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Protection Paladin Tank Starter Guide - Shadowlands 9.0.5
By Lincoln
Last updated
2021/03/09 at 1:09 AM
View Changelog
Table of Contents
Quick Facts
Table of Contents
Guide Navigation
Welcome to our Prot Paladin starter guide, which covers everything you need to start playing a new character in Shadowlands. While our other guide pages go into more individual detail, this simple starter guide covers all the basics in one place, whether you're a new Prot Paladin, a returning player to Shadowlands, hardcore, or casual alike, it's the best place to get a beginners overview on the class. Included are basic talent builds, simplified rotations, stats, legendary recommendations, and more to get you started as quickly as possible.
Please keep in mind that this page is meant to get players started quickly as an introduction, and does not contain much in the way of detailed explanations, mechanics, competitive options, gearing, simulation comparisons, or nuance. For more in-depth information, including all those optimizations and more, check out the complete Prot Paladin Guide pages linked in the navigation on the left-hand side of the page, and if you're leveling up in Shadowlands, you can take a look at our
leveling tips
.
Overview
NEW
NEW Best Covenant
Gear
Talent Builds
NEW Legendaries
NEW Twisting Corridors
NEW Conduits
NEW Kyrian
NEW Necrolord
NEW Night Fae
NEW Venthyr
Pre-Patch
Starter Guide
Rotation, Priority, and Abilities
Advanced Concepts
Stats
Consumables
Macros & Addons
WeakAuras
Common Terms
NEW Castle Nathria Tips
NEW Mythic+
Common Questions
NEW Simulations
About the Author
This guide was written by Lincoln. He is a moderator for the
Hammer of Wrath Community
where he helps players on a daily basis get better at playing Protection. Feel free to message him questions, comments or concerns about what you read in the guide.
You can find him posting random opinions on
Twitter
.
Best Protection Paladin Covenant
Here are handy tables for Covenants to highlight how each one does in Raiding and Mythic+.
Best Raid Covenants
Covenants
Rating
Best Soulbind
Kyrian
Above Average
Pelagos
Necrolord
Weak
Emeni
Night Fae
Average
Korayn
Venthyr
Great
Draven
Best Mythic+ Covenants
Covenants
Rating
Best Soulbind
Kyrian
In General / Fortified
: Great
Necrotic
: Unmatched
Pelagos
Kleia
Necrolord
Low Keys
: Average
High Keys
: Average
Emeni
Emeni
Night Fae
Average
Korayn
Venthyr
In General
: Average
Tyrannical
: Excellent
Nadjia
Theotar
Venthyr is going to be your general pick for raiding.
Ashen Hallow
offers a high amount of damage and healing that can't be matched with another Covenant. It's a large amount of burst damage and Protection's kit is very suited for that type of damage. General Draven has
Service In Stone
,
Hold Your Ground
, and
Enduring Gloom
to help supplement your defensive kit.
Kyrian will be the favored choice for Mythic+.
Divine Toll
is really good for spread threat, utility and trash damage. It can be combined with
First Avenger
so it can be a defensive cooldown. It gives you a large chunk of Holy Power so you can get Shield of the Righteous up or you can heal with Word of Glory. You can use
Phial of Serenity
to counter some of the dungeon specific debuffs that can be very punishing as key levels go up. Kyrian also has Pelagos, who brings
Combat Meditation
that gives some stats and
Let Go of the Past
that makes you take less magic damage.
The other Covenants bring different things as well. Night Fae has general use and some mobility. Necrolord brings
Volatile Solvent
that adds buffs to
Fleshcraft
casts that can be used between pulls or it brings Emeni who offers run speed bonuses or Haste on kills which can be useful in Mythic Plus.
Best Protection Paladin Covenant
Kyrian Protection Paladin GuideNecrolord Protection Paladin Guide
Night Fae Protection Paladin GuideVenthyr Protection Paladin Guide
Best Protection Paladin Legendaries
Legendaries for a Protection Paladin can have a lot of flexibility depending on your goals as a player and the content you're doing. Some are good for damage, some are good for utility, some are good defensively. The best way to pick is to think about how you'll play your character and in what content. Consider the following questions before you craft your first one:
Will you be Raiding or doing M+ or a bit of both?
Are you doing just weekly keys or are you trying to push difficult content?
Is this an alt?
These questions will help you pick and upgrade your legendary. And this chart will help you narrow it down even further.
Area of Focus
Legendary
Slot
Mythic+ / Dungeons / AoE Damage
Bulwark of Righteous Fury
Shoulder
Raiding / Multi-Role Play
Relentless Inquisitor
Legs
General Purpose
Holy Avenger's Engraved Sigil
Helm
Single Target Damage
The Mad Paragon
Boots
Raid Progression
The Magistrate's Judgment
Wrist
Stats wise,
Haste/Mastery
or
Haste/Vers
will give you the biggest bang for your buck in terms of stat effectiveness and are the stat combinations recommended. For more information on Legendary choice and the more finer details, check out the legendary guide.
Protection Paladin Legendary Guide
Best Protection Paladin Talents
This Protection Paladin build is well rounded and suited for all types of content, without focusing on any one thing in particular. For a deeper look at each talent and more specialized builds for specific activities, see the talent guide.
Protection Paladin Talent Guide
Best Protection Paladin Stat Priority
Protection Paladins prioritize Item Level, followed by Haste. Find out more about how stats work in the Stats Guide, or get an overview of gear to look for from dungeons and raids in the Protection Paladin Gear Guide.
Item Level
Haste to 20%
Mastery / Versatility
Haste Above 20%
Critical Strike
Item Level > Haste to 20% > Mastery = Versatility > Haste Above 20% > Critical Strike
Protection Paladin Stats GuideProtection Paladin Gear Guide
Best Protection Paladin Enchants and Consumables
Here is a quick overview of how you should enchant your gear or what consumables to use in Shadowlands. If you're looking to optimize more for DPS, then you should sim each of these options.
Weapon:
Enchant Weapon - Celestial Guidance
Cape:
Enchant Cloak - Fortified Speed
Chest:
Enchant Chest - Eternal Bulwark
Bracer:
Enchant Bracers - Shaded Hearthing
Gloves:
Enchant Gloves - Eternal Strength
Boots:
Enchant Boots - Soul Treads
Rings:
Enchant Ring - Tenet of Haste
if you have less than 20% Haste otherwise use
Enchant Ring - Tenet of Mastery
Protection Paladin Consumables Guide
Best Protection Paladin Rotation
This general Protection Paladin priority uses the talents above for maximum survivability. More optimized rotations and notes on cooldown use can be found in the rotation guide.
Consecration
(if you're not standing in it)
Judgment
Hammer of Wrath
Avenger's Shield
Hammer of the Righteous
Consecration
(if you're standing in it)
Protection Paladin Rotation Guide
Our Prot Paladin guides are always updated with the latest information from in-game experience, simulations, and logs; make sure to check our changelog to this page, by clicking on
View Changelog
at the top of the page. If you are interested in more in-depth Prot Paladin guides for , make sure to browse the
Navigation Bar
below, and our list of
Related Guides
just beneath the
Table of Contents
.
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and finding them there!
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