Username
Password
Which side do you play? Alliance or horde? Both Horde and Alliance players can play a Paladin, but Horde Paladins can only be Blood Elves. The Alliance has a few more options because Dwarves, Humans and Draenei can all bring the light. Each race has unique abilities, Blood Elves get an additional silencing spell, Dwarves can use Stoneform to remove bleed effects and they get bonuses for mace weapons. If you are going to play on the Horde side the decision is easy, you can only play a Blood Elf. Choosing an Alliance Paladin will give you more choices, but the two typical races for new Alliance Paladins are Dreanei or Human due to the racial benefits.
Many players arrive at the Paladin trainer because they are not certain which role they want to fill in a group, but they know they want to look like a knight (yes, in shining armor). Luckily the hybrid nature of the Paladin class allows for some mobility to change as the character progresses through the game. If a player is the type of person who feels competitive about the amount of damage they deal (scoreboard/damage meter watchers), then that player probably won't be fulfilled playing a Paladin. The damage output of a retribution Paladin is respectable, but will not keep up with most pure damage dealing classes like mages, hunters, rogues or warlocks. The Paladin has few ranged spells (except for healing), so you will find Paladins up close and personal with the bad guys. If a player enjoys blasting from afar, then the Paladin is not the right fit.
Paladins can use almost everything in the game when it comes to gear, but have to be a little more selective on weapons. Capable of wearing all forms of armor (cloth, leather and mail armor up to level 40, they then start wearing plate) Paladins can wear it all. Paladins can't dual wield, use wands, staves, bows or fist weapons. Again, depending on the role that the Paladin is filling, different weapon and shield combinations will be used.
The Paladin was the king of PvP when the arenas first rolled out in 2006, but the class lost its luster due to some modifications to the game mechanics and class abilities. That has all changed though, and Paladins are once again re-taking their rightful spot at the top of the scoreboards. Paladins occupy a spot on the top 100 world ranked teams for all three brackets (2v2, 3v3, and 5v5). The Paladin has no weaknesses. There are a few areas where the Paladin might be less than awesome though. The two main drawbacks to the class are the lack of range damage and healing options. The ranged issue is fairly straight forward. How do you think about it?
