In the world of warcraft, in order to increase his DPS by himself, a Paladin has chosen to spec Retribution by a considerable margin. In addition, Retribution Paladins bring a large amount of raid utility, making them valuable in endgame instances. Through the 41-point Retribution talent Crusader Strike and 51-point Divine Storm they can deal considerable DPS. In addition, Retribution Paladins are popular for their increased damage abilities for groups, such as Heart of the Crusader, which grants all attacks against the target a 3% increased chance to crit, and Sanctified Retribution, increasing the damage of the Paladin's group by 2%.
For the most part, Paladins are excellent tanks. Spiritual Attunement provides the Paladin with a percentage of mana, based on ability level, each time they receive healing. Like their Warrior brethren, they can gear to become immune to crushing blows, allowing them to tank boss level enemies. They excel at tanking multiple mobs at the same time through use of their reactive threat abilities like Holy Shield and Consecration, an AOE effect that deals significant threat to all mobs within range. Paladins do not have as many survival tools as a Warrior tank, particularly the lack of a Shield Wall type of emergency button, and as much of their threat is reactive will not off-tank as well as a Warrior or Feral Druid. However, Paladin tanks have gained widespread acceptance in the community for their excellent threat production across multiple enemies.
In the game, the Paladin class has some of the most mana-efficient and low-threat healing spells, which allow them to easily fill the position of a main tank healer in a party or raid situation. Their healing efficiency makes them great endurance and battle healers, though Paladins lack area of effect healing abilities (healing multiple targets at once) and healing over time effects can only be gained through items such as the Fel Reaver's Piston. Paladins do have a form of indirect healing from the spell Judgment of Light. However, Judgment of Light can only proc on melee attacks and does not scale with bonus healing effects, reducing its usefulness.
The anti-Undead and Demon abilities such as Exorcism, Holy Wrath and Turn Evil which make Paladins become very effective when fighting Demon and Undead targets (not including Forsaken players, who are considered Humanoids for balance reasons).
The most well-known strength for the Paladins is his/her ability to outlast his opponent(s). With plate armor, their ability to heal themselves and allies, and a near-complete invulnerability every few minutes, they are a hard target to take down. Not only can Paladins do a surprising amount of burst-damage and have good access to stun abilities but also Paladins can make great supporting characters, buffing and healing team-mates while being able to survive the enemy's attention. In particular, the Paladins are vulnerable to Silence and Interrupt effects, as all of a Paladin's abilities are part of a single magic school (Holy). In addition, dispel effects are powerful against a non-Retribution Paladin, as it allows the removal of the Paladin's Seal system easily.