leveling Pally? Which spec and what to get asap...

[mechleader]

Im thinking of leveling a paladin. I just hit level 12 and I have realized instantly that fighting with a two hand weap I get down to <25% health at the end of every single fight. I don't think thats how I want to play so Im looking for alternative options. ATM Im leveling with a shield on and using a 1 hand I end the fight at ~75% health killing takes forever however.

Im wondering what the best talent spec is to maximize damage done and minimize damage recieved so I can use a 2h effectively without almost dying. Im looking for something to allow for more ease of play, I don't want to worry I will die every fight.

Is Prot better for those early levels? Should I stick with ret? Have you had these problems while leveling your pally, if so what did you do to fix it? Which talents are an absolute must?

[LordSidious]

As someone who decided to punish himself by leveling two paladins to 60+...

I honestly believe that you speccing Prot is the best way to go. It really is.

Once you get Consecrate, you shouldnt have any problems getting groups to do the lowbie instances.

If you use careful management of your seals and what you judge on a target, you shouldnt have too much downtime with mana.

You wont be taking as much damage as you are now, which also means less downtime.

Seriously, I have found that leveling as Ret was a huge 'Uuuuugghh' and a lot of the lowbie groups wont want you as Ret. They will want you to tank or heal. I personally find tanking more exciting than healing but thats me.

Ret is a squishy spec, if you pull more than one mob at a time you take loads of damage because you cant kill things very fast. I highly advise Prot.

Prot also gives you that advantage of being able to volunteer to tank for instances like I said earlier..and everyone wants a tank for instances.

EDIT: At 12 its still going to be slow going for you. All of the 1st tier stuff is kind of meh at your level. http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=sZVhb Put your talent points into Redoubt and then Precision and then Toughness...only 2 there because after you put in your second you can get Shield Specialization which will help big time for reducing your damage taken from mobs.

[Fastblack]

imo find a friend and PL

[LordSidious]

imo find a friend and PL

Well that answered the OP's post about what spec to go with.

[Cold]

Im thinking of leveling a paladin. I just hit level 12 and I have realized instantly that fighting with a two hand weap I get down to <25% health at the end of every single fight. I don't think thats how I want to play so Im looking for alternative options. ATM Im leveling with a shield on and using a 1 hand I end the fight at ~75% health killing takes forever however.

Im wondering what the best talent spec is to maximize damage done and minimize damage recieved so I can use a 2h effectively without almost dying. Im looking for something to allow for more ease of play, I don't want to worry I will die every fight.

Is Prot better for those early levels? Should I stick with ret? Have you had these problems while leveling your pally, if so what did you do to fix it? Which talents are an absolute must?

I have 2 paladins, and lvling is not all that bad, but its actually xtremely fun. I suggest spec Ret up to lvl70, u will find great pain when u lvling as Prot, seriously, I tried that from lvl30-62. Ret is the way to go, and dont forget to get Seal of Command. Hammer of Justice often for more Judgement of Command dmg and Survival. Ive beaten all classes at lvl62-68.

Good Luck with ur Paladin.

[mechleader]

Thanks for insight... a friend also mentioned Holy AoE grinding, any insight?

[Grenwalis]

Holy AoE, Prot AoE, both are great for grinding out mobs. It is really just a matter of preference.

[TKM]

Thanks for insight... a friend also mentioned Holy AoE grinding, any insight?

Prot AoE grinding is a very successful leveling build at 30 & beyond because of BoS. You have high survivability from the build but must grind on 4+ mobs to get the best effect from it. One on one, its horribly slow.
I enjoyed leveling it because its fun being able to tank, hold, and kill 5-7 mobs at your level or one to two levels above.

[b37x]

Holy AoE is not a good idea.
Prot AoE doesn't get fun till you can put 31points in and get Holy Shield.

So until lvl 40, spec Ret. Then try out 0/31/0.

[MCxPmoney]

I leveled prot as a paladin all the way to 60, where I realized that I needed to kill stuff a lot faster, so I switched to ret, but prot serves one good in the early levels while the true power of ret is revealed at the much later levels

[Spamor]

So i leveled 3 paladins to 70
Prot is not bad the only problem are mobs that can heal oder cast

[Bainz]

Ok, at level 12, it is going to be difficult...

I suggest specing into ret. Get to 20 and get the Seal.
You will find in a few levels you will hardly lose any HP.

-Ret until 40.

-At 40, spec Prot.

-Prot until 69 or 70 whenever you plan on changing or, of course, stay prot.

[Deleted]

What you absolutely need to do:

- Enchant Fiery Weapon on all your 2h weapons until at least L. 40. Get a new 2h weapon every 5 levels at the most. Gear for strength, AP, crit, agility in that order. Use leather/mail if you have to. Use the Auction House to keep your gear close to your level and always enchant Fiery Weapon on your 2h weapon. You will love it so much. Buy the highest level water and food, and use buff food/elixirs to increase your killing speed. Buff players you come across, they will appreciate it and might buff you in return, which will make you life a bit easier for a few minutes. Do not group unless you realy have to - grouping will lower your EXP/time. Do not waste time looking for instance groups unless you want to - you can spend that 2-3h levelling and will never miss not having been there.

- Skill into Retribution and never change to Prot or anything. You will quest and level much faster with Retribution. Use warrior gear as much as possible, use Ret Aura at all times. Should you judge Crusader on mobs or judge a damaging seal instead? Whatever you'll do, you'll feel bad about either. So don't judge Crusader, it sucks at low levels and is getting removed anyway.

The following is for the 3.0.2 Ret tree. The current tree is used below that.

- Spend your first talent points into Benediction, then HoTC or BoM and Improved Judgement. At level 20 pick up Seal of Command and marvel at how much your DPS increases. (You can now put two points into Pursuit of Justice, because it will save you a lot of time - you will constantly be running towards mobs, riding towards mobs, riding between camps, riding wherever. If you do that, you will not have Improved Ret Aura and vice versa. Decide for yourself.). Max out Convinction. Now choose between Crusade and Sanctified Seals. Pick up Sanctified Retribution as soon as you can, then max 2h weapon spec and you should have access to Vengeance (if not, spend another point). Max Vengeance, now pick up Judgements of the Wise as if your life depended on it because it will finally mean no more Moonberry Juice or whatever your highest level water is. You have to pick up Repentance, then 1 into Art of War. Max Fanaticism and get Crusader Strike. Finally you'll be able to do something else but judging! Your DPS will jump up again, very nice feeling.

Now go forward to Divine Storm, just max out Art of War, Swift Retribution, Righteous Vengeance and you're done. You're also probably in Outland now and have some nice gear. You pretty much need to spec Divine Strength in Prot now, then just go back through the Ret tree and pick up some more talents you like, or put the other 5 talents into Spiritual Focus. At this point you have spent enough time with your Paladin to be able to decide for yourself. Enjoy!

2.4 tree:

Does this tree suck, or what? Yes it does. You might encounter the 3.0.2 patch somewhere during the process so just follow the above guide and spec accordingly. Spec Benediction. Improved Judgement. Waste 3 points in Imp BoM or Imp SoTC(pick BoM). Pick up SoCommand. Max Convinction and either BoM or PoJ, pick up Sanctity Aura as soon as you can and use it as your main aura from now on. Max 2h weapon spec and spend points in Imp BoM or whatever until you pick up Vengeance. Sanctified Judgement is bad, so go down Repentance, Sanctified Seals, Fanaticism and Crusader Strike. Hooray. Now pick up Divine Strength from Holy and waste the rest of your points in Spiritual Focus, Sanctified Judgement or wherever. Enjoy.






- If and only if you want to spend hours AE grinding mobs, spec into Protection but only when you can get both Reckoning and Blessing of Sanctuary. Then find a good spot with melee mobs and get going. Change the spot once you're sick of it. May be more boring than you can ever imagine.

[Cold]

Ok, at level 12, it is going to be difficult...

I suggest specing into ret. Get to 20 and get the Seal.
You will find in a few levels you will hardly lose any HP.

-Ret until 40.

-At 40, spec Prot.

-Prot until 69 or 70 whenever you plan on changing or, of course, stay prot.

U prolly lvl in PvE server, becuz that will never happen in PvP server. Seriously, when i start to pull like 6 or 8 mobs on me for AoE grinding, a Horde coming from behind and Fear me, throw Fireball, Rogue stun lock me, and all.. a pain. Thats why i spec Ret, basically i can KILL ALL CLASSES at that lvl becuz there is no stupid Resilience to counter my Armor Penetration Seal of Command.

[Necrox]

Both ret and prot are viable.
Most of the things people have given you here is usable.

I have ONE very very important tip hower, if you decide to play ret at any point:
Never ever cast a heal, unless in panic IN-FIGHT situations

Your mana will be sparse, heals are expensive and do little.
Between fights, never use the heals - always use bandages. You'll find plenty of cloth along the way.
Level up your first aid with your character, and use a bandage after every fight where you end up below 70% or so. The cloth is not worth selling on AH compared to the benefits you get with regards to leveling speed doing it this way.

[Montoya]

With the change to Redoubt and the it's moving to a much higher teir, is Prot AoE grinding really worth it anymore?

[LordSidious]

With the change to Redoubt and the it's moving to a much higher teir, is Prot AoE grinding really worth it anymore?

It wont be if this guy doesnt reach a higher level before WOTLK comes out.


I am surprised others have been advocating Ret as a leveling spec...you dont see a difference until you get Seal of Command and even then...your swinging your 2 hander hoping that the roll gods are favoring you at that time so you get a proc. I found leveling as ret was basically like leveling as a gimped warrior. You have too much downtime. But to each their own.

To the OP: If you ever think you might be tanking stuff later, I still recommend leveling as prot. You actually learn how to fight mobs and how to aoe them down..how to judge effectively to conserve mana. In short, you learn the spec. I have seen some awful paladin tanks in my time and I suspect its because they switched to Prot after leveling as a different spec for so long that they just didnt know how how to do it. You learn little tricks of the trade like...line of sighting caster mobs around the corner so they run to you and how to move mobs around and consecrate effectively without destroying any cc your group used. Much better to learn these things while leveling instead of learning how to do that stuff doing something like Shattered Halls and then your group members get angry because of wipes and start whispering each other about being a 'noob tank'.

Blood elves have an advantage early on, until WOTLK comes out, because you dont have access to your shield throw yet..but you can use Mana Tap as a way to pull mobs that have a mana bar to you so you dont want in a room and pull everything. I am thinking of the Scarlet Monastery hallways that have mobs on either side of the room.

[Fortytude]

I have leveled countless 70s and 2 warriors. I am 62 now and have never been anything else besides ret (prot once to tank ST). Ret is FINE for leveling, it works great. But make sure you keep your gear up to date, every 5 levels, get more str+sta, get a good instance blue 2h and if you can't do that, get any 2h with +3.2 speed and the biggest top end you can find. I never had a problem with survivability or damage, as long as I kept my gear up, just like you would do with a warrior.

At 12 just start going into ret, use SoR until command at 20 and you're good. I never even used BoW when I got it, always might and devo aura until you get sanctity. Try and collect int gear, cloth or otherwise, so you can heal instances w/o respeccing, and keep a shield and sta plate so you can tank w/o respeccing as well. I have played all 3 roles in instances while being ret, at low levels, it's not a big deal at all. I just healed Underbog as ret yesterday, but it is getting to a point where I might have to start respecing, but that's neither here nor there.

In the end, know that ret works for leveling, don't let people tell you otherwise.