The Retnoob (30 ret / 21 holy)
https://en.nostalrius.org/talents/palad ... 0511203150This build is highly damage-oriented. It is frequently refered to as the PvP build for a paladin. It also offers enough from the holy tree to allow the paladin’s survivability to shine. Building 30 points in to retribution is also the preferred paladin leveling spec. The most common adjustment to this spec is to put 21 points into holy and 30 into ret, allowing the paladin to receive Divine Favor and use Illumination when raiding.
The Reckadin (27 prot, 13 ret, 11 holy)
https://en.nostalrius.org/talents/palad ... 0010000000This talent spec allows use of the ability “Reckoning” while maintaining the PvP power of the ability “spiritual focus,” “Consecration,” and the access to “Seal of Command.”
Reckoning is an extremely difficult build to start out with and understand, so don’t start out trying to play this way, and be very patient: the learning curve is steep. The basic idea of reckoning is to charge up reckoning “bombs” by being struck by critical strikes when you are unable to auto-attack or auto-attack is disabled, then unload huge sums of damage on a single target instantly. I’m not going to delve too deeply into this here.
The Healadin (31 holy / 20 prot)
https://en.nostalrius.org/talents/palad ... 0000000000This is the single most durable combat healer in the game. It is extremely powerful, both PvE and PvP, for keeping its team alive and long-lasting healing. Nothing is more annoying then a paladin who knows how to heal and who wears a shield. The flaw? This build could hardly have lower damage output, so you had best find an ally to kill things for you.
The Holydin (31 holy / 20 ret)
https://en.nostalrius.org/talents/palad ... 0502200000[This if my first attempt at building a Holydin]
The Holydin is a holy-specced paladin with an eye turned towards damage output. The advantage of this build is that it gives you all the tools of a powerful healer as well as a source of extremely controllable damage. You need a good deal of +Spell Damage gear to make great use of this build.
The Tankadin (33 prot / 11 holy, 7 ret)
https://en.nostalrius.org/talents/palad ... 0000000000The Tankadin is a paladin acting as a tank, plain and simple. There’s a huge argument always waged over how effective a tank a paladin can be, and the answer is simple: you can tank. How well / poorly you tank in relation to a warrior? Irrelevant, you tank in different ways that should not be compared. For instance, a paladin can AoE tank multiple trash mobs, something a warrior has a great deal of trouble doing. This build also allows for single-target damage return tanking (with Retribution Aura, Blessing of Sanctuary, Holy Shield, and a shield spike your holy damage return is pretty high). Holy damage is the threat generation source for a Tankadin, so moves like Consecration and Seal of Righteousness are extremely powerful for it. Improved Judgment and Benediction allow the Tankadin to fire out even more holy damage and still conserve as much mana as possible.
Etiquette in a Group: Playing a Hybrid Class
A Paladin’s Role
The paladin’s roll in a group has always been a difficult one to define, for both the paladin and his group. For instance, a paladin can act as a very viable tank in the five-man content before level 60, but many argue that at level 60 they become less and less viable. A paladin’s DPS is frequently argued to be the lowest in the game, making it unviable for raids, but people will also frequently argue that our heals are too small to have any serious effect on the raid. Don’t let yourself get belittled, rise above this. A paladin can easily be the longest-lasting healer in the game. A paladin is the lowest maintenance DPS supplement in the game (since we wear plate and no healer needs to show serious concern for us). A paladin is a very viable AoE tank, and can off tank and even main tank many endgame instances, based on gear, spec, and open mindedness of their group. In fact, a paladin can work at constantly morphing to fill the current needs of the raid every second. It’s even possible to achieve many of these goals all at once. If someone tries to tell you that you are playing in a poor fashion, take a second to reflect. Have you been using the full range and scope of your class? Could you be doing something better? Is something you’re doing detrimental? Just think about what you’re doing and make sure that you’re doing the best you can.
On the other hand, if you have been called into a group to fill a single roll (supplying a blessing, cleansing, healing, tanking, DPS, whatever it is), fill that role or leave the group. Just because you are a hybrid class does not mean you always get to do whatever you want. More often than not, a paladin is brought into the group with the group expecting it to act as a healer, and you should always be prepared for this eventuality. Remember that a paladin’s gear has more effect than a paladin’s spec when it comes to filling a role, so either use a very balanced set of gear, or bring several sets for multiple purposes.
Looting
So here you are, sitting in the heart of UBRS, looking Drakkasith in the face. The fight starts, Drakkasith chasing after a hunter, his two guards getting torn to shreds by 9 other people. Soon your hunter friend runs back towards you, an enraged Drakkasith still in pursuit. The warriors charge in, the rogue fly from all direction to have at him. The mages and warlocks channel powerful energies into destructive magics which are hurled at him, and he falls down. He drops his ring, Painweaver Band. Stamina, attack power, and crit, all the statistics your Retnoob heart wants. You bid 10 on it, roll the highest… and its looted to the Rogue.
Dealing with loot as a paladin can be tough business. A lot of people feel that since we are a hybrid class, pure classes should get a call to loot before us. A rogue, warrior, priest, mage, or whatever has more claim over gear that isn’t a two handed mace or plate with int on it than us. Whether or not this is true is irrelevant, this is how many groups behave, and if you ran the entire instance with them and they treat you like this with no warning, they are being unfair. I’m not going to say whether or not a paladin is entitled to loot which is arguably better on a rogue/hunter/priest/warrior/mage/warlock/druid, because my opinion on it is meaningless to your raid. Remember to ask, at the start of every run, if you are allowed to roll on the items that you want from the instance before they drop. If the Loot Master (you do have a loot master, right?) declares class priority, make sure that they are clear about what you can and cannot do as far as this priority. If you suspect that the group is going to treat you unfairly, do not join it. When the paladins start to go on strike, maybe the raids will start to be fairer…
Keep this in mind when choosing your guild as well. Keep in mind that two-handed DPS is, traditionally, the secondary role for both paladins and warriors, not the primary, so a two handed weapon going to a warrior rarely improves the raid group. This is just something to keep in mind.
Remember, World of Warcraft is, above all, a game. When you get angry or frustrated at a group, leave it. If you don’t want to leave (for whatever reason), finish the run then leave and make sure not to join a group with the offending parties in the future. It isn’t worth stressing yourself over.