WoW Paladin Guide: Basics

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Posted December 8th, 2004 by Messiah

Paladin Class Guide - Basics

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The Basics - Getting off to a Good Start

It’s very important for any class to set the right foot forward when they begin the game. All race and class combinations within World of Warcraft are viable but not for everyone. It’s up to you to pick the right combination of both Race and Class to make the perfect character both visually and play wise.

Be sure to check out our Paladin forum if you ever have any questions about your Paladin or have something to add to this guide!

What is the Paladin class?

The first thing to do is consider, is the Paladin class right for you? There is a lot of great things about the Paladin class but as with any class it’s not for everyone. To get a better idea of what the Paladin class stands for, we’ve compiled a list that describes what the Paladin class is. If that’s what you are looking for, then a Paladin may be for you. If you’re not sure, then try one out! The low levels don’t showcase everything about a class, but it’s a good way to get a basic idea of how a class will work.

Paladins are a hybrid class and with that brings numerous options
Paladins are good at several things so you can change and adapt to different situations. They can heal, tank or dps. However, while they can do all these things they can not do all of them well all the time. They need to be specialized to one task.
Paladins can wear any kind of armour they choose and can equip shields. This gives them a great amount of choice and a very high survivability in plate armour later in the game (past level 40).
Paladins once they have the ability to wear plate armour at level 40 are probably the most survivable class in the game. They can have huge armour and health numbers, and heal them selves and bubble! Bubbling is a term for their multiple abilities to protect them selves (or others) from all incoming damage for a short period of time.
Paladins have excellent group and raid buffs in the form of auras and blessings and are always in demand.
Paladins can taunt enemies of lesser armoured classes.
Paladins can resurrect other players.
Paladins have traditionally been viewed as a support class. However, due to changes in patches 2.4 and 3.0.2 they are rapidly becoming known as top rank Tanks and DPSers in addition to their longstanding ability as top tank healers.
To be truly effective at any of the things they are able to do you will need to specialize your talents and gear to that one thing, giving up much of your flexibility.

So in summary, the Paladin class is a mixed class that is generally a support class. They can heal, tank and dps but need to specialize to do so well. The combination though makes them an exceptionally versatile and survivable class. It is not uncommon to see a Paladin fighting a MOB several levels higher than themselves and defeating it. Sure it takes a while with their low dps (unless they are retribution spec'ed), but they can and will survive.

Race Selection

There really is no perfect race combination for a Paladin. so its up to you what you choose to play. Starting stats do no matter much, unlike some other MMORPGs, so you are free to make whatever you wish!

On the Alliance side you have several options for your race. You can be a Dwarf, Human or Draenai. All races have access to all Paladin abilities so you are mainly choosing based on the racial abilities. As a Horde player you do not have a choice as to race, only Blood Elves can be Paladins.

If you are truly unsure of what race to pick then check out our list of races right here. In this list you’ll be able to see the various abilities each race has along with how they look.

The Basics - Getting Starting Resources

If you need additional help in leveling up or finding places to level then see these other extremely helpful resources that should aid in getting you started:

The Basics - Mana

Mana is the magical energy that you have to draw on to cast your spells and use your abilities and special attacks.

The amount of mana you have is determined by your intelligence, and the speed at which it regenerates is determined by your spirit. Having mana is critical to a Paladin, since it is used for all of your abilities. If you run out in a fight you will only be able to use your regular attacks. You need to learn to manage your mana to always ensure you have some left. If you run short in a fight you are very likely to die.

Depending on your talents and abilities there are various ways that you will gain mana back. If you have gone far enough into the protection talent tree you can get blessing of sanctuary that restores mana to you when you block, parry or dodge an attack. The retribution talent tree has the ability to return mana when you judge seals on opponents. The holy tree returns mana to you when you cast critical heals.

The Basics - Seals and Judgements

Paladins have spells that are called "seals" that grant them short term bonuses in combat. The bonuses can be anything from additional damage to mana regeneration, with many other abilities in between. Once cast, seals last for 2 minutes. A Paladin can only have 1 seal active at a time. While active that seal provides its benefit to the Paladin.

In addition to the basic benefit a seal provides it can also be "Judged" onto an enemy, to produce another effect. Judging a seal applies a similar or different effect onto the targeted enemy. The effects can be anything from causing damage, allowing others to regenerate mana or health on every hit, stop the enemy from fleeing, or any number of other useful effects.

The effect that you gain from the Judgement itself depends on which judgement you use. There are three different judgements to chose from: Justice, Light, and Wisdom. When you judge a seal using Justice the target can not run faster than their run speed, this is great for limiting druids and shaman from getting away in combat. When you Judge using Judgement of Light or Wisdom it provides a chance for any party or raid member to gain back either health or mana when they attack the target.

Once judged if the seal applies a lasting effect (such as healing per hit) the seal will remain on the enemy for a period of time, that can be refreshed by further successful hits by the Paladin. Most judged effects last 20 seconds on the target unless refreshed with a new melee hit, they do not need to be re-judged to stay active as long as you are landing attacks on the target..

An enemy can have one judged effect per Paladin that they are fighting. They can have different seals or judgements on them from multiple Paladins as long as they are different effects.

The Basics - Auras

Paladins have access to powerful auras that provide a buff to everyone in their group or raid that is within 30 yards (40 yards with talents). The auras are continuous effects, and will last until you change them. You can only have one active aura.

Paladin auras do not stack, but if there are multiple Paladins in a group they can each have a different aura active and everyone in the group will receive the effect of both auras.

The Basics - Blessings

Blessings are character buffs that paladins can give to themselves or other players that last 10 minutes. The blessings apply very beneficial bonuses such as enhanced mana regeneration, enhanced attack power and many more. Any given player (including the Paladin) can only be under the effect of one blessing per Paladin in a similar manner as auras. You can be under the effect of multiple paladin blessings though, just each one must be a different blessing and from a different Paladin.

In addition to the 10 minute blessings, you also have greater blessings which last 30 minutes and are applied to all characters of the same class in your party or raid when cast. These greater blessings make managing buffing in a raid much easier.

The Basics - Picking a Profession

Herbalism and Alchemy
A decent combination for a Paladin since you will be able to save your mana by drinking a potion instead of healing yourself, or gain mana if out in a fight. Alchemy can be used to make an assortment of extremely useful potions that can be sold for cash or used to make combat easier.
Mining and Blacksmithing
Many players find early on that creating your own weapons and armour can be very helpful compared to trying to obtain them through quests or the Auction House. The armour created through Blacksmithing can be very useful to a Paladin. Mining can be a great source of income and goes great with Blacksmithing.
Mining and Engineering
Engineering is extremely useful for Paladins since it is one of the very limited methods they have of gaining a ranged attack. Stun grenades and a large assortment of gadgets can be very helpful in stopping escaping enemies. There are also some very good goggles and gadgets that can be helpful while leveling up.
Skinning and Leatherworking
Skinning can make you a lot of money while you’re leveling up, however the leather armour is of very little use to a Paladin since you can wear much better plate armour.
Mining & Skinning or Herbalism & Skinning
A combination of gathering skills is often times the best choice when starting out. Selling everything you gather on the Auction House can create enough money to fund new armour, weapons, and even a mount!

The Basics - Stats

Being a hybrid class Paladins rely on many statistics, the primary ones depend on what talent build you are working towards. If you are tanking then you are looking for Stamina and Strength. If you are going Retribution (DPS) then you need to focus on Strength and Agility. If you are healing then your primary stats will be Intellect and possibly Spirit, however many holy Paladins skip spirit unless it comes by default with gear and go for Stamina to survive any wayward attacks.

You can find a detailed look at all stats and item bonuses here: Combat Mechanics post Patch 3.0.2

Strength
Increases your Attack Power thereby increasing your damage. Strength also increases the damage that you can block with your shield.

1 Strength = 2 Attack Power
14 Attack Power = 1 DPS (Damage per second) Therefore 7 Strength = 1 DPS
2 Strength = 1 Block Value with a shield

Stamina
Increases your health points. This is critical for Paladins since our battles are generally long and drawn out due to our low DPS.

1 Stamina = 10 Health points

Intellect
Increases your mana pool and your critical hit chance with spells. It also increases the speed at which you earn weapon skill points.

1 Intellect = 15 Mana

Spirit
Spirit raises your health and mana regeneration rate. While it is noticeable at higher levels of spirit, it takes a significant number of points in this to regain mana quickly enough that you will not want to stop and drink to gain it back.

4 Spirit = 1 Mana regenerated every 2 seconds

Agility
Agility increases the following: attack power with ranged weapons, armour, critical hit chance and your chance to dodge attacks. The ranged weapon bonus is meaningless to Paladins as we can not use ranged weapons. The armour bonus is also relatively small for Paladins since we can use plate armour. The main reason to boost agility is for the critical hit %.

2 Agility = 1 Arm or point
40 Agility = +1% to Critical hit at level 80
40 Agility = +1% to Dodge at level 80

Paladin Guide Credits

Contributors to this guide include: