Paladin Classic Guide

The Paladin gets a bad rap, and it is half deserved and half not. Levelling is slow because your damage is low, but you almost never die, since you wear plate, heal yourself, and have a bubble that makes you invincible for a few seconds. You can plow through a grind that would kill a Mage three times over, just not quickly. Auto attack a mob, Seal and Judge, heal up, repeat. It is the definition of slow and steady.

At 60 the Paladin is a healer and a buff machine, and that buffing is where the class earns its keep. Blessings of Kings, Might, Wisdom, and Salvation are handed out to the whole raid and dramatically boost everyone's performance. Salvation alone, by reducing threat, lets your DPS go all out without pulling aggro. A raid with a full set of Paladins blessing every group is a much stronger raid, even if the Paladins themselves never top a meter.

People meme on the Paladin as a glorified buff bot, and there is truth to it, but the bubble hearth is undefeated, Lay on Hands can save a run by fully healing a tank from the brink, and a well played Holy Paladin is a rock solid tank healer. You are the unsung backbone, and any Alliance raid that has tried going without Paladins learns to appreciate them fast.

Level as Retribution. It is the only Paladin spec with enough damage to keep the slow grind from becoming unbearable. A big two handed weapon, Seal of the Crusader into Seal of Command, and Judgement give you your best damage, while your plate armor and self heals mean you simply do not die. You can pull several mobs, Consecrate or cleave them, and heal up between fights with almost no risk.

The Paladin leveling pace is slow but completely safe, which suits players who would rather never die than level fast. Use Blessing of Might for damage, judge your seals, and heal yourself when you dip. Hammer of Justice stuns runners and casters. The bubble plus hearth gets you out of any gank or bad pull.

• Use a slow two handed weapon to make each Seal of Command proc and white hit count.
• Judge Seal of the Crusader to boost your damage, then re seal and keep judging for steady output.
• Heal yourself between pulls. You are a plate wearing healer, so downtime is short.
• Divine Shield plus Hearthstone is the ultimate escape. Bubble, hearth, and you are gone.

In raids you heal and you buff, and the buffing is genuinely half the job. Your blessings go out to the whole raid and they are huge: Blessing of Kings boosts all stats, Blessing of Might gives attack power, Blessing of Wisdom gives mana regen, and Blessing of Salvation reduces threat so your DPS can go all out without pulling aggro. The catch is that they last only a few minutes, so you are constantly re blessing groups all night. Coordinate with the other Paladins so each one covers different blessings and nobody overlaps.

For healing itself, the Paladin is a single target tank healer. You cast Holy Light (downranked for efficiency) on your assigned tank, with Illumination refunding mana when your heals crit, and Flash of Light for faster spot heals. You have no heal over time and no group heal, so you are not the raid healer, you are the tank's healer, and you are excellent at it. Keep an appropriate aura up, and save Lay on Hands and Divine Shield for the moments that would otherwise be a death.

Your panic buttons are some of the best in the game. Lay on Hands fully heals a target (yourself or an ally) on a long cooldown and can save a tank from certain death. Divine Shield makes you immune briefly, which can be used to drop threat, survive a mechanic, or buy time. Blessing of Protection (the hand spell) shields an ally from physical damage. A Paladin who uses these well is worth far more than their healing numbers show.

For Holy, the priority is healing power, then intellect (for the mana pool and, with Holy Power, the crit that drives Illumination mana returns), crit, and mana per five (mp5). Because Illumination refunds mana on crit heals, crit is unusually valuable for a Paladin healer compared to other healers. You can wear plate, so you get a healthy armor and survival bonus other healers do not.

For Retribution, you want a big slow two handed weapon first, then attack power, hit toward the cap, strength, and crit. For Protection, stack stamina, defense, block, and the survival stats, plus enough spell damage gear is not really a thing yet, so you rely on Consecration ranks and Holy Shield for threat.

Consumables and world buffs help every spec. Mana regen and healing elixirs for Holy, attack power elixirs for Ret, survival flasks for Prot, and the universal world buffs. Even as a buff focused healer, showing up flasked and buffed makes you noticeably better.

Paladin PvP is about being impossible to kill and outlasting your opponent. You wear plate, heal yourself, and have Divine Shield to reset a losing fight, Blessing of Protection to negate physical damage, and Lay on Hands as a full heal panic button. You will rarely lose a fight quickly, and against many classes you simply outlast them.

As Retribution you bring real burst and control: a big two handed weapon with Seal of Command, Hammer of Justice to stun, Repentance to incapacitate, and the holy damage that ignores armor. The classic Paladin combo is to stun, burst, and bubble when low, then heal back up and re engage. Against healers and casters, Hammer of Justice and Repentance lock them down.

The bubble is the most hated button in Alliance PvP for a reason. Divine Shield grants full immunity for a few seconds, long enough to drink, heal, or hearth out. Bubble hearth is the undefeated escape: pop Divine Shield, start your Hearthstone, and walk away from any gank. Your weakness is killing things quickly, since outside of Ret burst your damage is low, so Paladin PvP rewards patience and attrition.

Blacksmithing plus Mining is a natural fit, since you wear plate and can craft mail and plate gear and weapons for yourself, including some strong dungeon and crafted pieces. It pairs your gathering with gear you will actually use.

Alchemy plus Herbalism is a strong self sufficient choice, letting you brew the mana and healing potions and elixirs you want for healing nights and selling the surplus to fund your raiding. Enchanting is useful too, for disenchanting drops and enchanting your own gear, often paired with Tailoring or a gathering profession.

Whatever you pick, your durability and self healing make gathering very safe, since you can survive almost anything you stumble into while farming. Many Paladins lean into gathering or Alchemy to keep themselves stocked.

• Blessing of Salvation is the DPS gift. It reduces threat, letting your damage dealers go all out without pulling aggro. Make sure they have it (but never put it on the tank).
• Illumination rewards crit. Your heal crits refund mana, so crit is far more valuable for a Holy Paladin than for other healers. Build for it.
• Lay on Hands can save a wipe. It fully heals a target on a long cooldown. Keep it for the moment a tank is about to die with no other heal incoming.
• Bubble hearth is undefeated. Divine Shield makes you immune, so pop it and start your Hearthstone to escape any gank or bad situation. Nothing can stop it.
• Blessings expire fast, so keep a rebuff routine. Coordinate with other Paladins so each covers different blessings and groups, and stay on top of re casting them through the raid.
• Seal twisting is the Ret damage trick. Refreshing your seal and judging in a tight window squeezes out extra holy damage. It rewards tracking your swing timer.