Protection Paladin Tank Gear and Best in Slot — Dragonflight 10.0.7

We do not currently provide a Best in Slot list. You should aim to prioritize item level above everything else, as anything 10 item levels or more is virtually guaranteed to be an upgrade.

If you have a choice on the same item level, the alternative will likely, in generic circumstances, not make a difference defensively. We recommend just simming the choice and doing whatever helps you do more damage.

There are exceptions to this rule and encounter-specific situations where a stat is massively devalued. You should keep an eye on the raid encounter guides to be aware of this. Similarly, certain Mythic+ key levels and dungeons require a slightly different gearing path. We linked the related guides below, but generally, we will add a note here as well:

With Best in Slot lists being a static sheet of what is potentially best, what is best for you will vary with every piece of gear you obtain due to the value of the stats constantly shifting as you obtain item level. To get the most accurate information for your character, we advise that you sim your character every time a potential item drops by using the Compare Gear feature with both options, item by item. The reason for this is twofold:

• An item that is not strictly ideal in an ideal fully-kitted-out gear set may be a massive upgrade for you right now (high ilvl gains on pieces, weapon upgrades, etc.)
• Likewise, an item that is in an ideal gearset may very well be a loss for you right now, either because of an ilvl difference.

We strongly advise relying on sims to gauge upgrades on an item by item basis, particularly as a minor upgrade for you, may very well be a large upgrade for other players in your raid.

For guidance on how to sim your character, we have a guide for this which you can find on the link below.

Embellishments are additional item effects present on profession gear, either as a baseline (such as Elemental Lariat) or added as an optional reagent when crafting (such as Fang Adornments). These grant a free, additional effect to the piece.

You may only have two embellishments active at a time.

For Protection Paladins, we recommend the following:

• Elemental Lariat is a very straightforward first recommendation as it provides a lot of stats from the proc and is easily the most powerful embellishment in Dragonflight.
• The second embellishment is entirely down to your gearing choices at the time. We would recommend Unstable Frostfire Belt. As it is the only way to trigger the fire damage effect on the two Vault rings ( Seal of Diurna's Chosen and Seal of Filial Duty) for Protection Paladins.
• Alternatively, Frostfire Legguards of Preparation could be valuable for Mythic+ scenarios, as you will maintain a high uptime on the Haste buff.

This table exclusively contains loot from the dungeons featured in Dragonflight Mythic+ Season 1.

Slot	Item	Dungeon
Helm	Helmet of Reverent Loyalty	Court of Stars
Neck	Ukhel Ancestry Beads	The Nokhud Offensive
Shoulder	Pauldrons of the All-Father	Halls of Valor
Cloak	Fireproof Drape	Ruby Life Pools
Chest	Cuirass of Irreparable Madness	The Azure Vault
Bracers	Goldsteel Bindings	Shadowmoon Burial Grounds
Gloves	Goldsteel Gloves	Shadowmoon Burial Grounds
Belt	Greatbelt of Alpha Dominance	Halls of Valor
Legs	Drake Hunter's Greaves	The Nokhud Offensive
Boots	Valkyra Protector Greatboots	Halls of Valor
Ring #1	Jeweled Signet of Melandrus	Court of Stars
Ring #2	Thunderous Downburst Ring	The Nokhud Offensive
Weapon	Strike Twice	The Nokhud Offensive
Shield	Crystalized Bulwark	The Azure Vault

As the raid is unavailable on Dragonflight's launch, we will not yet provide gear recommendations. Check back in the coming days!

This table exclusively contains loot from Vault of the Incarnates.

Slot	Item	Dungeon
Helm	Virtuous Silver Heaume	Raszageth
Neck	Eye of the Vengeful Hurricane	Dathea, Ascended
Shoulder	Scaldrons of Molten Might	Eranog
Cloak	Decorated Commander's Cindercloak	Eranog
Chest	Virtuous Silver Breastplate	Kurog Grimtotem
Bracers	Shackles of Titanic Failure	Raszageth
Gloves	Virtuous Silver Gauntlets	Dathea, Ascended
Belt	Matriarch's Opulent Girdle (Optional: You can use the Inspiration Catalyst to create Virtuous Silver Faulds)	Broodkeeper Diurna
Legs	Virtuous Silver Cuisses	Sennarth
Boots	Kurog's Thunderhooves	Kurog Grimtotem
Ring #1	Seal of Diurna's Chosen	Eranog
Ring #2	Seal of Filial Duty	Broodkeeper Diurna
Weapon	Maul of the Earthshaper	The Primal Council
Shield	Broodsworn Legionnaire's Pavise	Broodkeeper Diurna

These rings deserve a special section. They require fire damage to be dealt by you to activate their effects. As Paladins do not naturally have any sources of fire damage, these rings should ideally go to other members of your raid before yourself.

If you do happen to obtain these items, we would recommend using Unstable Frostfire Belt to trigger these effects to get the full value of the rings.

Patch 10.0.7 Added the new Primordial Gems system. You can obtain the new ring Onyx Annulet, which fits 3 of the new Primordial Gems.

For more information regarding the Onyx Annulet, the Primordial Gemstones, and how to obtain them, check out our dedicated guide for it below.

For a list of what Primordial Gems are the best for Protection Paladin, see our Enchants and Gems page.

The Vault of the Incarnates raid features a new round of Primalist Tier Sets themed around the four elements. In addition, you can eventually earn pieces of this set from any of the nine slots in the weekly Dragonflight Great Vault and can also eventually be made at the Inspiration Catalyst as a catchup system. This armor, when enough pieces of it are worn, unlocks two special bonuses for Protection Paladins:

• Protection Paladin 2pc — Avenger's Shield grants you and your closest ally Ally of the Light, increasing Versatility by 6% for 8 sec.
• Protection Paladin 4pc — Hammer of the Righteous/ Blessed Hammer increases your Parry by 5% for 10 sec and extends the duration of Ally of the Light by 1 sec.

Once available, you should aim to acquire the set bonuses as soon as possible.

1. The 2-piece bonus gives you another hook to Avenger's Shield (in talents such as Barricade of Faith, Bulwark of Order, and Gift of the Golden Val'kyr) further incentivizing you to cast this spell on cooldown.
2. The 4-piece bonus will be more impactful in Mythic+ than raiding, as the value of Parry is felt more there. This bonus complements Strength in Adversity and the 2-piece to give more defensive utility against multiple targets.

Obtaining gear from rated PvP can boost your item level early in the season.

It is essential to note that all of these items have Versatility on them.

If you want to obtain PvP gear, we advise doing Rated Battlegrounds as either Protection or Retribution.

All-Totem of the Master synergizes well with our 4-piece bonus and increases the likelihood of this trinket triggering on cooldown. Every time you parry or dodge an attack, you damage everything in front of you. The trinket goes on a 30-second internal cooldown. The stances are the following:

• Elemental Stance: Earth increases your armor by a flat amount.
• Elemental Stance: Fire has a chance to apply a DoT to your target, burning them for a small amount of fire damage for 6 seconds.
• Elemental Stance: Air increases your Haste while it is active.
• Elemental Stance: Ice heals you for a large amount while it is active.

The order in which the stances rotate is always the same and is not reset by dropping combat:

1. Earth
2. Fire
3. Air
4. Ice

Manic Grieftorch deals a large amount of damage to your target. This may seem rather simplistic at first, but if a party or raid member dies, the cooldown is reduced by 90 seconds!

Granyth's Enduring Scale is a fairly strong trinket to obtain early in the season. This will have a chance to trigger a shield that absorbs damage and gives you additional armor while the shield holds. As the proc is random, it is too unreliable to change your rotational choices. Still, you will want to obtain this trinket anyway due to the limited pool of defensive trinkets this season.

Irideus Fragment is an on-use trinket with a lot of Mastery and provides a large boost to Strength for 20 seconds when used. However, the amount of Strength reduces per ability you cast. The Strength bonus will decay rather quickly as a Protection Paladin as you will typically be casting an ability every GCD. The only downside to this trinket is the 3-minute cooldown, as it will not line up with every cast of Avenging Wrath.

Dragon Games Equipment is a strong DPS trinket. When you use it, kickballs will spawn nearby, and when you run into one of them, they will deal a large amount of Physical damage to your current target (if it is 15 yards or closer to you). The kickballs spawn nearby to you, so finding them is not difficult.

Darkmoon Deck: Watcher (from Inscription) is an on-use defensive trinket that provides a large absorption shield. If this absorb is fully consumed, you will gain a Versatility buff to let you be more defensive for a little bit longer. The duration of the trinket's effects is based on the card you draw, with the Ace being the longest.

Crimson Aspirant's Insignia of Alacrity is a returning favorite with a new seasonal name, offering Haste with a passive Strength proc. The only downside to this trinket is you need to do Rated PvP at a high level to obtain it.

Beginning in Dragonflight Mythic+ Season 1, the Valor currency can be obtained from completing Mythic or Mythic+ dungeons. After earning enough of it, Valor can upgrade any item obtained from a Mythic+ dungeon of any difficulty (including regular Mythic)! These upgrades carry through to item level 415, though you must also have achieved Dragonflight Keystone Hero: Season One to bring an item that high.

We recommend upgrading your Weapon and Shield first, as these will provide you with the largest offensive and defensive gain.

Once you have obtained a piece of gear containing a prismatic socket or needing to be enchanted, you will need to know how to modify it. Details about these tweaks can be found on our dedicated gems, enchants, and consumables page.