Holy Priest WotLK Guide
Holy Priest healing guide for WotLK 3.3.5a: spell priority, cooldowns, the 18/53/0 talent build, glyphs, stat priority and BiS gear for ICC and Ruby Sanctum.
The Holy Priest is the group healer. It is a hybrid of single-target and area healing: Prayer of Healing and Circle of Healing for the raid, Greater Heal and Flash Heal for the tanks, and Prayer of Mending running in the background. It has the best emergency tool of any healer in Guardian Spirit, and Divine Hymn for raid-wide healing.
This guide covers the healing priority, the cooldowns, the talents and glyphs we run, the stats to reach and the mistakes that cost the most. It is written for Icecrown Citadel 25 and Ruby Sanctum on 3.3.5a. The short overview is in the class guide.
1.How the Holy Priest plays
You use Prayer of Healing on cooldown when the raid takes damage, Circle of Healing bouncing between the tank and the melee groups, and Flash Heal or Greater Heal for the tank. Prayer of Mending keeps the tank buff (Inspiration) up, and Renew and Binding Heal are your utility heals. Binding Heal tops you and another player up at the same time, which stops you from wasting a global cooldown on yourself.
The habit that separates good Holy Priests from average ones is looking ahead. Watch the players who take the most damage, like the damage dealers with high threat, and heal them before they are in danger. Use your cooldowns for the mechanic that needs them, not after the damage.
2.Healing priorities
- Prayer of Mending Apply Prayer of Mending in advance, not as a reaction. It keeps the tank buff up.
- Prayer of Healing Prayer of Healing on cooldown when the raid is damaged.
- Circle of Healing Circle of Healing bouncing from the tank to the melee groups.
- Greater Heal Greater Heal and Flash Heal for the tank damage.
- Renew Renew as a cheap heal over time.
- Binding Heal Binding Heal to heal yourself and another player together.
Do not rely on heals over time to remove the Infest debuff on the Lich King: the targets have to be healed to above ninety percent health. And do not use Prayer of Mending as a reaction. Place it before the damage.
3.Cooldowns and raid utility
Time your cooldowns for the mechanic, and not for the meters.
Saves a player from death and increases the healing they receive. Time it before a big hit, for example the Soul Reaper on the Lich King.
A raid-wide healing channel. Your emergency button for raid damage.
Gives you mana back from its attacks. Use it when your mana is low, or plan it for long fights.
Makes your next spell free and a critical heal. Precast it before a heavy heal.
Gives mana to the group, with Shadowfiend.
Not a cooldown in the usual sense, but the most valuable button on cooldown. Do not let it sit ready.
4.Talents and glyphs
Our recommended Holy build is the 18/53/0 in the calculator, built around Guardian Spirit, Divine Providence, Empowered Healing, Serendipity, Surge of Light and Spiritual Healing. The guides we read say Divine Fury is a better choice than Spell Warding, because it makes your Greater Heal faster.
The major glyphs are Circle of Healing, Guardian Spirit and Flash Heal. The Prayer of Healing glyphs can be swapped in for fights that ask for more area healing.
Calls upon a guardian spirit to watch over the friendly target. The spirit increases the healing received by the target by 40%, and also prevents the target from dying by sacrificing itself. This sacrifice terminates the effect but heals the target of 50% of their maximum health. Lasts 10 sec.
Increases the amount healed by Circle of Healing, Binding Heal, Holy Nova, Prayer of Healing, Divine Hymn and Prayer of Mending by 10%, and reduces the cooldown of your Prayer of Mending by 30%.
Your Greater Heal spell gains an additional 32% and your Flash Heal and Binding Heal gain an additional 16% of your bonus healing effects.
When you heal with Binding Heal or Flash Heal, the cast time of your next Greater Heal or Prayer of Healing spell is reduced by 12%. Stacks up to 3 times. Lasts 20 sec.
Your spell criticals have a 50% chance to cause your next Smite or Flash Heal spell to be instant cast, cost no mana but be incapable of a critical hit. This effect lasts 10 sec.
Increases the amount healed by your healing spells by 10%.
Your Circle of Healing spell heals 1 additional target.
If your Guardian Spirit lasts its entire duration without being triggered, the cooldown is reset to 1 min.
Reduces the mana cost of your Flash Heal by 10%.
5.Stats, gems and gear
The priority is spell power, then haste, then critical strike, then spirit, and how much spirit you need depends on how you manage mana. Holy Priests that cast a lot of Prayer of Healing benefit most from haste.
The best items are in the BiS list below. Keep your gear matched to your style: a Holy Priest with a lot of area healing needs a different balance than one who spends most of the fight on a tank.
- Intellect
- Haste
- Spell Power
- Critical Strike
None
Do not itemize for hit as Holy.
None
None
Berserking haste helps Shadow damage and Holy / Discipline throughput alike. Undead brings Will of the Forsaken (fear immunity, big on some fights); Blood Elf brings Arcane Torrent mana return.
Gift of the Naaru is a free extra heal-over-time for healers, and Heroic Presence gives Shadow priests the party a +1% hit boost. Night Elf’s Shadowmeld is a niche threat-drop tool.
Val'anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings
Sundial of Eternal Dusk
Corpse-Impaling Spike
Althor's Abacus
Glowing Twilight Scale
Sanctified Crimson Acolyte Hood
Sanguine Silk Robes
6.Common mistakes
• Using Prayer of Mending as a reaction instead of placing it ahead.
• Relying on heals over time to remove the Infest debuff. The targets need to be healed above ninety percent.
• Wasting global cooldowns on yourself when Binding Heal could heal you and another player.
• Using Guardian Spirit after the hit, and not before.
• Watching only the tank, and not the players who take the most damage.
7.On the bosses
Holy Priests do well on fights with area damage and burst damage. A few notes:
In the second phase, precast Greater Heal just before the Soul Reaper lands, so the tank is at full health. Use Guardian Spirit for the Soul Reaper. See the Lich King healing guide.
Keep Prayer of Mending and the tank buff up all the time, and watch the Mystic Buffet stacks.
Precast before the breaths, and plan your movement in the Twilight Realm. See the Ruby Sanctum guide.
Spread Circle of Healing and Prayer of Healing on the groups, and keep an eye on the tank taking the burst.
8.Questions people ask
Both are strong. Holy is better with burst and area damage, and Discipline with steady damage that can be absorbed.
Before a large hit, like the Soul Reaper, and not after it.
To heal yourself and another player in a single cast, so you do not waste a global cooldown on yourself.
Spell power first, then haste, then critical strike. Spirit depends on how you manage mana.