I’m happy to report that spending the first 60 levels in the protection tree has been a blast. It hasn’t been nearly as slow as one might assume that a tank-centered talent would be. I want to share my thoughts on the path I took through the talents on the way to 60. Before we dive in, though, let’s set the stage a little.
First, yes, solo leveling with retribution talents will be faster still. It’ll also be a lot of fun. If that’s your thing, go for it. I didn’t because not only do I simply enjoy the protection tree but I also wanted to get lots of experience with it.
Secondly, this is not a tanking build. Sadly, I’m not a huge fan of the keystone cops style of play that prevails in the lower level instances. I ran a handful of dungeons, maybe two or three, so I found that most tanking talents didn’t get used. So I focused on solo DPS and less on the tanking role of soaking up damage.
Points 1-5: Diving Strength
First up, Divine Strength. Strength gives us Attack Power which increases white dps which is still significant, even in huge grinding pulls. Many magical paladin abilities now scale with Attack Power, too. It pains me to skip Blessing of Kings, it really does, but I just didn’t use it all that often. I found myself using Blessing of Wisdom in the early levels and Blessing of Sanctuary once it became available.
Points 6-10: Anticipation
5/5 in Anticipation is a pretty clear choice in the second tier. Dodge procs Blessing of Sanctuary which is icing on the cake.
Points 11-13: Improved Righteous Fury
Pionts 14-18: Toughness
The third tier is great. I started with Improved Righteous Fury for the straight damage reduction and then maxed out Toughness.
Points 19-20: Improved Devotion Aura
Sadly, I found that I almost never used Devotion Aura when leveling. Maybe in a handful of fights with solo elites. I only took 2/5 in Improved Devotion Aura to get access to the next tier.
Point 21: Blessing of Sanctuary
Blessing of Sanctuary is the first talent in the build that changes the flow of play. Leveling as protection is all about gathering up as many mobs as possible and grinding them down. BoS is fantastic for that, providing a steady stream of mana.
Points 22-25: Reckoning
I probably wouldn’t get Reckoning in a tanking build. Its modest threat contribution would be much better spent on more mitigation in other talents. But I love it for leveling. 4/5 seems to proc at a decent rate and gives us access to the next tier. I try to use as fast a weapon as I can so that all the charges are consumed.
Points 26-30: One-Handed Weapon Specialization
Sacred Duty would be fantastic in a tanking build. When leveling, though, it’s extremely rare to have to absorb huge damage spikes. There’s generally plenty of time to react — shifting auras, seals, and judgments — if health is dropping too fast. So we take 5/5 in One-Handed Weapon Specialization to bring down mobs fast.
Point 31: Holy Shield
Holy Shield is the second exciting talent in the tree and marks the point when protection grinding really comes into its own. I love it, probably too much. I often accidentally keep it up when fighting casters just out of habit.
Points 32-35: Ardent Defender
I consider myself in the camp of Ardent Defender supporters. Things do sometimes go pear shaped. It’s nice to know that AD is offering a non-trivial buffer if your health drops too far. We only grab 4/5 to move us on to the next tier, though.
Points 36-38: Redoubt
Like Reckoning, I have a personal weakness for Redoubt. It goes really well with Holy Shield and large pulls. It’s probably not theoretically optimal, but I sure enjoy it.
Points 39-40: Combat Expertise
Combat Expertise is a great fit for the theme of aiming for DPS while grinding as a tank. 3/3 would be perfectly reasonable, but the last point is spent on the next tier..
Point 41: Avenger's Shield
Avenger’s Shield, yay! Finally, the paladin ranged pull talent. It opens up yet more tactics to practice. It can also be a decent mana sink when Blessing of Sanctuary is providing more mana than the usual rotation can consume.
I’ll stop here. I think that’s the critical path that most distinguishes this leveling build. The bottom of the protection tree is full of fantastic talents to chose in the coming levels. Though Touched by the Light certainly stands out as a good fit when we’re trying to do decent solo DPS.
There we have it, the path I took leveling with solo quests in the protection tree. Having just hit 60 I intend to respect into a tanking build so I can try leveling in Outland instances. That’s a post for another day.
