Paladin Leveling Guide

Paladins can be one of the hardest classes to kill. They traditionally don’t put out a lot of DPS, can’t heal groups very well, aren’t bad at tanking, but with the recent talent tree changes it should be interesting to see if any of this changes. Paladins require +healing gear in order to heal efficiently with heavy focus in the holy tree. Tankadins are Paladins who have chosen the protection tree and have things such as armor bonuses and better tanking abilities. Retribution Paladins have been known to put out a bit of DPS with the right talent structure and are considered to be the best soloing tree to use. Typically you will want to use a shield with a good 1hand in the early levels if you are having difficulties dying while using a 2handed weapon.

Holy Paladin

Not typically used to solo level fast, but very efficient for groups and against undead NPCs. The Holy tree has a few talents that focus on healing and increased damage. Since this is a leveling guide we will focus on using the holy tree to help you level.

10-14: Divine Strength 5/5
15-19: Improved Seal of Righteousness 5/5
20-21: Improved Lay on Hands 2/2
22-26: Spiritual Focus 5/5
27-29: Illumination 3/5
30: Divine Favor 1/1
31: Sanctified Light 1/3
32: Finish sanctified light and continue placing talent points into things that increase holy damage. Holy Shock is a great talent to pickup on the way.

Protection Paladin

This tree is not much for damage, but is very good for being a defensive paladin. This is where you would typically spend most of your points if you were going to be a main tank for instances. Paladins have a hard time living at lower levels. That’s where this paladin tree comes in.

10-14: Improved Devotion Aura 5/5
15-17: Precision 3/3
18-19: Guardian’s Favor 2/2
20: Blessing of Kings 1/1
21-24: Toughness 4/5
25-27: Improved Hammer of Justice 3/3
28: Toughness 5/5

There are very few offensive talents in this tree. Finish them off when they become available and keep placing points into defensive talents that will directly affect your paladin.

Retribution Paladin

This is considered the fastest paladin tree to use for leveling and soloing. It has the highest DPS output you can get with a paladin (without burning through your mana). The route I like focuses on reducing mana costs for your judgments and cool downs so they are more ready for you to use.

10-14: Benediction 5/5
15-16: Improved Judgment 2/2
17-19: Improved Seal of the Crusader 3/3
20-24: Conviction 5/5
25-26: Improved Retribution Aura 2/2
27-29: Crusade 3/3
30: Two-Handed Weapon Specialization 1/3

This paladin build focuses on a mix of judgments and melee DPS with a 2handed weapon. Continue to place points into talents that will improve the abilities you are most commonly using at this level.

Paladin Summary

Paladins are a very powerful class at higher levels but extremely slow to start off. They are hard to kill in PvP. There’s a saying that used to go around “Never fight a Paladin unless you have to; they won’t die, and by the time you get them close to dying they will either bubble hearth or one of their friends will show up.” They can heal very well with healing gear, tank very well with tanking gear, or do some decent DPS; it depends how you play the class. If you want to really master your paladin you should take a look at this awesome guide.