Paladin Hero Talents — The War Within (11.2)

This page is specifically about Hero Talents in The War Within. If you want to learn more about the best regular talents for Protection Paladin, check out our Talents page:

Templar will provide more DPS in Raids, however it does not provide any raid utility in comparison to Lightsmith.

Lightsmith provides a wider raid benefit by giving shields to players with Holy Bulwark and buffing players with Sacred Weapons (this damage all gets attributed to you).

Lightsmith also makes learning encounters easier as the hero talent doesn't change your basic rotation.

Templar can provide more burst damage, but the overall DPS and utility will be less than Lightsmith.

Lightsmith becomes the stronger Hero Talent choice as your Holy Bulwarks and Sacred Weapons now apply lesser versions on up to 5 players increasing your throughput drastically. There are notable damage amplification phases where you can line up Sacred Weapons for much higher burst than Templar can provide.

Templar will be the preferred choice in Mythic+ as it has higher damage output than Lightsmith but offers less utility as you need to maintain Shake the Heavens which means Avenger's Shield has a lower rotational priority.

Lightsmith offers more utility for Mythic+ than Templar but less DPS. It offers a simpler rotation and utility for your group via Holy Bulwark / Sacred Weapon.

Lightsmith is a great choice for learning dungeons and for lower level keys.

Templar has the added benefit of Hammer of Light being more frequent through the passive effects of it cleaving doing multiple large bursts of damage, and generating more hammers and getting free uses. It can also be cast twice back to back. This increases the burst damage by a notable amount. As you progress into higher key levels the benefits of Lightsmith start to outweigh the increased personal throughput.

Lightsmith becomes the stronger Hero Talent choice as your Holy Bulwarks and Sacred Weapons now apply lesser versions on up to 5 players increasing your throughput drastically. The shields from Holy Bulwark will apply to the whole group, and the Sacred Weapons will increase the throughput of the group too!

2.

Best Hero Talent Builds for Protection Paladin

Templar Raiding Build Templar Mythic+ Build Lightsmith Raiding Build Lightsmith Mythic+ Build

Playing as a Templar paladin will change your rotational priorities. Eye of Tyr and Hammer of Light must be used on cooldown; therefore, this build works on a 45-second cycle. After casting Hammer of Light Shake the Heavens becomes active, and your focus shifts to keeping this active for as long as possible by generating Holy Power ( Higher Calling).

Rotational Changes with Tier Set Bonuses: Hammer of Light can now be cast twice after using Eye of Tyr, and Hammer of Light can be cast more frequently through Light's Deliverance.

There are two main changes to your rotation as a Lightsmith paladin. The first is using Holy Bulwark / Sacred Weapon as they become available. The second is while you are in your Avenging Wrath / Sentinel window, you need to focus on generating as much Holy Power as possible to get the most value from Blessing of the Forge. Outside of these periods, you will go back to your normal rotation.

Rotational Changes with Tier Set Bonuses: None.