Zan’s M+ Lightsmith & Templar - Midnight - (Updated March)

[MrZanyz]

Protection Paladin – GSE Sequence

GSE Import Updated: Febuary 28, 2026
Talents Import Updated: March 02, 2026

Quick Intro

I’m Zan - Paladin main since Wrath of the Lich King.
This is the GSE sequence I personally use for Mythic+, where I consistently hit 97–100 logs.

This sequence is built around personal preference, and how I like to play Protection Paladin.

---

Core Idea / Personal Preference

• Rotation = Automated
• Defensives & utility = Manual
• Protection Paladin works best when you decide, not the macro

---

Manual Abilities

(Recommended regardless of Version 1, 2, or 3)

These abilities are best kept on separate keybinds, no matter which version of the sequence you use:

Defensives / Utility

• Word of Glory
• Lay on Hands
• Holy Bulwark
• Ardent Defender
• Guardian of Ancient Kings
• Divine Shield
• Wings

Utility / Control

• Hammer of Justice
• Rebuke
• Blinding Light
• Divine Toll
• Blessing of Freedom
• Blessing of Sacrifice
• Blessing of Protection
• Blessing of Spellwarding
• Divine Steed
• Hand of Reckoning

Pulls / Interrupt Control

• Avenger’s Shield
• Judgment

(Even though Avenger’s Shield can be automated in one version, both of these are highly recommended on separate keys for pulls and interrupts, regardless of version.)

---

Recommended Macro(s)

With the recent talent rework, the reduced cooldown on Wings is no longer a thing, which is completely fine now that Wings + Divine Toll can consistently be used together to fully maximize the new Vanguard talent.

It absolutely slaps!

#showtooltip Divine Toll
/cast Avenging Wrath
/cast Sentinel
/use 13
/use 14
/cast [@mouseover,exists,harm,nodead][@target,exists,harm,nodead] Divine Toll

Important:
Trinket slots 13 & 14 should ideally be 1-minute cooldown trinkets to align perfectly with Divine Toll + Wings cycling.

---

Talents / Builds

I strongly recommend using Murlok.io to stay up to date with what top Paladins are running.

Builds I Use:

Lightsmith

CIEAVg1HmQqr1Dwlv86ljju8vuNjBzyYbMjZmZZZMzwsMLzYAAGAAAAAA00MzyMjZGGegt2AwADYGsNAAACwMzy2SLzMWMDGAwMMGAMzAgZGwA

Templar

CIEAVg1HmQqr1Dwlv86ljju8vuNjBzyYbMjZmZZZMzwsMLzYAAGAAAAAA00MzyMjZGGegt2AwADYGsNAAwMTbzMLzAEYzMYAAzwYAAWmBYmBMA

Works with Lightsmith & Templar
Blessed Hammer playstyle only

---

Stat Priority

Crit >= Haste > Vers > Mastery

Since the rework of Mastery for Midnight, this is by far our worst secondary stat.

Crit and Haste scale significantly better for:

• Avoidance
• Damage output
• Holy Power generation

---

GSE Versions (Pick Your Style)

Version 1 – Full Manual Control

• Manual: Ardent Defender, Holy Bulwark, Avenger’s Shield
• Auto: Sacred Weapon

Version 2 – Semi-Automated

• Auto: Ardent Defender, Holy Bulwark
• Manual: Avenger’s Shield

Version 3 – Fully Automated

• Auto: Ardent Defender, Holy Bulwark, Avenger’s Shield

I personally use Version 2.

---

Behavior & Conditional Logic

• Mouseover dead (in combat) → Intercession
• No mouseover + Hammer of Light proc → Hammer of Light
• No mouseover + no proc → Shield of the Righteous
• No target → Blessed Hammer
• Enemy target → Avenger’s Shield (Version 3 only)

---

Important

This sequence uses macros embedded directly in the GSE import.

When importing the sequence, make sure macro(s) is ENABLED when importing.

---

GSE Import

GSE → Import Sequence → paste:

!GSE3!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

---

Recommended key press: sub-100ms (I personally use ~20ms).
Test on dummies and adjust to what feels right.

---

Feedback is appreciated but not required

Enjoy!

---

S1 & S3 - TWW (S2 I spend on my Warrior)

[MrZanyz]

Note:

This is mostly a re-post of my original TWW Prot Paladin post. Not much has changed going into Midnight rotation-wise, so the core sequence remains largely the same with only minor adjustments.

I’ll be actively testing this and updating it as needed. Expect daily/weekly tweaks where it makes sense.

[Cacoso12]

for me works perfect, i will do some trys on mid high keys to see how works. I will write here my runs! Thanks for the work!

[MrZanyz]

Update:

I’ve now updated the GSE import for Templar, including Talents, in the main post of this thread.

[MrZanyz]

Update:

I’ve updated the talent import after today’s patch.

I also did a short ~4 minute test to see where Templar stands, and it looks like Templar is slightly ahead overall.

Lightsmith sustains its DPS better in AoE without relying as much on cooldowns, so if you’re running fast keys where mobs die too quickly to get full value out of Divine Toll on every pull, then I think Lightsmith performs better in those situations.

For single target, though, Templar wins by a pretty significant amount.

---

AoE ~4 minute test:

Lightsmith:

Templar:

---

ST ~4 minute test:

Lightsmith:

Templar:

[Gottesfaust]

Thank you so much for your excellent work! I used your sequence to go >3600 RIO so far in pre-patch without any trouble, it’s fantastic!

[MrZanyz]

Appreciate the feedback! Happy to hear it

Keep up the grind!

[Azaktzu]

I ran a few dungeons with your sequence and honestly, it feels amazing. The flow is super smooth and everything lines up really well.

The only thing I noticed is that Consecration seems to fire quite often, roughly every 3–4 seconds. It might be a bit more than necessary and maybe those gcds could be spend with other things. That said, it still performs great and for 99% of gameplay it really doesn’t make a difference.

[MrZanyz]

Thanks for giving it a try! I’ve been using this myself for the entire War Within expansion and it really does feel smooth overall.

About Consecration - it’s honestly one of the harder spells to balance properly in a sequence.

I’ve tested a lot of different setups, and the more aggressive Consecration usage has consistently felt better for general play. You never really want to end up in a situation where you’re not standing in your Consecration, especially on big AoE pulls or during tank burst mechanics.

Even with the Midnight mastery changes, we still want strong uptime for talents like Solace + Sanctuary for sustained mitigation/healing. And moving into Midnight, we’ll likely also be using Searing Sunlight.

If we try to only cast it every ~8 seconds, it often ends up drifting into 10–12 seconds in real gameplay, especially with kiting, chain-pulling, or repositioning bosses. That’s when you suddenly lose Consecration uptime and the Sanctuary 5% DR, which will punish you on higher keys.

Even right now, during some pulls we run out of Blessed Hammer charges, and because Hammer is paired with Consecration in the sequence, you already see gaps where Consecration lasts closer to its full duration before being refreshed.

And looking ahead, we’ll probably drop from 40–45% haste down to ~25-30% in Midnight, so what feels like “every 3–4 seconds” today will naturally slow down closer to 6–8 seconds anyway.

So while I agree it can look a bit frequent, I think the current behavior is a good balance across both high and low haste setups, as well as how you move around in your keys.

Really appreciate you bringing it up though - always open to suggestions and feedback!

[Julio_Cruz]

Hi, how do i select between versions? Thanks.

[MrZanyz]

Once it’s imported, open the sequence, go to the Configuration tab on the left-hand side, choose your default version, and click Save.

[MrZanyz]

Update

New GSE import added in the top post.

• Better support for the Templar build
• Less likely to overcap Holy Power when Hammer of Light is available
• Intercession is now forced more proactively on mouseover dead allies when at 3 Holy Power

The rotation remains just as smooth as before, but is now even more reliable, with Hammer of Light and Intercession being used more consistently whenever conditions are met.

[MrZanyz]

Update

New GSE import added in the top post.

Made some changes in order for us to make better use of Hammer of Wrath while Wings is active, to benefit from both talents Sanctified Wrath & Zealot’s Paragon.

[Frekos]

tested only on newest Import but - On ALL versions Blockpath 1.2 is showing:

/startattack
/castsequence null, null, null

Im using the german client and I dont know why this is shown at all.

Can you look into it?

Thanks in advance

[MrZanyz]

Hey! And sorry for the late reply.

Those blocks are intentional placeholders in the sequence.

In GSE, every time you press the macro, it moves to the next block in the sequence. After thousands of hours testing different setups, I’ve found that having a few “empty” blocks actually makes the rotation perform better with the use of MS that I run/recommend.

/castsequence null, null, null doesn’t do anything by itself, that’s correct. It’s simply a spacer. Functionally, it creates a small “pause” in the sequence, and structurally it makes the sequence easier for me to read when I’m editing it.

I used to have 3-4 of these blocks, but with the new changes, and me playing Templar quite a bit more while testing for Midnight, I’ve started using some of those empty blocks to force-cast Hammer of Light as well as Hammer of Wrath. But, when there’s no Hammer of Light or Hammer of Wrath known/proc, those blocks basically act as filler again and keep the rotation performing like it did before.

If it’s annoying, you can just leave it blank, just don’t delete the block.

Thanks for pointing it out! Hope it was helpful.

[Frekos]

Awesome and concise answer

Thank you very much answering this so thoroughly.

[Vuudi]

Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me. The macros weren’t accepted, even though I activated them in GSE. I must have made a mistake somewhere. It just doesn’t recognize or execute the three macros in their sequence.

Well, I haven’t figured out what I did wrong yet. Still, thanks a lot for your work maybe I’ll manage to get it running somehow after all.

[MrZanyz]

Hi Vuudi,

I’ll need a bit more info to understand what’s happening.

Just to clarify, are the 3 macros importing correctly into WoW’s /macro folder, but they’re not being triggered when you run the main GSE sequence?

If they are showing up in your normal /macro window, then I have one question:

Are you playing WoW in a language other than English?

If so, the spell names inside those macros must match your game client language exactly. If the macros use English spell names but your client is, for example, German, French, etc., WoW won’t recognize them, and GSE won’t be able to execute them either.

[MrZanyz]

3 hours until Midnight!

Talents have been updated.
Stat Priority has been added to the main post of this thread.

Hype!

[Trinitis]

I tried using this macro set, and I’ve noticed it never casts divine toll, even though it’s listed in the macro several times