Asking for basic paladin guide

[Shadeleaf 0]

Never played a Paladin before, and I want to spec as a Holy one. I'm at level 7. Would someone be kind enough to direct me where I may read up on leveling from my current level? Thanks for listening.

[Krazyito 521]

You can't really level up as holy. It would take way too long. If you have a tank friend who can spam dungeons with you all day then maybe, but at that point it is just about doing dungeons over and over.

If you are going to level one I recommend going ret and have a holy off spec at level 30 to do dungeons with.

As for a leveling guide, you can just simply read the Ret (lvl 90) guide to know what to do and just do what you can with the spells available to you at your current level. From there all you need to do is quest.

[NightShade 14]

I fully agree with Krazy, Holy just does not have the umph to get it done. You MAY be able to do it but its going to be a very slow tedious task.

I was actually watching a lvl 90 holy paladin in the brawlers guild last night. This guy could easily last till berserk but he COULD NOT down the npc's. They would often have 30% or more health left by the time he died when the flames hit him.

Build out ret and at 30 dual spec with holy but as holy expect to only be in a dungeon as a healer your dps will not cut it.

[Pandariah 6]

I don't understand how people have issue leveling Holy. :o Yes, it's a little slower, but totally plausible. Especially with Denounce! Plus, I think it best to level in the spec you desire to play at top level, so you really acclimate yourself with every ability and intricacy of your spec. People spend all that time in a spec they don't want to play at top level, and then struggle (especially with healing), after making the switch. I know it will be a little tougher, but you won't regret it. You can level to 90 as Holy in three weeks, instead of two, as a DPS would. Unless you're hardcore like two friends of mine (both with full-time jobs) and do it in a week and a half. Either way, don't get discouraged. If you do go Retribution to level, be prepared to work harder at healing and to struggle with it.

[Pandariah 6]

P.S. - I leveled as a Holy Paladin, Restoration Druid, Holy Priest, and Restoration Shaman. You can do it! ;)

[Mutterkorn 8]

I leveled as a Prot Pala. Easy just by instances. And lots of fun.

Now, that i am 90 i will play holy as second specc in PVP.

[Vladamyr 169]

Shade you really can't go wrong with leveling a paly. Prot and ret level at nearly the same rate with Prot having the bonus of insta queues if you are running dungeons. Holy is a bit slower but can be done without any problems, I would simply play what you enjoy. I think the argument that you need to learn the spec you plan for at endgame while leveling is way overrated. Endgame healing is so completely different from healing during leveling (your UI, keybinds and commonly used abilities will change for what you want to accomplish) that I personally found it easiest to level as ret then learn to heal and tank at endgame. Dual talents are cheap so pick up ret or prot as an off and level as you like. The best tips i could give you are to use a talent build of 2-1-1-2-3-2 for leveling. Enjoy the paladin, he is still by far my favorite class to play!

[Krazyito 521]

I agree with Vlad. End game healing is different from leveling.. If you want to learn the abilities you get as holy, do dungeons as a healer and then quest as Ret. If you really want to know how to heal as holy, you're going to be doing homework outside of the game to learn how to do it anyway. Being a full time Holy Pally is viable at level 90. You can just do Dungeons and LFR all day (plus raids) to practice.

When I leveled all 5 of my healers I would level as the DPS spec and do dungeons as a healer. The reason I did this is because I despise leveling so much, I wanted it to be over with as quick as possible so that I could do more endgame healing. This game means nothing to me before max level. Once I hit 90, I sit down for about an hour or so making my macros and putting spells in the correct spot and getting a feel for my keybinds. I then do a few dungeons to practice (while also egging the tank to go faster so I can push my healing)

Taking the time to go through your spell book and reading most of the abilities while placing them in a keybind that you can remember will help you the most when learning a new class. The only reason Blizzard requires us to level is so there is content for us to do and we don't get bored or "overwhelmed" because we instantly got to 90. Leveling also serves as a commitment, because you spent your time actually getting it that high, so you will probably commit to using that class more and learning more about it.

In short, Yes, you can level as holy, but going ret you will reach end game content faster where it really matters to be Holy. Even if it takes a little extra time to learn everything.

[Ryieahna 10]

I leveled my paladin to 85 mostly through dungeons as prot/holy, qing as both you usually end up as prot though, and there are not plate healing looms (pvp shoulders i think, but still not a full set?). Questing wasn't a huge issue in prot when I did do it. Now that i'm working her through pandaria I've ended up dropping holy for ret because prot really isn't viable for fast questing. Ret is really required if you want to quest through the higher levels and with dungeons only giving about 2 bars of exp and healers having 30 minute queues, a lot of the time at least, you're going to want to quest to fill in the void when you do get there. Lower levels, I tried leveling another paladin as holy first recently, qing for bgs to get to 15 to dungeon spam, then would have to again, wait 30 minutes to q as heals. It will be a much faster grind to 30 if you spec prot or ret then dual spec to holy.

[Pandariah 6]

Healing at top level is indeed quite different, but if you don't do so until 90, suddenly there are all of these abilities, cool downs and things about your spec that you are oblivious to. I've seen Holy Paladins go without using their Beacon, because, "what's that?" Being oblivious to your own class' mechanics is going to hurt you in the long run. But, then again, the overall consensus says Retribution to 90. So DPS your way there, and then brace for impact as groups gripe at you for wiping as you learn to heal!

[Krazyito 521]

Healing at top level is indeed quite different, but if you don't do so until 90, suddenly there are all of these abilities, cool downs and things about your spec that you are oblivious to. I've seen Holy Paladins go without using their Beacon, because, "what's that?" Being oblivious to your own class' mechanics is going to hurt you in the long run. But, then again, the overall consensus says Retribution to 90. So DPS your way there, and then brace for impact as groups gripe at you for wiping as you learn to heal!

I suppose I see your point. Though personally I already had knowledge of how holy paladins worked, it was just a matter of getting one to max level and practicing. I'm the type of person will read up on sites (like Ivy-Veins) to learn a general healing rotation and then start developing my own style.

[Ryieahna 10]

Healing at top level is indeed quite different, but if you don't do so until 90, suddenly there are all of these abilities, cool downs and things about your spec that you are oblivious to. I've seen Holy Paladins go without using their Beacon, because, "what's that?" Being oblivious to your own class' mechanics is going to hurt you in the long run. But, then again, the overall consensus says Retribution to 90. So DPS your way there, and then brace for impact as groups gripe at you for wiping as you learn to heal!

I hardly see how holy shock/denouncing his way through Pandaria is going to better prepare him for end game healing. I assume he will be qing for dungeons when he can get them, even if end game healing is vastly different there's no reason for him to quest in holy.

[Fel 42]

I'd advise against leveling as Holy unless you really like to take your time and experience the content (I have lots of respect for that style of play, but it's a dying breed nowadays). If you are looking to keep yourself prepped so that you aren't utterly unprepared for Holy at 90, you can do what I've done with all my heal capable toons, and dual-spec as soon as possible, then heal dungeons for fun and experience as soon as it's possible. As many in the thread have already mentioned, there's not very much cross-over between end-game healing and leveling healing (even in dungeons), so I'd disagree that healing while leveling provides any kind of realistic healing preparation. What it will do I believe however, is get you started on muscle-memory for keybinds, mouseovers, some passing familiarity with cast times, etc.

-A

[Pandariah 6]

There's no reason to level as Holy. Not a single reason. Just go Ret. Especially since EVERYONE says to do so. If I could remove my posts, I would. But sadly, I cannot - so, I'm sorry to everyone who has taken the time to respond. Clearly, I am false in my experiences and opinions. Good luck to the OP, who will be playing his new Ret Pali soon.

[Nemo 27]

No need to feel sorry mate, all opinions are valid :)

Personally I quested my way through Northrend as a holy paly, back in Cata.

Exorcism was cheap as crisps and hurt a lot, and I could pull unbelievable amounts of mobs without ever dieing. Great times!

However denounce doesn't hit for nearly as much, and more importantly it will drain your mana quite quickly.

That being said; if you want to lvl as holy, do it! But realize that it will be a lot slower than going ret :)

[Helix 1]

TBH Leveling as Holy should go fine. Ques are near enough instant for healers and tanks and inbetween leveling you can do a couple of quests. Holy damage was buffed and is nowhere near the position it was in TBC for example.

I usually dungeon level most my characters. Last time I Dungeon leveled a Shaman as Resto and dual specced Elemental at 30 (in 4.3) I got to 80 in about 1 day 16 hours /played with full heirlooms (except the legs since it was Cataclysm).

What you lack in questing speed you make up for in decreased que times. If you're any good at healing and get a decent tank you can go pretty insane with pulls and make fast runs.