WotLK Classic Protection Paladin Stat Priority

1. Defense to 540;
2. Stamina;
3. Block Rating;
4. Expertise;
5. Hit;
6. Dodge;
7. Parry;

While Defense rating does provide some additional avoidance, its primary function is to mitigate your chance of being crit; the 540 cap is absolutely necessary before entering a raid because being crit by a boss can often lead to you being either killed instantly or taking an unhealable amount of damage so you must avoid being crit at all costs by making defense cap your highest priority.

Stamina increases your total health pool. Paladins are extremely susceptible to spell damage so having as much health as possible allows for you to take larger hits without being in danger of dying.

Block is your single largest way to mitigate Physical damage and can almost entirely mitigate some hits but will partially mitigate almost all incoming Physical damage.

Expertise lowers the chance that the mob you are attacking will dodge. As a Protection Paladin you often will not be able to be behind the mobs, making expertise all the more important as mobs can parry and block when being attacked from the front.

Hit Rating increases your chance to hit with both auto-attacks and spells, missing an ability deals zero damage and as a result you generate zero threat. As you become more comfortable with your survivability you can focus more on Hit to ensure you are getting the most out of each spell cast.

Dodge avoids all the damage that would be taken by an attack and thus is extremely important when it comes to surviving. It is important to know that you cannot depend on getting lucky with dodges so other defensive stats are a bit more valuable as consistency of damage intake is the key to understanding how to handle each encounter.