Holy Priest guide

HealerPriest · WoW Forever

Beta guide, level 30. The WoW Forever beta stops at level 30, so this guide and its build cover levels 1 to 30. We update it for level 60 after launch on November 4.

Holy is the group and raid healer. Forever adds Binding Heal (heals your target and you at once), Litany of Light, which refunds mana when you mix your heals, and Prayer of Mending at the bottom of the tree, a heal that jumps from player to player. Spiritual Guidance turns Spirit into healing.

Strengths

The strongest group healing of any Priest
A tool for every situation
Litany of Light rewards mixing heals with free mana

Weaknesses

Very little movement ability
Prayer of Mending's bounces are a bit random
Slow to level alone

Talent build (level 30) 0/21/0

Holy 21 points

Improved Renew3/3
Holy Specialization3/5
Divine Fury5/5
Holy Nova1/1
Inspiration3/3
Holy Reach1/2
Improved Healing3/3
Binding Heal1/1
Litany of Light1/2

21 points in Holy: Improved Renew, faster heals with Divine Fury, crit with Holy Specialization, Holy Nova, Inspiration, cheaper heals, Binding Heal, and the first point of Litany of Light. Spiritual Guidance, Spiritual Healing and Prayer of Mending come after launch.

Open this build in the talent calculator

Key talents

Binding Heal: New in Forever: heals your target and you at the same time.
Litany of Light: New in Forever: casting a different heal than last time gives mana back.
Divine Fury: 0.5 sec faster Heal, Greater Heal, Smite and Holy Fire.
Improved Healing: 15% cheaper Heal, Greater Heal, Penance and Prayer of Mending.
Holy Nova: Instant heal for your party and damage to enemies around you.

New in Forever: Holy talents

Binding HealHeals a friendly target and the caster for 236 to 284. Low threat.
Litany of LightWhen you cast a healing spell, gain Mana equal to 10% of the base cost of the spell if your previous heal was a different spell.
Prayer of MendingPlaces a spell on the target that heals them for 172 the next time they take damage or receive non-periodic healing. When the heal occurs, Prayer of Mending jumps to a party or raid member within 20 yards. Jumps up to 5 times and lasts 30 sec after each jump. This spell can only be placed on one target at a time per caster.

Rotation

Renew on everyone taking steady damage.
Power Word: Shield on the tank and on casters who get hit.
Flash Heal or Binding Heal for quick saves.
Greater Heal (with Inner Focus) for big hits you can see coming.
Holy Nova when the whole party takes damage.
Mix your heals so Litany of Light keeps refunding mana.

Cooldowns

Inner Focus: A free big heal that crits more often.
Fade: Drop threat before you pull aggro.
Dispel Magic / Abolish Disease: Remove harmful effects from the group.

Stats

Healing power first, then Intellect, mana per 5 seconds and Spirit. Crit last until your mana is solid.

Best races

Alliance

Gnome: Expansive Mind (+5% mana) and Eureka!, which also boosts your heals for 8 sec.
Human: The Human Spirit (+10% Spirit) and Ruthless (+1% crit).
Dwarf: Stoneform for bleeds, poisons and diseases.

Horde

Undead: Will of the Forsaken breaks fear, Cannibalize restores mana between fights.
Troll: Berserking: +10% casting speed for 10 sec.

Professions

Tailoring for cloth gear (Forever adds new spell power patterns), Enchanting to make your own wands, or Engineering.

Leveling

Holy is slow alone. Level as Shadow or Discipline and switch to Holy for dungeons and raids. Forever has mouseover healing built in: turn it on in the Combat options.