- Author: Luxrah
- Date: March 26, 2025
- Updated: March 26, 2025
- Expansion: Mists of Pandaria
Holy Priests in Mists of Pandaria continue to be strong raid healers. They have also received a few tweaks to their toolkit to improve their single-target healing. Holy is the more straightforward healing build than Discipline, with a stronger assortment of direct healing spells. This guide will cover all of the important aspects of building, gearing, and playing your Holy Priest so you can progress through all the PvE content that MoP Classic has to offer.
Changes in Mists of Pandaria
Class specializations have become more streamlined in Mists of Pandaria, with trimmed-down talent trees and the removal of Prime Glyphs. Some abilities have been made baseline and others have been removed or reworked. Most of these changes are “under the hood,” however. The way the Holy Priest actually plays is very similar to how it played in Cataclsym, with few changes to your rotation. You’ll still need to utilize Chakra states to optimize your abilities for the task at hand. But now you’ll be able to activate each of your Chakras with a single button press instead of having to awkwardly cast another spell to do so.
Divine Hymn is now exclusively yours and no longer available to Discipline Priests. It has also been changed to heal additional targets in a 25-player raid. Priests also gain access to their choice of three new AoE heals in the talent tree: Cascade, Divine Star, or Halo.
Holy Priests struggled somewhat in smaller group content in Cataclysm. They are still at their strongest in 25-player raids, but Chakra: Serenity now allows you to refresh Renew on your targets, which gives you a new way to approach dungeons and 10-player raids.
It’s worth remembering that WoW Classic expansions launch with class tuning that reflects the final patch of the original expansion. So even in Phase 1 of MoP Classic, the Holy Priest’s talents and abilities will be in the same state they were in for Patch 5.4.8. One example of this is Lightwell, which was changed late in the expansion to heal on its own without needing to be clicked.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
- Strong Raid Healing:
Holy Priests have always excelled at healing in large groups, and that trend continues in Mists of Pandaria. Chakra: Sanctuary is your strongest Chakra and allows you to pump out quite a lot of healing onto your targets. With your Echo of Light Mastery effect, Renew, and Holy Word: Sanctuary, you have a lot of HoTs that will keep ticking on your targets beyond your initial heals, allowing you to ramp up and build a cushion for incoming damage.
- Powerful Cooldowns:
Guardian Spirit is the only external cooldown that can allow its target to literally cheat death. Divine Hymn is incredibly powerful as well, and even more so now that it heals additional targets in a 25-player raid. You also have Spirit of Redemption by default now, which can allow for some clutch healing in messy situations.
- Smart Heals:
Holy has more smart heals than Discipline, with Circle of Healing, Holy Word: Sanctuary, Lightwell, Divine Hymn in addition to Prayer of Mending and your three AoE talent options. Smart heals choose their targets based on who is missing the most health, which makes these heals more efficient and effective.
Weaknesses
- Lack of Absorbs:
Even the strongest heals just don’t compete with absorption effects, which leaves the Holy Priest feeling weaker than its Discipline brethren. You do still have Power Word: Shield, but it’s weaker and has a cooldown, not something that you can spam. You won’t be able to use it much anyway if your raid has a Discipline Priest.
- Chakras Can Feel Restrictive:
The 30-second cooldown on Chakra prevents you from truly being able to “stance dance” and take full advantage of all of your Chakras. Switching Chakra states requires knowledge of the fight and planning ahead and isn’t something to be done lightly. This is particularly problematic in Challenge Mode dungeons, where Discipline will be much more able to switch things up on the fly to help their team make good time by dealing extra damage. Holy will almost never want to be in Chakra: Chastise in group content as it will lock them out of a healing stance for a significant chunk of time.
Best Races
In Mists of Pandaria, any race except Orc can be a Priest. Racial traits are less impactful in this expansion than they were in earlier versions of WoW, but they can still affect your gameplay as a Holy Priest.
The new Pandaren race offers the biggest potential stat boost to Holy Priests of either faction with their Epicurean trait, which doubles the amount of Intellect or Spirit you can get from food buffs.
Alliance
The best Alliance race for Holy Priests is the Pandaren thanks to their Epicurean trait, which amounts to a significant Intellect or Spirit buff. Human offers The Human Spirit, which buffs your Spirit, and Gnome offers a larger mana pool through Expansive Mind.
Draenei: Gemcutting, Gift of the Naaru, Heroic Presence, Shadow Resistance
Dwarf: Crack Shot, Explorer, Frost Resistance, Mace Specialization, Stoneform
Gnome: Arcane Resistance, Engineering Specialization, Escape Artist, Expansive Mind, Shortblade Specialization
Human: Diplomacy, Every Man for Himself, Mace Specialization, Sword Specialization, The Human Spirit
Night Elf: Nature Resistance, Quickness, Shadowmeld, Wisp Spirit
Pandaren: Bouncy, Epicurean, Gourmand, Inner Peace, Quaking Palm
Worgen: Aberration, Darkflight, Flayer, Running Wild, Viciousness
Horde
The best Horde race for Holy Priests is the Pandaren thanks to their Epicurean trait, which amounts to a significant Intellect or Spirit buff. Goblin gets a Haste buff in their Time is Money trait. Troll gets Berserking, which gives you an extra throughput cooldown. Blood Elf is also a strong choice thanks to their mana restoration ability, Arcane Torrent.
Blood Elf: Arcane Affinity, Arcane Resistance, Arcane Torrent
Goblin: Best Deals Anywhere, Better Living Through Chemistry, Pack Hobgoblin, Rocket Barrage, Rocket Jump, Time is Money- Pandaren: Bouncy, Epicurean, Gourmand, Inner Peace, Quaking Palm
Tauren: Cultivation, Endurance, Nature Resistance, War Stomp
Troll: Beast Slaying, Berserking, Da Voodoo Shuffle, Dead Eye, Regeneration
Undead: Cannibalize, Shadow Resistance, Touch of the Grave, Will of the Forsaken
About the Author
