Cataclysm Classic Protection Paladin Leveling

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While you can level as Protection it is typically going to be considerably slower than leveling as Retribution unless you find yourself consistently inside of Dungeons.

Your first talent unlocks at Level 10.

Seals of the Pure increases the damage dealt by our Seals, while leveling we will be auto attacking a ton so the added damage here is a great start to leveling.

Seals of the Pure increases the damage dealt by our Seals, while leveling we will be auto attacking a ton so the added damage here is a great start to leveling. Judgements of the Just reduces the targets Attack Speed by 20% each time they are hit with our Judgement ability greatly reducing the damage output of non-spell caster mobs of all types.

Seals of the Pure increases the damage dealt by our Seals, while leveling we will be auto attacking a ton so the added damage here is a great start to leveling. Judgements of the Just reduces the targets Attack Speed by 20% each time they are hit with our Judgement ability greatly reducing the damage output of non-spell caster mobs of all types. Hammer of the Righteous takes the place of Crusader Strike when fighting more than one enemy, the majority of our time spent leveling especially as Protection should be fighting multiple mobs so this is a great way to deal damage to multiple targets.

Seals of the Pure increases the damage dealt by our Seals, while leveling we will be auto attacking a ton so the added damage here is a great start to leveling. Judgements of the Just reduces the targets Attack Speed by 20% each time they are hit with our Judgement ability greatly reducing the damage output of non-spell caster mobs of all types. Hammer of the Righteous takes the place of Crusader Strike when fighting more than one enemy, the majority of our time spent leveling especially as Protection should be fighting multiple mobs so this is a great way to deal damage to multiple targets. Shield of the Righteous acts as our primary spender of Holy Power, this ability is ideally used with three Holy Power to deal the most damage possible.

Seals of the Pure increases the damage dealt by our Seals, while leveling we will be auto attacking a ton so the added damage here is a great start to leveling. Judgements of the Just reduces the targets Attack Speed by 20% each time they are hit with our Judgement ability greatly reducing the damage output of non-spell caster mobs of all types. Hammer of the Righteous takes the place of Crusader Strike when fighting more than one enemy, the majority of our time spent leveling especially as Protection should be fighting multiple mobs so this is a great way to deal damage to multiple targets. Shield of the Righteous acts as our primary spender of Holy Power, this ability is ideally used with three Holy Power to deal the most damage possible. Grand Crusader causes our Crusader Strike and Hammer of the Righteous abilities to have a chance to instantly refresh our Avenger's Shield ability and cause it to generate Holy Power.

Seals of the Pure increases the damage dealt by our Seals, while leveling we will be auto attacking a ton so the added damage here is a great start to leveling. Judgements of the Just reduces the targets Attack Speed by 20% each time they are hit with our Judgement ability greatly reducing the damage output of non-spell caster mobs of all types. Hammer of the Righteous takes the place of Crusader Strike when fighting more than one enemy, the majority of our time spent leveling especially as Protection should be fighting multiple mobs so this is a great way to deal damage to multiple targets. Shield of the Righteous acts as our primary spender of Holy Power, this ability is ideally used with three Holy Power to deal the most damage possible. Grand Crusader causes our Crusader Strike and Hammer of the Righteous abilities to have a chance to instantly refresh our Avenger's Shield ability and cause it to generate Holy Power. Holy Shield should be used to mitigate incoming Physical damage, especially when you are being attacked by multiple targets, the added 20% damage blocked really shines in large pulls.

Seals of the Pure increases the damage dealt by our Seals, while leveling we will be auto attacking a ton so the added damage here is a great start to leveling. Judgements of the Just reduces the targets Attack Speed by 20% each time they are hit with our Judgement ability greatly reducing the damage output of non-spell caster mobs of all types. Hammer of the Righteous takes the place of Crusader Strike when fighting more than one enemy, the majority of our time spent leveling especially as Protection should be fighting multiple mobs so this is a great way to deal damage to multiple targets. Shield of the Righteous acts as our primary spender of Holy Power, this ability is ideally used with three Holy Power to deal the most damage possible. Grand Crusader causes our Crusader Strike and Hammer of the Righteous abilities to have a chance to instantly refresh our Avenger's Shield ability and cause it to generate Holy Power. Holy Shield should be used to mitigate incoming Physical damage, especially when you are being attacked by multiple targets, the added 20% damage blocked really shines in large pulls. Vindication causes your Crusader Strike and Hammer of the Righteous abilities to reduce the Physical damage done by your target by 10%, try to keep this debuff active on any Physical damage dealers you are fighting.

Ardent Defender is an incredible cooldown that allows you to quite literally cheat death, making an attack that would otherwise kill you heal you back to 15% health, it also has a 20% damage reduction component.

Ardent Defender is an incredible cooldown that allows you to quite literally cheat death, making an attack that would otherwise kill you heal you back to 15% health, it also has a 20% damage reduction component. As we leave the Protection tree we will first put points into Crusade which increases the damage dealt by our @ Crusader Strike and Hammer of the Righteous abilities.

Ardent Defender is an incredible cooldown that allows you to quite literally cheat death, making an attack that would otherwise kill you heal you back to 15% health, it also has a 20% damage reduction component. As we leave the Protection tree we will first put points into Crusade which increases the damage dealt by our Crusader Strike and Hammer of the Righteous abilities. Pursuit of Justice increases your movement speed by 15%, Paladin is by far the least mobile class in the game so any additional movement speed is incredibly valuable.

In your Prime Glyphs we recommend Glyph of Hammer of the Righteous, Glyph of Shield of the Righteous, and Glyph of Seal of Truth Glyph of Shield of the Righteous and Hammer of the Righteous are both passive damage increases to abilities we are already using making each button press more impactful. The Glyph for Seal of Truth however increases the Expertise rating while we have Seal of Righteousness and Seal of Truth active giving us a much higher chance to avoid being parried as we will primarily be attacking from the front of enemies.

For your Major Glyph slots we recommend Glyph of the Ascetic Crusader, Glyph of Lay on Hands, and Glyph of Cleansing. You will be casting Crusader Strike quite often so the mana reduction will allow you to spend more time fighting and less time drinking. Same goes for the Glyph of Cleansing as throughout your leveling journey there will be a lot of debuffs to Cleanse. The Lay on Hands glyph reduces the cooldown of the spell by three minutes allowing us to use it more frequently enabling is to do more dangerous pulls more often.

For your Minor Glyphs we recommend Glyph of Righteousness, Glyph of Truth, and Glyph of Blessing of Might these three Glyphs all reduce the Mana cost of abilities we will be using allowing you more mana to minimize the amount of time you will spend out of combat regenerating.

1. Melee.
2. Use Crusader Strike on cooldown to deal damage and maximize our Holy Power gained.
3. Keep Seal of Righteousness active.
4. Use Judgement on cooldown to deal damage.
5. Keep Devotion Aura active.
6. If you need to be healed use Holy Light when not being attacked or out of combat to maximize uptime.
7. If you at risk of dying use Word of Glory to heal yourself, ideally with three Holy Power.
8. Use Avenger's Shield to deal damage and pull distant enemies.
9. Use Hammer of Justice to stun your enemy or interrupt spell casting, use this ability early and often to minimize the damage you take to increase your uptime.
10. Use Flash of Light if you need to heal yourself or an ally who would otherwise die. This heal is quick but incredibly inefficient.
11. Use Lay on Hands in an emergency to heal yourself or an ally that would otherwise die.
12. Keep Blessing of Kings active.
13. Use Consecration when fighting three or more enemies or you do not have any other DPS ability available.
14. Use Holy Wrath to deal damage if Crusader Strike/ Hammer of the Righteous and Judgement are on cooldown.
15. Use Hammer of the Righteous in place of Crusader Strike if you are fighting more than one mob.
16. Use Shield of the Righteous to spend your Holy Power, ideally with three Holy Power.
17. Use Divine Plea early and often to maximize your Mana and Holy Power available to minimize downtime.
18. Use Hammer of Wrath any time the enemy is below 20% or you have Avenging Wrath active.
19. Use Rebuke to interrupt any spell casting to mitigate incoming damage.
20. Keep Blessing of Might active.
21. Use Avenging Wrath early and often to maximize your damage. The quicker you are able to kill enemies the less damage they are able to deal to you.
22. Keep Inquisition active as Holy Power allows.

Congratulations on hitting Level 85 in Cataclysm! Now that your leveling process is over, you can learn more about Level-85 Protection Paladin gameplay by reading our fully detailed guide below.