How It Feels
Protection is the knight in shining armor. You throw your shield at a pack of enemies, pull them to you, consecrate the ground beneath your feet and then stand like a wall between the enemy and your group. It feels safe and controlled, even when chaos reigns all around.
What makes the Protection Paladin special is how forgiving it is. It has more emergency buttons than most other tanks, heals itself and can rescue other players with blessings and Lay on Hands. If you are tanking for the first time, this is a very gentle start.
How Protection Works
The Protection Paladin also builds Holy Power, but uses it differently from Retribution:
- Gather enemies: Avenger's Shield hits several enemies at once and interrupts their spells.
- Consecrate the ground: Consecration creates an area under you that keeps damaging enemies. Some of your effects only work, or work better, while you stand in it.
- Build Holy Power: Judgment, Hammer of the Righteous and other attacks fill it up.
- Spend: Shield of the Righteous briefly raises your armor and is your main defense against melee hits. Word of Glory heals you when things get dicey.
On top of that you have big cooldowns for dangerous moments. How good a Protection Paladin is shows mostly in when they use which cooldown.
Key Abilities
- Avenger's Shield: the shield throw that bounces from enemy to enemy and interrupts spells.
- Shield of the Righteous: slams enemies in front of you with your shield and briefly raises your armor. Spends Holy Power.
- Consecration: consecrates the ground beneath you and damages enemies in it.
- Word of Glory: heals you or an ally using Holy Power.
- Ardent Defender: reduces damage taken and saves you once from a killing blow.
- Guardian of Ancient Kings: halves the damage you take for a few seconds.
Lore: Shield of the Silver Hand
The Protection Paladin stands for the idea that a Paladin's first duty is to protect others. The knights of the Silver Hand already swore to defend the weak. A well-known example is Turalyon, who fought the Burning Legion with the Army of the Light for a very long time before returning to Azeroth.
The name "Guardian of Ancient Kings" recalls the heroes of the past whose spirits stand by the Paladin. Midnight adds another layer through Quel'Thalas: the Blood Knights defend Silvermoon there, and the Blood Elves fight for the Sunwell.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
- many cooldowns and emergency buttons, very forgiving,
- self-healing through Word of Glory,
- Avenger's Shield gathers enemies and interrupts spells,
- strong group utility through blessings, for example to shield allies from damage.
Weaknesses
- Consecration ties you to one spot, constant repositioning costs defense,
- you have to split Holy Power between armor and healing,
- lower solo damage than Retribution.
Who Is the Protection Paladin For?
A good fit if you …
- want to tank for the first time and would like a gentle start,
- like protecting the group and taking responsibility,
- love the image of the knight with shield and Light.
Probably not if you …
- want a very mobile tank, in which case the Vengeance Demon Hunter fits better,
- prefer tanking with healing over time rather than armor and cooldowns.
Protection, Holy or Retribution?
The Paladin is one of the few classes that can play all three roles. Holy heals close to the action, Retribution deals damage with a two-hander. Many Protection Paladins level as Retribution and then tank in dungeons.
All tanks compared side by side: best tank classes in WoW Midnight. More about the class on the Paladin in WoW Midnight page.
Images: © Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. Source: worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com
