Greetings fellow Paladin, and welcome to my guide! If you're reading this, you are a Light wielder on your way to becoming a level 19 Protection Twink. Or you want to make a Hardcore Paladin and make your experience much less frustrating. Or maybe you're just into theorycrafting and gear aesthetics like myself.
So whether you want to twink in the PvP bracket for level 10-19 players or just progress your character with the best gear available, this guide is precisely what you need! And with the advent of the Classic Hardcore realms and the change to the PvP honor system coming to the Era realms you might be enticed to level a Paladin again. Say no more!
In this guide (and its follow-ups for the 20-29, 30-39, and so on) you will get to explore what are the most desirable items you can pursue. In this article, we will look at the Protection spec in case you want to be a dedicated tank in WoW Classic. I will have a variant of this tutorial for the Holy and Retribution specs too, published sometime soon.
Now, before I start the list I will just want to add that this guide tries to stand the test of time as a thoroughly detailed one. This is why I went to extreme lengths over the last years while documenting the information for all of the articles in this series to make this the most complete and accurate Paladin guide out there.
So please let me know if you catch any errors of any kind and make sure you save this link for future reference. Share it with your friends too (if they play a Paladin). I've put much effort into this so a share or comment is highly appreciated.
How To Navigate This Guide
What takes my guide apart from all of the other ones you can find online is that I took the time to investigate and document the 4 best items for each of the item slots. So not just one item per slot. No! I will give you four options and also state my opinion on which is best for what scenario.
How to choose which item to go for? Pick the item based on your use case. Since you are a tank and will get clobbered in both PvP and PvE I suggest you focus on stamina, strength, armor, and only after those on intellect and agility. Go for mail armor types that have the following suffixes: "of the Bear", "of Stamina", "of Defense", and "of the Monkey".
Alright, let’s, get, started.
Race
For tanking in PvP scenarios, the Dwarf race is the better choice because of the added Stoneform spell that can remove from your Paladin bleeds, poisons, and diseases. Incredibly useful against the Rogue's Blind spell which counts as a poison.
The Human race can also be useful via the Perception racial that can snipe out of stealth a Rogue or Druid.
At the end of the day, I always choose the sex and race based on what I want to look at for countless hours. So it's females most of the time and Dwarves more often because I like their awesome spell-casting and combat animations.
Headpiece
Three of our options are Engineering-made goggles so getting this Profession is a must. All three versions are useful, especially the +stamina ones but getting the Lucky Fishing Hat is true dedication.
Neck
Neck items are very limited at this level and, the best one, the Sentinel's Medallion, takes a while to farm as you have to get your Warsong rep to Honored. The other option is very expensive on the other hand and quite rarely seen. It takes 2 Arcanite bars to craft among other stuff but it’s super useful. And your 3rd option is quite useless but makes that slot not look empty so, there’s that. You can find it in Zul'Farrak’s graves. For my twink, I went for the Voice Amplification Modulator as it’s too cool not to.
Shoulder
Shoulder items are very limited as well but, Talbar Mantle, the quest reward from the Wailing Caverns chain is an absolute must.
Back
Sentry Cloak might be one of the most recognizable twink items out there, and being expensive at that. If you're strapped for cash I recommend Hide of Lupos which I like to call 'poor man's Sentry Cloak'.
Superior Cloak of the Monkey, of Stamina, of Defense
Fortified Cloak of the Bear, of Strength, of Stamina, of Defense, of the Monkey
Chest
Your best option here is the Deadmines leather chest item. Although your other options are mail and decent options, I'd still go for the Defias armor in both PvP and PvE since it packs such great stats.
Outrunner's Chestguard of the Bear, of Strength, of Stamina, of the Monkey
Defender Tunic of the Bear, of Strength, of Stamina, of the Monkey
Wrist
A few good options here but the quest reward from Blackfathom Deeps is the best wrist item in any scenario for Protection Paladins at this level.
Wrangler's Wristbands of the Monkey, of Stamina
Fortified Bracers of the Bear, of Strength, of Stamina, of the Monkey
Defender Bracers of the Bear, of Strength, of Stamina, of the Monkey
Hands
I included the Red Whelp Gloves because they might do considerable damage with a fast attack speed weapon, even though they are leather in their type. Couple it with a fiery maain-hand weapon enchant and you'll never lose aggro!
Waist
Your best-in-slot waist item is another world drop but Cobrah's Grasp is a great choice too and it might be easier to obtain, it being a Wailing Caverns bind-on-pickup drop.
Fortified Belt of the Bear, of the Monkey
Legs
Chausses of Westfall... what more can be said after enunciating that name? One of the most iconic Westfall/Deadmines quest rewards.
Defender Leggings of the Bear, of the Monkey
Feet
Some good options for your shoes but found mostly at the auction house.
Defender Boots of the Bear, of Stamina, of Defense, of the Monkey
Ring Slot 1
Seal of Wrynn should be a top priority and you should start that quest chain as soon as possible as it nets you a lot of experience. I was already level 19 when I got around to doing it so I had to settle with the Meadow Ring of Eluding because I'm all about that +1% dodge chance increasing stat.
Meadow Ring of the Monkey, of the Tiger, of Eluding
Ring Slot 2
Your options for your second ring aren’t amazing until you get your Warsong rep to Honored for the Protector's Band. Since I managed to score a cheap Ring of Defense I took it on because I love using niche items.
Trinket Slot 1
There's not much to talk about on the trinket side of things apart from the fact that one of them is very hard to get: the Arena Grand Master trinket requires you to loot the Gurubashi Arena chest 12 times. I did manage to do this on my Pally but boy was it difficult getting it on the peak of Classic's release.
Trinket Slot 2
You should also fill your bags with Minor Recombobulators as they are limited to 10 charges. And, yes, you can have two of them equipped! Once you get to Rank 2 in PvP the Insignia of the Alliance becomes available but while that is on cooldown you should always swap to a Recombobulator.
Main Hand
Good options here and the rare Shadowfang is your best-in-slot. I'm all about a pleasing aesthetic I am using something different, the Ironpatch Blade.
Shield
Very good shields for you to choose from and Arctic Buckler seems like the best of the bunch.
2 Hand
In PvP you might need to have at your disposal a 2 hander to take down a cloth user that keeps bugging you when you're trying to bring that Warsong Gulch flag back to base, say. In that particular scenario, you should swap to one of these:
Dressing Room
If your focus is on Player versus Player action and if we choose from above the most useful in PvP (those that increase stamina, strength, armor, agility, and defense) then your toon should look like this: Protection Paladin BiS 10-19 PvP.
If you’re in a PvE mindset then with my chosen recommended best-in-slot items you would look like this: Protection Paladin BiS 10-19 PvE.
I built my Classic Protection set as a mishmash of both worlds centered around an aesthetic I find awesome: Protection Paladin 10-19 BiS Alternative Design.
This rugged brownish theme works well, and even though the set is subpar I had a blast tanking Deadmines, Wailing Caverns, and Blackfathom Deeps with it.
Final Notes
As a side note, if you’re watching this in the (Classic) Burning Crusade or later, keep in mind there's an NPC you can talk to, to stop getting XP which, makes loot grinding a whole lot easier. Horde players might also want to do a little research on some horde-specific items for the Blood Elf race.
Lastly, make sure you get that defense and weapon skill up. Unarmed too because it sucks to get disarmed as a tank and not be able to land any hits.
And that is going to do it. Hopefully, you enjoyed this guide and I will see you in the next one. Until then, stay strong my fellow protection paladins.
