Protection Paladin Tank Guide — Dragonflight 10.2.5

Last updated on Jan 15, 2024 at 15:00 by Panthea 55 comments
General Information

Welcome to our Protection Paladin guide for World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.2.5. Here, you will learn how to tank as a Protection Paladin in both raids and Mythic+ dungeons. We cover everything from the basics all the way to min-maxing techniques to optimize your survivability.

If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Protection Paladin guide.

1.

Protection Paladin Overview

As a Protection Paladin, you can expect to perform the role of a solid and reliable tank. In general, your damage intake will be relatively smooth, with many attacks being blocked by your shield or softened by your strong active mitigation. No other tank class has quite the array of tricks up their sleeve that a Paladin does.

Note that this guide focuses on aspects that are specific to Protection Paladins and general tanking strategies are beyond its scope. If you wish to know more about the tanking role and what you can do to improve, we recommend that you read our tanking guide.

2.

Strengths and Weaknesses

V Strengths
  • +Strong active mitigation and cooldown kit against predictable incoming damage.
  • +Unique group utility and damage reductions with Blessings and Auras.
  • +Good burst capabilities with coolodwns for damage and threat generation.
  • +Great emergency cooldowns like Lay on Hands Icon Lay on Hands and Divine Shield Icon Divine Shield when things look dire.
  • +Good self and group healing with Word of Glory Icon Word of Glory and Lay on Hands Icon Lay on Hands.
X Weaknesses
  • -Downtime on Shield of the Righteous Icon Shield of the Righteous leaves you very exposed against constantly high damage.
  • -Moving out of Consecration Icon Consecration means losing out on damage reduction.
  • -Limited mobility outside of Divine Steed Icon Divine Steed.
3.

Protection Paladin and Guide Changes for Patch 10.2.5

  1. No changes for Protection Paladin for Patch 10.2.5.

For a full breakdown of all Class Changes in Patch 10.2.5, check out our dedicated page below.

4.

Leveling as a Protection Paladin

If you do not have a Paladin at max level, you can follow the link below to help you in your quest to reach max level. Keep in mind that leveling as a tank, while not always the fastest, means you are great at being able to pull large groups of enemies and AoE them down.

Should you be leveling as a tank, it is recommended to learn the ropes throughout the leveling process as well, as generally, it is not tuned to be very hard. Addons are rather important to be able to tank well, such as threatplates, but also tracking buffs and debuffs. Playing dungeons while leveling will give you a sense of those addons before getting thrown into max-level content.

5.

Basics of Protection Paladin Gameplay

Tanking, in general, means a lot of pressure to not only do damage and thus threat to make sure things are attacking you but also about surviving those attacks. As a Protection Paladin, this generally means generating as much Holy Power as possible, so you can spend it on Shield of the Righteous Icon Shield of the Righteous to reduce damage intake. With our active mitigation not being up constantly, it is important to make sure you can cover those times when Shield of the Righteous is down with another cooldown should damage intake still be high. If you are fairly new to the class and spec and need to jump into it right away, we recommend the Easy Mode page linked below.

If you have got the basics down and want to improve your class knowledge, go to the Talent and Rotation pages for more in-depth information.

6.

How to Gear Up as a Protection Paladin

Tanks are generally quite uncommon, so finding a group as a tank is not too difficult, and gearing up might happen rather fast. At the start, all you really want is a higher item level, as you value all the stats you can get. Once you have options of similar item levels, you can follow these pages to read more on how the different stats influence your character, as well as what gems, enchants, and consumables you should be using. You can also find a page dedicated to more end-game gearing information on the BiS and Gear page.

7.

End-Game as a Protection Paladin

End-game content comes in many forms that can vary quite a lot in both gearing and playstyle, depending on what you focus most of your efforts on. While tanking in raids or in Mythic+ on the surface seems similar, there are many ways they differ, and you can focus on them separately in the pages linked below. PvP is typically not played with tank-specced players, so we recommend you play one of the other Paladin specializations (Holy / Retribution) should you wish to learn more of that.

8.

Improving as a Protection Paladin

Tanking can sometimes be rather unforgiving, especially if you are not quite sure what is actually going wrong; below, we have linked a few resources aimed at helping you improve playing your character.

9.

Changelog

  • 15 Jan. 2024 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
  • 15 Jan. 2024 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
  • 15 Jan. 2024 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
  • 15 Jan. 2024 (gear page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
  • 15 Jan. 2024 (addons page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
  • 15 Jan. 2024 (enchants page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
  • 15 Jan. 2024 (stats page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
  • 15 Jan. 2024 (Amirdrassil page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
  • 15 Jan. 2024 (mythic+ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
  • 15 Jan. 2024 (rotation page): Rephrased defensive cooldown section.
  • 15 Jan. 2024 (talents page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
  • 15 Jan. 2024 (spells page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
  • 15 Jan. 2024 (easy mode page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
  • 15 Jan. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
  • 28 Nov. 2023 (gear page): Updated Dawn of the Infinite links to be specific to their keystone dungeons.
  • 07 Nov. 2023 (gear page): Updated the page to account for the nerfs to Sporecloak. The Embelishment recommendations have been changed to account for this.
  • 07 Nov. 2023 (Amirdrassil page): Page added.
  • 06 Nov. 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
  • 06 Nov. 2023 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
  • 06 Nov. 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
  • 06 Nov. 2023 (gear page): Updated for Season 3.
  • 06 Nov. 2023 (addons page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2. Added WeakAura recommendations for Protection Paladins.
  • 06 Nov. 2023 (enchants page): Added helm enchant and new healing potion.
  • 06 Nov. 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
  • 06 Nov. 2023 (mythic+ page): Updated for Season 3.
  • 06 Nov. 2023 (rotation page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
  • 06 Nov. 2023 (talents page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
  • 06 Nov. 2023 (spells page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
  • 06 Nov. 2023 (easy mode page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
  • 06 Nov. 2023 (this page): Updated for Season 3.
  • 04 Sep. 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
  • 04 Sep. 2023 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
  • 04 Sep. 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
  • 04 Sep. 2023 (gear page): Updated gear layout. Added BiS list.
  • 04 Sep. 2023 (addons page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
  • 04 Sep. 2023 (enchants page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
  • 04 Sep. 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
  • 04 Sep. 2023 (Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible page): Updated boss tips.
  • 04 Sep. 2023 (mythic+ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
  • 04 Sep. 2023 (rotation page): Removed references to Seraphim.
  • 04 Sep. 2023 (talents page): Updated talent tree layout.
  • 04 Sep. 2023 (spells page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
  • 04 Sep. 2023 (easy mode page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
  • 04 Sep. 2023 (this page): Replaced 10.1.5 Changes with 10.1.7 Changes.
  • 14 Jul. 2023 (enchants page): Updated Weapon Enchants and Flask recommendations. Weapon Enchants to be more explict on the two choices, both choices are fairly close in terms of throughput however. Flask has been changed to Tepid Versility due to the increased prevalance of external damage sources.
  • 10 Jul. 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
  • 10 Jul. 2023 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
  • 10 Jul. 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
  • 10 Jul. 2023 (gear page): Updated Onyx Annulet section to note when you replace this ring. Added 10.1.5 item section.
  • 10 Jul. 2023 (addons page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
  • 10 Jul. 2023 (enchants page): Updated Onyx Annulet and Primordial Gems section, and when you should consider replacing it.
  • 10 Jul. 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
  • 10 Jul. 2023 (Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible page): Updated for Patch 10.1.5.
  • 10 Jul. 2023 (mythic+ page): Updated talent tree for Patch 10.1.5.
  • 10 Jul. 2023 (rotation page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
  • 10 Jul. 2023 (talents page): Updated talent trees for Patch 10.1.5.
  • 10 Jul. 2023 (spells page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
  • 10 Jul. 2023 (easy mode page): Updated talent trees for Patch 10.1.5.
  • 10 Jul. 2023 (this page): Replaced 10.1 Changes with 10.1.5 Changes.
  • 09 May 2023 (Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible page): Page added.
  • 06 May 2023 (talents page): Talent fix.
  • 01 May 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
  • 01 May 2023 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
  • 01 May 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
  • 01 May 2023 (gear page): Moved Onyx Annulet section to the bottom of the page (It's still good for damage!). Updated gear, trinkets, and embelishments for Season 2.
  • 01 May 2023 (enchants page): Added belt enchant (New in Patch 10.1) and reviewed for Season 2.
  • 01 May 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
  • 01 May 2023 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
  • 01 May 2023 (mythic+ page): Updated talent tree for Patch 10.1 and affix information for Season 2.
  • 01 May 2023 (rotation page): Added Shield of the Righteous to rotation priority list for clarity. Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
  • 01 May 2023 (talents page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
  • 01 May 2023 (spells page): Updated spells for Patch 10.1 Changes.
  • 01 May 2023 (easy mode page): Updated talent trees for Patch 10.1 and included Shield of the Righteous to rotation priority list.
  • 01 May 2023 (this page): Replaced 10.0.7 Changes with 10.1 Changes.
  • 03 Apr. 2023 (easy mode page): Added clarification for Blessed Hammer/Hammer of the Righteous.
  • 25 Mar. 2023 (enchants page): Updated Primordial Gems recommendations.
  • 20 Mar. 2023 (Legendaries): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
  • 20 Mar. 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
  • 20 Mar. 2023 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
  • 20 Mar. 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
  • 20 Mar. 2023 (gear page): Added Onyx Annulet section.
  • 20 Mar. 2023 (addons page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
  • 20 Mar. 2023 (enchants page): Added Onyx Annulet and Primordial Gems section.
  • 20 Mar. 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
  • 20 Mar. 2023 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Updated for Patch 10.0.7 and added additional Mythic tips.
  • 20 Mar. 2023 (mythic+ page): Updated talent builds for Patch 10.0.7. Added Turn Evil usage.
  • 20 Mar. 2023 (rotation page): Removed Of Dusk and Dawn section as it has been reworked in Patch 10.0.7 to be passive.
  • 20 Mar. 2023 (talents page): Updated both talent builds and talents for Patch 10.0.7 Changes.
  • 20 Mar. 2023 (spells page): Updated spells for Patch 10.0.7 Changes.
  • 20 Mar. 2023 (easy mode page): Updated both talent builds and talents for Patch 10.0.7 Changes.
  • 20 Mar. 2023 (this page): Updated for Patch 10.0.7 Changes.
  • 24 Jan. 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 24 Jan. 2023 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 24 Jan. 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 24 Jan. 2023 (gear page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 24 Jan. 2023 (addons page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 24 Jan. 2023 (enchants page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 24 Jan. 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 24 Jan. 2023 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 24 Jan. 2023 (mythic+ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 24 Jan. 2023 (rotation page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 24 Jan. 2023 (talents page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 24 Jan. 2023 (spells page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 24 Jan. 2023 (easy mode page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 24 Jan. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 24 Dec. 2022 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Guide added.
  • 11 Dec. 2022 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
  • 11 Dec. 2022 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
  • 11 Dec. 2022 (simulations page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
  • 11 Dec. 2022 (gear page): Updated for Season 1.
  • 11 Dec. 2022 (addons page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
  • 11 Dec. 2022 (enchants page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
  • 11 Dec. 2022 (stats page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
  • 11 Dec. 2022 (mythic+ page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
  • 11 Dec. 2022 (rotation page): Added a small section to talk about tier set impact on rotation.
  • 11 Dec. 2022 (talents page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
  • 11 Dec. 2022 (spells page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
  • 11 Dec. 2022 (easy mode page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
  • 11 Dec. 2022 (this page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
  • 28 Nov. 2022 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Dragonflight launch.
  • 28 Nov. 2022 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Dragonflight launch.
  • 28 Nov. 2022 (simulations page): Reviewed for Dragonflight launch.
  • 28 Nov. 2022 (gear page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
  • 28 Nov. 2022 (addons page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
  • 28 Nov. 2022 (enchants page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
  • 28 Nov. 2022 (stats page): Reviewed for Dragonflight launch.
  • 28 Nov. 2022 (mythic+ page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
  • 28 Nov. 2022 (rotation page): Reviewed for Dragonflight launch.
  • 28 Nov. 2022 (talents page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
  • 28 Nov. 2022 (spells page): Reviewed for Dragonflight launch.
  • 28 Nov. 2022 (easy mode page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
  • 28 Nov. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
  • 23 Nov. 2022 (spells page): Updated to be in tables. Separated out Auras & of Dusk and Dawn into their own sections.
  • 24 Oct. 2022 (Legendaries): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
  • 24 Oct. 2022 (Torghast): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
  • 24 Oct. 2022 (Covenants and Soulbinds): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
  • 24 Oct. 2022 (FAQ page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
  • 24 Oct. 2022 (how to improve page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
  • 24 Oct. 2022 (simulations page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
  • 24 Oct. 2022 (gear page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
  • 24 Oct. 2022 (addons page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
  • 24 Oct. 2022 (enchants page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
  • 24 Oct. 2022 (stats page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
  • 24 Oct. 2022 (Castle Nathria page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
  • 24 Oct. 2022 (Sanctum of Domination page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
  • 24 Oct. 2022 (Sepulcher of the First Ones page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
  • 24 Oct. 2022 (mythic+ page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
  • 24 Oct. 2022 (rotation page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
  • 24 Oct. 2022 (talents page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
  • 24 Oct. 2022 (spells page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
  • 24 Oct. 2022 (easy mode page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
  • 24 Oct. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
  • 18 Feb. 2022 (Patch 9.2 Analysis): Updated based on latest PTR build.
  • 15 Jan. 2022 (Patch 9.2 Analysis): Page added with initial thoughts and information.
  • 01 Nov. 2021 (Patch 9.1 Analysis): Updated for 9.1.5.
  • 18 Jul. 2021 (Patch 9.1 Analysis): Removed PTR references.
  • 29 Apr. 2021 (Patch 9.1 Analysis): Added initial content.
  • 13 Oct. 2020 (Ny'alotha page): Page updated for the Shadowlands pre-patch.
  • 14 Jan. 2020 (Uldir page): This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.3 and no changes are necessary.
  • 14 Jan. 2020 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.3 and no changes are necessary.
  • 14 Jan. 2020 (Crucible of Storms page): This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.3 and no changes are necessary.
  • 14 Jan. 2020 (The Eternal Palace page): This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.3 and no changes are necessary.
  • 26 Aug. 2019 (The Eternal Palace page): Updated and added Mythic tips.
  • 13 Jul. 2019 (The Eternal Palace page): Updated Za'qul Main tank and Off tank Essence recommendations.
  • 12 Jul. 2019 (The Eternal Palace page): Updated Essence recommendations.
  • 09 Jul. 2019 (The Eternal Palace page): Added Eternal Palace advice for Protection Paladins.
  • 25 Jun. 2019 (Uldir page): This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.2 and no changes are necessary.
  • 25 Jun. 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.2 and no changes are necessary.
  • 25 Jun. 2019 (Crucible of Storms page): This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.2 and no changes are necessary.
  • 12 May 2019 (Crucible of Storms page): Updated and added Mythic mode.
  • 15 Apr. 2019 (Uldir page): This page has been reviewed and no changes are necessary for the release of the Crucible of Storms raid.
  • 15 Apr. 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): This page has been reviewed and no changes are necessary for the release of the Crucible of Storms raid.
  • 15 Apr. 2019 (Crucible of Storms page): Guide added.
  • 05 Mar. 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): Added Mythic advice for BoD.
  • 29 Jan. 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): Updated BoD advice according to live mechanics.
  • 20 Jan. 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): Added BoD advice for Protection Paladins.
  • 10 Dec. 2018 (Uldir page): Major revisions, and Mythic added.
  • 03 Sep. 2018 (Uldir page): Added initial boss by boss outline for Uldir.
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