Paladin Patch Notes for 4.0.6 on PTR

The following changes are currently up on the PTR server right now.  Most of the planned changes help the Paladin.  We will be watching closely to see if anything changes before going live.

• The mana costs of Blessing of Might and Blessing of Kings have been increased by approximately 217%, making them roughly equal to the cost of Mark of the Wild.


• Crusader Strike weapon damage percent has been increased to 135%, up from 115%.


• Divine Plea now lasts for 9 seconds, down from 15. It grants 4% mana per tick, instead of 2%, for a total of 12% mana, up from 10%.


• Forbearance
  
  
  
  • The duration has been lowered to 1 minute, down from 2.
  
  
  • Lay on Hands now causes Forbearance on the target. It used to only cause it when cast on the paladin. This was an old design from when Divine Protection caused Forbearance and the paladin didn't want to prevent a tank from using their defensive cooldown.
  
  
  • Lay on Hands cannot be a critical effect and will not be affected by most abilities which modify healing (such as Beacon of Light).
  
  
  • Since only Divine Shield, Lay on Hands and Hand of Protection cause Forbearance, the tooltips have been adjusted to better explain the mechanic.
  
  
  
  


• Holy Wrath no longer counts nearby critters when dividing damage among its targets.


• Inquisition is no longer dispellable.


• Rebuke can now be trained by all paladins at level 54. Existing characters will need to visit their trainer, even if they had talented Rebuke before.


• Seal of Truth: All single target attacks (including Judgement, Hammer of Wrath, Exorcism, and Templar's Verdict) can now trigger this seal.


• Talent Specializations
  
  
  
  • Holy
    
    
    
    • Denounce now has a spell overlay.
    
    
    • Protector of the Innocent heals for 30% less.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Protection
    
    
    
    • Vindication no longer allows Hammer of Justice to interrupt stun-immune targets. With Rebuke baseline, this functionality is no longer necessary.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • Retribution
    
    
    
    • Act of Sacrifice will no longer cause Cleanse to remove movement impairing effects from vehicles the paladin is riding.
    
    
    • Divine Purpose: The chance for applicable abilities to generate Holy Power has been reduced to 7/15%, down from 20/40%, but instead of generating 1 Holy Power, the next applicable ability used consumes no Holy Power and acts as if the paladin has 3 Holy Power.
    
    
    • Divine Storm weapon damage percent increased from 80% to 100%.
    
    
    • Hand of Light (Mastery): A percentage of the damage done by Templar's Verdict, Crusader Strike, and Divine Storm is done as additional Holy damage. This Mastery now grants a 2.1% increase to Holy damage per mastery, down from 2.5%.
    
    
    • Repentance is no longer broken from damage done by Censure (Seal of Truth).
    
    
    • The Rebuke talent has been replaced with a new passive talent, Sacred Shield. Paladins who had Rebuke before will automatically have Sacred Shield. Sacred When reduced below 30% health, paladins gain the Sacred Shield effect. The Sacred Shield absorbs X damage and increases healing received by 20%. Lasts 15 seconds. This effect cannot occur more than once every 30 seconds. Undispellable.
    
    
    • Seals of Command will no longer trigger twice on each swing with Seal of Truth.
    
    
    • Zealotry is no longer dispellable.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• Glyphs
  
  
  
  • Glyph of Divine Plea now adds 6% mana, for a total of 18% over 9 seconds.
  
  
  
  


• Bug Fixes
  
  
  
  • Word of Glory will no longer reset the swing timer.
  
  
  
  

Holy Paladin Leveling Guide - Bright Hub

With the release of the World of Warcraft expansion Cataclysm, there have been numerous class changes. Holy Paladins have been affected by these changes in a positive way. The addition of the Holy Power system, along with a host of new spells and abilities can make the Holy Paladin a bit confusing. These changes also make the Holy Paladin one of the most powerful single target, tank healers in the game. The Holy Paladin is not a solo class. That said, this guide will center around maximizing your healing in a group setting. Whether you decide to join a party exploring a dungeon or one defending its borders, you will be ready to keep your teammates alive and well.

Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/video-games/pc/articles/103016.aspx#ixzz1BDP2nTK4

Leveling a Protection Paladin- Bright Hub

How to Spec your World of Warcraft Protection Paladin to best level in Cataclysm is an oft asked question with the recent release of the new expansion. The cookie cutter Protection Paladin spec has we had all grown to love has been changed by Cataclysm. The best spec to level your new WoW Protection Paladin relies on a few new abilities. These abilities revolve around building and using Holy Power. Fear not though...

Read more: Protection Paladin Leveling Guide

Cataclysm Protection Paladin Reforge Priority

With the removal of Defense on Cataclysm gear, the new goal for your Protection Paladin is to reach 102.4% combined avoidance and mitigation. Though I do not believe this has been attained by anyone yet, here are the basics to get you started.

You want to reach 102.4% avoidance and mitigation by combining

• 5% base chance to miss


• % chance to parry


• % chance to dodge


• % chance to block

Stack parry rating up to 21.21% and dodge rating up to 21.6% (931 rating for both stats).   Dodge and parry are our most effective ratings up to this point.  After this reforge excess parry and dodge into mastery rating until you reach 102.4% combined avoidance and mitigation.  You can check your character sheet and add these yourself or use this easy macro in game for a periodic one-click check:

/script DEFAULT_CHAT_FRAME:AddMessage("Need 102.4 combat table coverage. Currently at: "..string.format("%.2f", GetDodgeChance()+GetBlockChance()+GetParryChance() +5))

You want to reach your Expertise and Hit caps, which should come with gear (and by glyphing Seal of Truth).  Besides these you can follow 5 easy Reforging rules to start capping your Paladin avoidance and mitigation.

1. Mastery + Dodge/Parry = perfect, don't touch


2. Mastery + Hit/Exp = reforge Hit/Exp into Dodge/Parry, whichever is lower


3. Mastery + Haste/Crit = same as #2, but you'll piss off the DPS rolling on it.


4. Dodge + Parry = reforge more numerous stat into


5. MasteryDodge/Parry + Hit/Exp = reforge Hit/Exp into Mastery

This should help you start getting your gear ready for 5 man regular and heroics.  Good hunting!

Cataclysm Paladin Basics

How do I spec my new Protection Paladin in Cataclysm?  How do I spec my Protection Paladin for leveling? How do I tank low level instances in World of Warcraft?  Since these questions get asked on the official forums ten times a day, I figured I'd repost some of my answers here.

These are in response to the following:

1. Good leveling spec?


2. Most important stats while leveling?


3. What is the rotation I should be using while soloing quests?


4. What rotation should I use while tanking in dungeons in a group?


5. What glyphs should I take first?

My response was posted on my main Paladin Grymdal:

For a detailed article on leveling a Protection Paladin

1. For leveling I'd go with something like this Paladin Spec with a couple of comments. The 1 point in Hallowed Ground will give you a mana reduction and allow you to use Consecration more often. I've placed two points in it before, removing one from Sacred Duty while leveling, but really my mana is fine with just 1 point in it. Divine Guardian is a great raiding tool, but not needed for leveling. I put two points in Improved Judgements because that is where I think the majority use them, I actually place my 2 points in Eye for an Eye, but that's personal preference. This again is for leveling and will adjust slightly at 85.

2. Stamina and Strength while leveling. You'll get pieces with other stats on them (Dodge, parry, crit, hit, expertise, ect) which are all fine, but Stamina and Strength are the main ones you're looking for while leveling. Just use the best quest reward or dungeon drop you have at the time, don't ever buy anything from the Auction House. Honestly leveling is so fast right now you'll be burning through equipment.

3. While leveling your rotation will be pretty basic. You try to build 3 Holy Power and then use it through Word of Glory(WoG) or Shield of the Righteous(SotR). So a simple leveling rotation will be something like this:

Pull with Avenger Shield(AS), or body pull.
Crusader Strike(CS)>Judgement>CS>AS (if its up) or Consecration/Holy Wrath (whatever is off cooldown)>CS>WoG (you're low on health or healer is low on mana) if not then SotR.

When you get Hammer of the Righteous use it in place of Crusader Strike when you have more than one target. At very low levels you won't have some of the abilities listed, just use whatever filler you have off cooldown in between your Crusader Strikes.

4. The rotation in a LFD group is really no different. You just have to learn to control the aggro on mobs. Learn to use your first taunt (Hand of Reckoning), Judgements and Avenger's Shield to grab mobs if you start to lose aggro on them. Once you're in your 20's it gets much easier, you'll have Consecration, Holy Wrath and Hammer of the Righteous (at level 29 if you spec for it) to help hold AoE aggro. Most of the time you can keep Retribution Aura up when on trash mobs for a little extra aggro, just remember to pop Devotion Aura for bosses to make your healer happy. Remember to keep Righteous Fury buff up also.

5. For your first seals I would go for a survivability set up. Taking Word of Glory for Prime, Lay on Hands for Major and Blessing of Kings for Minor. Though in all reality seals aren't going to make or break your game while leveling.

Lastly, if you've never played a tank before don't get discouraged. There is a lot of responsibility on your shoulders when in a group. Much harder than DPS at low level, who can just sit back and mash buttons. Getting kicked from a group will happen if you're learning, though most people are more understanding than that. Think you just had a group of !%%!s personally. I can tell you though that I love tanks, Paladins the most, though I play all of them.

Most of all have fun.

Chosen AoE Tanking

Wondering how the new changes will affect this guide, but so far it is an amazing farming spec. It will also allow you to off tank well and main tank some smaller jobs.

I have found Warhammer Chosen make quite good AoE tanks. You can start this around level 15. You can do it well in groups around level 20 once you receive your AoE taunt. At 25 it really starts to shine. I'll try to point out the best talents I've found at each level (15, 20, 25). This is as far as I've made it so far. I do this mainly in between Scenarios, AoE grinding PQ/Kill task mobs when I can for good XP.

It is important to take Apothecary and Scavenging as your skills. This will allow you to make Thorn Potions and HoT Potions. Use the highest level you can make at the time. Here is a good Google spreadsheet I found with recipe/formula info Apothecary. The Thorn potion should always be up. The HoT potions are just in case, I usually don't need them.

You will be stacking Toughness, Wounds, and Armor gear. You are not worried about Strength for your melee damage as we are more concerned with the mobs beating themselves to death on us.

As far as attacks I am usually lazy. I cycle through the targets reapplying Seeping Wound until they are dead. You can be more involved than this if you want.

My career points I went straight up the Corruption tree and am now bringing up Dread. I have no idea if this is a good idea at this point. It does increase the potency of most of the skills I use to AoE Tank. I guess we'll see.

Level 15
Tanking 3-4 melee mobs at a time
Warped Flesh.
This will proc constantly and absorb damage.
Shield Wall
Not a necessity, but can help offset all damage for 10 seconds while you pop a HoT potion.
Corrupting Wrath
Just run this toughness aura for now.

Level 20
Tanking 6-8 melee mobs at a time
Raze
Your new Tier 2 Morale ability (replaces Shield Wall). This will hit all mobs in front of you for 300 every second for 3 seconds. With alot beating on you its usable every 60 seconds.
Chaotic Advantage This is your 2nd career tactic until we change it in a few levels. Just helps to build action points as you will parry quite a bit.
You also have a few new abilities:
Blast Wave
More AoE Damage. Hit it every time it refreshes.
Corrupting Retribution
Your self HoT Aura to help keep you alive. Run this instead of your toughness aura, unless you like twisting. Ideally twist them both.
Challenge
Only when grouped or to help solo pull. Your AoE taunt.

Level 25
Tanking 6-10 melee mobs at a time, maybe more
Dreadful Agony
This is your AoE damage aura. You should now be twisting it with Corrupting Retribution and Corrupting Wrath. At the minimum twist this with your heal Aura.
Backlash
This will now fill your 2nd career tactic (replacing Chaotic Advantage) causing a DoT on any enemy that hits you. You can actually change this when you get it at 23.

Level 35-40
Tanking anywhere from 10-25 equal level mobs depending on type.
I've added these, buy it is more speculation at this point. Bane shield is an excellent source of AoE DPS, but I am not sure if Baneful Shielding is worth the Tactic slot.
Bane Shield
Baneful Shielding
These two together seem powerful.
I also like these as your 3rd and 4th Tactic slot:
Chaotic Advantage
Mixed Defenses
These two together should keep your Action Points almost full from parrying so much.

If anyone has ideas, comments, or experience with AoE tanking please leave your comments so I can try them out. I am by no means an expert. This is just info I have learned as I played around with AoE farming PQ xp in between scenarios. For some reason this play style intrigues me. Remember that melee mobs are easier. Ranged mobs can be a pain unless you have a spot to get out of Line of Sight, and can then pull them to you. Don't ask me why, but I enjoy making huge pulls and watching the damage numbers fly

Choppa AoE guide

Where to grind (general info):

This is the same general info from my Chosen AoE guide, but it should be repeated here. For the best xp find a PQ filled with kill task mobs. If you can find them they should be your level or one higher, lower than that and you should be looking for a new spot. Caster mobs are nice to round up if you can pull them around a corner out of LoS to stack them. If they are melee then just make sure they don't stun/knockdown/disarm/etc. If you can't find a PQ/kill task spot, then just agood fast spawn of kill task mobs. If you can't find these then just a good concentrated spot of anything.

Basic Spec:

Dual Wield. Parry is your friend , the increase in damage from a two hander will not out weigh the lost 10% parry when it comes to AoE grinding.

Spec straight up the Wrecka tree. Get Longer and Stronger, Extra Choppin, and Get to Da Choppa (for some AoE CC when you need a breather).

Tactics:These are no brainers and pretty much cookie cutter by now, but here you go...
Longer & Stronger (heal tick) ( if you have a healer add in another damage tactic instead)
Extra Choppin' (up to nine targets for Lotsa)
Brute Force (added str)
Easy Killin' (Reduced AP cost when raged)

Strategy:

• At low levels use the good 'ol body pull. At higher levels you can pull with your Frontal Cone dot.


• At low level just spam Lotsa Choppin.


• Don't bother using your using exhaustion attacks. You want to keep up your max damage, plus I believe it will stop your heal tick. As long as you are not over pulling the damage + heal outweigh the loss in armor.


• Use you T1 shield morale every time it pops.


• Use heal pots when you need to reduce downtime.


• Use Thorn pots for the added damage.


• Keep the mobs dotted, if the run they should die.


• Run Hurtin Time, it deals good damage when AoE pulling and will enhance your kill speed.


• Don't get greedy. If you over pull and die then you lose time and therefore efficiency.


• AP regen gear or a guild standard with AP regen is always helpful if you have acess to them.

There is a lot of personal preference that can change this info. You may pick up certain skills depending on whether you are grinding straight thru or doing some RvR along the way. But this should give you the basics to get you started.