Protection Paladin Leveling Guide

2010-12-31

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INTRODUCTION

How to Spec your World of Warcraft Protection Paladin to best level in Cataclysm is an oft asked question with the recent release of the new expansion. The cookie cutter Protection Paladin spec has we had all grown to love has been changed by Cataclysm. The best spec to level your new WoW Protection Paladin relies on a few new abilities. These abilities revolve around building and using Holy Power. Fear not though, the changes have made the Protection Paladin one of the most fun classes to level and toughest to kill.

BUILDING HOLY POWER

BUILDING HOLY POWER

The Paladin now relies on Holy Power. You begin being able to generate Holy Power at level 9. You can build up to three charges

through three different methods, and then have two basic skills through which you can release this power. Building Holy Power is accomplished through Crusader Strike, Hammer of the Righteous, or Divine Plea. You can monitor your Holy Power charges on the new bar below your characters health and mana.

Crusader Strike, is our basic attack which we receive at level 1. It strikes one target and every time you successfully hit with this attack you build one charge of Holy Power.

Hammer of the Righteous, is also an attack that build Holy Power. This is our Area of Effect (AoE) attack and is specific to the Protection skill tree, learned at level 29. This attack hits all targets within 8 yards and builds one charge of Holy Power every time it is used.

Divine Plea is the last method by which a Protection Paladin can build Holy Power. Divine Plea is learned at your trainer at level 44 and is a mana regeneration tool. By specializing into Shield of the Templar at level 59 you gain the ability to instantly build 1 charge of Holy Power. Each point you spend in this skill increases the charges of Holy Power. So at level 63 you can instantly generate 3 Holy Power by using Divine Plea.

USING HOLY POWER

Now that you know how to generate Holy Power, what do you do with it? As a Cataclysm Protection Paladin you have to outlets for this

shield of the righteous

power. The first being a heal, Word of Glory, and the second being a highly damaging attack, Shield of the Righteous.

Word of Glory is learned at your trainer at level 9, though you need to reach level 10 to be able to generate Holy Power and begin using it. This heal scales with each charge of Holy Power, becoming more powerful as the number of charges increase. This heal can be used on you or another. Around level 53 you will want to have 2 points placed into the specialization Guarded by the Light. This skill will cause any over healing from Word of Glory to create an absorption shield, similar to a Preist’s Power Word: Shield skill, equal to the amount of the over heal. Specialize into any skill in the Protection tree that will benefit Word of Glory. This ability to simultaneously fight and heal makes the Paladin a tanking juggernaut.

Shield of the Righteous is a heavy damage, single target attack. This is best used during boss fights in PvE or as a finishing move in PvP fights. This attack increases in damage the more Holy Power charges you have to use. Our main buffing to this talent is Sacred Duty, which you can specialize in as early as levels 59 and 61. Once you have Sacred Duty your Judgements will give you a 50% chance to make Shield of the Righteous a guaranteed critical strike. Now to discuss the best spec for a Protection Paladin as you level.

THE SPEC

The following is the best spec for your Protection Paladin. It maximizes your survivability while questing and dungeon crawling. It centers around buffing your Talents Word of Glory abilities. Allowing you maximum self heal abilities in combat, with over heals creating a damage shield. You can start selecting your talents at level 10.

10-11 Eternal Glory
13-17 Divinity
19-23 Toughness
25-27 Judgements of the Just
29 Hammer of the Righteous
31-35 Sanctuary
37 Hallowed Ground
39 Shield of the Righteous
41-43 Grand Crusader
45-47 Reckoning
49 Holy Shield
51-53 Guarded by the Light
55 Vindication
57 Wrath of the Lightbringer (1/2)
59-63 Shield of the Templar
65-67 Sacred Duty
69 Wrath of the Lightbringer (2/2)
71 Ardent Defender
73-77 Crusade
79-81 Improved Judgement (or Eye for an Eye)
82-84 Rule of Law
85 Pursuit of Justice

THE BUFFS

Righteous Fury - This should always be cast. It increases the threat generation of all our abilities.

blessing of kings

Blessing of Kings - This should always be your first choice for self/party buff.

Blessing of Might - Use instead of Kings if you have another Paladin or a Druid in your party.

Seal of Insight - This is your questing/dungeon trash seal. It generates health and mana.

Seal of Truth - You seal for dungeon bosses. Will stack 5 times and greatly increase you damage.

THE ROTATION

Many of you will remember the old 969 rotation for maximized threat generation through a multitude of timed abilities. Things have become a bit simpler. We will now be using a Holy Power generator, either Crusader Strike (CS) or Hammer of the Righteous (HotR) followed by a filler. Once we reach three Holy Power we’ll use it and then repeat the process. While you are leveling it will look something like this:

Pull with Avenger’s Shield

CS > Judgement > CS > Avenger’s Shield (if off cooldown) or Holy Wrath or Consecration > CS > Word of Glory (if you are low on health or healer is low on mana), if not then Shield of the Righteous

If you are fighting a more than one mob use HotR in place of CS in the above rotation.

THE GLYPHS

The Glyph system has been changed in Cataclysm. You now have three glyph choices: Prime, Major and Minor. You can select one of each at levels 25, 50 and 75 for a total of nine glyphs. For leveling we want to ensure your survivability through self healing and mana conservation. These glyphs selected will help you do both. Once you reach 85 you will change your glyphs for raiding. With that said, while leveling your glyphs will be:

Level 25
1. Prime - Word of Glory
2. Major - Lay on Hands
3. Minor - Blessing of Kings
Level 50
1. Prime - Seal of Insight
2. Major - Holy Wrath
3. Minor - Insight
Level 75
1. Prime - Hammer of the Righteous
2. Major - Ascetic Crusader
3. Minor - Blessing of Might

THE STATS

We gain stats through leveling and through our gear. These are the important stats for a Protection Paladin.

Stamina - Your primary stat which increases you health and therefore your survivability.
Strength - Secondary only to Stamina while leveling. Adds to our threat generation.
Dodge, Parry, Hit, Expertise - You won’t start running into these until higher levels. All good additions to gear that already has the first two stats.

THE GEAR

You have a few requirements when obtaining your gear. Every Paladin requires armor, a weapon and a shield. You will obtain through quests, dungeon rewards and drops.

Armor - You’ll be wearing Mail until level 50. After 50 wear only Plate.
Weapon - A good, slow one hander: Sword, Axe or Hammer.
Shield - Equip with a shield spike if you can grab a stack at a fair price.
Don’t buy gear from the Auction House. Between quest rewards and dungeon drop/rewards you will have all that you need. Honestly as fast as leveling is now in World of Warcraft you’ll be burning through equipment.

CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION

The basics here should make leveling your Protection Paladin an enjoyable experience. While many of the basics of leveling a Protection Paladin have stayed the same, Cataclysm brought significant changes. Integrate the old with the new to make your World of Warcraft Paladin one of the most well rounded and toughest tanks in the game.

This post is part of the series: Paladin Leveling Guides

The World of Warcraft Paladin is one of the most played classes in the game. There is something for everyone when leveling a Paladin. The Protection Paladin is the toughest tank in the game at the moment. The Holy Paladin is a powerful healer. The Retribution Paladin is a respectable DPS Class.