Paladin The paladin is a hybrid class with the ability to play all three major roles , including healing , tanking and DPS . They have aura s , blessing s and seals that provide useful buff s for other players while wearing plate armor to heavily mitigate damage and strong defensive abilities . Paladins are considered holy knights or blood knights . Paladins begin the game able to wear plate . Paladins can use a shield . Paladins use melee weapons , including one - and two - handed axes , maces and swords , as well as polearms . Overview . Paladins are exceptional tanks , excelling at pulling and holding the attention of multiple mobs simultaneously through the use of reactive threat abilities such as Consecration . The class also has some of the most mana - efficient , low - threat healing spells in the game , allowing a paladin to easily fill the position of a main tank ' s healer in a party or raid environment . Their healing efficiency makes them great endurance and battle healers , though paladins lack Area of Effect healing abilities . However , with the inclusion of Eternal Flame , they finally have a Heal over time ability . The paladin has several abilities designed specifically for use against undead and demonic targets , including Exorcism , Holy Wrath and Turn Evil . Note that " undead " in this case does not include Forsaken players , who are considered Humanoids for reasons of fairness and balance . In PvP , paladins are infamous for outlasting opponents and being able to adapt to a variety of situations . With plate armor , a shield , the ability to heal themselves and allies , along with a nearly complete invulnerability every few minutes , they are a hard target to take down . Paladins are also capable of doing a surprising amount of burst damage , and stuns and similar abilities provide plenty of utility . Paladins make great support characters , buffing and healing teammates while being able to survive the enemy ' s attention and contribute a respectable , if not exceptional , amount of damage , depending on the spec ( and patch , like everything else ) . However , these " " Warriors of the Light " " are not indestructible , and are particularly vulnerable to silence and interrupt effects , due to the class ' s reliance on a single school of magic ( Holy ) . This also means dispel effects are powerful deterrents . While paladins have strong advantages , mastery of the class is also an arduous exercise in multitasking and attention to detail . Thanks to their hybrid role , inexperienced players may find them hard to balance as a whole . Background . Paladins are virtuous defenders of the weak , and tireless , unfaltering enemies of the undead . Mixing elements of the warrior and the cleric s of the Holy Light , the paladin is a tough melee fighter . The paladin is a " warrior of the Holy Light " . They uphold all that is good and true in the world and revile all that is evil and sinister , especially undead and the Burning Legion . They offer succor to the beleaguered and smite their enemies with holy fervor . They are particularly potent against undead , as these creatures threaten the goodly races and the Holy Light burns them terribly . The presence of any evil is reprehensible to paladins , but they focus their efforts on destroying undead and demons . These warriors uphold the tenets of the Holy Light and defend their factions from the predations of any threat . Found in almost every corner of Azeroth fighting the forces of evil and barbarism , these stalwart warriors of faith ceaselessly uphold their vigil against demonic forces from beyond the Dark Portal . Paladins are the embodiment of good and selfless dedication to the protection of their peoples . They help the innocent and punish the wicked . As such , paladins are generally of good alignment . During the Second War , some paladins ' eyes glowed with inner power of the Light , such as the paladin Turalyon . This is not the case for all paladins , though it occurs in - game with certain paladin armor sets . Code . The paladin ’ s code requires that they respect legitimate authority , act with honor , help those in need , and punish those who harm or threaten innocents . While they may adventure with others from different organizations , they will never knowingly associate with evil persons , nor continue an association with someone who consistently offends their moral code . Paladins may accept only henchmen , followers , or cohorts whose intentions are good . Paladins must be good or will lose all Light - given abilities if they ever willingly commit an evil act , becoming ex - paladin s . Atoning is usually a long and difficult process . In exceptional circumstances paladins may act unlawfully if they are certain it is for the greater good , but they must " never " work for unjust or evil causes knowingly . Since paladins believe in honesty , honor , and loyalty , even " pretending " to support what they know is an unjust cause in order to bring down a greater evil is heavily frowned upon . Paladins don ' t always have to work within good or neutral organizations , as seen by the Scarlet Crusade and others ; however , they do have to believe they are working for good organizations or have faith that their cause is good and just . Paladins can be evil ( as illustrated by Renault Mograine and Arthas , before he took up Frostmourne ) , but as long as they believe their cause to be just , the Light will continue to serve them . History . Second War . perceived that the pious Clerics of Northshire , who suffered such terrible attrition in the First War , were ill - suited for the dangers of combat . Along with many of the surviving Clerics of Northshire , he sought those of only the greatest virtue among the knighthood of Lordaeron and tutored them in the ways of magic . Led by , it rested upon these paladins — christened the Knights of the Silver Hand — to heal the wounds sustained in combat and to restore faith in the promise of freedom from orcish tyranny . Post - Second War . The holy paladins led the battle against the orcs and helped save the lands of Lordaeron from ruin . Though 15 years had passed since the end of the Second War , the paladins worked selflessly to protect humanity from the gnawing jaws of evil . Empowered by the Light , these mighty warriors brandished both their warhammers and holy fire in the battle against all those who would trample the weak and innocent . Third War . The Knights of the Silver Hand was at its height until the time of the Plague . As paladins were immune to the Plague , many members of the Order survived the initial push of the Scourge . The Order of the Silver Hand was disbanded by prince Arthas Menethil when Uther refused to aid in the purging of Stratholme . Later , after Arthas was seduced by the power of the Lich King , he killed many paladins upon his return from Northrend , including Uther , leaving only a scattered few . Following the invasion of the Scourge , many of the order ' s paladins joined a zealous group of followers of the Light known as the Scarlet Crusade . These paladins became fanatical in their ambition to destroy the Scourge , to the point that those not wearing their colors are deemed corrupted . Others decided to join the Argent Dawn . Some paladins also turned from the Light and joined Arthas Menethil as death knights . Others fled south to the Kingdom of Stormwind . The paladin order , still referring to themselves as the Order of the Silver Hand , thrived under new leadership at the Cathedral of Light in Stormwind City . Over time , followers of the Holy Light spread their philosophy to the dwarves of Ironforge , who soon adopted the tenets of the order as well . Though decimated , the Knights of the Silver Hand eventually began to recover . In a " World of Warcraft " questline , vows to restore the original order , which later merges with the Argent Dawn to form the Argent Crusade . Races . < tabber > Playable races = The paladin class can be played by the following races : Blood elf paladins belong to the Order of Blood Knights , while human and dwarven paladins are usually from the Knights of the Silver Hand . Currently , draenei paladins are members of an organization called the Hand of Argus . Draenei paladins receive an elekk similar to how tauren receive a modified kodo . As of the Cataclysm expansion , Tauren are the second race of the Horde to be able to take on the role of paladin . Tauren paladins are called Sunwalkers . They receive a kodo mount . The one who is believed to be the first tauren paladin is located in - game on The Elder Rise in Thunder Bluff , named Aponi Brightmane . She has a conversation with Tahu Sagewind about drawing powers from the sun as the druid s can draw power from the moon . TCG images = < / tabber > End - game expectations . Paladins are one of the few classes that can perform any of the three major functions required in group or raid play , depending on their specialization . Tanking . Through the protection specialization paladins gain an increased ability to tank enemies . Paladins are especially well - known for their ability to tank many enemies at once with rapid threat production . Paladin tanking was once largely reliant on reflective damage , but can now effectively generate multi - target threat . Strong stamina scaling and simple and very high threat generation make paladins perhaps the best tanks in the game . Damage . Through the retribution specialization paladins are able to significantly increase their damage output while also bringing a large amount of unique raid utility . Healing . Through the holy specialization paladins are able to empower their healing even further . The holy specialization ' s most important talent , Beacon of Light , allows a paladin ' s direct heals to be mirrored to the affected friendly target . Holy Paladins are widely regarded as the strongest tank healers in the game due to the high output of Holy Light in combination with Beacon of Light .