WotLK Classic Protection Paladin Guide

Paladins are capable of filling all three roles in Wrath and are competitive at each, Tank, healer, and melee DPS. Each specialization will allow you to fill a specific niche because of the plentiful buffs that no other class can offer.

Protection Paladins are considerably stronger in Wrath than their Classic and TBC versions because of added talents, class abilities like Consecration becoming baseline for all Paladin specs, and the addition of a taunt. Prot Paladins can easily fill the role as Main Tank now and is largely viewed as the most stable tank. The greatest strength of Protection Paladin is their ability to generate and maintain threat on multiple targets, buff the raid and apply debuffs to the mobs.

If you would like to see where Protection Paladin tanks fall in the overall rankings among tank specs for PvE in Wrath Classic, we have created a page dedicated to explaining what classes and specializations are the best of the best through multiple factors. However, ultimately, you should not let this list dissuade you from playing what you enjoy.

Strengths

• The best AOE threat generation of any tank.
• Paladins use Mana and do not have to generate Rage to use their threat-generating abilities while also having nearly unlimited Mana.
• Strong buffs and utility such as Blessings, Auras, and wipe protection in Divine Intervention.
• Capable of off-healing in emergency situations.
• Spells are more potent against Undead/Demon mob types which are very common in Wrath of the Lich King.

Weaknesses

• Highest damage taken in lower gear levels, especially susceptible to caster mobs.
• Very vulnerable to large numbers of incoming attacks.
• Limited mobility makes movement challenging.

In WotLK Classic, Paladins are able to be both Alliance and Horde. Blood Elf is the only Horde race that can be Paladin, while the Alliance can choose between Draenei, Human, or Dwarf.

Blood Elf and Human are the strongest races for Protection Paladin PvE on each respective faction, with Blood Elves being due to the fact that they are the only choice as Horde. As Alliance the decision is much harder to make and all races have considerable strengths, but the overall most balanced of the races would be Human thanks to their weapon bonuses and the usefulness of Will to Survive.

Blood Elf is the default choice if you are playing Horde, as they are the only race that is able to be Paladin. Their racials are still quite good as Paladins are quite dependent on Mana, which Arcane Torrent helps with, as well as granting you additional magic resistances to bolster Paladin's weakness against spellcasters.

Dwarf is in a unique spot, as Stoneform can be a powerful defensive cooldown in a situation where you are unable to cast Cleanse or have a nasty bleed on you and are taking a lot of Physical damage. Unfortunately, Find Treasure and Gun Specialization are both completely useless for Paladins in any kind of combat situation.

Draenei offer a very situationally useful heal in Gift of the Naaru that, in an emergency, can save you or a party member. Heroic Presence is the most powerful racial though, as it allows you and people in your party to itemize completely differently because of the added Hit rating.

Perception is an extremely strong against any stealth class and can net you a massive advantage in PvP. The Human Spirit is not particularly useful in any combat situation. Both Mace and Sword Specialization are quite strong early on in lower gear levels and, even later on, might alter your gear choices while maintaining Expertise.

Engineering is extremely important for Paladin both for the personal HPS increases added from the Cloak and Glove enchants, but especially the insane amount of mobility that Nitro Boosts affixed to your boots will allow you. Engineering ends up being a slightly lower gain in stats than other crafting professions but the overall utility that the Profession has to offer makes it a must-have for almost every class, especially ones that struggle with mobility like Paladin.

Jewelcrafting is the single largest increase of stats of any of the crafting professions especially before the addition of Epic gems to the game. Stamina is the single strongest stat for a Protection Paladin and this is the largest possible gain of it.

Engineering and Jewelcrafting are both chosen based on their endgame benefits and do not offer any particularly beneficial gold farms.