When should I switch to one-hand?Follow

If you're leveling protection, you'll most likely be using a 1h weapon/shield most of the time. The protection tree doesn't afford many benefits to using 2h weapons. Unless you like killing very slowly and leveling even more slowly, gathering large groups of mobs and killing them all at once is the best way to manage as a prot pally, and for that you'll need a shield which rules out 2h weapons.

Edited, Feb 22nd 2009 3:33pm by AureliusSir

Keep leveling. Once you hit 30 and get blessing of sanctuary and more, then one-handers will make more a difference.

Right now, my advice would be to get the highest DPS weapon you can and keep beating the carp out of mobs. Once you start getting to the good stuff of prot (blessing of sanc, holy shield, and one handed spec, AND a mount, start gathering mobs in packs and grinding them down.

I understand the want to level as Prot, as Prot leveling ain't too bad, but to be honest, I don't see much reason to touch the Prot Tree until you get, at the very least, Avenger's Shield, Shield of Righteousness and maybe even Hammer of the Righteous. Those 3 attacks, along with Blessing of Sanctuary is what makes a prot paladin, a prot paladin.

Without those, you will level very slowly and could easily get burned out. Your first respec only costs 1 gold, my suggestion, is to level as Ret (go down the Ret Tree, trust me) until Level 60.

Once you hit Level 60, you have all of your signature moves that a Prot Paladin has, grab yourself a good 1h weapon and shield, whack at some mobs to skill it up (it won't take long), and then level as Prot.

Doing Ret Pre-50s is a heck of a lot faster and easier than trying to AoE mobs as Prot, when you are missing a large portion of your main abilities.

TBH, I'd say you can safely go Prot at 40 once you get Holy Shield. With Holy Shield, Blessing of Sanctuary, Reckoning (for a leveling build, not a bad investment), and 1H Weapon Specialization you're in pretty good shape. While you will still be annoyed at caster mobs and at mobs that have heals, you won't really have trouble questing and it's always nice to be able to tank if you want to run any instances at low level.

Your name is now officially ironic.