Tips and advice for paladins Paladin stats by paladin type . Primary stats for each paladin type in alphabetical order , and not necessarily in order of importance ; that is left up to the player based upon their goal and playstyle . Secondary stats can be optionally obtained after your primary stats have been met , if you choose to do so . Healing and non - Retribution DPS . Spell crit rating is the primary stat for a healing set , but for DPS it is largely useless . Seal of Righteousness and Seal of Vengeance cannot crit . Their Judgement s can crit , but if there is a tradeoff between spell damage and spell crit , spell damage should be taken for a dps set . And any build having Holy Shock will include ( as a matter of course ) Divine Favor which gives a guaranteed crit to your next heal or Holy Shock , and can improve dps in that manner . For a real solid healing build ( or any other pally build ) spirit should be ignored . There may be times in dungeon runs where you have time that you ' re not spamming spells where spirit could help you regen your mana . But when you ' re not spamming spells is hardly the time that you really need the mana regen that you want from spirit . Furthermore , spirit gives us no side bonuses that some priest s and druid s have such as a bonus to healing . In a raid , there is usually more than one healer . One for the tank and one for the group . If you are the healer of the tank and continually find yourself assisting in the group healing it is usually one of two problems . Either the tank is not generating enough aggro or the DPS group is not watching what they are doing and dealing too much DPS , which thus pulls the aggro off of the tank . This usually leads to a group wipe . Protection . Since patch 3 . 0 . 2 , Paladins no longer need added Spell Power from equipment , not even on a weapon . Paladins share the same tanking equipment with Warriors and Death Knights . The primary aggro stat is Strength , although paladins still benefit from Spell Power . Through the talented passive skill Touched by the Light , Spell Power is scaled to Strength ( patch 3 . 2 . 2 ) , providing all the Spell Power that is needed . Changing your old Spell Power weapon to a Warrior tanking weapon is suggested as much of the aggro is build up from weapon damage , Hammer of the Righteous and other abilities . Most paladins will notice an increase in aggro buildup when switching to a DPS tanking weapon , which comes along with the improved survivability . You may find that hit rating ( as of patch 2 . 3 ) is helpful when tanking to reduce the number of Righteous Defense resists , or perhaps you may find that the number of resists you see is acceptable due to not having to use it as frequently as the next guy . Hit rating bonuses can also be helpful , considering the fact that we have to actually hit with our melee weapon in order for your favorite seal ( of Corruption or of Vengeance ) to proc . Unlike warriors , druids , and death knights , we also get threat from Holy Shield , assuming they are already attacking us , and Consecration , assuming they are in the vicinity . Protection paladins do NOT need intellect , mana regeneration , or spirit on their tanking gear . A tanking paladin should expect to either take enough damage that the heals that are cast on them will give them enough mana regen . to finish the battle , or dodge / parry / block enough hits to generate mana by Blessing of Sanctuary . " See also for more detailed information concerning paladin tanking gear . " Retribution . Pre - patch 3 . 0 . Retribution paladins are by far the best talent specialization for single - target soloing . As of patch 2 . 3 , Retribution paladins can be equally viable in raid s as well . With the right build , Retribution paladins can kill mobs quicker than mage s , warlock s , or rogue s , though downtime is increased . A good Retribution paladin should put over ten point s into Protection , as you ' ll want 3 / 3 points into precision , and Blessing of Kings is actually more effective than Blessing of Might , even if it is improved . In addition , critical hit rating is what is needed . Blessing of Might , unfortunately , adds nothing to that . 5 points into Holy for Divine Strength is also extremely useful . Vindication is nice for PvP ( 3 / 3 for 15 % reduction in all stats , including Stamina ) , and for solo / small group PvE , but it is mostly useless in raids as raid encounters tend to be immune to it . Every ability that improves Seal of the Crusader is absolutely essential , and Seal of Command is just a given - DPS is non - existant without it , and Crusader Strike is a necessity too . Aside from those points , simply throw the rest wherever you want - this talent spec is kind of loose . As of patch 2 . 3 there are a lot more desirable talents in Retribution - most notably the buff to Fanaticism that will reduce threat generated by your attacks by 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 % . If you plan on raiding , this is absolutely critically important to have . No more holding back your DPS to prevent drawing aggro , you can finally go all - out and even use Avenging Wrath without immediately aggroing everything . The kind of stats you ' ll be wanting to obtain are , in order , Attack Power , Critical Strike Rating and Hit Rating . By extension , you ' ll want , again , in order , Strength and Agility ( these two should be pretty evenly balanced ) , Intellect , and finally Stamina . The key to Retribution Paladin s is to bring down enemies quickly , not long , sustained , fights that require lots of mana . In raid situations , you ' ll need to chain chug mana potions and pray you ' re in a group with a Shadow priest . You should never be afraid to throw on Mail or Leather gear if that ' s what your stats require , but try to keep most of it plate . If you are unsure which weapon to look for , just imagine that you are an Arms warrior . A very good starting point for any Retribution paladin is to take up Blacksmithing and make either , , or . After this , there are two paths you can take - you can either level up for blacksmithing to 375 ( requiring huge amounts of grinding or money ) and make the second tier and eventually third tier weapons , or you can raid and get your epic weapons that way . , are both great weapons to obtain through Karazhan . once you progress into Gruul ' s Lair , is a very nice weapon to have , as that extra intellect goes a long way to keeping up sustained DPS . Aside from this , you should just experiment and do what works , it takes a lot of practice , a unique gear , stat , and spec combination , and a little luck to get Retribution nailed down . Patch 3 . 0 . As of Patch 3 . 0 , Retribution paladins received tremendous buffs . Most notable of these are the two new abilites , Judgements of the Wise and Divine Storm . JotW grants you mana back and 0 . 25 % of your total mana replenished every few seconds over an amount of time , and Divine Storm deals extra damage to your main target and damage to two nearby targets , both as Holy Damage , and heals random party members for 20 % of the damage dealt . With Judgements of the Wise , the need for Intellect has been abolished . Gear restrictions are no longer based on whether you have any Intellect at all , which means you can concentrate on pure DPS gear , with stats such as Strength and Critical Strike Rating . Your DPS rotation after Patch 3 . 0 is quite simple , as a point of fact . It is a FCFS which comes down to three simples things : Use Crusader Strike whenever it is up , use Divine Storm whenever it is up , and work your judgements in around those . If you have a lull in abilites , throw down a down - ranked Consecrate . Patch 3 . 2 . In Patch 3 . 2 , Seal of the Martyr and Seal of Blood were discontinued , while Seal of Command was boosted .