LivingbyFaith
New Member
I moved this over here for Azzie, thank you for wrighting this up for us
Azzie said:Alrighty, I'll start off then.
I am a level 60 human paladin, currently rank 9, knight-champion.
The three trees for a paladin are Holy, Protection, and Retribution. Normally one would think that these are trees focused on the three aspects of a paladin: Healing, Tanking, and Damage, respectively.
However, due to mechanics of mobs and the way the class is made, each tree does not truly enhance the assumed role of the tree.
After the 1.9 patch, I tried 3 specs:
25 Protection, 16 retribution, 10 holy. http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info...?05500000000000053241000320500052030510000000
My first spec I tried after 1.9. I took reckoning because it is the bane of rogues and all other classes that have rogues beside them. If you crit me 4 times, I have 5 times the damage coming in my next swing. Although powerful, not all classes are rogues...reckoning proved rather useless in almost every other fight, I didn't have enough damage to kill things quickly, and my heals were only par with spiritual focus. Additionally, my damage was uncontrollable. Whereas this is the spec closest to the most potent spec before 1.9, due to the changes in the protection and holy tree it is incredibly weak in almost every situation. Don't use this one.
31 holy, 20 protection. http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info...?05551102501051053201301320000000000000000000
making use of seal of righteousness and holy shock for controlled damage. This way you will be most mana efficient with heals, as every heal crit you pull off returns all of the mana back to you. However, this was noticeably a very, very good tanking spec. Improved Righteous fury with consecration and holy shock acts as very good aggro generation; I myself have managed to main tank several instances with these abilities.
In pvp this is probably the best group support spec. Powerful heals, mana-efficient heals, and in protection you can have improved concentration aura that makes your heals very consistent and less succeptible to interruption. Additionally, the reduced cooldown in hammer of justice and guardian's favor are great for saving that mage thats being clobbered by a rogue
In instances this is not only a great tanking spec but is also a good healing spec because of similar reasons why it is a good group pvp support spec.
This spec may require lots of gear with +int, because although the damage is consistent it is very mana costly. Lightforge is very balances in terms of stats, but other items that add +spell crit and mana regeneration are very good as well; there are many, so I will not list them all. For damage, a fast 2-handed weapon is best when used with seal of righteousness. For tanking and group support, you will want a shield to stay alive long enough to heal or tank. There are many good shields around; a good one drops in Dire Maul, called the Observer's shield. In tanking and healing in this case, it really doesn't matter too much what your weapon is; I was able to tank scholomance with a mining pick. Of course, dont think that you can do that against Onyxia or big bosses. In 1.10, the Deathbone (from scholomance) set is excellent for tanking.
31 Retribution, 13 holy, 7 protection. http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info...?05500102000000050200000000000052040510223151
This is what I noticed to be a great group and solo pvp spec, be it support or soloing. With an additional 5% to crit and vengeance proc, you can put out some nasty damage. I've one-shotted a few casters with this spec before. The problem is, unlike the spec above the damage is based much more on luck rather than pressing the right buttons; sometimes you get chains of procs from seal of command and crits, sometimes you get only regular autoattack swings which are, quite frankly, pathetic. But with improved judgement a releasing of seal of command is a decent way of some controlled damage. Repentance is amazing; it can act as a spell interupt, a way to catch runners, another way to do improved damage from judgement of command, and another chance to heal. Combined with hammer of justice, in Warsong Gulch or any other case where humanoids are involved you can keep 2 enemies completely out of the fight for 6 seconds, thus making this spec decent for support as well. The damage is most mana efficient of all other specs, but not so much on the heals.
In dungeons , this is where the class is rather weak. Weaker heals, less mana efficient heals, and damage that is too unreliable to tank with (since tanking usually requries a sword and shield) or too low to really be necessary at all, this spec is generally avoided by most groups.
For pvp, the primary things here are attack power, stamina, and % melee crit. The most insane, awesome, and devastating weapon that provides this is the Unstoppable Force, attainable by doing Alterac Valley battlegrounds. The rank 10 pvp armor set is very good, but most people will consider you a "retnoob", as in a paladin that does not heal. Henceforth matching some of the crit gear with the +int gear would make you rather well-balanced. Lightforge armor isn't very good here, but it's the best a paladin can usually get without the pvp set or epic gear.
I did not try this spec, but I have seen it used before. This is probably the ultimate solo pvp spec: 31 retribution, 20 protection. http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info...?00000000000000053241000320000502040510223151
This spec is most devastating if you have 4 pieces of the paladin pvp set, which requires rank 8, or Knight-Captain. This way you have a 35 second-cooldown stun for heals/judging command as well as a 20-yard disorient. Note that you do not have spiritual focus like this; healing is severely weak like this.
Some Univerals regarding the paladin:
No, paladins are not warriors. They are not meant to charge in the front lines and whack away like beserkers. At the same time, however, they are not meant to be priests either, despite what all other classes flame us about. As a result, it is difficult to really determine what the exact role of a paladin is. It really depends on your playstyle and talent point distribution; just know that all other classes would prefer it if you simply healed them, just because you can...and that means more fun for them. But, it is undisputed that paladins are the class that can last the longest in almost any situation; invulnerability shield, plate armor, resistance auras, and self-heals make them much more durable than warriors in many situations. But, unlike the warrior, the damage options for a paladin are limited to seals and judgements, which are either weak or uncontrollable. Luck can make you appear overpowered; but even so, paladin damage is still considered perhaps the weakest damage in the game.
I personally view them as the "officers"; while the enlisted soldiers are doing the dirty work, the paladin is the officer overseeing the situation; buffing, cleansing, healing and supporting areas needed. When attacked, however, they are armored and strong to defend themselves for a long period of time. When their spiritual energy (mana) is finally drained or if all the enlisted soldiers have fallen, the paladin can cast one seal and charge into the fray. This is from a pvp perspective, however.
Some tips:
Engineering will work wonders for you. With Grenades combined with the 3rd spec I showed, u can practically make yourself a rogue with damage like a warrior while wearing plate armor, also capable of 12 second invulnerability and self-heals.
In the lower levels, take mining and herbalism; collecting professions. Because killing things is rather slow for a paladin, grinding probably is less effective, although skinning isn't half bad. Getting gold in the lower levels is always a priority; all other professions can be learned very easily given the right amount of gold.
To start out in the talent trees, take spiritual focus; sustained heals are very important. Then, take seal of command; this way your damage won't be too bad.
As for gear, take what you find; it's not really an issue until the mid 50's. Try to get items that add strength, stamina, and intellect. At level 25 find the paladin quest that gives you Verigan's fist; it is a very, very powerful weapon for that level.
Warning: Paladins are perhaps the most ridiculed, insulted, accused, and discriminated class in the game, simply because of the history they've had which I will not go into.
