Paladin Class Guide — Class Guides · WoW Burning Crusade
A plate-wearing holy warrior who heals with the Light, protects with blessings, auras and seals, and fights in melee. Paladins heal, tank or deal damage with a two-handed weapon.
Blood elves bring the paladin to the Horde.
- Roles
- Healer, Tank, Damage
- Specializations
- 3
- Popular builds
- 6
- Version
- WoW Burning Crusade
How the paladin plays
Paladins in The Burning Crusade come to both factions: Blood elves for the Horde, Draenei and the human and dwarf races for the Alliance. All three specs are wanted in raids now: Holy for tank healing, Protection for holding packs, Retribution for its buffs and damage.
Seals and Judgement still drive the class. New seals give the Horde Seal of Blood and the Alliance Seal of Vengeance, and Righteous Defense finally gives paladins a taunt. Avenging Wrath adds a burst of damage and healing.
Paladins remain hard to kill, with Divine Shield, Lay on Hands and plate, and every group still wants their Blessings and Auras.
Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
- Every raid wants Blessings: Kings, Might, Wisdom, Salvation and Sanctuary.
- The best single-target healing per mana.
- Protection holds whole packs with Consecration and Holy Shield.
- Very hard to kill.
Weaknesses
- Every spec depends on mana.
- Few ways to stop or chase enemies: Hammer of Justice and Repentance.
- Healing is single-target.
Specializations
The specs compared
Each spec rated from 1 to 5 at what it does in WoW Burning Crusade. Single and several targets mean damage for damage specs, healing for healers and threat for tanks; a spec's own guide names its ratings for its role.
| Rating |  Holy |  Protection |  Retribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single target | |||
| Several targets | |||
| Survivability | |||
| Utility | |||
| Solo and leveling | |||
| Ease of play |
- Holy
Healer · 2 builds
The healing tree: more powerful Holy Light and Flash of Light, cheaper heals and the tools to keep a tank or a raid alive.
Top talent:
Holy guide
Divine Illumination - Protection
Tank · 2 builds
Tanking with a shield: Holy Shield, more block and armour, damage reduction and threat.
Top talent:
Protection guide
Avenger's Shield - Retribution
Damage · 2 builds
Two-handed melee damage from seals and judgements, with crits and utility for the group. The usual leveling tree.
Top talent:
Retribution guide
Crusader Strike
Gear
- Mail until level 40, then plate; Holy now finds plenty of plate healing gear.
- Holy wants +Healing, Intellect and crit; Protection wants Stamina, defense and spell damage; Retribution wants Strength, crit and hit.
- Librams in the relic slot boost specific spells.
Each spec guide ranks its stats and says what to look for on its gear.
Paladin class quests
The quests that unlock class abilities, by the level each route starts at.