Holy Paladin PvP guide: unkillable battleground healer with Hammer of Justice control

Overview

Level 60 · Holy Paladin in battlegrounds and world PvP.

The Classic PvP Holy Paladin was the hardest healer to kill: plate armor, Divine Shield, Blessing of Protection and Blessing of Freedom. Its weakness was being shut down by silences, fears and mana drain. WoW Forever’s Holy tree answers two of those directly. Voice of Truth is a short immunity to silence and interrupts, and Unyielding Faith shortens fears and disorients. On the Protection side, Sacred Duty takes a large chunk off Divine Shield’s cooldown and Improved Hammer of Justice gives you your stun more often. This build heals like a raid Paladin and survives like a tank.

Your role in a fight

You keep your melee alive and make kills possible. Stay near your Warriors and Rogues, heal whoever is being focused, Blessing of Freedom anyone rooted or slowed, and Hammer of Justice the enemy player your team is killing, or the one killing your team. When the enemy focuses you, you are the bait: every second they spend on your plate and shields is a second they are not killing anyone else.

Darkspear Islands

Blizzard describes the Darkspear Islands as a 15 vs 15 battleground mixing strategic control points with Arathi Basin-style flag captures and defense. A Holy Paladin is a strong point defender because you are slow to kill and can heal yourself while a capture is contested, and you are just as valuable in the group that assaults a point, keeping your melee alive through the fight on the flag. Avoid running alone between points; your speed is average and your damage is low.

Honor and ranks: WoW Forever is reported to bring a 14-rank Honor track, earned from battlegrounds and PvP content. Thresholds, weekly caps and decay are not announced; see the PvP and honor hub for what is confirmed.

Strengths

• Survivability. Plate, Divine Shield with Sacred Duty, Blessing of Protection and self-healing make you the last to die.
• Resistance to shutdown. Voice of Truth blocks silences and interrupts; Unyielding Faith shortens fears.
• Kill setup. Hammer of Justice on a short cooldown and Blessing of Freedom for your melee.
• Dispels. Cleanse removes the poisons, diseases and magic that slow or weaken your team.

Weak points

• Mana drain. Viper Sting, Mana Burn and Felhunters drain the mana you need; stay out of range of Hunters where you can.
• Low damage. You cannot finish players alone; Holy Shock and Exorcism are not a kill plan.
• Healing reduction. Mortal Strike on you or your target makes heals fall short; Blessing of Protection against Warriors.

Level 60 PvP talent build

Holy 33 / Protection 18 / Retribution 0, all 51 points. The talent tree above shows the finished build.

Holy (33)

• Divine Intellect 5/5 — a bigger mana pool against drains.
• Healing Light 3/3 — stronger heals so each cast counts under pressure.
• Spiritual Focus 2/2 — casts continue while you are being hit, which in PvP is always.
• Unyielding Faith 2/2 — shorter fears and Scatter Shot-style disorients.
• Voice of Truth 1/1 — press it before a Rogue Kick or a Priest Silence to finish a heal.
• Reverence 3/3 — some mana regeneration while you keep casting.
• Purifying Power 2/2 — cheaper Cleanse, which you cast constantly in PvP.
• Infusion of Light 2/2 — a faster Holy Light after a crit Holy Shock.
• Illumination 5/5 — mana back on crits.
• Divine Favor 1/1 — a guaranteed crit heal to save a teammate.
• Holy Shock 1/1 — an instant heal or damage spell while moving or under interrupts.
• Holy Power 5/5 — more crits for heals and Holy Shock.
• Light’s Vigil 1/1 — a party heal from Holy Shock for group fights on a point.

Protection (18)

• Toughness 5/5 — more armor against melee.
• Redoubt 3/5 — more blocks after enemy crits, when you hold a shield.
• Guardian’s Favor 2/2 — a shorter Blessing of Protection and a longer Blessing of Freedom.
• Improved Righteous Fury 3/3 — less damage taken while Righteous Fury is on; in PvP its threat does not matter.
• Sacred Duty 2/2 — Stamina and a much shorter Divine Shield cooldown.
• Improved Hammer of Justice 3/3 — your stun more often.

Flexible points: Improved Righteous Fury depends on keeping Righteous Fury active; if you prefer not to, put those points in Precision or Anticipation to still reach Improved Hammer of Justice.

Key abilities

• Hammer of Justice: stun a healer to set up your team’s kill, or a melee who is on you.
• Blessing of Freedom: free a rooted Warrior or a slowed flag carrier.
• Blessing of Protection: save a teammate from physical burst; remember it applies Forbearance.
• Divine Shield: immunity when focused; heal yourself during it.
• Voice of Truth: before a silence or interrupt is coming.
• Cleanse: remove poisons, slows and harmful magic.
• Holy Shock with Light’s Vigil: an instant party heal in a fight on a flag.

Matchups

• Warrior · Mortal Strike weakens your heals. Hammer of Justice, Blessing of Protection on the target, and kite with Blessing of Freedom.
• Rogue · Kick and stuns interrupt you. Voice of Truth for Kick, Cleanse poisons and Divine Shield to reset.
• Mage · Polymorph and Counterspell stop you. Stay behind line of sight and let your melee pressure them.
• Warlock · Fear and Felhunter drains. Unyielding Faith shortens fears and Cleanse removes Corruption, but curses are beyond your dispels.
• Priest · Mana Burn wins long duels. Heal through it, Hammer of Justice and let your team kill them.
• Hunter · Viper Sting drains your mana. Stay out of range or close in with a melee teammate.
• Druid · Long duels go nowhere; focus on healing your team instead.
• Shaman · Purge strips your Blessings and Earth Shock interrupts heals. Stun the Shaman when they start to purge your melee.
• Paladin · Both of you are hard to kill; the one with more mana and a better team wins.

Resources and cooldowns

Mana is your life in PvP. Heal with the smallest spell that does the job, let Illumination refund crits, and do not waste mana on damage unless nobody needs healing. Save Divine Shield for when you are about to die, not just when you are attacked, because Forbearance stops you from using Blessing of Protection on yourself afterwards.

Gear

The beta datamine lists Paladin PvP sets for both factions: Lieutenant Commander’s and Field Marshal’s Aegis and Vindication on the Alliance side, and Champion’s and Warlord’s Aegis and Vindication on the Horde side, which fits WoW Forever’s new Undead Paladins. Every one of them combines +20 Stamina, a shorter Hammer of Justice cooldown (10 sec) and bonus spell damage and healing; Aegis leans toward healing, Vindication gives an even split. How PvP gear is earned in Forever is not announced. Aegis is the natural healer choice for this build. Beyond set pieces, balance Stamina with healing power; a Holy Paladin that dies in one stun is not healing anyone.

Legacy planner

For Great Honor raises Honor gains and The Quick and the Dead lets your helpful spells cost nothing for a short time after a resurrection until you enter combat. Both are unconfirmed beta data in the Legacy planner.

Consumables and engineering

• Major Mana Potion and Major Healing Potion share a cooldown; pick the one you need.
• Free Action Potion to stay in range of your team.
• Magic Dust or another emergency disable if Forever keeps them.
• Engineering: a Goblin Rocket Boots escape, and grenades as an extra stun.

Sources

Rotation, stat and matchup advice adapts these Classic 1.12 guides to the WoW Forever talent trees; talents, set bonuses and new abilities come from this site’s WoW Forever data.

• Icy Veins: Classic Paladin PvP Guide
• Icy Veins: Classic Holy Paladin PvP Best in Slot Gear
• Icy Veins: Warsong Gulch Battleground Guide (WoW Classic)
• Icy Veins: Arathi Basin Battleground Guide (WoW Classic)