As a Protection Paladin, you embody the unwavering defender, a bulwark against the darkness in the world of Warcraft. Expect to excel as a robust and dependable tank, where incoming damage feels manageable, consistently mitigated by your trusty shield and potent active defenses. No other tanking class in WoW commands the same versatile arsenal of protective abilities and utility as the Paladin.
This guide is your focused resource for everything unique to Protection Paladins. While we won’t delve into general tanking strategies here, if you’re eager to enhance your overall tanking prowess, we highly recommend exploring our comprehensive tanking guide.
Protection Paladin Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
- Exceptional Active Mitigation & Cooldowns: Protection Paladins shine against predictable, heavy damage thanks to their strong active mitigation and a diverse suite of cooldowns.
- Unmatched Group Utility & Damage Reduction: Blessings and Auras provide unparalleled group utility and damage reduction, making you a raid and party asset.
- Impressive Burst Damage & Threat Generation: Unleash significant burst damage with cooldowns, ensuring solid threat generation, especially in critical moments.
- Life-Saving Emergency Cooldowns: In dire situations, abilities like Lay on Hands and Divine Shield offer crucial emergency protection.
- Effective Self & Group Healing: Sustain yourself and your team with potent heals like Word of Glory and Lay on Hands.
- Poison & Disease Removal: Cleanse Toxins allows you to effectively dispel poisons and diseases, adding to your support capabilities.
Weaknesses
- Slow Start-up Mitigation: Activating Shield of the Righteous requires a few GCDs, making the start of combat potentially vulnerable. Mitigate this with cooldowns like Ardent Defender or Guardian of Ancient Kings.
- Consecration Dependency: Leaving Consecration results in a loss of valuable damage reduction. Strategic positioning is key.
- Limited Mobility: Outside of Divine Steed, mobility is restricted. Plan your movements and utilize Divine Steed effectively.
- Punishing Rotation Errors: Mistakes in your rotation can significantly impact your performance and survivability. Precision and practice are crucial.
Protection Paladin Updates in The War Within Expansion
Patch 11.0.7 Changes Patch 11.0.5 Changes
Patch 11.0.7 Protection Paladin Adjustments
Protection Paladin Guide Updates for Patch 11.0.7
Currently, Protection Paladins have not undergone any specific changes in Patch 11.0.7. However, an exciting addition is the Cyrce’s Circlet ring, obtainable from Siren’s Isle. For detailed guidance on effectively utilizing this new ring, refer to our dedicated gear page!
To stay abreast of all the recent Paladin class-wide adjustments, visit our comprehensive Class Changes page.
Comprehensive Paladin Class Changes in The War Within
Patch 11.0.5 Protection Paladin Updates
Protection Paladin Guide Updates in The War Within 20th Anniversary Patch (11.0.5)
Protection Paladins experienced a significant overhaul in Patch 11.0.5, encompassing both talent trees and core abilities. The core Paladin tree has been enriched with numerous new talents, expanding customization and gameplay options.
General Paladin Changes in Patch 11.0.5
The primary highlights of the general Paladin changes include:
- Avenging Wrath Rework: Avenging Wrath has transitioned to the spec tree and now inherently includes the effects of Avenging Wrath: Might.
- Divine Toll Accessibility: Divine Toll now occupies the position previously held by Avenging Wrath, making it significantly more accessible within talent builds.
- Empyreal Ward Talent: Empyreal Ward is a new talent that grants the target of Lay on Hands increased armor for 30 seconds and crucially, bypasses healing reduction effects for the heal itself.
- Lightbearer Talent: Lightbearer enhances group healing by causing a portion of healing received from other players to also heal four nearby allies.
- Lead the Charge Talent: Lead the Charge is a novel talent that reduces the cooldown of movement abilities for four nearby allies, effectively providing a mini Time Spiral effect.
- Lightforged Blessing Buff: Lightforged Blessing’s healing output has been increased to 3% (from 1%), bolstering its effectiveness.
- Blessing of Dawn Enhancement: The Blessing of Dawn effect from Of Dusk and Dawn has received a 10% increase to its effectiveness.
Protection Paladin Specific Changes in Patch 11.0.5
Key adjustments specifically for Protection Paladins include:
- Damage Increase: Overall damage output has been increased by 6%, enhancing offensive presence.
- Armor Buff: Base Armor and armor granted by Shield of the Righteous have been increased by 10%, improving survivability.
- Shield of the Righteous & Word of Glory Buff: Word of Glory healing have both been boosted by 20%, amplifying both mitigation and self-sustain.
- Cooldown Reduction: Cooldowns for Blessed Hammer, Hammer of the Righteous, and Judgment have been reduced by 10%, leading to more frequent ability usage.
- Talent Tree Rearrangements: Some talents have been repositioned within the talent trees, influencing build paths.
- Gift of the Golden Val’kyr & Uther’s Counsel Cost Reduction: Gift of the Golden Val’kyr and Uther’s Counsel now only cost 1 talent point each, increasing talent point efficiency.
- Refining Fire Talent Addition: A new talent, Refining Fire, has been introduced, applying a damage-over-time (DoT) effect to targets hit by Avenger’s Shield, enhancing AoE damage.
Hero Talent Changes for Lightsmith in Patch 11.0.5
The Lightsmith Hero Talent tree has undergone revisions to improve talent utility and effectiveness:
- Removed Talents: Fear No Evil and Excoriation, deemed less impactful, have been removed.
- Added Talents: Authoritative Rebuke and Tempered in Battle are new additions, offering enhanced gameplay options.
- Tempered in Battle Specialization: Tempered in Battle is anticipated to be the preferred choice for single-target encounters, while its synergy with Tempered in Battle highly effective in Mythic+ dungeons.
For a comprehensive overview of all class changes in The War Within expansion, please refer to our dedicated class changes page.
The War Within Class Change Overview
Leveling Your Protection Paladin
If you are embarking on the journey to level a Paladin to max level, our dedicated leveling guide is available to assist you. While leveling as a tank might not be the absolute fastest approach, Protection Paladins excel at pulling and efficiently dispatching large groups of enemies with AoE abilities.
Protection Paladin Leveling Guide for WoW
When leveling as a tank, it’s beneficial to familiarize yourself with the role’s fundamentals throughout the process. Leveling content is generally forgiving, providing a good environment to learn. Addons, such as threat plates and buff/debuff trackers, are highly recommended for effective tanking. Practicing in dungeons during leveling will provide valuable experience with these tools before engaging in max-level content.
Essential Addons and Macros for Protection Paladin
Protection Paladin Gameplay Basics
Tanking inherently involves managing pressure – not only dealing damage to maintain threat and ensure enemies focus on you, but also effectively mitigating incoming attacks to survive. For Protection Paladins, this primarily revolves around generating Holy Power to fuel Shield of the Righteous, your primary damage reduction tool. In situations with heightened damage intake, such as large enemy pulls or boss encounters, supplementary cooldowns become essential. For players new to the class or specialization seeking a quick start, our Easy Mode guide offers a streamlined approach.
Protection Paladin Easy Mode Guide for Beginners
Once you have grasped the basics and are ready to deepen your understanding, our Talent and Rotation pages provide comprehensive information to elevate your gameplay.
Protection Paladin Talents and Builds Guide Protection Paladin Rotation and Cooldowns Guide
Gearing Up Your Protection Paladin
Tanks are generally less common than other roles, which can make finding groups relatively easier and potentially expedite the gearing process. Initially, prioritize higher item level gear, as all stats contribute to your effectiveness. As you acquire gear with similar item levels, consult our stat priority, gems, enchants, and consumables guides to optimize your setup. For endgame gearing strategies, including Best-in-Slot recommendations, our dedicated BiS and Gear page is an invaluable resource.
Protection Paladin Stat Priority Guide Protection Paladin Enchants and Gems Guide Protection Paladin Best in Slot Gear Guide
Protection Paladin in End-Game Content
End-game content in WoW encompasses diverse activities with varying gearing and playstyle nuances. While tanking in raids and Mythic+ dungeons may appear similar on the surface, distinct differences exist. Our dedicated guides for raid and Mythic+ tanking will help you specialize. Player versus Player (PvP) content is generally not suited for tank specializations. Should you wish to engage in Paladin PvP, we recommend exploring the Holy or Retribution specializations with their respective PvP guides.
Retribution Paladin PvP Guide Holy Paladin PvP Guide
Enhancing Your Protection Paladin Skills
Tanking can be demanding, particularly when troubleshooting performance issues. We have compiled resources to assist you in refining your Protection Paladin gameplay.
Protection Paladin Improvement Guide Protection Paladin FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions Protection Paladin Simulation Tools
Changelog
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