One thing I've learned from all the respec's that I've done is that unlike some classes there is no 'best build' for Paladins. Paladin's 'best build' is dependent on the role you want to perform. What is it you are trying to do with your character. A paladin can be so many things. Tank, Healer, Support, PvPer, and soloer. That's why this list is so long and why it's not 100% complete. There are mild varations you could do that may work better for your group. These are most of the core builds though.

Another thing to keep in mind ... you are always going to be end-game Support. This is an ALWAYS thing. What I mean by this is that if you Raid end-game instances OR you PvP end-game you will never be primarily a tank, you will never be primarily a DPSer, you will primarily be support. It does not preclude you from doing any of the above, you can tank, you can DPS, but you will never Tank as well as a Warrior or a Druid and you will Never DPS as well as any of the other classes can (assuming the other classes are spec'd and geared for DPS). It is a limitation of our class.

FINALLY, do NOT be afraid to make variations on any of these builds. If you like Improved Blessing of Might in your build over Benediction then by all means pick it up! Play what makes you happy!

Recommended read

• Guide to Reckoning
• Paladin Spell damage coefficients [updated 1.9.0]

Build 2: The Retribution Noob
I tested this build heavily on test and found it VERY enjoyable. Thanks to the move of Repentence to Retribution it also makes it a VERY good PvP build if you are skilled enough to take advantage of the Seal/Judgement system. I can't stress to you how important it is to take advantage of Judgement of Command, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE A LARGE MANA POOL. We've begged for a way to get some burst damage at the expense of mana and you now have it. If you are in a fight that you KNOW you have plenty of mana use JoComm to it's full advantage especially if you have multiple stuns ready to go. The crit rate is based on your melee attack and it's unresistable (that's the promise of all judgments and I have yet to see it resisted in my testing). As of right now this is my 2nd favorite build and is probably one of the 2 best for the soloer's out there. 18 Holy / 33 Retribution

Build 3: The Tankadin
So you think you want to tank huh? You got a dedicated healer and don't need to conserve your mana? You want aggro and you want it now? Fine here's your build! Now remember aggro generation is completely transformed in 1.9 for Paladins. We no longer use Seal of Fury we use Righteous Fury. It generates less hate then it used to so you'll need to up that holy output! You are Sword and Board get used to it ... you are a Tank! 18 Holy / 33 Protection

Build 4: The Shockadin
By far one of the most transformed builds in 1.9. I hated the Shockadins (for those of you who remember my old comments) but now I'm a believer. I readily hit controllable 189 DPS against level 50 humanoid elites with this build. Mana loss is negligable thanks to the way Judgement of Wisdom now procs. Burst damage is very good with great control. I really can't come up with a downside to this build. It heals and it kills.

If you are wondering this is THE build I will go with. For general PvE fights I simply ensure I have BoM and Righteous Fury up with a good 2-Hander (I have Earthshaker which is great for this build I'm sure you TUF users will even like it more). I Judge Wisdom, Holy Shock, and then toss up Seal of Command. If my Stun and my Judgement are up you can bet I'm gonna stun and drop a Judgement of Command followed by a renew on Seal of Command. If it's a long time before my stun to be recharged and my Earthshaker is unlikely to proc any time soon then I'll Judge Command again without compunction. Gotta love that Holy Damage ;) PvP is a much more complex process which depends on the foes you are fighting and who you are teamed with. I'll not cover the subject here. I'm sure there will be many discourses and pissing contests coming down the road to tell us all how to PvP ;) ... some will be good an others ... well you know. 33 Holy / 18 Retribution

Build 5: The Reckoning bomber

Made famous by McHammer there are several variations of the ol' Reckonbomber with 1.9 those have changed dramtically. The point of this build is to put the fear of God into your foes in PvP. It's the build that says "attack me at your own risk ... I may have a Reckon Bomb to stick up your unloving buttocks!" Your goal is to store up 5 full attacks and unleash them ... preferably on an unsuspecting cloth wearer that you can hit for well over 2K points in a single go. I highly recommend the usage of an SCT mod (McHammer's is probably the easiest) to let you know when you have stored attacks. 27 Protection / 24 Retribution

Build 6: The Combat Nurse (aka The Waaaambulance)

You just want to heal. You don't care about anything else ... just heal and buff. Somebody comes at it you and you don't care because you're buddies will smack them retarded. Fine here you go ;)

I think you'll get the idea behind this build. Heal, buff, cleanse, and shield. Keep your party alive while not taking it in the tooshie at the same time. 33 Holy / 18 Protection

Build 7: The Stunadin

The concept of this build makes me chuckle. It's goal is simple. Keep your enemy stunned non-stop. Piss them the hell off! You can take all kinds of advantage of your Seal of Command! You'll need to make sure you are an Engineer, have a TUF or an Earthshaker, and keep plenty of gold around to pay for your addiction to grenades. 18 Protection / 33 Retribution

Build 8: Holy Thorns

Originally concieved by Jaxon I made a variation of it. The idea behind the build is to cause damage by taking damage. You'll want to get items like the Force Reactive Disk and Essence of Pure Flame. Get your Thorium Shield Spike and carry around a Druid willing to drop thorns on you. What kind of damage per hit are you talking about? Well it's over 261 points per hit without including Blessing of Sanctuary if you have FRD and EPF and everything procs. That's not shabby ;) The big thing to remember about this build is that it's pretty gear dependent. Just the build alone won't pump out enough damage to make to make it worth it. Get the extra's and if you run with a Druid then yeah it's on like Donkey Kong! 32 Protection / 19 Retribution

This loot list is dedicated for helping you gear up your paladin as best as possible. This list includes all loot up to, but not including, patch 1.6 items(1.7 coming soon, 1.8 later) end-game content (Molten Core, Onxyia, ect...). The list is split into the following parts:

• Instance Loot & Notable Instance Quest Rewards
• Paladin Quests
• BoE World Drop Loot
• Crafted Loot
• The Lightforge Armor Compilation
• Sample Retribution Build
• Fire Resist Gear
• NEW: Paladin Talent Guide

Some abbreviations used:

• BoE: Bind on Equip
• BoP: Bind on Pickup
• 1h: One-Hand (Can be used in either main or Off-Hand)
• MH: Main-Hand Only
• OH: Off-Hand Only
• 2h: Two-Hands
• (B): Boss NPC - Level Hidden

When it comes to gear I'll be marking loot with a C for Caster/Healing Paladins, an R for Retribution/DPS Paladins, and U for Utility(aspects of both), much like the druid list.

Please note: This list is by no means a "paladin's have exclusive rights to this" equip list. Please be considerate of your group members and respect loot rules. Retribution and tanking Paladins will be looking at gear that most warriors will desire, the plus side is that hybrid plate is almost always yours unconditionally.

Also please note: Paladins are one of two classes which I do not have solid play experience with (my paladin is a measly lvl 24). I will attempt to list here gear which I believe most paladins will want, and gear that I see the vast majority of paladins with. If you have any suggestion or corrections to this list please feel free to let me know!