The problem with the spec offered here is that you’re giving up a huge amount of raid utility and healing power for the ability to ignore Divine Plea. I can’t even begin to imagine trying to, say, solo heal the tanks on Blood Queen-25 as this spec, let alone the fact that you’re missing a huge opportunity in using DS (cancel-cast works well, especially) when she starts flying. By not going Holy/Prot you are effectively screwing over your raid for a very mediocre amount of crit.

The whole “HL spec vs. FoL spec” thing is a misnomer, considering that people using the stereotypical “HL spec” -use- FoL, when it’s appropriate to do so. Fights like Rotface are a great example of this. A “HL spec” healadin will cast FoLs when damage is low (the tank damage is mediocre on this fight), whipping out HLs the last 50% or so when things get chaotic and they have to make up for sloppy fighting. A “FoL spec” healadin will be casting FoL the entire time, not having the mana to change up their playstyle to the more costly HLs for the back-half.

Choice of spec should come down to what’s best for the raid. Not using all the tools available to a class in favor of easier, less thoughtful healing is just nerfing your progress.
.-= Codi´s last blog ..Zero Add-on Project =-.

Anyways, I searched the comments over to see if anyone had brought this up and I don’t think they have but your article is wrong:

“you won’t have to worry about trying to cast Beacon of Light and Sacred Shield (both have a 30 second durations) at the same time”

Beacon of Light is a 60 second cast and the Glyph extends it to a minute and a half. That is also why I chose Holy Light glyph over BoL. And if someone is having a hard time watching their Beacon fall off, I recommend the addon needtoknow and setting it to focus and the tank is your focus.

So yeah, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but perhaps you should try before deeming a spec or a healing style not viable. And you know, not just quickly check it out, but actually l2p it. This kind of attitude makes other healers feel oh so superior compared to poor old one trick Pallies, when we have so much potential to be versatile and useful. Just consider that maybe, maybe there can be actually very skilled FoL Paladins who rock at what they’re doing. Or hey, maybe that’s so against theorycrafting that it can’t be.

I like the comments above, who seem to be people who have actually tried to play as a FoL paladin. I find other healing classes to be a bore, because I am constantly in action with my Paladin and can’t have that with any other class. It teaches one to be alert and have quick reactions, both of which I assume are good for (even) healers to have in a raiding environment. After spamming FoL like I’ve never spammed before, WoW almost feels like actual exercising! So hey maybe we should also get into theorycrafting the health benefits of this playstyle..

If you like the big mana pool, go for HL. If you like hard-hitting heals, go for FoL. Anything else in between, it’s all up to your own personal skill level.

?F.
.-= Ferarro´s last blog ..The New Protection T10 Gloves and Chest =-.

“If you are going to be the main tank healer in a 10-man or 25-man ICC raid I would suggest against this spec, you’re are going to be clicking FoL so much you may break your mouse. ”

Dont know about you but.. anyone who is decent at this game is probably not clicking anything.

Secondly, this is my spec and when i get 10k FoL crits in 25mans and are putting a 2k HoT on the tank cant say theres to much of a downside. Also considering i cast 2 FoL’s in the time i cast 1 HL and the HL only gives me 2000 more healing at the cost of 70% more mana.. its really a no brainer. Also with all the haste itemization on ICC gear I cast FoL’s in .93 seconds as long as I keep my judgement up.

Now dont get me wrong I use holy lights when needed and if you look at a recount of my overall spells i used its always about 25% FoL 20% Holy lights and 15% Holy shocks.. i just use my heals when i should instead of spamming holy light and stacking int.

No mention of fun. Which is the funner spec to play ? Since we all know WoW isn’t real, we all know WoW is a game, we all know that we play games to have fun.

FoL imho is hella fun compared to HoL. Beacon your assignment, start targeting/casting FoL like a madman. Fun.

HoL imho is hella boring. Beacon the OT, start casting HoL. Throw out an occasional FoL if your targets fine. SNOOOZE.

Enjoy your Game – Enjoy your Life – Have a little fun…

The build is often characterized as FoL vs HL, but really it’s a matter of stacking throughput over longevity. With Intellect, we can cast more spells for longer, but with Spellpower, our spells hit harder. We don’t really care if they crit, because they hit so much harder baseline.
.-= JK the Slacker´s last blog ..Spinlock – a webcomic for slackers :: Comic 6 =-.