Protection Paladin Tank Gear and Best in Slot — The War Within (11.2)
On this page, you will find the best gear and best in slot items for your Protection Paladin in World of Warcraft The War Within (11.2).
If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Protection Paladin gear and best in slot.
BiS Gear for Protection Paladins
Welcome to our Gear and BiS Page for Protection Paladin for The War Within Season 3. Check this page to learn everything you need to know about gearing a Protection Paladin, including the BiS Gear from all sources, Raiding, and Mythic+, information on the best Trinkets, Tier Sets, and much more.
Generally speaking, you will prioritize an item level upgrade over an "optimal" item at a lower item level as your survival is heavily reliant on Strength and Stamina. If you have a choice on the same item level, the alternative will likely, in generic circumstances, not make a difference defensively. We recommend just simming the choice and doing whatever helps you do more damage.
There are exceptions to this rule and encounter specific situations where a stat is massively devalued. You should keep an eye on the raid encounter guides to be aware of this. Similarly, certain Mythic+ key levels and dungeons require a slightly different gearing path. We linked the related guides below, but generally, we will add a note here as well:
BiS Gear for Protection Paladin
This list contains the Best in Slot Gear from any source in Season 3 of The War Within. It is there as a reference to what is currently the highest-performing gear available to players.
| Slot | Item | Source/Note |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon |  Mandibular Bonewhacker (723) |
Eco-Dome Al'dani |
| Shield |  Sanctified Priory Wall (723) |
Priory of the Sacred Flame |
| Helm |  Lightmane of the Lucent Battalion (723) |
Tier Set: Catalyst / Vault / Raid |
| Neck |  Chrysalis of Sundered Souls (723) |
Soulbinder Naazindhri |
| Shoulder |  Chargers of the Lucent Battalion (723) |
Tier Set: Catalyst / Vault / Raid |
| Cloak |  Reshii Wraps |
Quest |
| Chest |  Cuirass of the Lucent Battalion (723) |
Tier Set: Catalyst / Vault / Raid |
| Bracers |  Everforged Vambraces (720) |
Crafted |
| Gloves |  Protectors of the Lucent Battalion (723) |
Tier Set: Catalyst / Vault / Raid |
| Belt |  Everforged Greatbelt (720) |
Crafted |
| Legs |  Shrapnel-Fused Legguards (723) |
Fractillus |
| Boots |  Interloper's Plated Sabatons (723) |
The Soul Hunters |
| Ring #1 |  Band of the Shattered Soul (723) |
Dimensius The All Devouring |
| Ring #2 |  Signet of Collapsing Stars (723) |
Tazavesh, the Veiled Market |
| Trinket #1 |  Brand of Ceaseless Ire (723) |
The Soul Hunters |
| Trinket #2 |  Tome of Light's Devotion (723) |
Priory of the Sacred Flame |
If you were to assemble the best gear set from Manaforge Omega specifically, and no other source, this is what you would wear.
| Slot | Item | Source/Note |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon |  Oath-Breaker's Recompense (723) |
Nexus King Salhadaar |
| Shield |  Event Horizon (723) |
The Soul Hunters |
| Helm | Lightmane of the Lucent Battalion (723) |
Tier Set: Catalyst / Vault / Raid |
| Neck | Chrysalis of Sundered Souls (723) |
Soulbinder Naazindhri |
| Shoulder | Chargers of the Lucent Battalion (723) |
Tier Set: Catalyst / Vault / Raid |
| Cloak | Reshii Wraps |
Quest |
| Chest | Cuirass of the Lucent Battalion (723) |
Tier Set: Catalyst / Vault / Raid |
| Bracers | Everforged Vambraces (720) |
Crafted |
| Gloves | Protectors of the Lucent Battalion (723) |
Tier Set: Catalyst / Vault / Raid |
| Belt | Everforged Greatbelt (720) |
Crafted |
| Legs | Shrapnel-Fused Legguards (723) |
Fractillus |
| Boots | Interloper's Plated Sabatons (723) |
The Soul Hunters |
| Ring #1 |  Logic Gate: Omega (723) |
Forgeweaver Araz |
| Ring #2 | Band of the Shattered Soul (723) |
Dimensius The All Devouring |
| Trinket #1 |  Eradicating Arcanocore (723) |
Plexus Sentinel |
| Trinket #2 | Brand of Ceaseless Ire (723) |
The Soul Hunters |
This list contains the best items available per slot from Mythic+. It is there to provide you with a quick list of easily farmable gear if you need something in a specific slot.
| Slot | Item | Source/Note |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Mandibular Bonewhacker (723) |
Eco-Dome Al'dani |
| Shield | Sanctified Priory Wall (723) |
Priory of the Sacred Flame |
| Helm | Lightmane of the Lucent Battalion (723) |
Tier Set: Catalyst / Vault / Raid |
| Neck |  Cabochon of the Infinite Flight (723) |
Tazavesh, the Veiled Market |
| Shoulder | Chargers of the Lucent Battalion (723) |
Tier Set: Catalyst / Vault / Raid |
| Cloak | Reshii Wraps |
Quest |
| Chest | Cuirass of the Lucent Battalion (723) |
Tier Set: Catalyst / Vault / Raid |
| Bracers | Everforged Vambraces (720) |
Crafted |
| Gloves | Protectors of the Lucent Battalion (723) |
Tier Set: Catalyst / Vault / Raid |
| Belt | Everforged Greatbelt (720) |
Crafted |
| Legs |  Halkias's Towering Pillars (723) |
Halls of Atonement |
| Boots |  Devoted Plate Walkers (723) |
Priory of the Sacred Flame |
| Ring #1 |  Ring of the Panoply (723) |
Tazavesh, the Veiled Market |
| Ring #2 | Signet of Collapsing Stars (723) |
Tazavesh, the Veiled Market |
| Trinket #1 |  Ticking Sack of Terror (723) |
Tazavesh, the Veiled Market |
| Trinket #2 | Tome of Light's Devotion (723) |
Priory of the Sacred Flame |
Best Trinkets for Protection Paladin in The War Within Season 3
Raid Trinket Tier List for Protection Paladin
This Trinket Tier List is for trinkets that are used for Single Target/Raiding Purposes.
S-Tier
Tome of Light's Devotion will gain stacks when you are attacked. Each stack gives you additional armor and a magic absorb shield, once you reach 50 stacks
it will change to giving you Critical Strike rating and allowing your abilities to deal Holy Damage. Your goal is to keep it on the Crit/Holy damage aspect, as soon
as it swaps to Armor/Absorb use the trinket to make it change back.
Brand of Ceaseless Ire applies a small absorb shield to you and deals damage to nearby enemies. The values of either effect increase each time they proc, but
dissipate when you leave combat.
A-Tier
Improvised Seaforium Pacemaker synergises with 
Templar as you will trigger a lot of effects which in turn means the effect will extend
a lot of times. Having this effect at a 50% uptime makes this trinket very potent.
Ara-Kara Sacbrood returns this trinket will excel on longer boss encounters as the trinket will have time to ramp up for the more meaningful part of the
boss encounter. For shorter boss fights the value is lower.
Signet of the Priory increases your highest secondary stat significantly on a 2 minute cooldown. This also buffs nearby players who also have the
trinket equipped.
Eradicating Arcanocore passive trinket that gains stacks as you attack, at 10 stacks it will deal a large burst of damage.
Unyielding Netherprism passive trinket that deals a moderate amount of damage and has a stacking buff (up to 15). This buff can be consumed to increase
your Strength.
Ticking Sack of Terror passive trinket that applies a stacking debuff to your enemies. When it reaches 3 stacks it will deal a high amount of damage.
B-Tier
So'leah's Secret Technique allows you to buff another player giving them a small boost to their highest secondary stat and giving you a notable
amount of the same secondary stat. Be mindful of what buff you will recieve from this.
Perfidious Projector on use trinket which deals a large amount of damage to your target on 2 minute cooldown. Very simple.
Miniscule Mailemental in an Envelope passive trinket deals damage to your target.
Incorporeal Warpclaw passive trinket deals damage to your target and all enemies in the path. This damage splits but on single target it is simming quite well.
C-Tier
Araz's Ritual Forge is an on use trinket which will give you a very large amount of Strength for 30 seconds (at the cost of 15% Health). It has a 2 minute
cooldown between uses and unfortunately will not line up for every cast of 
Avenging Wrath.
Astral Antenna is a simple trinket, it just procs and gives you Critical Strike rating. In a Single Target raiding environment the random nature of the proc can
be a downside as you have very specific damage windows and this buff may not be available for them.
Screams of a Forgotten Sky is a passive trinket that will deal damage to your target. The secondary effect of this trinket will see very little value in Raiding/Single Target scenarios.
Defensive-Tier
Ringing Ritual Mud is an on use absorb trinket with a 2 minute cooldown which is reduced based on periodic damage. In reality this trinket has a 1m30s cooldown and is
low enough to form a cooldown plan with it in mind. The high absorb value on the trinket is enough to cover a tankbuster reliably on its own.
Soulbinder's Embrace is an on use trinket that will absorb a moderate amount of damage and pulse damage to nearby enemies. However, the low absorb value on the
trinket may be quickly consumed in environments where you may want to be using it.
Loom'ithar's Living Silk applies an absorb shield to yourself and 4 nearby players which also reduces damage taken by 75%. The cooldown of this trinket is low enough
to form a plan around it, however damage intake in raiding scenarios is usually covered by your own cooldowns. Tuning and your item level at the time will determine the value of this
trinket.
All-Devouring Nucleus is a proc based trinket that will deal damage and heal you based on the damage dealt. It also has a cheat death effect, however the overkill value
on this is quite low and also requires you to get back to 65% Health within 6 seconds to not die.
Codex of the First Technique reflects damage when you are hit. On paper this sounds great, but in reality due to it not having any secondary stats or strength it is in reality
making you take more damage.
Mythic+ Trinket Tier List for Protection Paladin
This Trinket Tier List is for trinkets that are used for AoE Purposes in M+/Delves/Raiding.
S-Tier
- Tome of Light's Devotion will gain stacks when you are attacked. Each stack gives you additional armor and a magic absorb shield, once you reach 50 stacks
it will change to giving you Critical Strike rating and allowing your abilities to deal Holy Damage. Your goal is to keep it on the Crit/Holy damage aspect, as soon
as it swaps to Armor/Absorb use the trinket to make it change back.
- Brand of Ceaseless Ire applies a very small absorb shield to you and deals damage to nearby enemies. The values of either effect increase each time they proc, but
fade rapidly on leaving combat, you will want to pull your next pack quickly to maintain good value for the trinket.
A-Tier
- Unyielding Netherprism passive trinket that deals a moderate amount of damage and has a stacking buff (up to 15). This buff can be consumed to increase
your Strength.
- Ara-Kara Sacbrood returns this stacking buff will have very high uptime in Mythic+ meaning you will have a notable boost to your Strength throughout the
dungeon.
- Signet of the Priory increases your highest secondary stat significantly on a 2 minute cooldown. This also buffs nearby players who also have the
trinket equipped.
- Eradicating Arcanocore passive trinket that gains stacks as you attack, at 10 stacks it will deal a large burst of damage.
B-Tier
- Improvised Seaforium Pacemaker synergises with Templar as you will trigger a lot of effects which in turn means the effect will extend
a lot of times. Having this effect at a 50% uptime makes this trinket very potent.
- So'leah's Secret Technique allows you to buff another player giving them a small boost to their highest secondary stat and giving you a notable
amount of the same secondary stat. Be mindful of what buff you will recieve from this.
- Astral Antenna is a simple trinket, it just procs and gives you Critical Strike rating. In an M+ Scenario this is quite useful as this is additional parry chance
and will also amplify your damage dealt.
- Screams of a Forgotten Sky is a passive trinket that will deal damage to your target. When that target dies it will also trigger an AoE around them based on the amount of
times they were hit by the initial effect.
C-Tier
- Perfidious Projector on use trinket which deals a large amount of damage to your target on 2 minute cooldown. This effect splits with nearby enemies making
it less valuable in AoE scenarios.
- Araz's Ritual Forge is an on use trinket which will give you a very large amount of Strength for 30 seconds (at the cost of 15% Health). It has a 2 minute
cooldown between uses and unfortunately will not line up for every cast of Avenging Wrath.
- Ticking Sack of Terror passive trinket that applies a stacking debuff to your enemies. When it reaches 3 stacks it will deal a high amount of damage. In scenarios
where your target dies quickly this trinket will not have much value as the effect will not trigger.
- Incorporeal Warpclaw passive trinket deals damage to your target and all enemies in the path. This damage splits based on the amount of enemies hit lowering the value
of it in Mythic+ significantly.
Defensive-Tier
- Loom'ithar's Living Silk applies an absorb shield to yourself and 4 nearby players which also reduces damage taken by 75%. The cooldown of this trinket is low enough
to form a plan around it, and the fact it will apply to your whole M+ group is even more tempting.
- Soulbinder's Embrace is an on use trinket that will absorb a moderate amount of damage and pulse damage to nearby enemies. However, the low absorb value on the
trinket may be quickly consumed in environments where you may want to be using it.
- All-Devouring Nucleus is a proc based trinket that will deal damage and heal you based on the damage dealt. It also has a cheat death effect, however the overkill value
on this is quite low and also requires you to get back to 65% Health within 6 seconds to not die.
- Ringing Ritual Mud is an on use absorb trinket with a 2 minute cooldown which is reduced based on periodic damage. In reality this trinket has a 1m30s cooldown and is
low enough to form a cooldown plan with it in mind. The high absorb value on the trinket is enough to cover high damage intaken moments from large pulls.
- Codex of the First Technique reflects damage when you are hit. On paper this sounds great, but in reality due to it not having any secondary stats or strength (~6-7% DPS decrease)
it is in reality making you take more damage (due to lower armor and parry which is given by Strength). If you are comfortable with the damage you are taking this could lead to a DPS
increase from the reflecting damage, however be mindful of the lack of Strength (once again an aproximate 6-7% DPS loss) warping the perceived value of the trinket on the DPS meters.
Anything not listed above would be a stopgap until you get something better.
Reshii Wraps For Protection Paladin
The War Within Season 3 brings a new Cloak, Reshii Wraps.
It provides a role-specific additional effect, for Tanks, the effect is
Ethereal Protection. It will trigger a shield that reduces damage taken by
20% up to a cap, and a 500% bigger threshold if you are below 40% health.
It is a nice passive effect, but nothing game-changing.
In addition to the passive effect, you can also socket the cloak with specific fibres. These will provide you secondary stats. The best Fibers for Protection Paladin are linked below.
- For Raid/Single-Target:
Pure Chronomantic Fiber - For Mythic+: Pure Chronomantic Fiber
- For World Content/Delves: Pure Chronomantic Fiber
You can learn more about the Cloak and how to obtain it from the dedicated Reshii Wraps guide.
When to Replace Durable Information Securing Container in Patch 11.2 for Protection Paladin
Durable Information Securing Container at 701 is intentionally tuned to be kept until you can replace it with
a Myth track belt.
Changing the effect on Durable Information Securing Container is very simple, just right click
on the item and change the effect.
Depending on the type of content you will be doing, you will want to pick the following bonuses:
- For Raid/Single-Target:
Charged Bolts - For Mythic+:
Critical Chain - For World Content/Delves: Critical Chain
For more information on how to acquire or upgrade the belt, make sure to check out our dedicated Overcharged Delves guide!
"Simming" Yourself as a Protection Paladin
Throughout this page, we regularly refer to the importance of simming yourself on Raidbots, as it is an indispensable aspect of optimizing your character.
While we do offer generic sim charts for Trinkets, this should not be a
replacement for simming. As they will neglect nuances such as two on-use trinkets,
Avenging Wrath timings or rotational changes that occur from using a trinket.
If you are new to simming and Raidbots, check out our detailed guide below.
Best Crafted Items for Protection Paladin
For this season, we would recommend Everforged Greatbelt and
Everforged Vambraces with 
Elemental Focusing Lens.
Protection Paladin Tier Set - Vows of the Lucent Battalion
With the launch of Season 3, Protection Paladins will be able to gain the bonuses from Vows of the Lucent Battalion. These bonuses are based on your Hero Talents:
Lightsmith
Paladin Lightsmith 11.2 Class Set 2pc — 
Hammer and Anvil's damage is increased by 15% and it can also be activated by 
Blessed Hammer /
Hammer of the Righteous at 40% effectiveness.- Paladin Lightsmith 11.2 Class Set 4pc — Hammer and Anvil also grants a stack of Masterwork, causing your next Holy Armament (
Sacred Weapon / 
Holy Bulwark)
to cast one Lesser version of itself on a nearby ally for each stack.
- The 2 piece bonus is a simple damage increase as Hammer and Anvil will have additional ways to trigger.
- The 4 piece bonus relies on the additional triggers of Hammer and Anvil to generate stacks of Masterwork. This will put lesser versions of Sacred Weapon on
nearby players giving you a significant damage boost, or lesser versions of Holy Bulwark providing a sizeable shield on players. This 4 piece bonus is where all the power
of the bonus lives.
Templar
- Paladin Templar 11.2 Class Set 2pc —
Empyrean Hammer deals 20% increased critical strike damage and its critical strikes have 50% chance to grant an
additional stack of 
Light's Deliverance. - Paladin Templar 11.2 Class Set 4pc —
Hammer of Light deals 35% increased damage to its primary target, strikes 3 additional secondary targets,
and can now be cast 1 more time after 
Eye of Tyr.
- The 2 piece bonus is a simple damage increase as Empyrean Hammer facilitate more casts of Hammer of Light with the extra Light's Deliverance stacks.
- The 4 piece bonus lets Hammer of Light be cast twice on each Eye of Tyr (by giving you two charges) and cleaves. This additional cleave will generate more
stacks of Light's Deliverance and give you even more free casts of Hammer of Light!
PvP Gear Recommendations for Protection Paladin
Obtaining gear from rated PvP can be a powerful boost to your item level early in the season.
All of these items have Versatility on them.
If you are wanting to obtain PvP gear, we would advise doing Solo Shuffle as Retribution or Holy.
Best Gear Upgrades for Protection Paladin
Completing end game activities in The War Within will reward you with Harbinger Crests and Valorstones. Once you have upgraded a slot to a certain item level, upgrading other items of that slot to that item level is free.
We recommend upgrading with the following priority list:
- Your main hand weapon and shield.
- Upgrade your trinkets.
- Upgrade your lowest item level slots or use a Raidbots Droptimiser sim to evaluate what to upgrade next.
Changelog
- 04 Aug. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.2.
- 15 Jun. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.1.7.
- 13 May 2025: Updated Cartel Chip Recommendations.
- 21 Apr. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.1.5.
- 24 Feb. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.1.0.
- 17 Dec. 2024: Updated Cyrce's Circlet information. It's been buffed and is now really worth using. It's BiS!
- 15 Dec. 2024: Added Cyrce's Circlet section. TLDR: If you've got 636/639 its not BiS. Otherwise gem recommendations are on the page.
- 22 Oct. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 11.0.5.
- 28 Sep. 2024: Updates for Trinkets.
- 09 Sep. 2024: Updated for The War Within Season 1.
- 21 Aug. 2024: Updated with your Pre Season BiS for The War Within Launch. Further updates to come closer to Season 1.
- 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within pre-patch.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Updated for Season 4.
- 19 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 28 Nov. 2023: Updated Dawn of the Infinite links to be specific to their keystone dungeons.
- 07 Nov. 2023: Updated the page to account for the nerfs to Sporecloak. The Embelishment recommendations have been changed to account for this.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated for Season 3.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Updated gear layout. Added BiS list.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Updated Onyx Annulet section to note when you replace this ring. Added 10.1.5 item section.
- 01 May 2023: Moved Onyx Annulet section to the bottom of the page (It's still good for damage!). Updated gear, trinkets, and embelishments for Season 2.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Added Onyx Annulet section.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Updated for Season 1.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 24 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
More Paladin Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Panthea, who raids in Catalyst and is the author of TankNotes. He plays all tanks and is a Moderator for the Hammer of Wrath Paladin Discord. You can follow him on Twitter.
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