How to Play a Holy Paladin in the Shadowlands Pre-patch

By Pelinal Last Updated: 2020/10/20 Changelog Patch: 10.2.6

Table of Contents
Rating:

Guide Navigation
Rating:

How to Play a Holy Paladin in Shadowlands Pre-PatchDivine ShieldLay on Handsrotation guidebeginners guideHow Different Does Holy Paladin Feel in the Shadowlands Pre-Patch?Holy PowerCrusader StrikeGlimmer of LightCrusader StrikeHoly ShockLight of DawnWord of GloryAvenging WrathIneffable TruthGlimmer of LightNew Abilities for Holy Paladins in Shadowlands Pre-Patch

NEW - This iconic paladin spell returns for all Paladin specs. Having this fan-favorite ability back will give paladins some options to help execute low health targets, while also giving some mana-free Holy Power generation. It isn't until you begin leveling in Shadowlands that you unlock the ability to use this spell during Avenging Wrath, but until then its still an excellent ability to have back for general questing, dungeons, raids or PvP.

NEW - This spell is one of our two main ways to convert Holy Power into healing. This is the single target nuke option; it does an enormous amount of healing. It is essentially a super-charged Holy Shock.

REWORKED - This spell is the AoE healing alternative to the aforementioned Word of Glory both spells do roughly the same healing so you will need to constantly evaluate whether you want to do AoE healing, or single target healing.

Shield of the Righteous - Although a somewhat niche ability, this is the only way we can effectively turn Holy Power into damage. Baseline, it provides us with a small amount of survivability. Although it will be rare to use this ability it can certainly be handy in AoE damage situations, or while solo questing.

NEW - This ability is somewhat niche, it is rare that CC is used in modern World of Warcraft, but having this ability back baseline may be useful in situations where you need that CC on undead mobs, or in PvP situations on certain pets.

REWORKED - Infusion of Light has been redesigned, however, don't get too excited. The change doesn't really change how you play the class much. It essentially means that your priority compared to previous iterations has been reversed. Using an Infusion of Light on a Holy Light will now do more healing, while using it on a Flash of Light is more filler/mana efficient.

REWORKED Devotion Aura - Devotion Aura has been slightly redesigned. It now has a passive radius of 40 yds, but applies a 3% damage reduction to all allies within it. Overall this is a buff in larger groups, but for solo play is a slight nerf.

NEW Crusader Aura - This is a re-introduction of a previous mechanic, where we could increase the mounted speed of our allies, instead of just ourselves. This can be helpful in some scenarios such as in battlegrounds where you can help your group get to the objectives faster.

NEW Retribution Aura - This is a new aura. Although you will use this rarely as Devotion Aura is so powerful, if part of your strategy involves letting people die, this can be of value. Note: this spell is on the Global Cooldown (GCD) and therefore, if you switch auras before someone dies, you could have possibly saved the person who died. It is not advised to let your allies die on purpose =)

REWORKED - Holy Avenger has been redesigned to have a longer cooldown, and instead focus on very heavy Holy Power generation. This makes it a far more powerful cooldown overall.

NEW - This Azerite Trait returns as a talent. This can be stacked with the existing Azerite Trait during the pre-patch, and I recommend that you do so.

hereHow Do AoE Target Caps affect Holy Paladins in Shadowlands Pre-Patch

Paladin Target Caps for Shadowlands

General Paladin Target Caps

Spell Name	Target Cap	Notes
Consecration	Soft-Cap 20
Shield of the Righteous	Soft-Cap 20

General Paladin Talent Target Caps

Spell Name

Target Cap	Notes
Blinding Light	Uncapped	Crowd Control only

Holy Paladin Target Caps

Spell Name	Target Cap	Notes
Light of Dawn	5

Holy Paladin Talent Target Caps

Holy Prism
Light's Hammer

Spell Name

Target Cap

Notes

Avenging Crusader

Beacon of Virtue

Glimmer of Light

Soft-Cap 20 / Soft-Cap 6

Damage: Soft-Cap 20. Healing: Soft-Cap 6

Protection Paladin Target Caps

Spell Name	Target Cap	Notes
Avenger's Shield	3 or 5	5 targets with First Avenger
Hammer of the Righteous	Soft-Cap 20	If in Consecration

Protection Paladin Talent Target Caps

Final Stand

Spell Name	Target Cap	Notes
Blessed Hammer	Uncapped
Uncapped	Taunt only

Retribution Paladin Target Caps

Spell Name	Target Cap	Notes
Divine Storm	5
Wake of Ashes	sqrt
Shield of Vengeance	Soft-Cap 1

Retribution Paladin Talent Target Caps

Sanctified Wrath

Spell Name	Target Cap	Notes
Eye for an Eye	Uncapped
Soft-Cap 20

Retribution Paladin Legendary Target Caps

Spell Name

Target Cap	Notes
Tempest of the Lightbringer	5

Paladin Covenant Ability Target Caps

Spell Name

Target Cap	Notes
Divine Toll	5/15/25	Kyrian Protection: 15 total hits baseline, 25 total with First Avenger Retribution: 5

hereHow Do the GCD Changes Affect Holy Paladins in Shadowlands Pre-Patch

Avenging Crusader

Avenging Wrath

Holy Avenger

How Strong are Holy Paladins in the Shadowlands Pre-patch? Glimmer of LightWhat are the Big Gameplay Changes for Holy Paladins? Holy ShockCrusader StrikeWord of GloryLight of DawnWord of GloryLight of DawnHoly ShockWord of GloryLight of DawnCrusader StrikeCrusader StrikeHoly ShockHoly ShockGlimmer of LightCrusader's MightGlimmer of LightGlimmer of LightGlimmer of LightGlimmer of LightInfusion of LightHoly LightFlash of LightInfusion of LightCrusader StrikeHoly ShockHoly AvengerCrusader StrikeHoly ShockHoly ShockWord of GloryCrusader StrikeHow does the Loss of Corruption Affect Holy Paladins in the Shadowlands Pre-Patch?Ineffable TruthAvenging WrathAvenging WrathAvenging WrathIneffable TruthIneffable TruthIneffable TruthBest Talent Builds for Holy Paladin in Pre-patchGlimmer of LightHoly Shock

Level 25: All talents on this row have some viability. Holy Prism will provide the most value while providing the smallest impact on your rotation. Due to higher haste levels than you will have in Shadowlands, you may be losing value from Judgment of Light. However Judgment of Light will be the more mana efficient option, so ultimately both talents are viable. If you are having mana problems, Judgment of Light is certainly the play if you want the damage or find yourself with lots of dead time in your core ability usage. Otherwise Holy Prism will provide slightly more raw HPS.

Level 50: In some encounters, you may opt to take Beacon of Faith, as you already have a fair amount of Glimmer of Light healing from Azerite. However, if tanks aren't taking a significant amount of damage, or only one tank is active, you will be better suited with Glimmer of Light.

Best Rotation for Holy Paladin in Pre-PatchLight of DawnWord of GloryHoly ShockCrusader StrikeCrusader StrikeIneffable TruthCrusader's MightHoly ShockCrusader StrikeHoly ShockCrusader StrikeHoly ShockHoly ShockHoly ShockGlimmer of LightBestow FaithHoly PrismJudgmentCrusader StrikeHoly ShockLight of the MartyrBest Stats for Holy Paladin in Pre-Patch

Haste

Mastery=Versatility=Crit

Best Azerite Traits for Holy Paladin in Pre-PatchGlimmer of LightLight's DecreeAvenger's MightIndomitable Justice

Glimmer of Light is still incredibly potent and should be stacked. This can combine with the Glimmer of Light talent, for even more healing.

Light's Decree: You will still want at least one Light's Decree trait, as it will still increase the duration of your Avenging Wrath. Additionally, now that we spend holy power this will provide a small amount of damage for us in the pre-patch!

Avenger's Might will still provide a large amount of healing in our burst windows. Despite lower uptimes on Avenging Wrath after losing Ineffable Truth, this trait provides a large amount of secondary stats when we want them the most.

Best Essences for Holy Paladin in Pre-PatchMajor:

Vision of Perfection will still be your major essence of choice. The extra Avenging Wrath duration is still invaluable, especially after losing Ineffable Truth

Minor:Conflict and Strife

Conflict and Strife

The Well of Existence

Unwavering Ward

The Formless Void

All Shadowlands Holy Paladin Changes

Tags: PvE Mythic Dungeons Raiding Simple

Comments

Comment by Gwynneth

Thanks so much for this guide, very much appreciated. I haven't played 'Live' in over a year, so I have some catching up to do :)

Comment by Deathstrike

For essences; why not try to work Lucid Dreams into a minor slot over Well of Existence? While not a thing to be relied on, due to how much mana is currently used, even by Glimmer-dins, the mana refund might help a little, even if it take 5 Crusader Strikes to get 1 free one, that is one more holy power/holy shock that you are able to get in plus a nice little vers buff to go along with it.

Comment by Nascent

This is a great guide! Thank you so much for it! I really appreciate the objective perspective in it, since there seemed to be a lot of fear mongering about HPal not being viable in SL from Beta testers and it was really disconcerting.

Comment by SortsAzuremyst

The entire Holy Paladin Talent tree is a lackbuster now.

Why do shatter something that was working as intended?

Tune the numbers instead. World of Glory is great but you need more "Range" generation of spells for it to work. Let's be honest here keep Paladin too long in melee range in pvp he can't keep up not with the current build. It might work "Okay" perhaps even good in the late expansion for PVE but that's how far will it go. Borrowed power better make the spec work for really enjoying a melee healer. As for now Holy Paladin spec is as worse as it get's. I literally tested Disc Priest and Hpal while leveling through battlegrounds the difference is just beyond me. While Disc Excels fluently and Hpal feels completely as being in wheelchair and I can play both now imagine how many Rookies will get rejections in a game who are going "First time on Hpal". There just isn't a reason to take Hpal expect World 1st race for "Devo Aura". Sorta the same as DH for the range buff but we speak about a Healer here.

How to Play a Holy Paladin in the Shadowlands Pre-patch

Contribute