Paladins are a strong class in WoW Classic, but though their leveling experience can be varied, players inevitably would always end up healing rather than doing DPS or Tanking. However, in the Season of Discovery, Paladin Runes are changing all of that, and the class is getting some seriously powerful damage abilities, as well as significanly improved ability to Tank and gain Threat.



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Though many of these WoW Paladin Runes have been found, their effects and power levels will change as the Season of Discovery progresses. Because only one Rune can be equipped to each slot, each section below ranks Paladin Runes against other Runes within the same gear category.

Updated Feb 21, 2024 by Erik Petrovich: With the release of SoD Phase 2 new Runes were left up to players to discover with little to no direction in-game. Now that it’s been around two weeks since launch, the locations for every new SoD Rune have been found – including all new SoD Paladin Runes. There are six new Paladin Runes SoD players can acquire in Phase 2: three for the Belt slot and three for the Boots slot, for a total of 18 Runes. Look towards the bottom of this Season of Discovery Paladin Runes tier list to find out what the best new Paladin SoD Runes are, what they do, and how to get them.

Check back in the future as this tier list of all Paladin SoD Runes is updated to reflect the meta and class updates, as well as more detailed explanations as to why certain Runes are better than others.



All Paladin Chest Runes, Ranked

Aegis, Divine Storm, Horn of Lordaeron, & Seal of Martyrdom

World of Warcraft Season of Discovery WoW SoD Paladin Rune Engravings Runes Ranked Chest Icons

Paladins are a great class with some serious drawbacks, but SoD seems to balance things out across its three available specs. Paladin Tanks get some great options in the form of Divine Storm, a close-range AoE that damages and heals thereby generating lots of Threat, as well as Aegis, an active ability that increases’ the Paladin’s Block effectiveness. Of the two, Aegis will tend to be the better option overall, but Divine Storm complements the Paladin’s already-strong AoE Threat generation quite well, too.


Horn of Lordaeron is a party-wide active buff that increases all targets’ Strength and Agility for a short time. Though not an incredibly strong buff, it’s still better than manually applying Blessing of Might to every party member, though it doesn’t do much for spellcasters.

Seal of Martyrdom shows some serious potential in SoD, though. If the player can manage their HP well while active, Seal of Martyrdom is a straight-up 30% damage boost that also restores Mana to allies. Seal of Martyrdom has a high skill cap, but it’s worth leaning and optimizing, especially as a DPS Paladin.

Horn of Lordaeron

Horn of Lordaeron Effect

  • The Paladin blows the Horn of Lordaeron, which increases the total Strength and Agility of all party members within 30 yards by 6.
  • Lasts 2 min.
  • Exclusive with Blessing of Might.

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WoW Classic: Season of Discovery – All Rogue Runes, Ranked

Rogues get lots of great DPS runes in the Season of Discovery, as well as the ability to Tank, making them a great choice for PvP and PvE both.

Divine Storm ​​​​


Divine Storm Effect

  • An instant weapon attack that causes 110% of weapon damage to up to 4 enemies within 8 yards.
  • The Divine Storm heals up to 3 party or raid members totaling 25% of the damage caused.

Aegis

Aegis Effect

  • Increases your block value by 30% and damaging melee and ranged attacks against you have a 10% chance to increase your chance to block by 30%.
  • Lasts 10 sec or 5 blocks
  • Effect not cumulative with Redoubt

Seal of Martyrdom

Seal of Martyrdom Effect

  • Fills you with holy spirit for 30 sec, causing each melee attack to deal 30% extra weapon damage, but damaging the player for 10% of the damage inflicted.
  • While this seal is active, party members within 40 yards each gain mana equal to 10% of the damage you take from this seal.
  • Unleashing this Seal’s energy will judge an enemy, instantly causing 70% weapon damage at the cost of health equal to 10% of the damage inflicted.

All Paladin Legs Runes, Ranked

Avenger’s Shield, Divine Sacrifice, Exorcist, Inspiration Exemplar, & Rebuke

World of Warcraft Season of Discovery WoW SoD Paladin Rune Engravings Runes Ranked Legs Icons


With Paladin Leg Runes in SoD, two of the class’ biggest weaknesses are rectified – but because they are both Legs runes, the instant interrupt Rebuke and Avenger’s Shield compete for the same slot. Tanks will have to make a hard choice here, as Avenger’s Shield is an enormous boon to Paladins’ ability to gain and maintain threat, but having an instant Interrupt is also crucial. Generally, Avenger’s Shield will be the pick here for a Tank, while damage-dealers should pick up Rebuke.

However, there is also Divine Sacrifice to consider. This ability redirects a chunk of damage from other party members to the Paladin, which can singlehandedly save a party from wiping in bad spots. Avenger’s Shield still takes the proverbial cake here, but keep a chest piece with Divine Sacrifice engraved on it for fights with a particularly high chance of wiping.


Inspiration Exemplar can be great in some situations, and in PvP, but it’s outclassed by the other Paladin Legs Runes. Similarly, the ability to cast Exorcism on any target with the Exorcist Rune is powerful, especially for Healing Paladins, but melee Paladins should pick up the interrupt instead.

Inspiration Exemplar

Inspiration Exemplar Effect

  • Your inspiring presence periodically dispels Fear and Sleep effects on nearby party members.

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WoW Classic: Season of Discovery – All Hunter Runes, Ranked

A primarily ranged DPS class, Hunters get some of the most powerful runes in the Season of Discovery – melee Survival could be viable, now.

Exorcist

Exorcist Effect

  • Exorcism can now be cast on any target and has 100% increased critical strike chance against Undead and Demons.


Divine Sacrifice

Divine Sacrifice Effect

  • 30% of all damage taken by party members within 30 yards is redirected to the Paladin for 10 sec.
  • Damage which reduces the Paladin below 20% health will break the effect and grant the paladin 10% increased damage and healing done for 10 sec.
  • Divine Sacrifice cannot be used while you are under the effects of Blessing of Protection, Divine Shield, or Divine Protection, and prevents you from being targeted by those abilities while it is active.

Rebuke

Rebuke Effect

  • Interrupts spellcasting and prevents any spell in that school from being cast for 2 sec.

Avenger’s Shield


Avenger’s Shield Effect

  • Hurls a holy shield at the enemy, dealing Holy damage, Dazing them and then jumping to additional nearby enemies.
  • Affects 3 total targets. Lasts 10 sec.

All Paladin Gloves Runes, Ranked

Beacon of Light, Crusader Strike, Hand of Reckoning

World of Warcraft Season of Discovery WoW SoD Paladin Rune Engravings Runes Ranked Gloves Icons

One thing that Tank Paladins lacked in vanilla WoW was a direct Taunt, a way to generate threat against an enemy instantly to pull them off of allies. With Hand of Reckoning, this weakness is shored up, and it should be the default Gloves Rune choice for Paladin Tanks – it even increases Threat generation and mana recovery for other abilities, too.

Similarly, one thing that DPS Paladins have lacked – specifically the Ret spec – is, well, buttons to press. Ret is notorious for being a spec in which players load up on buffs and auto-attack targets until they die. With Crusader Strike, Ret Paladins have a real rotation to play with, as well as a way to recover Mana reliably.


Holy Paladins have a new ability to play with too, the well-known Beacon of Light. This Paladin Rune lets Holy Paladins target an ally with a Beacon, then heal other party members to apply the same healing on the Beacon’s subject. The best use of this ability is to always target the Tank. If a party member needs healing, the Tank gets the same healing. If the Tank is taking a lot of damage, it effectively doubles healing on them. It’s one of the most powerful healing spells in all of World of Warcraft, and one that will make Holy Paladins sorely missed.

Beacon of Light

Beacon of Light Effect

  • The target becomes a Beacon of Light to all members of your party or raid within a 40 yard radius.
  • Any heals you cast on party or raid members will also heal the Beacon for 100% of the amount healed. ‘
  • Only one target can be the Beacon of Light at a time. Lasts 1 min.

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Hand of Reckoning


Hand of Reckoning Effect

  • Taunts the target to attack you, but has no effect if the target is already attacking you.
  • While you know this ability, the threat bonus from Righteous Fury is increased to 80% and Righteous Fury causes you to gain mana when healed by others equal to 25% of the amount healed.
  • Additionally, while Righteous Fury is active, damage which takes you below 35% health is reduced by 20%. Righteous Fury will remain active until cancelled.

Crusader Strike

Crusader Strike Effect

  • An instant strike that causes 75% weapon damage and regenerates 2% of your maximum mana.

All Paladin Belt Runes, Ranked (PHASE TWO)

Enlightened Judgements, Sheath of Light, & Infusion of Light

WoW Season of Discovery Best Paladin Belt Runes Rune Guide

Enlightened Judgements


Enlightened Judgements Effect

  • Increases the range on Judgement spells by 30 yards
  • Increases chance to hit with all spells by 17%

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Sheath of Light

Sheath of Light Effect

  • Melee damage increases SP by 30% of your AP for 1 minute
  • Critical Healing spells heal the target for an additional 60% of the healed amount over 12 sec

Infusion of Light

Infusion of Light Effect

  • Increases the damage of Holy Shock by 20%
  • Damaging critical strikes with this ability reset the cooldown for both Holy Shock and Exorcism, and refunds the cost of Holy Shock

All Paladin Boot Runes, Ranked (PHASE TWO)

The Art of War, Guarded by the Light, & Sacred Shield

WoW Season of Discovery Best Paladin Boot Boots Runes Rune Guide


The Art of War

The Art of War Effect

  • Melee Critical Hits reset the cooldowns on both Holy Shock and Exorcism

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Guarded by the Light

Guarded by the Light Effect

  • Each time you hit a target with your melee weapon, you gain 5% of your maximum mana every 3 seconds for 15 seconds (5 instances)
  • The amount healed by Flash of Light, Holy Light, and Holy Shock spells is reduced by 50% during this mana regeneration period

Sacred Shield


Sacred Shield Effect

  • Each time the target takes damage they get Sacred Shield, absorbing damage
    • Also increases your own (caster’s) chance to Crit with Flash of Light by 50% for 6 seconds
  • Causes your Flash of Light to heal targets with Sacred Shield for an additional 100% over 12 seconds
  • Targets cannot gain this effect more than once every 6 seconds, and can’t be active on more than one target at a time
  • Lasts 30 seconds

world of warcraft box art

World of Warcraft
Released
November 23, 2004

ESRB
T for Teen: Blood and Gore, Crude Humor, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence (online interactions not rated)

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