For a defensive Paladin plan, keep Consecration as the opening reference and build around the Protection and shield choices described in public guides. A Holy damage direction is an alternative when survival is already comfortable. The dated official card showed 245 HP and default Consecration.
Evidence checked 2026-10-28: the saved Paladin menu shows Consecration and 245 HP. It documents the opening card, not a completed talent allocation or a benchmark. The route advice below is attributed to public class material.
Protection plan: Consecration and shields
The Paladin class guide and the earlier build research pair Consecration with Holy Shield and Divine Shield in a Protection direction. Treat Consecration as the available opening, and inspect those shield choices when they appear in the current pool or talent tree.
- On a fresh character, improve the available Consecration and take a defensive option if contact damage is stopping progress. Do not plan as though the completed Protection tree is already active.
- When shield and damage choices compete, use the run’s failure condition: add protection if you keep dying; support damage if you can stay alive but cannot clear the boss. This is an editorial choice rule, not a tested item ranking.
- Avoid standing in a crowded area solely to keep enemies inside Consecration. Leave an escape route and compare the shield tooltips before committing earned points.
Holy alternative and talent limits
Holy, Protection, and Retribution are the tree names in the public class material. The research records Holy Shock and Exorcism as an alternative damage direction. Choose that direction when you want to compare damage choices rather than automatically copying a defensive build; no exact Holy point order is established here.
Each class can earn up to 51 talent points. Follow the current tree’s prerequisites; the Druid screenshot supports the shared five-point row gates and free respec rule, but does not supply Paladin’s milestone tooltips. Consecration is the dated default starter, not proof that every talented Paladin must open identically.
Gear and race tradeoffs
Choose gear to support the route actually in use rather than a generic “best Paladin” list: compare defensive properties while learning survival, then compare damage support once the run is stable. For progression, the racial reference records Human’s XP/gold lines; for defensive planning it records health and damage-reduction options. The original race effects are official single-source text, not a tested race ranking.
245 HP was the highest of the nine menu values recorded on 28 October. It does not by itself prove the fastest clear, an invulnerability duration, or the best class for every player.
Sources, version, and using this plan
The route names and spell pairings above are attributed to the public Paladin class guide and the class material collected on 28 October 2026. They are published planning examples, not an official ranking or a tested damage comparison. Holdherhand’s example is titled Protection Paladin Naxxramas; it supplies a published archetype example, not current-patch proof of every recommendation.
Watch the public Paladin example — uploaded 2026-10-25; the game version is not established by the research record. A video upload date is not a patch number. The menu facts come from Aethus’s original game, a single official source; see the dated version record before applying an older talent route.
Questions
What should I aim for after Consecration?
The attributed Protection plan looks at Holy Shield and Divine Shield alongside Consecration. Take available protection if survival is the problem; compare damage support if boss kills are the problem.
Does every Paladin start with Consecration?
Consecration was the default on the official 2026-10-28 card. Talents can change opening conditions, so a different talented setup must be checked against its tooltip rather than identified as a different client from one spell alone.
Sources and verification limits
Checked 2026-10-28. Two independent publishers are needed to call a claim confirmed. A menu, screenshot and script from Aethus count as one publisher. Exact menu HP, racial values and dated build identifiers are single-source observations. A video or a general game report does not independently verify every number. Missing values remain unreported; disagreements stay attributed.
- Aethus — original game page
Official browser entry and Windows link. Version and menu numbers are a single-publisher snapshot dated 28 October 2026, not independently confirmed current values.
- 17173 — independent game report, 26 October 2026
Free game, nine classes, eight races, Windows download and permanent progression. Rounded download size is not a file identity check.
- Community class build reference
Published class route, distinct from the single-source official HP and starter-spell snapshot.
- Holdherhand — Protection Paladin Naxxramas
Independent public footage for the gameplay shown, not verification of every numerical claim on this page.