Welcome to the Protection Paladin Mythic+ guide for the World of Warcraft patch 11.0! This guide covers everything you need to know to understand your character! Are you starting out and leveling up from 70? Check out the leveling guide!
Overview
Protection Paladin
Protection PaladinMythic+
Hero Talents
Protection Paladin
- Templar has very strong ST and AoE damage, as well as decent utility. However, in terms of ease of play Lightsmith is much more simpler and easier to play, while having a better toolkit to enable allies to survive. Therefore, for this Mythic+ guide I reccomend Lightsmith as I believe it has more to offer as a Protection Paladin, especially for higher Mythic+!
Lightsmith
Templar
- As Lightsmith you recieve Holy Armaments, which is split between Holy Bulwark and Sacred Weapon.
- Holy Bulwark is an absorb shield for 15% of the Protection Paladin's health. It gives an additonal 2% absorb every 2 seconds and lasts 20 seconds.
- Sacred Weapon is a damaging buff that has a chance to deal Holy damage or healing to nearby targets. The effect is increased when Sacred Weapon strikes a single target, and reduced above 5 targets. It also lasts 20 seconds.
- Holy Armaments has 2 charges and rotates from Holy Bulwark to Sacred Weapon.
- Holy Armaments are something that you can either bestow upon yourself or an ally. However, with Solidarity if you give them to an ally you also gain its benefits. Furthermore, if you bestow an Holy Armaments to yourself, a nearby ally also gains its benefits.
- Blessing of the Forge lets casting Avenging Wrath / Sentinel summon an additional Sacred Weapon. During Avenging Wrath / Sentinel your Sacred Weapon casts spells on your target and echoes the effects of your Holy Power abilities.
- With Divine Inspiration you can proc a Holy Armaments for a nearby ally.
- Blessed Assurance increases the damage of Blessed Hammer / Hammer of the Righteous by 100% after casting a Holy Power ability.
- Rite of Sanctification is a small and somewhat pathetic buff to armor and primary stat that replaces oils.
- After casting Eye of Tyr, it is then replaced with Hammer of Light for 12 seconds. Hammer of Light costs 5 Holy Power and is a big damage nuke that hits up to 4 enemies. Futhermore, it calls down Empyrean Hammer from the sky that strike 3 nearby enemies.
- Essentially, you want to cast Eye of Tyr off cooldown and use Hammer of Light off cooldown as well. This changes Eye of Tyr to be more of a offensive spell.
- Shake the Heavens causes you to bring down a Empyrean Hammer on a nearbu target every 2 seconds, for 8 seconds after casting Hammer of Light.
- Shake the Heavens can then be extended through; Blessed Hammer / Hammer of the Righteous, Hammer of Wrath and Judgment.
- Shield of the Righteous and Word of Glory call down an Empyrean Hammer on a nearby target and while Shake the Heavens is active, this effect calls down an additional Shake the Heavens.
- You can cast Hammer of Light for free through Light's Deliverance which is gained through having as many Empyrean Hammer casts as possible.
- Eye of Tyr becomes a Holy Power generator through Undisputed Ruling, granting 3 Holy Power.
- You gain 5% damage reduction for 8 seconds to enemies hit by Shake the Heavens when it critically strikes, through Wrathful Descent.
- Unrelenting Charger fixes a lot of mobility issues for Protection Paladin by providing a 2 second longer Divine Steed and increasing your movement speed by an additional 30% for the first 3 seconds.
Talents
Protection Paladin
Lightsmith Build
Templar Build
When to use this spec
This is the default loadout for Mythic+. You have to adjust the class talent tree based on the utility needed for the encounter. To make your life easier, dungeon-specific talent loadouts are available in the Dungeon section.
Gameplay Altering Talents
Discover all talents that significantly alter your gameplay within the Spec and Class Talent trees. This section gives a concise overview of these talents and their applications but for a more detailed look check out the Rotation and Deep Dive sections below.
Spec Tree
- Righteous Protector
- Gives much higher uptime on both Avenging Wrath / Sentinel and Guardian of Ancient Kings. This allows for higher uptime on 2 strong defensives, while also granting a very large DPS increase increased uptime on Avenging Wrath / Sentinel.
- Consecration in Flame
- Makes Consecration last 2 seconds longer and increases its damage by 20%. This makes Consecration last 14 seconds, which makes it much easier to weave into the rest of your abilities without having to worry about refreshing it very often unless there is heavy movement.
- Blessing of Spellwarding
- Used to mitigate damage for your allies or yourself on hard bosses.
- Sanctified Wrath
- Both Avenging Wrath / Sentinel are given increased uptime to 25 seconds duration. Additionally, giving Judgment increased Holy Power generation by 1.
- Zealot's Paragon
- Extends the duration of Avenging Wrath with each cast of Judgment and Hammer of Wrath.
- Shining Light
- Makes your Word of Glory free after 3 Shield of the Righteous and has a maximum of 2 stacks. This talent is integral to playing Protection Paladin!
- Barricade of Faith
- You want to prioritize Avenger's Shield to keep up this potent defensive buff active.
- Sanctuary
- The effects of Consecration persists for 4 seconds after leaving, which makes heavy movement more manageable.
Class Tree
- Sanctified Plates
- Increases your armor by 10%, Stamina by 10%, and reduces damage taken from area of effect attacks by 10%. This is an incredibly strong passive defensive talent.
- Divine Toll
- Instantly casts Avenger's Shield on up to 5 targets within 30 yards. Generates 1 Holy Power per Target hit. This is affected by Divine Resonance which makes it so that after casting Divine Toll you instantly cast Avenger's Shield every 5 seconds for 15 seconds. This goes onto your main target.
- Quickened Invocation reduces the cooldown of your Divine Toll by 15 seconds.
- Resolute Defender
- Allows you to use Ardent Defender and Divine Shield a lot more often, which makes for higher uptime on some of your strongest defensive cooldowns.
- Greater Judgment
- Judgment causes the target to take 40% increased damage from your next Shield of the Righteous.
- Cavalier
- This talent gives Divine Steed 2 charges, which makes planning movement much easier.
Hero Talents
- Rite of Sanctification
- Weapon Oil that gives 5% armor and 1% Strength for 1 hour.
- Blessed Assurance
- Gives 100% increased damage to Blessed Hammer whenever you use a Holy Power ability.
- Excoriation
- Slows enemies by 15% for 5 seconds within 8 yards after using Hammer of Justice.
- Divine Inspiration
- Spells and abilities have a chance to spawn a Holy Armaments on a nearby ally.
When to use this spec
This Loadout is an alternative to Lightsmith if you really wanted to play Templar.
Talent Adjustments
Listing all the changes within the Class and Spec tree compared to the default build.
- Zealous Vindication
- Hammer of Light causes 2 Empyrean Hammer to be cast on your target.
- Unrelenting Charger
- Divine Steed lasts 2 seconds longer and you get bonus movement speed at the start of Divine Steed.
- Sanctification
- Casting Judgment increases the damage of Empyrean Hammer by 10% for 10 seconds and multiple applications may overlap.
Rotation
Protection Paladin
Tier Set
- 2-Set: Shield of the Righteous deals 10% increased damage and 3% damage reduction.
- 4-Set: Casting a Holy Power ability increases the damage and healing you deal during your next Avenging Wrath by 0.5%. This effect stacks.
Opener
- The goal of your opener as a Protection Paladin playing in Mythic+ is to get aggro of all enemies as fast as possible by doing a lot of AoE damage, while also making sure you're standing in Consecration all the time.
Lightsmith
Templar
- Important thing to note when using Sacred Weapon is that it cannot stack. This means that the Sacred Weapon that spawns from Avenging Wrath / Sentinel should be used first and the normal cast one used later after the first one has run out.
- This can also occur with Divine Inspiration, so be careful and make sure you track this buff well.
- Other than the above, use Holy Armaments off cooldown.
- Cast Eye of Tyr always off cooldown to be able to cast Hammer of Light off cooldown as well.
- To optimise damage for Single Target you bascially dont want to cast Avenger's Shield at all as Templar.
- On 3+ targets and for survivability ignore this and use Avenger's Shield frequently.
Priority List
General
3+ Targets
10+ Targets
- Always stand in Consecration for damage reduction from Mastery and Sanctuary, aiming for 100% uptime.
- Cast Avenging Wrath on cooldown.
- Cast Divine Toll on cooldown.
- Cast Bastion of Light on cooldown.
- Cast Judgment if you have 2 charges.
- Cast Hammer of Wrath on cooldown.
- Cast Judgment on cooldown.
- Cast Avenger's Shield to maintain Barricade of Faith.
- Never cap Holy Power; always use Shield of the Righteous at 3-5 Holy Power.
- Cast Blessed Hammer whenever you cannot press anything else.
- Only use Word of Glory with Shining Light procs when below 70% health, or in emergencies when Shield of the Righteous uptime is high.
- Refresh Consecration.
On 3+ targets, prioritize Avenger's Shield over Judgment and Hammer of Wrath for more damage. Utilise Bulwark of Righteous Fury buff to maximize Shield of the Righteous damage, especially in AoE. You do this by making sure to cast Shield of the Righteous when you have stacks of Bulwark of Righteous Fury. If you delay Shield of the Righteous when Avenger's Shield is near or when you have Grand Crusader procs you will be able to do higher damaging casts of Shield of the Righteous.
- Always stand in Consecration for damage reduction from Mastery and Sanctuary, aiming for 100% uptime.
- Cast Avenging Wrath on cooldown.
- Cast Divine Toll on cooldown.
- Cast Avenger's Shield on Cooldown.
- Cast Judgment on Cooldown.
- Cast Hammer of Wrath on Cooldown.
- Cast Blessed Hammer on Cooldown.
In scenarios with massive target numbers (10+), prioritize Blessed Hammer over Hammer of Wrath, unless priority single-target damage is needed. As with 3+ Targets utilising the Bulwark of Righteous Fury buff to maximize Shield of the Righteous damage is even more important!
- Always stand in Consecration for damage reduction from Mastery and Sanctuary, aiming for 100% uptime.
- Cast Avenging Wrath on cooldown.
- Cast Divine Toll on cooldown.
- Cast Avenger's Shield on Cooldown.
- Cast Judgment on Cooldown.
- Cast Blessed Hammer on Cooldown.
- Cast Hammer of Wrath on Cooldown.
Defensive Cooldowns
- Ardent Defender
- This is your main defensive in Mythic+, pressing it almost on cooldown, especially at the start of a pull. With Unbreakable Spirit and Resolute Defender, its low cooldown makes it ideal for frequent use. It also has a cheat death component, allowing survival against extreme hits.
- Eye of Tyr
- Used to smooth damage intake or for large tank hits, this ability is a debuff on enemies within 8 yards. In AoE with Inmost Light, spam it on cooldown for damage and survivability.
- Note that it does not work on environmental damage.
- Guardian of Ancient Kings
- Use Guardian of Ancient Kings for extremely large tank hits or to smooth very high damage intake.
- Sentinel
- Use this spell almost off cooldown. The health and damage reduction bonuses decay over time, so ideally enter Sentinel with 5 Holy Power to keep it up as long as possible.
- Blessing of Spellwarding
- Use this spell for large magic damage hits or to preemptively prevent powerful magic debuffs from applying. Remember, it can be used on others as well as yourself. Occasionally, this spell can "bug" and cause certain mobs to target the second highest threat instead, but this is rare.
- Divine Shield
- With Final Stand talented, this becomes the most powerful defensive ability in the game, making you immortal for 8 seconds. Use it as a defensive measure when you need something to carry you outside of Sentinel.
Offensive Cooldowns
- Avenging Wrath
- Use Avenging Wrath almost off cooldown due to high cooldown reduction from Righteous Protector, allowing you to spend a lot of Holy Power and get the cooldown back faster. Occasionally, hold it briefly to align with better cooldown windows, which is very boss or dungeon-specific. In higher-level M+, Sentinel is used more frequently, so Avenging Wrath won't be used as much.
- Divine Toll
- Use Divine Toll almost off cooldown, especially at the start of a pull. Hold it briefly only if delaying for boss add spawns offers more value. In higher-level M+, Divine Toll is also a utility cooldown due to interupts and utilising the Avenger's Shield that spawn from Divine Resonance, allowing you to control a mob very well.
- Bastion of Light
- 2 minute cooldown that makes your next 5 casts of Judgment generate 2 Holy Power extra. Basically use off cooldown inside Avenging Wrath if possible.
- Eye of Tyr
- Using Templar, Eye of Tyr becomes an offensive cooldown that you want to use off cooldown as much as possible.
Deep Dive
Protection Paladin
Holy Shield and Block
- Block is a mechanic exclusive to Protection Warriors and Protection Paladins. Block is more random since there isn't a 100% block chance active mitigation spell. It's good to know whether a tank mechanic is blockable to determine how threatening it is. Holy Shield for example allows using fewer defensives for spell-blockable tank busters compared to other tanks.
Consecration and Movement
- Keep Consecration up 100% of the time and stay inside it when possible for passive damage reduction. Don't press it off cooldown without thinking, or you lose Holy Power from abilities like Judgment and Blessed Hammer. Optimizing movement is important since it frees up globals for other abilities. With Sanctuary talented the Consecration buff lingers for 4 seconds after you leave it, allowing you to min-max Consecration more easily. I recommend using a Consecration WeakAura to track its duration, as tanking outside of it can be dangerous.
Shield of the Righteous and Word of Glory
- Shield of the Righteous is your main active mitigation, it costs 3 Holy Power and grants a 4.5-second armor buff based on Strength. Don't use Shield of the Righteous past 13.5 seconds duration of the buff, as it's capped at that amount. The only reason to keep on using Shield of the Righteous is for more damage or if you‘re otherwise overcapping your Holy Power.
- Word of Glory costs 3 Holy Power and heals up to 250% of your missing health. With Hand of the Protector it heals up to 100% of an ally's missing health.
- Make sure to cast Word of Glory with Shining Light procs.
- Use Word of Glory when you are at around >60% Health and have 9 or more seconds left of Shield of the Righteous.
- Get ready to cast Word of Glory if a big hit is coming and you need to be topped beforehand.
Avenger's Shield
- Avenger's Shield has a 3-second silence effect that can be refreshed with subsequent casts, allowing indefinite interrupts and CCs with Grand Crusader procs. Divine Toll can also interrupt mobs, and tracking Divine Resonance is crucial for additional Avenger's Shields. It provides strong buffs through Barricade of Faith. As a defensive it’s very potent and noticable with Bulwark of Order. Tracking absorbs is essential to maximize your survivability in Mythic+.
Understanding Mechanics
Rotational min-maxing is just one aspect of mastering a specialization, but there are numerous other key mechanics that influence your performance. Use the following guides to improve them.
Dungeons
Protection Paladin
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Boss Tips
Avanoxx
- Alerting Shrill does a good amount of AoE damage and summons 4 eggs stacked in a corner of the room. These eggs hatch into Starved Crawler, who then cast Hunger and fixate on the other players in your group.
- Your goal is to keep the the boss away from them because if Avanoxx gets close she eats them and gets a stack of Insatiable per Crawler eaten.
- The boss receiving any stack of Insatiable likely results in a wipe.
- Your goal is to keep the the boss away from them because if Avanoxx gets close she eats them and gets a stack of Insatiable per Crawler eaten.
- Gossamer Onslaught spawns Vile Webbing under every player while being cast so stacking up with your group or melee friend is recommended to conserve space.
- Voracious Bite is the tank mechanic, hitting you for 3 strikes back to back inflicting a 50% damage taken increase per stack which ends up being a 150% damage taken increase for the following melee swings.
- Rotating strong defensives for this boss is wise at this mechanic hurts a lot and the boss can be very scary because of it.
- Its very wise to Divine Shield or Guardian of Ancient Kings the overlap of Voracious Bite and Alerting Shrill as it does very life threatening damage combined.
Anub'zekt
- Impale is aimed at you while tanking the boss, resulting in a huge frontal cone that you can aim. You don't need to tank this mechanic but you need to aim it away from the team as best as possible.
- Burrow Charge
- The boss targets a player in your group and proceeds to goes underground and charge that player, immediately afterwards he casts Impale so make sure to aim that frontal well.
- Infestation spawns a Ceaseless Swarm, just don't stand in it.
- You can Divine Shield before Infestation runs out so it does not spawn Ceaseless Swarm.
- During Eye of the Swarm the boss creates a zone in front of the boss that is a "safe space". It moves together with the bosses' facing, so you are responsible for moving the zone around.
- Impale is being cast during the phase making the "safe zone" even smaller. Make sure you aim it at either side of the safe zone and not in the middle.
- Throughout the fight Bloodstained Webmage spawn casting Silken Restraints at someone random during the fight.
- Make sure to drag the boss close to them to cleave them down.
Ki'katal the Harvester
- Cosmic Singularity requires you to stand in Grasping Blood while the cast is finishing.
- Get rid of this mechanic with Blessing of Freedom after Cosmic Singularity has ended.
- Cultivated Poisons does a lot of damage to you while also shooting out waves to dodge when it expires.
- Use Guardian of Ancient Kings or Ardent Defender to tank this mechanic.
- You can also pre-use Divine Shield and Blessing of Spellwarding to immune the application.
Trash Tips
- Important abilities to interrupt in this dungeon are:
- Trilling Attendant - Resonant Barrage
- Ixin - Horrifying Shrill
- Bloodstained Webmage - Revolting Volley
- Blood Overseer - Venom Volley
- Pay extra attention to these casts:
- Sentry Stagshell - Alarm Shrill
- A really long cast that needs to get disrupted.
- Nerubian Hauler and Hulking Bloodguard - Massive Slam
- A short stun that ramps in damage done per cast.
- Sentry Stagshell - Alarm Shrill
Boss Tips
Orator Krix'vizk
- Chains of Oppression creates a circle around the boss preventing anyone from moving more than 10 yards away from the boss. You are responsible for dragging the boss and the team around so keep that in mind.
- Subjugate is a big magical tank hit that reduces your movement speed by 30% for 10 seconds after being hit.
- Rotate Blessing of Spellwarding and Divine Shield to deal with this mechanic and immune the damage and slow effect.
- Moreover, cast strong defensives and then castBlessing of Freedom to remove the slow.
- Terrorize is not a tank frontal so you can dodge it when it happens.
- Shadows of Doubt creates balls to dodge when dispelled, make sure to dodge these.
- If you would get hit use Divine Shield to break the stun.
- Vociferous Indoctrination is a big group AoE mechanic that creates Lingering Influence after being cast.
- Move the boss quickly after this cast is finished to guarantee no one stands in the pool on the ground afterwards.
Fangs of the Queen
- The first tank mechanic, Shade Slash from Nx, deals damage to you and leaves behind an echo of the boss. You want to move the boss out of this echo as Duskbringer creates a big circle AoE around the boss and any echo left behind.
- Synergic Step happens at 100 Energy. The 2 bosses jump away and swap their ability sets.
- After Vx becomes the attacker, the other tank mechanic Rime Dagger activates. It does a bigger hit to you and applies Freezing Blood which makes stacking together with your group mandatory to remove this debuff.
- Immuning Freezing Blood with Divine Shield and Blessing of Spellwarding can be very useful.
The Coaglamation
- Viscous Darkness summons orbs around the room that need to be soaked before they touch the boss.
- Corrupted Coating get applied by soaking a orb.
- Divine Shield and Blessing of Spellwarding immunes the application of Corrupted Coating.
- Oozing Smash is the magic tank hit which slows you afterwards.
- Pre use Blessing of Freedom to deal with this.
- Blood Surge
- Position the Boss at the edge of the room to maximize the amount of usable space as Blood Surge creates a pool under the boss.
Izo, the Grand Splicer
- Shifting Anomalies shoots 3 orbs towards players for this mechanic. Make sure to keep the boss together with the whole group and dodge as a group when needed.
- Splice
- Can be immuned with Blessing of Spellwarding and Divine Shield.
- Tremor Slam
- This mechanic requires you to run out of melee and be ready to pick up aggro on the Ravenous Scarab spawning afterwards.
- Umbral Weave
- Applies webs to all players in the group, rooting them unless destroyed. As with Shifting Anomalies, keep the boss close to your group.
- Blessing of Freedom is very useful to remove the roots.
- Process of Elimination
- This mechanic creates a big circle around you that can not hit anyone but yourself. Step away from the team to not hit them while tanking this mechanic.
- Rotate Ardent Defender and Guardian of Ancient Kings to survive.
Trash Tips
- Important abilities to interrupt in this dungeon are:
- Sureki Silkbinder - Silk Binding
- Herald of Ansurek - Twist Thoughts
- Covert Webmancer - Mending Web
- Pay extra attention to these casts:
- Eye of the Queen - Void Rush
- Royal Venomshell - Venomous Spray
Boss Tips
E.D.N.A.
- Seismic Smash does massive physical damage to you and is very dangerous.
- Seismic Reverberation is applied after tanking the hit.
- This debuff is a magic dot that can be dispelled.
- When dispelled you gain Stone Shield.
- The goal is to tank the first Seismic Smash and get dispelled to receive Stone Shield for the following one.
- Just Ardent Defender is enough to live the hit, but you will be low health afterwards so be careful.
- Do not use Divine Shield unless you would otherwise die since it immunes Seismic Reverberation.
- Volatile Spike spawns spikes under 3 random players. For this stack up with your group.
- Refracting Beam targets random players which can then clear the Volatile Spikes.
- Position the boss in a line towards the spikes to make clearing easy.
- With Divine Shield you can immune the Volatile Spike debuff stacks.
Skarmorak
- Crystalline Smash summons 3 Crystal Shards around the room.
- Move the boss from Crystal Shard to Crystal Shard and kill them one after another while letting the Crystalline Eruption debuff fall off between kills.
- Unstable Crash summons Unstable Energy per player.
- Don't soak these as a tank, leave them for your DPS and Healer.
Master Machinists Brokk and Dorlita
- Activate Ventilation
- Creates flame pools on the ground. Check early for a safe space for Scrap Song.
- Molten Metal
- Help interrupt this mechanic.
- Scrap Song
- Move the boss to side of the room to avoid the cube in the middle of the room.
- Blazing Crescendo
- Similar to Scrap Song, position the boss at one of the tips of the cube to avoid the lava waves.
- Igneous Hammer
- Deals high magic damage. Rotate every defensive for each one and be inside Consecration or you will perish.
Void Speaker Eirich
- Void Corruption
- Applies a debuff to you that you need to clear with Void Rift.
- Immune the application of it with Divine Shield whenever possible.
- Entropic Reckoning
- Drop a zone when the cast is finished so be sure to place your circle at the edge of the room.
Trash Tips
- Important abilities to interrupt in this dungeon are:
- Ghastly Voidsoul - Howling Fear
- Void Bound Howler - Piercing Wail
- Pay extra attention to these casts:
- Void Bound Despoiler - Void Storm
- Forge Loader - Molten Mortar
- Rock Smasher - Smash Rock
- Cursedforge Honor Guard - Shield Stampede
- Cursedforge Stoneshaper - Earth Burst Totem
- Earth Burst Totem casts Earth Burst which needs to be killed before it goes off.
Boss Tips
Speaker Shadowcrown
- Darkness Comes
- When flying out and coming back be ready to interrupt Shadow Bolt.
- Obsidian Beam
- This mechanic's initial hit always hits you as a tank.
- It deals a lot of damage so make sure you press a defensive here.
- Collapsing Night
- Targets 2 ranged players if available and spawns void zones under them.
- Tank the boss towards the edge of the platform and rotate whenever this happens to min max the room.
Anub'ikkaj
- Dark Orb
- Tank the boss in an open space so the orb can be aimed as far away as possible.
- Terrifying Slam
- Find a corner to stand against so the knockup is prevented as much as possible.
- Use Divine Shield to immune the knockup.
- Animate Shadows
- Spawns Animate Shadows that cast Congealed Darkness.
- Be ready to pick up aggro and interrupt them if needed.
- Saving Divine Toll for this is quite wise.
Rasha'nan
- Arathi Bomb
- The explosion can be immuned by Divine Shield.
- Acidic Eruption
- Interrupt this after flying to the boss to start stage 2.
- Tacky Burst
- This prevents you from moving away from the boss. Make sure you always stick to the boss and never leave melee.
Trash Tips
- Important abilities to interrupt in this dungeon are:
- Nightfall Shadowmage - Ensnaring Shadows
- Nightfall Commander - Abyssal Howl
- Nightfall Darkcaster - Tormenting Beam
- Pay extra attention to these casts:
- Anub'ikkaj and Ixkreten the Unbreakable - Terrifying Slam
- Nightfall Dark Architect - Usher Reinforcements
- Anub'ikkaj and Deathscreamer Iken'tak - Dark Orb
- Anub'ikkaj and Ascendant Vis'coxria - Shadowy Decay
Boss Tips
Ingra Maloch
- Spirit Bolt
- Interrupt this cast whenever possible.
- Repulsive Visage
- This fear can be immuned with Divine Shield.
- Embrace Darkness
- Forces you to hit Droman Oulfarran.
- Bewildering Pollen
- This frontal is aimed at you so don't aim it at the ranged team.
- Droman's Wrath
- Save damage abilities for this phase.
Mistcaller
- Patty Cake
- This cast is solely for you and needs to be interrupted by you.
- Freeze Tag
- Summons Illusionary Vulpin fixating Freeze Tag Fixation on a player.
- Use Hammer of Justice to stun them when they spawn.
Tred'ova
- Consumption
- Interrupt this after breaking the shield on the boss.
- Accelerated Incubation
- Summons Gormling Larva, make sure to pick them up and bring them under the boss for cleave damage.
- Marked Prey makes them fixate on a player. Help them with Blessing of Protection and Blessing of Sacrifice if needed.
- Mind Link
- Utilize Divine Shield to immune the link on you.
- Coalescing Poison
- This creates a big circle around to boss while sucking you in. Run against it to not die.
- Use Divine Steed to run against the pull in.
Trash Tips
- Important abilities to interrupt in this dungeon are:
- Drust Harvester - Harvest Essence
- Spinemaw Staghorn - Stimulate Resistance
- Pay extra attention to these casts:
- Drust Spiteclaw - Dying Breath
- This debuffs enemies as well as players.
- Tirnenn Villager - Overgrowth
- Drust Boughbreaker - Furious Thrashing
- Triggers at 50% HP of the Drust Boughbreaker.
- Mistveil Defender - Mist Ward
- Big zone to move the enemies out of.
- Mistveil Stalker - Mistveil Bite
- Mistveil Stinger - Anima Injection
- Spinemaw Staghorn - Acid Nova
- Drust Spiteclaw - Dying Breath
Boss Tips
Blightbone
- Heaving Retch
- Spawns Carrion Worm, use Hammer of Justice to stun one and Blinding Light to cancel their cast on your allies.
- Fetid Gas
- Position the boss close to other pools to maximize room usage as Fetid Gas creates a pool under the boss.
- Crunch
- Physical tank hit that you should try and rotate defensives for and use Word of Glory to heal yourself instantly afterwards.
Amarth, The Harvester
- Land of the Dead
- Move the boss close to the Reanimated Crosbowman while interrupting the Reanimated Mage.
- Unholy Frenzy
- If your group cant purge this Enrage effect, watch your health since the boss starts doing a lot more damage.
- Necrotic Bolt
- Interrupt this as much as possible.
Surgeon Stitchflesh
- Awaken Creation
- Always make sure to pick up Stitchflesh's Creation. They spawn in one of the back corners of the room looking at the boss.
- Position the Stitchflesh's Creation in the middle of the room to make aiming Meat Hook easy.
- Sever Flesh
- Physical tank hit.
- Escape
- After this is cast position Stitchflesh's Creation in the middle.
Nalthor the Rimebinder
- Comet Storm
- Stack up with your melees to dodge this mechanic together.
- Icy Shard
- This tank hit is being cast at you all the time and does high physical damage to you.
Trash Tips
- Important abilities to interrupt in this dungeon are:
- Corpse Harvester - Drain Fluids
- Stitched Vanguard - Meat Shield
- Skeletal Marauder - Rasping Scream
- Corpse Collector - Goresplatter
- Pay extra attention to these casts:
- Zolramus Necromancer - Grim Fate
- Skeletal Marauder - Gruesome Cleave
- Fast frontal cast.
- Flesh Crafter - Throw Cleaver
- This spell also does damage to enemies and should be aimed at any enemy to deal extra damage.
- Help with this by positioning the mobs in front of the Flesh Crafter.
- This spell also does damage to enemies and should be aimed at any enemy to deal extra damage.
- Loyal Creation - Spine Crush
- A big circle cast that can't be disrupted as it recasts until the cast is finished once.
Boss Tips
Chopper Redhook
- On the Hook
- The boss is fixating on players and is not tankable. You are responsible for the adds.
- Every 25% boss HP he calls in 1 Irontide Cleaver and 1 Irontide Powdershot
- Irontide Cleaver
- Heavy Slash
- Aim this frontal away from any team member and any Heavy Ordnance.
- Heavy Slash
- Irontide Powdershot
- Is standing still most of the time casting Molten Slug
- Drag the Irontide Cleaver close and focus the Irontide Powdershot down.
Dread Captain Lockwood
- Mass Bombardment
- Applies Sighted Artillery, move with your melee team.
- Fiery Ricochet
- Avoid stacking up on this mechanic.
- Clear the Deck
- This is a very fast frontal so aim it away from any players.
- Withdraw - Be ready to pick up the following adds:
- Ashvane Deckhand
- Crimson Swipe
- Another fast frontal to aim away.
- Crimson Swipe
- Ashvane Cannoneer
- Broadside
- Long cast frontal that should be aimed away from the group.
- Unstable Ordnance
- Pick this up and use the ExtraActionButton to shoot the boss down.
- Broadside
- Ashvane Deckhand
Hadal Darkfathom
- Crashing Tide
- A frontal that needs to be aimed away from the group whenever possible.
- Break Water
- Bait the water pools away from the statue in the middle.
- Tidal Surge
- Summons 2 waves that need to be dodged back to back. Be ready to move the boss to a safe spot and aim Crashing Tide away from the group when it is about to be cast as this can be a deadly overlap.
Viq'Goth
- Putrid Waters
- Remove this debuff with Divine Shield. Furthermore, you can help mitigate the damage the person who doesnt get dispelled recieves with Blessing of Spellwarding.
- Demolishing Terror
- Hull Cracker
- Don't leave melee of the Demolishing Terror.
- Slam
- This knocks you back. Walk back to the Demolishing Terror afterwards.
- Hull Cracker
Trash Tips
- Important abilities to interrupt in this dungeon are:
- Ashvane Commander - Bolstering Shout
- Bilge Rat Tempest - Choking Waters
- Bilge Rat Pillager - Stinky Vomit
- Pay extra attention to these casts:
- Scrimshaw Enforcer - Slobber Knocker
- Casted frontal cone that is hard to see.
- Irontide Raider - Iron Hook into Savage Tempest
- Blacktar Bomber - Fire Bomb
- Ashvane Commander - Azerite Charge
- Irontide Powdershot - Molten Slug
- Ashvane Spotter - Sighted Artillery
- Bilge Rat Demolisher - Crushing Slam
- Scrimshaw Enforcer - Slobber Knocker
Boss Tips
General Umbriss
- Skullsplitter
- Deals 2 instances of physical damage over 2 seconds, while also applying a bleed to you.
- Remove the bleed with Divine Shield or Blessing of Protection or even Stoneform.
- Commanding Roar
- Summons Shadow Breath so be sure to position the boss in the safe lane.
Forgemaster Throngus
- Forge Weapon - Summons one of the following 3 weapons:
- Molten Mace
- Kite the boss during this duration, don't tank him.
- While walking he leaves behind Molten Pool so kite him at the edge of the room.
- Molten Flurry
- Physical damage cast while applying Molten Spark to party members.
- Fiery Cleave
- This frontal can be baited by anyone in the group. Bait this into a wall if possible.
- Molten Mace
Drahga Shadowburner
- Invocation of Shadowflame
- Invoked Shadowflame Spirit casts Flaming Fixate.
- Stun them with Hammer of Justice and focus them down.
- Shadowflame Bolt
- This cast is always on you, interrupt when it is ready.
- Twilight Buffet
- Position the boss in a new corner whenever Twilight Buffet is coming up.
- Twilight Wind spawns after, drag away from them to make it easy for the group.
- Devouring Flame
- This frontal breath is always aimed at you, position it away from the group into a wall if possible.
Erudax, the Duke of Below
- Shadow Gale
- Position the boss in the middle of this circle and adjust when it starts shrinking.
- Void Surge
- Summons Void Tendril
- Immune Depth's Grasp to clear Void Tendrils with Divine Shield.
- Summons Void Tendril
- Void Infusion
- Summons Twilight Hatchling
- When killed they explode with Shadow Wound.
- Summons Twilight Hatchling
- Crush
- Physical and magical damage hit. This knocks you back so watch out for Void Tendrils.
Trash Tips
- Important abilities to interrupt in this dungeon are:
- Twilight Earthcaller - Mass Tremor
- Twilight Beguiler - Sear Mind
- Pay extra attention to these casts:
- Twilight Destroyer - Umbral Wind
- You can LoS this cast.
- Twilight Overseer - Reckless Tactic
- Purge it if needed.
- Molten Giant - Molten Wake
- Twilight Lavabender - Ascension and Dark Eruption
- Ascension triggers at 50% HP and starts pulsing Scorching Heat group damage.
- Twilight Warlock - Enveloping Shadowflame
- Twilight Enforcer - Ramping Rage
- Mutated Hatchling - Shadow Wound
- Faceless Corruptor - Corrupt and Mind Piercer
- Twilight Destroyer - Umbral Wind
Affixes
The Affix system got revamped going into The War Within Season 1 retiring most Affixes as well as introducing new kiss-curse ones while also changing on which key level these appear.
- +2 Affixes -- Rotates on a weekly basis
- Xal'atath's Bargain: Ascendant
- Xal'atath's Bargain: Voidbound
- Xal'atath's Bargain: Oblivion
- Xal'atath's Bargain: Devour
- +4 Affixes -- Alternates between each other on a weekly basis
- Tyrannical
- Fortified
- +7 Affix
- Challenger's Peril
- +10 Affixes -- Alternates between each other on a weekly basis, is always the opposite of the +4 Affix
- Tyrannical
- Fortified
- +12 Affix
- Xal'atath's Guile -- Replaces the +2 Affix
Following you get some useful tips for handling different Mythic+ Affixes as a Protection Paladin.
- Xal'atath's Bargain: Ascendant
- Blinding Light as many orbs as possible.
- Xal'atath's Bargain: Voidbound
- The Void Emissary follows you, keep it close to cleave and target it whenever its up.
- Xal'atath's Bargain: Oblivion
- Watch behind you and collect any orbs flying into melee, intercept them before they hit any enemies.
- Xal'atath's Bargain: Devour
- This is just a healing absorb, cast Word of Glory to deal with it quickly.
Stat Priority
Protection Paladin
Understand your secondary stat priority and the tertiary stats needed for optimal performance during Mythic + dungeons as a Protection Paladin. For more detailed information, visit the Stats and Attributes guide.
Survivability
Damage
Higher Item level items are better in most scenarios. For an accurate representation of what item to equip you should use Simcraft! A static "Stat Priority" is just a starting point and can easily shift depending on your individual gear.
All secondary stats are affected by diminishing returns. Click here to learn more!
Tertiary
- Avoidance - Great stat to reduce the damage intake of "Area of Effect" abilities.
- Leech - Provides additional healing through damage dealing.
- Speed - Niche tertiary that can be very useful and has been proven useful in the past. Makes playing certain mechanics a lot easier.
In general, Leech is really strong for tanks in Mythic+. It can be by far the best stat you can have and allows you to Word of Glory yourself less, which frees up more globals for other things and allows you to do more damage!
Gear
Protection Paladin
Overall BiS
Farmable Alternatives
| Slot | Item | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Visor of the Ascended Captain | Sikran, Captain of the Sureki |
| Neck | Sureki Zealot's Insignia | Sikran, Captain of the Sureki |
| Shoulder | Entombed Seraph's Plumes | Tier / Catalyst |
| Cloak | Wings of Shattered Sorrow | Rasha'nan |
| Chest | Entombed Seraph's Breastplate | Tier / Catalyst |
| Wrist | Everforged Vambraces | Crafting |
| Gloves | Entombed Seraph's Castigation | Tier / Catalyst |
| Belt | Nether Bounty's Greatbelt | Nexus-Princess Ky'veza |
| Legs | Entombed Seraph's Greaves | Tier / Catalyst |
| Boots | Everforged Sabatons | Crafting |
| Ring 1 | Key to the Unseeming | The Bloodbound Horror |
| Ring 2 | Seal of the Poisoned Pact | Queen Ansurek |
| Trinket 1 | Ara-Kara Sacbrood | Ara-Kara, City of Echoes |
| Trinket 2 | Swarmlord's Authority | The Silken Court |
| Weapon | Duelist's Dancing Steel | Sikran, Captain of the Sureki |
| Shield | Crest of the Caustic Despot | Queen Ansurek |
Below you are presented with a good list of farmable alternatives that are obtainable outside of WoW’s weekly lockout system. While replaced in time as you progress, these offer immediate character power.
| Slot | Item | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Wrathbark Greathelm | Mists of Tinra Scithe |
| Neck | "Emergency Stop" Keychain | The Stonevault |
| Shoulder | Earthshape Pauldrons | Grim Batol |
| Cloak | Anvilhide Cape | The Stonevault |
| Chest | Dark Priest's Carapace | The Dawnbreaker |
| Wrist | Bracers of Umbral Mending | Grim Batol |
| Gloves | Machinist's Searing Handguards | The Stonevault |
| Belt | Girdle of Somber Ploys | The Dawnbreaker |
| Legs | Legplates of Duality | City of Threads |
| Boots | Ballast Sinkers | Siege of Boralus |
| Ring 1 | Band of the Ancient Dredger | Siege of Boralus |
| Ring 2 | Devout Zealot's Ring | The Dawnbreaker |
| Trinket 1 | Ara-Kara Sacbrood | Ara-Kara, City of Echoes |
| Trinket 2 | Skarmorak Shard | The Stonevault |
| Weapon | Shipwrecker's Bludgeon | The Dawnbreaker |
| Shield | Acidslough Bulwark | Mists of Tirna Scithe |
Trinkets
Below you can find active and passive alternatives to our recommended trinkets. Do note that some trinkets are better than others depending on the mythic+ dungeon.
Active Trinket alternatives
- Foul Behemoth's Chelicera
- Strong trinket for both defensive and offensive value.
- Ovi'nax's Mercurial Egg
- Strong trinket that gives stacking strength that diminishes when moving. Additionally, while moving you gain your highest secondary stat, which also diminishes when stationary. On Use makes you able to not lose any stats for 20 seconds on a 2 minute cooldown allowing you to minmax the effectiveness.
- Skarmorak Shard
- Decent on use trinket for mastery.
- Mad Queen's Mandate
- Damage on use, nerfed for tanks by 33% compared to a DPS spec.
Passive Trinket alternatives
- Ceaseless Swarmgland
- Passive trinket that does damage and provides little damage reduction.
- Void Pactstone
- Trinket proc does some damage and provides haste, not the best.
Embellishments
- 2x Elemental Focusing Lens.
- Craft preferred on Rings, Neck, Bracers.
- It's possible to put on any crafted piece.
Remaining Sparks
- Crafted items are 636 item level and regular items are 639 on max item level, therefore, it's a small loss to equip crafted items outside of your 2x embellishments unless you don't have access to other high item level gear on that slot.
Simcraft
To find the best combination of gear available to you or identify the best possible upgrades, visit our Simcraft guide to learn how to utilize Simcraft easily and effectively.
Consumables
Protection Paladin
- Phials
- Flask of Alchemical Chaos -- maximum DPS.
- Flask of Tempered Swiftness -- less DPS but more survivability.
- Food
- Feast of the Divine Day
- Combat Potion
- Tempered Potion
- Potion Bomb of Power -- group potion, this is a DPS loss for you.
- Health Potion
- Algari Healing Potion
- Weapon Stone/Oil
- Ironclaw Whetstone -- this 1260 strength and is your default.
- Oil of Deep Toxins -- Damage
- Algari Mana Oil -- Crit + Haste
- Augment Rune
- Crystallized Augment Rune
- Sockets
- Masterful Emerald
- Culminating Blasphemite -- Unique, use one of each gem colour to enhance your Blasphemite.
- Quick Onyx
- Quick Ruby
- Quick Sapphire
Enchantments
| Head | Nerubian Gemweaver |
| Neck | Magnificent Jeweler's Setting 2x |
| Cloak | Enchant Cloak - Chant of Leeching Fangs |
| Chest | Enchant Chest - Crystalline Radiance |
| Wrist | Enchant Bracer - Chant of Armored Leech Nerubian Gemweaver |
| Belt | Nerubian Gemweaver |
| Legs | Stormbound Armor Kit |
| Boots | Enchant Boots - Scout's March |
| Ring 1 | Enchant Ring - Radiant Haste Magnificent Jeweler's Setting 2x |
| Ring 2 | Enchant Ring - Radiant Haste Magnificent Jeweler's Setting 2x |
| Weapon | Enchant Weapon - Authority of Radiant Power |
You buy Nerubian Gemweaver from the Great Vault Vendor to add sockets to your Helm, Wrists and Belt.
Races
Protection Paladin
For min-maxing a Protection Paladin in Mythic+ Dungeons, different racial traits can provide a tremendous benefit to your characters. If this is not your top goal, picking a race that fits your style works just as well.
- Stoneform -- Dwarf
- Is very valuable because you can dispel yourself or remove dangerous bleed effects.
- On top of that using Stoneform gives you 10% physical DR which can be used as a small extra 8 second personal when tanking.
- Use-case examples:
- Cultivated Poisons, Ki'katal the Harvester (Ara-Kara, City of Echoes)
- Gut Shot, Dread Captain Lockwood (Siege of Boralus)
- Putrid Waters, Viq'Goth (Siege of Boralus)
- Skullsplitter, General Umbriss (Grim Batol)
- Curse of Entropy, Drahga Shadowburner (Grim Batol)
- War Stomp -- Tauren
- Strong AoE stun that can be used as a stop that lasts for 2 seconds.
- Brawn gives 2% crit damage and healing.
- Arcane Torrent -- Blood Elf
- Strong racial to dispel or purge enemies, the value is very limited but sometimes can come in handy.
Recommendation
I almost always play Dwarf as they are the strongest offensively tied with Tauren and defensively, thanks to Stoneform removing debuffs.
Macros
Protection Paladin
Discover recommended macros for Protection Paladin for Mythic+ and watch a quick video guide on creating simple macros for your character.
Taunt Macros
Taunt Macro --- This macro either casts Hand of Reckoning at your target or your mouseover (very handy to pick up mobs)
#showtooltip Hand of Reckoning
/cast [@mouseover,exists,harm][@target,exists,harm] Hand of ReckoningBoss 1 Taunt --- Casts Hand of Reckoning on Boss1
/cast [@boss1] Hand of ReckoningBoss 2 Taunt --- Casts Hand of Reckoning on Boss2
/cast [@boss2] Hand of ReckoningMouseover Macros
Focus Macros
Utility Macros
Player Macros
Addons
Protection Paladin
Below, you see a screenshot of the author's User Interface for their Protection Paladin, outlining which addons are used and how they are utilized in Mythic+ to make your life easier.
Addons
Weakauras
Changes this Patch
Protection Paladin
Patch 11.0.2
Patch 11.0.1
FAQ
Protection Paladin
Q: Why do I keep dying?
Credits
Written By: Andybrew
Reviewed By: Rycn