Reforging

Reforging

Reforging began in 4.0.  It is a great way to reach the stats you are looking to stack or supplement that the gear that does not give from its base stats.

For a holy paladin you want to reforge in this priority:

Spirit > Haste > Crit

Mastery is really useless.  You will never reforge to gain this stat.

You want haste.  This was scaled down and now to get a minimal of around a 2 sec Holy Light/Divine Light, you need tons of it. 

Spirit is what you need for regeneration.  You still pretty much end up spamming during fights.  Spirit is the only stat that will give you mana back.

Crit is not really important.  The only reason it is on the list is because it is waaaay better than reforging for mastery.  It does not hurt, but it is not your target stat at the moment.

You need to be careful with stat stacking.  Too much haste with using the wrong heals will give you the outcome of a oom paladin.  Too much spirit, then your heals will not heal high enough on your target that you have to cast extra heals to get the HP where it needs to be.  There is some straight up nothing but haste blue pieces that you would just not reforge unless you are really struggling for mana.  Being in 5mans, it is hard to scale whether or not you are where you need to be at because nine times out of ten, its a pug  5man from a que, and there are alot of mistakes you end up healing.  This will not normally happen in a raid unless your guild/pug consists of bad players and you are trying to heal alot of mistakes.

The best advice I can give from the knowledge I have is, if the person will not stop messing up and taking extra damage.... let them die.  The tank and better players would be the more wise place to put your heals.

Rotation + Mods

Rotation

As a healer, it mostly depends on the situation as to what heals you wanna pull out of your arsenal.  The overall basics are pretty simple and as follows:

> Hit Holy Shock every time its up- build your Holy Power while achieving fast heals 

> Use Judgement when you can- gives back mana, heals you, and keeps your 9% haste buff up

> Be aware of your Daybreak and Infusion proc's- this will keep you mana efficent and produce the best possible healing

> Cooldowns are usually best during high damage phases

> Use Divine Plea as much as you can- it cuts your healing in half, but endurance pays off.  Just be careful when you do hit it, that it does not endanger the tank.

Other than what other cooldowns you have from trinkets or racial abilities, be aware of your mana pool, and be ready to use them at ideal times.

Mods

I recommend mods for the following:

Daybreak

Infusion of Light

Holy Power

Eternal Glory

Judgement

Beacon of Light
Holy Shock

You need to know what your Holy Power is at all times, if your talented correctly into Eternal Glory.  If you get a proc where your Holy Power was not used up, then you will not waste your mana and you will know when you can use it.  I use one mod to keep track of both Holy Power and Eternal Glory.  It is called NugComboBar.  This mod was originally use by rogues and feral druids, but can be used for Holy Power.

Daybreak should never be wasted.  It allows for 2 consecutive Holy Shocks, which happen to be your lowest mana cost spell.  I use the mod TellMeWhen.  This mod allows me to see when Holy Shock is on cooldown, and in doing that, I can tell if Daybreak proc's.  Blizzards built-in power auras also shows your daybreak proc.  So, this mod is more useful in the sense that you know when the cooldown is up.

Infusion is the most overlooked ability of a holy paladin.  Most beginners do not know what this is.  It is in the your talents as Infusion of Light.  Everytime your Holy Shock crits, it reduces the cast time of your next Holy Light or Divine Light by 1.50 seconds.  With Judgement, this is a 1.0 second cast.  Do not find yourself spamming one button and ignoring this proc.  You can use your lower mana cost Holy Light, and if this proc's you can bring a tank up much faster then spamming Divine Light blindly.  I use EventAlert for this.  I turned off all other alerts so that I only see this one.

Your Judgement is now used every available time because of the mana return given by it.  Because of this, having a mod to keep track of it is kinda useless, but if you want to know the timer, or know if it hit or not get a mod for it.  

Beacon of Light has always been good to have a mod for.  If your bol falls off your target it needs to be reapplied ASAP.  I use a mod that covers my judgement timer and my beacon of light timer.  The name of the mod I use is clcbpt.  It is a really wierd name I know.  But it is very basic which I like.  There are alot more beacon of light mods out there.  So, that is something you can play around with until you find the one that fits you best.

Pugging... Is there anything worse?

I have currently been pugging quite a bit since I am guildless and searching.  While doing these pugs, I have found some interesting things: 

Your Raid Leader most of the time is going to be bad.  This is nearly a guarantee.  Most only know fights from their point of view and can not explain it any other way.  

There is always going to be that one person that you end up carrying.  This person has no clue what is going on, and I am not sure why they are there other than to roll on your gear and take it.

There is always wiping from careless mistakes.  You can count on one from just about anyone.

You will always spend a enormous amount of time on ONE boss, while killing trash that has respawned over and over.

In vent, you will have that one guy that has a attitude.  You can't tell him he is doing something wrong without getting a ear-full.  He will more than likely nerd rage and leave.

People do leave periodically, and you have to wait for the spots to be refilled.  Once they are filled, you then have to reteach the fight to the newcomers.

Sometimes, you may feel guilted into staying, when you really want to leave.

There is no time that it is set to end, so you can bet you will be there if the raid holds together for more hours than a guild run would go for.

Your repair bill, flask bill, and food bill will be through the roof.

Someone always says the wrong thing, and a argument starts.  This ends with the raid falling apart. 

There is always that one guy that makes the same mistake over and over and over.

You get to hear how to play your class and what you should be doing, even if you are doing nothing wrong.  They just don't know what is wiping you, so they point a finger and say the same thing over and over.

More than likely, you will find that atleast 2 people in your raid joined with the intent to leave after one wipe, one hour, or are tired already and were bored so they joined.

Pugs have tons and tons of downtime.

You always have to remind someone to buff.... always.

Someone in your pug will be on drugs, drunk, or are really wierd.

 

Specing

How you should spec

When patch 4.0 hit, there was a drastic change to specing for everyone.  You have to place so many points (31) into one tree, before it will allow you to put any talent in a separate tree.  Plus, there were new talents given and some taken away.  You can check out the 4.0 patch notes if you are curious as to what the exact changes are.  I will only give what information would be beneficial as far as paladin healing is concerned now.

32/5/4

Holy
  3 Protector of the Innocent
3 Judgements of the Pure
3 Clarity of Purpose
2 Last Word
1 Divine Favor
2 Infusion of Light
2 Daybreak
1 Enlightened Judgements
1 Beacon of Light
3 Speed of Light
1 Sacred Cleansing
3 Conviction
1 Aura Mastery
2 Paragon of Virtue
3 Tower of Radiance
1 Light of Dawn


Protection
3 Divinity
2 Eternal Glory


Retribution
3 Crusade
1 Improved Judgement




Why do you spec this way?

Protector of the Innocent is at the top of the holy tree.  You will notice this ability in your logs and on your meters.  It is a good ability so that you worry less about your own HP, and focus more on others.  Our haste buff from judging comes from Judgements of the Pure, which should be maxed out providing you with 9% haste for 1 min.  Judging also gives us back a % of mana.  Clarity of Purpose reduces the cast time of our two main direct heals, which a paladin depends on quite often.  Word of Glory is a nice, mana-free heal.  With Last Word being maxed out, you give yourself a chance to have a critical chance on a low HP raid member, especially if your mana is low.  Divine Favor is one of your important cooldowns for big damage phases.  This must be spec'd into.  Infusion of Light and Daybreak are your two proc's.  Infusion allows for a 1 second cast on a Divine Light or Holy Light.  Awesome when trying to get a low HP tank up.  Daybreak is great as far as giving you a extra Holy Shock.  I'm guessing this proc is suppose to replace the old Holy Shock glyph used by "flash of light" pallys prior to 4.0.  Basically, when it does proc, you can hit Holy Shock 2x's without waiting on a cooldown.  So, that is two instant casts for heavy damage, plus 2 Holy Power generated.  (Holy Shock guarantees 1 Holy Power per use)   Enlightened Judgements heals us, increases the range of our judgements, as well as gives us some hit.  This is to help make sure our judgements do not miss.  You do not get your haste buff from a judgement unless it actually hits your target.  Everything is pretty understood up to Tower of Radiance. This ability was hotfixed by blizzard a few days ago.  Casting Holy LIght on our Beacon of Light target, no longer gives us a charge of Holy Power.  The spec ability still says it does.  Flash of Light and Divine Light, will however,give a charge if it is casted on your Beacon of Light target.  Light of Dawn is our frontal cone raid heal.  This ability is now activated by Holy Power, and hits for ever how much Holy Power you have.  It is the paladin "smart-heal".  Divinity, Eternal Glory, and Crusade all buff our healing by a certain % and allow for Holy Power to not be consumed.  Very useful and mana efficient abilities.

*** You must spec into Sacred Cleansing in order to dispel certain debuffs that only certain classes of healers can now.  This change occurred in 4.0.  Unfortunately, this is not a optional talent if you are raiding.  It allows you to dispel a magic effect. ***


If you would like to add more range to your judgements, you can remove 1 talent from Protector of the Innocent, and add it to your ret tree into improved judgement.

 

Glyphing

 Glyphs

Minor Glyphs:

Glyph of Insight

Glyph of Blessing of Might

Glyph of Blessing of Kings 

Major Glyphs:

Glyph of Lay on Hands

Glyph of Divine Plea

Glyph of Light of Dawn

Prime Glyphs:

Glyph of Divine Favor

Glyph of Word of Glory

Glyph of Seal of Insight

Why do you glyph this way?

The minor glyphs are pretty easy to understand.   They are for buffing purposes, not mandatory, but if you want to get all "elitistjerk" on it, then use them.

We use Glyph of Lay on Hands  because this reduces the cooldown of our spell, and allows for it to be used more freely.  Still not the greatest cooldown, but glyphing for it will make it free for trash pulls that do not go to plan, and you will still have it up for a boss fight.  The old cooldown was 11 minutes, while the new cooldown, with the glyph, is 7 minutes.

Glyph of Divine Plea is a really awesome glyph.  Anything that can be used to give mana back, should be used.  This gives us more mana back from our ability Divine Plea, which is nice since our mana pools are large so that makes 5% more noticeable.  Bare in mind the ability still lowers our healing spells by 50%.  I do not recommend using this ability if you are having to focus the tank during a certain phase, but when there is minimal damage going out.  If you find you do need to use it during high damage phases, use your Flash Heal to maintain HP, but be sure to not cast more than just a few times. 

Our Light of Dawn was recently given a slight nerf.  It's still considered a "smart-heal", so do not let the nerf stop you from using it.  Mana-Free spells are always welcomed.  The Glyph of Light of Dawn makes the spell hit one extra target.  This, of course, is very handy and should not need extra explaining as to why.

Glyph of Divine Favor increases it duration by 10 seconds.  Basically, we get more time with 20% more haste and spell critical chance.  Divine Favor has changed from its once, mana cost reduction, to allowing harder hitting, faster heals.  Although, having the reduced mana cost of 50%, was extremely nice, this spell can now be used more as a cooldown during large raid damage.  This will assist in getting the raid up quickly, or if the tank(s) take a bit of spike damage.  So, it is definitely a must.

Our Word of Glory is a nice, quick heal with no mana cost.  Depending on the stacks of Holy Power you have, will depend on how much this will heal your target.  Glyph of Word of Glory is useful because it makes the ability heal for 10% more.  Since our direct heals have always been strong, having an extra strong direct heal will assist when you may be struggling for mana during a fight and need to still keep a tank and/or raid member up.

The Glyph of Seal of Insight allows the effect of our healing spells to be increased by 5%.  This glyph is a must.  Anything that will give us stronger heals, will aid you in not only pve, but also pvp. 

*** I do not use the glyph for beacon of light.  BoL has changed, and now lasts a long duration without having to glyph for it.  Plus the glyph itself changed.  It allows it to be cast with no mana cost.  Only thing is, the mana cost is a mere 1405 mana and lasts for 5 minutes.  If you would really like to have this glyph, feel free to use it, but I felt that it was obsolete after the BoL changes and changes to the glyph itself.***

Gemming

Gems

Red Sockets (+40 Intellect):   Brilliant Inferno Ruby

Blue Sockets (+20 Intellect +20 Spirit):  Purified Demonseye

Yellow Sockets (+20 Intellect +20 Haste):  Reckless Ember Topaz

Meta Socket (54 Intellect and +2% Maximum Mana, Requires at least 2 Yellow Gems):  Ember Shadowspirit Diamond

*If you are a Jewelcrafter, then you would use the Brilliant Chimera's Eye x3*

Depending on the socket bonus, you can consider using straight Intellect gems.  If the socket bonus gives any Spirit or Intellect, it is recommended that you try to get it.  If the socket bonus gives Haste, it is more of a personal preference if you get it or not.  

Why do you gem this way?

In Cataclysm, we still use Intellect as a primary stat.  Instead of just stacking it, we do add other stats such as Haste and Spirit.  Because our mana pool is so large, we get plenty of Crit Chance from the Intellect that our gems and gear give us.  Crit Chance is a little less important because it no longer gives us mana back.  We now have to rely on Spirit as our mana regen.  As far as haste goes, it was scaled down back in 4.0.  Because of this, we do partake in some haste as it comes our way.  Intellect gives us spell power as well as a base stat.  Since having strong direct heals is important for a paladin, we continue to use this gem more than others.