High end min/max choice would be a High Elf with 20 points in WIS. This recognizes that as a raiding Paladin you'll be doing more patch healing and buffing than tanking the sort of mobs where an extra 20 STA (100 hp or so at 60) would be appreciated. However, it's a tough road to hoe starting from scratch. 65 STR is abysmal and will be sorely felt while leveling and gearing up an untwinked chracter. Dwarf with 15 points in WIS and 5 in AGI would be better in that regard, but suffers from the terribly low CHA, which absolutely matters for lull/calm pulling (which is not to be disregarded in the least, it's one of the best abilities of the class). Humans offer a good balance of stats, with either 20 WIS or 10 WIS 10 STA being reasonable allocations.
Gearing tips: Get a Baton of Faith, 30/40 2HB and under 50pp in EC. Can level with that until Epic/Velious weapons. Get a suit of banded armor, +55 hp rings, Hero Bracers (if not Dwarf) and fill in other slots with AC/HP/STR gear as you can. Get a Deepwater Helm and Bracer for 46+, both are must-haves.
Playing tips: don't blind mobs unless you are inside melee range or else they'll run around as if feared. Learn to root park adds and have a macro informing your group the mob is rooted and to assist you on the actual target mob. Learn to lull split/pull mobs and have a set of +CHA gear for critical lull pulls (Kobold Jester Crown, Crude Stein, Dragonskin Mask alone are +55 CHA total and cheap). Time stuns to interrupt casters. Pre-taunt (blind, stun) mezzed mobs before breaking mez. Stun charmed pets as soon as they break. When 46+, spam heal with Deepwater Helm to reduce downtime as needed. When grouped and fighting casters 46+, spam DW bracer mixed with casts of stun to completely lock down the mob. Only cast as many taunt spells as you need to hold agro, which is especially important if you don't have clarity. Always keep LoH in your pocket and don't burn it unless you're 95% sure that you or someone else (especially the Enchanter or Cleric) is about to die.
Paladins are the premier class for tanking group content and are uniquely well-suited for that purpose, having all the essential tools needed to keep their group alive (an impressive combination of heals and CC combined with their instant threat). However, that's really all they're good at. If you aren't actively tanking trash on a raid you'd be more useful as almost any other class. So you really, really have to be dedicated to the class to make it to high-end.
If Paladins appeal to you immediately for whatever reason but you also have a strong desire to raid, I would strongly advise you to choose one or the other of the Paladin's parent classes - Warrior or Cleric - as both are much, much more critically needed for raiding.
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