Leveling a Paladin to 20

How to level a Paladin in WoW Forever from 1 to the level 20 beta cap: seals, Judgement, auras and blessings, every ability as you learn it, the published leveling talent builds, what to press, class quests, gear, and the mistakes new Paladins make.

The WoW Forever beta is capped at level 20, and level 30 is expected around mid-October 2026. Abilities, talents and tooltips here come from the Forever beta client. Anything taken from Classic's data, such as class quest givers and places, is labelled, because Forever may have changed it.

The Paladin in a nutshell

The Paladin is a holy warrior who fights in melee, heals and protects. You can do all three jobs: deal damage with a big weapon (the Retribution talent tree), tank, meaning hold enemies' attention in a group so they hit you instead of your friends (Protection), or heal your group (Holy). While leveling you mostly hit things in melee and heal yourself between fights, whichever tree you pick.

Your resource is Mana. Everything you cast costs some, and you get it back by drinking or by waiting out of combat. At low levels Mana is often what forces you to stop, so the leveling builds lean on talents that make your spells cheaper.

The Forever client lets Paladins wear cloth, leather and mail from level 1 and plate from level 40, and carry a shield. Your weapons are one- and two-handed axes, maces and swords, plus polearms from level 20. Paladins can't use bows, guns or thrown weapons; the ranged slot holds a libram, a holy book with a small bonus, such as Tenets of the Silver Hand, a Paladin-only libram at level 20 that's new in Forever.

Good at

• Staying alive. Heavy armor, a heal you can cast on yourself, and emergency buttons like Divine Protection and Lay on Hands make Paladins hard to kill.
• Short downtime. You heal yourself between fights instead of eating, although you still drink for Mana.
• Helping a group. Every Paladin brings an aura for the whole party and a blessing for each player, and can bring the dead back to life.

Not so good at

• Killing fast at the very start. Before your talents and Holy Strike arrive, fights take a while.
• Reaching enemies at range. Exorcism only works on Undead and Demons, so you have no ranged attack against most enemies.
• Stopping casters and runners. Blizzard says Paladins still have no interrupt and can't slow enemies the way some classes can. Hammer of Justice, a stun, is your only answer to both.

Paladins still lack an interrupt, still cannot slow targets the way some other classes can, and still rely on the Seal and Judgment system to access their taunt rather than pressing a single-purpose button. Blizzard, World of Warcraft: Forever Deep Dive Panel Recap

Choosing a race

Three races can be Paladins in WoW Forever: Human and Dwarf for the Alliance, and Undead for the Horde. Undead Paladins are new in Forever and are the only way to play a Horde Paladin. Blizzard reworked the racials so every race has two active abilities and two passive ones, tuned to give a similar amount of power, so pick the faction and look you like. These are the racials that matter most for a Paladin, from the Forever client's tooltips:

Racial tooltips are from the Forever beta client and are still being tuned.

Undead Paladins get their own story. According to Blizzard's Found Photos panel recap, it follows on from the Forsaken Kingdom campaign, and Bandarion Keep in the Whispering Wood of Tirisfal Glades is a key location. At level 60 they get their own epic mount quest.

Whereas Alliance paladins claim their epic charger in the name of Redemption, the paladins of the Forsaken ride in the name of Retribution. Blizzard, World of Warcraft: Forever Found Photos Panel Recap

Read more in Races, classes and reworked racials.

Seals, Judgement, auras and blessings

These four ideas are the heart of the Paladin. Once they click, the class is easy to play.

Seals

A Seal is a buff you cast on yourself that adds something to every swing of your weapon. It lasts 30 seconds, and only one can be active at a time. Keep one up in every fight, and recast it when it runs out.

• Seal of Righteousness (level 1) adds Holy damage to each melee attack. Slower weapons cause more Holy damage per swing. It's your leveling seal until your talents give you something better.
• Seal of the Crusader (level 6) makes you attack 40% faster for less damage per hit. Its real use is its Judgement, below.
• Seal of Fury (level 10), new in Forever, is the tanking seal. Your swings deal extra Holy damage, and while you carry a shield each swing also gives you a small absorb shield.
• Seal of Command is a Retribution talent you can take at 20. It gives your swings a chance to deal extra Holy damage based on your weapon damage.

Judgement

Judgement (level 4) releases your Seal's energy on an enemy for an extra effect, and each Seal has its own. Seal of Righteousness's Judgement deals Holy damage, and Seal of Fury's Judgement deals Holy damage and makes the enemy attack you. Seal of the Crusader's Judgement makes the enemy take more Holy damage for 40 seconds, and your melee swings keep refreshing it.

The big change in Forever: Judgement does not use up your Seal. In Classic you had to recast the Seal after every Judgement; now you just press Judgement every time it's ready. Swift Judgement (level 1), also new, finishes Judgement's cooldown at once and makes your next Judgement free, for a quick second hit or a second taunt.

Auras

An aura is always on while you choose it, and it affects every party member near you. You can run one at a time, and each player can only have one aura from each Paladin. Devotion Aura (level 1) gives extra armor and is your default. Retribution Aura (level 16) deals Holy damage to any enemy that hits a party member. Switch to it when several enemies are hitting you. Blizzard's September 24 notes say Retribution Aura now grows with your spell power.

Blessings

A blessing is a buff you put on one player, yourself included, and in Forever they last 1 hour. Each player can have only one blessing from each Paladin. Blessing of Might (level 4) adds melee attack power, the one to keep on yourself for damage. Blessing of Wisdom (level 14) restores 12 mana every 5 seconds, the one to use if you keep stopping to drink. Blessing of Protection (level 10) and Blessing of Freedom (level 18) are short emergency blessings: the first protects a player from physical attacks, the second frees them from slows and roots.

Watch out: Blessing of Protection and Blessing of Freedom replace that player's other blessing from you, so buff them again afterwards. Divine Protection and Blessing of Protection also both apply Forbearance for 1 minute, and neither can be used while it's active, so using one blocks the other.

Abilities by level

You learn new abilities from a Paladin trainer in your starting area and in the capital cities. This table lists everything the trainer teaches up to level 20, straight from the Forever client:

Everything a Paladin learns from the class trainer up to level 20, from the Forever client.

The seals, auras and blessings are covered above. Here are the other abilities that matter, in the order you get them:

• Holy Light, level 1: your heal. Between fights, heal yourself with it instead of eating.
• Holy Strike, level 6, new in Forever: an instant strike that deals part of your weapon damage plus Holy damage. It has a short cooldown, and you press it every time it's ready, whatever your spec.
• Divine Protection, level 6: for 6 sec nothing can hurt you, but you can't attack either. Use it to survive, then heal.
• Hammer of Justice, level 8: stuns the target for 3 sec. It's your only way to stop a caster or a runner.
• Purify, level 8: removes a poison and a disease from a friendly target.
• Lay on Hands, level 10: heals a friendly target for your maximum health, but drains all your Mana. It's for real emergencies, and it has a very long cooldown.
• Redemption, level 12: brings a dead player back to life out of combat.
• Exorcism, level 20: a ranged Holy attack that only works on Undead and Demons. Against them it's also a way to pull from range.
• Flash of Light, level 20: a fast, small heal. At this level Holy Light heals far more for your Mana, so use Flash of Light only when a heal has to land quickly.
• Voice of Truth, level 20, new in Forever: for 6 sec nothing can silence or interrupt your spells.
• Sense Undead, level 20: shows nearby Undead on your minimap.

Coming by level 30

These are in the client for when the cap rises, which Blizzard hasn't confirmed yet:

• Concentration Aura and Seal of Justice at level 22: an aura that protects spellcasting, and a seal whose swings can stun.
• Turn Undead at level 24: makes an Undead enemy flee.
• Blessing of Salvation at level 26: a blessing that lowers the threat a player causes, great for your group's damage dealers.
• Templar's Bulwark at level 30, new in Forever: an absorb shield equal to your maximum health.
• Seal of Light and Divine Intervention at level 30: a seal that heals you as you hit, and a way to save a party member from harm.

Talents: which spec to level with

You get your first talent point at level 10 and one more each level, so 11 points by level 20. That is enough to reach the third row of one tree. You spend them at your talent pane (press N).

If you have not recently changed your talents, the cost is now 1 silver to re-spec. This is temporary for the Beta only. After your first talent reset, the subsequent cost will be much higher, but it will drop to 1 silver after 1 hour has passed. Blizzard, WoW Forever Beta Development Notes (September 24)

ForeverDB has a published leveling build for each tree. You can see every point and the reason for it on the Paladin builds page, and plan your own in the talent calculator.

Summaries of the published level 20 leveling builds. Talent tooltips are from the Forever client; most ranks above rank 1 have no text in the client yet.

Which one should you pick?

• Retribution if you want to kill things fastest while you level. It's the published build that the builds page describes as killing quickly.
• Protection if you want to tank dungeons, or you like never having to stop. You kill more slowly but rarely die.
• Holy if you want to heal dungeons while you level. Expect slower solo fights.

The level 30 versions on the builds page carry on from the same points. Retribution goes on to Conviction and Sanctity Aura, Protection adds Redoubt and Shield Specialization, and Holy adds Healing Light and Improved Blessing of Wisdom.

Watch out: Blizzard's Deep Dive panel said Consecration and Blessing of Kings would be baseline, meaning every Paladin gets them. In the current beta client they are still talents at level 20: Consecration in Holy and Blessing of Kings in Protection. Check your trainer and talent pane in game.

What to press

This is the leveling order from the published builds, in plain terms. Skip steps you haven't learned yet.

One enemy (Retribution)

1. Keep a blessing on yourself: Blessing of Might for damage, or Blessing of Wisdom if Mana keeps running out.
2. Put up your seal: Seal of Righteousness until level 20, then Seal of Command from your talents.
3. Walk in and fight. Press Judgement every time it's ready. It doesn't use up your seal.
4. Press Holy Strike every time it's ready.
5. Against Undead and Demons, use Exorcism whenever it's ready. It does nothing to other enemies.
6. For a burst, stun with Hammer of Justice and then Judge. Seal of Command's Judgement deals far more to a stunned target, and Swift Judgement gives you a second, free Judgement while the stun lasts.
7. On elites, judge Seal of the Crusader once first so the target takes more Holy damage, then change back to your main seal.

Several enemies

1. Switch to Retribution Aura: every enemy that hits you takes Holy damage.
2. Keep your seal up, and Judge and Holy Strike your main target.
3. Stun the second enemy, or a caster, with Hammer of Justice.
4. Holy leveling build: drop Consecration under two or more enemies. It costs a lot of Mana, so don't use it on one.

Protection

1. Carry a shield and keep Seal of Fury up. Its absorb shields only work with a shield equipped.
2. Press Judgement and Holy Strike whenever they're ready.
3. Run Devotion Aura, or Retribution Aura when you pull several enemies at once.
4. Heal yourself with Holy Light between fights.

Tip: Between fights, heal yourself with Holy Light, then drink if your Mana is low. Starting the next fight with full health and Mana is faster than stopping halfway through it.

Class quests

Speculation: Classic data: the quests below are in the Forever client, but who gives them, where they start and what they rewarded come from Classic's data. Forever may have moved or changed them.

At level 1, Classic's data has a note that sends you to your trainer: Consecrated Letter from Marshal McBride for Humans, and Consecrated Rune from Sten Stoutarm for Dwarves. Do it: it's free experience and shows you where your trainer stands.

At level 12, The Tome of Divinity is the Paladin quest chain. Classic's data has it starting here:

Starts of The Tome of Divinity (level 12). Giver and place from Classic's data.

The chain then moves between Duthorian Rall and Stephanie Turner in Stormwind, Tiza Battleforge, John Turner and Muiredon Battleforge in Ironforge, Henze Faulk in Elwynn Forest, Narm Faulk in Loch Modan and Gazin Tenorm in Stormwind.

Speculation: In Classic, The Tome of Divinity was how Paladins learned Redemption. In the Forever client Redemption is a trainer ability at level 12, so the chain may reward something else now. The client doesn't say.

From level 20, The Tome of Valor and The Test of Righteousness take you between Duthorian Rall in Stormwind, Daphne Stilwell in Westfall and Jordan Stilwell outside Ironforge. Most steps are level 21 to 25, so start it now and finish it after the cap rises.

Speculation: In Classic, this chain ended with Verigan's Fist, a two-handed hammer. The Forever client still has it as a Paladin-only item, so it may still be the reward.

Classic had no Undead Paladins, so there's no Classic data for their quests. Blizzard has said their story centers on Bandarion Keep in Tirisfal Glades (see above).

Gear, weapons and professions

Retribution wants the slowest, hardest-hitting two-handed weapon you can find. Seal of Command's extra damage and Holy Strike both scale with weapon damage, so bigger hits mean bigger procs. Protection needs a one-handed weapon and a shield, since Seal of Fury's absorbs only work with a shield. Holy can fight with either while leveling.

Stat order from the class guides: Retribution wants weapon damage, then Strength, Hit, Critical Strike, Agility, Stamina and Intellect. Protection wants Defense, Stamina and Armor. Holy wants Healing Power, then Intellect and Mana regeneration. In Forever, melee and spell hit are one stat, which Blizzard says helps hybrids like Retribution, and bonus healing also gives a third as much bonus damage.

The Paladin PvE page has a gear list for every slot at level 20 for each spec, with where each item comes from. The gear planner lets you compare items. Right now the Retribution list at 20 starts with two new Forever two-handers, Hammerbone and Forsaken Greataxe, whose source isn't known yet. It also has Smite's Mighty Hammer from the Deadmines (Classic drop data) and new Forever Blacksmithing mail such as Veteran's Silvered Chain Helm. The Protection list is led by Blacksmithing pieces like Protector's Silvered Chain Helm and Crusader's Silvered Chain Helm.

Professions: Mining and Blacksmithing suit a Paladin, because Blacksmithing makes mail armor and weapons, and those crafted mail sets rank well in the gear lists. Blizzard's Deep Dive also says Blacksmiths can place a Sharpening Wheel at a campfire for an Attack Power buff. Since you heal yourself, you need First Aid less than most classes. See the professions guide for how to start.

Groups and dungeons

Paladins can fill any role, so you'll find groups easily. Whatever you play, give each player a blessing (Might for melee players, Wisdom for casters) and run an aura for the party. After a fight, bring back anyone who died with Redemption.

• As a tank, pull and hold enemies with Seal of Fury, Judgement, Holy Strike and Retribution Aura. Seal of Fury's Judgement makes the enemy attack you, and Swift Judgement gives you a second one straight away. No trainer teaches Righteous Fury in the current client, so ask your group to give you a few seconds before they attack.
• As a healer, keep the tank alive with Holy Light, top up others with a lower rank of Holy Light, and remove poisons and diseases with Purify. You have no group heal at 20.
• As a damage dealer, let the tank hit first. Judge Seal of the Crusader on bosses, and use Hammer of Justice to stop a dangerous caster.

The dungeons within reach before 20 are Ragefire Chasm (from level 13), Deadmines (from 16), Wailing Caverns (from 17) and Shadowfang Keep (from 18), with minimum levels from the Forever client. Start with Your first dungeon, and use the planner to look at the bosses before you go.

Common beginner mistakes

• Saving Judgement. Old Classic guides tell you to Judge only once, because it used up your seal. In Forever it doesn't, so Judge every time it's ready.
• Letting your seal drop. Seals last 30 seconds. Watch your buffs and recast before a fight, not halfway through it.
• Spamming Flash of Light. At level 20 Holy Light heals far more per point of Mana. Use Flash of Light only when you need a heal fast.
• Fighting without a shield in Seal of Fury. You lose its absorb shields.
• Using Exorcism on the wrong target. It only works on Undead and Demons.
• Pressing Divine Protection too early. You can't attack while it's up, and it stops Blessing of Protection for a minute. Save it for when you would otherwise die.
• Putting Blessing of Protection on the tank. They can't attack while it lasts, so they lose the enemies' attention. Use it on a healer or damage dealer who is being hit.
• Standing back. Judgement and Hammer of Justice only reach enemies close to you (10 yards in the client), so fight in melee rather than stepping in and out.

What Forever changed for Paladins

Compared with Classic, the Forever client and Blizzard's posts show these changes up to level 20. See the changes tab and the Paladin outlook for the full list.

• New abilities, flagged as new in the client: Swift Judgement (level 1), Holy Strike (level 6), Seal of Fury (level 10) and Voice of Truth (level 20). Holy Light and Flash of Light are also flagged: Holy Light from rank 3 and Flash of Light rank 1 heal for less than in Classic Era.
• Judgement no longer uses up your seal.
• Seal of the Crusader's Judgement lasts 40 seconds instead of 10, and your swings refresh it.
• Blessings last 1 hour instead of 5 minutes, though Blessing of Might gives less attack power per rank.
• The shared lockout after Divine Protection and Blessing of Protection is now called Forbearance, and Lay on Hands no longer interrupts your Mana regeneration.
• Retribution Aura deals more damage than in Classic Era, and Blizzard says it now scales with your spell power.
• Undead can be Paladins.

Holy Strike’s % of weapon damage per rank changed to 25%/29%/32%/36%/39%/43%/46%/50% (was 25%/25%/30%/30%/35%/35%/40%/40%). This increases Holy Strike’s damage at all points while leveling, and increases how much it contributes to your rotation. Blizzard, WoW Forever Beta Development Notes (September 24)

The same notes lowered Holy Strike's cooldown to 10 seconds and removed the Improved Holy Strike talent, making its effect part of the ability. They also fixed several Consecration bugs. They change Righteous Fury's threat as well, but no trainer teaches Righteous Fury in the current client. For the whole game's changes, see our write-up of the September 24 development notes.

Checked against WoW Forever beta build 1.60.1.70009.