Protection Paladin

Protection Paladin puts 31 points into Protection and 20 points into Holy by level 60, with no respec on the way.

No talent ability is worth building around here: the points go to passive bonuses.

Holy Shield is left out on purpose: in our sim it does less for leveling than the same points spent elsewhere.

By our sim, this build gets you from 10 to 60 in about 17% less time than playing with no talents.

At level 40 most of your ability damage comes from Judgement of Righteousness (41%), Holy Strike (31%) and Seal of Righteousness (18%).

Each talent gets a tier for how much it helps this build level, by our sim: S best, A strong, B solid, C small, Filler needed to reach deeper talents.

1. 10-28
   First, filler points:

   • Improved Holy Strike 1-2B
   • Divine Strength 1-5C
   • Divine Intellect 1-5C
   • Healing Light 1-3
   • Reverence 1-3

   

   Illumination 1 A

   Holy, at level 28. A tier: a strong point for leveling.
2. 29
   

   Improved Seals 1 B

   Holy. B tier: a solid point for leveling.
3. 30-47
   First, filler points:

   • Toughness 1-5
   • Redoubt 1-5
   • Precision 1-3
   • Guardian's Favor 1-2

   

   One-Handed Weapon Specialization 1-3 S

   Protection, at level 45. S tier: one of this build's best points for leveling.
4. 48-49
   

   Sacred Duty 1-2 A

   Protection. A tier: a strong point for leveling.
5. 50-54
   

   Anticipation 1-5 Filler

   Protection. Filler: little value on its own, but it moves you down the tree.
6. 55-57
   

   Shield Specialization 1-3 Filler

   Protection. Filler: little value on its own, but it moves you down the tree.
7. 58
   

   Improved Seal of Fury 1 Filler

   Protection. Filler: little value on its own, but it moves you down the tree.
8. 59-60
   

   Improved Righteous Fury 1-2 Filler

   Protection. Filler: little value on its own, but it moves you down the tree.

1. 
   Judgement of Righteousness

   on cooldown
2. 
   Holy Strike

   on cooldown
3. 
   Exorcism

   on cooldown against Undead and Demons

Share of your ability damage

• Judgement of Righteousness41%
• Holy Strike31%
• Seal of Righteousness18%
• Exorcism9%

What our sim found levels best at this level with this build: DoTs once per mob, cooldowns on cooldown, and the rest on your best filler. Auto attacks are always on, so they are not listed.

MP5 > Strength > Spirit > Attack power > Intellect > Agility

• MP51.00
• Strength0.53
• Spirit0.37
• Attack power0.23
• Intellect0.19
• Agility0.11

1% crit is worth about 2 MP5. 1% hit is worth about 2 MP5.

Stat values like Pawn: point for point, your best stat is 1.00 and the rest are worth that share of it. MP5 is mana regen per 5 seconds, as item tooltips show it. Your own gear shifts these: the Character page works them out for you.

• This build assumes an one-handed mace and shield. Talents for other weapon types are skipped; shield talents count.
• At level 40, for the same item budget, Strength helps most, then attack power. Look for gear with those first.
• Some points (Illumination, Redoubt and Anticipation and others) are filler to reach the next tier; they do little for leveling on their own.

How this is made: a typical character at each level (Classic-like stats, quest greens for gear) pulling same-level mobs one at a time, with downtime counted. It is an early version, refined as players’ combat logs measure what each talent really does. Weapon assumed: one-handed mace and shield.