Protection Paladin PvP guide: flag defense with Templar's Bulwark and Hammer of Justice

Overview

Level 60 · Protection Paladin in battlegrounds and world PvP.

Shield Paladins were a curiosity in Classic PvP: very hard to kill and very slow to kill anything. The live WoW Forever tree makes that trade more interesting for objective play. Templar’s Bulwark gives an absorb as large as your health, Sacred Duty shortens Divine Shield, Guardian’s Favor improves Blessing of Protection and Blessing of Freedom, Improved Hammer of Justice gives more stuns, and Holy Shield plus Reckoning punish melee who attack you. Two talents from the hotfixed tree are aimed squarely at PvP: Stoicism makes stuns and charms on you 20% shorter, and Shieldsworn lets every Holy Strike block spells for 6 sec, so a caster can no longer ignore your shield. With 14 points in Holy for Spiritual Focus, Healing Light and Reverence, you can heal yourself and teammates between stuns.

Your role in a fight

You hold ground. Park on a control point or next to your flag carrier, stun whoever tries to cap, Blessing of Freedom your carrier, and outlast attackers until your team returns. You will not top damage, but a point that takes the enemy three players and a minute to take is a point that wins games.

Darkspear Islands

On the Darkspear Islands, which Blizzard describes as a 15 vs 15 battleground with control points and Arathi Basin-style flag captures and defense, this build belongs on defense. Stand on the flag, Hammer of Justice the first player who starts capturing, stack Holy Shield and Templar’s Bulwark when three players jump you, and call for help early.

Honor and ranks: WoW Forever is reported to bring a 14-rank Honor track, earned from battlegrounds and PvP content. Thresholds, weekly caps and decay are not announced; see the PvP and honor hub for what is confirmed.

Strengths

• Extremely hard to kill with plate, shield, Templar’s Bulwark, Divine Shield and self-heals.
• Frequent stuns from Improved Hammer of Justice.
• Team support through Blessing of Freedom, Blessing of Protection and Cleanse.
• Melee punishment from Holy Shield and Reckoning.

Weak points

• Very little kill pressure; a lone attacker can often walk away.
• Forbearance links Templar’s Bulwark, Divine Shield and Blessing of Protection, so you cannot chain them.
• Casters still get most spells through: Shieldsworn’s spell blocking lasts 6 sec after a Holy Strike, so a Mage or Warlock who waits it out, or casts from range where you cannot strike, hits you normally.

Level 60 PvP talent build

Holy 14 / Protection 37 / Retribution 0, all 51 points. The talent tree above shows the finished build.

Protection (37)

• Redoubt 5/5 — more blocks while melee hits you.
• Precision 1/3 — one point of hit so Hammer of Justice and Judgement land.
• Guardian’s Favor 2/2 — a shorter Blessing of Protection and a longer Blessing of Freedom for your carrier.
• Sacred Duty 2/2 — shorter Divine Shield and Templar’s Bulwark cooldowns, and 10 sec shorter Forbearance.
• Templar’s Bulwark 1/1 — an absorb as large as your health; applies Forbearance.
• Improved Hammer of Justice 3/3 — more frequent stuns to stop captures.
• Shield Specialization 2/2 — a stronger shield and mana on blocks.
• Toughness 5/5 — more armor against melee burst.
• Swift Judgement 1/1 — an instant second Judgement when you need a Seal effect on an attacker.
• Improved Righteous Fury 3/3 — less damage taken with Righteous Fury on; threat does not matter in PvP.
• Stoicism 2/2 — 20% shorter stuns and charms on you, so a Rogue’s stun lock or a Warrior’s Intercept ends sooner.
• Holy Shield 1/1 — more blocks and Holy damage to attackers.
• Reckoning 5/5 — extra attacks after blocks and crits against you.
• Iron Creed 3/3 — Holy Strike reduces damage taken while Righteous Fury is on.
• Shieldsworn 1/1 — Holy Strike comes back 4 sec sooner, triggers Holy Shield without using a charge and lets you block spells for 6 sec.

Holy (14)

• Spiritual Focus 4/5 — self-heals get through while being hit (a 56% chance at four points).
• Divine Strength 5/5 — Strength for block value and melee damage.
• Healing Light 3/3 — 12% more Holy Light and Flash of Light healing at three points, for yourself and your carrier.
• Reverence 2/2 — mana regeneration while casting.

Flexible points: Iron Creed is only worth it if you keep Righteous Fury up. Players who do not can move those points to Anticipation or Divine Intellect.

Key abilities

• Hammer of Justice: stop a capture or a flag carrier.
• Holy Shield always up while attackers are around.
• Templar’s Bulwark: use when three attackers commit to you; Forbearance follows.
• Blessing of Freedom on your carrier or on yourself against roots.
• Holy Strike on whoever is in melee: Iron Creed cuts your damage taken, and Shieldsworn opens a 6 sec window in which you can block spells, so strike just before a caster’s big cast.
• Flash of Light and Holy Light between stuns, protected by Spiritual Focus.
• Cleanse poisons and slows off yourself and teammates.

Matchups

• Warrior · Mortal Strike cuts your self-healing; stun, block and use Blessing of Freedom against Hamstring.
• Rogue · Holy Shield and Reckoning punish them; Cleanse poisons and stun after their opener.
• Mage · Frost damage ignores blocks unless a Shieldsworn Holy Strike just opened your spell-block window. Stun them, strike when they are in reach, and heal between bursts with short casts so a Counterspell costs little.
• Warlock · Hammer of Justice the Warlock before a fear lands, and fight near your flag.
• Priest · Mana Burn drains your self-heals; stun them and let your team punish.
• Hunter · Viper Sting and kiting drain you; stay on the point where they have to come to you.
• Druid · They cannot kill you and you cannot kill them; stun when they try to capture.
• Shaman · Purge removes Blessings and Seal of Fury; stun during Earth Shock windows.
• Paladin · A long fight; stun their healing and win on Holy Shield damage.

Resources and cooldowns

Your mana engine is the same as in PvE: Shield Specialization refunds mana from blocks, which attackers supply generously. The limit is Forbearance, not mana. Plan which of Templar’s Bulwark, Divine Shield or Blessing of Protection you will use each minute, and do not waste the first one on a fight you could win without it.

Gear

The beta datamine lists Paladin PvP sets for both factions: Lieutenant Commander’s and Field Marshal’s Aegis and Vindication on the Alliance side, and Champion’s and Warlord’s Aegis and Vindication on the Horde side, which fits WoW Forever’s new Undead Paladins. Every one of them combines +20 Stamina, a shorter Hammer of Justice cooldown (10 sec) and bonus spell damage and healing; Aegis leans toward healing, Vindication gives an even split. How PvP gear is earned in Forever is not announced. For this build Stamina and armor matter more than the set’s spell power. The Protection Tier 1 set, Justice Battleplate, shortens Forbearance by 10 sec at 5 pieces, which directly helps chaining Templar’s Bulwark and Divine Shield.

Consumables and engineering

• Free Action Potion against roots that pull you off the point.
• Greater Stoneshield Potion against melee, and resistance potions against casters.
• Major Mana Potion for long defenses.
• Engineering: grenades for an extra area stun on the flag.

Sources

Rotation, stat and matchup advice adapts these Classic 1.12 guides to the WoW Forever talent trees; talents, set bonuses and new abilities come from this site’s WoW Forever data.

• Icy Veins: Classic Paladin PvP Guide
• Icy Veins: Classic Protection Paladin Tank Guide
• Icy Veins: Arathi Basin Battleground Guide (WoW Classic)