Paladin Raiding Guide

Welcome to TenTonHammer's Paladin Raiding Guide. This guide will differ from the normal instance guide some, since you can pretty much contribute to any instance group with any build and game play you bring, but raiding or heroic dungeons require a lot more dedication and tweaks in order to make yourself be a worthy addition to a group or raid!

Preparations

Talent Specialization

This is where it all starts, your talent build. For the most part while leveling, players like to play retribution builds for that extra damage and getting through the levels quickly. When you get to the end game raid level though, that just won't cut it. There is almost no way you can put out as much damage as a Rogue, Mage or even a Hunter, Warlock or Shadow Priest. The very odd guild will let you try, but most will require you to do something you can be at least competent at. That means in most cases going holy and being a healer / buffer, or in the odd case going protection and being an off tank.

The most common build for a Paladin end game is a holy build so that you can heal and buff the group. Paladin buffs are much sought after especially by the Horde faction which is really just getting their first taste of Paladin buffs.

The other, not as common end game build is a protection build. This build still tends to have a lot of holy in it to get enough healing to be useful when there is not something that needs to be off tanked though. When done well though there is no reason a Paladin can't tank almost any instance or raid boss, it's just not the norm, so be prepared to fight prejudices.

Gear

To get ready to go raiding as a Holy Paladin you should be collecting your blue instance set, a a bunch of +healing gear. Another good choice is the Heroic instance gear or rewards from the token turn ins.

If you are a protection based Paladin your choices are a bit harder. While there is a decent amount of defensive based items at level 70, many of the truly great ones are more geared for a Warrior than a Paladin. It is worth the trade off losing some +int to integrate some of the best warrior tanking items into your equipment, but make sure you do not trade off too much. While you need +Stam and +Def, as a Paladin you also really need to rely on +intelligence and +spell damage.

You can find information on the Dungeon Set 3 drop locations here: Dungeon Set 3 Guide.

For weapons there are several options, however you will for sure be looking for a 1 handed weapon and shield, since you will want that extra armor and blocking when you are attacked as either the healer or a protection based paladin.

Some of the best weapon / shield combinations you can get pre raid is as follows:

Holy Build

These main hand maces all have +227 healing and various other stats and bonuses:

Hammer of the Penitent (Mechano-Lord Capacitus in the Mechanar) Lightsworn Hammer (Warchief Kargath Bladefist in the Shattered Halls) The Essence Focuser (World Rare Drop)

The following shields all provide at least +20 to spell damage and healing:

Crystal Pulse Shield (World Rare Drop) Draenei Honor Guard Shield (World Rare Drop) Silvermoon Crest Shield (Murmur in the Shadow Labyrinth

Protection Build

The best setup you can get pre-raid is to get the Mana Wrath sword from Pathaleon the Calculator in the Mechanar with its massive +126 spell damage! Then match it up with either a +spell damage shield from above, or the Aegis of the Sunbird shield from High Botanist Freywinn in the Botanica which is an excellent tanking shield.

General

No matter your build you should be aiming to have over 10,000 health unbuffed so that you can take a few hits from MOBs before dieing. If you are protection based you should aim for more. Mana is also important but differs between the builds, since as a protection build you will be subject to constant heals and regain mana through that. As a healer you need more than 10,000 while as a tank, you should be able to get away with as little as 6,000.

The harder items to quantify are the +healing and +spell damage ratings. Many people prefer more +int to +healing as they would rather heal more times than bigger heals, I don't though. I would suggest at least +1000 healing for Holy builds by level 70 and at least +400 damage for protection builds. The +spell damage is used to increase your holy damage output, and therefore your generated threat.

Items

When you go to any raid you should go prepared. Do not just "show up" and expect to do well or get hand outs from the guild. Always attend with at least 2 stacks of mana and healing potions, a Wizard or mana oil, bandages, +stamina food, and various elixirs and/or flasks. Lastly don't forget to bring at least 2 stacks of symbols of kings for all the blessings you will be casting and at least a few symbol of divinity for divine intervention.

Raid Play

Since in general Paladins are holy based in raids that's what I will deal with here. The basics of your raid will be as follows.

1. Find out your buffing assignments, and write them down so that you don't confuse things later in the raid by casting the wrong blessing on the wrong group. Always cast your blessings first and recast everyone when you recast yours so you are on the same timer. This requires some coordination with the other Paladins in the raid so have the class leader (if your guild has one) set them up for everyone.

2. Find out which aura the group you are with needs the most and set it. Don't just go based on what is best for you, find out what is best for the party you are in. Be prepared to switch it based on the fight, if you are fighting against a boss that does a certain type of damage, switch to that protection aura.

3. Determine your healing assignments and make sure you have arranged your targets in some way on the screen for easy access.

4. It is very common to be assigned to "Heal the Raid" as a paladin. In this role you float form player to player and keep everyone topped up and cleansed. Your main goal here is just to cast your small quick heals to allow the main healers to concentrate on casting long cast time big heals. You also cleanse anyone who is effected by debuffs during the fight.

Heroic Dungeons

Heroic dungeons vary some from raid instances since monsters must be controlled or you will lose fast. Even though you don't have any crowd control in the traditional sense, you should be cautious about several things. Such as using consecration recklessly near cc'ed MOBs, or watching for cloth wearers being attacked. If they are grab aggro quickly with your taunt to give time to the tank to pick them up, after all you can take a lot more damage in plate than that poor mage can in cloth.

Additional Tips

Learn to cleanse! Cleanse while not the most exciting spell is one of the most useful you have. Keep it accessible via a quick key or mapped button on your mouse, and cleanse anyone that get effected by a debuff. Your raid will love you for it.

Playing a paladin is a good thing in a raid, you are generally wanted due to your exceptional mana efficiency while healing and the great buffs you can provide to the whole raid. While you will never be the one to land the killing blow on a boss, you are every bit as important, because without you they wouldn't be doing as much damage or living as long.

Comments or questions? Email me at (Messiah@TenTonHammer.com) or post on our forums!