Holy Healadin Guide

[Aegrotatio]

Hey all, this is the first of my attempts to bring the culture and knowlage of 2.4.3 (addons, tactics, inteligent debate, etc.) back to us and secure it for the future of this server.

From (http://www.holypaladin.net/index.php/ho ... ling-guide)

Although I’ve always been planning to do it, I have yet to write a general guide to Holy Paladin healing. So, here it is.

How I Heal 99% of the time

I personally think I have a very unique (bad?) healing strategy, but it works very well for me. I stack Spell Power and Crit instead of Intellect, I don’t spam Holy Light, and I always do a ton of raid healing. Keep that in mind while you read and decide whether this strategy is right for you. Also, keep in mind my UI setup and macros.

On 99% of boss fights, including 5-mans and 25-mans, this is what I do:
I cast Sacred Shield on the person who will take the most damage - the main tank or possibly an off-tank. Sometimes the off-tank actually takes more damage due to adds or because they’re undergeared.
I cast Beacon on that same person.
I always try to stay on top of the tank on the pull until he is almost in position. That way the tank never gets out of range (although this is less important now with the new 60 yard Beacon).
I use a judgement on the main target of the dps (usually the tank’s target).
I throw a Holy Shock on the off-tank to heal the burst damage that always happens on the pull.

Healing Tips

That’s my opener.

[Aegrotatio]

Here’s what I do from there.
At this point, I start healing like mad. My healing is usually very reactive and I almost never stop healing.
I tend to use Holy Shock on almost every cooldown, unless I know that its unnecessary (damage is coming in relatively slowly). In that case, I’ll use Flash of Light. I really love Holy Shock and its synergy with the other two heals. I almost always use Holy Shock on anyone who goes under 50% if its off cooldown. You save many lives that way.
If everyone is at full health, I might take a little break or possibly throw a Flash of Light or two on someone just in case the tank gets hit before its done casting. I may start a Holy Light if I know the damage is coming in hard.
If someone (including the tank) is above 50% health and the incoming damage is reasonable, I’ll use Flash of Light. This is what I tend to do the most, especially as content gets easier.
If Holy Shock is on cooldown and someone is below 50%, or I think they will be soon, I’ll boot up a Holy Light on them.
If Holy Shock is on cooldown and someone is below 10%, I’ll flail like mad and pray to God he doesn’t die. Realistically, I may use Flash of Light or Holy Light, depending on how long I think the person will live and how good the other healers are. If the healers are bad, I use Holy Light, since Flash won’t usually be enough to save him anyway. If the other healers are good I’ll use Flash to keep him from dying and hope the other healers will cover the rest. Holy shock is preferred, followed by a Flash of Light or Holy Light, depending on how much more healing they need. If its a tank, it will almost always be Holy Light.
I use Holy Light less if I have a good heal team. The worse my fellow healers are, the more I use Holy Light mainly because I just need to pump out more healing since I’m getting less help.
I use Divine Plea every cooldown no matter what, and I hardly even notice it.
I keep Sacred Shield up 100%.
I keep Beacon of Light up 100%. This is very important.
I try to keep my Flash HoT up 100% on anyone with Sacred Shield on them.
I usually judge every 10 seconds.
It depends on the tank’s health, my target’s health, my other healers, and the situation, but I will almost always heal someone else before I heal the tank, since the heal gets Beaconed onto the tank anyway. This effectively doubles my healing. Obviously, you have to be careful with this and know its limitations. You’re usually safe with Holy Shock and even Flash of Light. Its a bit risky with Holy Light, but gives you the greatest rewards if it works and the greatest failure if it doesn’t.
I never ever heal the tank directly except to apply the Flash of Light HoT.
I’ll bubble quickly if there’s any chance I might die.
If I find the tank (or anyone) is taking a ton of damage, I’ll start spamming Holy Light. Usually after a few spams other healers have started spamming him too or the damage has stopped and I can lay off a little.
I use Hand of Sacrifice on the tank and bubble during any boss enrage.
If I start to run low on mana (which is rare) or find my mana going down very quickly, I’ll lay off a bit and make sure to only use Flash of Light while I wait out the Divine Plea cooldown. Usually once Divine Plea is back up, I can go back to my regular healing and before long the fight is done.
In general, I just heal the person with the lowest green bar.
A lot of healing is about getting a “feel” for the damage. A lot of it is instinct and very quick reaction time. You have to pick the right heal on the right person within a split second. The instinct comes in by knowing what the other healers will do and how the damage will come in in the next few seconds. Just keep practicing and you’ll get better.

[Aegrotatio]

And that’s everything. Our raids don’t usually use any healing assignments more complex than that on most fights (so far). There are exceptions, of course. I let my Beacon take care of most of the tank heals and throw direct heals on the tank as needed. I use Holy Light more as the damage increases and people’s health get low. I use Holy Shock often and Divine Plea every cooldown.

I like not being the only healer on the main Tank. I think having multiple healers on the main tank gives us a lot of advantages. Priest and Druid shields and HoTs help to even out burst damage on the tank and Shamans can use chain heal on the tank to heal up all the melee. With everyone helping heal the tank, it gives me the opportunity to help heal both the raid and the tank (with Beacon), which I’m very good at. Having multiple people taking care of everyone means that one person’s mistake won’t necessarily kill someone and we can all watch each other’s backs. Maybe its just because content is relatively easy, but this strategy has worked for us all through 25-man Naxx and its at least much more fun for me than spamming Holy Light on one person all night. This strategy has now become the only viable strategy as of Patch 3.2.

NOTE! I take no credit for any of that. It isn't mine. Also the end of it was updated a tad for wrath but you get the idea for TBC. I personally used essentially the same tactic during retail WowW back in the day :D