Healer Rotation & Cooldowns

This rotation guide provides a quick, basic understanding of which abilities to prioritize when playing a Holy Priest, along with additional details on important cooldowns at the bottom. Updated for the latest patch in World of Warcraft: The War Within (11.1).

Single Target

Ensure Premonition is active before the encounter begins.

• Divine HymnView detailsUse just before heavy group damage.
• LightwellView detailsPlace near allies, ideally between melee and ranged.
• Divine WordView detailsFollowed by Holy Word Sanctify on clustered injured allies.
• Prayer Of MendingView detailsUse when you have Premonition Of Insight.
• HaloView detailsCast before Apotheosis.
• ApotheosisView detailsUse with 1 charge of each Holy Word.
• Holy Word SanctifyView detailsWhen a cluster of your raid is injured.
• Holy Word SerenityView detailsOn an injured ally.
• Flash HealView detailsWith 1+ stacks of Surge Of Light.
• Power Word LifeView detailsFor emergency triage on an ally near death.
• RenewView detailsOn a tank or debuff target.
• SmiteView detailsWhen no healing is required.

Focus on using Divine Hymn for group damage, followed by Lightwell and Divine Word for clustered healing. Maintain Apotheosis and use Holy Word Sanctify and Holy Word Serenity as needed.

AoE

Use Divine Hymn before large group damage events.

• Divine HymnView detailsJust before large amounts of group-wide damage.
• PremonitionView detailsUse when off cooldown.
• LightwellView detailsPlace near allies, usually between melee and ranged.
• Divine WordView detailsFollowed by Holy Word Serenity.
• Prayer Of MendingView detailsWhen you have Premonition Of Insight.
• ApotheosisView detailsWith 1 charge of each Holy Word.
• HaloView detailsWhen available.
• Holy Word SanctifyView detailsWhen a cluster of your group is injured.
• Holy Word SerenityView detailsOn an injured ally.
• Flash HealView detailsWith 1+ stacks of Surge Of Light.
• Power Word LifeView detailsFor emergency triage on an ally near death.
• RenewView detailsOn someone without it, before damage comes out.

In dungeons, prioritize Divine Hymn for group damage, followed by Lightwell and Divine Word. Maintain Apotheosis and use Holy Word Sanctify and Holy Word Serenity as needed.

Cooldowns

Use cooldowns strategically during high damage phases.

• ApotheosisView detailsUse as often as possible.
• Divine HymnView detailsBest used during heavy burst damage.
• Symbol Of HopeView detailsUse to restore mana for healers.
• Guardian SpiritView detailsUse on a tank or ally about to take heavy damage.
• ShadowfiendView detailsUse for mana return when around 80% mana.

Utilize Apotheosis frequently, Divine Hymn during burst damage, and Symbol Of Hope to restore mana. Use Guardian Spirit on tanks and Shadowfiend for mana recovery.