This is a guide built for holy paladins with an emphasis on raiding, and will have multiple parts. I will attempt to summarize my ADHD thought process into Class Overview, Gearing, Talenting
I. Holy Paladin
I personally have enjoyed all the healing classes in classic WoW. My original choice in playing a paladin derived from my desire to be a top performer. Without knowing it at the time; I was not just choosing one of the best healing classes, but THE BEST healing class in all of the content. This is my somewhat objective opinion based on data from private servers, 15 year old memories, anecdotal experiences, videos from that time, and conversations with multiple players.
Here is what we know: Paladins and Priests seem to be healing for the most effective healing in the game. Data wise we only have private servers to compare exact numbers. Those parses indicate that our fond memories and experiences of paladins crushing healing are not only valid, but underappreciated in weight. In a video by streamer tips out he reviews things that I had known for quite some time. In Molten Core, Blackwing Lair, Ahn' Qiraj, and Naxxramas the paladin player base on average across all players and best recorded fights AND top 5% performers....is number one in effective healing, number one in overall healing, and number one in least overhealing.
Let that soak in for a second. This class somehow heals for the HIGHEST quantity while somehow having the least overhealing. That is not even the ultimate dome-clap that constitutes bringing paladins. Paladin has the BEST mana efficiency in the game. It takes late game gear for priests druids and shamans to even tickle paladin mana regeneration. This is of course due to out critical heals returning full mana back to us. I would like to note that priest healing numbers are not far behind, however they will run out of mana or "oom" long before a paladin does. So bringing heavy priest rosters means needing quite a few innervates.
Utility is another role that a Paladin excels at. Salvation reduces threat of raid for easier raiding. Sanctuary increases tank threat and reduces incoming raid damage from hits. Protection saves caster lives, and can save raid wipes if a bad dps over aggros. Freedom for tanks on snare or root boss mechanics. Divine shield makes us the most survivable healer in the game, and can combo with sacrifice to help reduce damage on tanks. AND FINALLY CLEANSE something that is spammed half of raids and can remove magics, diseases, & poisons. Utilized heavily in every raid. A smaller note for the auras, they are amazing, but often over looked.
If you want to be the best healer in the game I advise rolling paladin. You still get to wear a dress, but you get to PvP in plate 
II. Gearing
A small breakdown of what I personally itemize for and what pieces I think are best to obtain or aim for in each phase based on my particular stat approach.
Intellect > Spell Crit > Healing > Mp5
Intellect gives us a large mana pool (15 mana per intellect) AND spell crit. I have not found a source or had a confirmation on blizzlike ratios. I did read in a very old forum chart that paladins had some absurd intellect to spell crit ratio 47 intellect. On private servers it is around 54 and I think that will be close if not exact. At 54 intellect per 1% spell crit you will receive the highest intellect stat weight next to mages. Crit is mana back, so our focus is spell crit until hard cap 41%. Likely you will never get to 41%, but it is actually possible. Several paladins I have met gear for Mp5 stacking. It works well, but I do not recommend it from personal experience.
a LITTLE Math
Flash of Light Rank 1: Average Heal 67.5
Flash of Light Rank 6: Average Heal 367.5
Holy Light Rank 8: Average Heal 1317.5
Holy Light Rank 9 (PHASE 5): Average Heal 1680.5
FoL receives 43% and HL receive 71% of our bonus healing. So a .43 & .71 coefficient.
Healing spell criticals heal for and addition 50% healing.
Our 12% increased healing holy talent only affects base healing thus making spell crit slightly more valuable than bonus healing. NOTE that is a strongly reinforced statement using the cast of a FoL. HL is obviously different as it gains more from bonus healing. However, I feel that crit is still more valuable as spamming HL can actually be a valid scenario in certain boss or trash encounters and will oom you quite fast without the proper spell crit % to sustain you.
I also want to mention at this time that I do not believe the pure math is a good ultimate for deciding how to gear. I have a particular play style and gear towards that. This math is all done based on several things.
1. No overhealing
2. Always casting
3. One spell being used
Mp5 is actually better for mana regen on fights you have to move more, you only get mana back from critical heals when healing of course. You are likely to get overhealing even with our classes innate ability to have low overheals. That means the value on a crit heal will diminish it's value. The same goes for bonus healing. Without having multi ranks on your bar there is a good chance we cannot quantify the exact loss in value from each stat. Really the only way to perfectly optimize is to ensure that you have no mana issues so you can max rank, basically sacrificing perfect efficiency and maxing total healing in the process. This is how I play and thus stack crit when the value is there to me. I position so i rarely move maximizing mana return & total healing, as well as utilizing only one downranked spell so I can get plenty of consistency from critical heals.
I am confident that spell crit would have the highest value overall, but intellect gives somewhat of a double dip stat wise which makes it more appealing to me. Here is my wish list based on content release timeline we expect:
PHASE 1
Pre-BiS versus Raid BiS
1. Whitesoul Helm - _udgement Crown
2. Tooth of Gnarr - Choker of Enlightenment
3. Lead Surveryor's Mantle - Lawbringer Spaulders
4. Spritecaster Cape - Sapphiron Drape
5. Robes of the Exalted - Robes of the Exalted
6. BoE +Healing Green - BoE +Healing Green
7. Atal'ai Gloves - Atal'ai Gloves
8. Sash of Mercy - Sash of Mercy
9. Skyshroud Leggings - Judgement Leggings
10. Multiple drops from Stratholme/Scholo - Lawbringer Boots
11. Fordring's Seal - Fordring's Seal
12. Cyclopean Band - Cyclopean Band
13. Briarwood Reed - Briarwood Reed
14. Second Wind - Second Wind
15. Hammer of Grace - Azuresong Mageblade
16. Gizlock's Hypertech Buckler - Malistar's Defender
PHASE 2
Raid BiS
1. Helm of the Lifegiver
2. Choker of the Fire Lord
3. Wild Growth Spaulders
4. Hide of the Wild
5. Robes of the Exalted
6. Bracers of Prosperity
7. Gloves of Restoration
8. Whipvine Cord
9. Salamander Scale Pants
10. Lawbringer Boots
11. Fordring's Seal
12. Emerald Flame Ring
13. Briarwood Reed
14. Royal Seal of Eldre'Thalas
15. Azuresong Mageblade
16. Brightly Glowing Stone
PHASE 3
Raid BiS
1. Mish'Undare, Circlet of the Mindflayer
2. Choker of the Fire Lord
3. Wild Growth Spaulders
4. Shroud of Pure Thought
5. Robe of Volatile Power
6. Bracers of Prosperity
7. Gloves of Restoration
8. Corehound Belt
9. Empowered Legings
10. Boots of Pure Thought
11. Pure Elementium Band
12. Cauterizing Band
13. Rejuvenating Gem
14. Scroll of Blinding Light
15. Lok'amir il Romathis
16. Red Dragonscale Protector
PHASE 4
Raid BiS
1. Mish'Undare, Circlet of the Mindflayer
2. Jin'do's Evil Eye
3. Wild Growth Spaulders
4. Shroud of Pure Thought
5. Robe of Volatile Power
6. Bracers of Prosperity
7. Peacekeeper Gauntlets
8. Corehound Belt
9. Empowered Legings
10. Boots of Pure Thought
11. Pure Elementium Band
12. Cauterizing Band
13. Rejuvenating Gem
14. Scroll of Blinding Light
15. Lok'amir il Romathis
16. Red Dragonscale Protector
PHASE 5
Raid BiS
1. Mish'Undare, Circlet of the Mindflayer
2. Amulet of Vek'nilash
3. Wild Growth Spaulders
4. Cloak of Clarity
5. Robes of te Guardian Saint
6. Bracelets of Royal Redemption
7. Peacekeeper Gauntlets
8. Eyestalk Waistcord
9. Legplates of Blazing Light
10. Boots of Pure Thought
11. Pure Elementium Band
12. Cauterizing Band
13. Rejuvenating Gem
14. Scarab Brooch
15. Scepter of the False Prophet
16. Red Dragonscale Protector
17. Libram of Divinity
PHASE 6
Raid BiS
1. Redemption Headpiece
2. Gem of Trapped Innocents
3. Redemption Spalulders
4. Cloak of the Necropolis
5. Redemption Tunic
6. Bracelets of Royal Redemption
7. Peacekeeper Gauntlets
8. Eyestalk Waistcord
9. Redemption Legguards
10. Redemption Boots
11. Pure Elementium Band
12. Ring of Redemption
13. Rejuvenating Gem
14. Eye of the Dead
15. Hammer of Twisting Nether
16. Shield of Condemnation
17. Libram of Light
Depending on your guild some of those may not be obtainable. They are BiS for my playstyle (maximum healing output). Some alternatives exist that are only slightly worse or just suit different healing builds. All slots listed here are my ideal PvE obtainable gear options. I am sure other players have different priorities.
III. Talenting
Here is my lengthy description and set of links for multiple paladin talent specialization builds. I also have leveling information added as a bonus.
1. Here is my leveling build from 10-32 as a solo leveling spec.
[Early leveling] https://classic.wowhead.com/talent-calc ... n/AAADPM3D
2. This is my group leveling spec. Remaining points I usually put in prot to fill a tank or healer roll for groups, but if it is just you and a buddy or two leveling together i recommend ret for reduced mana cost, parry, and move speed for efficient leveling.
[Group Leveling] https://classic.wowhead.com/talent-calc ... Az_QMAE8AA
3. At 33 i swap to this talent build and max out reckoning, I typically like holy afterwards for the sustain and it works as the fastest solo leveling build. It also will do great in groups and is in my opinion the best overal build as well.
[Reck Leveling] https://classic.wowhead.com/talent-calc ... AATPEK4JAA
4. For end game at 60 I use several builds. The first is a common build that most paladins run. It is more about providing utility than optimizing your performance, but it is all marginal and up to your playstyle. pure raid buff slot holy shock build.
[Holy Shock PvE] https://classic.wowhead.com/talent-calc ... 99ACzxABwA
5. This is holy shock PvE viable but with PvP capacity. It fulfills 2 build choices, a 1h and shield healer with spell burst potential or a 2h with high spell power for big auto proc dmg followed by a crit holy shock. I have manipulated a burst for up to 4.4k on a warrior with this build. With an appropriately working shard of the fallen star. It is also an exceptional raid spec that can save u gold on respecs. You just need another pally with imp BoM.
[Shockadin Hybrid] https://classic.wowhead.com/talent-calc ... 9NAAAz-gfA
6. This is a pure raid spec that I typically run to top meters while it also provides you sound utility for raids. It is giving you blessing of sanctuary which is great added threat for tanks and raid dmg reduction. Making 5 or more paladins very necessary. It foregoes holy shock as the global it eats up is not really worth the healing loss from its use. Improved HoJ for stunnable trash or boss mobs & reduced BoP cd for the mages. Devo aura in case you're in tank group. This can be slighty adjusted to shield talents for PvP and would be a force to be hated in battlegrounds. Overall the best performing spec I personally used.
[Top Dog] https://classic.wowhead.com/talent-calc ... 8AEzxCuEAA
7. This is my favorite build. It is a hybrid raid and PvP build with spell based reckoning bombs in mind. Perfect for open world, and solo PvP. Will still give you most of the things you need to excel in raid healing once your gear has graduated to substantial crit thresholds. It is not a min/max build as you lose 5% spell crit so it opens the door to lose that juicy number 1 healer spot. I raided with this for 4 months with no major issues though.
[Spell Bomb Hybrid] https://classic.wowhead.com/talent-calc ... 8QTPEK4cAA
8. This last build has no raid viability but am linking just for fun. The above build serves as a great melee counter build while this one is closer to a caster counter giving you eye for an eye and more mobility. Note to self though, it is AtP based and only excels in two fashions. Great for caster duels or world PvP. OR needs a pocket healer. WIth a pocket healer or two this builds hits the hardest with reckoning bombs and they proc often when multiple targets are trying to kill you. I have pocketed some paladins using this build and have witnessed multiple 30+ - 0 KD ratios in battlegrounds and have wiped 5 man groups with just us 2 paladins.
[AtP Reckoning] https://classic.wowhead.com/talent-calc ... 8QTPEK4cAA
I hope this was informative and hope to add more on to this in the future.
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centurion • pan0phobik • teebling • IronBrutzler • Sudnep
Updated with phasing gear list, new items in each phase denoted in bold.
/sit doesn't work in classic.
Blizzard Entertainment
Being critically struck while using /sit to sit does not cause abilities like Enrage, Blood Craze, and Reckoning to activate.
Additionally the bonus to going reckoning isn't the sitting but actually just being crit while multi pulling.
All effectiveness of Reckoning while levelling was based on controlled Reck Bomb, If it's unviable, it's not that effective.
That is your opinion, and in current beta it is still viable. I do not currently see them changing that for live because it would require actually changing the class itself or adjusting spell batching.
Well, we have wait and see and all depends on that Blizzard will decide. If it will work, Paladin will be one of the most efficient levelling after level 32 because of aoe-grinding.
For this case useful charts.
Agreed there is a chance they somehow change it. I do not expect them to however.
I couldn't imagine going into classic with a class who's key feature is a bug with a high chance of being fixed before launch. Sorry not sorry paladins :)
Great Guide even if it is for the weak dress wearing specc ;)
Manofwar
Kampfzwerg
Mojo
Well, it's not the key feature, it's just most effective tool while leveling that class provides.
Real paladins wear a dress.
