This is my gift to Lordaeron players.
This guide will not include heirloom items, and leveling zones will only be covered briefly since this guide is intended to help with learning and leveling with the spec, not the process of gaining experience points itself.
Important notes for leveling a Retribution Paladin on WotLK;
You have 200% increased health and mana regeneration up to level 20.
Paladins do not passively regenerate their mana except for the mp5 stat.
Tauren cannot be Paladins.
Until reaching a moderately high level threshold (level 50), your options for damage output are very limited.
Two-Handed Weapons are preferred for max damage, but a One-Handed Weapon and a shield can work well.
In WotLK, spells scale up using a "Spell Rank" system. All spells and abilities have ranks, and grow more powerful with each rank. All ranks (except for rank 1 abilities provided by talents) must be trained at a Paladin Trainer. This includes higher ranks of spells granted by talents (Crusader Strike, Divine Storm, etc.).
You gain 1 talent point per level for every level starting at level 10.
Race Options
Alliance
Human
Every Man for Himself - Free pvp trinket.
10% bonus reptuation gains.
Increased expertise with swords and maces.
Increased stealth detection and increased spirit.
Dwarf
Stoneform - Removes poisons, diseases and bleeds and increases armor by 10% for 8 seconds. 2min cd.
Can see treasure chests on the mini-map.
Reduced chance to be hit by frost spells.
Increased expertise with maces.
Increased critical strike chance with guns.
Draenei
Gift of the Naaru - Heal over time for 15 seconds (3min cd) that scales with your stats.
Increased Jewelcrafting skill.
Increased hit rating by 1% for self and all party members.
Reduced chance to be hit by shadow spells.
Horde
Blood Elf
Arcane Torrent - Regenerate mana and silence all enemies in a small radius. 2min cd.
Increased Enchanting skill.
Reduced chance to be hit by all spells.
Stats
The most important stats to you while leveling are stamina and weapon damage. Stamina increases the time you can stay alive and weapon damage increases your ability to kill a target. The only stat that will not be useful to you is Spirit. All other stats you can find on items will have some sort of benefit to you. The ranking of how valuable stats are as follows;
#1 Weapon damage (This is the base amount of how hard your weapon will hit. It is the most important factor when it comes to scaling your melee strike damage)
#2 Stamina (Increase your maximum health; damage stats take precedence over this at level 80)
#3 Strength (Best scaling stat for increasing your damage)
#4 Attack Power (Second best scaling stat for increasing your damage)
#5 Intellect (Increases your mana pool for more healing and casting damage; very important until you get Judgements of the Wise talent)
#6 Spell Power (Increases the damage of your spells and the healing of your heals)
#7 Agility (Gives dodge rating, armor and melee crit chance)
#8 Crit Chance (Increases your chance to critically strike with all direct damage abilities and heals)
#9 Hit Rating (Increases your chance to hit a target. You only need 4% increased chance to hit a target that is the same level as you.)
#10 Haste (Increases your attack and spell cast speed)
#11 Expertise (Decreases the chance your target will avoid your attacks)
#12 Armor (Decreases the damage you take from physical attacks)
Training Spells
At level 1, you already have Seal of Righteousness and Holy Light available to you. Seal of Righteousness is a passive buff to your melee attacks. Holy Light is your strongest healing spell. You also have the ability to train Devotion Aura from a Paladin Trainer, which is a party and raid-wide buff to the group's armor stat.
Keep in mind that you have to visit a Paladin Trainer to learn your new spells and spell ranks. New spells and spell ranks become available every 2 levels.
Spell Training Milestones;
At level 8, you can learn to parry.
At level 10, you can do the quest to learn Redemption.
At level 20, you can learn Summon Warhorse.
At level 34, you can learn Divine Shield.
At level 40, you can learn Summon Charger.
At level 42, you can learn Cleanse.
At level 52, you start gaining access to 'Greater' blessings.
At level 70, you can learn Avenging Wrath.
At level 71, you can learn Divine Plea.
At level 80, you can learn Sacred Shield.
Spell Usage
Damage;
Divine Storm > Crusader Strike > Judgement > Consecration > Exorcism
Divine Storm is your hardest hitting ability. Crusader Strike is your second hardest hitting ability. Judgement can be a hard hitting ability once you get great gear, and it doesn't restore mana until you have Judgements of the Wise active in your talents. But it is important to keep your Judgement active on your target so you always benefit from it.
Healing;
- Holy Light is your "big heal", but it also costs a large amount of mana. Use it only when you need to heal for a huge amount in a short amount of time.
- Flash of Light is your "small heal", and it is the most mana-efficient healing spell in the game. It heals for a small-to-moderate amount for very little mana.
- Sacred Shield you want to keep active at all times when you are taking any damage. This is only available at level 80.
- Avenging Wrath is your "burst damage" ability. Use it when you need to do a lot of damage or healing in a short amount of time.
Talents
Recommended talents for leveling will prioritize surviving above everything else. Damage comes second.
Levels 10-14: Deflection
Levels 15-16: Improved Judgements
Levels 17-19: Heart of the Crusader
Level 20: Seal of Command https://rpgworld.altervista.org/335/...00000000000000
Leveling Path (brief overview)
If you are willing to travel the distance, the same-level areas can be interchanged.
Human
Level 1-10 Elwynn Forest
Level 10-15 Westfall
Level 15-20 Redridge Mountains
Level 20-30 Duskwood
Level 30-40 Stranglethorn Vale
Level 40-50 Swamp of Sorrows & Western Plaguelands
Level 50-60 Eastern Plaguelands
Trinkets http://www.cavernoftime.com/item=17744 Maraudon
This is the only trinket for level 70 or below that isn't: very rare world drop // a rep grind reward // crafted via profession // drop from a raid or heroic dungeon // bought from a vendor using honor or arena points. http://www.cavernoftime.com/item=11815 Blackrock Depths (from Emperor Thaurissan)
When you get close to level 60, you should aim to get this trinket. It has a low proc rate, but it is a very very good trinket. Can be really tough to get though.
Where you can train a weapon type
Maces - Ironforge and Thunderbluff
Swords - Stormwind and Silvermoon
Axes - Ironforge and Orgrimmar
Tricks
- Repentance can be used to remove a mob from the fight with you for a full minute, or to give you a minute to regenerate your mana or heal.
- You can cast spells while being protected by Hand of Protection. Use this to your advantage to heal yourself. You can do the same while using Divine Shield, but Divine Shield allows you to attack as well.
- Lay on Hands is best used to save a friend.
- Hand of Reckoning does decent damage and can be used effectively to pull mobs at range or to tag a mob.
Addons Atlasloot is highly recommended. This addon allows you see all item drops in the game. Skada is my preferred "damage meter", which tracks all sorts of healing, damage done, damage taken, etc. Recount is an alternative to Skada, which is easier to use, but less accurate when it comes to healing&absorbs. Deadly Boss Mods (aka DBM) is an addon that will assist you with boss encounter mechanics. Dominos is a UI addon that allows you to customize your action bars however you like. Grid is a party/raid frame addon that replaces the default party&raid frames. It is more compact and easier to play the game with than default party&raid frames. Dr.Damage is an addon that displays the calculated approximate damage of your abilities on their buttons on your action bar.
A larger list of addons for a whole bunch of things can be found here.
Glossary
Cooldown - (aka CD) The time required for a spell or ability to be ready again after using it.
2h - Meaning Two-Handed, usually referring to a weapon type.
1h - Meaning One-Handed, usually referring to a weapon type.
mp5 - It is the short-hand name of the stat "mana per 5 sec." Your mp5 stat is displayed on your character sheet as "Mana Regen", and the number displayed there is how much mana you will regenerate every 5 seconds.
I was thinking about it. Wouldn't be too difficult to do, a lot of information I can pull from this guide, and then add another layer to it for things that should be done while leveling.
I was thinking about it. Wouldn't be too difficult to do, a lot of information I can pull from this guide, and then add another layer to it for things that should be done while leveling.
The only one that comes to mind is the Seal of Command glyph. It'll grant you a psuedo Judgments of the Wise mana regen mechanic, which should be great until you unlock that talent, and even thereafter. What I'd suggest changing to at 80 you can find in my Retribution guide that is intended for max-level characters.
Also, dont be discouraged that leveling your ret feels horrible, up to level 40+ the class is extremely boring. Once you get art of war and get mana back via your judgement it becomes very fun.
One tip i have is that from 60 to 80 you sometimes oom just from doing damage, seal of wisdom is amazing for that.
The link to the max lvl PvE guide leads to:
"vBulletin Message
No Topic specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator"
Is the link still valid?
I'm leveling a Ret paladin at the moment and would like to read ahead if possible.
Thank you for the guide, helped me a lot.
Second question: has spirit been fixed for Pally's? It does seem to increase my mana regen.
Would this change it's worth and place it in the stats ranking?
@Pharean
I've gone and updated every single link in the guide so that they now work.
As for spirit being "fixed", spirit already works as it is intended. It does increase both health and mana regen, but it is not significant enough for it to perform well against mp5 and intellect, given how a Paladin's abilities and talents function. You will also find ZERO spirit on plate or mail gear at level 80.