Paladin

The paladin is a holy warrior of the Light: a plate-wearing fighter who heals, shields allies and blesses them with auras and buffs. In Classic (patch 1.12) paladins belonged to the Alliance alone, just as shamans belonged to the Horde, and in raids they were mostly healers whose blessings made everyone around them stronger. They are among the hardest classes in the game to kill.

Role and identity

The paladin mixes a warrior's armor with a priest's healing. In combat a paladin keeps one aura active, such as Devotion Aura for armor, and one seal on its weapon, such as Seal of Righteousness, which adds holy damage to its hits. Judgement releases the seal onto the target for a burst of damage or a lingering effect, then the paladin puts up a new one. Out of combat a paladin blesses its friends, each blessing lasting five minutes on one player.

Paladins in lore follow the order founded by Uther the Lightbringer, the Knights of the Silver Hand. Their trainers stand in Stormwind's Cathedral of Light and in Ironforge's Mystic Ward.

Races

Only humans and dwarves could be paladins in Classic, which made the class Alliance only. The Horde's answer was the shaman, and Blizzard balanced battlegrounds and raids around that pairing. Blood elf paladins arrived for the Horde in The Burning Crusade.

Talent trees

Paladins earn 51 talent points by level 60, spent in three trees. They can be planned with our talent calculator.

• Holy improves healing and mana, and holds Divine Favor and [[forever:spell:26573]]. Its 31-point talent is Holy Shock, an instant strike that can heal a friend or damage an enemy. Nearly every raid paladin was Holy.
• Protection improves armor, blocking and blessings. It contains Blessing of Kings, one of the best buffs in the game, and its top talent is Holy Shield. Protection paladins could tank in Classic but rarely did in raids, since they lacked a taunt.
• Retribution improves melee damage with two-handed weapons. It has Seal of Command, the aura Sanctity Aura, and its top talent is Repentance, which puts an enemy humanoid to sleep for a time.

Leveling

Paladins level steadily and safely. Plate armor from level 40, heals and Divine Shield mean they rarely die, though they kill slowly compared with damage classes, since their only real ranged attack comes late. Most leveled as Retribution with a two-handed weapon and switched to Holy at level 60. Their low downtime came from healing between fights and from Seal of Wisdom and Judgement of Wisdom, which return mana as they fight. In dungeons a paladin can heal any group from level 10 or so, which made the class easy to find a group for.

Key spells by level

Class quests

• Redemption (level 12). The Tome of Divinity quests, such as The Tome of Divinity, teach Redemption, the paladin's resurrection.
• The Tome of Valor (levels 20 to 25). A chain through Westfall ending in The Tome of Valor rewards a shield and the spell Sense Undead.
• The Warhorse (level 40). The Tome of Nobility gives the paladin a free summoned riding horse, Summon Warhorse.
• The Charger (level 60). The paladin's epic mount, Summon Charger, is one of Classic's longest class quests. Starting with Emphasis on Sacrifice from Lord Grayson Shadowbreaker in Stormwind City, the paladin gathers [Manna-Enriched Horse Feed], has Grimand Elmore forge Blessed Arcanite Barding from arcanite and other rare materials, and finally enters Scholomance with a group. There the paladin uses a Divination Scryer to call spirits that must be judged, then defeats Death Knight Darkreaver and frees the Ancient Equine Spirit in Judgment and Redemption. The quest cost hundreds of gold in materials.

In raids

The Classic raid paladin is a healer. Holy Light and Flash of Light are efficient single-target heals, Cleanse removes magic, poison and disease, and Blessing of Protection or Divine Intervention can save a raid in trouble. Paladins also judge bosses with Seal of Wisdom and Seal of Light, so that every attacker regains mana or health, and keep their auras up for their group.

Blessings became their most important job. Later patches added Greater Blessings that cover a whole class for fifteen minutes, so a raid's paladins split up the buffs: [[forever:spell:25898]] for everyone, Blessing of Salvation for damage dealers so they draw less threat, Blessing of Might for melee and Blessing of Wisdom for casters. With enough paladins, each player wore four blessings, which helped the Alliance's damage keep pace with the Horde's Windfury Totem.

In PvP

A paladin is hard to kill and hard to stop. Divine Shield makes it immune to everything for twelve seconds, Blessing of Freedom frees it from slows and roots, and Hammer of Justice stuns a fleeing enemy. Without much burst damage outside Retribution's Seal of Command, paladins usually played as healers or as flag carriers in Warsong Gulch. Players joked about paladins who used Divine Shield and then their Hearthstone to escape a lost fight.

Tier sets

See Tier Sets for how each set drops.

• Tier 0: Lightforge Armor, such as [Lightforge Helm].
• Tier 1: Lawbringer Armor from Molten Core, such as [Lawbringer Chestguard].
• Tier 2: Judgement Armor from Blackwing Lair, such as [Judgement Crown].
• Tier 3: Redemption Armor from Naxxramas, such as [[forever:item:22425]].

Trivia

• Leeroy Jenkins, the most famous player character in the game's history, is a paladin.
• The legendary Ashbringer belonged to the paladin Alexandros Mograine and is in the Classic game files, but players could not obtain it.
• Uther the Lightbringer, the first paladin of the Silver Hand, was killed by his own former student Arthas Menethil during the Third War.

Later history

The Burning Crusade ended the one-faction rule: blood elves brought paladins to the Horde and draenei brought shamans to the Alliance, and both classes' talents were reworked. Protection paladins gained a taunt and the tools to hold many enemies at once, and became one of the best tanks for groups of monsters. Retribution got Crusader Strike and became a full damage role. Blessings, seals and auras survived in some form for many years afterward, though later expansions trimmed them down, and the class's long Charger quest was replaced by a mount trained at the paladin's own trainer.

Sources

• Paladin (Classic) on Warcraft Wiki
• Summon Charger on Warcraft Wiki