BoV vs. Glimmer

[Raelyn]

Hey gang

So my question is basically, is Beacon of Virtue viable in 5-mans instead of Glimmer? I personally hated the glimmer style when it came in BfA and didn't play much at all as holy paladin, despite it being my main spec for years and years.

IV recommends Glimmer and a big no to BoV but has anyone out there tried it in 5-mans? I personally adored healing in M+ during Legion and it's such a shame how far the spec has fallen (IMO of course) since then.

Someone give me cause for some hope please! Or are we locked into Glimmer fullstop?

Cheers

[Algorath]

I have healed 7 mythics now, 3 as holy (2 with glimmer + sanctified wrath and 1 with Avenging Crusader and BoV) 4 as Protection (Healing)

It felt like Glimmer didn't do much, but amounted to 5-7% of my overall healing in dungeons.. So it's like an unseen force upping the healing I did.
BoV is far more fun and "on demand" healing which is great. Using BoV+Avenging Crusader at the same time felt like it overhealed a lot, so I don't recommend stacking them.

I would personally say for these mythics where damage is foreseeable and deal-with-able, then BoV is better. Although when we are up in raid sizes again, maybe boring glimmer will take the lead again.

Honestly though, as sad as it is, Protection healing with Blessed Hammer, Crusader's Judgement, Holy Avenger, Hand of the Protector and Sanctified Wrath is probably the best healing spec we have for 5 mans atm.

[GreenJesus]

I have healed 7 mythics now, 3 as holy (2 with glimmer + sanctified wrath and 1 with Avenging Crusader and BoV) 4 as Protection (Healing)

It felt like Glimmer didn't do much, but amounted to 5-7% of my overall healing in dungeons.. So it's like an unseen force upping the healing I did.
BoV is far more fun and "on demand" healing which is great. Using BoV+Avenging Crusader at the same time felt like it overhealed a lot, so I don't recommend stacking them.

I would personally say for these mythics where damage is foreseeable and deal-with-able, then BoV is better. Although when we are up in raid sizes again, maybe boring glimmer will take the lead again.

Honestly though, as sad as it is, Protection healing with Blessed Hammer, Crusader's Judgement, Holy Avenger, Hand of the Protector and Sanctified Wrath is probably the best healing spec we have for 5 mans atm.

I did some testing and I noticed that glimmer only has 50% effectiveness with beacon. My glimmer did 591 healing to the main target, but only did 147 to the beacon. I wonder if this is being ignored or if this is known or not? The beacon heal on lights hammer is also only 50% effective. Is this a bug?

[Matthias]

I was going to make the same thread per https://mplus.subcreation.net/holy-paladin.html# at high end keys people are running both BoV and Glimmer

I loved the Glimmer playstyle in BFA but this was late in the expansion. Wings was on a far shorter CD and Holy Avenger was....well better with a shorter CD. Popping either either CD combined with Glimmer would take care of your AoE healing. Now we have Wings on a longer CD, Holy Avenger is kind of meh, so I play Glimmer and people are taking too much dmg if Wings and Divine Toll are down....we're screwed.

BoV feels far more reliable when things get ugly. My theory is that Glimmer is superior if you're playing with a super good team that can avoid damage.

With that said can someone explain why I'm seeing Divine Purpose so much? Yes I don't like Holy Avenger, but it's still a solid CD where as Purpose is pure RNG.

[Valdarix]

One of the HPally Websites has this to say, https://wingsisup.com/mplus-playstyle

This is the talent row that always fields the most questions. Back in Legion and early seasons of BFA, many Holy Paladins ran Beacon of Virtue to handle all the AoE damage that seemed too rough to heal through without it. Fortunately now with Glimmer of Light, we get a massive amount of passive healing for 0 mana cost, making this the most efficient option for Mythic+ healing. Not only will you gain huge passive tank healing from keeping your default beacon, but you'll also get a significant amount of free AoE healing from Glimmer itself. The key to running without virtue is knowing all the dangerous pulls and bosses and how to prepare for the aoe damage in those spots (this is gone over in more depth in the Dungeons section).

Should you ever use beacon of virtue?
Virtue is a strong talent choice if you're playing with pugs or less coordinated groups (early in the expansion when everyone is still learning mechanics). It also is a great crutch for newer players who are still learning how to get the most healing out of Holy Paladins. That said, once you feel comfortable enough on the spec and people start to take less avoidable damage, you'll definitely want to transition to using Glimmer of Light as it is far more efficient, giving more throughput for 0 GCDs or mana.

Glimmer does only hit the Beacon target for about 40% of healing. The highest key I've done so far is an 8 but my usual style is to use shock to keep my Shock Berrier on tank and any poor sap who can't avoid damage. Then use Holy Shock for DPS and do my actual healing with Word of Glory and Light of the Martyr. Haven't used Flash or Holy Light in weeks unless shit has gone sideways and Divine toll is on cooldown and I have no other CDs up.

I usually play with guildies and a group of about 8 people so I haven't had to deal with pugs to see if BoV is better.

[Dakara]

Personally I've never liked BoV. Costs a GCD to cast and has ~50% uptime if you use it on CD (which you probably shouldn't) so you lose all Beacon healing when it's down.

If you save it for those "Oh shit" moments (which Holy can struggle with), then I feel Divine Toll + Glimmer + Shock Barriers fills the same niche. If you're casting it near on CD, you really notice the extra GCD's.

Obviously some Top players are running it and doing well so it's not exactly a bad talent, I just don't really enjoy it.

[GreenJesus]

I lived Beacon of Virtue in Legion, but I just don't think it feels as worth it yet in shadowlands. Glimmer + Shock barrier is just too strong. However, during grievous weeks glimmer build is nearly useless since you need strong burst healing to get everyone to 90%. The effective small heals from glimmer just might not be enough. If I didn't have wings or kyrean hammer up at least someone is going to die if there was even a wif of AoE damage.

[meroko]

Glimmer will be much better as we get more haste on gear, but right now I don't think it's worth taking, at any level. It's going to under perform until we get more haste. Until then I'd recommend BoV for 5 man, and BoF for raiding. Now there's nothing wrong with playing Glimmer right now if you like it, but the other two talents out perform it currently in 5 man and Raiding respectively