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Guide last updated: March 2008 for patch 2.4
Review last updated: 2008-04-10
The WoW expansion pack brought many changes to the Paladin class. Among others the option for Blood Elves and Draenei to be Paladins, some new 60-70 abilities, and new talent builds. The WoW Paladin guide was recently updated and expanded with even more pages to reflect those changes, and it addressed most of them satisfactorily.
When you read the guide you can still see remnants of the pre-expansion version of the guide, such as references to level 60 being the highest level in WoW. But it’s nothing major.
Let’s first take a look at the contents. The 195 pages cover a lot of ground. My comments are in parenthesis:
- Character Creation (Which race and server to choose. Racial traits (including Blood Elves and Draenei) are almost 100% accurate so you can be assured the recommendations are based on solid facts.)
- Stats and Formulas (This chapter covers which stats you should focus on, attributes to look for on gear, and the formulas you need to help you decide. This is one of the chapters that hasn’t been updated for the expansion, as "combat ratings" instead of percentages are now used. But it doesn’t really matter because the recommendations on what stats to focus on still apply.)
- Fighting as a Paladin (This is a great chapter covering how to approach fighting, including which abilities and buffs to use and why. Even if you don’t know anything about the Paladin, this will set you on the right track to becoming a killing machine fast.)
- Tanking as a Paladin (An in-depth look at how to gain threat, which seals and judgments to use (and not use), a discussion of the different auras and other abilities and how they apply to tanking, and a section on how to mitigate damage. This will make you a better asset for any group.)
- Healing as a Paladin (Covers healing spells, strategies and how to increase your healing, which is about all you need to know.)
- Paladin PvP (A detailed guide on how to defeat any of the nine classes you may face in PvP. Recently updated with arena and battleground tactics.)
- Weapon Guide (A short chapter on what weapon to choose, whether to use a two-hander or a one-hander and shield, and which stats to look for.)
- Equipment (A very helpful guide on what equipment to look for in general for different builds, and a solid list of gear to look out for from level 15 to 70. Everything is linked to thottbot so it stays up to date, and there are items here that you can get from either instances, quests, PvP, or buying them from other players, including crafted items. So there’s a choice for every playing style. Added in the March 2007 update were different suggestions for melee, healing, tanking and spell damage armor. There’s also a discussion of most armor sets, their pros and cons, and how to get them. Again, it’s all linked to thottbot and the pieces I checked were 100% accurate. In March 2008, a few pages on gems were added to the guide.)
- WoW Paladin Macros and Addons (6 macors that can also be customized, including a decursive replacement which is very nice. The addons will help you raid, manage threat, simplify combat, switch equipment sets, buff, heal, and more.)
- Leveling Guide (How to get to level 70 as fast as possible, including questing and grinding spots, as well as general tips on what mobs to kill for reputation, and easy-to-kill mobs specifically for Paladins. The 30-60 part is quite heavy on grinding, so you may want to mix it up with some quests. The 60-70 part, on the other hand, includes more quests. There’s an entire separate guide for Blood Elves.)
- Paladin Quests (Detailed walkthroughs of Paladin quests for rewards, including how to get resurrection, gear, and your superior and epic mounts.)
- Talents (The biggest chapter in the guide, featuring a discussion of every talent and its usefulness for PvP, soloing, groups, and raids. Talents, to me, are definitely one of the most important aspects of a class in World of Warcraft, so it’s great to see a good amount of space dedicated to this chapter. Also, I checked everything for accuracy and it was 98% up to date with the latest talents.)
- Talent Builds (No less than nine different talent builds that you can use immediately, all the way up to and including level 70. Of course, you can always make your own build based on the discussion in the "Talents" chapter. But you won’t ever need to with the diversity provided here. You’ve got PvP/damage builds, healing/raid builds, tank builds as well as a leveling build detailing how to place every single talent point on your way to 70.)
- Paladin Moneymaking (This chapter covers mostly grinding zones from level 20-70, including some of the very best ones. I’ve used many of them myself, and they’re excellent. Some will have you using gathering professions to increase your earnings / hour too. The 60-70 part, where you really need the cash, is especially detailed too.)
Basically, this WoW Paladin guide will take you from a complete novice to a valued member of groups, raids, PvP premades, and will have you earning gold and leveling faster than most people. It delivers on all its promises, and it’s quite accurate, something that I value highly because you need to know that your decisions are based on the right facts.
It’s not 100% up to date with the World of Warcraft expansion, but close. It will certainly be a great help if you want to be a better Paladin. Click here for more information.
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