01. Start with the party boundary
| Scope | What it means here | Example or boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Caster’s own party | Membership follows the caster. | The old Prayer of Healing rule described by Blizzard; not its Forever rule. |
| Selected target’s party | Membership follows the selected player. | Prayer of Healing, Wild Growth; Light’s Vigil on an ally. |
| Nearby party or raid members | An effect can move to another eligible member. | Prayer of Mending; not a heal on the entire raid at once. |
| Caster + one target | The caster and current target receive healing. | Binding Heal; no party-wide effect is described. |
| One target | The selected target receives the heal. | Riptide; its Chain Heal interaction is a separate condition. |
Party and raid remain separate throughout this guide.
This compares Blizzard’s official beta descriptions, checked on October 19, 2026.
It is source-based guidance, rather than a report of our own play.
A party and a raid are different target scopes; a party inside a raid stays relevant.
Selecting someone in another party can change which party receives a heal.
The caster’s own party is a comparison category.
It is not the current rule for Prayer of Healing.
The table separates five scopes.
A moving effect differs from simultaneous raid healing.
02. Target-rule ledger
| Spell | Baseline / talent | Prerequisite | Initial selection | Effect recipients | Trigger / timing | Pets explicitly named? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prayer of Healing | Baseline | No talent prerequisite stated | The selected target | All of the target’s party and their pets | Healing spell; no extra damage trigger described | Yes |
| Wild Growth | 31-point Restoration talent | Not stated | Any party or raid member | That player’s whole party and pets | Periodic healing after application | Yes |
| Light’s Vigil | 31-point Holy talent | Holy Shock | Ally for the healing branch; enemies are also eligible | Every member of the ally’s party | Prepared effect; next Holy Shock on that target has special cooldown handling | Not stated |
| Prayer of Mending | 31-point Holy talent | Spirit of Redemption | The target receiving the effect | Current holder, then another nearby party or raid member | Damage or non-periodic healing consumes a charge and heals | Not stated |
| Binding Heal | 16-point Holy talent | Not stated | Priest’s current target | Priest and current target | Cast completion | Not stated |
| Riptide | 31-point Restoration talent | Healing Way | One target | That target | Immediate heal, then periodic healing | Not stated |
Sources: Blizzard’s Priest, Druid, Paladin and Shaman deep dives; this is not a full talent build.
Read the selected target and effect recipients as separate fields.
“Not stated” means the class announcement does not supply that detail.
It does not mean that a prerequisite is absent or a pet is excluded.
The next sections preserve timings and the conditions behind these compact entries.
03. Prayer of Healing and Wild Growth follow the selected party
Prayer of Healing is baseline and heals all members of the target’s party and their pets.
Blizzard explicitly contrasts this with healing the Priest’s own party.
Wild Growth is a 31-point Restoration talent.
Select any party or raid member.
The heal-over-time effect goes to that player’s whole party, including pets.
It heals every 1 second for 7 seconds, with healing decreasing each second.
It has a 6-second cooldown and a high Mana cost; Blizzard gives no absolute cost here.
Neither description turns selecting a raid member into healing every party in the raid.
The Korean Wild Growth wording suggests random selection.
The English and German texts say any member.
This guide follows that English wording for the selection rule.
04. Light’s Vigil requires preparation across parties
Light’s Vigil is a 31-point Holy talent requiring Holy Shock.
It has a 1.5-second cast, a 30-second duration and a 6-second cooldown.
It can be used on allies or enemies.
On an ally, its healing branch instantly heals every member of that ally’s party.
Only one friendly player per party can have Light’s Vigil active.
With either target type, the next Holy Shock on that target does not trigger its cooldown.
Blizzard describes preparing Light’s Vigil on several different parties.
That setup precedes a large raid damage event.
Holy Shock can then be used back-to-back on those prepared targets.
This lets the Paladin heal across the raid quickly.
That sequence requires substantial setup; a single placement does not cover the raid.
On an enemy, the damage branch refunds 75% of Light’s Vigil’s Mana cost.
The development notes explicitly reserve the Mana return for the damage version.
Do not apply that refund to the ally-healing branch.
The ally wording does not explicitly include pets.
Their inclusion remains unconfirmed here.
05. Prayer of Mending moves after a qualifying event
Prayer of Mending is a 31-point Holy talent requiring Spirit of Redemption.
It places a 30-second effect on the target and has a 10-second cooldown.
The trigger is the holder next taking damage or receiving non-periodic healing.
It consumes a charge and heals the holder.
The effect then moves to another nearby party or raid member within 20 yards.
It continues until it has healed a total of 5 times.
Only one Prayer of Mending can be active on each target.
Periodic healing alone is not a trigger in Blizzard’s description.
This is sequential healing.
The next recipient is not every member of the original target’s party.
The English source says 20 yards.
The German and Korean versions label the distance as metres.
We retain the English unit and do not treat those labels as a conversion.
No priority algorithm for choosing the next eligible recipient is announced here.
06. Binding Heal and Riptide do not inherit a party scope
Binding Heal is a 16-point Holy talent.
It heals the Priest and their current target.
It takes 1.5 seconds to cast and has no cooldown.
That description does not add the rest of either player’s party.
Riptide is a 31-point Restoration talent requiring Healing Way.
It heals one target immediately, then periodically over 15 seconds.
It has a 6-second cooldown.
Chain Heal casts on a target carrying your own Riptide are 25% more effective.
The ownership condition matters: the text specifies your Riptide.
That interaction does not turn Riptide itself into party-wide healing.
This guide does not add Chain Heal jump counts, distances or periodic healing amounts.
07. Worked example: selecting someone in another party
This is an editorial example of the published rules, not a combat test or rotation.
Suppose you belong to party A and select an ally in party B of the same raid.
Prayer of Healing follows party B and its pets, rather than defaulting to party A.
Wild Growth likewise applies its periodic effect to party B and its pets.
Light’s Vigil uses the ally’s party B.
Healing further parties needs the preparation described above.
Prayer of Mending first waits on its holder for damage or non-periodic healing.
After that event it can move to another eligible nearby party or raid member.
Binding Heal heals you and the current target; Riptide heals that target.
Check before choosing a target
- Locate the partyWhich party contains the selected player?
- Read the effectParty, moving holder, caster plus target, or single target?
- Check conditionsTalent prerequisite, trigger, preparation and pet wording.
08. Beta changes and limits of this reference
We checked the “Updated October 15” development thread on October 19, 2026.
That check includes its later edits.
The October 15 update fixes a wrong target for Light’s Vigil through a focus macro.
The thread also records critical-hit fixes for Wild Growth and Riptide.
We found no later targeting change for these spells in the official material checked.
These are beta announcements.
We do not claim that a live client or tooltip mirror matches a particular build.
Pet inclusion for Light’s Vigil remains unstated.
So does Prayer of Mending’s next-target priority.
The word pets is not expanded here to every kind of summoned creature.