the old question about prot and ret...Follow

it depends on your style of playing

prot aoe grinding beings to shine at 35 when u get rec and start having SoL procs off of it

but if ur not a fan of grinding or of the prot tree then just stay ret it is a respectable leveling spec and although leveling wont be as fast as aoe prot, you'll enjoy yourself more questing as ret

so in short
if u like to grind or dont mind it or just want to level quickly: aoe prot
if u like questing and dont see fun in taking 5-7 mobs at a time or tanking: ret

Well OK I've seen this topic come up lots of times. From what I've gathered, to successfully do prot aoe farming you have to have certain types of mobs and you don't really quest you just endlessly grind on those same types of mobs until your eyes start bleeding or something.

Ret is more your standard, take-one-at-a-time, type fighter that most classes do (hunter, drain tank warlocks, warriors, etc.) and for the most part, quests are designed to be completed in that fashion. There are the occasional group quest, but honestly you could probably level 1-70 without doing a single group quest and be fine. Just remember to respec to something else once you hit 70 or else I'll respond to all your posts with 'lawl ret.'

I leveled 1-58 as ret, then switched to holy (to build my caster gear and get used to healing/grinding as holy) all the way up to 70. The only time I haven't been holy is to occasionally switch to prot for amusement (ie. Saturday I tanked all the melee adds in the 1st boss of BWL just to see if I could).

I've levelled my Paladin as Protection, switched from Ret at lvl25 and never looked back. You dont have to 'AoE grind' on certain mobs and avoid quests, you quest just the same as a Retadin does, but instead of grinding on the mobs one at a time and then drinking/bandaging you just charge in and aggro the whole messy pile, and then laugh as they die off your Reckoning and Holy Shield procs and your SoL heals you faster than they can hurt you.

Protection's weakness is big, slow, heavy-hitting mobs like Ogres and of course, casters. Killing these mobs first or avoiding them altogether speeds up Prot levelling immensely.

However, there is one large benefit to being Prot that nobody has mentioned; you can tank instances! You are almost guaranteed an instance spot, no more "Im ret btw..." and then groupkick. I got most of my levelling from instance runs, so I ended up completing all those high-XP dungeon quests, always had the best gear, and had a ton of fun playing with other people as a Paladin tank.

A Ret spec can level well, certainly better than Holy, and will please those among you looking for big numbers. To be honest though, the amount of extra instance runs you will get and the ability to survive multiple group pulls (4+4+3 is my record, with all cooldowns burned) more than makes up for it.

And there is the added bonus of snaring people in AV with Avenger's Shield, and watching Rogues die as they desperately try to damage you.

~sins

My lvl 57 Prot pally is my first toon.

I started out holy, and quickly changed over to prot and have never moved.

It gets better when you get SoL and Reckoning. I also carry a Thrash Blade, for the extra attack chance. There is an axe (Flurry Axe) that has a much faster speed, and also provides an extra attack, but I haven't spent the gold on it. Don't forget to judge judge judge!!!


Pallys are really kinda low on the dps as far as classes go. From what I've seen (and I've only been playing for a few months) Holy or Prot are popular. Tanking with a prot pally is cool also. The majority of your threat will come from your holy damage (conceration, avengers shield, and keep 'em around with holy shield). Tie that up with Seal of the Crusader and Seal of Righteousness (improved if you spend the talents) and holding a big boss isn't far out of reach. Make sure you have good heals!
Farming is easy and I really don't have to many problems with questing. Even the ogers fall 3 at a time, though you do have to watch yourself with the casters.

To the OP:

Yes it WILL get better. Like mentioned in the above replies some talents you still do not have will make a HUGE difference (reckoning, holy shield to mention a few).

The true fun begins at levels 40 (holy shield) and 42 (maxed improved holy shield), where you begin to feel as a god. I have played a lot of different characters in WoW, all to respectable levels, but nothing has brought me more feel of power than standing amongst like 10 enemies, all trying to do their best to take you down but being unable to.

Now THAT is a good feeling I can tell you. There is almost nothing you cannot solo, including elite groupquests, grouprescue/escort quests and whatsover. If they are not casters, you will actually be delighted when you get an add, instead of the usual "uh-oh"!

Hang in there buddy, keep it going and judge for yourself after level 42 whether you like it or not. Mind you: judge WITH warrior/+defense gear, otherwise you have not seen protection in full effect (dodge, dodge, parry, dodge, miss, parry anyone? /smile)

And above all: have fun!

Must... fight... urge... to rate down...

I think he's referring to the fact you got great advise, and acknowledged great advise, and then ask the same question. Kinda feels like everyone who posted did so for naught cause you didn't listen. I will agree though, rating down is, frankly, pathetic, unless someone is being a jack@$$, then I say go for it.

I would suggest going prot as soon as you have some gear.

A good shield and one hand wep for sure.

Then take the dive... you'll never look back!