World Of Warcraft Paladin Strategy Guide

Paladin Strategy Guide
In this stategy guide I will tell you what skills and atributes to put points into for v 1.09 Expansion Paladins.

As a lvl 58 Paladin, I definetely know what you need and what you don't need, trust me. This is the 6th or 7th Pally I play.
Actually, the Paladin has a lot - maybe even the most of all characters - CRAPPY skills, skills he doesn't need at all.
I'll name some: Holy Bolt, Conversion (what has Blizzard done to this skills in the X-pac?), Blessed Aim, Holy Fire, Cleansing, Meditation (why does a Pally need mana? I use lvl 20 Vengeance and I don't need mana.), Resist Fire/ Cold / Lightning (Please...), ... and a few others.

But I see that more as an advantage than as a disadvantage for the Paladin, because it makes it very easy for Paladins to pick out the good skills.

It might be surprising, but I use only 4 skills: Zeal (20) , Vengeance (20) , Fanaticism (20) , Salvation (4).
Those are in my opinion the 4 skills a Paladin can't live without. But there are some other good skills like Smite, Holy Shield, Thorns and Conviction.
I will go over all skills and tell you why I use or don't use them.
1. Combat Skills
1. Sacrifice:
This skills is needed as a prereq. for Zeal so only one point. You will get a lot more increased damage from higher level skills that will not make you lose life.
Also I don't like stacking low level skills.
Skills Points Recommended: 1
2. Smite:
I have never used this skill before because I am not a Smiter and I have my doubts about this skill.
My Paladin doesn't have any points in it. He now has a Royal Shield with 75% chance to block and he's doing very good without Smite. I might give Smite a try because the shield has 24 - 32 Smite damage. If you love shields and you are a Smiter, I recommend to max this because the damage, knockback and stun lenght are very nice.
Skill Points Recommended: 0 (Smiter: as much as you want)
3. Holy Bolt:
I'm not going to waste my time saying how bad this skills is... I couldn't stop laughing when I first saw it's stats.
Skill Points Recommended: 0
4. Zeal:
Nr. 1 of the 4 skills no Paladin can miss. I put 20 points in it because I needed a higher attack rating and I didn't want to put to many points into dexterity instead. But 20 points isn't always neccesary, but not less than 10 points. Because it's not nice to see your Paladin hitting 0 of 5 Skeletons while Zealing.
Skill Points: (at least) 10
5. Charge:
I've never tried this skill because it has Smite as a prereq.
I heard the skill isn't that good, my Paladin has no points in it.
Skill Points Recommended: 0
6. Vengeance:
Nr. 2 of the 4 skills no Paladin can miss.
When you read Vengeance, it says (at slvl 10 for example):
Elemental Damages: +124%
But Vengeance adds Fire, Lightning, and Cold damage, so that is... + 372% damage! Are you gonna pass that? Not me!
Skill Points Recommended: 20
7. Blesses Hammer:
Do NOT waste any skill points in here! This skill just plain sucks. I've tried it with other Paladins, but you can't target anything and I deal more damage myself.
Skill Points Recommended: 0
8. Conversion:
Before the X-pac, this skill was decent, but not that good. Now, it's screwed.
Maximum chance to convert (at slvl 30): 45%
Duration: Remains (AAAHHH! Why?) at 16 seconds
Mana Cost: Remains at 4
Skills Points Recommended: 0
9. Holy Shield:
Although I am not a Smiter, I might ever get to this skill because it increases % chance to block, defense and Smite damage. Also the duration is pretty nice. But I prefer fighting with weapons and I don't like the prereq's. But if you are a Smiter, definetely put some points into this.
Skill Points Recommended: 0 (Smiter: as much as you want)
10. Fist of Heavens:
Improved in the X-pac, but still, by the time you get there, you have Fanaticism and Salvation to worry about and you already deal a lot more damage.
Skill Points Recommended: 0
2. Offensive Auras
1. Might:
Only one point, as a prereq. for Fanaticism.
Skill Points Recommended: 1
2. Holy Fire:
Yeah right, you are really going to choose Holy Fire above Fanaticism.
Skill Points Recommended: 0
3. Thorns:
A lot of players use this, but I think it is a bit overrated. For 2 reasons:
1) This skill requires you to get hit to have any effect.
2) Wearing any armor at all contradicts the effect of this skill because it increases defense and you want to get hit to let this skill have effect.
That is why I don't use it. I rather deal damage myself! I deal a lot more damage than monsters so they will die a lot faster when I do it all myself.
Skill Points Recommended: 0
4. Blessed Aim:
Only one point, as a prereq for Fanaticism.
Skill Points Recommended: 1
5. Concentration:
For multiplayer, you better choose this skill instead of Fanaticism, because of it's huge radius that will help your Barbarian friends around.
But I don't play a lot of multiplayer so I chose Fanaticism. But you still need 6 Points into this to get through Act 2 - 3 - 4 because Fanaticicsm is still a long way down the road. If you play multiplayer, max this instead of Fanaticism.
Skill Points Recommended: 6
6. Holy Freeze:
At 20 points this skill decreases the speed at which your enemies move and attack by about half.
But Fanaticism gets about the same thing done but increases YOUR speed, attack rating and damage.
What do you choose? I chose Fanaticism! So don't waste any points here.
Skill Points Recommended: 0
7. Holy Shock:
Improved in the X-pac and now deals tons of damage. I haven't tried it before so you may experiment. I don't have any points in it.
Skill Points Recommended: 0
8. Sanctuary:
Are you really gonna tell me you are afraid of those Undead?
Skill Points Recommended: 0
9. Fanaticism:
Nr. 3 of the 4 skills no Paladin can miss. This baby increases Attack Speed, Attack Rating, and Damage. This is Fanaticism at slvl 20:
To Attack Rating: + 135%
To Attack Speed: + 35%
To Damage: + 373 %
It is without a doubt the best Aura in the game.
Skill Points Recommended: 20
10. Conviction
Very nice when paired with Vengeance, because it decreases enemies' resistances and defense, so the Elemental damages are increased and you can hit them easier. But I don't have any problems with attack rating and I think Vengeance deals more damage when paired with Fanaticism so I don't have any points in here. But of course you may experiment.
Skills Points Recommended: 0
2. Defensive Auras
1. Prayer:
At slvl 20, this skill has the same effect as "Replenish Life 21".
I have Hwanin's Justice, a Set Grand Crown with Replenish Life 20. It is usefull, but if it would use as much mana as Prayer, I wouldn't use it.
It doesn't replenish fast enough to spend all of your mana to.
Skill Points Recommended: 0
2. Resist Fire:
Save your points for Salvation.
Skill Points Recommended: 0
3. Defiance:
High defense armor can save you from using this instead of a great aura like Fanaticism.
Skill Points Recommended: 0
4. Resist Cold:
Save your points for Salvation.
Skill Points Recommended: 0
5. Cleansing:
There are 3 things that can protect you from poison damage:
1) Poison Resistance
2) Poison Lenght Reduced by ... %
3) Replenish Life
You can get all those things on items, and even without them, Poison is not at all a threat.
Skill Points Recommended: 0
6. Resist Lightning:
Save your points for Salvation.
Skill Points Recommended: 0
7. Vigor:
Stamina and Speed should never be a problem. You can only get nerfed because you have to stop from time to time but that's all. You will always be able to run away from combat because few monsters are faster than characters. Just get some Faster Run/Walk Speed Boots and this little problem is solved.
Skill Points Recommended: 0
8. Meditation:
I've said it before: I use lvl 20 Vengeance and when I look at my Mana orb after fighting some Champion or Mini-Bosses it isn't often empty.
Only Mana Burn-Bosses can cause trouble but then I Zeal them.
Skill Points Recommended: 0
9. Redemption:
This looks like a nice Aura when I look at it's stats. At slvl 20: 85% chance to redeem soul. 120 life and mana recovered.
But it's prereq's are Prayer, Defiance, Meditation and Vigor, skills I will never use. I don't think I will ever get to this skill but you may try it if you want, I'll just take the good ol' Potions. Also I don't think a lot of Paladins need this.
Skill Points Recommended: 0
10. Salvation:
Nr. 4 of the 4 skills no Paladin can miss.
Probably some strong Paladins can, but then they must have very good Resistances, because in Hell, NOBODY survives without decent Resistances.
Skill Points Recommended: 4 (for Hell: 6)
Combat Skills + Aura Combinations
1) Zeal + Fanaticism:
This is your main attack. In the beginning of Normal this will probably be Zeal + Concentration, but once Fanaticism is at 6 points, it's gonna be Zeal + Fanaticism.
2) Vengeance + Fanaticism:
This is what you need for the Mini-Bosses, Big D, Baal, ...
This combination deals TONS of damage and is very usefull, but watch you Attack Rating. If it's too low you're not gonna hit the big guys and because your Attack Speed with Vengeance isn't as fast as with Zeal, the Vengeance will sometimes cut the other way...
This will also first be Vengeance + Concentration, but later in the game change to Vengeance + Fanaticism.
Sometimes you'll have to put on Salvation, but once you get a 3-Socketed Paladin Shield on your hands and you socket it with a Ral, an Ort and a Tal Rune, you'll have a shield with all Resistances + 50 and then you won't often need Salvation anymore.
Attributes
Starting Attributes
Strenght: 25
Dexterity: 20
Vitality: 25
Energy: 15
Never put any points into Energy. This leaves Strenght, Dexterity, and Vitality.
Each level, put 2 points into Strength and 2 points into Vitality. The remaining point goes into Dexterity.
At level 30, it should look like this:
Strenght: 85
Dexterity: 50
Vitality: 85
Energy: 15
Later in the game you should start putting more points into Strenght and Dexterity so you will be able to wear Ornate Plates and to wield Excecutioner Swords and others. Once you've reached 170 Strenght more points into Strenght would be a waste, because Ornate Plate is a good armor for the Paladin.

At that points you should start putting more points into Viltality and Dexterity again.
Thanks for reading and good luck with your Paladins!

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