Paladin PvE guide

This is a Paladin PvE guide article.

Things Paladins want Non-Paladins to Know

 * Blessing of Salvation is no more since patch 3.0.2, and Blessing of Might now grants both Attack Power and mana regen.
 * After patch 4.0.1, Blessings are party-wide. Unless you have two or more paladins in your group, it will be EITHER Blessing of Might or Blessing of Kings (one Blessing per paladin).
 * We can tank.
 * We can DPS.
 * We can heal.
 * Protection paladins share exactly the same gear as tanking warriors and death knights; retribution paladins share mostly the same gear as dps warriors and death knights except retribution paladins do not use one-handed weapons and do not need armor penetration.
 * On the other hand, warriors and death knights, please do not roll on healing plate over a Holy paladin. We need the Intellect, you do not.
 * Be sure you know a paladin's expectation and abilities before asking them into your group. A holy paladin expects to heal.  A protection paladin expects to tank.  A retribution paladin expects to DPS.  All three can remove disease and poison debuffs, and all paladins can main- or even solo-heal many (but probably not all) of the 5-man instances if they have given the effort to develop a healing set. Don't go solely on spec.
 * Remember, paladins are casters too. We need time to replenish mana. Please treat us with the same respect that you give to priests, druids and mages who need to drink between pulls, especially if we are healing.
 * Divine Intervention has been removed from the game as of patch 4.0.1.
 * All paladins have healing spells, and a skilled paladin can even self-heal multiple pulls.
 * Protection Paladins would rather be healed than given Power Word: Shield. When tanking, the shield prevents all of our reflective damage abilities from proccing, thereby killing some of our threat. Prayer of Mending is much better.
 * Not all paladins like to wear shields, especially Retribution. Just because we can doesn't mean we always should.
 * We cannot resurrect ANYONE during battle/combat, no exceptions.
 * Other tanks: if you are tanking in raid with another paladin tank, no matter who are the maintank or off-tank, let the paladin pull with Avenger's Shield first, then taunt your target off him! Reason: Avenger's Shield is a very good preload of threat. If you taunt your target after it is hit by the Avenger's Shield, you also share that good initial threat load. Besides, if it is done reversely, it is actually harder for a paladin to get a single target off you, because Avenger's Shield and Righteous Defense both affect three targets. Therefore, he can only rely on Hand of Reckoning. As you can see, if you do it correctly, it is a win-win situation for both! (Exception: there is a glyph to make Avenger's Shield only target one mob. However, rarely any tankadins use it at the moment as there are other better glyphs.)

Things non-Paladins want Paladins to know

 * Learn when to use your different auras. Far too many paladins don't know to switch their aura as needed. Increased armor isn't the catch-all. Resistance auras should be considered when a large amount of damage taken is from the same school. It may also be helpful against dispellable fears.
 * Make sure you stock up on your reagents before you arrive.
 * Please note that Blessing of Might now affects ranged attack power as well as melee attack power, making this possibly the best blessing for hunters now.
 * Please know when Consecration is appropriate. If any crowd control is in the radius, Consecration is not appropriate. Avenger's Shield does not jump to crowd controlled targets anymore, so you are safe to use it.
 * If a 5-man group has a tank and a dedicated healer, then by all means, feel free to DPS. However, be prepared to help healing if the situation arises, such as death of healer or when the tank has taken massive spike damage.
 * Not everyone in the group has the survivability you do. Make sure everyone is ready before you initiate combat, and do not become overzealous and rush into a group of mobs.
 * Pally tanks normally should not use Divine Shield/Hand of Protection on themselves unless they're certain they're about to die. These are instant aggro dumps, and all mobs (and if you're a pally tank, there's probably several) will immediately attack the next person on their threat list. This can and will cause wipes (Lay on Hands is a much more viable option). (Note: An exception to this rule is if you cast Divine Shield and cancel it immediately to remove any dangerous debuff, such as fear. This is usually done with a macro. If performed correctly, the mobs should stay on you.) Another trick is when the tankadin is dying, he can use Divine Shield and then immediately cast Righteous Defense on the next-highest threat party member to force the mobs to stick on him for a few seconds, although he must cancel the Divine Shield when the effect of Righteous Defense ends.

General tips
Some of the following notes assume that the paladin is serving a specific role—healing, tanking or dpsing (presented by the Holy, Protection or Retribution labels respectively at the beginning of each paragraph). Others are relevant to all paladins.

Death Knight
All: Death Knights are much like yourself, a melee class that can either tank or deal damage, depending on gear (and spec).

All: For dps death knights Blessing of Might. For death knight tanks, Blessing of Kings is a very good health boost. After that, Blessing of Sanctuary if you have it.

All: If you enjoy blessing passersby, use Kings or Might.

Rogue
All: A combination of a well-timed Vanish and Blessing of Might.

Holy: Be sure to heal your buddy from any AoE damage. Judgment of Light is a rogue's best friend, as they will pull lots and lots of free health out of it.

All: If you enjoy blessing passersby, use Kings or Might.

Warrior
All: For dps warriors Blessing of Might might not be the best choice since Battle Shout is stronger than the untalented version of Blessing of Might. For warrior tanks, Blessing of Kings is a very good health boost. After that, Blessing of Sanctuary if you have it.

Protection: One of the classes that's as qualified to tank as you are (the other being a feral Druid).

Holy: Judgement of Light works almost as well here as it does for Rogues.

All: If you enjoy blessing passersby, use Kings or Might.

Priest
All: For dps priests Blessing of Wisdom. For priest healers, Blessing of Wisdom and Blessing of Kings helps their mana regeneration as well as give them a bigger mana pool.

All: If you notice that a fight is getting out of hand and a wipe is imminent, use you Divine Intervention on the Priest to allow quick recovery from the wipe. Yes, you'll be sacrificed, but the Priest is placed out of combat, and will be able to resurrect the group. Furthermore, you don't take durability damage from Divine Intervention.

Protection or Retribution: If you're in the back of the raid with a priest and a mob suddenly starts hammering him, try to draw aggro away with Righteous Defense.

All: Priests are aggro magnets, and are very squishy, yet they'll still be important source of DPS/healing. To counter this, you'll want to keep Righteous Fury up and do as much holy damage as you can. Counting on healing aggro to keep the mobs off the priest is not viable as a paladin, since the reduced threat on paladin heals means you'll have to heal 4 times as much damage as the priest is doing just to match their aggro. Don't forget that you can use your Righteous Defense skill to taunt up to 3 mobs off of someone. Devotion Aura will upgrade their fragile bodies to be able to withstand a small hit or two.

All: If you enjoy blessing passersby, use Blessing of Wisdom.

Mage
All: Blessing of Wisdom. Expect some water in return. If the mage is arcane they will benefit more from Blessing of Kings (if you have it) due to intellect converted into spell dmg in this spec.

Protection: Mages love paladin tanks because they know they would be safe when AOEing!

Protection or Retribution: Be careful when using consecration, not to break a polymorph with it.

All: A mage is a glass cannon, and the most fragile thing imaginable. Make sure that the mage withholds his/her mighty instant-casts to the end of the fight, or you may watch mobs sprint off to eat something squishier. As stated above, get water from them but be polite when you ask. Judgement of The Crusader stacked with Seal of Righteousness gives you the highest DPS with increased threat (feel free to substitute Seal of Command for Righteousness if you have it, Retribution Paladins). Righteous Fury goes without saying.

All: If you enjoy blessing passersby, use Blessing of Wisdom.

Druid
All: For Balance druids Blessing of Wisdom. For druid tanks, Blessing of Kings is a very good health boost. For druid healers, Blessing of Wisdom and Blessing of Kings helps their mana regeneration as well as give them a bigger mana pool.

All: As two hybrids, you'll have a large amount of flexibility partnering with a druid in a two-man team. Both of you can heal, tank, or dps, so work out your roles based on your strengths from talents and gear. Your judgement should reflect the druid's choice of forms: Light for feral forms, Wisdom for casters. To their end, Faerie Fire is a must.

All: DO NOT use Kings, give us Might as MoTW and Might don't overwrite each other.

Shaman
All: For Enhancement shamans Blessing of Might. For Elemental shamans Blessing of Wisdom. For shaman healers, Blessing of Wisdom and Blessing of Kings helps their mana regeneration as well as give them a bigger mana pool.

All: Their totems will stack with your blessings/auras, though not of the same type (e.g. Fire Resistance Aura/Totem will not stack).

All: Two-man team: Judge the target appropriately. Enhancement shamans like Judgement of Light, Elemental shamans like Judgement of Wisdom. As for blessings, Enhancement shamans like Might, Elemental shamans like Wisdom and Restoration shamans almost always Wisdom. The Paladin should be tanking as well as possible, where the Shaman is DPSing. The paladin should also do the healing if possible for more aggro.

All: If you enjoy blessing passersby, use Kings (if you have it), or Wisdom.

Hunter
All: Bless the hunter with Might for DPS, or Wisdom for mana regeneration, depending on what they prefer. Give their pet might. The hunters' Feign Death gets rid of all the threat on them and can be used every 30 seconds.

Protection: Paladin tanks' ranged pull (Avenger's Shield) is clumsy, so hunters are your best friends besides healers! Don't hesitate to ask them to Misdirection pull the mobs for you whenever you feel it is needed. Misdirection during the mid of long boss fights can also help improve your threat level.

Protection: If you're tanking, you might or might not want crowd control, so let the hunter know in advance. Also, tell him where you're going to cast Consecration, and tell him to set his trap away from you so that Consecration doesn't break it.

All: Two-man team: Devotion Aura's your strongest here. If encountering casting mobs, let the pet tank and put up the most applicable aura.

All: If you enjoy blessing passersby, use Might, Kings (if you have it), or Wisdom. Bless their pet with Might.

Paladin
All: For Retribution paladins Blessing of Might or Blessing of Kings are the preferred blessings. For Protection paladin tanks, Blessing of Kings is a very good health boost, followed by Blessing of Sanctuary. For Holy paladin healers, Blessing of Wisdom and Blessing of Kings helps their mana regeneration as well as give them a bigger mana pool.

All: In raid, always coordinate with other paladins for blessings and auras each of you will use.

All: Two-man team: Paladin + Paladin is the most survivable pair alive. One of you should be the main tank, depending on where your talents are located. The main tanking Paladin goes with shield + weapon, where the other goes with the biggest, nastiest two handed weapon they have. Light and Wisdom judgements add to your survivability, as you both will receive constant infusions of health and mana. The non-tank Paladin should heal the tank as necessary. Devotion Aura + Concentration Aura is a good combo, but feel free to switch to resistance for casters, retribution for increased damage, or sanctity for more damage. Pick your Blessings however you want, as there are few bad choices.

All: If you enjoy blessing passersby, first look at what blessing the Paladin already has up and bless accordingly. If the Paladin does not have Kings, use that. If the Paladin has Wisdom up, use Might, and vice versa.

Warlock
All: For warlocks Blessing of Kings. Wisdom is very nice for low level locks, but at high levels it does not do as much(warlocks have very low regen, and have to life tap anyway). The pet blessing will depend on the warlock's spec and pet: Affliction warlocks want wisdom to empower dark pact, most of the time. Demonologist warlocks can make use of almost any blessing, you should ask the warlock. If you must guess, try kings (this boosts demonic knowledge).

Protection: ask the raid leader to put a warlock in your group, and ask him to use imp. The imp's stamina bonus is huge! Note that sometimes Demonic Sacrifice warlocks maybe reluctant to use the imp and give up the benefit from the talent. If you are very confident with your health then it is fine. Otherwise, you should discuss with the warlocks before starting the instances.

All: Two-man team: Bless with Wisdom, and your aura of choice is Devotion. Seduce could be used, but it's usually better just to let the succubus lay into things for DPS. Judgement of choice on your target is Wisdom, because the mana regen lets you tank better, and keeps him casting without the need for Life Tap.

All: If you enjoy blessing passersby, use Wisdom on the (low level) warlock as well as their pet. Warlock pets often need mana more than they need Attack Power. The only exception is the Felguard. Felguards are served well by Kings (if you have it). High level warlocks often appreciate a Kings over Wisdom—higher level warlocks feed their pet mana from talents if they are serious about the pet. Another exception is the imp - it cannot be blessed if it has Phase Shift activated. Ask the warlock to deactivate it for a second to get the buff.