at you, you're doing it wrong.
For all situations, keep judgements of the pure up. 9% haste and 30% greater benefit from spirit is key. It's activated via judgement, and lasts 60 seconds. As you did not play in 4.2, you won't have to worry about over judging (judging used to give back mana, and was done on CD...now only judge every 60 seconds!) It's best to holy shock on CD as well. It gives a charge of Holy Power, and has synergies with your other spells that are too good not to make use of (ie Infusion of Light). Keep in mind a situation that I find a lot. You have 2 holy power, and daybreak is up (no cooldown on holy shock). It's best to holy shock, then WoG or LoD depending on single target vs AOE heal needed, then holy shock again. It's real tempting (at least for me) to holy shock twice in a row, but that would waste a HP charge.
For light damage situations, the best thing to do is spam holy light (your cheap spell) on a target that IS NOT YOUR BEACON TARGET. Remember that your beacon target is getting 100% of that heal anyway, and holy shock on CD (probably on your beaconed tank, if he needs a little more healing.) Switch to Divine Light if you have a single target that is lower than 2/3rds health, and go back to Holy Light when you can. This is a very mana friendly rotation. For high tank damage, go full Divine Light, keeping in mind that if this target is your beaconed target, you can use WoG after 3 DLs. A nice tactic for when a tank suddenly drops in health and you find yourself with 3 holy power is to use WoG on him, holy shock, WoG again (even though it's with only 1 charge, it could still be a life saver), then Flash of Light 2 or 3 times, followed again by WoG. That combo should save any tank under normal circumstances in this expansion. Normal as in...he doesn't have 5 stacks of sunder armor and the offtank is chatting in guild chat. I've read many holy pallies saying they don't use Flash of Light. It's even less economical than Divine Light, but it's faster, and I use it when I think a Divine Light cast time will be too long to save a tank from dying. That's it's only use in my opinion.
High AOE damage healing is new for holy pallies, and I'm still working that out myself, but I'll offer a few tips I've learned. Holy Radiance is the spell you want, and you'll want to use Light of Dawn to consume your holy power (remember, this is why you want to be a step behind the raid). Holy Radiance spamming is not sustainable for long, it will oom you. This may get better as gear gets better, we'll have to see. Just remember a few things during these high raid damage situations (I'm looking at you Ultraxion). Never use HR on the same target twice in a row. Either pick a different target or throw a holy shock in there. People smarter than me have declared that you lose a HoT tick spamming HR on the same target. Remember HR gives a holy power, so you'll want to throw in Light of Dawn when you get 3 charges. It's a good AOE cone heal, and it's mana free.
As for cooldowns, Divine Favor (3 min CD) and Avenging Wrath (2 min CD) are obviously throughput CDs useful for those high damage situations where you can judge when you'll need them. Divine Plea is where you can get back a nice chunk of mana, but at a cost of 50% less healing during it's duration. Some fights are tougher than others when deciding when to use this. Just look at each boss fight and see if they give you time to use it. If you can't find one, best to use it during a light damage phase. If you absolutely need to use it during a heavy damage phase, pop avenging wrath to somewhat counter the gimped healing.
As far as hands go, hand of freedom doesn't have much PVE use, and hand of salvation seems to not be needed as much (sometimes I save it for our druid healer oddly). Hand of Protection can be nice, especially on trash pulls, just try not to use it on a melee (and certainly not the tank). Hand of Sacrifice is nice, just make sure you're not going to kill yourself. Combine it with your Divine Protection or Divine Shield and you have a genuine tank CD.
Thank you a LOT for this. It was extremely helpful. I will try out the things you have said and will play accordingly!
One last question, you pointed out that the glyph of LoD is bad in 25mans (by the way, I do mostly Raid Finder now, but in the alt runs of my guild they are 10m) but what about 10man? I'm guessing it's a good idea to have in 5man, but those are so easy I hardly care about being efficient in them.
Glyph of LoD reduce it from hitting 6 targets to 4, but it heals each target for 25%more. which is alot more healing and more transference via beacon.
In 10 man you don't always have 6 people stacking, 4 is more ideal, and even if you do, it still triumphs the raid healing scale i guess.
Most of the healing rotation has already been addressed so I will just add a few things that I like.
Glyph of Divinity will result in some mana return and since you are going to be using Lay on Hands if you are raiding will give you a nice chunk back. Also if combined with Glyph on Lay on Hands it will make it available every boss fight. In raid I find I am rarely dispelling enough to warrant Gylph of Cleansing (I have yet to go oom over cleanse in PVE).
I personally feel that Eternal Glory right now is too good to skip, Word of Glory is a very powerful heal and doesn't cost any mana so a proc is basically 2 free big heals. If you do need to move fast during a fight to get out of something using Divine Protection will give you a movement speed increase well beyond that of Persuit of Justice and also the damage redux if you do get hit with something. Use Divine Protection in times of heavy damage.
But those are just my preferences and what works for you works for you.
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