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This guide takes a Paladin from level 1 to 30 in WoW Forever and gives a talent plan for Retribution, Protection and Holy. Ability levels, costs and talent values come from the beta client (build 1.60.1) and can still move before launch.
Holy Strike every 10 seconds, 
Seal of Command from level 20 and talents that make all of it cheap. It kills fastest of the three, and current beta tier lists put it among the best leveling specs in the game. Protection and Holy have their own tabs.Why Retribution comes first
- Buttons to press at last. Holy Strike arrives at level 6 and
Judgement no longer uses up your Seal, so you strike, judge and keep swinging without recasting anything. - Cheap to run.
Benediction lowers the cost of every instant spell and ability, and 
Sanctified Judgement gives back 60% of your Seal's mana each time you judge. - Plate, heals and a panic button. You wear mail until plate, heal yourself between pulls, stun with
Hammer of Justice, and 
Lay on Hands is a full heal from level 10. - 15% movement speed from
Pursuit of Justice at level 22, on foot and mounted. Over thirty levels that is a lot of saved walking.
The honest trade-offs: a Paladin has no ranged pull worth the name and no way to catch a fleeing enemy before 
Seal of Justice at level 22, and damage still depends heavily on your weapon. An outdated two-hander makes every fight drag.
The three specializations at a glance
Retribution Recommended
Two-handed weapon, Seal of Command, critical strikes and movement speed. The fastest solo route, and it still heals or off-tanks a leveling dungeon when asked.
Protection
One-hander and shield with the new 
Seal of Fury. Slower on a single enemy, but it gets mana back from blocks and absorbs, so it can gather several enemies on 
Consecration from level 20. The dungeon tank spec.
Holy
The first Holy talents are damage talents (
Divine Strength, 
Improved Seals), so it levels better than its name suggests, and it is the tree for players who want to heal dungeons. It ends on 
Holy Shock at level 30.
What Forever changes for every Paladin
- Judgement keeps your Seal. It has a 10-yard range and a 10-second cooldown, and the Seal stays active after you judge.
- Holy Strike is new: an instant melee strike with extra Holy damage, learned at level 6, on a 10-second cooldown. Several talents build on it.
- Seal of Fury is the new tank Seal (level 10): extra Holy damage on each hit, an absorb shield while you carry a shield, and a 4-second taunt when you judge it.
- Consecration and
Blessing of Kings are trained at level 20. They are no longer talents. - Holy Shock is a fifth-row Holy talent, reachable at level 30. Protection gets the new
Templar's Bulwark on the same row. - Blessings last 1 hour, so you buff once and forget about it.
Talents
You earn one talent point per level from level 10, which gives 21 points at level 30. The Paladin trees were rebuilt for Forever, so do not follow a Classic build.
Everything goes into Retribution: cheaper buttons first, then critical strikes, Seal of Command and speed.
- Levels 10-14 — Benediction (5): 10% off the mana cost of every instant spell and ability: Seals, Judgement, Holy Strike, Hammer of Justice, later Consecration and
Exorcism. - Levels 15-19 — Conviction (5): +5% melee critical strike chance.
- Level 20 — Seal of Command: a chance on each swing to deal extra Holy damage equal to 70% of your weapon damage. Its Judgement hits twice as hard on a stunned target, so pair it with Hammer of Justice.
- Levels 21-22 — Pursuit of Justice (2): +15% movement speed, mounted or not.
- Levels 23-25 — Sanctified Judgement (3): each Judgement returns 60% of the mana cost of the Seal you judged. It is also required for
Vengeance. - Level 26 —
Sacred Arbiter: Holy Strike deals 20% more damage and refreshes your Judgement effects on the target. - Levels 27-28 — Improved Judgement (2): the Judgement cooldown drops from 10 to 8 seconds.
- Level 29 —
Vindication (1/3): your hits can lower the enemy's Attack Power and raise yours a little. It is also your 20th point. - Level 30 — Vengeance (1/3): after a critical strike, +1% Physical and Holy damage for 30 seconds, stacking three times. It grows with each point after level 30.
Other uses for the last point: 
Two-Handed Weapon Specialization (1/3) is a flat +2% damage with no condition, and 
Repentance puts a Humanoid out of the fight for up to 6 seconds, which is useful in dungeons and in PvP. If you fight a lot of Undead or Demons, 
Holy Conduit (2) in place of Improved Judgement cuts the cost of Exorcism and Consecration by 40%.
One-handed weapon, shield and Seal of Fury. This is the tank build for dungeons, and from level 20 it can also level by pulling several enemies onto Consecration.
- Levels 10-14 —
Redoubt (5): melee hits against you have a chance to raise your block chance by 20% for 10 seconds or 5 blocks. - Levels 15-17 —
Precision (3): +3% chance to hit. - Levels 18-19 —
Guardian's Favor (2): Blessing of Protection comes back 2 minutes sooner and 
Blessing of Freedom lasts 6 seconds longer. - Levels 20-22 —
Shield Specialization (3): your shield absorbs 30% more, and each block restores 6% of your maximum mana (at most once every 3 seconds). This is what pays for Consecration. - Level 23 —
Improved Seal of Fury: you regain mana whenever the Seal's absorb shield is used up. - Level 24 —
Improved Righteous Fury (1/3): a little damage reduction while Righteous Fury is on, and the 15th point. - Levels 25-27 —
One-Handed Weapon Specialization (3): +10% damage with one-handed weapons. - Level 28 —
Swift Judgement: resets the Judgement cooldown and makes the next one free, once a minute. With Seal of Fury that is a second taunt. - Level 29 — Improved Righteous Fury (2/3): 4% less damage taken, and the 20th point.
- Level 30 — Templar's Bulwark: an absorb shield equal to your maximum Health for 8 seconds, every 5 minutes. It applies Forbearance.
A healer's tree that starts with two melee talents, so it levels acceptably with a two-hander. Choose it if you expect to heal most dungeons on the way up.
- Levels 10-14 — Divine Strength (5): +10% Strength. Pure healers can take
Divine Intellect instead. - Levels 15-17 — Improved Seals (3): +15% damage from Seals and Judgements.
- Levels 18-19 —
Healing Light (2/3): stronger Holy Light and 
Flash of Light. - Levels 20-22 —
Reverence (3): 30% of your mana regeneration continues while you cast. - Level 23 — Healing Light (3/3): +12% healing in total.
- Level 24 —
Spiritual Focus (1/2): less pushback on your heals, and the 15th point. - Levels 25-29 —
Illumination (5): a critical heal refunds half of the spell's base mana cost. - Level 30 — Holy Shock: an instant spell that damages an enemy or heals an ally, every 10 seconds.
Bonus points from the Legacy perk Talented: Retribution adds ranks of Vengeance, Protection takes 
Reckoning, and Holy takes 
Divine Favor.
Gameplay & Main Abilities
A Paladin fights with one Seal on the weapon, one Blessing on each ally and one Aura around the party. Most of the class is choosing the right one of each.
Seals
Seal of Righteousness (level 1) adds Holy damage to every swing. 
Seal of the Crusader (level 6) is used for its Judgement, which makes the target take more Holy damage. Seal of Fury (level 10) is for shield users. Seal of Command (level 20, talent) is the two-hander Seal. Seal of Justice (level 22) stops enemies from fleeing, and 
Seal of Light (level 30) heals you as you hit.
Blessings
Blessing of Might (level 4) for melee, 
Blessing of Wisdom (level 14) for mana users, Blessing of Kings (level 20) for +10% to all stats. Short ones for emergencies: Blessing of Protection (level 10), Blessing of Freedom (level 18) and 
Blessing of Salvation (level 26) for threat.
Auras
Devotion Aura (level 1) adds armor. 
Retribution Aura (level 16) damages whatever hits you and is the solo default from then on. 
Concentration Aura (level 22) protects casts from pushback.
Survival
Divine Protection (level 6) makes you immune for 6 seconds, during which you can heal but not attack. Lay on Hands (level 10) heals for your full Health at the cost of all your mana, on a 20-minute cooldown. Hammer of Justice (level 8) is a 3-second stun.
On top of that you heal with Holy Light and, from level 20, Flash of Light, cure poisons and diseases with 
Purify, and resurrect with 
Redemption. Few classes bring as much to a party this early.
Rotation
The Paladin rotation is short. What matters is to keep a Seal up, use Holy Strike and Judgement every time they are ready, and let your swings do the rest.
- Keep Seal of Righteousness active. Recast it when it expires, not before.
- Judgement (level 4) on cooldown. Your Seal stays on.
- Holy Strike (level 6) on cooldown.
- Hammer of Justice (level 8) on casters, runners and anything that hits hard.
- Heal with Holy Light between pulls, not during them, unless you are about to die.
Buff yourself with Blessing of Might and run Devotion Aura until Retribution Aura at level 16.
- Seal of Command with a slow two-hander. If you are stuck with a fast weapon, Seal of Righteousness is the better Seal.
- Holy Strike every 10 seconds. With Sacred Arbiter it also keeps your Judgement effects running.
- Judgement on cooldown. On elites and other tough enemies, stun with Hammer of Justice first: the Judgement of Command deals double damage to a stunned target.
- Consecration when three or more enemies are on you. On one or two it is not worth its mana.
- Exorcism on cooldown against Undead and Demons only.
- From level 22, switch to Seal of Justice when a Humanoid is about to run at low Health and judge it.
Long fights: open with Seal of the Crusader, judge it so the target takes more Holy damage, then put Seal of Command back on. Your swings keep the Crusader effect running. On an ordinary enemy this costs more than it gains.
- Righteous Fury and Retribution Aura active, shield equipped, Seal of Fury on.
- Gather two to four melee enemies and stand in Consecration. Recast it every time it is ready.
- Holy Strike and Judgement on cooldown on the enemy you want dead first. In a group, the Judgement of Fury is also your taunt.
- Blocks restore mana through Shield Specialization, so more enemies means more mana, up to the point where they out-damage your armor. Learn where that point is before you pull five.
- Hammer of Justice a caster to bring the pack together, or the hardest hitter to breathe.
- Divine Protection, then Holy Light, when the pull was too big. From level 30, Templar's Bulwark does the same job without stopping your attacks.
Solo, play it like Retribution with Seal of Righteousness boosted by Improved Seals, and add Holy Shock at level 30. In a group:
- Flash of Light (level 20) for small, steady healing. It is cheap enough to cast almost without pause.
- Holy Light for large hits. Start the cast early: it takes 2.5 seconds.
- Holy Shock (level 30) when someone needs healing right now.
- Blessing of Protection on a cloth wearer being hit, Lay on Hands on the tank when nothing else will do.
- Purify poisons and diseases as they appear.
Ability milestones
- Level 1: Seal of Righteousness, Holy Light, Devotion Aura. Level 4: Judgement and Blessing of Might. Level 6: Holy Strike, Divine Protection, Seal of the Crusader. Level 8: Hammer of Justice and Purify.
- Level 10: Lay on Hands, Blessing of Protection, Seal of Fury and your first talent point. Level 12: Redemption. Level 14: Blessing of Wisdom.
- Level 16: Retribution Aura and Righteous Fury. Level 18: Blessing of Freedom.
- Level 20: Consecration, Blessing of Kings, Exorcism, Flash of Light and Sense Undead.
- Levels 22-28: Seal of Justice and Concentration Aura (22), Turn Undead (24), Blessing of Salvation (26), Shadow Resistance Aura (28).
- Level 30: Seal of Light and
Divine Intervention.
Playable Races
Three races can be Paladins in the Forever beta: Human and Dwarf for the Alliance, and Undead for the Horde, which has Paladins of its own for the first time.
Undead Horde
Cannibalize now restores mana as well as Health: 7% of each every 2 seconds for 10 seconds, on a Humanoid or Undead corpse. Touch of the Grave gives your attacks a chance to drain Health, and Will of the Forsaken removes Charm, Fear and Sleep effects.
Human Alliance
Sword Specialization gives +2% critical strike chance to attacks and spells while you hold a sword, which feeds Vengeance and Illumination. The Human Spirit adds 5% Spirit, Will to Survive removes stuns and Perception reveals stealthed enemies.
Dwarf Alliance
Stoneform removes Bleeds, Poisons and Diseases and cuts Physical damage taken by 10% for 8 seconds, a good tank cooldown. Mace Specialization gives +1% critical strike chance with maces, and Big Game Hunter adds 5% damage against Beasts.
Which one?
On the Horde there is nothing to decide, and Undead happens to be excellent for leveling: Cannibalize refills both bars after a fight against Humanoids, so you drink far less. For the Alliance, Human is the stronger pick for Retribution and Holy as long as you can find swords, while Dwarf suits Protection and anyone leveling through zones full of Beasts.
Tips & Tricks
- Slow weapons for Retribution. Holy Strike and Seal of Command both work from weapon damage, so between two weapons of similar damage per second, take the slower one.
- Respect the five-second rule. Mana regeneration from Spirit stops for five seconds after each spell. Spend your mana in bursts at the start of a fight, then let your swings finish the enemy.
- Do not recast a Seal that is still running. A Seal lasts 30 seconds and Judgement no longer removes it. Most wasted Paladin mana is habit from Classic.
- Stun, then judge. With Seal of Command, Hammer of Justice followed by Judgement is your biggest burst.
- Mind Forbearance. Divine Protection, Blessing of Protection and Templar's Bulwark all apply it for one minute, and none of them can be used on a target that has it. Choose one per emergency.
- Blessing of Freedom (level 18) removes and prevents snares and roots for 10 seconds. It is the closest thing you have to a gap closer.
- Train new weapon types on weak enemies before you rely on them, and carry a one-hander and shield even as Retribution.
- Keep a food buff active. In Forever, food that grants a buff also gives 5% extra experience.
In dungeons
A leveling Paladin can fill any of the three roles. Between levels 13 and 30 you can run Ragefire Chasm, The Hall of Thanes, Ruins of Lordaeron, Wailing Caverns, the Deadmines, Shadowfang Keep, the Stockade, Excavation Site: Wetlands and Blackfathom Deeps (see the dungeon guide).
- Tanking: shield on, Righteous Fury up, Seal of Fury active. Judge to taunt, keep Consecration down from level 20, and use Holy Strike on the kill target. Any talent tree can tank at these levels with a shield equipped.
- Healing: Holy Light until level 20, then Flash of Light as your main heal. Give casters Blessing of Wisdom.
- Damage: turn Righteous Fury off, give the tank a moment, and keep Blessing of Protection ready for the healer. It makes its target immune to physical attacks but unable to attack, so do not put it on the tank.
- Everyone: buff the whole party, Purify poisons and diseases, and resurrect with Redemption after a wipe.
Stat Priority
- Weapon damage — for Retribution and Protection alike, a better weapon is the biggest upgrade you can get.
- Strength — Attack Power for every swing,Holy Strike and Seal of Command. Protection also blocks for more with it.
- Agility and critical strike — crits triggerVengeance, and Agility adds a little dodge and armor.
- Stamina — you are in melee all the time. Protection ranks it second.
- Intellect — a larger mana pool: more Seals, more Judgements and more heals between rests. Holy ranks it first.
- Spirit — regeneration between fights. Valuable for a Human or Dwarf, much less for an Undead who can use Cannibalize.
Professions. Mining with Blacksmithing lets you craft your own weapons and armor to fill gaps between dungeon drops, and Engineering remains a strong choice for the gadgets. First Aid saves mana on every fight you finish hurt.