Protection Paladin Leveling Guide From 1 to 80 for WotLK Classic

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Your first talent unlocks at Level 10.

1. Levels 10 to 14 — 5 points in Divine Strength
2. Levels 15 to 17 — 3 points in Stoicism
3. Levels 18 & 19 — 2 points in Anticipation

1. Level 20 — 1 point in Divine Sacrifice
2. Levels 21 to 23 — 3 points in Improved Righteous Fury
3. Levels 24 to 28 — 5 point in Toughness
4. Levels 27 to 29 — 1 points in Improved Hammer of Justice

Toughness increases your dodge chance, causing you to take less damage from Physical attacks. Improved Hammer of Justice reduces the cooldown of Hammer of Justice, which acts as your only crowd-controlling ability and can be quite useful to both interrupt casts and stun mobs.

1. Level 30 — 1 point in Blessing of Sanctuary
2. Levels 31 to 35 — 5 points in Reckoning
3. Levels 36 to 38 — 3 points in One-Handed Weapon Specialization
4. Level 39 — 1 point in Sacred Duty

Blessing of Sanctuary reduces your damage taken and returns damage dealt by melee attacks. Reckoning provides a chance to melee swing an additional time after being hit by any damaging attack. One-Handed Weapon Specialization increases all damage you deal while a one handed weapon is equipped.

1. Level 40 — 1 point in Holy Shield
2. Level 41 — 1 point in Spiritual Attunement
3. Level 42 to 44 — 3 point in Ardent Defender
4. Levels 45 to 47 — 3 points in Combat Expertise
5. Levels 48 & 49 — 2 points in Redoubt

Holy Shield is a powerful buff that increases your Block chance and deals damage for each attack blocked. The damage caused by these blocks has its threat amplified by 35%, but it only has four charges and a bit of a cooldown. Combat Expertise also grants scaling Stamina and gives Expertise. Similar to Hit, Expertise is extremely strong, as it allows for you to deal more damage with attacks you are already using. Redoubt is a buff that can proc off taking damage, increasing your chance to block considerably.

1. Level 50 — 1 point in Avenger's Shield
2. Level 51 — 1 point in Redoubt
3. Levels 52 & 53 — 2 points in Guarded by the Light
4. Levels 54 to 56 — 3 points in Touched by the Light
5. Level 57 — 1 point in Sacred Duty
6. Levels 58 & 59 — 2 points in Shield of the Templar

Avenger's Shield is a high-damage ranged attack that can bounce to up to three enemy targets, as well as daze them. Touched by the Light is a considerable damage increase as it will give you Spell Power based off your Strength.

1. Level 60 — 1 point in Hammer of the Righteous
2. Level 61 — 1 point in Shield of the Templar
3. Level 62 — 1 point in Improved Hammer of Justice
4. Levels 63 to 67 — 5 points in Benediction
5. Levels 68 & 69 — 2 points in Improved Judgements

Hammer of the Righteous becomes one of your strongest abilities both single-target and against multiple mobs while also adding another button to press during windows where no other spell is off cooldown.

1. Level 70 to 72 — 3 points in Heart of the Crusader
2. Level 73 — 1 point in Seal of Command
3. Level 74 & 75 — — 2 points in Pursuit of Justice
4. Level 76 & 77 — — 2 points in Conviction
5. Level 78 to 80 — — 3 points in Crusade

Finally, you can dump the remainder of your points into the Retribution tree. Ultimately your goal is to pick up Crusade, but the other points here are quite strong damage increases as well. Seal of Command also provides you an excellent damage alternative for your seal that will be useful on multiple targets.

1. Keep Seal of Righteousness up against a single mob or Seal of Command against two or more
2. Use Consecration on cooldown for more than 1 target, if you have the Mana.
3. Use either of your Judgement abilities on cooldown.
4. Use Holy Shield on cooldown.
5. Use Hammer of Wrath on cooldown.
6. Use Avenger's Shield on cooldown.
7. Use Hammer of the Righteous on cooldown.
8. Melee.

It is important to buy all abilities as you level as they are cheap and Paladins have quite a few abilities that are extremely powerful in certain situations and you never know when you will need them.

By setting up a user interface and macros early on you will greatly improve the quality of your leveling experience. Check out the Protection Paladin Macros and Addons guides in the link below for the full list.

Once you achieve Level 80 we suggest you check out the full Protection Paladin guide, which goes more in detail of how to play your Level 80 Paladin.

Some of the most relevant pages to dive deeper into are:

• The Protection Paladin Talent builds guide includes two different builds for end game Protection Paladins: one for general gameplay and mitigation and a second for a larger emphasis on threat generation;
• Our Protection Paladin Rotation guide teaches you how to actually maintain threat and lessen damage intake in a variety of situations. It also includes tips on how to utilize your cooldowns and utility to help mitigate damage.
• Check out the Protection Paladin Stats guide if you would like to learn how each stat affects your survivability and threat;
• The Gear guide for Tank Paladin includes a list of gear to for you to acquire and where to find it.