Good Tanks are tough to come by and Protection Paladin has been sitting near the top of the tree for some time now. Heading into The War Within, the build was in great shape, offering a balance between outstanding defensive utility and competitive damage output.
Though the spec undoubtedly went through some ups and downs in Dragonflight, it continues to consistently outperform many of its peers.
It fares significantly better in PvE over PvP, with talent trees that don’t allow it the freedom and potency it needs in the latter. With that in mind, here’s our guide to getting the most out of your Protection Paladin in The War Within.
Protection Paladin Class changes in The War Within
There were some reasonably significant Protection Paladin changes as Dragonflight wound down for the final time, with even more to be aware of now The War Within is live. One of the most prominent alterations is the redesign of Sanctuary, which now provides significantly more damage reduction while standing within Consecration.
The other significant alteration is within the Protection talent tree itself. Much of what players dealt with in Dragonflight has been rearranged. Also, many behind-the-scenes statistical mechanics are different, allowing for greater build crafting and more viable options. Rather than detail every little difference here, the next section will detail exactly what to look for.
Protection Paladin talents, Hero Talents, and build
After some changes to how it works (as well as some additional potency), the previously poor Lightsmith Hero Talent tree is the way to go for Mythic+. In addition, it is also about on par with Templar in a raid setting, so we have set up our talent tree with that in mind.
Starting with the Paladin tree, we build into all the critical active use abilities that define the class. Lay on Hands, Cleanse Toxins, Blessing of Freedom, Divine Steed, and Blinding Light all make the cut, offering the maximum utility possible in any scenario.
As the tree progresses, we get to Avenging Wrath, which plays a huge role in maintaining survivability and aggro via additional healing and damage. Hammer of Wrath and Divine Toll also feature, to add to Protection’s overall damage profile.
The rest of the tree is focused on buffs and cooldown reduction. This is done via nodes including Seal of Alacrity, Sacrifice of the Just, and Of Dusk and Dawn. Some Holy Power nodes could be pursued as an alternative, but this is the optimal basic setup.
In the Protection tree, we build into each of the first six nodes for a nice combination of active abilities and passive buffs. Avenger’s Shield remains a staple and the keystone for the talent setup. Other early nodes include Blessed Hammer, with the damage reduction in mind, Redoubt for stat buffs, and Grand Crusader for cooldown reset.
The next big node to look out for in the Protection tree is Sanctuary, vastly improved in the War Within. This will also allow us to build into complementary Hero Talent nodes when we cover that in the next section of this guide.
Guardian of Ancient Kings is as influential as ever and a critical part of the Prot Paladin’s toolkit for unavoidable damage phases or high-density encounters. Later in the tree, we still build into Eye of Tyr, despite being more suitable for Templar, as it remains a strong ability, even without direct benefits from Lightsmith.
The rest of the tree is mainly designed to provide as many buffs to active abilities as possible. This includes Soaring Shield and Strength in Adversity for Avenger’s Shield, with Resolute Defender, and Final Stand for Divine Shield. Make sure to also pick up Inmost Light for the huge damage buff to Eye of Tyr.
Hero Talents
Despite lagging behind during the extensive beta for The War Within, Lightsmith is finally in a great state to provide tangible benefits to Protection Paladin. With both trees seemingly oblivious to Avenger’s Shield, the extra defensive options provided by Lightsmith are marginally better in Mythic+ and equally as good as Templar in raids.
Unusually for Hero Talent trees, Lightsmith has four nodes that give players a choice in how they want to play. Most also provide viable options regardless of which you pick, with the advantages directly geared towards improving an individual area, rather than a more broad buff.
In the first choice slot, we have gone for Rite of Sanctification for the 5% armor increase it provides. You can select Blessed Assurance or Divine Guidance in the next slot, though we have a marginal preference for the latter thanks to the reworked Sanctuary and the overall benefits of Consecration.
In group content, the obvious play in the third choice node is Divine Inspiration, so your allies can benefit from Holy Armaments. That said, in some pugs and solo content, Forewarning is well worth taking for the 20% cooldown reduction on Holy Armaments.
The last node is very situational. Excoriation is likely the better choice in a lot of PvE content. That said, another Fear removal is always useful as a Prot Tank, so feel free to take Fear No Evil if there’s a high chance of that occurring.
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If you decide to run Templar, the choice nodes are fairly cemented for Prot Paladin (there are also only three this time around). In the first slot, go for Zealous Vindication, as the two additional Empyrean Hammers do a lot to generate threat and additional outgoing damage.
In the second slot, Unrelenting Charger is a nice get-out-of-jail-free option in several different scenarios when things get on top of you. The last slot is reserved for Sanctification, thanks to the stacking damage buff to Empyrean Hammer.
Stat priority
For obvious reasons, the primary stat to build into as a Protection Paladin is Strength. This increases overall Attack Power, which improves the efficacy of all abilities, as well as Parry Chance against melee combatants. Outside of that, the order of precedence for stats is as follows:
- Haste
- Mastery
- Critical Strike = Versatility
Haste is a great secondary stat for any specialization because it reduces the Global Cooldown. This is a particularly useful boon for Prot Paladin, which primarily needs to avoid downtime while tanking. It also reduces the cooldown of abilities used in the rotation, meaning you can generate and spend Holy Power more quickly, making the spec immediately more potent.
Mastery is also a great stat to have because it buffs Mastery: Divine Bulwark, which grants significant damage reduction while standing within Consecration’s area of effect. It also increases Attack Power, making class/spec abilities more potent (which we’ll use more often thanks to our high Haste rating).
With the way that the reworked Sanctuary prolongs Consecration, Versatility has been rendered much weaker than before. It still improves both damage and healing, as well as reducing damage taken, but it now brings less to the overall defensive profile of Protection Paladin than Mastery.
On par with Versatility is Critical Strike, which will increase outgoing damage and the chance to parry melee attacks. With the huge emphasis on magic in the opening throes of The War Within, this is proving to be the weakest stat for this spec.
Rotation
The Prot Paladin rotation is mercifully simple for a modern WoW spec – good gameplay relies on clever management of resources and threat. Use abilities like Judgment and Hammer of Wrath to generate additional Holy Power, without creating an excess that wastes your avenues of HP generation.
Shield of the Righteous will be your main outgoing ability in dungeons and raids, ideally used when you have capped your Holy Power. Outside of that, remember to use abilities like Word of Glory to heal in a pinch. This is particularly true when you have stacked three Shield of the Righteous uses, as this procs Shining Light and removes any associated Holy Power costs.
With all of that in mind, and while playing as a Lightsmith Prot Paladin, the following basic rotation should work well:
- Consecration
- Pull with Hand of Reckoning
- Avenger’s Shield
- Avenging Wrath
- Hammer of Wrath
- If you built into Bastion of Light (our guide doesn’t) then use that here
- Judgment
- Shield of the Righteous
- Divine Toll
- Holy Bulwark
- Rotate back around to step 3 when Avenger’s Shield is off cooldown and sprinkle Word of Glory in when appropriate
- Blood Elves can also take advantage of Arcane Torrent throughout
Avenging Wrath is the big cooldown look out for, offering major boosts to damage and healing when active. Use it when possible, but try to pop it around the same time as Divine Toll and Moment of Glory for maximum effectiveness.
Protection Paladin Tier Set breakdown
In this opening salvo for The War Within, Protection Paladins have access to the Heartfire Sentinel’s Authority tier set. This is designed with the Ally of the Light buff in mind, which provides a useful boost to Versatility for the player and an ally. The full breakdown of the tier-set bonuses is as follows:
- 2-Set Bonus: Avenger’s Shield grants you and your closest ally Ally of the Light, increasing Versatility by 8% for 8 sec.
- 4-Set Bonus: Casting Hammer of the Righteous / Blessed Hammer increases your Parry by 7% for 10 seconds and extends the duration of Ally of the Light by 1.0 sec.
The only minor change this will cause gameplay-wise is that you should place greater precedence on Avenger’s Shield when Ally of the Light isn’t active (which if the spec is played correctly, shouldn’t be very often).
Gems and Enchants
As is often the case in WoW expansion cycles, there are some standout Enchantment options for each gear slot. With the offerings available at the start of The War Within, the best options to choose from are as follows:
| Slot | Best Enchantment |
| Weapon | Enchant Weapon – Authority of Radiant Power |
| Cloak | Enchant Cloak – Chant of Burrowing Rapidity |
| Chest | Enchant Chest – Crystalline Radiance |
| Bracers | Enchant Bracer – Chant of Armored Speed |
| Legs | Stormbound Armor Kit |
| Boots | Enchant Boots – Scout’s March |
| Ring – Regular | Enchant Ring – Radiant Haste |
| Ring – Cursed | Enchant Ring – Cursed Haste |
The Authority of Radiant Power Weapon Enchant is huge for the spec, dealing immense damage, generating a ton of threat, and providing a major Primary stat boost. From there, we have selected a series of Enchants that buff the Primary stat further, or Secondary stats like Haste, that should benefit the spec as a whole.
That’s the complete guide! If you’d like to see how Protection Paladin is performing compared to other Tank specs, check out our tier list. We have also broken down every DPS and Healer spec into separate tier lists to keep you up to date with the meta as a whole.