How to fulfill your hybrid role

Trekloss` Paladin Guide
Being a hybrid

Its been a long time since last i wrote something, so i thought continuing on my paladin guides could fit.
In this guide i will talk about the Paladins multiple roles in Instances. Whats explained in this guide is doable with a paladin with early raid gear and the right spec.

As Hybrids, the paladin can basicly fit into three roles: Tank, DpS, and Healing/Cleansing.

The reason that this works best at the high end is that its then the paladin has become so developed in all the roles it can play that it sucessfully can fill all 3 with the same spec.

The Spec Im Using For This
Theres probhably other usable spec, but this is what i consider as a nice Hybrid Spec. It allows you to heal sucessfully in end-game, do some nice dmg output (for a paladin) and do some decent tanking under the right conditions.

Holy: Needed for healing, but also more handy for tanking and dps than many realise.

5/5 at Divine Intelletect - Int is very handy both for DpS, Tanking and healing, as they all are based on spells, and therefore mana.

5/5 at Spiritual Focus - Not being interrupted is a real lifesaver both solo and when healing / Assisting the healer in 5man instances. With this, one ad wont stop your healing, making you able to keep up a minimum of healing even when you have aggro. Just hope that the tank reaches you in time.

3/3 at healing light - Better heal means more efficency, and less use of mana.

1/1 at Consecration - With Righteous Fury turned on, this generates a lot of aggro, making it invaluable in tanking, especially when tanking many mobs at a time.

1/1 point in something random at the tree to acess the next tier. You will have no need for imp. Seal of rightousness with this build.

5/5 at illumination - When you crit with healing, getting back your mana is really increasing your mana-durability. A really useful spell

1/1 at Divine Favor - A spell that guarantees you a heal-crit every second minute! When you even get your mana back for these crits, your healing and durability is drastically improved!

Protection - For improved armor and the Blessing of Kings

5/5 at Imp. Devotion Aura- Both you and your party will always have good use for more armor.

5/5 at Toughness - Gives you 10% more armor.
Note that whats chosen at the protection tree gives you benefits even when you dont use a shield.

Blessing of Kings - I can guarantee you that you will never be in a 5man group where you wont have a use for this blessing. 10% more at all stats!
Most raid guils will also be delighted if you can bless them with it.

Retribution - The DpS tree for Paladins.
Whats chosen here is just the essentials for more danmage and aggro generation

5/5 at imp. Blessing of Might or Benediction -
Both are useful, but i tend to prefer the imp. Blessing, so both i and my party/raid can do more danmage.

2/2 at imp. Judgement -
Your DpS and aggro generation is mostly based at using judgements and spells, judgements are roughly 2/5 of it, so getting a shorter CD really improves both DpS and Aggro (if you are tanking)

3 points somewhere at the tree exept at imp. Seal of the Crusader

1/1 at Seal of Command -
When you have this, you`ll never use other seals for dps again! The clearly best way to get aggro and do dps, exept when against undead. Works better when the target is stunned, but the judgement still does decent dmg. In addition, your hits occasionaly do nearly double dmg (Procs pretty often)

5/5 at Conviction - +5% crit chance is always useful, and it applies to the seal of command too!
Thats pretty much dmg.

The three last points can be spent anywhere, depending on what you like most. I would reccomend Vindication, Imp. Blessing of Wisdom or lasting judgement

What the guide really is about
Whew, that was pretty much!
But now, you should be fit for most roles.
Notice that all the trees help each other.
Protection helps you in all situations, as its not shield dependant, and BoK always helps, in all situations. The Holy talents increase your potential both as healer, dps as tank, with extra mana, a new AoE spell and improved healing.
The Retribution talents gives a whole new dps spell that gives you more aggro or more dmg. You also get some other things that increase your performance both as tank, dps and soloer.

Lets get over on the roles.

Healer:
Many would say this is the only thing a paladin can do at lvl 60. Its wrong, but we`re still good at it!
I would say a good paladin is the most durable healer mana-wise in the game!
Just be sure to distribute your healing right, and have a high mana regen. I have experienced more than once to have half or 2/3 of my mana after very intense fight, solely because i`ve had on mana regrenation gear and buffs. Holy Light is generally more effective than the Flash Heal. Its also heals more for less mana than the Flash. Try to judge the mobs and bosses with light, and the melee will heal automatically when they hit it, sparing you for alot of mana and effort.

Paladins can main heal all end-game 5man instances without anyone to assist heal, dont let anybody tell you otherwise! Priests are overrated by many, paladins can heal more than good enough! Paladins often find them self over the priests at the healing meters in end-game raids.

DpS
Not commonly associated with the Paladin, we can still dish out nice danmage under the right circumstances! Since 2/3 of the 5man lvl 60 dungeons are populated mainly by undead, you got 2 nice AoE`s (Consecration and Holy Wrath), 2 nukes (Judgement of Command and Exorsism), Seal of Command (much more melee dmg). In strat UD i have outdanmaged most classes, exept the mage, that always seems to beat me by 1-3% at the dmg-meter!
Just be careful not to pull adds with Holy Wrath.

Tanking
The paladin can do well here, just equip a nice shield, plate with +int and spelldmg, and a 1h, preferably with spelldmg and int too.

Turn on righteous fury, and your holy dmg suddently gets huge amounts of aggro! And with the talents i mentioned, you have two more holy spells than you would have if you chose differently!

Start out with Hammer of Justice and Judgement of Command, and you already have alot of aggro. Turn on a new Seal of Command, use consecration if there is many mobs, then swap target from time to time so the healers doesnt get aggro during the fight. (Blessing of Salvation efficently solves this problem)

In Undead Instances, you have Holy Wrath, a really powerful AoE with holy dmg, and exorsism, a good, instant nuke with holy dmg. Use the spells and mana wisely, and you can tank both strat UD, Scholo, and sometimes Strat SC and DM without problems (This is tested and verified)

Conclusion:
The Paladin is a real hybrid, and with the right gear, talents and skill, you can fill any role!
Note that in raids, you will have to accept being a healer. You simply are needed for Healing in raids, and you wont be able to match the other classes DpS against non-undead targets. Tanking here is also hard, as fights are long and mana consuming, and you cant use all your nukes against living targets.

Anyways, im not afraid to say that i think paladins are the most durable healers, the best tanks in 5man undead instances (exept against some bosses with no ad, or spesifically long bosses), and a really good dps class in Strat UD and Scholomance. Just be careful with not getting aggro when not supposed to