Protection talents, play and tanking

Protection leveling: every talent point

Protection first: Shield Specialization at 21, Templar’s Bulwark at 22, a second taunt at 25, Holy Shield at 30 and Shieldsworn at 40. Retribution after 40 for Parry, a faster Judgement, crit and run speed. Final split 0 / 39 / 12, the same as the level-60 tank build. Holy / Protection / Retribution: 0 / 39 / 12

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Talent notes

Row n unlocks at 5 × (n − 1) points in that tree. “(Classic)” marks an effect carried over from Classic that Forever sources don’t restate.

Why level as Protection

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Before every pull

• Aura: Retribution Aura from 16 (Devotion Aura before that, or when another Paladin already runs Retribution). Auras don’t stack between Paladins.
• Blessing: Blessing of Might until 20, then Blessing of Kings. Blessings last an hour, so buff every player you pass too.
• Righteous Fury from 10, always on. Improved Righteous Fury and Iron Creed only work while it is active.
• Seal of Fury from 10. Judgement no longer consumes your Seal, so you set it once and leave it.
• From 30, pre-cast Holy Shield as you run in.

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The leveling rotation

Protection presses whatever is ready while watching mana. The order below is what to favor when two buttons are ready at once.

1. Keep Seal of Fury up and auto-attack every target: each swing adds Holy damage and refreshes your small absorb.
2. Packs (from 20): stop moving, let them stack on you, then Consecration. It hits the first 4 enemies properly, so put your auto-attacks on any extras.
3. From 40, Holy Strike on cooldown is your top priority (Shieldsworn). Before 40, Holy Strike on cooldown after Consecration.
4. Judgement on cooldown. It is off the global cooldown, so press it alongside another button. In a group, save it for a mob that leaves you.
5. Holy Shield whenever it is down (from 30).
6. Exorcism on cooldown against Undead and Demons.
7. Single mobs and anything before 20: the same loop without Consecration.
8. Let the last mobs of a pull die to Retribution Aura, Judgement and Holy Strike instead of spending a fresh Consecration.

• Add /startattack to Holy Strike, Judgement and Consecration macros so you never stand there not swinging.
• Swift Judgement (25) is a second taunt with its own cooldown when Judgement is down.

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How big a pull?

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Which Seal, and whose Judgement

• When you are not the active tank, swap off Seal of Fury so a Judgement doesn’t taunt by accident.

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Auras and Blessings

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Mana is the real boss

• Carry water and upgrade it at 5, 15, 25, 35 and 45. Old water is the usual reason you sit too long.
• Shield Specialization (20-21, after Redoubt 5/5) makes each block refund 4% of your mana. The more mobs hit you, the more comes back, which is why pulls of four beat single mobs for mana.
• Holy Shield (30) and Shieldsworn (40) mean more blocks, so more mana.
• Don’t recast Consecration when the pack is nearly dead, and skip Judgement or Holy Strike when your next swing would finish the mob.
• Five-second rule: casting stops Spirit regeneration for 5 seconds, so end a fight with a few spare seconds of auto-attack when you can.
• Lay on Hands costs all your remaining mana. Use it when the alternative is dying.

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When a pull goes wrong

1. Templar’s Bulwark (22): a full-health absorb for 8 seconds. It shares Forbearance with Divine Shield, so treat it as your one big panic button.
2. Divine Protection, then heal. Mobalytics warns that casting drops your avoidance, so don’t hard-cast while several mobs are hitting you.
3. Hammer of Justice the hardest hitter or a caster mid-cast.
4. Flash of Light (20) mid-fight, Holy Light between pulls.
5. Lay on Hands: a full heal on a 20-minute cooldown.
6. Divine Shield (34) and run, if the pull is lost.

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Tanking a dungeon

• Same rotation, but Judgement is now your taunt. Use it on cooldown, and send the next one to whatever peels off. Swift Judgement (25) gives you a second.
• Judgement of Fury reaches 10 yards, twice Taunt or Growl, so you can grab a mob from a little farther away.
• Still think in fours. On bigger pulls, ask the group to kill the mobs outside your four first.
• Use walls, pillars and corners so ranged mobs come into your Consecration.
• Pre-cast Holy Shield as you run in: you want to be hit, because every block builds threat and mana.
• Divine Shield, Divine Protection and Blessing of Protection drop you from threat tables. Don’t bubble yourself while tanking.
• Keep a mouseover Blessing of Protection for a healer or DPS with aggro, and Divine Intervention on the healer when a wipe is certain.

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From 40: Holy Strike runs everything

Shieldsworn takes 4 seconds off Holy Strike’s cooldown and makes it hit with your shield. Each Holy Strike then counts as a block for your talents: Shield Specialization returns mana, Holy Shield deals its damage and Reckoning can give extra attacks, without using Holy Shield’s charges or cooldown.

It also lets you block spells for 6 seconds. In a dungeon, time a Holy Strike just before a big spell lands. Skipping Holy Strikes now costs damage, mana and survival at once.

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Weapons, shields and stats

• Worth going out of your way for: Scepter of the Abandoned (Ruins of Lordaeron), Debt Collector (Shadowfang Keep), Durgen’s Crescent Axe (Hall of Thanes).
• Shields: Kresh’s Back (Wailing Caverns) for early Defense, Commander’s Crest (Shadowfang Keep), Painwalker Buckler (Scarlet Monastery).
• Rings: Seal of Wrynn (Alliance, from 16) or Seal of Sylvanas (Horde, Shadowfang Keep). Alliance cloak: Cloak of the Divine Storm from 22.
• Don’t hold up leveling to chase a dungeon item.

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Human, Dwarf or Undead

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What to train when gold is tight

Always buy new ranks of Seal of Fury, Holy Strike, Consecration, Exorcism, Holy Light and Flash of Light, and every new defensive: Divine Protection, Blessing of Protection, Divine Shield and Lay on Hands. Holy Shield’s trainer ranks at 40, 50 and 60 are core once you have the talent.

Skip Blessing of Might ranks after you have Kings at 20, Seal of the Crusader past rank 1, and Resistance Aura ranks until a raid needs them. Seal of Righteousness ranks only matter if you actually swap to it.

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Save time between pulls

• Always eat: cooked food gives bonus experience in Forever. Grab campfire buffs in towns, and a Leatherworker’s Camp Tent gives rested experience once an hour.
• Start the Cozy Sleeping Bag chain at 14. Three minutes of sleep gives +3% XP, and it stacks with food and campfires.
• Keep every Waylaid Supplies crate you find. The first turn-in gives 50 Merchant Favor coins.
• Professions: Mining and Blacksmithing while leveling. Swap Mining for Engineering when you tank seriously at 60, for bombs. Cooking and First Aid always (First Aid now makes health potions).
• Rotate weapon types on easy mobs to keep every weapon skill at your level. Low skill means misses and lost threat.
• Ask any Druid you meet for Thorns: it stacks with Retribution Aura.
• Do every Paladin class quest, and finish a zone’s dungeon quests before you go in.
• Log out at an inn.

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Your level-60 tank build

The leveling build already ends on Mobalytics’ dungeon and raid build (0 / 39 / 12), so there is nothing to respec at 60.

Icy Veins’ Deep Protection build (0 / 35 / 16) is the main alternative: two fewer Toughness points and no Guardian’s Favor, traded for Benediction, Sacred Arbiter and Sanctified Judgement in Retribution. Its flexible points are in Anticipation, depending on how close you are to the Defense goal.

Icy Veins also lists a Deep Holy tank (23 / 28 / 0) built around Holy Shock and Holy Conduit. It deals much more damage but drops Shieldsworn and spell blocking, so only consider it when you are very well geared.

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Stats at 60

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Raid tanking and preparation

• Raids open December 9: Barrow Deeps (10 players), Hyjal Summit (20) and Onyxia’s Lair (40).
• Onyxia needs the Drakefire Amulet in your bags. Alliance: start “Dragonkin Menace” from Helendis Riverhorn in the Burning Steppes. Horde: “Blood and Thunder” from Warlord Goretooth in Kargath. Both run through Blackrock Spire.
• Off-tanking: swap from Seal of Fury to the Seal your raid leader assigns (Light or Wisdom), because Judgement is off the global cooldown and taunts with Fury.
• Pulling trash: Pursuit of Justice keeps you ahead of the raid. Seal of Fury and Holy Shield up as you run in, Consecration where the pack will end up, Holy Strike, then Judgement a different mob and auto-attack a third so every mob takes direct threat.
• Use Templar’s Bulwark when a pull turns dangerous, and say so early when your taunt is on cooldown.
• Holy Wrath and Hammer of Wrath add damage, but only cast them when you aren’t the one being hit.

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Your first week at 60

Tank most groups and build toward 440 Defense. Keep your Retribution set for solo farming.

• List as a tank. Blackmaw Hold, Shaper’s Terrace, Blackrock Depths, Stratholme or Scholomance. Stratholme’s Undead suit you best.
• Check your Defense. Count it on the character sheet. Move Anticipation points or gear toward 440 before raiding.
• Build the tank set. Stamina and Defense plate, a fast one-hander with Spell Power, and the best shield you can get. Keep a damage set separate.
• Professions. Blacksmithing for plate, and consider Engineering for bombs.
• Train Greater Blessing of Kings. And the rank-4 Holy Shield, rank-5 Consecration and rank-8 Holy Strike.
• Start the Onyxia chain. If you want to raid on December 9. Keep the Drakefire Amulet in your bags.
• Plan the Charger. Bank gold, Runecloth and Arcanite, and group up for Stratholme, Dire Maul and Scholomance.
• Stock up. Water, mana potions and health potions. Bind mouseover Blessing of Protection and Cleanse.

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