Paladin

The Paladin got the deepest rework of any melee class in Forever, and it is the only class whose tank role Blizzard stated out loud on stage. Seals are no longer consumed by Judgement, Holy Strike arrives at level 6, Blessing of Kings and Consecration are trained instead of talented, and a new Seal of Fury turns Judgement into a taunt. Retribution is the beta’s strongest leveler, Protection is a real main-tank candidate for the first time, and Holy finally has a group heal. If you want a class that can fill any role the guild is short on, this is it.

TL;DR

• Judgement no longer consumes your Seal. Stop resealing after every Judge; it wastes mana.
• Retribution is “the beta’s strongest leveler” and “overtuned” verified, partly because of a Vengeance bug that is being fixed. Level Ret.
• Protection tanks with Righteous Fury plus Seal of Fury: Judgement taunts for 4 sec, blocks and absorbs refund mana, Templar’s Bulwark absorbs a full health bar. Still no interrupt.
• Holy heals tanks with Flash of Light, Holy Shock and Infusion of Light procs, and heals a party with Light’s Vigil. Crits are the mana engine.
• Endgame: Holy 33/7/11, Protection 8/43/0, Retribution 10/8/33 with Twist of Light, or the Blizzard-endorsed “Shockadin” with 21 points in Holy. All theorycraft.
• Races: Human, Dwarf, and for the first time Undead on Horde. No Tauren, no Skyborne.

Why play it in Forever

Paladin has 20 new talents by the September 20 client export verified, and Blizzard’s own summary named the goals: Holy Strike at 6, Consecration baseline at 20, Seals not consumed by Judgement, “Seal of Fury gives Protection Paladins a tank-focused Seal that favors fast weapons, grants small absorb shields, and causes Judgment to taunt”, Infusion of Light for Holy, Improved Seal of Fury mana for Protection, and a Vindication rework for Ret. verified

Blizzard also described the two Ret builds explicitly: the Twist of Light seal-echo build, or “skip Twist of Light, take Champion of the Light, put 21 points into Holy and use Holy Shock as a ranged Holy nuke” verified (quoted via lfcarry, so secondary).

For the guild this matters because one Paladin can cover the second tank slot, the tank-healer slot, or a melee DPS slot with Blessings and Cleanse, and the respec between them is cheap. expcarry rates Prot tanking A-tier and Paladin PvP A-tier. verified

What changed from vanilla

Trained abilities, beta client export (build 1.60.1.69876) unless tagged. verified

Ability	Forever	Vanilla
Holy Strike	New at level 6. Instant, 12 sec cooldown, 8 ranks: 25% weapon damage + 2 to 4 Holy at rank 1, 40% weapon damage + 32 to 42 Holy at rank 8 (level 60)	None (Crusader Strike did not exist until TBC)
Judgement	Level 4, 6% base mana, 10 yd, 10 sec cooldown, “Does not consume the Seal”	Consumed the Seal
Seal of Fury	New at level 10, 7 ranks (10/18/25/34/42/50/58): +6 Holy per melee hit at rank 1, +35 at rank 7. With a shield, each attack grants an absorb of 50% of that Holy damage. Judging it deals 32 to 34 (rank 1) or 153 to 167 (rank 7) Holy and “taunts the target to attack you for 4 sec”	None
Consecration	Trained at 20, 8 sec cooldown, 5 ranks. Light damage to everyone, the first 4 enemies take extra	31-point Holy talent, unlimited targets
Blessing of Kings	Trained at 20, +10% total stats, 1 hour	11-point Prot talent, 5 min
All Blessings	1 hour duration verified	5 min
Righteous Fury	Level 16, +90% Holy threat, 30 min	+60%
Holy Shock	21-point Holy talent, trained ranks at 30/40/48/56, 10 sec cooldown, 129 to 139 damage or 110 to 118 heal at rank 1	31-point talent, 30 sec cooldown
Light’s Vigil	New 31-point Holy capstone, ranks 40/50/60	None
Lay on Hands	20 min cooldown per beta feedback unverified (secondary)	1 hour
Divine Spirit	“moved to baseline support” per expcarry unverified; not in the spellbook export	None
Sanctity Aura	Gone	21-point Ret talent

Removed talents (12 to 13 per foreverchanges): Blessing of Kings, Blessing of Sanctuary, Consecration, Improved Blessing of Might, Sanctity Aura, Improved Concentration Aura, Improved Seal of Righteousness (replaced by Improved Seals), and others. verified

Holy tree (13 talents new or changed)

Row	Talents
1	Improved Holy Strike 2/2 (-2 sec cooldown, so Holy Strike every 10 sec); Divine Strength 5/5 (+10% Str); Divine Intellect 5/5 (+10% Int)
2	Healing Light 3/3 (+12% Holy Light, Flash of Light, Holy Shock); Spiritual Focus 2/2 (70% pushback resist, includes Light’s Vigil); Improved Seals 3/3 (+15% Seal and Judgement damage); Unyielding Faith 2/2 (-30% Fear and Disorient duration)
3 (11 pt)	Voice of Truth (6 sec immunity to Silence and Interrupt); Reverence 3/3 (30% mana regen continues while casting); Purifying Power 2/2 (Cleanse and Purify -20% mana, Exorcism and Holy Wrath -33% cooldown)
4 (16 pt)	Divine Favor (next Flash, Holy Light or Holy Shock is a guaranteed crit); Infusion of Light 2/2 (a Holy Shock or Flash of Light crit cuts the next Holy Light by 1 sec within 15 sec); Illumination 5/5 (100% chance to regain 50% of base cost on a Flash, Holy Light, Light’s Vigil or Holy Shock crit; vanilla was a 20% chance at 100%)
5 (21 pt)	Holy Shock; Divine Precision 3/3 (+18% Holy spell hit, requires Holy Shock); Consecrated Ground 2/2 (+10% Holy damage vs the first 4 enemies in your Consecration)
6	Holy Power 5/5 (+15% Holy Shock crit, +5% all other spells)
7 (31 pt)	Light’s Vigil: 30 sec mark on a target; your next Holy Shock on them triggers no cooldown and heals their party for 325 to 343 (or, on an enemy, 175 to 189 Holy damage and refunds 75% of Vigil’s mana). One Vigil per Paladin per party

Protection tree (12 new or changed)

Row	Talents
1	Toughness 5/5 (+10% armor from items); Redoubt 5/5 (10% chance on any damaging melee attack to gain +30% block for 10 sec or 5 blocks; vanilla needed a crit)
2	Precision 3/3 (+3% hit); Guardian’s Favor 2/2 (BoP -2 min, Freedom +6 sec); Anticipation 5/5 (+20 Defense)
3 (11 pt)	Improved Seal of Fury (when the Fury absorb is fully consumed, restore 60 mana, +15% per level the attacker is above you up to +45%); Improved Righteous Fury 3/3 (-6% all damage taken while RF is up; the old threat bonus is gone because RF itself went to 90%); Shield Specialization 3/3 (+30% block amount, blocks restore 6% max mana once per 3 sec); Sacred Duty 2/2 (+4% Stamina, -60 sec on Divine Shield, Divine Protection and Templar’s Bulwark)
4 (16 pt)	Swift Judgement (resets Judgement’s cooldown and makes the next one free); One-Handed Weapon Specialization 3/3 (+10%); Improved Hammer of Justice 3/3 (-15 sec)
5 (21 pt)	Templar’s Bulwark (absorb equal to 100% of max health for 8 sec, applies Forbearance for 1 min); Reckoning 5/5 (40% extra attack on block, 100% on being crit)
6	Iron Creed 5/5 (+25% Holy Strike threat; with RF active, Holy Strike also reduces damage taken by 10% for 6 sec)
7 (31 pt)	Holy Shield (+20% block for 10 sec, 110 Holy damage per block, 4 charges, 20% extra threat; vanilla was 30% and 65)

Swift Judgement cooldown conflict

wowforevertalent.com says Swift Judgement has a 1-minute cooldown. The beta client export does not show one. unverified If it has no cooldown it is a free retaunt every time; if it is once per minute, a missed taunt on a boss swap has exactly one retry. Test it in Barrow Deeps before assigning a Paladin to boss swaps in Onyxia.

Retribution tree (8 new)

Row	Talents
1	Deflection 5/5; Benediction 5/5 (-10% cost on all instants)
2	Improved Judgement 2/2 (-2 sec); Holy Conduit 2/2 (Consecration, Holy Wrath, Exorcism, Hammer of Wrath -40% mana); Conviction 5/5 (+5% melee crit)
3 (11 pt)	Seal of Command (unchanged: 70% weapon damage Holy proc); Vindication 3/3 (melee hits can reduce target AP by 200 and raise yours by 3% for 30 sec); Sanctified Judgement 3/3 (Judgement returns 60% of the judged Seal’s mana cost); Pursuit of Justice 2/2 (+15% move and mount speed)
4 (16 pt)	Sacred Arbiter (+10% Holy Strike damage, and Holy Strike refreshes all your Judgement effects on the target); Eye for an Eye 2/2 (10% reflect on any crit); Crusade 2/2 (+2% all damage, +2% more vs Demons and Undead)
5 (21 pt)	Repentance; Two-Handed Weapon Specialization 3/3 (+9%); Vengeance 3/3 (+3% Physical and Holy per stack for 30 sec after a crit, stacks 5)
6	Champion of the Light 3/3 (spell damage and healing +100% of Intellect); Instrument of Law 2/2 (Hammer of Wrath cast -1 sec, -20% threat while RF is off)
7 (31 pt)	Twist of Light: replacing Seal of Command, Righteousness, Fury or Justice with a different Seal grants an Echo; your next melee attack applies the replaced Seal’s effect

Benediction value conflict

The beta client says Benediction is -10% cost at 5/5. wowforeverbuilds and expcarry say 15%, and earlier beta builds had 15%. unverified Client wins until a patch note says otherwise. Same pattern as the Warrior’s Flurry: fan sites lag the client by a build.

Known beta bugs on the official list: “Vengeance can activate off of periodic critical strikes” (fixed next build, which means current Ret numbers are inflated) and “Ranking up Holy Strike doesn’t feel great per rank” (fixed next build). verified

Milestone talents

Tree	11-point	16-point (new)	21-point	31-point
Holy	Voice of Truth	Divine Favor	Holy Shock	Light’s Vigil
Protection	Improved Seal of Fury	Swift Judgement	Templar’s Bulwark	Holy Shield
Retribution	Seal of Command	Sacred Arbiter	Repentance	Twist of Light

The three trees

Spec	Role	Playstyle	Strengths	Weaknesses
Holy	Healer	Flash of Light filler, Holy Shock instant, Holy Light after Infusion of Light procs, Light’s Vigil on a tank then Shock for a party heal	Strong single-target throughput, plate, Cleanse, Blessings, Voice of Truth, a real group heal	Raid-wide damage still favors Priest, Druid, Shaman; Vigil needs setup; line of sight
Protection	Tank	Righteous Fury plus Seal of Fury: Judge to taunt, Swift Judgement to retry, Holy Shield and Holy Strike on cooldown, Consecration on packs	Best AoE threat, 10-yard taunt, Templar’s Bulwark, Lay on Hands	No interrupt; magic damage bypasses block and the mana loop; Forbearance; slow single bosses starve mana
Retribution	Melee DPS	Slow two-hander, Seal of Command, Holy Strike and Judgement on cooldown, twist Seals or run 21 Holy for Holy Shock	Strongest beta leveler, low death rate, Blessings and Cleanse in the raid, strong vs Undead and Demons	Hit dependent, button-heavy, split scaling, no interrupt, no slow

Holy

Role: healer, tank-healer by default.

Playstyle: Flash of Light is the filler, Holy Shock the instant, Holy Light after an Infusion of Light proc or on a spike. Mark the tank with Light’s Vigil, then Shock them for a 325 to 343 heal on their whole party. Illumination refunds 50% of the cost on every crit, and Reverence keeps 30% of your mana regen running while you cast. Crits are the engine, which is why Holy Power and Divine Favor are core.

Strengths: Blizzard framed Paladin as the best single-target healer unverified (secondary quote). Plate armor. Cleanse. Blessings. Voice of Truth makes you immune to Silence and Interrupt for 6 seconds. A real group heal for the first time.

Weaknesses: raid-wide damage still favors Priest, Druid and Shaman. Light’s Vigil needs a 1.5 sec cast in a safe window and covers only one party. Line of sight.

Verdict: the tank healer in every raid size, and in a 40 you are one of about 10 healers with a Vigil for your own party of 5.

Protection

Role: tank. Trash and add tank first, and a real boss tank candidate once the taunt is proven.

Playstyle: Righteous Fury and Seal of Fury before the pull. Judgement of Fury is the opener and the taunt. Swift Judgement resets it for a free retry. Holy Shield always up, Holy Strike on cooldown (Iron Creed makes it +25% threat and a 10% damage reduction), Consecration on packs. Blocks restore 6% mana (Shield Specialization) and fully consumed Fury absorbs restore 60 mana (Improved Seal of Fury), so as long as things hit you, you have mana.

Strengths: best AoE threat of any tank. A 10-yard taunt. Templar’s Bulwark absorbs 100% of your max health for 8 seconds. Lay on Hands. Sacred Duty shortens Divine Shield. Improved Righteous Fury is -6% all damage taken.

Weaknesses: still no interrupt. verified (lfcarry, expcarry, realmfirst agree.) Magic damage bypasses block and therefore the mana loop. Templar’s Bulwark applies Forbearance, which locks Divine Shield and Blessing of Protection for a minute. Slow single bosses starve you of mana.

Verdict: a real main-tank candidate now; expcarry rates it A-tier. verified See the caution below on boss taunts.

Is a Judgement-based taunt reliable enough for a 40?

The taunt exists: it is Judgement with Seal of Fury active, 4 seconds, 10 sec cooldown, can miss, and Swift Judgement is the retry. lfcarry’s “no taunt button” line is misleading on that point. verified What nobody knows is whether it holds up on boss swaps at 40-player scale. wowforeverbuilds hedges: “prove yourself on bosses once the beta shows how Forever handles Paladin threat and taunts”. verified Guild plan: Prot Paladin is the second tank in Barrow Deeps and the whelp tank in Onyxia until someone has tested a boss swap.

Retribution

Role: melee DPS.

Playstyle: the slowest two-hander you can find, Seal of Command, Holy Strike on cooldown (Sacred Arbiter makes it refresh your Judgements), Judgement on cooldown (Sanctified Judgement refunds 60% of the Seal’s cost). Then one of two paths: twist Seals right after a Judgement so the Twist of Light Echo lands the old Seal on the next swing, or skip Twist of Light and spend 21 points in Holy for Holy Shock as a ranged nuke (“Shockadin”).

Strengths: the beta’s strongest leveler with a low death rate. Blessings and Cleanse in the raid. Crusade gives +4% vs Demons and Undead. The Judgement mana loop.

Weaknesses: hit dependent, because every miss is a lost Vengeance stack and lost Sanctified Judgement mana. Button-heavy. Split scaling between Strength/crit and Intellect/spell power (Champion of the Light). No interrupt, no slow.

Verdict: level as Ret, raid as Ret if the guild has DPS room. Expect a visible damage drop when the Vengeance periodic-crit fix lands.

Twist of Light is the big Ret dispute

A 191-reply thread argues Twist of Light is “a maintenance buff rather than true seal twisting”. verified The US thread “Please Consider Removing the Seal Twisting Talent” has the OP calling it “clunky” and “very mana hungry”; replies split, several note it is optional and that Shockadin is the other Blizzard-endorsed build; some say “this isn’t even seal twisting, it’s seal stacking”. An EU thread proposes Divine Storm or Crusader Strike instead. No Blizzard reply in either. verified Both builds are on this page. The Shockadin build has no published level 60 talent string yet.

Leveling 1 to 60

Beta data covers 1 to 20 only. Everything past 20 is theorycraft from wowforeverbuilds.com and expcarry. unverified

What testers run at 20

Level 20 beta Ret build verified: Benediction 5 (10 to 14), Conviction 5 (15 to 19), Seal of Command at 20. Rotation: keep the Seal up (30 sec), Judgement on cooldown (“no longer uses up your Seal”), Holy Strike on cooldown (“the new core button”), Holy Light between pulls above 50% mana, Lay on Hands for emergencies. Switch to a slow two-hander at 20 for Seal of Command.

expcarry’s 10 to 30 Ret: Benediction 5, Improved Judgement 2, Conviction 3 by 20; then Sanctified Judgement 3, Pursuit of Justice 2, Sacred Arbiter, Crusade 2, Conviction to 5. verified

Retribution 10 to 60

verified (wowforeverbuilds, theorycraft past 20)

Levels	Talent
10 to 14	Benediction 5
15 to 16	Improved Judgement 2
17 to 19	Conviction 3
20	Seal of Command
21 to 22	Conviction 5
23 to 25	Sanctified Judgement 3
26 to 27	Crusade 2
28 to 29	Pursuit of Justice 2
30 to 32	Vengeance 3
33 to 35	Two-Handed Weapon Specialization 3
36	Repentance
37 to 39	Vindication 3
40	Twist of Light
41 to 43	Champion of the Light 3
44	Sacred Arbiter
45 to 46	Holy Conduit 2
47 to 51	Divine Strength 5 (Holy)
52 to 54	Improved Seals 3 (Holy)
55 to 59	Divine Intellect 5 (Holy)
60	Deflection 1

Rotation: Blessing of Might, Retribution or Devotion Aura, Seal of Righteousness before 20 then Command. Judgement when the Seal is up. Holy Strike on cooldown. Repentance or Consecration on 2 mobs. Hammer of Justice for runners. Flash of Light under 40%, Divine Protection, Lay on Hands. “Use the slowest two-hander you can find.” Rest on mana and health together. Dungeons: Scarlet Monastery 31 to 45, Zul’Farrak 45 to 51, Stratholme 59 to 60. See Dungeons.

Protection AoE grinding 30 to 60

verified Redoubt 5, Precision 3, Toughness 2, Improved Seal of Fury (20), Shield Spec 3, Improved RF 3, One-Handed Spec 3, Templar’s Bulwark (30), Reckoning 5, Iron Creed 4, Holy Shield (40), Iron Creed 5, Sacred Duty 2, Swift Judgement, Toughness 5, Anticipation 5, Benediction 5, Improved HoJ 3.

Method: Righteous Fury, Devotion Aura, Seal of Fury. Run through 3 to 5 melee mobs at or below your level, back to a wall, Consecration, Holy Shield, Judge the runner, Holy Strike, refresh Holy Shield. Bulwark before you dip, then Divine Shield, then Lay on Hands. The engine: “Improved Seal of Fury and Shield Specialization return mana on absorbed shields and blocks.” Weak before 30, on single mobs, and against casters. Shield first, armor second.

Holy Shock hybrid 10 to 40

For people who want to heal dungeons from the teens. verified Divine Strength 5, Improved Seals 3, Improved Holy Strike 2, Purifying Power 2, Reverence 3, Divine Favor (25), Divine Intellect 4, Holy Shock (30), Benediction 5, Improved Judgement 2, Conviction 3. Carry two sets: Strength plate for questing, Intellect for healing. “Heal between swings.” Remember that +healing now gives one third as much bonus damage, so healing gear lets you quest. verified

Leveling tips

• Undead Cannibalize restores 7% health and 7% mana per 2 sec for 10 sec. It is a between-pull refill for every spec.
• Blessings last an hour. Buff once per hour, not per fight.
• Consecration hits the first 4 enemies hard and everyone else lightly. Pulls above 4 do not scale the way vanilla AoE Paladins remember.

Endgame builds

All theorycraft, level 60 untested. Raid sizes: Barrow Deeps 10, Hyjal Summit 20, Onyxia’s Lair 40. Guild default composition: 2/3/5 for a 10, 3/5/12 for a 20, 4/10/26 for a 40. See Raids overview and Raid composition.

Holy tank-healer, 33/7/11

Talents verified: Holy: Divine Intellect 5, Healing Light 3, Spiritual Focus 2, Unyielding Faith 2, Voice of Truth, Reverence 3, Purifying Power 2, Infusion of Light 2, Illumination 5, Divine Favor, Holy Shock, Holy Power 5, Light’s Vigil. Prot: Toughness 5, Guardian’s Favor 2. Ret: Deflection 1, Benediction 5, Improved Judgement 2, Holy Conduit 2, Sanctified Judgement 1.

Priority:

1. Blessings and Light’s Vigil on the main tank before the pull.
2. Downranked Flash of Light for steady tank damage.
3. Holy Shock for instant healing, or to fish for Infusion of Light.
4. Holy Light after a proc or on spikes; Divine Favor first when it must crit.
5. Mark with Vigil, then Shock for the party heal.
6. Cleanse and Judge (Wisdom or Light) when free.

Stats: +healing, Intellect, spell crit, mp5, then Stamina and Spirit.

Spirit dispute

wowforeverbuilds puts +healing first and Spirit last. classicwow.gg argues Spirit matters more than in Classic because Reverence keeps 30% of regen running while casting. verified Both agree Intellect and crit are core. Do not vendor Spirit plate until someone measures it.

Consumables: Major Mana Potion, Mageblood (Lesser 6 mp5, Greater 20 mp5 in the new Alchemy list), Dark or Demonic Runes, Nightfin Soup, Brilliant Mana Oil. See Alchemy.

Raid fit: a 10 runs 3 healers by our defaults; the Holy Paladin on the main tank is the classic slot. In a 40 you are one of about 10 healers and Vigil covers your own party of 5, so ask to be placed in the melee or tank group. Tier 1 Justice Armor datamine: 2pc +10 Spirit, 3pc -30 sec BoP, 4pc +26 healing/+9 spell damage, 5pc -1 sec Holy Shock. unverified

Protection tank, 8/43/0

Talents verified (wowforeverbuilds and leprestore agree on the shape): Holy 8: Improved Holy Strike 2, Divine Intellect 3, Improved Seals 3. Prot 43: Toughness 5, Redoubt 5, Precision 3, Anticipation 5, Improved Seal of Fury, Improved RF 3, Shield Spec 3, Sacred Duty 2, Swift Judgement, One-Handed Spec 3, Templar’s Bulwark, Reckoning 5, Iron Creed 5, Holy Shield.

Priority:

1. Pre-pull: Righteous Fury, Devotion Aura, Seal of Fury, Blessing of Kings on yourself (trained now, so free).
2. Judge for the opener and the taunt. Swift Judgement to Judge again.
3. Holy Shield up always.
4. Holy Strike on cooldown.
5. Consecration on packs or when mana allows.
6. Keep Seal of Fury up and Judge on cooldown. When low on mana skip Consecration and lean on Holy Strike plus Judgement.

Stats: Defense (Forever cap unknown; vanilla was 440 vanilla baseline and leprestore warns “Do not copy a fixed Classic Defense cap into Forever yet” verified), Stamina and armor, block chance and Block Value (fuel the mana loop), hit (Judgement taunts can miss), spell power and Strength for threat, Intellect. Weapon: a fast one-hander, because Seal of Fury is a flat amount per swing and Blizzard said it “favors fast weapons”. verified

Consumables: Elixir of Superior Defense, Elixir of Fortitude, Stamina food, Greater Stoneshield Potion, Major Mana and Mageblood, Greater Arcane Elixir for Consecration and Holy Shield scaling. Mining’s +5% health.

Raid fit: trash and add tank first in every size. In a 10 the second tank slot is yours. In a 40 you are the Onyxia whelp tank until the taunt is proven on bosses. Datamined: Libram of the Wild Sky (Holy Strike cooldown reduction when judging Beasts) unverified; Tier 1 Justice Battleplate 2pc +7 Defense, 3pc Turn Undead -1.5 sec, 4pc -1.2% enemy dodge/parry, 5pc -10 sec Forbearance. unverified

Retribution DPS, 10/8/33 (Twist of Light)

Talents verified: Holy 10: Improved Holy Strike 2, Divine Strength 5, Improved Seals 3. Prot 8: Toughness 5, Precision 3. Ret 33: Benediction 5, Improved Judgement 2, Holy Conduit 2, Conviction 5, Sanctified Judgement 3, Seal of Command, Sacred Arbiter, Crusade 2, Two-Handed Spec 3, Vengeance 3, Champion of the Light 3, Instrument of Law 2, Twist of Light.

Priority:

1. Judge the utility Seal the raid wants (Crusader or Wisdom), then apply Seal of Command.
2. Holy Strike on cooldown (Sacred Arbiter refreshes your Judgements).
3. Judgement of Command on cooldown (Sanctified Judgement refunds 60%).
4. Swap Seals right after a Judgement so the Echo lands the old Seal on the next swing.
5. Consecration on packs (Holy Conduit -40%). Hammer of Wrath and Exorcism when allowed.

Stats: hit to cap (misses cost Vengeance stacks and mana), Strength, crit and Agility (Vengeance), spell power and Intellect (Champion of the Light), Stamina.

Consumables: Juju Power, Mongoose, Greater Arcane Elixir, Major Mana, Mageblood, sharpening stone or weightstone. New: Elixir of the Grizzly, Elixir of Ferocity, Major Frenzy Potion once verified to stack.

Raid fit: melee DPS with a free Blessing and Cleanse. Tier 1 Justice Battlegear datamine: 2pc +1% attack and cast speed, 3pc -5 sec Hammer of Justice, 4pc +36 AP vs Demons, 5pc -0.5 sec Judgement. unverified

Retribution “Shockadin” (21 Holy, no Twist of Light)

Blizzard-endorsed: Champion of the Light, 21 points in Holy for Holy Shock, and Holy Shock as a ranged Holy nuke. verified (via lfcarry and the forum threads.) No published level 60 talent string exists yet, so there is no build to copy. If you want to try it, the Holy Shock hybrid leveling build above is the closest starting shape.

PvP notes

• Holy 33/18/0 verified: Voice of Truth, Sacred Duty on Divine Shield, Unyielding Faith, Redoubt, Improved HoJ. “Unkillable focal point”: Freedom on rooted allies, Hammer of Justice to peel. Aegis PvP set.
• Ret 0/12/39 verified: Repentance, Pursuit of Justice, Instrument of Law for a 1-sec-faster Hammer of Wrath, Eye for an Eye, Guardian’s Favor, Sacred Duty; Stamina and a slow two-hander.
• Prot 14/37/0 flag defender verified: Templar’s Bulwark, Improved HoJ, Holy Shield, Reckoning, Iron Creed, Voice of Truth; weak to casters and to Forbearance chaining.
• expcarry rates Paladin PvP A-tier: “Bubbles, blessings, healing and Hammer of Justice remain excellent group tools”. verified
• Racials: Undead Will of the Forsaken is available to a Paladin for the first time; Human Will to Survive; Dwarf Stoneform against Rogues and Warriors.

Battleground details (Darkspear Islands 15v15, WSG and AB “planned”, no rated PvP) are on PvP.

Race choice

Paladin races: Human, Dwarf, Undead. No Tauren Paladin, no Skyborne Paladin. verified

Alliance

Race	Racials (beta client)	Fit
Human	Sword Specialization +2% crit with swords; Will to Survive; Perception; The Human Spirit +5% Spirit	Ret with a two-handed sword gets 2% crit; Holy gets Spirit that Reverence now uses; PvP stun break. Best all-round Alliance pick
Dwarf	Stoneform (Bleed/Poison/Disease immunity, -10% Physical damage 8 sec); Mace Specialization +1% crit with maces; Big Game Hunter +5% vs Beasts; Find Treasure	Best tank pick on Alliance; Ret with a mace is fine; leprestore’s Prot pick verified

Horde

Race	Racials (beta client)	Fit
Undead (new)	Will of the Forsaken; Cannibalize (7% health and 7% mana per 2 sec for 10 sec); Touch of the Grave (10% caster / 5% melee chance to drain up to 5% health); Underwater Breathing	The only Horde Paladin. Cannibalize is a between-pull mana refill for every spec; WotF is the PvP racial. The Undead Paladin class quest starts at Bandarion Keep in Tirisfal around level 10 and has its own epic mount quest unverified (lfcarry, single source)

See the full race grid.

Professions for this class

Goal	Pairing	Why
Healer raiding	Herbalism + Alchemy	Mixology extends elixir and flask effects; mana potions verified
Tank	Mining + Blacksmithing	Shields, plate, all-stat belt buckles; Mining +5% health verified
PvP or Ret	Engineering + Mining	Grenades, trinkets, health
Every Paladin	First Aid	Cheap Cleanse plus bandages keeps a leveling group alive without a Priest; healing potions now come from First Aid

See Professions overview, Alchemy, Blacksmithing.

Pre-raid gear philosophy

• Holy: “Healing power, Intellect, Mana regeneration and efficient accessories”, and it is “not plate-exclusive”: take the cloth or mail piece if the stats win. verified
• Ret: slow two-hander first, then Strength/AP, hit, crit. Spell power pieces gain value only with Champion of the Light.
• Prot: shield, Stamina, armor, Defense, then threat stats. Fast one-hander for Seal of Fury.
• Weapon-speed rule of thumb, since it is the one thing that flipped: Ret wants slow, Prot wants fast, Holy does not swing.
• Sources: Scholomance, Stratholme, Dire Maul, quests, crafted. Set anchor: Soulforge (the reworked Lightforge upgrade), used selectively. All set bonuses are provisional. verified

See Pre-raid gear and Loot rules.

Common mistakes and pro tips

• Do not reseal after Judging. Old vanilla muscle memory (Seal, Judge, Seal, Judge) wastes mana. Reseal when the 30 sec runs out, or on purpose for a Twist of Light Echo.
• Tanks: Seal of Fury must be active when you Judge or there is no taunt. Judging Righteousness does nothing for aggro. Keep Swift Judgement for a missed taunt.
• Templar’s Bulwark applies Forbearance. No Divine Shield or Blessing of Protection for a minute afterwards. Sacred Duty shortens the cooldowns but not Forbearance.
• Consecration caps its big damage at 4 enemies. Pull sizes above 4 scale badly.
• Holy: “Cast Holy Light when it is needed; do not wait for an Infusion of Light proc while the tank drops”. verified Light’s Vigil has a 1.5 sec cast and a 30 sec duration; place it in safe windows, not mid-spike.
• Ret: hit first. Every miss is a lost Vengeance stack and lost Sanctified Judgement mana.
• Blessings last an hour. Stop buying Symbols of Kings in bulk. Greater Blessings still exist at 52/54/60; their reagent status is unverified.
• There is no interrupt. Bring a Rogue, Warrior, Mage or Shaman for caster packs, or use Hammer of Justice as the stopgap (1 min base, 45 sec with Improved HoJ).
• Current Ret damage is inflated by Vengeance procing off periodic crits. Expect a visible drop when the fix lands. verified

Addons and macros under the Forever API

Forever uses the retail (Midnight) addon API. See Addons that work and Macros.

Raid frames are the pain point. Grid2, VuhDo and Cell “cannot display health bars, percentages, or low-health warnings” because health is a secret value, and click-casting via secure snippets also fails (loadstring_untainted missing). verified Clique and VuhDo had no Forever flavor as of 09-19. Plan to heal on the default raid frames or Blizzard’s built-in party and raid UI until authors adapt.

Threat meters and Details! are dead or missing; see the Warrior page. The built-in cooldown manager is the tool for Holy Shield charges and Bulwark. Seal and Judgement debuff timers on the target show in the default UI; addons that compute “time to next Judgement” from cooldown data should be fine since cooldowns are not secret unverified (inferred).

Macros, retail syntax, untested in beta by us:

Mouseover heal (syntax verified against the Forever macros wiki):

#showtooltip
/cast [@mouseover,help,nodead][help,nodead][@player] Flash of Light

Judgement taunt with a target guard:

#showtooltip
/cast [@mouseover,harm,nodead][] Judgement

Mouseover Cleanse:

#showtooltip
/cast [@mouseover,help,nodead][] Cleanse

Emergency Holy Shock:

#showtooltip
/stopcasting
/cast [@mouseover,help][help][@player] Holy Shock

Twist of Light castsequence is risky

/castsequence reset=10 Seal of Righteousness, Seal of Command advances on a successful cast, but the Echo needs a swing to land between the two Seals. It may fire both Seals before you swing. Test it on a dummy before raiding with it.

Unknown as of 2026-09-24

1. Whether Judgement-of-Fury taunts can be resisted, and how the 10 sec Judgement cooldown interacts with boss taunt swaps at 40-player scale. Untestable until raids open.
2. Swift Judgement: cooldown or no cooldown.
3. Benediction: 10% (client) vs 15% (fan sites).
4. Whether Divine Spirit is really a Paladin baseline buff (expcarry says so; it is not in the spellbook export).
5. A level 60 Shockadin talent string. None published.
6. The Undead Paladin class quest and epic mount details (single boost-site source).
7. Forever Defense cap. Every guide recycles vanilla numbers with a disclaimer.
8. Holy stat priority: where Spirit goes.
9. Greater Blessing reagents.
10. Set bonuses (Soulforge, Justice sets): datamined and provisional.
11. Beta level 21 to 30 data. None of the fan guides had updated when this was written.

Sources

• https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24303313/world-of-warcraft-forever-deep-dive-panel-recap
• https://arctium.io/blue-posts/775
• https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/please-consider-removing-the-seal-twisting-talent/2348771
• https://eu.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/paladin-twist-of-light-seal-twisting/628761
• https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/dps-warrior-feedback/2356172
• https://talentsforever.com/data.json (build 1.60.1.69876, generated 2026-09-20)
• https://talentsforever.com/racials
• https://foreverchanges.pro/class/paladin
• https://wowforevertalent.com/paladin/
• https://wowforeverbuilds.com/sources
• https://wowforeverbuilds.com/leveling
• https://wowforeverbuilds.com/classes/paladin
• https://wowforeverbuilds.com/guides/paladin
• https://wowforeverbuilds.com/news/wow-forever-beta-class-report-paladin-runs-away-with-it-warrior-struggles-and-th
• https://wowforeverbuilds.com/news/what-the-wow-forever-beta-breaks-for-addons-secret-health-values-dead-secure-sni
• https://wowforeverbuilds.com/guide/beta-20-retribution-paladin-leveling
• https://wowforeverbuilds.com/guide/retribution-paladin-leveling
• https://wowforeverbuilds.com/guide/protection-aoe-paladin-leveling
• https://wowforeverbuilds.com/guide/holy-shock-paladin-leveling
• https://wowforeverbuilds.com/guide/holy-paladin-pve-guide
• https://wowforeverbuilds.com/guide/protection-paladin-pve-guide
• https://wowforeverbuilds.com/guide/retribution-paladin-pve-guide
• https://wowforeverbuilds.com/guide/holy-paladin-pvp-guide
• https://wowforeverbuilds.com/guide/protection-paladin-pvp-guide
• https://wowforeverbuilds.com/guide/retribution-paladin-pvp-guide
• https://www.zockify.com/forever/paladin/
• https://www.zockify.com/forever/professions/
• https://classicwow.gg/forever/guides/paladin/retribution
• https://classicwow.gg/forever/guides/paladin/protection
• https://classicwow.gg/forever/guides/paladin/holy
• https://realmfirst.net/news/wow-forever-paladin-rework/
• https://wow.gg/guides/wow-forever-new-recipes-alchemy
• https://kami-labs.fr/en/wow-forever/build-paladin-vindicte-wow-forever/
• https://world-of-warcraft-forever.wiki/en/addons/world-of-warcraft-forever-macros-guide/
• https://expcarry.com/wow-forever-class-changes
• https://expcarry.com/wow-forever-class-tier-list
• https://expcarry.com/wow-forever-paladin-guide
• https://expcarry.com/wow-forever-pre-raid-bis
• https://lfcarry.com/guides/wow-forever-paladin
• https://lfcarry.com/guides/wow-forever-class-changes
• https://leprestore.com/guides/world-of-warcraft-forever/wow-forever-protection-paladin-guide-best-builds-race-professions/