Starting a Paladin WoW

The paladin is a class for those that prefer strength over speed and light over darkness. They can deal damage, protect teammates, and heal allies. They excel at self-preservation. They cannot easily hide or escape from danger, but are made to stand and survive against dangers that would kill other classes.

As one of the most versatile classes in the game, they can play all major PvE roles: tank, healer, and DPS. Their main limiting factor is that they do primarily melee (close-combat) damage, not ranged damage.

Paladin Class Best Race

The Paladin Class Best Race is limited and exclusive to the Alliance Faction, what this means is your only choices are Humans and Dwarves. If you plan to play a Healer Holy Spec then you will likely find Human Race for useful for PVE content. If you a PVP/Battlegrounds Player then Dwarves are the way to go, since they perform really well in PVP, but can also be used in PVE content just fine.

Grouping 

As a paladin you can play any of three roles (described in greater details in the paladin tactics section). Paladins can DPS, tank, or heal, but which of these roles you are strongest at is based on your talent spec and the gear you bring with you. It is important to know what your role is before getting into combat and acting accordingly to prevent unnecessary party deaths and disasters.

As DPS, you'll use a a slow, hard-hitting two-hand weapon and points in the retribution talent tree. On multiple mobs, keep up Consecration and use Seal of Command. If you're really taking a beating, you can swap in a shield in combat to increase your survivability, or use your Hand of Protection or Divine Shield skill to remove aggro from yourself and back out of melee to heal. Always be prepared to help off-heal if it becomes necessary or to cleanse debuffs off of party members. A DPS paladin can also be very useful for helping the tank get aggro off of a healer, since the paladin can taunt the mobs at range using Righteous Defense and allow the tank to take them off of him without having to run across the room. At higher levels, use Seal of Vengeance on single mobs that live longer than 20 seconds (bosses), Seal of Righteousness on single mobs that don't live long, and Seal of Command on multiple targets.

As a tank, you bring the benefit of being able to hold aggro very well on multiple mobs and you can front load a lot of aggro quickly, allowing DPS to get into the fight early. As a paladin you must rely on your spell damage output to hold aggro. Use Righteous Fury and do as much holy damage as you can. Try to start with Avenger's Shield if you have it, and Hand of Reckoning if you don't. Retribution Aura can be very effective against multiple mobs, since you'll passively generate threat on each one every time it hits you. Consecration is also a great way to build aggro. Keep up the buffs on your teammates - it will help the entire group in the long run.

As a healer, remember to heal the tank. Since your mana pool will be small at lower levels, use Flash of Light instead of Holy Light whenever possible, since it's far more efficient. Only use Holy Light if the tank's health is dropping too fast for Flash to keep up. Make certain you continue to keep everyone buffed to the best of your ability. Keep Devotion Aura up to help the tank out, unless you need an elemental resistance aura or Concentration Aura for your own heals. If you're low on mana after a fight and need to drink, tell people! Overeager tanks may charge on ahead if you don't ask for time. Be sure to have a stack of water ready before going into a dungeon, though a mage can give you free drinks if you're grouped with one.

Note that in anything below a level 80 heroic you do not need to specced for healing or tanking to perform those roles. You do, however, need appropriate gear. That means a one-handed weapon and shield and plate/mail armor (ideally with lots of Stamina and Defense Rating) for tanking, and gear with Spell Power and Intellect on it for healing. To tank as retribution, keep Righteous Fury on, pull with Hand of Reckoning and use Seal of Command and Consecrate to keep your threat up. To heal, take advantage of Sheath of Light, and consider healing at close range in order to get mana back with Judgements of the Wise.