1. May 18, 2020  

    [Guide] Holy priest - Comprehensive guide for end game raiding

    Hello there again! For those of you who don’t know me, I am Alexandar, in-game Iqui. I’ve been playing priest since early Molten and pretty much experienced every inch of the game features WotLK expansion offers for priests. When my previous “guide” – post on discipline priest in 0% buff LK encounter was released I had so many questions about holy priest role, some of them are about basics of holy priest but most of them are about end game raiding tips in a holy priest role, so, I’ve decided to share some of my knowledge. I won’t be covering the basic facts about holy priest like stats and complete talents overview, also there won’t be any formula or any other mathematic coverage on my words cause I find this useless to talk about while playing on private server. The idea is to give you guys practical tips so you can test and and impletement it in your own gameplay. This guide will be based on a practical analysis not mathematics or in depth theorycrafting.

    However, way before I decided to write this guide, I’ve done some in-game tests with my friends who also play holy priests since the beginning of the expansion (Tutantlakon and Foks) and pretty much excel as holy priests, and in the end we came to a solid conclusion about stats/talents and gear composition on how should a holy priest be set up to cover all the aspects of end game raiding content so it only makes it easier and efficient for players.

    As mentioned above, this guide is based on end – game raiding only, so to narrow it a bit, I will be focusing on holy priest role on some bosses of Icecrown Citadel 25 Heroic (with and without 30% Aura) with emphasis on Lady Deathwhisper, Deathbringer Saurfang, Professor Putricide, Blood Queen, Sindragosa and Lich King and Ruby Sanctum 25 Heroic – Halion.

    So, following my previous words, this guide will be divided into five sections:



    1. Talents and Glyphs overview
    2. Gear setup and item variations
    3. Tactics and healing output in different boss encounters
    4. User Interface and Addons
    5. Practical demonstration and videos


    1. Talents and Glyphs overview

    Holy priest is, from my point of view and Wotlk experience, one of the hardest classes to master if we’re talking about healer mechanics. Since the Wotlk was released, there were different talent solutions for holy priest throughout the game which were covering either tank healing or raid healing, so people had to rely mostly on those 2 specs which basicly only depends on the raid composition and raids needs. Holy priests were rarely asigned as tank healers due to inferiority in single target healing to holy paladins or resto shamans, but most of the time they were fitting as raid healers due to strong AOE healing output and variety of spells to keep the raid alive. I won’t be covering these two specs I mentioned above, since you can find them in the guides Mercy, Noella and Boonsbane wrote but I will focus on the one I found to be best relying for end -game raiding which is unique and offers both to the raid: strong single target heals and AOE healing. After few tests made during end game raiding with Foks and Tutan in the past 2 years, this spec seems to be giving the best healing output soultion both on tanks and raid group with coordinated and efficient mana management. According to this, the talent tree and glyph solution should look like this:


    As I mentioned in the starting paragraphs, I will not be explaining every talent in this tree cause I would be repeating myself after people who did it in the past few years. Explanations can be found on Mercy’s or Noellas guide. But, before you ask any questions I want to explain why I chose some specific talents:

    Why did I invest into http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=14769 when we’re not playing discipline here?

    During boss fights like Halion 25H or Lich King 25H we are supposed to use shield on the tanks during our healing “rotation”. Firstly, on Halion, there won’t be any discipline priest inside the shadow realm (where the holy priest is mostly assigned to heal) and the extra shield on the tank inside during cutters or before breath can help significantly. Also whenever someone gets the http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=74792 debuff and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=68758 is not used properly on that guy, the initial dmg after the dispel can be fatal, our shied creates a 1 second window for defensives in this case or instant heals. On the other hand, while fighting Lich King on 25H where we actually have a discipline priest, we will be using our shield mostly on Off – tank in Phase 1 whenever Shambling gets into Frenzy to minimize dmg on him and on the Main tank in Phase 2 right before the first Soul Reaper hit so we can easely continue healing the raid on Infest without wasting any globals. As for 0% buff LK25H encounter, we will be using our shield right after first Soul Reaper tick to minimize the incoming damage from melee hits and maybe save his life (Shield + Inspiration). While fighting Lich King, an experienced discipline priest should never shield the tanks while his http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=63655 is not on cooldown so we are using it as a filler and spending one point into this talent to increase its absorb potential is a efficient and smart investment.

    Why did I invest into http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=14781 if I’m running a “hybrid holy spec”?
    If the healer setup is good and experienced, tank healing will not be an issue so we will be focused on raid healing with our instant cast spells like http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222, http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089. During short fights like bosses in TOGC 25 this talent doesn’t play a big role but on Halion 25h or ICC 25H bosses where we receive a huge amount of AOE dmg in the raid, that 10% mana cost reduction on the spells we use most of the time is really helpful.

    Why I didn’t include http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=33146 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=47560 into this talent setup?

    Simple. The percentage of increased effectiveness of healing spells it almost insignificant if we’re running a hybrid spec. If the raid is dropping under 50% during the fight that means the healers are really, really bad or the raid setup is totally wrong ( no retris, no shadow priests etc) which basicly means holy priest has to manage all by himself.

    Why am I not using http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=64129 talent?

    Yeah, this talent looks and sounds cool but its totally useless in end-game raiding content. Yeah, you could shield people before they get defile on LK to move faster, you can shield them to get speed to move faster inside Shadow realm on Halion while affected with Consumption, but still, is it really worth wasting 2 talent points so you could give legs to your raid members? End – game raids require you to know every aspect of the specific raid, every mechanic boss does and so, you should be able to manage your movement even without speed buff like this talent or nitro boots. In the end, I would say: for progressing yes, for end game hardcore NO.

    Magical question: Why is http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=27904 excluded and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=18535 5/5?

    Lets start with arguments and pros and cons. Damage taken in Wotlk is divided into 2 sources: Spell and Physical. http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=27904 5/5 makes us receive 10% less dmg from Spells which is totaly useful considering the wide range of magical damage in end game content. On the other hand, http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=18535 5/5 decreases the casting time of our Greater Heal. General logic behind all this, considering only serious end game raiding, would be: is it worth sacrificing 5 points which increase your healing output for 5 points of your own survivability. The talent tree I made represents my opinion on this so as the facts that in case of heavy spell damage to raid priest can and SHOULD use Binding Heal to top himself and a raid member so you won’t think about being killed and risking another raid member to die cause you wasted time for healing yourself. Binding Heal, most of the priests on this server don’t even know this spell exists. Try it. Also, some would say without this talent you can’t clear Infest on 0% buff with single http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48072 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089 precast, again false, and you can see the proof in my videos below. As for Divine Fury, most people would say the small decrease in casting time of http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48063 means nothing since we have http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=63733 stacked but this is false. While solo healing LK 10H on 0% buff you could see the big difference when tank drops cause and you need to heal him while Serendipity is not up. Conclusion: If you want to take care of yourself in the raid more than you want to care of the raid, take Spell Warding and waste 5 points.

    About glyphs:

    The only glyph that is to be considered for replacement ,depending on the boss encounters, is the http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=42409. You could replace this glyph with the http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=42400. If there is less AOE damage in the raid pick Flash Light, otherwise stick to Prayer of Healing. Examples: Halion 25 Shadow realm: Prayer of Healing (constant AOE dmg) , Halion 25h Physical realm: Flash Heal (AOE dmg only on Meteor, strong single target damage on tanks). Glyphs of CoH and GS should never be changed because they significantly increase our output, both utility and healing wise.


    2. Gear setup and item variations


    Slot Gear Enchant Socket
    Head http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=51261 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50368 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=41401 + http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40133
    Neck http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50609 / http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40133
    Shoulders http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=51264 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50338 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40155
    Back http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50668 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=63765 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40133
    Chest http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50717 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=44489 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40133 + http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40155+ http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=42144
    Wrist http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=54582 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=44498 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40113
    Gloves http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=51260 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=54999 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40133
    Waist http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50702 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=41611 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40113 + http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40155 +http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=42144
    Leggs http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=51262 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=41602 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40155 + http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40133
    Feet http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50699 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=55016 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40113 + http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=42144
    Ring 1 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=54585 / http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40113
    Ring 2 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50636 / http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40155
    Trinket 1 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=47432 / /
    Trinket 2 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=54589 / /
    Wand http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50631 / http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=40155
    Main Hand http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=46017 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=44487 /
    Off Hand http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50635 / /

    As you can see in this build I did not include http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50686, http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50631, http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50400 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50734. Reason for not including the wrist and the wand is because these two items are not offering any haste rating which is essential for us if we run this talent build. The amount of spirit we sacrificed is not that worth as the haste rating and constant increased stats we get from http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=54582 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50684. As for Ashen ring, if you go down deeply into theorycrafting every single fight in end game Wotlk holy priest-wise, including this ring which gives lower constant stats from start than http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=54585, after few raids, you will realise that the spell power proc which this ring gives with its up/and downtime is totaly wasted in some certain points of fights, especially the short ones. Going for constant stats is always better in terms of high end game raiding and fast and efficient raids.
    As for the wepons, it is obvious that http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=50734 gives better passive stats than http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=46017 but considering the buff http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=64411 provides, doing heals with it is way better, especially on this build. On the other hand, after doing several solo heal/ solo tank 0% buff Banes, I realised that using Val'anyr in this type of encounter is totaly useless because in each kill, the total absorption of Val'anyr shields in the entire raid was never above 100k so its better to go with Terenas since you already have increased stats from starts.


    3. Tactics and healing output in different boss encounters


    Lady Deathwhisper 25 Heroic

    In Phase one stand in the middle and heal members who get damaged by http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=72110. When adds spawn, keep a distance and keep an eye on fury warriors and boomkins in your raid and keep healing the tank with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783. When they start damaging the adds warriors and boomkins tend to die really fast if they are not toped with heals because of the high amount of threat they get (Hurricane, Whirlwind etc). To prevent their death make sure to call out a http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=10278 on boomkin or if its on fwarr use your Guardian Spirit. It is important that you monitor the behavior of those 2-3 raid members on mentioned classes so you can react fast and maybe save a life, who knows. When some of the raid members gets http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=69917 just dispel it and continue healing. Help the raid while using http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=10890 on Mind Controlled members.
    In Phase two, managing your movement while healing is really important. The healers positioning should be sth like this:



    Reason for this is that this way healers don’t need to move much when http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/npc=38222 are spawned and in case one of them is targeted, that specific healer can move away from the raid without disturbing the rest of the healers. Like this the only problem which can occur is melees triggering spirits in the melee range. To prevent melees from duying, make sure you spam http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48068 + http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089 on the melee groups and keep http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 bouncing from the tank to the melee group. In this situation, discipline priest should http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=72734 every slow from Lady’s http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=27072 so melees can move fast while targeted by spirits. If not, do the http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=72734 by yourself . In case you see that spirits are about to eat the melees, make sure you precast http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=14751 + http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=64843 to save some lives. Apart from that, healing here should be: http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783 on tank to keep http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359 up, keep http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48068 on people (frostbolt dmg, death and decay dmg) and keep http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 bouncing around. For emergency situations like spirits explosions you can precast few http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48072s and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089 on the groups who are most affected so make sure you pay attention the entire fight.

    Deathbringer Saurfang 25 Heroic

    Make sure you are spread with other ranged dps. Keep http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 on the raid members affected by http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=72443 and keep using http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48066 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 on the tank which is holding the boss. Apart from healing http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=72443, usehttp://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783 on the tank to keep http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359 up and running. When the http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=72446 appears, place your http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 and spam http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783 on that specific raid member. Use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48153 in case the target with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=72446 starts dropping low. In case you get the http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=72446 instead of healing with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783, use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 on yourself and start using http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48120 on the tanks or people with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=72443 . This way you take care of the Mark on yourself and heal the raid members in the same time.

    Professor Putricide 25 Heroic

    Start by applying http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222, http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783 on the main tank to proc http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359. When the raid starts getting AOE dmg start applying http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 and let http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 bounce around. When Abomination spawns put it on focus and make sure you heal it with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 and few http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783 if other resto shaman/ hpala slacks. When oozes appear, make sure you monitor the targets of the oozes, apply renew on the member targeted by red ooze and hard heal him with flash heals. As a healer make sure you are away from the target of the green ooze so you can cast heals without disturbance and without getting knocked back. If you see the raid member targeted by the green ooze is standing alone, make sure you use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48153 on him cause otherwise he will die for sure. If other members are stacked, the damage will be shared, it means you should use your http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=54589 and do some http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783 to top the knocked group. If one of the groups is around 50% hp precast http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48072 (you will have http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=63735 stacked 3 times while previously toping the knocked group) + http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089 to top them and continue applying http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 + http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 on the raid. The rest of the fight is pretty simple, always position yourself the way you can heal the entire raid, to see and avoid maleabe goo and be ready to heal the tank hard with single target healing after you reach the last phase. In the last phase if the tank starts droping low you can use your http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48153 to increase the healing cause it will be off cooldown if it didn’t proc earlier to green ooze target. When people are "dps whoring", especialy when oozes spawn and they continue tunneling the boss instead of switching to oozes, the explosion and knockback from the green ooze can criticaly damage the raid if people are not stacked properly to share the damage. In this case make sure your instantly use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=14751 and precast http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=64843.

    Blood-Queen Lana'thel 25 Heroic

    This is the fight where holy priests and resto druids shine because of the AOE raid dmg aura present in this fight. Position yourself left or right side of the room not too close to the melees so in case you get http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=72890 you can move to the wall and prevent the possibility of spreading it to the raid group. At start of the fight, use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=6346 on yourself and start healing by using http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 on the tank. Continue with applying http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 on the raid group and using http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089 on cooldown on the most affected groups. This is a fight where http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=42409 comes in handy so make sure you have it before the fight starts. If tank starts taking heavy dmg use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 on him and apply few http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783s to stack http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=63735 and apply http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359. Inspiration should never fall from the tank. With http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=63735 stacked you are able to cast http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48072 fast on the critical groups. On http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73070, make sure you run to the middle and precast http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=72734. Before she starts flying, there will be 1 raid member with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71266 on him, when fear hits he will most likely die on 25H mode if its not instantly dispelled. Keep an eye on that specific raid member and if no one dispels him fast enough preapply http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48153 just in case it goes bad ways. The rest of the fight is same as mentioned above, heal the AOE dmg and cast some http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48120s in case you get splashed and you need to heal another raid member asap.

    Sindragosa 25 Heroic

    Before she lands make sure you cast http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783 on the tank once or twice to apply http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359 and use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222, http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48066 on him. When she lands, raid will start receiving dmg from the aura. Start by applying http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 to every raid member and use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089 / http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 on cooldown. When http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=69762 debuff is applied on raid members, make sure you keep http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 on them and whenever you can, if you are healing Sindragosa without disco, use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48066 on resto shaman and holy paladin if they are high on http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=69766 stacks. If you get the debuff, move away from the raid but make sure you are on the side where the tank is so you can heal him also. When Sindragosa flies, if you don’t have unchained, apply http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 on the tomb marked raid members and if you see at least 2 or 3 members from the same group are marked for tomb start precasting http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48072 on that group, you will top them even if they got entombed, it works through tombs if you precast the healing spell before the tomb landed. Again, when she starts flying down, make sure you have http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359 on the the tank before Sindi hits him. Why? Parry haste. Make sure you have http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359 up and running asap and all the time. Serve your purpose.

    Lich King 25 Heroic

    Phase 1

    Position yourself with the ranged group and apply http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48066 on the MT few seconds before the fight starts. Also 5 seconds before the fights started use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 / http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 and cast few http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783s on the MT to proc http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359. Make sure you have enabled tracking for http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48066 on your healing addon so you can see which group has to be toped after http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73781. After first wave of ghouls, you can see which melees (mostly fwars/ retris/rogues) are receiving damage from physical hits of ghouls and make sure you keep http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 on them. Since the discipline will not be shielding this group cause of his http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=63653 procs, make sure you precast http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48072 on this group without shields so you can delete the http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73781 from them fast and continue healing the tanks. In case there is heavy ghoul damage on warriors due to Cleaving and Infest hits, http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48072 followed by http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089 would clear the damage problem while fighting LK on 30% buff. Apart from monitoring the melee group, make sure you keep http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 on the both tanks and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 bouncing from tank to melee group, also http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359 on tank up and running with few http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783 criticals. As in end game guilds, off tank, retri paladins or discipline should be assigned to dispel the http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=70338, if that doesn’t happen make sure you do it. After the first http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/npc=37698, off tank will start receiving heavy physical damage and from this moment you have to monitor 3 things: Main tank and off tank hp and cooldowns and raid group. Make sure the http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359 never drops from the tanks by casting http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783 on OT and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113/ http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783 on the Main tank. Since in most of the LK 25h fights (non speed kill ones, and if BL/Hero is not used in p1 and considering the average dps in these raids, ) second http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/npc=37698 appears few seconds before going out to transition, this is a breaking point where you need to monitor the hp of the OT as well as his cooldowns so you can time your http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48153 effectively by tracking http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=26527 on Shambling Horrors. In most of the cases off tank (in this situation prot paladin) will use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=498 on the Frenzy of the first Shambling so he can minimize the damage done by both shamblings, so make sure you use your http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48153 right after DP ends so you could help him survive the incoming damage from next Shambling Hits. Hopefuly http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48153 will not proc if the following heals on the OT are good and you will have your GS cooldown reseted and ready for Phase 2.

    1st transition phase:

    When you go out to transition, make sure you are not standing close to anyone in the raid so you can monitor the raid situation clearly and react fast in case of emergencies. Since the damage on transition mostly comes from http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73790 and slightly from http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=74273 (if you have greedy melees), your healing output on both transitions should be: http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 on raid members by focus on melee group, http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089 on cooldown and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 bouncing in the raid group. After 6-7 secs into Transition use your http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=54589 since the damage from http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73790 is stronger now and most of the shields are broken. Make sure you keep http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359 on the tank who is assigned for Ragings ( in most cases scenario would be mostly MT and OT is taking the last Raging since the MT will be focused on LK while entering into P2). From now there will be 2 breaking moments. First one is if one of the melees gets targeted by http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/npc=39305 and second one is entrance to Throne at start of Phase 2. When one of the melees gets targeted by http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/npc=39305, he starts dealing damage to nearby melees around him cause of http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73775 effect. If he doesn’t move from the group make sure you have http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=63735 stacked up and running so you can react and precast http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48072 on the most affected melee group also followed by http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089. On 30% buff, this damage is significant but not fatal. On 0% buff, if that specific guy doesn’t move from the melee group, after 2nd tick of http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73775 the entire affected group will be at 10% hp which pretty much means few people dead due to huge AOE dmg in entire transition. This is where our http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=42409 comes in handy in case the group gets smashed by Sphere dmg and you have to heal them. A powerful and well timed http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48072 precast can save the entire group and will leave a HoT on them which is very useful on transitions with constant damage.

    Phase 2:

    Second breaking moment is the entrance to phase 2 followed by http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73781. Before entering the Throne, make sure you have http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 on the people who got damaged by http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73789 so you can top them. While going in, use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48066 + http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 + http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 on the main tank and a http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783, so http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359 will be applied before LK casts http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73781 and does the first melee hit. After that, since the discipline priest will start preshielding few seconds before transition ends, and some of those shields will probably break, make sure you precast http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48072 on the group without shields right before Infest hits so there won’t be any Infest tails left and you could position yourself for the first wave of valkyrs. Phase two has has 2 critical points healing-wise. First one is always about managing Infest and second one is managing the Soul Reapers.

    1st crucial point: Managing the Infest

    Many healers, even non-priest ones, are understanding the concept of http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73781 totally wrong. Most of them, as seen through the raids in past few years think that by leaving a HoT on raid members will remove the Infest with its ticks and that’s it. This is partialy wrong since in order to remove it, that specific raid member needs to healed above 90% hp, otherwise his hp will constantly drop due to increased shadow damage he suffers from Infest ticks. Why partialy: Rdudu’s http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=26980 leaves a HoT but the cast heals the target also by significat amount and the Infest is removed instantly. We are talking about instant HoTs here. So the point is, from holy priest PoV, if the disco didn’t shield group 1 for e.g. (which is mostly warriors grp) or the shields broke before Infest, you should: 1. In 30% buffed LK25h fight: using http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089 instantly on the group right after Infest hit and follow it by http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783s on remaining Infest and 2. In 0% buff LK25h fight: Start pre-casting http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48072 right on Infest cast in order to clear the group from Infest since http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089 will not remove it entirely cause the initial damage is too big. There is no place for http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 in these situations, only for http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 if only 1 target is left and affected by Infest. Never http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222, don’t risk it. The goal is to clear it and continue healing the tank, not fight it.

    2nd crucial point: Managing the Soul Reapers

    In order to heal the damage caused by http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73799 on the tank, first, you need to understand how actualy http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73799 works. http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73799 is a debuff that is applied on our tank after LK hits him for 50% weapon damage. This effect deals xxx Shadow damage after 5 sec and increases the LK's haste by 100% for 5 sec. When the LK hits the tank with his weapon that damage is considered Physical. Five seconds after the Reaper is applied tank gets hit by shadow damage. After that LK’s melee haste is inceased by 100% and the damage that tank receives at this point is combined Physical (cause of fast melee hits) and Shadow due to Reaper damage. Since the damage tank receives is both Physical and Shadow, we need to time our abilities perfectly in order to heal the Reaper properly and this is really important since there is a difference while fighting LK with and without ICC buff aura.
    From a holy priest player perspective, I find this way of handling the http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73799 as a most effective one: http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783 + http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 on the tank 3 secs before the Reaper is applied to apply http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359 before he gets hit by LK melee hit since its pure Physical damage. Note: Sometimes you have to cast Flash Heal 2 times if the first one doesn’t crit but imo experience it happens rarely. Right after you placed http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113, apply http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48066 on the tank and wait for the Reaper effect. On the last second before the shadow damage comes in, start precasting http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48063 and with its application, tank will be topped to 100% hp.
    On 30% buff: Use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48153 before the Reaper hits. Why? You increase the healing done from all resources and since the LK doesn’t hit that hard on melee hits as it does on 0% buff the cooldown will be set to 1 min and you will have it up and going for 3rd reaper. Also, using http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48153 on first reaper is not that mandatory on 30% buff as it is on unbuffed fight since even with proper tank cd usage followed by 2 perfectly timed holy lights from hpala, reaper is survived. Here we use our shield to mitigate melee swings not shadow damage.
    On 0% buff: use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48153 right after the http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73798 is applied. Why? The physical hit will be lowered enough with tank def cooldown combined with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=6940 as external so the the part where tank is supposed to die is the last melee hit combined with shadow damage. We delay the usage of http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48153 not only to increase the healing on death-striking melee hits but to prevent his death since when GS procs tank won’t die and we will only have it on cooldown by full duration. Utility above all. Here, we use our shield to mitigate shadow damage, so we wait and use it 2 secs before shadow damage because we’re precasting http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48063 right after Shadow damage is appled.
    The picture below reflects how http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73798 works and and how does not affect the Melee swing timer. Videos can be found in the last section of this guide.



    The problem occurs when LK is casting something, Infest or Defile for e.g., cause each cast is reseting his melee swing timer. That’s why healing the first Soul Reaper is easy cause its constant, but for the next ones is tricky. When LK is about to apply Soul Reaper, his melee swing timer does not reset. But when he starts casting Infest, his melee swing timer is reseted and his next melee attack will be 1,8s after he finished casting the Infest. The problem occurs when Shadow damage from http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73798 comes in together with a melee hit and tank gets roasted if he is not healed properly.
    Since we understand now how to predict damage and heal the Reaper properly, next thing we have to worry about is Valkyrs. On Warmane, Valkyrs were bugged for a long time and healers didn’t have to worry about its damage on the tank when they are dropped under 50% hp and airborne again. Now, when its fixed it becomes a huge pain in the *** for healers, especially on 0% buff LK25h. Apart from Melee hits from LK, Soul Reaper and Infest in p2, tank receives damage from another source after the first wave of Valkyrs. It is from http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73782 after each valk is dropped under 50% hp and airborne again. Since there are 3 Valks in each wave, after each wave tank is getting roasted by damage he receives and the damage in the raid has to be really satisfying so you could push the LK to phase 2.5. Since the damage is increased, and now its constant shadow + physical damage, we need to keep our http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359 up all the time as well as http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48066 on the tank on http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=6788 downtime so we lower the damage he receives and buy time so we can also heal the raid on Infests and the tank on each melee hit. On 30% buff the damage the tank receives from http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73782 is not that big and its easely healable, but on 0% buff, each valk wave cleared is a timing death bomb on the tank. To heal this damage, we should have our http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 up and running on the tank as well as http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 jumping in the melee range. When each Infest hits we clear the remains by precasting http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48072 and using http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089 as a follow up. After that we just heal the tank with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48120 and do the same as mentioned above on each http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73798.


    Phase 2.5 is same as Phase 1.5, spread around, heal with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222, http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089. In case of heavy sphere damage use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48072 and conserve your mana.

    Phase 3:

    Few seconds after transition has ended, Lich King will cast http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=74325 which pulls the entire raid into Frostmourne chamber. Right while you enter the throne, make sure you place http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359 on the tank and start applying http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 on the raid members as many as you can. LK will cast http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=74325 and you will be teleported in the center of the chamber. Since the chamber has constant AOE dmg aura and you have to move a lot, use your http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=54589 right when you get teleported and use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089 to proc it. After that start moving with the raid and spam http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 / http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089 on the raid. If the raid is getting huge shadow damage, don’t hesitate and cast some http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48072s to top them up, especially when entire group is having their hp halved. This is mostly painful on 0% buff where our resistance is lower. One second before going out of the chamber place http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359 on the MT and use http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48066 on him. After you get teleported to the Throne, wait for http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=27194 and after that position yourself behind the LK so you don’t get damage from http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=70498 and start healing the tanks with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783 / http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 and using http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48066 as explained above for each http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=73798. In case of solo tanking, use your http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48153 on the first Soul Reaper after the chamber so you will have it up for 3rd. When the LK finishes his summoning of Vile Spirits , tanks will reposition and you have a 4-5 secs gap to reapply http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 on the raid before you get pulled to FMC again. Repeat the healing rotation as mentioned above in the chamber.


    Halion 25 Heroic

    On Halion 25h holy priests are mostly assigned as “inside” healers but in my own experience, they are pretty efficient as “outside” healers also together with rsham or hpaladin.

    Phase 1: Physical realm

    Few secons before the tank pulls Halion, make sure you have http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359 / http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113/ http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48066 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 on him. Since there is no ICC aura present, 2-3 http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783s will apply http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359 after that just use ur HoTs and shield. As a safety measure, it would be really good and useful if the tank receives a external from paladins or in this case, when holy priest is in the raid, using http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48153 at start.
    On pull, heal the tank with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 and stack http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=63735 before breath. When Halion starts casting breath, start precasting http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48063 to top the tank right on Breath hit and do a following http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783 to heal the next melee hit from Halion. If the pets are well positioned (behind boss), he won’t be parry hasting and melee hits will be regular. When somone gets http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=74567, wait for him to reach the wall and dispel him, place a http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 on him to top him.
    After first http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=75879 , when you cross to the other side of the boss, continue healing the tank with rotation mentioned above. When http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/npc=40682 appears and it moves to the MT, use your http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48066 on him and precast http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48063 to top him on next breath. Make sure you keep http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359 on both MT and OT since both receive good portions of damage. Heal the damage from Living Embers and Fire on the raid by using http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089 / http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48072 in critical situations (bad spread of flames and aggro from Embers on melees and huge AOE).
    At 75% of his HP, Halion will phase and open a portal to his Twilight realm. This is when Phase 2 starts.


    Phase 2: Twilight realm

    Before going into portal, make sure you place http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=15359 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 on the tank who is going inside. Enter the portal and position with the raid. After positioning, top the tank with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=71783s or http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48120 if you are damaged also and use your http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/item=54589 followed by instant http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089 to proc it. Start healing the raid with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 / http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089 on cooldown. Before the http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=77845 , make sure you have http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=63735 stacked. When cutter appears, start moving and healing with your instants as mentioned above. Since the raid is moving, and tank healers can’t heal the tank constantly, when Halion starts casting Breath precast http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48063 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48066 him afterwards. The damage will be well mitigated. If the raid is getting highly damaged, cast some http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48072s to top the groups and continue with your healing rotation. When someone getshttp://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=74795 debuff, give him http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222, and right after dispelling apply http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48066 on him and heal him with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48120 to prevent his death. Make sure that the guy with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=74795 has near full hp before dispelling him otherwise he will die in most cases without any defensives.

    Phase 3: Both realms

    Phase 3 start starts when Halion hits 50% hp and he summons a portal back to Physical Ream. From this moment Halion exists simultaneously in both Physical and Twilight Realm and the raid is split into 2 groups. As a holy priest, your true potential is released while healing inside in phase 3. The healing rotation for phase 3 is same as for phase 2. Heal with your http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=25222 / http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48113 and http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48089 and on each cutter movement heal the tank and yourself with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48120 to stack http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=63735 to top the tank with http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48063 if he drops. Since in phase 3 Halions gets a stat called http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=74832, dps disbalans can make Halion attack harder in one of the realms, so make sure you use your http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48153 in this situations. Other situation when you should use your http://wotlk.cavernoftime.com/spell=48153 is while moving on cutter and tank has no major defensives or when other healer gets Consumption and you have to heal the tank hard.


    4. User Interface and Add ons

    Since the UI is a matter of choice of each player I won’t be discussing mine and why I prefer it over ElvUI like most of the players. I only wanted to share it with you guys in case some of you like it. Also the add ons and Healbot settings I use in-game.


    List of Addons and download links:

    - DBM by Afterlight: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1me...gxUPN0w3KieM2g
    - Healbot by Iqui: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1WK...Wu4UxeOIzfzOEe
    - Weak Auras 2 with model paths: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ne...UEX-PRF8PF3Ilb
    - InvisusRaidTools: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HYI...ew?usp=sharing
    - CombatLogFix: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Wi...eHyA7WPQGoUWxx
    - Cooldowns: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Yt...jSdaxNbu0f2J9g
    - Dominos: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1F4...iUYOj2UiKS3JP4
    - HalionHelper: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Uq...yXCfjbfbkqeBjK
    - ParryHaste: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xj...9NKwM0LN3Dlz4Z
    - PlateBuffs: https://drive.google.com/open?id=14y...A1Dz011cMdbdSc
    - Quartz: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Yz...qrK-oYpg26-Qg6
    - RaidCooldowns: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1oh...zdBsSjKAoAkS6I
    - Recount: https://drive.google.com/open?id=16X...Y-QkroU9HyKbl-
    - Skada: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1iq...2pC7jqrzXa3_fk
    - SnowfallKeyPress: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Jb...LTNpYhbHFsMymo
    - TellMeWhen: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nZ...t7icnM_VieWxQO
    - Xperl: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1wE...CCnfJtU5vgImQy


    5. Practical demonstration and videos

    Solo tank/ Solo heal 0% buff Bane with Holy Priest [Afterlight guild]



    Solo tank (ProtWarr) / 4 heals 0% buff LoD with Holy Priest [Afterlight guild]



    Halion 10 Heroic / Solo heal inside with Holy Priest [Afterlight guild]



    Argent Defender run / Holy priest PoV [Pugs]



    Final words

    The goal of this guide is to help holy priests who still play WotLK to get better, improve in healing and maybe experience something new. There are possible mistakes in this guide, as in every other since I'm also a human being, but be realistic while commenting on them since I made this guide for mostly practical use. Math ain't gonna help people get better or predict incomming damage. Only practice and good teammates will.
    P.S. Special thanks to my friends Teamstars, Foks and Tutan on the enormous help they provided during some tests, theorycrafting and practical analysis we did to prove some most of the things written in this guide!
    Aditional information with details can be found on my personal discord server, feel free to join and ask any questions related to wotlk gameplay and stay updated with UI information: https://discord.gg/G6tRKgEpab
    Edited: December 19, 2021 Reason: added aditional info in the Final Words chapter

  2. May 18, 2020  

  3. May 18, 2020  
    SECOND! and GG! :) nice guide bro lvling my priest right now !

  4. May 19, 2020  
    Very well written. I used to play priest a long time ago, and its nice to see that many conclusions I came to are the same as top players.

    One thing I am unable to understand is handling Soul Reaper.. I mean you guys invest a lot of time and effort to cover this mechanic while it could and imho should be solved by tanks. It seems so much easier to have 1 tank taking shadow portion and other using defensives for hasted attacks. Is this mostly aimed at solo-tanking for bringing an extra dps or is there other reason I am missing you do it like this?

  5. May 19, 2020  
    Thanks for the good words!

    About Reaper, yes, we are doing it solo tank most of the times, even on 0% buff. However, even with 2 tanks we're always doing it with MT taking all the Reapers with his defensive cooldowns and externals either from paladins or priests. Not saying this tactic is better, it's just the way we are used to and it's working good. Cheers!

  6. May 29, 2020  
    Another excelent guide, thanks for a detailed picture of how holy priests should be played properly!

  7. May 29, 2020  
    Thanks this is best guide ever by far !

  8. June 1, 2020  
    Best holy priest guide so far!
    Regards Gray.

  9. June 2, 2020  

  10. You put in a lot of effort. We have to support you! +++++

  11. How do you feel about HPriest with the same items and talent build but instead use t9 4 set bonuses?

  12. How do you feel about HPriest with the same items and talent build but instead use t9 4 set bonuses?
    The only viable solution which won't affect the healing too much is 2x t9 set but the increase in healing of PoM spell is not exactly 20% on Warmane so it's not worth it. So with any t9 part you will only lose stats and gain nothing. Cheers!

  13. Any reason why you pick Solace of the Fallen/Defeated over Althor's Abacus? That proc on Althor's Abacus is most likely to cause overhealing?

  14. Any reason why you pick Solace of the Fallen/Defeated over Althor's Abacus? That proc on Althor's Abacus is most likely to cause overhealing?
    Main reason to pick Solace is mana-regen. This is ofc, very individual, feel free to use abacus if you have no mana-problems.

  15. Nice guide man.

    I think timing that Greater Heal to land right after the first big incoming hit(s) from reaper is the real deal and that's what needs practice.

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