WoW Forever Protection Paladin Guide

Protection Paladin is a real tank in WoW Forever, and it tanks with Holy damage. Righteous Fury now adds 33% threat to everything you do and another 90% to Holy attacks, Seal of Fury turns Judgement into a taunt, and the new capstone Shieldsworn makes Holy Strike hit with your shield, so it triggers Holy Shield without spending a charge. Add Templar's Bulwark, an absorb shield as large as your health pool, and you get a tank that holds packs, heals through its own mistakes and rarely stops to drink.

This guide is written for level 60 and the live game as of the November 11 hotfixes. ConquestCapped checked every Protection talent against the Forever talent data and the hotfixes on November 13, so the builds below use the talents as they work today, not as they worked in the beta. You will find where Protection stands among the tanks, the best race, a raid build and a dungeon build in talent calculators you can edit, the Legacy talents worth taking, the stat priority and caps, the threat rotation for bosses and packs, cooldowns, macros, common mistakes, enchants and consumables, gear and professions.

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Is Protection Paladin Good in WoW Forever?

Yes. Protection is the easiest tank to play well in dungeons. Consecration deals its full damage to the first four enemies, Holy Shield punishes every block with Holy damage, and Shieldsworn lets you block spells as well as melee attacks. Your Mana comes back from blocks through Shield Specialization and from every Judgement through Sanctified Judgement, so a geared Paladin can chain pulls for a whole dungeon.

The weak side is the raid. The Paladin has no AoE taunt, no interrupt and only one dedicated defensive cooldown, and raids already want Paladins as healers and for their Blessings. Your Judgement taunt also lasts only 3 seconds since the October 30 changes. The table sums up what Protection does well and where it struggles at 60.

Protection Paladin vs Other Tanks

In dungeons, the Protection Paladin is at the top with the Protection Warrior. The Paladin holds a pack with less effort and heals itself, while the Warrior has Challenging Shout for pulls that go wrong and stronger cooldowns. The Feral Druid has the most armor and health but holds only three enemies with its AoE.

In raids, a Paladin can tank every boss, and Swift Judgement gives it a second taunt for swaps. Most raids will still bring a Warrior as the main tank and a Paladin as an off-tank or a tank for caster adds, where blocking spells pays off the most. Every tank is ranked for dungeons and raids in our WoW Forever tank tier list.

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Best Race for Protection Paladin

Three races can be Paladins in Forever: Human and Dwarf on the Alliance and, for the first time, Undead on the Horde. Racials matter more for a tank than for a healer, but none of them is strong enough to switch faction for. Here is what each race gives a Protection Paladin.

Dwarf is the best tank race. Stoneform is a second defensive button that does not share Forbearance with your other cooldowns, and the 1% hit means fewer missed Judgements on the pull. Human is close behind: the extra crit adds a little threat and the stun break saves you on some bosses. Undead is the only choice on the Horde and a good one, since Will of the Forsaken covers the fears that a Dwarf has to wait out. Every Paladin race is compared for each spec in our best Paladin race in WoW Forever guide.

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Protection Paladin Talents at 60

Both builds below take the Protection tree to Shieldsworn and pick up every talent that adds threat or reduces damage on the way. The remaining points go into Retribution, where Sanctified Judgement returns Mana on every Judgement, Improved Judgement lets you judge more often and Pursuit of Justice makes you 15% faster, which frees your boots for a Stamina enchant. Every talent below is checked against the talent data after the October 30 rework.

Best Protection Paladin Raid Build: 0/35/16

This is the build for raid bosses and the default for most players at 60. It takes 5/5 Anticipation for 20 Defense, which you need to reach the Defense cap with pre-raid gear, and every threat talent in Protection.

A few talents decide how the spec plays.

• Shieldsworn 1/1. Cuts the cooldown of Holy Strike to 6 sec and makes it strike with your shield. Every Holy Strike triggers Holy Shield and Shield Specialization without using a charge or the cooldown, and lets you block spells for 6 sec.
• Iron Creed 3/3. 30% more threat on Holy Strike, and while Righteous Fury is active, each Holy Strike reduces your damage taken by 6% for 6 sec. With Shieldsworn you can keep it up all the time.
• Improved Righteous Fury 3/3. Reduces all damage you take by 9% while Righteous Fury is active. The October 30 changes raised it from 6%.
• Templar's Bulwark 1/1. An absorb shield equal to 100% of your maximum health for 8 sec, every 4 min with Sacred Duty. Your main defensive cooldown.
• Swift Judgement 1/1. A second Judgement on its own 1 min cooldown. Use it for threat on the pull or as a second taunt if the first one misses.
• Reckoning 5/5. Blocks and critical hits against you store up to 4 extra attacks, and each one also triggers your Seal.
• Redoubt 5/5 and Shield Specialization 2/2. More blocks mean more Holy Shield damage, more Reckoning charges and 4% of your maximum Mana back on a block, once every 3 sec.
• Precision 3/3. 3% hit for all your attacks and spells.

Sacred Arbiter is the point players argue about. It adds 20% damage to Holy Strike and makes it refresh every Judgement on the target, which matters when your raid has a Holy Paladin judging Wisdom or Light but no Retribution Paladin to keep it up. Without that, your auto attacks refresh the Judgements anyway, and you can move the point elsewhere. If your raid has no Warrior to apply Demoralizing Shout, a common swap moves the 3 points from Conviction into Vindication, which lowers the boss's Attack Power.

Protection Paladin Dungeon Build: 0/32/19

In five-player dungeons, packs die before Defense matters much, and the time between pulls matters more. This build drops Anticipation and takes Guardian's Favor for a shorter Blessing of Protection cooldown and Vindication, which lowers the Attack Power of the enemies you hit.

The difference from the raid build is small. If you tank both raids and dungeons, keep the raid build and save the gold you would spend on a respec. Dual Specialization opens at level 40, so many players keep a Protection build in one slot and a Retribution build for solo play in the other.

Other Protection Builds

Two more builds are worth knowing, both for players who want more threat and accept less safety:

• Shockprot, 23/28/0. Takes Holy Shock, Consecrated Ground for 10% more Holy damage on the first four enemies and Holy Conduit for cheaper Consecration, but stops before Iron Creed and Shieldsworn. Strong single-target threat, weaker defense and a hungry Mana bar.
• Retprot, 0/21/30. Stops Protection at Holy Shield and goes deep into Retribution for Seal of Command and Champion of the Light. Good on trash with many enemies, and it scales well with Intellect.

Talent Order While Leveling

Most guides start in Retribution: Benediction, Sanctified Judgement, Improved Judgement and Pursuit of Justice fix your Mana and your speed for the whole leveling route. The cost is time: Holy Shield needs 20 points in Protection and Shieldsworn needs 30, so with Retribution first you get Holy Shield at level 42 and Shieldsworn at 52. If you tank dungeons all the way, Protection first gives you Holy Shield at 30 and Shieldsworn at 40. The full route to 60 is in our WoW Forever Paladin leveling guide.

Protection Talents to Skip

Some talents look useful but do little for a tank at 60.

• Divine Intellect. More Intellect means a bigger Mana pool, but the Mana from blocks and Judgements is worth more than 5 points.
• Improved Hammer of Justice. A shorter Hammer of Justice cooldown is a PvP talent.
• Stoicism. Shorter stuns help in PvP. In raids, Dwarves and Humans already have a racial for it.
• The last 2 points of Toughness. Worth about as much as Anticipation before the Defense cap, so the raid build stops at 3/5.

Our WoW Forever Paladin talents guide compares every talent in all three trees with its Classic version.

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Legacy Talents for Protection Paladin

Legacy talents are account-wide perks that you unlock by playing, and at 60 the best of them save a Paladin time and gold. Three are worth more to a Paladin than to almost any other class. Reagent Economy removes the Symbol of Kings cost from Greater Blessing of Kings and every other Greater Blessing. Permanence doubles the duration of your Blessings from 1 hour to 2. The Quick and the Dead makes your helpful spells free for 2 minutes after you are resurrected, so you rebuff the raid and cast Righteous Fury after a wipe without spending Mana.

To reach those perks, the build also takes Gourmand, which makes food buffs like Baked Salmon last twice as long, and Reinforce for less durability loss on wipes, which matters most for the tank whose armor breaks first. The last 3 points go into Diplomat for the reputations behind your tank gear. How every Legacy tree works is covered in our best WoW Forever Legacy talent builds guide.

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Protection Paladin Stat Priority

A tank's first job is to stop the hits a healer cannot plan for, and that still means critical strikes. A raid boss is three levels above you and crits a level 60 tank with base Defense 5.6% of the time, so you need 440 Defense before a boss can no longer crit you. With 5/5 Anticipation your gear has to supply 120 of it.

The second job is threat, and that is where a Paladin differs from a Warrior. Most of your threat is Holy damage multiplied by Righteous Fury, and spell power raises the damage of Holy Strike, Judgement, Consecration, Holy Shield and your Seal at once. Strength adds only a little Block Value and Attack Power, and Intellect only feeds your Mana pool. This is the order for a raid tank before the first raids:

1. Defense up to 440 for raid bosses (435 for level 62 dungeon bosses)
2. Stamina
3. Spell power (shown on the tooltip as "Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects")
4. Hit Chance up to 8%
5. Expertise up to 6.5%
6. Armor and Block Chance
7. Dodge and Parry
8. Critical Strike, Strength and Intellect

Once you reach 440 Defense, more of it is worth far less, and spell power and hit move up. In five-player dungeons, where nothing crits through 435 Defense, you can play with a threat set that trades Defense for spell power and hit.

Defense, Hit and Expertise Caps

Forever uses one Hit Chance for melee, spells and ranged attacks, and it adds Expertise, a new stat that lowers the chance that the enemy you attack dodges or parries. Since the November 11 hotfixes, Judgement counts as a ranged attack and uses your ranged hit chance, which is the same unified number. These are the values that matter against a level 63 raid boss:

Precision gives you 3% hit and Dwarves add 1% more, so your gear covers the rest. How Defense, Expertise and the other reworked stats are calculated is explained in our WoW Forever stats and itemization guide, and the numbers for every enemy level are in our WoW Forever hit cap guide.

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Protection Paladin Threat Rotation and Cooldowns

A Protection Paladin has no fixed rotation. You keep a Seal up, use your Holy damage on cooldown in a set order and watch your Mana. The order changes a little between a boss and a pack, and your defensive cooldowns follow the fight, not a timer.

How Threat Works for a Paladin Tank

Righteous Fury adds 33% threat to everything you do and another 90% to your Holy damage, so for a Paladin tank, Holy damage is threat. That is why Seal of Fury is your tanking Seal: it adds Holy damage to every swing, and with a shield equipped, half of that damage becomes an absorb shield on you. Its Judgement deals Holy damage and taunts the target for 3 sec from 10 yards. About a third of your single-target damage comes from auto attacks with this Seal, so keep swinging.

The taunt is also its main risk. When another tank holds the boss, switch to Seal of Righteousness so you do not taunt it away by accident. Righteous Fury lasts 30 minutes, so check it before every pull and recast it before a boss if less than 5 minutes are left.

Pre-Pull and Opener

Before the pull, cast Righteous Fury, choose Retribution Aura as your Aura unless the group needs another one, and put up Seal of Fury. Then open in this order:

1. Holy Shield just before the boss reaches you.
2. Judgement from 10 yards. It is off the global cooldown.
3. Swift Judgement right after it for a second burst of threat, if you will not need it as a taunt in the next minute.
4. Holy Strike as soon as you are in melee range.
5. Consecration, then switch to the single-target priority.

On a long boss fight, you can first judge Seal of the Crusader or Seal of Wisdom to leave its debuff on the target, then switch to Seal of Fury. Skip this if the target will die within 20 to 30 seconds.

Single Target Priority

On a boss, use the first ability on this list that is ready:

1. Keep Seal of Fury active.
2. Judgement on cooldown.
3. Holy Shield, so your blocks deal damage. Fit two Holy Strikes into each Holy Shield.
4. Holy Strike on cooldown. With Shieldsworn it comes back every 6 sec and keeps Iron Creed up.
5. Consecration if your Mana allows it.
6. Exorcism against Undead and Demons.
7. Hammer of Wrath when the target is below 20% health.

If your Mana is low, Consecration is the first button to drop on a single target. If you are far ahead on threat, hold it as well.

AoE Threat and Dungeon Pulls

On a pack, the order changes: Consecration moves to the top, because only the first four enemies that enter it take its full damage. Pull them together, drop Consecration under them and judge the enemy that a damage dealer is most likely to hit first. Holy Shield uses its four charges in a few seconds against a pack, so press it on cooldown. Holy Wrath only hits Undead and Demons and has a 2 sec cast, so use it on those packs only when nothing is hitting you.

If you pull more than four enemies, mark the rest for crowd control or kill them first. The Paladin has no AoE taunt, so the enemy that gets loose has to be picked up with Judgement or Swift Judgement. Blessing of Protection on a Mage or Warlock who pulled threat makes the enemy return to you, but the target cannot attack while it lasts.

Mana Management

A Paladin tank lives on Mana, and pressing every button on cooldown empties it within a few pulls. The talents in the builds above return most of what you spend: Shield Specialization gives back 4% of your maximum Mana on a block, Sanctified Judgement returns 60% of the Seal's cost on each Judgement, and Seal of Fury absorbs damage you would otherwise heal. Keep Greater Blessing of Wisdom from a Paladin in your group on you as well.

In dungeons with easy trash, you can tank in Seal of Wisdom and judge Seal of Fury only when you need the taunt. Holy Strike and the Holy Shield damage can both trigger Seal of Wisdom, so you get a lot of Mana back on every pull. Switch back to Seal of Fury for bosses and dangerous packs.

Defensive Cooldowns

Your three big cooldowns share Forbearance, which lasts 50 sec with Sacred Duty. You can use only one of them per minute, so pick the one that fits the moment:

A well-known trick for boss mechanics that you cannot tank through is the bubble taunt. Cast Divine Shield, then Judgement and Swift Judgement one after the other: each taunt holds the boss on you for 3 sec while you take no damage, and the bubble also clears most debuffs. Cancel the bubble with a macro as soon as it is safe, so your damage is no longer halved.

Seals, Auras and Blessings in a Group

Retribution Aura is your default Aura: it adds Holy damage on every hit against you and scales with spell power in Forever. If your co-tank is in your party, Devotion Aura is the safer choice. In raids, the Paladins split Auras and Blessings between them, and a tank usually covers one Greater Blessing, such as Greater Blessing of Kings, or one of the resistance Auras, which now reach the whole raid within 30 yards. Seals, Auras and Blessings are covered in detail in our WoW Forever Paladin guide.

Useful Macros for Protection Paladin

The default attack key in Forever is a toggle, so pressing it at the wrong time can stop your auto attacks. Put the attack into the abilities you press anyway. This macro starts your swing with every Holy Strike:

#showtooltip
/startattack
/cast Holy Strike

Make the same macro for Judgement, but not for Holy Shield, which you often press before the pull. A mouseover macro casts Blessing of Protection on the player under your mouse without changing your target. Make the same one for Blessing of Freedom and Cleanse:

#showtooltip
/cast [@mouseover,help,nodead][help,nodead] Blessing of Protection

This macro casts Divine Shield on the first press and removes it on the second, which you need after a bubble taunt:

#showtooltip
/cast Divine Shield
/cancelaura Divine Shield

Engineers can drop an Advanced Target Dummy and put Blessing of Protection on it with one key. Enemies around the dummy attack it, and the Blessing keeps it alive against Physical damage for 10 sec. Press it twice, when no global cooldown is running:

#showtooltip Advanced Target Dummy
/use [@cursor] Advanced Target Dummy
/cleartarget
/target Advanced Target Dummy
/stopmacro [noexists][dead]
/cast [@target] Blessing of Protection

Add a threat meter so you see when a damage dealer is about to pull an enemy off you, and a reminder for Righteous Fury if your interface allows one.

Protection Paladin Mistakes to Avoid

These are the mistakes that cost Protection Paladins the most at 60.

• Forgetting Righteous Fury. Without Righteous Fury you lose a third of your threat, the 90% Holy bonus and the 9% damage reduction from Improved Righteous Fury. Check it before every pull.
• Leaving Seal of Fury on when someone else tanks. Every Judgement taunts. Switch to Seal of Righteousness for tank swaps and off-tank phases.
• Pouring all your Mana into Consecration. On a single target, it is your least efficient threat. Drop it first when Mana gets low.
• Bubbling while tanking. Divine Shield makes the enemies leave you. Taunt them back right away or use Templar's Bulwark instead.
• Using two Forbearance cooldowns back to back. Templar's Bulwark, Divine Shield and Divine Protection block each other for 50 sec. Plan which one you need for each phase.
• Casting Holy Wrath with enemies on you. Its 2 sec cast gets pushed back by every hit.
• Using Blessing of Protection too freely. The target cannot attack while it lasts, so put it on a caster who pulled threat, not on a Warrior or a Rogue.

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Enchants and Consumables for Protection Paladin

Enchants for a Paladin tank are mostly Stamina and Defense, with spell power on the weapon for threat. Forever adds necklace enchants, and the head and legs take Arcanums from Dire Maul. This is the tank kit per slot:

For raids, bring Flask of the Titans for 1,200 health, or Flask of Supreme Power for 150 spell power on fights where threat is the problem. Add Greater Arcane Elixir and Elixir of Greater Defense, and drink Gift of Arthas on bosses that hit in melee: it gives the attacker a disease that makes it take more damage. Brilliant Wizard Oil on your weapon adds 36 spell power. Baked Salmon gives spell power for threat, Rumsey Rum Black Label adds Stamina on top of your food, and Dragonbreath Chili adds a little AoE threat. Greater Stoneshield Potion covers dangerous phases, Major Mana Potion and Dark Rune keep your Mana up on long fights, and Free Action Potion keeps you moving through stuns and slows. Every enchant, its formula and its materials are in our best enchants in WoW Forever guide.

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Protection Paladin Gear Overview

Before the raids open on December 9, most of your tank gear comes from Blacksmithing. The Warder's and Enriched Thorium plate pieces carry Defense, Stamina and spell power together, and with them and a few dungeon items, a Paladin reaches about 445 Defense and 200 spell power. The trinket slot belongs to Defender's Grip Stabilizer from the Tarnished Undermine Real vendor, and the shield to Draconian Deflector from Blackrock Spire.

For the weapon, speed matters more than damage. Seal of Fury adds the same Holy damage to every swing, so a fast one-hander gives more threat, more absorb and more Reckoning procs. Hand of Edward the Odd is the best pre-raid choice if you find one, and Flurry Axe is a good alternative. Every slot with its source and alternatives is in our WoW Forever Protection Paladin BiS guide, and the Justice Battleplate you will chase in the first raids is covered in our WoW Forever Paladin tier set guide.

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Best Professions for Protection Paladin

Blacksmithing is the best profession for a Protection Paladin. Seven pieces of the pre-raid tank set are crafted, and all of them bind when picked up, so only a Blacksmith can wear them. Mining pairs well with it and saves gold on Thorium and Arcanite.

Engineering is the strong second choice once your gear is done. Goblin Sapper Charge adds threat on every enemy in a pack, Advanced Target Dummy saves pulls that go wrong, and Force Reactive Disk deals damage on every block. Of the secondary professions, Cooking gives you the food buffs and First Aid saves Mana between pulls.

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More Guides for Your Protection Paladin

These guides cover the rest of the Paladin in Forever: the class overview with all three specs, the best tank gear for every slot, every talent change, the best race for each spec and how Protection compares with the other tanks.

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WoW Forever Protection Paladin FAQ

These are the questions players ask most often about Protection Paladin in WoW Forever.

Is Protection Paladin good in WoW Forever?

Yes. It is the easiest tank to play well in dungeons, with strong AoE threat on four enemies, self-healing and Mana from blocks. In raids it can tank every boss, but most groups bring a Warrior as the main tank and a Paladin for off-tank and caster jobs.

What is the best Protection Paladin build at 60?

For raids, 0/35/16: the Protection tree to Shieldsworn with 5/5 Anticipation, plus Sanctified Judgement, Improved Judgement and Pursuit of Justice in Retribution. For dungeons, the 0/32/19 version drops Anticipation for Guardian's Favor and Vindication. Both builds are in the calculators above.

Does Protection Paladin have a taunt in WoW Forever?

Yes. With Seal of Fury active, Judgement taunts the target for 3 sec from 10 yards, and Swift Judgement adds a second Judgement on its own cooldown. There is no AoE taunt.

How much Defense does a Protection Paladin need?

440 Defense against raid bosses and 435 against level 62 dungeon bosses. With 5/5 Anticipation, which gives 20 Defense in Forever, your gear has to provide 120. ConquestCapped's pre-raid list in our BiS guide reaches 445.

Do Protection Paladins need spell power?

Yes. Righteous Fury adds 90% extra threat to Holy damage, and spell power raises the damage of Holy Strike, Judgement, Consecration, Holy Shield and your Seal. After Defense and Stamina, it is the stat that decides whether you hold threat.

What is the Protection Paladin rotation?

A priority, not a fixed order: keep Seal of Fury up, then Judgement, Holy Shield, Holy Strike and Consecration as they come off cooldown. On packs, Consecration moves to the top. Keep Righteous Fury active the whole time.

Which seal should a Protection Paladin use?

Seal of Fury while you tank, because it adds Holy damage, an absorb shield and the taunt. Use Seal of Righteousness when another tank holds the target, and Seal of Wisdom on easy trash if you need Mana.

Should I level as Protection Paladin?

Yes, especially if you tank dungeons on the way. Seal of Fury and Judgement taunt from level 10, and Consecration arrives at 20. Most players put their first points into Retribution for Pursuit of Justice and Mana talents, then switch to Protection. The route is in our WoW Forever Paladin leveling guide.