A Holy Paladin set is healing power and Intellect, with crit wherever an item offers it. The set for a one-minute single-boss fight averages item level 62.5. Three slots decide it: the main hand, the libram and an off hand you can actually use.

Pre-raid gear

Each slot's list runs on to the items that came next in the search, with the healing per second each would cost you. Where it says "level", the two are within the simulation's noise.

Main hand and libram

Sageblade is a Blacksmithing sword with 94 spell damage and healing. It binds when equipped, so the auction house can supply it. Both factions wear it on every fight, and for a Human it also turns on Sword Specialization's 2 % crit. The Alliance's next pick costs 13.1 HPS. The Horde's, Hand of Righteousness from Scarlet Monastery, costs 9.2 HPS.

Libram of Economy is sold by Pix Xizzix in Stranglethorn Vale and takes 5 % off every Holy Light. No other libram you can get before the raids touches a heal, so going without it costs 37.9 HPS.

Off hand

On one minute the set holds Lei of the Lifegiver. The Lapidis Tankard's drink, unusable in combat anyway, doesn't make up for its weaker stats on so short a fight.

Trinkets

Talisman of Ascendance comes from a quest in the Eastern Plaguelands and stacks up to 75 healing on your next heals once a minute. Serenity Field is sold by Pix Xizzix and carries 42 healing. You can't trade either one, and the next trinket down costs 21.5 HPS. The Talisman's lead is probably too high. Our simulator ignores its six-spell limit, and at 2.5 seconds a Holy Light you cast eight heals in its 20-second window.

Crafted armor

Six pieces of the three-minute sets are crafts that bind when equipped, so you can buy them. The leatherworkers make Living Crown and Hide of the Wild, the blacksmiths Breastplate of Salvation and Martyr's Legplates, and the tailors Belt of the Archmage and Mooncloth Boots. The search counts only stats, so the set mixes plate, mail, leather and cloth. Of the armor, the helm leaves the biggest gap: the next one costs 11.8 HPS.

Reputation and quests

The slowest pieces are the reputation rewards. The gloves and shoulders need Exalted with the Theramore Expeditionary Force or the Darkspear Raiders in The Barrens: Theramore Handwraps for the Alliance, Raider Handwraps for the Horde. Vigilant Watcher's Signet needs The Watchers at Exalted.

Amulet of the Dawn, Bracers of Hope and Band of Piety are quest rewards in the Eastern Plaguelands, like the Talisman, and all bind on pickup.

Enchants

• Head and legs: Lesser Arcanum of Voracity, the Intellect version, on both.
• Chest: Major Intellect.
• Wrists and neck: Healing Power on both. Necklaces take enchants in Forever.
• Feet: Mystic Rugged Armor Kit, a Forever armor kit that adds healing.
• Hands: Minor Haste.

Wowhead lists Minor Haste as PTR only, so it may not reach the game at launch. The Mystic Rugged Armor Kit is the fallback for your gloves.

Consumables

Every consumable in the benchmark is mana or healing power. Bring the four that pay most: Major Mana Potion (9.1 %), Demonic Rune (5.1 %), Flask of Distilled Wisdom (11.3 %) and Brilliant Wizard Oil (1.5 %). Mana potions and Demonic Runes run on different timers, so you can use one of each every two minutes. The flask's 2,000 mana counts most on one minute, 11.3 %, where your starting bar is most of the budget.

Smaller gains come from Cerebral Cortex Compound (2.0 %), Mageblood Elixir (0.6 %) and Runn Tum Tuber Surprise (0.9 %).