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I love two things: Paladins and Alla!Follow

#1 Jan 11 2009 at 4:02 PM Rating: Decent
I recently made a Paladin and it's about my 4th. This time I've really clicked with the class and I'm pretty sure this will be my first char to 80. I have a few questions though.

Does anyone know a good levelling spec for a prot Paladin? I'm duoing a bit and want to be able to tank a few enemies and also want to tank instances effectively.

I want to do some PvP since at level 20-29 paladin is alot easier to survive with than a priest (which is my previous class) but I'm not really sure what items I should be looking to get out of PvP at that level.

I also want to say a big thank you to the posters on the paladin forum. I've already found alot of good information regarding tanking and stuff and I don't know what I'd do without that info. Thanks to all of you and keep up the good work!
#2 Jan 11 2009 at 11:25 PM Rating: Decent
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713 posts

It is quite possible to tank or even heal most instances to BRD as Ret spec these days. I'm not trying to steer you away from Prot as its still a fine tree but I have found (levelling a fury warrior at the moment) that its mostly solo questing in Azeroth these days so tanks are not in high demand at low levels.

Protection Spec becomes better as you get into the high level 30s as you get a quite a few useful talents in the prot tree around level 35-40.

As far as PvPing goes, your also better off going into BGs as either Ret(Smash faces) or Holy (BG heal). Protection spec isnt really designed for PvP. Most other classes will either kite you to death or realise after a few seconds that their doing bugger all damage to you and will just run off and look for another player to kill.

If your planning on going into PvP as Ret then the 2H mace [Verigan's Fist] from the level 23ish Paladin quest chain is nice or if your looking at instance drops then [Corpsemaker] from Razorfen Kraul is also a very nice weapon.

At 29 Paladins have quite a few nifty tricks that make them pretty strong versus quite a few other classes. Just watch out for kiters (predominantly mages and hunters) as our inability to close the gap is our biggest PvP weakness.
#3 Jan 12 2009 at 10:59 AM Rating: Good
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1,131 posts
Congratulations on discovering the greatness that is Paladin :)

I have to say that at low levels (anything up to at least 60 really) you are probably going to be best off choosing Retribution as your talent tree. The reasons for this are as follows:

1. Able to solo quest with great efficiency and do most group quests by yourself if you want to.

2. Able to tank pretty much any instance in Ret Spec up to BRD and Maraudon (probably better to do the higher level instances like BRD and Mara with a good 1-hander and shield rather than a big 2-hander, but can still be done in Ret spec.

3. Able to throw in off-heals in any instance if the main healer is having a hard time.

4. Able to do the most damage and have great surviveability in PvP.

5. Able to do some emergency healing in PvP.

If you eventually plan on going Prot Spec, I would stay Ret until level 58-60, and then re-spec to Prot, get some tanking gear (mainly a good 1-hander and shield at that level) and then tank Hellfire Ramparts until you get all of the fights and bosses down to a science. Ramps is a great instance to learn in because it has a variety of melee and caster mobs, bosses with some tricky fights that require you to learn necessary skills, and areas where you have to learn line-of-sight pulling and proper positioning in order to keep everyone alive. If you can master tanking that instance, you will be well prepared to learn virutally any other instance in the game.

Going Protection spec at early levels doens't slow down your questing TOO much, and it is even easier to tank instances in Prot spec than Ret spec, but Prot spec is really not good for PvP at the early levels. It takes a while for the enemy to kill you, but you do very little damage to the enemy. The enemy will either ignore you or gang up and kill you quickly.

The only battleground where I would recommend even going in Prot spec would be AV because of the PvE fights that are included in the BG that are easier with a tank. You can't even go to AV until level 50, and you probably shouldn't go there in Prot spec until level 58.

If you are Ret Spec, you can get the Ice Barbed Spear for winning one AV, so as a Ret, I would bite the bullet and go there as soon as possible (like level 51 maybe) just for the purpose of getting that.

I would recommend that you read the stickies on all 3 Paladin specs just to get more information, and probably even the sticky on Paladins in general if you are fairly new to WoW and WoW Paladins. There is a lot of information in all of those that is valuable and very easy to read (for the most part).

I have so much fun on my Paladins (I have a Ret and a Prot) that I basically never play any other class. I will roll something else in the future for variety, but my first love will always be my Paladins.

Edited, Jan 12th 2009 2:02pm by jeromesimina
#4 Jan 12 2009 at 11:09 AM Rating: Decent
17 posts
Quote:
It is quite possible to tank or even heal most instances to BRD as Ret spec these days.


With good gear you can go much much further as Ret than BRD. After 3.0 was launched, I was able to be 2nd or 3rd in healing in a couple Mount Hyjal runs I did as full Ret spec.

Northrend is a bit tougher, but you should be fine until Heroics as long as you keep your healing gear up to date.
#5 Jan 13 2009 at 2:04 AM Rating: Decent
Lets give you my point. I started my Paladin with the release of WoLK, speced as Ret until I hit 70 and visited the new continent.

On the old content there was no problem soloing most of the elite quests. Of course nothing like the Ring of Blood series, but I was able to kill almost any wondering elite quest mob.

On 70 I speced Holy and Im holy even now. I again soloed most of the elite quests in Borean Tundra, but after I moved out of the starting zone, they became too strong for me. But I think they can be soloed if Ret specced.

In addition to healing in WoLK instances, I doubt if a Ret pally without excellent healing gear would do it. Consider that not all tanks have good gear, the DPS could be low either, and some fights, especially pulling 4-5 mobs at a time, can be stressful enough even for well geared Holy Paladin.

P.S I hate the new DK's pretending to be MTs in hard melee fights. They usually die so quick I can't even use LoH on them :(


#6 Jan 13 2009 at 3:26 AM Rating: Good
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1,599 posts
Quote:
On 70 I speced Holy and Im holy even now. I again soloed most of the elite quests in Borean Tundra, but after I moved out of the starting zone, they became too strong for me. But I think they can be soloed if Ret specced.

In addition to healing in WoLK instances, I doubt if a Ret pally without excellent healing gear would do it. Consider that not all tanks have good gear, the DPS could be low either, and some fights, especially pulling 4-5 mobs at a time, can be stressful enough even for well geared Holy Paladin.


Different people have different experiences. Holy can level to 80, and solo 99% of the group quests all the way to lvl 80 (yes, even the first few in Icecrown). Once you learn to use the tools, you'll be amazed at what you can do as Holy. No need to be Ret to solo stuff.

As far as healing in WotLK instances - Ret can heal regular 5-mans just fine. Just make sure your tank is properly spec'd :) A Ret healer will not be able to keep up a Ret spec'd tank (unless one of you are over-geared). It will also be harder than healing as Holy (obviously), but it can be done with confidence.
#7 Jan 13 2009 at 6:49 AM Rating: Decent
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713 posts
YJMark wrote:
Different people have different experiences. Holy can level to 80, and solo 99% of the group quests all the way to lvl 80 (yes, even the first few in Icecrown). Once you learn to use the tools, you'll be amazed at what you can do as Holy. No need to be Ret to solo stuff.

As far as healing in WotLK instances - Ret can heal regular 5-mans just fine. Just make sure your tank is properly spec'd :) A Ret healer will not be able to keep up a Ret spec'd tank (unless one of you are over-geared). It will also be harder than healing as Holy (obviously), but it can be done with confidence.


I view Ret healing as similar to the old Holy Paladin Healing where you basically spammed FoL unless there was need for a big Holy Light. Add in a Seal of Light judgement here and there for some mana return, group healing and the possibilty of a free insta FoL if the mob is close by.

Edited, Jan 13th 2009 2:50pm by arthoriuss
#8 Jan 13 2009 at 7:11 AM Rating: Good
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1,594 posts
Ret healing actually involves quite a few more Judgements than Holy. It restores mana and gives an instant FoL on crit.

You can even run in and use Divine Storm without changing targets for its slight heal and chance to crit.
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