Commonly referred to as "BoP" in raids. As in "Bop that Warlock, he's Hellfiring!"
Using [Divine Shield] or Blessing of Protection will afflict the protected character with the [Forbearance] debuff, which lasts one minute and prevents any of those four abilities from being used again while it is active.
This does NOT protect the target from spell damage. This should not be used as a last minute protection if the target is being hit by spells (such as anyone running from a Mage in PvP).
Against rogues, if they have any stacks of deadly poison on the target you BoP, a rogue can still use Envenom to damage the target because it is a Nature damage attack, not physical (its a rare thing but it can interrupt something like a bandage or be potentially lethal if you aren't careful.)
People protected by Blessing of Protection can still cast spells.
While this skill is effective in PvP against warriors, rogues, and hunters, they all have abilities that can hit through the shield. Those abilities include [Kick], [Thunder Clap], [Pummel], etc.
Players protected by Blessing of Protection lose aggro while under its duration. Tanking paladins can use this as a last resort method of aggro management, or because of a player's inability to perform melee actions through the shield, an effective way to reign in a melee DPS class who is unable to control their own aggro. The threat reduction only lasts for the duration of the blessing however, so a tanking paladin needs to make sure they are able to generate enough threat to keep aggro when the blessing expires.
Patch changes[]
Patch 10.0.0 (2022-10-25): Now a row 6 class talent (was a level 32 ability).
Hotfix (2020-10-22):Now learned at level 32 (was level 41).
Patch 9.0.1 (2020-10-13): Now learned at level 41 (was 48).
Patch 7.0.3 (2016-07-19): Re-added at level 48 (was level 10). No longer prevents the target from attacking or using physical abilities.
Patch 2.2.0 (2007-09-25): This spell can no longer be cast on others when stunned. It can only be cast on self (to break the stun) under those circumstances.
Patch 1.9.0 (2006-01-03):[Divine Protection], [Divine Shield], Blessing of Protection - Targets of these spells will now receive the "[Forbearance]" effect, preventing another of these three spells from being applied to that target for one minute.
Patch 1.5.0 (2005-06-07): Fixed a bug where a Hunter's magic shots were missing too frequently when used on a target with Blessing of Protection active.
Patch 1.3.0 (2005-03-07): Now castable on all raid targets.