Paladin Shadowlands Leveling Guide From 1 to 60

Table of Contents

• 1. Leveling in Shadowlands
• 2. Best Leveling Spec for Paladin in Shadowlands
• 3. Ability Unlocks for Paladin Leveling in Shadowlands
• 4. Best Heirloom Items for Paladin Leveling in Shadowlands
• 5. Changelog

Welcome to our Paladin leveling guide. Here you will find all you need to know to level up your Paladin efficiently. Leveling received a lot of changes in Shadowlands, which we have documented in our Shadowlands Leveling Changes page. In addition, we now have a revamped Leveling guide, complete with detailed information on XP, mounts, addons, consumables, tips, and more. We encourage to read it to increase your leveling speed even more.

Paladins are one of the stronger leveling classes. They have exceptional utility and self-healing which allows them to be efficient when going through the leveling process. Their biggest weakness would come in the form of low mobility.

Both Retribution and Protection are viable leveling specs. As Holy will lack damage, you will want to stay away from it. Protection will allow you to be nearly invincible when pulling enemies. It has competitive AoE damage but will suffer when fighting bosses or having to deal single-target damage. Retribution on the other hand will deal strong damage regardless of situation, but it lacks the survivability that Protection has. Which spec is better will vary on the situation, and you will in most cases want to play the spec you are more comfortable with.

If you choose to level in a large group or through dungeons, playing Holy is a completely viable choice. However, in most cases you will want to play either Retribution or Protection as they more well-suited for the leveling experience.

• At level 1, you unlock Crusader Strike, which gives you 1 Holy Power when used on an enemy. You must be in melee range.
• At level 2, you unlock Shield of the Righteous, which deals damage to targets in front of you and provides armor. It costs 3 Holy Power to use.
• At level 3, you unlock Judgment. It does damage at long range, and after reaching level 16, it will generate 1 Holy Power when used by a Retribution or Protection Paladin.
• At level 4, you unlock Flash of Light, which serves as your quick heal. It is very expensive but has a short cast time.
• At Level 5, you unlock Hammer of Justice, which allows you to stun your target for 6 seconds.
• At level 6, you unlock Consecration, which deals damage to enemies caught within its radius for 12 seconds.
• At level 7, you unlock Word of Glory. This ability has different uses depending on your specialization. But, in every case, it is one the heals available to all specs. It costs 3 Holy Power to use.
• At level 9, you unlock Hand of Reckoning, which forces your target to attack you. In solo content, you can use this to pull enemies, in all specs.
• At level 10, you unlock Divine Shield. This ability will allow you to go immune to damage and harmful effects for 8 seconds.
• At level 13, you unlock Redemption, which allows you to resurrect a dead ally.
• At level 14, you unlock Lay on Hands, which is your emergency heal. On a 10-minute cooldown, it will heal a single target for your maximum health.
• At level 17, you unlock Divine Steed. This will increase your movement speed by 100% for 3 seconds.
• At level 21, you unlock Crusader Aura, which increases your mounted movement speed when selected. This also works for Divine Steed.
• At level 22, you unlock Blessing of Freedom, which allows you to dispel a movement-impairing ability from yourself or an ally.
• At level 24, you unlock Turn Evil. This ability allows you to crowd control an Undead, Aberration, or Demon for up to 40 seconds.
• At level 28, you unlock Devotion Aura, which provides you and your allies with 3% reduced damage taken when selected.
• At level 32, you unlock Blessing of Sacrifice, which you can use on an ally to reduce their damage taken by 30% for 12 seconds. You will take 100% of the damage prevented. Additionally, you will learn Blessing of Protection, which will prevent you or your target from taking physical damage for 10 seconds.
• At level 37, you unlock Avenging Wrath. This ability is your primary cooldown. It provides you with a 20% increase to your damage, healing, and critical strike chance.
• At level 38, you unlock Retribution Aura, which gives you Avenging Wrath when one of your allies dies if the aura is selected.
• At level 46, you unlock Hammer of Wrath. This ability serves as an long range execute. It will generate 1 Holy Power when used. After level 58, it can also be used during Avenging Wrath regardless of enemy health.
• At level 52, you unlock Concentration Aura, which reduces the effect of silences or interrupts on your allies when the aura is selected.
• At level 54 you unlock Sense Undead which will show the location of nearby undead targets on your minimap.

When purchasing Heirloom Items for Leveling in general, we recommend picking the Heirloom items that have the highest amount of Haste possible. Haste speeds up the spec in almost every way, allowing you to quickly breeze through your rotation, and move on to the next mob more quickly.

• 28 Jun. 2021: Reviewed and approved for Patch 9.1.
• 09 Mar. 2021: Reviewed for Patch 9.0.5.
• 16 Nov. 2020: Updated Lay on Hands and Hand of Reckoning level requirements due to hotfix.
• 06 Nov. 2020: Updated Blessing of Protection level requirement to 32 due to hotfix.
• 13 Oct. 2020: Guide revamped for Shadowlands.
• 21 Jan. 2019: Updated Retribution Divine Storm target count requirement.
• 10 Dec. 2018: Updated Retribution PvP Talents.
• 12 Aug. 2018: Added Protection Paladin Level 110-120.
• 09 Aug. 2018: Retribution Paladin Level 1-120 section added.