by 00ZER00The paladin!
Personally, i (Blaziken, 70 Dreanei paladin, Laughing Skull US) think that Paladins are definately the most useful class for new players. Being a paladin is a great way to explore all sorts of different playing styles, and is one of two classes that can do everything, heal, DPS, and tank.
Choosing your race!
Although this may seem like a silly idea, it is actually rather important, if you look at each races traits.
Blood Elves:
I’ll start with my least favourite paladin class! (sorry to all you BEs out there, hehe). Blood Elves can be a good paladin class, but they are primaily PvP. They are good paladins, mainly because of Arcane Torrent. if you follow the lore of the BEs, they are obsessed with power. Therefore, it is only right that they get an ability to steal mana from you, and then steal some more, while stunning you. this ability is called Arcane Torrent and Mana tap. you can have up to, i believe 3 or 5 mana taps on one target, and it has a 30 second cooldown. once oyu have reached your maximum amount of Mana Taps, u can use Arcane Torrent, with is kind of like a mage’s Frost Nova, except instead of keeping you in place, it stuns tou for 2 secs, and steals mana/energy from the target. Amount of mana/energy taken depends on how many Mana Tap’s the BE has on a target. Blood Eleves also get a cool tabard after finishign their Charger Quest 🙂
Dreanei:
Now I’ll talk about Dreanei! I think that Dreanei are a good class for paladin because they have good stats, and look cool! Their racial Ability is Gift of the Naaru, which heals the target (or yourself) for 15 + 15 per level. (Example: a level 10 would have 50 + 150, making 20. and a level 1 would get 50 + 15, making 65.) This is an extremely useful Heal over Time that i often use for boss encounters in instances and raids. They also give off a permanent aura, that buffs all party members within 30 yards, and im uncertain as to whether or not Aura Mastery (Holy talent) increases that range. (warriors, paladins, hunters = Heroic Presence, and it increases your chance to hit by 1%) (Priests, Mages, and Shammies = Inspriing Presence, which increases your chance to hit with spells by 1%)
Dwarfs:
Next comes Dwarves. My personal belief is that Dwarves are by far the worst class for paladins. Although they may look cool on the Warhorse/Charger and in all that gold armour, they DEFINATELY, have the worst Racial abilities, meaning, stat-wise, they are the worse. Their abilities are Track Treasure, which is similair to a miners tracking for veins, except it finds things like Battered Chest, and Food Container, and other things. The other ability that can be used is Stoneform. This could be useful, to some extent as a tank, but i dont see why, because, at a certain level, Paladins get Purify, and eventually Cleanse, meaning the only thing Stoneform does is gets rid of bleed, which becomes obsolete with one heal anyway. The only Advantage i can think to beign a Dwarf Paladin is that it makes it easier to find your Holy Water in Startholme for your charger quest with Track Treausre. /Shrug
Humans:
Finally, we have the Humans, who i personally believe to be, by far, the best class for Paladins. I’ll start with their most useful ability. There proficiency with Maces and Swords. Humans have a mace/sword specialization that increases their Critical Strike rating by 1% with both, one-handers AND two-handers. next we have diplomacy. This is not really Paladin based, more player preferance based. We all know that EVERYBODY would like a Tiger to ride. Well, unless your a NE, it’s hard to get Exalted with Darn, BUT, humans get Diplomacy! This increases Rep gained from quests/kills by 10%! meaning if you kill something/do a quest and get 500 rep? Humans get 550, making it much easier to farm rep, and ultimately get cooler faction rewards, tabards, mounts and Heroic Keys. Finally, we have The Human Spirit. This increases their Spirit by 10%, increasing both Mana regen, and Health Regen meaning it would be much easier to be an End-Game Paladin as a human, than, say, a BE, or DR, because you have mroe Regen (potentially) and you can heal for longer!
Now that you know all of the specific Racial traits, you decide which one you would rather have, and happy hunting!
Choosing your TALENTS!
Next we have the talent tree. If you are a first time player, a talent tree can be a living hell! so, here are some helpful tips on choosing a Spec that is right for you! First, think to yourself, “How would i like to level?” If you would like to level by Primarily Questing or grinding, then Retribution is definately the way to go. Retribution is the DPS class of Paladins, and is very good one-on-one. if you start fighting any mob thats not either red, or elite, you will never die as long as you start the fight full health/mana. Ret paladins get Crsuader Strike, and Seal of the Crusader, both of which are high DPS moves.
If you want to be primarily gear oriented, or do alot of instances, then you will have to think further, and ask yourself, “Would i rather Tank, or would i rather heal?” of course, ret, is still an option. If you would like to be the most wanted group class in the game, then go Holy. It will be your job to keep that tank alive! Holy paladins get many skills to improve there healing powers, and are still a very good Soloing spec. They are also a very good choice if you plan on going PvP.
Finally, we have Protection. Protection is the Tanking paladin spec. you get many abilities to improve shield/armor stats, one handed weapon specializations, and many other things to increase agro and all that good stuff! Protection is also a very good spec for Multi-Farming, which is where u aggro about 3-5 mobs, then just Spam Consecrate and toss yourself some heals here and there, for quick XP/money.
End-game talent choosing:
Choosing your talents at 70 has alot of variables. First, consider your guild. Ask what they need, and if they are in short supply of something, try to help them out by rolling that spec. You should also decide whether you want to go PvE (Player Vs. Enemy) or PvP (Player vs. player). If you want to go PvP, Going holy/ret is a popular choice, meaning you will stay alive for a very long time, and egt some good DPS in there. This spec is Primarily Holy, meaning you throw in about 40-50 points in holy, then all the rest go into Ret.
If you want to to for PvE, all you really need to do is ask your guild what they need. If your guild doesn’t really need anything, then jsut roll whatever you feel comfortable with, but make sure, if re-rolling, you have gear to Immediately support yourself after your re-roll.
Here is the Worldofwarcraft.com link for the Paladin talent tree.
I filled the spec i went for as a paladin earlier because i was bored and forgot to close it, but im not sure if it will stay on there once you re-open the link, so here is the website… http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/paladin/talents.html
and incase you dont get mine, but WANT mine for any reasons, here is mine
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/paladin/talents.html?0550312252313253105151320100000000000000000000000000000000000000 you can also use those links to experiment on your own. 🙂
Paladin PvP
As far as PvP is concerned, it is mostly on how you enjoy playing your paladin. Alot of paladins go Holy/Ret for the insane heals and great DPS! You will be called upon to heal for people like Galv, and to keep peopel alive in AB! So, advice i CAN give you on Paladin PvP. First, Battlegrounds.
In WSG, i dont really have much to say, except DO NOT GO FOR THE FLAG! Depending on your class, either Kill the other teams FC (Flag Carrier) or heal the people oding so. But for goodness sake, NEVER GET FLAG, haha. as a paladin, i can tell you from Experience, going for the flag is a bad idea, mainly because your not well suited for you. your main survival techniques (Bubbles and heals) are limited with flag because heals are insnaley long with that interuption from being hit knocking cast back about a half a centimeter, and bubble end up in you Dropping the flag. All i can really say is leave the flag to the Druid, and heal the druids… 🙂
Arathi basin is the Mid-level BG, and becomes availbale at 21 i believe. This is a game of 5 bases, more bases you have more poitns you get and the faster you get them. Paladins should really conecntrate on healing the tanks and DPS people here (Once again, im being Biased towards Holy pallys, as it is what im used to, but i do acknowledge you non-70 Retadins, and say ALWAYS DPS, pretend your a rogue in a way!)if you heal them, it will be much appreciated by them, and keep the game going longer for more honor, and get you bases resulting in yet more honor and more marks. 🙂
Alterac valley, is a very complicated BG for 51+ Players. All i can really say about this is that Luck has a massive role in that sometimes you are targeted, and sometimes oyu aren’t. Remember, even if u are ret, concentrate on DPSing down people like Galv, but keep the tank healed aswell if u have the mana, and as far as PvP is concerned, just tear them down, it should be easy. Just hit and right+click your target then spam Holy Shock (Holy) or Crsuader Strike (Ret)or Avenegrs sheidl (prot). this will basically egt you places in BG, as with such a large population of players (80 players – 40 alliacne, 40 horde) its really jsut, kill or be killed.
I am sorry to say that although im 70, i tend to avoid EotS because im really just not a big fan. if anything, id say, ask raid leader where they want you to go to cap, then keep your group healed, because it is mainly in groups that you are moving. so pretend it is an instance, and keep your party healed!
ARENAS!
OK, arenas. I Can’t say much about arenas, so I’ll keep it short. PEOPLE LOOK FOR HOLY PALADINS FOR ARENAS!! Holy paladins, they want you! ret and prot? not so much. (no offense). If you are a paladin, and want to get your Arena gear, i strongly suggest this talent build.
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/paladin/talents.html?0550312052313253105100000000000000000000005000530100000000000000
as it is a strong PvP build, and is very often used in PvP for paladins. as far as seperate arenas (there are 3, Nagrand Arenas, BEM arena (Ring of Blod) and Ruins o Lrderon) go, im not going to go into that, as i only have 245 points, and i am not a very Arena Oriented person until i get my Full Glads set, because T5 doesnt cut it for PvP, hehe. so all the best to you for Arenas, and if you have any Info you would like me to add to this section, PM me!
INSTANCE RUNNING!:
Ok, depending on what spec you are, I’ll give you some Handy hints on how to stay ahead of the ball in instances, but i wont get into each specific instance, as id be here for HOURS 🙂
Retribution: Pretty straight forward. Buff peopel up with Greater blessings, and toss down a judgement ont he target. i like to go for what the tank is going for, to help him out, but if its a good tank, any mob will do. Judging on the ability of the tank/healer, you shoudl either lay dow a Seal of Light on the mob, healing the tank for each hit, incase he needs the little bit of extra healing, or Seal of Crusader, for yourself, so you can do more Damage. Id strongly recommend opening with a Seal of Vengeance, letting that stack to 5, judge, then pop Righteousness or Command. then jsut DPS him down, with the occasional Crusdaer Strike
Protection: Ok, for Protection paladins, you will mainly be tanking, so heres what you do. Most important thing, MAKE SURE RIGHTEOUS FURY IS ALWAYS UP! increases threat fomr holy spells, and keep them targeting you. Then, you ALWAYS want to have a consecrate down. And id say maybe almsot as important as those, is toss down a seal of Light, because the extra heals are nice, and once you have judged that, use Seal of Wisdom for mana each hit. I would also recommend using Blessing of Wisdom, or if ur the only paladin int he gorup, give yourself Blessing of Light, for the extra healing. Dead tank = Dead group. No.1 hint DONT DIE! 😉
Holy: Finally, we have holy. You are the healer. what you want to do is SPAM FLASH OF LIGHT. and make sure u always have Auto Self-Cast on, because if it is a mob, (Like in BM) that does the occasional AoE or attack to each member of party, then just hit F to target the mob, then Depending on the damage dealt, heal yourself. This may sound selfish but YOU ARE MORE VALUABLE THAN THE TANK. You can potentially replace a tnak, but not a healer, if seen a rogue do some decent tanking once tank died, as with a mage, but if you die, its basically all over. so remember onbly ever Holy Light the tank of necesary, spamming flash of light is much more Mana friendly, and when i do it, he rarely gets under 80-75% meaning it is effective. once he gets to around 75-80% jsut toss him a heal of light. also, if you are dreanei, save Gift of the Naaru for boss encounters, and remember to always Divine Illumination on boss encounters aswell, OOM healer = no healer. remember to pop Wisdom on yourself aswell, and if u have another paladin, have him give you Kings for more mana.
Useful Professions!:
Ok. First of all, decide, would you like to help yourself, make some money, or get a cool mechanical flying mount. Well, first consider this. yes, the make alot of money soudns appealing. but what about when you have all the stuff you need to buy? then what do you do with your money? ya, upoming expansion, but about when uve bought allt he stuff for expansion that you need? And yes, equicping yourself is nice aswell, but that can be costly with the proper level of assistant prof. and flying moutn sounds cool, but what about all the other stuff you need to do to level? You cant use anything else. so here are some VERY effective combinations, and how they can help you.
Mining and Blacksmithing: These two are a good combo, and probably the most used. at high levels, BS can properly equip a good paladin, but you must make sure to level skills WITH YOU! i waited utnil 70 wo work on skills, and i regret it. i can make some pretty cool BS stuff that i could have used, but cant anymore, and i ahve to buy all my mats cuz thorium is so rare at 70, whereas in the 40s-50s is just piled up! so remember, if leveled together, while you level yourself, very effective with AMAZING end game weapons, and good profit if u farm mats yourself.
Mining skinnign and Herbalism: the 3 farming skills. choose any 2 of these is a sure fire way of making money, just do your professions, and byt he time you are 375, you will have sold at least like 5-10k g worth of mats for other people! best choice is Mining and herbalism, because Skinning requires you to kill to get the skill up, but that just makes the other two more time efficient. also remember, u can only have one tracking up at once!
Mining Engineering: this is good, primarily for people that like to help others, make some spare change, or get a cool metal flying mount that looks like a plane. at 350 and 375 u can make a plane for alot of g worth of mats. you can also make things people need for various other professions makign a fairly generous income, but for a paladin, not much of the stuff you make is usable.
mining and Jewelcrafting: Mining and JC is good for people who can spare money until 300, but want to make ALOT of end game cash. JCs get alto fo money for cutting gems, and is a great way to make money at 70, but is an extremely expensive thing to level up form level 1-300. also, if u are a dreanei, u can reach 380 JC!
Skinning Leatherworking: this is not at all a good combo for a paladin, but it can be a good money-maker, and is actually decent for alts, because if ur main is, for instance, Mining + BS u can send yourself the leather to make things, and can, in the long run, be a very convenient Alt professions combo.
Herbalism and Alchemy: This is for those that like to make Pots. this is more of an alt professions, but alot of priest/mages choose to do it, but it is not a very popular choice among paladins. once again, for alts, it can be very useful for mana/health pots, and for end-game Raid pots. But once again, for a paladin, you would be better off getting something else
Tailoring/Enchanting: These are the kind of professions that dont use support professions (mining/herbalism/skinning) all mats you get for these quests are dropped, or in Enchanting, from Disenchanting things for mats. These are great at makign money at high levels, but for lower levels can be extremely epensive, unless you save up mats for tailoring for an extremely long time. But for alts, its a great thing to have.
KK! well, thats as much as i can say at the moment, but as i progress further into End-game, i shall add thigns concerning Raids (Ive only ever done one, and that was a mock Eye run, wecouldnt even take down Al’ar!) and ill be sure to get in some Arena comments aswell. I hoep you enjoyed it and i hope it was useful. im positive i left something out that i wanted in there, but i forgot about it, so if you can think of anything you would like to see in there, jsut let me know and ill do my best fit it in!
P.S. i realised i have alot of grammatical errors and non-capitalised words and typos and such, but cut me some slack 😛 its my first guide, im 14, and i did it in a timeframe of about 2-3 hours including the Link research (i.e. the Worldofwarcraft.com links) i really hope it helped, because i love to help fellow paladins. 🙂
