Tank Rotation & Cooldowns

This rotation offers a general priority list for Protection Paladin abilities, along with key cooldowns at the bottom. It's based on a standard build and is here to help while we work on a smarter, build-aware system. If you are very new to the game or this class, we added info on the new assisted rotation features at the bottom of this guide. Updated for the latest patch in World of Warcraft: The War Within (11.1.7).

Single Target

Ensure Consecration is active before engaging.

• Avenging Wrath
• Sacred WeaponView detailsIf Avenging Wrath is not active
• Moment Of Glory
• Eye Of TyrView detailsIf at 0-2 Holy Power
• Hammer Of LightView detailsIf Blessing Of Dawn stacks are present
• Bastion Of Light
• ConsecrationView detailsIf not standing in it
• Shield Of The RighteousView detailsAt 3-5 Holy Power to avoid capping
• Divine TollView detailsIf not at 5 Holy Power
• Avengers ShieldView detailsIf Moment Of Glory is active
• Hammer Of Wrath
• Judgment
• Hammer Of The Righteous / Blessed HammerView detailsIf Shake The Heavens is active
• Word Of GloryView detailsIf Shining Light is active and Shake The Heavens is active
• Divine Toll
• Holy BulwarkView detailsIf 2 charges available
• Avengers Shield
• Holy BulwarkView detailsIf 1 charge available
• Hammer Of The Righteous / Blessed HammerView detailsIf Shake The Heavens is not active
• Arcane Torrent
• Word Of GloryView detailsIf Shining Light is active and health < 50%
• ConsecrationView detailsTo refresh duration if all else is on cooldown

Maintain Consecration uptime and use Shield Of The Righteous at 3-5 Holy Power. Prioritize Avenging Wrath, Moment Of Glory, and Eye Of Tyr for Holy Power generation. Use Word Of Glory for healing when needed.

AoE

Ensure Consecration is active before engaging.

• Avenging Wrath
• Sacred WeaponView detailsIf Avenging Wrath is not active
• Moment Of Glory
• Eye Of TyrView detailsIf at 0-2 Holy Power
• Hammer Of LightView detailsIf Blessing Of Dawn stacks are present
• Bastion Of Light
• ConsecrationView detailsIf not standing in it
• Shield Of The RighteousView detailsAt 3-5 Holy Power to avoid capping
• Avengers ShieldView detailsTo gain Bulwark Of Righteous Fury stacks
• Hammer Of Wrath
• Judgment
• Divine TollView detailsWhen at 0 Holy Power
• Hammer Of The Righteous / Blessed HammerView detailsIf Shake The Heavens is active
• Word Of GloryView detailsIf Shining Light is active and Shake The Heavens is active
• Holy Bulwark
• Hammer Of The Righteous / Blessed HammerView detailsIf Shake The Heavens is not active
• Arcane Torrent
• Word Of GloryView detailsIf Shining Light is active and health < 50%
• ConsecrationView detailsTo refresh duration if all else is on cooldown

For AoE, maintain Consecration uptime and use Shield Of The Righteous at 3-5 Holy Power. Prioritize Avenging Wrath, Moment Of Glory, and Eye Of Tyr for Holy Power generation. Use Avengers Shield to build Bulwark Of Righteous Fury stacks.

Cooldowns

• Guardian Of Ancient KingsView detailsUse before large damage events for 50% damage reduction
• Ardent DefenderView detailsUse to reduce damage by 20% or survive a killing blow
• Avenging WrathView detailsBoosts damage, healing, and critical strike chance
• Lay On HandsView detailsEmergency full heal for yourself or an ally
• Divine ShieldView detailsGrants immunity to damage for 8 seconds; use with Final Stand for tanking

Use Guardian Of Ancient Kings and Ardent Defender for heavy damage phases. Avenging Wrath enhances both damage and healing. Lay On Hands is your emergency heal, while Divine Shield provides immunity for critical moments.

New to Class? Try Assisted Rotation

Patch 11.1.7 introduced new features that make it eaiser to pick and play new characters. These new settings can be enabled from settings » gameplay enhancements:

• Single-Button Assistant
• Assisted Highlight
• Cooldown Manager

If you are new to World of Warcraft or a certain class, enabling Assisted Highlight and Cooldown Manager can help you learn which abilities to prioritize and use.

While the Single-Button Assistant can be a much easier and more accessible way to play the game, it does come with a slight performance hit due to a small GCD penalty, as you will have to wait 25% longer in between spells and abilities.

To see which specs are best with the Single-Button Assistant feature, you can check out our DPS Rankings which uses SimC to sim every class using this feature.