Page 2: Playing your Paladin 2.1 Group PvE Play 2.1.1 How do Paladins tank in groups? There is a bit of a difference depending on what level you are. It is not necessary to be prot spec to be able to tank regular instances anymore. You will have an easier time tanking as protection, but it's not 100% necessary. A one-handed weapon and shield is required, have Righteous Fury up at all times, and tank with Seal + Judgement + your spec's special attacks for single mobs. Use consecration, Divine Storm, or Hammer of the Righteous if you need to tank more than one mob at a time. If you lose aggro, use righteous defense to pull the mob back onto you (it does work on the target of target). With this method alone you should be fine.
As you level higher, it becomes more and more helpful to at least have Holy Shield in the protection tree. With Holy Shield, you can increase your survivability and your threat on single and multiple-mobs. Imp. Righteous Fury will also increase your threat and survivability. Other good talents to have are: Reckoning, Shield Specialization, Toughness, Anticipation. (Discussed more in the talents section). Past about 60, if you plan on tanking often, it is a very good idea to have at least 10-15 points in prot even if you don't go all the way in prot.
IF you are tanking and you end up losing aggro, don't panic, as there are a few things to do (in order, moving to the next one if that didn't work.
1. Wait for your taunt to cd, if it is a vital time and you really don't want that person to die and they will if they wait for your cd, skip to 5.
2. Use your taunt and Judge your tanking seal (be it SoR or SoV)
3. Use Avenger's Shield and Hammer of Righteous (or Crusader Strike or Holy Shock if off-spec tanking)
4. Use Exorcism.
5. Cast Hand of Protection on the player with aggro.
6. If all that fails, keep hitting it with everything you have until it turns or the player dies. Don't kick yourself too much if it was a dps class, they have to watch their own threat. If it was the healer, then you might want to reevaluate your tanking strategy to induce more threat, or evaluate your gear to take less of a beating, although the first reason will be it 9 times out of 10.
2.1.2 How do Paladins heal in a group? For a while, a Paladin does not have to have points in Holy to effectively heal in a group, however they should keep a healing set of gear on them in case they do need to heal.
Since Wrath of the Lich King, both Protection and Retribution have got talents designed to help them make better use of their heals when needed. In Protection you have Touched by the Light which will increase your Spellpower by 30% of your stamina and increase your critical heals by 60%. In Retribution you have Sheath of Light which will give you 30% of your Attack Power as Spellpower and on critical heals will heal the target for 60% of the amount of the heal over 15 seconds.
Pre-BC there is not much healing plate/mail out there, so try to focus on int, sta, and mp5 where possible, get pieces other than plate/mail if you need to.
A paladin has 3 baseline healing spells (unless you are a Draenei, in which case you have your HoT). Holy Light is our large heal, Flash of Light is our quick, mana-efficient heal, and Sacred Shield is our reactive passive heal we can put on one target at a time. As Holy you have 2 additional Healing tools. These are Holy Shock, which is now a very useful instant heal, and Beacon of Light which can potentially double the healing you do and is somewhat of an answer to aoe healing. When healing, the policy is to always make sure your main tank is alive. If the tank dies, you are (usually) screwed, as aggro will fly everywhere and you can't keep up heals on that many targets at once without having a good eye and a great amount of skill. Also, it helps to bring a few mana potions, as Paladins don't have any abilities to quickly regain a ton of mana (i.e. Innervate, Mana Tide totem, Shadowfiend, etc..) until Divine Plea at lvl 71.
A good strategy when healing is to put Sacred Shield (and Beacon of Light if you have specc'd into that) on the tank and then cast Flash of Light on the main tank unless they start dipping below about 60-70%, after that, throw out a Holy Light to keep them up. Also, look out for poisons/diseases/magic effects and Cleanse them off. If other people start taking damage from aoes, throw out quick Flash of Lights (starting with yourself) after a Holy Light on the tank. Using this method, you can keep the entire party alive. Draenei can also use their racial HoT on someone who just took damage. If you manage to pull threat off the tank, a quick HoJ will give the tank time to pull it back. If that doesnt work then BoP/Divine Shield will temporarily remove aggro on you and transfer it to the next highest person on the threat list (hopefully the tank), however dont do this immediately, only if it looks like the tank won't be able to pull the mob off you before you die for whatever reason.
2.1.3 I dont want to heal or tank, what should I do in a group? There is a big difference from being a retadin and a retnoob. A retnoob will join parties, at any level, and only DPS and stands there like an idiot when things go bad and everyone wipes, not offering a helping hand. A retadin can and will off-heal when necessary, can and will off-tank when necessary and will do everything they can to make sure that the party is alive and comfortable. Off tanking is not desired in end game raids typically, a full tank really needs to handle those mobs, and cc (i.e. Repentence) is much more preferrable. Offtanking at that level can put unnecessary strain on the healer.
If you are not main-tanking or main-healing, this should be your priorities:
1. Dps Mob
2. Off-heal/Off-tank if necessary. Art of War proc instant cast Flash of Lights are especially helpful for this.
3. Cleanse Poisons/Diseases/Magic effects.
4. Keep up blessings.
Your party will appreciate it, and you can turn a party that would have wiped frequently into a no-death or near no-death run. You will probably be dpsing the majority of the time, however if either of the other opportunities come up, a well-played Retribution Paladin will be able to handle them.
Following this guideline you will find that in good groups there will be little to no off-healing/off-tanking needed and blessings are kept up outside of combat. This leaves Cleanse and DPS as your primary role in most groups. Also, once you've reached Judgements of the Wise it will be important to keep the Repelnishment buff up for your party.
2.2 Solo PvE Play 2.2.1 What is the best way to level up a Paladin? This is extremely subjective, as there is no "best" way to level up. In grinding from 1 - 70, you will be discovering every nuance of the Paladin class, and some methods will work better for you than others. Other than that, there are basically 2-methods of leveling up for a paladin.
Single-Target (Can be used from 1 - 70 effectively)
The idea for this is putting out as much single-target damage as possible. In order to do that, you will be speccing heavily into the Ret tree. The key talents to grab are Benediction, Seal of Command and Conviction and eventually Judgements of the Wise for endless mana while grinding. SoC is the best seal to use until you get Seal of Blood or Seal of the Martyr depending on which faction you are. For gear, grab as much str and sta as possible, think warrior. Get a nice heavy 2-hander and start pounding away.
An option for Holy Paladins once they get into Outlands is to start a shockadin build. This does require a good amount of mana, and is more focused on spell damage. Outlands has a good amount of Plate spell power gear, so stacking that up, using a shield and one-hander, and using SoR & JoR or SoB/tM & JoB/tM and Holy Shock to kill can be another viable option. With the boosts to healing in the Ret tree many Holy Paladins will be going into the Ret tree anyway. Killing a typical mob as Holy will take about 1.5 times as long as ret, but if you choose to levels as Holy it can be done.
Multiple-Target/AOE Grinding (Should be started around 35 - 70)
The idea for this is that a Paladin can become a porcupine and survive a lot. It may take a few pulls in a certain area to figure out your limit, but the idea is to be able to reflect as much damage as possible to all your enemies, and to survive through them pounding you. In order to pull off this attempt to level, a protection spec must be chosen, and you must use a shield. A shield spike, Retribution Aura, Blessing of Sanctuary, and Holy Shield are all methods of inflicting damage to any enemy that attacks you. Judge wisdom on your current mob and pull up Seal of Light, this will keep both your mana and health topped off with those mobs beating on you. For increased survivability, throw 10 points into Holy to get Spiritual Focus, allowing you to heal uninterrupted. Throwing out Consecration every now and then if mana allows can help speed up the process. This approach to leveling really takes more skill than the single-target, however it is very good practice if you plan on tanking end-game.
2.2.2 What talents should a Paladin be getting as he levels? Again, it depends on which of the methods above you want to do. My personnal recommendation for single-target grinding is to first move up retribution, grabbing Benediction, Imp. Judgement, Heart of the Crusader, and then SoC. After this there are several options. You can go into holy for better ability to heal yourself, Protection for better survivability, or my preference, continue down Retribution for faster killing.
For AOE grinding, just get talents that you would get if you were tanking. Get BoK, Anticipation, Imp. RF, Toughness, Improved Devotion Aura, Reckoning, BoSanc, HS, Sacred Duty, One-Handed Weap Specialization, Ardent Defender, Combat Expertise, Redoubt, Avenger's Shield, Touched by the Light and Hammer of the Righteous.
2.2.3 What is the best place for a Paladin to grind? (And where are the Undead/Demons) The best places are where there are melee mobs for AOE grinders because the Paladin needs to be hit for AOE grinding to work effectively, and casters for Single-Target grinders because they are generally quicker to kill as they have less health. Anytime there are demons or undead around you can have an easier time grinding due to Holy Wrath, Turn Undead, and Sense Undead. Here is a list of some Undead Locations:
(Massive thanks to LikeIke for helping to fill out this list, including all of the instances.)
Levels 10-20: Ghostlands
Levels 21-30: Duskwood, Silverpine Forest
Levels 26-30: Wetlands (The lost Fleet)
Levels 28-30: Ashenvale (Dor'danil Barrow Den)
Levels 32-37: Desolace (small area in south center)
Levels 36-42: Desolace (outside Mauradon)
Levels 40-45: Stranglethorn Vale (Zanzil ruins)
Levels 45-50: Azshara (Highborne ruins)
Levels 50-55: Western Plaguelands
Levels 51-56: Winterspring (Lake Maz'Thoril)
Levels 53-58: Silithus
Levels 55-60: Eastern Plaguelands
Levels 59-60: Deadwind Pass (south of the map)
Levels 60-62: Hellfire Peninsula (Expedition Armory)
Levels 62-64: Terrokar Forest
Levels 64-68: Nagrand (SE of Forge Camp: Fear)
Levels 68-70: Shadowmoon Valley (Sketh'lon Wreckage)
According to several people, the undead on the large island near Hillsbrad are apparently elites now.
Instances:
Levels 22-30: Shadowfang Keep
Levels 33-40: Razorfen Downs
Levels 34-45: Scarlet Monestary (Graveyard section)
Levels 44-54: Zul'Farrak (Graveyard past the bug farm)
Levels 45-55: Temple of Atal'Hakkar (Sunken Temple)
Levels 55-60: Dire Maul (West side)
Levels 56-60: Scholomance
Levels 58-60: Stratholme
Almost all instances in Outlands have demons inside, only a few have undead.
2.3 PvP Play 2.3.1 How do I fight against class X? A Paladin wins fights in most cases by outlasting their opponents by healing often and early, and using smart tactics to take advantage of both your and your opponent's cooldowns. I'm not going to list every single scenario on here. The easiest fights are against melee fighters. Just simply heal when you can and necessary and you should win. Casters are another story as most fights turn into mana battles. A Shadow Priest can burn out your mana, a Warlock can fear-chain you, and a Mage can blast you with all sorts of spells while keeping away from you. Your best bet is to just try to heal yourself as much as possible. Avoid their kiting effects with BoF if possible, and get in the damage when you can. With the right gear, skill, and a little luck you can take them down, this applies to Hunters as well.
2.3.2 What should a Paladin be doing in BGs? In BGs Paladins are often most effective when they are healing allies. A Paladin doing damage can do massive amounts of damage, but with the common lack of healers, keeping those around you alive longer than the enemy can will be more effective. If you can find another healer to partner up with, Ret pallies in BG's are a force to be reckoned with now.
In WSG/EotS, a Paladin can make an excellence flag holder. Not neccessarily a good runner, but if the Paladin has the flag, they can take much more of a beating before dying, Divine Shield however removes the Paladin's flag, so it should not be used. If you don't have the flag, then you should be healing the guy with the flag, and killing anyone who trys to get the flag making an excellent body guard.
In AB, a Paladin is great for holding a node. With their survivability, they can live long enough for help to come, or to potentially kill the rogue that tried to ambush him. Also, being on the front lines and healing those that need it will vastly help to ensure a captured node, even if outnumbered.
In AV, which can be more PvE oriented, a tanking Paladin can help capture nodes or fight bosses, a healing Paladin does what they do best, and Ret Paladins can go off on their own if they want to, though it is not necessarily good for the group and they can help much more by healing.
2.3.3 What should a Paladin be doing in Arena? Arena is much more frantic than bgs. No matter what spec the paladin is (except for prot), they are almost always the first target from the other team. This is due to the fact that most Paladins are healers in Arena and for good reason. Retribution paladins are viable in 2v2 and 3v3 arenas for their burst damage output and their counter to Resto druids doing the kite/heal method. In 5v5, they are not as sought after for their lack of player control. If you are holy, you definately want to be decked out in the best plate healing gear you can get. Investing in talents to help your survivability is best, a lot of Arena Paladins opt for a 41/20/0 talent placement. This allows them to get the essential healing talents, while also getting a good amount of the protection talents, including Imp. Concentration aura which is invaluable in arenas.
2.4 Gear 2.4.1 What kind of gear can a Paladin equip? A Paladin can equip 1 and 2-handed swords, axes, and maces as well as Polearms. A Paladin can equip cloth,leather, and mail armor from level 1, and plate armor from level 40.
A Paladin cannot equip any ranged item, ever. The slot has been replaced with a Libram slot, which the Paladin can equip.
The following is a general guide to stats you should look for as a Paladin, but for each of these there is a sticky with much more in depth information on what gear to get at end game.
2.4.2 What kind of gear does an end-game Tanking paladin look for? An end game tanking Paladin will of course get all plate gear. The stats you should be looking for are:
- Defense - 540 def is needed to not be critically hit at 80
- Stamina - increases maximum health and spellpower
- Avoidance (block rating, dodge, parry) - decreases chance to get hit
- Strength - increases block value and attack power which most of your threat abilities scale based on
- Block Value - increase the ammount of damage absorbed when you block
- Armor - decreases the amount of damage you take on any hit that deals damage by a percentage
2.4.3 What kind of gear does an end-game Healing Paladin look for? An end game healing Paladin should be looking for gear with the following:
- +spellpower - increases the effectiveness of his heals
- crit rating - further increases the effectiveness of heals and helps with mana regeneration and IoL or SoL procs depending on your spec.
- Mana per 5 seconds - direct source of mana regeneration
- Intellect - increases mana pool, spell crit, +spellpower and mana regen from replenishment, JoW, and Divine Plea
- Haste - increases heal speed (less mana efficient than crit or spellpower, but has some limited use)
2.4.4 What kind of gear does an end-game DPSing Paladin look for? An end game DPS'ing paladin should be looking for gear with the following stats:
- Strength - increases attack power which all of your damaging abilities scale with and scales with Divine Strength, Blessing of Kings and Trueshot Aura
- crit rating - increases critical strike rating
- Attack Power - increases the power of your melee attacks and all seals and judgements and most other abilities; scales with Trueshot Aura
- Agility - increases critical strike chance and armor
- Hit rating - decreases chance to miss your target
- Expertise - decreases your targets chance to dodge or parry your attacks
- Haste - increases your melee attack speed
- armor ignore - reduces the effectiveness of your enemies armor against your physical attacks. this only effects melee hits, crusader strike and divine storm
2.4.5 Is there any difference between maces, swords, axes, and polearms? This depends on your race. In general, Holy pallies will look for a 1h mace or sword which will be the 2 types typically with large amounts of spell power. Tanking pallies will look for 1h swords, maces and even axes which all can have the tanking stats needed. For a Retribution pally 2h maces swords and axes are typically equal. Often Polearms are faster, but if you find a slow Polearm that would be fine too.
As a Human you get extra expertise if you use a mace or sword, so typically these will be the better choices for tanking and dps'ing paladins. As a Dwarf you get extra expertise for using an axe, so this would usually be the better choice for tanking and dps'ing. The amount of expertise these give is very minimal though and only should come in to play for equal weapons.
2.4.6 So do Paladins get any kind of ranged attack? Finally we have been given a baseline ranged attack. Exorcism, long known as the reason we did more damage against undead, has now been opened up to be used on any target. This means we have a ranged attack every 15 seconds no matter what spec we choose.
Other ranged possibilities are EZ throw dynamite, and other Engineering tools if you go into there (you don't need to be Engineering to get the EZ throw dynamite).
Paladins have a few talent based ranged attacks. The earliest ranged attack you can get is Holy Shock in Holy. This ability can be used offensively and has a 20 yard range. The other main ranged attack you can get is Avenger's Shield in Protection. This ability will hit up to 3 targets. The other ranged attack we have is Hammer of Wrath which is only useable on targets with less than 20% health.
2.5 Talents 2.5.1 What does an end-game healing spec look like? End game there are different situations in which you will be healing, here are are some sample specs which can be used in these situations:
Holy/Ret
(51/2/18) or
(51/5/15) This spec goes 15/18 points into the Retribution tree for the extra crit and 10% mana cost reduction for instant cast spells and picks up improved Blessing of Might and Hearts of the Crusader for additional Raid flexibility. Some of the points in Holy can be moved around a little. For instance, the 2 points in Impoved Lay on Hands can be put in Improved Concentration Aura. You will most likely be expected to be using Concentration Aura, and will be using Lay on Hands much more now that it has only a 20 minute cooldown, so adding silence/interrupt reduction to your aura or armor and a 16 minute cooldown for Lay on Hands are both very useful. The main difference between these 2 specs is 3% healing done vs 3% crit. 3% crit will help with slight increased mana returns and 3% healing (mostly considered the better choice) will provide a straightforward healing boost.
Holy/Prot(28/0/43)
This spec chooses to pass on the crit in the Ret tree to get an extra raid damage reduction CD, 20% stronger Sacred Shield, double the duration of Sacred Shield, and 6% increased healing done for everyone in range of your auras. This spec is mostly considered the better spec as of Patch 3.2.
2.5.2 What does an end-game tanking spec look like? (5/54/12): This or a slight variation on it is a fairly standard tanking spec for a Paladin.
2.5.3 What does an end-game damage-dealing spec look like? (5/5/57): This is the basic version of the standard Ret spec. 4 points are left over for "flavor" talents.
2.5.4 Are hybrid specs a good idea for a Paladin? No not really, most of the best talents for a Paladin to get are deep in their respective trees. Half and half specs are generally not a good idea, as you are hurting yourself more by stretching yourself too thin over 2 areas. They can be viable while leveling up, and while running normal lvl 70 instances, however they should not be used in heroic or raid instances, as this can spell disaster for your group.
Note on dual specs and hybrids: The dual spec system introduced in patch 3.1 removes the last reason to choose any hybrid spec. Now with the push of a button you can changed between two specs you have previously set up for maximum flexibility.
Edited, Oct 5th 2009 2:06pm by toolofjesus Edited, Oct 5th 2009 2:07pm by toolofjesus