Tank Rotation & Cooldowns

A general priority guide for Protection Paladin abilities and cooldowns. Helpful for understanding the spec's fundamentals and getting comfortable with core synergies. Updated for the latest patch in World of Warcraft: Midnight (12.0.1).

Single Target

Ensure Consecration is pre-cast near the boss before engaging.

• Avenging WrathView detailsUse on cooldown.
• JudgmentView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Shield Of The RighteousView detailsUse at 3-5 Holy Power or when free. Avoid capping Holy Power.
• Avengers ShieldView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Divine TollView detailsUse on cooldown, especially if at 0 Holy Power.
• Blessed HammerView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Word Of GloryView detailsUse if health drops below 50% or to mitigate incoming damage.
• ConsecrationView detailsUse as a filler.

Maintain Avenging Wrath and Judgment on cooldown. Use Shield Of The Righteous efficiently to avoid capping Holy Power. Fill gaps with Avengers Shield, Blessed Hammer, and Consecration. Use Word Of Glory for self-healing when needed.

AoE

• Avenging WrathView detailsUse on cooldown.
• JudgmentView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Shield Of The RighteousView detailsUse at 3-5 Holy Power or when free. Avoid capping Holy Power.
• Avengers ShieldView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Divine TollView detailsUse on cooldown, especially if at 0 Holy Power.
• Blessed HammerView detailsUse on cooldown.
• Word Of GloryView detailsUse if health drops below 50% or to mitigate incoming damage.
• ConsecrationView detailsUse as a filler.

For AoE, maintain Avenging Wrath and Judgment on cooldown. Use Shield Of The Righteous efficiently to avoid capping Holy Power. Fill gaps with Avengers Shield, Blessed Hammer, and Consecration. Use Word Of Glory for self-healing when needed.

Cooldowns

• Avenging WrathView detailsUse frequently for increased damage, healing, and crit chance.
• Ardent DefenderView detailsUse during high damage phases for damage reduction.
• Guardian Of Ancient KingsView detailsReserve for dangerous periods as it provides significant damage reduction.
• Divine ShieldView detailsUse as an immunity to avoid damage or clear debuffs.

Utilize Avenging Wrath for offensive and defensive boosts. Rotate Ardent Defender and Guardian Of Ancient Kings for damage mitigation. Use Divine Shield as a last resort for immunity.

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.