Why Not Level One If They Are So OP?

From time to time I’ve been leveling my Paladin.  I decided to level as ret and have come to a single conclusion.  They are retarded easy!  Anyone who plays a ret Paladin has to admit they are significantly easier to play than any other class.  Wow, 2 buttons…that’s all I have to do to completely destroy the enemy.  I’ve been leveling my warrior along with my Paladin so I compare the two as they level up.  The two are never more than 2 levels apart and I’ve noticed a vast and overwhelming difference in the two.

Both get the luxury of having two BoA trinkets, the Bloodied Arcanite Ripper and the Plate/Mail BoA shoulders.  So, they are arguably similarly geared.  What is the overwhelming difference?  Even though my Warrior is ungodly overpowered it still takes 3 or 4 hits to kill the mob.  With the Paladin the mob rarely gets a chance to engage before it’s dead.

At first it was amusing killing things so fast.  It’s quite literally a plethora of one-shot hits.  I’m not exaggerating.  Another huge advantage is the Paladin’s ability to heal.  I’ve had to stop and heal myself 3 or 4 times in 25 levels but the fact is that I can heal if I have to.  The warrior hasn’t yet had to stop and eat but I have downed a potion now and then.  I do see a disparaging advantage coming in the future in this respect.

Some people are going to get up in arms and claim that Paladins are more difficult than I’ve made them out to be.  “You’re still a lowbie and don’t know what you’re talking about.”  “STFU.”  “NOOB.”  “L2PLAY.”  Or any other contrived rhetoric.  Ok, so when I get to max level I graduate from 2 button insta-kill to a 4 button insta-kill.  It takes so much more skill to balance 4 cool downs than 2.  Seriously though, here is the kicker…Paladin’s don’t have to actually balance anything.  They just hit their ability when it’s off cool down.  It’s as easy as that.

If they think being a ret Paladin offers any amount of difficulty whatsoever they need to roll a feral druid/rogue or a warrior.  Trying maintain bleeds, buffs and combo points around cool downs and energy regen/rage generation is a mini game in itself.  Seeing the cool down flash happen and think “oh me smashy now” is retarded.

Now, I am a fan of alts and I will continue to level my Paladin.  I’m in no rush to get to 80 but it will eventually happen.  Since I get such a huge response from my leveling guides I may as well kick off a Paladin leveling guide.  For someone to spout of a spec is one thing but to have a point-by-point leveling guide is completely different.

So, without further ado, I bring you my leveling guide for the Paladin.

I’ll begin by a list of suggested glyphs in order of priority.  That is, the first glyph on the list should be the one you use first – since available glyph spots unlock as you level up it’s important you use the most useful as early as you can.

Major Glyphs:

Glyph of Judgement

Glyph of Seal of Command

Minor Glyphs:

Glyph of Blessing of Might

Glyph of Lay on Hands

Glyph of WHATEVERYOUWANT (There really aren’t any other good minor glyphs for the Paladin)

Level 10-14: Benediction (5/5)

This basically makes you a bit more efficient with your mana.  You’ll find that mana is hardly ever a problem but you need to get further along in the tier and you’ll find this to be more useful than parry.

Level 15, 16: Improved Blessing of Might (2/2)

This increases the attack power bonus of your Blessing of Might spell, which is the only one you should be using on yourself. 

Level 17-19: Heart of the Crusader (3/3)

The first thing you should do when you engage an enemy is judge them.  This talent causes a debuff on the target that increases the critical strike chance for any ability against that target…by anyone.  It’s really a great thing to have.

Note:  I would like to say this in case some are fairly new to the game (or Paladins):  You will notice that the judgement spell doesn’t have a very long range.  So, if you would like to pull a mob from a further distance it’s a good idea to use Hand of Reckoning.  You learn this at level 16 and it is a great way to pull targets from a distance.  The damage done by HoR can be substantial but the spell won’t do damage if they are already focused on you so it shouldn’t be used as part of your rotation…just as a means to get the mob’s attention.

Level 20: Seal of Command (1/1)

Now, instead of using Seal of Righteousness go ahead and use Seal of Command.  This will allow you to put out more DPS.

Level 21, 22: Pursuit of Justice (2/2)

Some people will frown on this and say it isn’t necessary.  I argue that this is an awesome talent choice.  You shouldn’t be having trouble with health.  Your damage is more than sufficient to kill things before you are in danger of dieing.  So, this will get you to your next target very quickly.  Chain kill FTW!

With my Paladin I quite literally Judge, swing, kill.  Run to the next target and Exorcism, swing, kill (judge is still on cool down).  Run to the next target and Judge, swing, kill.  Rinse and repeat.  Rarely do I have to swing more than twice to kill the mob and I always kill them long before my judgement is off cool down.

Pursuit of Justice will shave hours off your leveling time.  Hours!

Level 23, 24: Conviction (2/5)

We will eventually fill this out completely but for now we just need to get to the next tier.

Level 25-27: Crusade (3/3)

Let’s face it, the vast majority of the mobs you kill are humanoid.  A distant second are beasts.  From there it’s pretty even mix of elemental, demon and undead (very few mechanical).  With this talent you have a flat damage increase of 3% plus and additional 3% against humanoids, demons, elemental and undead.  That is a flat damage increase of 6% against 80% of the mobs in the game.  Totally worth it.

Level 28-30: Sanctity of Battle (3/3)

A flat increase in critical strike by 3% and increases the damage you do with Exorcism and Crusader Strike by 15%.  This talent is a must.

Level 31: Sanctified Retribution (1/1)

Increasing the damage done by your retribution aura is nice…but you don’t want that to be the main reason to pick this up because it means you have to get hit, right?  The true asset here is that you now do 3% more damage when using your retribution aura.  So, hopefully you kill them before they hit you too much anyway. 

Level 32-34: Conviction (2/5) –> (5/5)

Now you will crit 5% more often…along with a great chance of a damage proc.  Plus it is necessary for talents we will need further in the tree.  It’s just icing on the cake that it is so useful to us as well. 

Level 35-37: Vengeance (3/3)

Now, whenever you critically strike you gain a buff that increases your damage output by 3%.  It will stack up to 3 times.  That’s 9% increased damage.  That is huge!

Level 38 – 40: Two-Handed Weapon Specialization (3/3)

Now you’ll do more damage with your two-handed weapon.  Not much to it really.

Level 41, 42: The Art of War (2/2)

Another increase in critical strike chance.  It’s not a flat increase, however, and only effects your judgements (well, crusader strike and divine storm too but you haven’t gotten these yet).  You’ll notice a helpful little side bonus to this one.  When you do crit with one of those you get an instant cast Flash of Light or Exorcism.  Pretty handy.

Level 43: Repentance (1/1)

This is useful for crowd control situations but the primary reason to get this is because of it’s successor, which is very handy.

Level 44 – 46: Judgement of the Wise (3/3)

When you judge a target you will be provided with the replenishment buff, which restores mana.  This will help with longevity.

Level 47-49: Fanaticism (3/3)

Another increase in your judgement critical strike chance.  Man, when do Paladins not crit?

Level 50: Crusader Strike (1/1)

Another weapon in our arsenal.  This is a heavy hitting haymaker.  Have fun!

Level 51-55: Divine Strength (5/5)

We are going to move the protection tree for a few levels to help boost our survivability some.  When you hit the Outlands you will notice a considerable increase in the difficulty, and spawn rate, of the mobs.  So, the added survivability will be a blessing.

Pick this up to increase your damage done.  It’s in the first tier of the protection tree.

Level 56-60: Divinity (5/5)

This just adds a great deal of survivability.  All the healing effects on you are increased by 5%.

Level 61 – 63: Improved Righteous Fury (3/3)

Although Righteous Fury is primarily a tanking tool using the improved version will reduce the amount of damage you take by 6%.  More survivability means faster leveling.  Huzzah!

Level 64, 65: Sanctified Wrath (2/2)

Now we’ll head back to the Retribution tree.

Avenging Wrath is the easy button for Paladins.  If you want to kill something fast just pop Avenging Wrath and go to town.  Now you can use it more often.  Beauty.

Level 65-67: Swift Retribution (3/3)

Basically this is a 3% haste increase for anyone in your aura (doesn’t matter which aura).

Level 68-70: Righteous Vengeance (3/3)

This is a very powerful set of talents.  It essentially adds 30% damage to a judgement, crusader strike or divine storm critical strike.  You simply have to have this!

Level 71, 72: Improved Judgements (2/2)

We are going all the way back to tier 2 for this.  We want to pick these up to free up Divine Storm.

Level 73: Divine Storm (1/1)

This spell is the pinnacle of the retribution tree.  The healing affect along with the AoE makes it a very useful spell.  Have fun destroying your targets.

Level 74, 75: Guardian’s Favor (2/2)

Now we are heading back to the protection tree.  We will finish off here.  Guardian’s Favor is another tool to give you a bit more survivability.  I’m a huge fan of Hand of Freedom and use it very regularly.

Level 76, 77: Improved Hammer of Justice (2/2)

We all know this is the gayest ability in the game but the more often you can be gay the easier it is to kill things.

Level 78, 79: Improved Devotion Aura (2/3)

The only aspect of this talent we are interested in is the increased healing.  As long as you have your aura on the healing done to you is increased.  Your survivability is incredible.

Once you hit 80 I suggest respecing.  This spec is not ideal for raiding, pvp or farming.  Do a little research once you hit 80 and decide what works best for you at that point.