Holy
For those of you looking to play a Healadin, Holy is the talent spec to go with. In raids, everyone who can heal, naturally heals. A Paladin fits into this natural order by staying back and healing, and thanks to their ability to wear plate, can be one of the most dangerous healers in the raid group, if they're played well enough. Perhaps reading this guide will simplify for the work you need to do in playing a Healadin.
Plate Priest, Healadin (43/13/5)
This build focuses on being a healer/buffer in raids and instances, and is not too shabby as a PvP healer. You can still nuke somewhat with Holy Shock.
Alternate healadin build
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=aVxuMxzhektVMphMc
Has everything you need from holy, as well as some good defences from protection.
Holydin (40/0/11)
Alternative 43/0/18 build
Being a hybrid class a Paladin has the option to both DPS and heal, and it is important to always remember that there is a time for both. Unfortunately there are very few stats that help a paladin in both healing and DPS. Getting gear with +Crit% will gimp your healing and getting gear with +Healing will gimp your DPS. +Healing/Dmg gear fortunately helps us with both. This build focuses on critting your Holy Shock, Seal of Command procs, and Judgment of Command for dps while still being able to adequately support a team.
Now new and improved with the new talent changes post 2.0: You won't be getting big damage numbers comparable to Crusader Strike damage builds, though you can still heal fairly well in raids as well as PvP encounters. You may move points around from the Retribution tree to Improved Seal of Righteousness if you are using a fast 1-hander.
Shockadin (40/0/21) [BC]
Shockadin builds are a popular Burning Crusade Build for a Paladin that is strongly involved in the PvP aspect of the game. Shockadin builds are meant to deal massive burst damage, while still being able to support and heal itself and others.
Shockadin Build I (Greater Healing/Survivability)
Shockadin Build II (Greater Damage Output)
A Shockadin is supported heavily by a Shield, or Offhand (With Spell Damage) along side a weapon with high +Spell Dmg.
Protection
Note: Since Patch 2.0 Reckoning build no longer functions as the talent reckoning got completely changed. Now it is more for tanking purposes, which was probably its original purpose instead of a 2-hander cloth killer.
Tankadin, 2.0 (0/44/7)
* Please see the Tankadin page for a large number of resources regarding 2.0 / XPAC paladin tanking. The information there comes from the Blizzard official Paladin forums, and the ongoing support of the WoWWiki community.
Since Patch 2.0 Paladins have been given three important tools to tank: Righteous Defense (basically a taunt), Spiritual Attunement (Rank 1: 8% mana gained from each heal. Rank 2: 10%), and Consecration (As of patch 2.0 this spell is trainable instead of diving into the holy tree).
The most important talents to take are Improved Righteous Fury (for more holy threat), and Holy Shield which adds 30% chance to block and causes even more Threat for each attack blocked. Ardent Defender, which cuts the damage you take by 50% when you're under 20% health, might seem useless -- but it helps your healers when they can't heal for whatever reason. As of 2.1 Ardent Defender reduces all damage by 30% when you're under 35% health. Also useful are Benediction for less mana from using Seals and Judgments, and Improved Judgment to quickly switch Judgments on a target (i.e., last second use Judgment of Justice so mob does not run away).
Paladins excel in multiple mob tanking. Open up with Avenger's Shield, run in (if possible) and Consecrate, then invoke Holy Shield and be ready to practically never loose aggro. Also helps to add a spike to your shield for that extra damage (and thus extra Threat) when blocking, as well as Blessing of Sanctuary.
This build is also good for PvP when running up to clothies and wailing at them -- they'll wonder why they are dealing less damage (this goes especially for rogues).
PvP Protection/Heavy Tank (10/41/10)
This build focuses on extreme toughness while dealing damage to attackers by Blessing of Sanctuary and Holy Shield. With reckoning you will also have a fairly good DPS even with a 1 hander, especially if the enemy is beating on you. The enemy will realize that they are dealing very little damage to you while they are getting hit hard by an unseen force. Note that Holy Shield and Blessing of Sanctuary will deal damage to hunters' shots that are blocked as well.
The trick of this build is to get the enemies to attack you. Do so by 'aggroing' enemy players either by coming close and attacking them, or by healing nearby friends just to get their attention. Toss an Avenger's Shield either to close the distance between kiters or to slow down enemies that are running away. Note that this build also allows you to tank in raids as well, and allow spot healing as needed.
Ideal gear for tanking requires +STA, +DEF, and +Spell Damage.
Holy Tank, Classic Weapon/Shield 0/41/20)
Alternative without SoC
A build which is centered around the image of shield and sword wielding knights. This build relies a lot on the mobs attacking the Paladin to actually hit the Paladin. Improved Aura of Retribution, Blessing of Sanctuary, combined with Holy Shield, and Redoubt give the enemies multiple ways to inflict Holy damage back onto themselves. Combat consists of Judging either to Wisdom or Crusader depending on number of enemies and cycling through Judgments of Command on the enemy. While block with Redoubt and Holy Shield with Blessing of Sanctuary up its possible to do well over 100 points for each hit blocked. Redoubt and Holy Shield combine for a 60% chance to block nearly ensuring the damage will occur. Concentrate on Stam/Int gear. The shield being used should bear the best shield spike the Paladin can obtain.
PvE Solo/Duo Survivability build, Survivadin (23/38/0)
Survivadin Talent Link
A build with heavy emphasis on the Paladin's ability to survive against near-impossible odds. The deep delve into Holy provides more than enough healing power to be effective in soloing, duoing, and off-healing (Or main healing with proper gear) in instances. The Protection talents work mostly on making the Paladin as hard to kill as possible, including the potential for a 70%+ block chance, heavy near-death 80%+ damage reduction, and the coveted 'uncrushable' status in end-game instances. Reckoning and Redoubt are produced almost constantly when fighting swarms of enemies (that can hardly harm you), which adds a very useful damage and defense bonus. Holy Shield and Blessing of Sanctuary bring a nasty kickback to everyone you block, and Improved Righteous Fury turns that into a constant aggro generating maelstrom that, if given a few moments to generate proper threat, can make aggro loss a thing of the past. Stuns every 45 seconds keep the biggest enemy out as long as possible, and Sacred Duty gives ten seconds of immortality for when things get rough; With proper mana regeneration, this is more than enough time to turn the tide of the most desperate battles.
The Holy tree's Illumination + Divine Favor provide a critical heal every two minutes at a mere 40% cast cost, and since against normal monsters you will rarely have to heal more than once every two minutes this makes a majority of your self-heals cheap criticals. Spiritual Focus makes healing in any battle a cinch, and finally Unyielding Faith provides a startling surprise for Warlocks who think they have you figured out as well as helping to prevent pesky trash mobs from knocking you off your mount when you just feel like ignoring them and turning in your freshly solod Group quest.
The main tactic for this build is to keep Mana regeneration high; Luckily, the Paladin comes equipped with several abilities that make this easy even with semi-low Intelligence and Spirit. Fighting with Blessing of Wisdom on and Judgement of Wisdom blasted at your enemies keeps the mana flow strong, and with Seal of the Crusader to back it up the regens come faster and Reckoning is guaranteed to not waste a single deft blow. Keeping Improved Righteous Fury on at all times adds a hefty +6% damage reduction, and on the off-chance you get below 35% life Ardent Defender is ready to keep you alive for some much needed heals and rebuffs. Retribution Aura makes long lasting battles even more painful to those silly enough to think they can break your defense. Being a wall of sheer Adamantium gives more than enough time to throw a heal to a friend while tanking (outside of instances of course), which your enemies will only translate as a heavy threat increase.
Some people may choose to take 'Divine Intellect' instead of 'Divine Strength' for the first five talent points; This is purely playstyle based and the core of the build is highly effective with either choice.
Retribution
Note: As of Patch 2.0 Paladins have been given the capacity to DPS instead of tanking or healing. This is due in the most part to Crusader Strike, which is the 41st Retribution Point.
Paladin Leveling Build- (5/8/48)
This build maxes out the damage output of you paladin and reduces downtime, enabling fast leveling and soloing.
Retribution Paladin (0/8/43)
(lvl 60).
This spec is heavily in-debt to Judgments and Seals, since Fanaticism adds +15% crit to all Judgments. Sanctity Aura helps with Holy Damage.
The idea is, more or less, to go in from afar and use Repentance, Judgment of Crusader, Crusader Strike, Seal of Command, Hammer of Justice, Judgment of Command, Crusader Strike. This should devastate an opponent or mob whether it be PvP or PvE.
Also since most Raids are skeptical of Paladins make sure to have Imp. Sanctity Aura for the +6% healing done, Sanctified Crusader for the +3% to crit the Judged opponent from all sources. The passive ability Spiritual Attunement helps with mana conservation. Don't forget to also use Righteous Defense to peel off any mobs off the healers have drawn. We're made of plate so we can take more punishment than they, until a proper tank comes along to deal with it. This build should hold its own in PvP and PvE a like. Just don't forget to heal ;)
Heavy Ret, Critadin (5/8/38)
This spec's main focus is on the Retribution Tree, although it invests in the early talents of the Holy Tree and Protection Tree to gain both a strength and armor bonus. This build is meant for Paladins who are more interested in dealing damage rather than playing a great role in a group or in PvP. While this build does have its weaknesses, it does make the Paladin have a much greater chance to be a threat on the DPS scales. This build is usually seen as a PvP build, since many raiding paladins prefer holy or protection variations.
A good Paladin will find themselves busy on any raid if they have a balanced approached to healing, cleansing, blessings, judgments and raid recovery REGARDLESS of their specialization. Never listen to people who try to tell you how a Paladin should be.
(added 10/11/06 by AJC) If you choose to raid with this build there are several considerations to make.
* Keep Judgment of Wisdom (or Light) up on the main mob at all times. Although Holy-spec paladins may need to re-apply these important debuffs only infrequently due to the Lasting Judgment talent, the transit time between the healing zone and the melee zone still cuts into their overall healing efficiency. If you intend to stay in melee range during most of the fight, having you maintain these Judgments is easier on the raid. Don't forget you can still judge Righteousness and Command while your JoW/JoL is up.
* Conserve your mana. If a main tank goes down or a mob is loose in the raid, your priority should immediately shift away from DPS. Either picking up a loose mob and switching to one-hand/shield (if your raid is low on warriors) or landing a few heals during a chaotic moment can help the raid get through a difficult transition.
Rekabution Paladin (0/27/34)
Talent Calculator Link
This spec uses an almost equal balance between the protection tree and retribution tree. This build give a lot of armor, but at the same time lets the paladin deal damage effectively. This build makes it so you don't have to stop your damage dealing to heal as often. It is best against non-caster players, and even more specifically rogues. Reckoning is the main bonus of using this build, and a lot of the talents leading up to the abilities at the end of the tree are variable, such as 2h weapon specialization if you decide to use a 1h.
This build will almost guarantee you a win in any evenly matched 1 on 1 PvP battle. Drop Judgment of the Crusader, activate Seal of Command and wait for reckoning to activate. Once it does, bubble (due to Sacred Duty you are free from any attack slowing effects.) and just lay waste to your opponent. If they aren’t finished by the time your bubble is over, pally stun them and if they are still alive wait for your health to drop, use Repentance and heal.
The primary judgment you will use is Crusader, the primary blessing Might, the primary aura Devotion and the primary seal is Command.
This spec works better with a faster weapon, as you would get all 5 reckoning strikes.
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