A few questions from a new ProtFollow

Bear is fine to wear yes. of the Eagle (stam/int) is also going to be pretty good as you're heading through the lower levels. Pretty much anything with strength/agility are going to help you the most leveling up, and obviously stamina, but you may also find that having intellect on your gear will be beneficial in helped you reduce downtime (can heal/cast more without going oom). Int won't help a whole lot in group settings as you get higher level though, and at a certain point you won't really find any int on gear that you'd want at all. Just make sure you avoid spirit ;)



Speed isn't so important for us, but I always recommend a faster weapon anyway: between 1.5 and 2.0 is good imo. Personally, I wouldn't waste money enchanting stuff at such a low level, but fiery is a good enchant: provides a bit more damage and is usually pretty cheap. Spikes are also good while leveling. As for where to get one, should be pretty easy to find a good one by using the search feature here or on wowhead.



The longer a mob is trying to hit me, the more damage I'm doing and the more mana I can get back from Blessing of Sanctuary. This is of course coming from a level 80s perspective ;) I like to tab through the targets and make them all die around the same time, but there really is no right or wrong way to do it. Whatever is easiest/most comfortable for you is what I would advise you to do :)



You really shouldn't be needing to use Seal of Light unless you are constantly biting off more than you can chew. You'll kill faster with Seal of Righteousness, and can always change mid fight if you need to. With Judgements: just use whichever you need more of, mana or health. Don't lock yourself into using just one, but use the one that fits your current situation. Also, I'd suggest using Ret Aura. Again, you'll kill things faster, and that's really the strong point of Paladins, our reflective damage. COmbined with your spike and Consecration, it's very effective. Just be mindful of what you're fighting, and switch Auras as needed.

Just a few questions if you don't mind. I'm a level 33 Draenei Prot

I would question why you are Prot to level. There is no reason to do it unless you really want to level that way. You CAN tank up to outland as a Ret Paly. *I’m just pointing that out – I don’t want you to think I’m just being negative.

For armor I'm wearing "of the bear" gear. I this ok or is there something better I should be using.

Armor doesn’t matter much at your level. I assume you are planning on tanking instances and stuff on the way to 80. Focus on Stamina, Strength, and for Leveling purposes (solo) INT. Make sure your gear is no more than 8+ levels out of date. Anything more than that and you start to have glaring holes in your equipment. As you get higher and higher you need to start keeping better and better gear. The difference between a lvl 20 and lvl 30 item is significant, but no where near as significant as a lvl 70 and lvl 80…

What speed is good for a 1h sword, mine is 1.50 I believe. Also is there an instance where can I get a good 1 hander and would Fiery Weapon be a good enchant ?. I also have a shield with a spike.

Speed doesn’t matter with a 1h. With a 2h – you want slow speed. Get a 1h with good tanking stats – then forget about it. Don’t waste too much time searching for the perfect weapon – you’ll level so quickly that you will waste a ton of time finding the perfect weapon – only to replace it 5 lvls (2-3 very casual days) later.

When fighting say 3 mobs do you beat on number 1 til it's dead then go to number 2 then 3 or do you tab between them and hit each one a little at a time. I usually use consecrate then kill them one at a time.

Yes and No. If you are tanking – Yes. Drop your AOE, gather mobs, then kill skull, X, Square, etc… I bind the raid markers to my F6-F12 keys – just like the party members are naturally bound to F1-F5. If you are AOE grinding (Solo) you have to take into account several weird factors that simply take time to learn. Kill the Casters first (If you have any), then the hard hitting slow weapon mobs because they don’t get as much reflective damage from your shield/Ret-arua, then the Fast hitting mobs (allow them to spend the most time hitting you cause they take the most reflective damage). However – that all changes with a crit. If you can kill a fast guy in 2 hits cause of a lucky crit, you remove him from the table quick. If a mob traps you, and the casters/ranged suddenly can run away – you need to kill the trapper. (This is common in Strat for those running for the mount.) Honestly – it just takes time.

I use seal of light, blessing of sanctuary then judge with JoL. I have Devotion Aura up. Is that ok, it's been working ok for me. Also Glyphs I have are - Judgement, Consecration and Blessing of Wisdom.

Yeah – that’s fine. You need to be dynamic though. If you are not taking a lot of damage, put up Ret aura. If you are going /oom – judge or seal for Mana.

If your looking to pick up a new weapon in the next 5-10 levels I would advise you to look at the Scarlet Monastary quest chain that starts in Desolace. It might only be available at the higher level 30s though but it gives you a nice Sword that should last you till you get into Maraudon, Sunken Temple, ZF or Blackrock depths (level 50s).

Really though you shouldn't be too overly focused on gear as levelling these days is very quick. Spend time here and there in each instance/dungeon but dont waste too many hours trying to pick up drops. Presently its much more efficient to just quest from a levelling/xp point of view than to spend time in instances.

The last toon I levelled up (druid tank) spent maybe one or two times in each dungeon for the sole purpose of completing quests for experience. If you happen to pick up gear along the way its a bonus but not a requirement.

Edited because I can't seem to touchtype or proofread my posts =P

Edited, Apr 21st 2009 2:22am by arthoriuss

Piff -

You are correct that Prot can do some really cool stuff.

*I started a Prot paly when I, as a Noob, entered Hellfire. I was a Frost mage. I was farming some Buzzards or something like that.... This god damn paly road in.... He agro'd everything, then slowly beat them to death....

I realized then that I was a Paly at heart.


However - As a fully grown up paly now. (Meaning I'm a Raiding MT Paly) I wish someone had told me how much faster it would have been to lvl as a RET paly.

Yes - Leveling as Prot allowed me to better understand the tanking mechanics
Yes - Leveling as Prot allowed me to better gear for tanking
Yes - Leveling as Prot allowed me to literally ride through/past enemy mobs
Yes - Leveling as Prot allowed me to better prepare for bad tanking situations..........

But - I would have been an 80 tank about 2-3 weeks fast than I was If I leveled Ret.

Look - I LOVE PROT. I am prot. My off-spec = Ret cause it's more Prot than Heals... But - If I knew then, what I know NOW - I'd be Ret till 78+...

The one thing that made lvling as prot worth it to me was never having to look for a grp for elite/grp quests. That and being nearly unkillable short of packs larger than 30 for the 70-80 grind. It was faster on my rogue as many quests involve surgical strikes, but killing an extra 15+ the quest target doesn't take that much longer if you can do em all at once:)


Gratz, if crusader mats are cheap on your server its a sweet chant until you hit 60. I wouldn't re-enchant or anything, just keep it mind for your next wpn.