Protection Paladin Tank Guide — Dragonflight 10.1
Welcome to our Protection Paladin guide for World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.1. 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.
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.
Strengths and Weaknesses
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 and
Divine Shield when things look dire.
Good self and group healing with
Word of Glory and
Lay on Hands.
Downtime on
Shield of the Righteous leaves you very exposed against constantly high damage.
Moving out of
Consecration means losing out on damage reduction.
Limited mobility outside of
Divine Steed.
Changes to Protection Paladin in Patch 10.1
Seal of the Crusader now deals 10% additional damage (up from 5%)
Rebuke interrupt duration has been reduced to 3 seconds.
Hand of the Protector healing bonus is now capped to provide up to 100% additional healing based on the targets missing health.
- The tooltip for
Punishment has been clarified to include interrupts from
Avenger's Shield.
Word of Glory and
Light of the Titans have been buffed by 25% to balance the spells with the 25% Health increase to players this patch.
- The absorb from
Bulwark of Order has been increased to 30/60% (up from 25/50%).
- The absorb from
Moment of Glory has been increased to 25% (up from 20%).
For a full breakdown of all Class Changes in Patch 10.1, check out our dedicated page below.
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.
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 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 cooldowns 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.
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 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 for more end-game gearing information in the BiS and Gear page.
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 into. 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.
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.
Changelog
- 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.
More Paladin Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Panthea, who raids in Catalyst and is the author of TankNotes. He plays all tanks and is a Moderator for the Hammer of Wrath Paladin Discord. You can follow him on Twitter.
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