I have seen a lot of holy pally guides out there lately, and I feel that all of them have been lacking in information for a new paladin. So what I'm posting is not a guide, but rather some information that every holy paladin needs to know.
Holy Paladin spells
First, I will talk about your main healing spells:
Holy Light: This spell costs 29% of your base mana, which at level 80 costs 1274 mana, has a 2.5 sec cast time before any modifiers, and at max rank, heals a friendly target for 4888 to 5444, before factoring in spellpower. The spellpower coefficient is 166.00%, before talents.
Flash of Light: This spell costs 7% of your base mana, which at level 80 costs 307 mana, has a 1.5 sec cast time before any modifiers, and at max rank, heals a friendly target for 785 to 879, again, before factoring in any spellpower. The spellpower coefficient is 100.00%, before talents.
Holy Shock: This spell costs 18% of your base mana, which at level 80 costs 790 mana, is an instant cast, and at max rank, blasts the target with Holy energy, causing 1296 to 1402 Holy damage to an enemy, or 2401 to 2599 healing to an ally, before factoring in any spellpower. This spell is affected by the Infusion of Light talent, "Your Holy Shock critical hits reduce the cast time of your next Flash of Light by 1.5 sec or Holy Light by 1 sec." The spellpower coefficient is 81.00% when it is used as a healing spell, 43.00% when it is used as a damaging spell, before talents.
Lay on Hands: This spell is an instant cast spell with a 20 min cooldown. At max rank, heals a friendly target for an amount equal to the Paladin's maximum health and restores 1950 of their mana.
Sacred Shield: This spell costs 12% of base mana, which at level 80 costs 527 mana, is an instant cast spell, and at max rank, "Each time the target takes damage they gain a Sacred Shield, absorbing 500 damage and increasing the paladin's chance to critically hit with Flash of Light by 50% for up to 6 sec. They cannot gain this effect more than once every 6 sec. Lasts 30 sec."
I rarely see this particular tool mentioned by other holy paladins, which is a great shame, because this spell is actually very powerful. Sacred Shield will not only affect the crit chance of Flash of Light on the shield target, but the shield is affected by spellpower coefficients, from the testing done it is approximately (Your Spellpower) x coefficient of .75 plus the initial absorption value that it gives, which is 500 per tick. For example, if you have 2000 spellpower, 2000 x .75 = 1500, plus the base 500 that Sacred Shield absorbs, equals out to 2k damage that Sacred Shield can prevent at each tick on the target. At 6 possible ticks total throughout the 30 second duration of Sacred Shield, that works out to 12k damage that is prevented, and that can add up.
Beacon of Light: This spell costs 35% of base mana, which at level 80 costs 1536 mana. “The target becomes a Beacon of Light to all targets within a 40 yard radius. Any heals you cast on those targets will also heal the Beacon for 100% of the amount healed.”
Basically this spell makes it so that you can put the Beacon up on one target and heal another target, while those heals are still getting to the intended target. Keep in mind that if the target you are healing is at max health, the Beacon target will not receive the overheals. On fights like Patchwerk, this is a very useful spell to use, as you can cast the Beacon on one tank and heal another tank.
Now, I'm not going to be someone to tell you that you are going to end up spamming this spell or that spell or what not, because every heal that you throw out is situational and depends on the fight, what other healers you have, who you are healing, and what sort of damage other people are taking. I believe that it is foolish to try to suggest that a paladin be a Holy Light or a Flash of Light spammer, because every fight is not going to be the same healing wise.
However, I will say this about Lay on Hands: Lay on Hands is a situational heal. It is great for raid wipe prevention if it does happen to be used, but I have been seeing a lot of holy paladins using this spell as a way to restore either their mana or, even worse, someone else's mana. There are so many other methods that holy paladins have at their disposal so that they can regen mana that Lay on Hands should not be immediately considered as a mana restoration tool.
Now, I'm going to mention other spells that paladins can use to assist in healing:
Divine Illumination: This is an instant cast spell, reduces the mana cost of all spells by 50% for 15 sec. This is one of our great mana efficiency tools, it should ideally be put on cooldown during a boss fight, once every 3 minutes. For example, a standard holy paladin build chain casting Holy Light for 15 seconds will be able to cast the first Holy Light at 2.5 seconds, and then the rest at 2.0 seconds thanks to Light's Grace. That equals to 7 Holy Lights during that 15 second duration, 7 Holy Lights will use up 8918 mana. 50% of that not being used would equal a savings of 4459 mana. Using this example, it is equal to having 24.77 mana per 5.
Divine Favor: This costs 3% of your base mana, which at level 80 is 131 mana, is an instant cast spell, and when activated, "gives your next Flash of Light, Holy Light, or Holy Shock spell a 100% critical effect chance." This spell has a 2 minute cooldown.
A lot of Holy paladins will see this and typically want to use it and then Holy Shock so that they can get the instant cast Flash of Light, and this is a valid usage in some situations. However, a usage just as valid is to use Divine Favor and then cast a Holy Light. Why? Because of mana efficiency. Thanks to Illumination that all holy paladins should be talented for, you gain 60% of base mana cost back when one of your healing spells crit. Now, what would you rather have, 60% of 1274 mana that a Holy Light costs, or 60% of 790 mana that a Holy Shock costs? Keeping in mind that this Holy Light will also give additional healing through the splash healing that the Glyph of Holy Light offers, whereas the Holy Shock will have only healed one target for less than the Holy Light healed for. For mana efficiency, Divine Favor should always be used with Holy Light.
The other way to look at Divine Favor is for a quicker burst heal without worrying about the mana efficiency. In this case, you would use Divine Favor, then Holy Shock, then Holy Light. This allows for a faster burst heal but with less healing potential than the previous combo.
Avenging Wrath: This spell costs 8% of your base mana, which at level 80 is 351 mana, and has a 3 minute cooldown. "Increases all damage and healing caused by 20% for 20 sec. Cannot be used within 30 sec sec. of being the target of Divine Shield, Divine Protection, or Hand of Protection." When you are in need of some extra healing, this is the buff for you. This is great when used in combination of a Divine Plea, because it will negate 20% of the debuff that you get when you pop Divine Plea. This is also a great spell to use during an enrage period when you need to throw out big heals, for example, during Patchwerk. Being able to throw out 20k+ Holy Lights during that last 5% of Patchwerk is a life saver. Anytime that you need large burst heals, Avenging Wrath is your cooldown to burn.
Divine Plea: “You gain 25% of your total mana over 15 sec, but the amount healed by your spells is reduced by 50%.” Effect cannot be dispelled. While this is not a direct healing spell, this is the best tool for Holy Paladins to use in order to prevent yourself from going oom. 25% of your total mana pool every minute makes it theoretically possible to stack enough intellect so that you can prevent yourself from going oom. This should be used on cooldown anytime you are below 25% total mana.
Other spells not related to healing that a holy paladin should know and use:
Divine Intervention: This spell has a 20 minute cooldown and is an instant cast spell. The paladin casts this on a target in order to prevent harm from coming to the player, sacrificing themselves at the same time. The player is then protected by a bubble for 3 minutes, completely immune from any enemies around the area but unable to act. This spell is great for wipe protection (of course provided that it is cast on the appropriate target, such as a rezzer of some kind), and also is nice for paladins as using this spell to sacrifice themselves means that when the paladin dies, they don't lose durability. Make sure that there is communication just prior to casting this spell on the intended target, so as to avoid any misunderstandings. This is not recommended for use on some bosses, due to an inability to reset those bosses or due to game bugs.
Cleanse: This spell costs 6% of your base mana, which at level 80 is 263 mana. This is a very valuable spell for holy paladins, as it removes disease, poison, and magic effects from the target. The only effect that a paladin cannot remove are curses. The reason that this is so important for paladins to use is that it has the lowest mana cost of any of the other classes' dispells. For maximum use of this spell, I recommend downloading an addon called Decursive.
Buffs and Auras
First, a bit about the various auras that a paladin can have up (all of these at max rank):
Devotion Aura: "Gives 1205 additional armor to party members within 30 yards."
If you have a protection paladin in the group, chances are you won't be using this aura, because any protection protection worth their salt is going to have Improved Devotion Aura. Their Improved Devotion Aura not only gives an additional 50% armor bonus, but it also increases the amount healed on targets affected by this aura by 6%.
Retribution Aura: "Causes 112 Holy damage to any enemy that strikes a party or raid member within 30 yards."
If there is a retribution paladin in your group, chances are that you won't be using aura, again, because they'll most likely have Improved Retribution Aura. Otherwise, if there is not a retribution paladin, this will be one that you'll want to use, especially for tanks for who this ups the threat generation for a bit extra (of course, this also assumes that there's someone else for Devotion Aura)
Concentration Aura: "All party or raid members within 30 yards lose 35% less casting or channeling time when damaged."
I still see some Holy Paladins right now that have taken the talent Improved Concentration Aura. Now, things may change when Ulduar comes out, but right now, there really isn't a need for Improved Concentration Aura... or really, Concentration Aura at all. Because think of it this way: last expansion, the main boss that paladins threw this aura up for was Hex Lord, because he had the spirit bolts that did constant damage and that caused a lot of spell pushback. Now, name one boss in WoLK so far that does this same effect.... you can't, can you? That's because right now there isn't. And reducing the silencing or interrupt effects isn't that big of a bonus, because whatever mobs that can do silences usually have silences that only last for seconds, and those mobs are few and far between.
Frost/Fire/Shadow Resistance Auras: These offer 130 resist against frost/fire/shadow spells.
These should be used in fights with high concentrations of these types of damage. Note in some fights that this aura will supercede Devotion Aura in usefulness.
Now onto the Blessings:
Blessing of Kings: This buff gives an additional 10% to all stats.
Every holy paladin should have 5 talents into the protection tree for this. I've seen other people suggest that holy paladins might not need this necessarily, because of the idea that a retribution paladin would have this, but this assumes that a retribution paladin will be in your group. Retribution paladins are still not out there in insane quantities, but holy paladins are, and all tanks will love a holy paladin that has this buff. And no, one cannot assume that a protection paladin will be casting this up on everyone either, because a protection paladin is going to be casting Blessing of Sanctuary on themselves and on all other tanks in the group, and they will appreciate someone else to cast Blessing of Kings on themselves just as any other tank would. It is planned in 3.1 for this ability to be given to all paladins regardless of spec.
Blessing of Wisdom: This buff, at base effect, gives the target 91 mp5. When it is talented for, and it should be, it gives 109 mp5 to the target.
This is a mandatory healing paladin buff. This is a buff to cast on all spellcasters, and sometimes even enhancement shamans and hunters. This buff supercedes all other buffs that a Holy Paladin has in usefulness for spellcasters.
Blessing of Might: This buff, at base effect, gives the target an additional 550 attack power. When it is talented for, it gives a total of 687 attack power.
A holy paladin might not usually be buffing this particular buff, especially if there is a retribution paladin or an arms or fury warrior with Improved Battle Shout.
Now I will describe the Hand spells that a paladin will have at their disposal:
Hand of Salvation: “Places a Hand on the party or raid member, reducing their total threat by 2% every 1 sec. for 10 sec.” This spell has a 2 minute cooldown.
This is what you use to keep overzealous dps in line.
Hand of Freedom: “Places a Hand on the friendly target, granting immunity to movement impairing effects for 10 sec.”
Right now, not much of a use for this, as there aren't a lot of bosses that do movement impairing effects.
Hand of Sacrifice: Places a Hand on the party member, transfering 30% damage taken to the caster. Lasts 12 sec. Has a 2 min cooldown.
This can actually be useful on fights like Maexxna, where she does the web wrap, or on Anub'Rekan, during the Insect Swarm. How? Place Hand of Sacrifice on the tank, and then keep Beacon of Light on yourself, so that you can heal the tank and heal yourself at the same time.
Hand of Protection: A targeted party member is protected from all physical attacks for 10 sec, but during that time they cannot attack or use physical abilities.
This is useful to protect a caster who is getting hit for a lot of physical damage, because they will be protected and still be able to cast their spells.
Judgments
Next I will talk about judgments. All of the seals take up 14% of base mana when cast, which at level 80 equals out to 614 mana; all judgments take up 5% of base mana cost, which at level 80 will equal out to 219 mana. Each seal will last for 30 minutes on a paladin, and can not be dispelled..
Seal of Wisdom: Fills the Paladin with divine wisdom for 2 min, giving each melee attack a chance to restore 4% of the paladin's maximum mana. Unleashing this Seal's energy will deal 1.41 Holy damage to an enemy.
This is a seal that Holy Paladins should keep up on themselves always. This is one of the best mana restoration tools that a Holy Paladin has at their disposal, because to be able to go up and beat on the mob from behind in order to get a chance on hit to regain 4% of maximum mana is quick and easy. For example, say you have a maximum mana pool of 18k mana. 18K mana x .04 from chance on hit equals 720 mana that you have a chance to regain.
Judgment of Wisdom: Unleashing Judgment of Wisdom will give each attack a chance to restore 2% of the attacker's base mana.
You can get a bit more mana back by judging the mob with Judgment of the Wise and then hitting the mob; however, a lot of times if you have a protection paladin in the group they end up judging the mob with this more often than not.
Seal of Light: Fills the Paladin with divine light for 2 min, giving each melee attack a chance to heal the Paladin for 0.3. Unleashing this Seal's energy will deal 1.41 Holy damage to an enemy.
Some holy paladins will keep this seal up on themselves due to the Seal of Light glyph, but due to the bigger benefits of mana regeneration from Seal of Wisdom, this seal will take 2nd place.
Judgment of Light: Unleashing Judgment of Light will grant attacks made against the judged enemy a chance of healing the attacker for 0.2.
Judging this particular seal on a mob is very powerful when it comes to helping your healing, because typically a melee hit will cause roughly 300-500 healing to be done to the target, and that little bit can help when it comes to healing a melee group. If you have a prot or a ret paladin in the group, they should ideally be the ones who judges this. The reason why is because Judgment of Light scales better with whoever has the higher spellpower or attack power, and a prot or ret paladin is going to have more attack power than you have spellpower.
Seal of Righteousness: Fills the Paladin with holy spirit for 2 min, granting each melee attack [MWS {base weapon speed) * 0.066] additional Holy damage. Unleashing this Seal's energy will cause 1.52 Holy damage to an enemy.
This is something that is more for soloing than for raiding for a holy paladin, you should be keeping up Seal of Wisdom.
The three other seals that are available as a paladin, plus Judgment of Justice, I'm not going to discuss in this post, because those are not seals that a holy paladin should be using anyway.
