1. As many people know, I no life Paladins, I personally have 4 of them that I consistently raid on and of course my main is one. I didn't play the class on retail, Warmane is actually the first place I've ever had one, but I've researched retail information and done my own research to Warmane specifics in all areas of the Protection talents. This is my comprehensive guide to the faceroll tank in both build types (Threat & Mitigation).

    Table of contents
    • Build Types & Benefits
    • Talents & Glyphs
    • Stats & Their Weights
    • Enchants
    • Gems
    • Rotations
    • Macros
    • FAQ


    Build Types & Benefits
    As a Paladin tank we have two basic builds: Threat & Mitigation.
    Both of these builds will have their own benefits and I highly recommend aiming for mitigation with a threat spec.

    Threat is mostly for those tank and spank fights where DPS will be pushing as hard as they can, you'll want this build most likely as an offset. It has low damage mitigation and effective health. This also isn't completely required as Paladins are known for their threat in any gear, we have more abilities than cooldowns, which makes it very easy for anyone with raid awareness to grab an NPC and hold the aggro.

    Mitigation is by far the most effective due to the amount of damage we can mitigate with passive talents and cooldowns on top of our gear. A good tank can be defined, in part, by their ability to ease the workload for healers and survive an encounter.

    Talents & Their Glyphs
    Talents are really customizable to your play style. After mandatory talents you have 11 points left over. Personally I use these 11 talents for threat on top of my mitigation set, threat can go single target for strictly MT or AoE for possible OT.
    Note that Judgements of the Just can be applied by other classes, so the talent isn't mandatory. I use Guardian's Favor instead.


    Glyphs are also highly customizable, any of the majors can be swapped out. Here's a quick idea of the sets that I would use for threat or mitigation.

    Minors
    • Glyph of Sense Undead (Flat 1% damage increase with all abilities)
    • Glyph of Lay on Hands (Reduce cooldown of LoH, always a bonus)
    • Your choice.


    Threat
    • Glyph of Seal of Vengeance (Allows soft Expertise cap without worrying about gems)
    • Glyph of Judgement (Flat 10% damage increase with judgements)
    • Glyph of Consecration (Allows you to focus more on other abilties and keep Consecration down longer)


    Mitigation
    • Glyph of Divine Plea (Flat 3% damage reduction, it's amazing)
    • Glyph of Righteous Defense (Allows you to aim for more mitigation and worry less about hit for taunts)
    • Glyph of Seal of Vengeance (Allows you to maximize mitigation gear and hit the soft Expertise cap)


    Stats & Their Weights
    This section will be separated into 3 segments, stat caps and weights for each build. Stat caps effect you in any build, so make sure you reach these. Remember that a good tank will never aim for a single stat, all of them are important.

    Caps
    Hit: 263 or 8% total.
    Defense: 540.
    Expertise: 26. (Note: Parry Haste) (BOSSES CAN PARRY!)

    Threat
    1. Expertise is the best threat stat until 26. It isn't exactly an easy stat to find on tank gear but don't be afraid to throw in a couple gems or use the Seal of Vengeance glyph.
    2. Strength is your second best threat stat and it's on every piece of tank gear. Fully buffed it gives you AP, BR, and SP. The value does, however, drop after around 3000 BV buffed.
    3. BV (Block Value) is an amazing mitigation stat, but DR does hit it hard at around 3000. As far as threat goes, it scales the damage done by a few abilities.
    4. Hit is a surprisingly weaker threat stat, but only for threat. I still highly suggest capping it.


    Mitigation
    1. Stamina will always be a top stat for anything but the threat build. We gain about 10 health per 1 Stamina before buffs. The reason I find this as such a great stat is because it's always there as padding for the healers when you take damage.
    2. Armor is my favorite stat when it comes to damage reduction, even though it only effects physical attacks, it really shines in fights like Lich King.
    3. Strength increases our BV (Block Value) by about 0.7 per 1 Strength. As I mentioned above, BV is an amazing mitigation stat, but like Armor it only helps against heavy melee fights like Lich King. A huge benefit to strength is the fact it increases Spell Power, which in turn increases the damage absorbed by Sacred Shield.
    4. Defense Rating is never a bad stat, even after the 540 cap. It comes on a large amount of gear and I still find myself gemming for it. It provides the largest amount of mitigation with Parry/Dodge/Block/Miss combined.
    5. Dodge Rating is 2nd after Defense Rating just because DR doesn't effect it nearly as bad.
    6. Parry is 3rd due to us having such a small amount of auto attacks and, like I said above, DR hits it pretty hard.
    7. Agility provides a decent amount of Armor, Dodge and Crit and makes it worth gemming for if you can get a 6+ Stamina bonus.
    8. BV (Block Value) somehow lands at the bottom of this list every time, unfortunately. If you plan on tanking Lich King often then use Libram of the Sacred Shield to increase your BV by 450 for 20 seconds each time you use Holy Shield. BV only effects melee damage so switch the libram out for any encounter with large amounts of magic or range damage.


    Enchants
    Enchants are almost never swapped out, only if you absolutely need another stat.


    Gems
    Gems are almost as easy as this class. There's only a few basic rules to it.
    Your Meta should always be Austere Earthsiege Diamond.
    If the socket is blue, use a Stamina gem, otherwise follow the flowchart.
    Here's my beautiful mspaint creation:


    Rotations
    We have a vast amount of abilities but only two goals, keep Holy Shield and Sacred Shield up 100% of the time. With those up we can keep our other top threat generating abilities on cooldown: Shield of Righteousness, Hammer of the Righteous, Judgment, and Consecration. Once these are all on cooldown, we have a few fillers to use: Avengers Shield, and Holy Wrath (Against Undead). That's the 69 rotation, well actually it's supposed to be 96.

    Macros
    The entire rotation can easily be made into 2 macros + 3 buttons, or 1 if you really want to but I find it harder to keep Holy Shield up 100% of the time.




    Be sure to change the Judgement of Light to Wisdom if you have a Holy Paladin.

    FAQ's
    Q: Which libram should I use?
    You should always have 2 or 3 different librams as a tank: Libram of Valiance, Libram of the Sacred Shield, and optionally Libram of the Eternal Tower. In any fight where you will be taking mostly physical damage you should use Libram of the Sacred Shield, otherwise use Libram of Valiance for added threat and a larger Sacred Shield. If by some chance you're in a fight where physical damage is the only type you'll take and no threat is needed, grab Libram of the Eternal Tower

    Q: What items should I replace when switching between fights like Lady Deathwhisperer and Lich King?
    LDW does mostly magic damage to the tank, so use Stamina trinkets and rings. You should gain around 5k health from that alone, if you'd like more then switch out more offset items for Stamina. Lich King, on the other hand, does mostly physical damage to tanks so you'll want as much Armor and Block as possible. I highly recommend Armor trinkets and rings + the Block libram.

    Q: Set Bonuses. 4pc vs 2pc, which is better?
    Both set bonuses have their benefits. Personally I prefer itemization using 2pc (Hands and Chest for armor). It allows me to reach stat caps easily by utilizing non t10 set pieces.

    Q: Havocs Call vs Mithrios. Which should I use for threat?
    This is probably the most common question I get, and unfortunately most people get this wrong. Havocs Call does not have more DPS than Mithrios, the only thing you will gain from it is Crit and Haste. If you rely on Mithrios for Expertise then you will be losing your biggest threat stat, that alone makes Havocs a bad replacement, as well as the loss of Strength.

    Q: What about Stamina stacking?
    It's bad. You're losing a ton of mitigation for a large amount of health, which is useless as padding for healers when you take too much damage. Remember that you're a Paladin and your stat weights are not the same as other classes.

    Open for suggestions.

  2. can you list the macros you use?

    should i be using vengence or command?

  3. can you list the macros you use?

    should i be using vengence or command?
    Vengeance for single target.
    Command for multi target. - Many consider this a waste of talent point, because its not rly needed later on.


  4. talent link no more active
    Updated both, but I would stick with the first one in end-game content.

  5. Nice guide. Why not Judgments of the Just ? Bugged or not worth it ?

  6. This should be the "Aggro" spec:
    https://wotlk.evowow.com/?talent#sZV...dxf0x0c:kpGcmz
    It wont give u any more aggro than:
    https://wotlk.evowow.com/?talent#sVh...MusIufd:jpGcmz
    (U can use last 4 points to get to "Blessed Hands" in Holy tree, or go for 4%Parry chance increase in Ret, its up to u, but if u have to main tank aswell as offtank, and u see that ur normal HoSac is providing enough help to the other tank than just go for parry)
    But the 2nd spec will give u a lot of aditional suportive abilities...

    As for the "Judgment of the Just", if u are in a guild, that has multiple 20% melee speed reduction debuffs on Bosses, u can skip that talent.
    Otherwise, if u are pugging a lot, u should take it 100%.
    With that talent, u will basicly completely avoid every 5th Hit from the target, if there is no such debuff on the target, so u could say that its a huge deal and worth it.
    Edited: April 5, 2018 Reason: Updated the talent links

  7. You can't really compare 15% seal and Judge damage to 5% crit, 6% damage increase to everything, and a 9s Judgment CD that allows it to flow with the 6969 rotation.

    Aura Mastery, Imp. Lay on Hands and Blessed Hands are nice things to have, and the talent build is pretty good because of those talents - the two builds are not equal in terms of threat. Nor does the threat generation lean towards sub-Holy.

  8. You can't really compare 15% seal and Judge damage to 5% crit, 6% damage increase to everything, and a 9s Judgment CD that allows it to flow with the 6969 rotation.
    What do you mean by this exactly?

  9. 5% Crit DMG is pure rng, it can help but most of the times it wont affect the threat table, which u said urself if i remember right when people compared Havoc and Milthrios.
    The only reason 6% overall DMG is better than 15% Seal and Judgment dmg increase is cos both Seal and Judgment do a low portion of ur overall dmg done. With that also, 2sec CD reduction on Judgment wont be noticable at all when it comes to threat.
    6868 rotation can ALMOST NEVER be executed perfectly during the entire fight, especialy if u have a roll of a suportive tank, so pushing for that kind of rotation is not good if u ask me... All u have to do, in order to maximise threat, is to keep HoR and SoR on CD, aka:
    HoR > SoR > ... > HoR > SoR > ... repeat
    I never had more problems when it comes to threat when using holy offspec, compared to ret.

    Altho if u are in a raid where u have no MD, and almost no gear, and u have to MT, and u have BiS huge DPS in the raid, i guess any threat gain is usefull so i guess in those kind of situations u should use ret offspec.
    U can also warn the dps not to go full ****** mode cos they will most likely die, and be ready to taunt the boss when they idd overagro in the end. If they die, u did all u could, its on them...
    However if u are BiS u should almost never go for Ret Offspec for both Prot Paladin and Holy Paladin.

  10. How would you recommend gearing a (plate) tank ? Using in game options only, for fresh 80 a couple of reputation items, doing Ragemane's Flipper, getting blacksmithing boe with defense and situating rings ( boe ring from icc and icc rep ring) will provide enough expertise, hit and defense. This is going to be enough for rdf hc so daily farm can start. But when a player gets enough gear from dungeons (fos,pos,hor,toc both n and hc) how would you recommend spending triumphs ?

    This bugs me a lot. What do you think of t9 set and when should one focus on getting it ? What is the best way of spending triumphs ? And when to collect tier 10 pieces and how to spend frosts ? ( I don't like ICC BS plans for boosting my gs because they lack basic stats for beginners, but TOC and ULDUAR plans are worthwhile. )

    I have atlas loot and I know how to optimize my gear if I get an upgrade. The thing is I want to hear all of you guys and your perspective on gearing at that stage. I want to know how to give advice to new players on this particular subject and I want to know what to do if I decide to gear my third tank. All of this questions can be answered for the paladin specifically, but any additional info on gearing other tanks (dk,warrs) will be much appreciated.

  11. How would you recommend gearing a (plate) tank ? Using in game options only, for fresh 80 a couple of reputation items, doing Ragemane's Flipper, getting blacksmithing boe with defense and situating rings ( boe ring from icc and icc rep ring) will provide enough expertise, hit and defense. This is going to be enough for rdf hc so daily farm can start. But when a player gets enough gear from dungeons (fos,pos,hor,toc both n and hc) how would you recommend spending triumphs ?

    This bugs me a lot. What do you think of t9 set and when should one focus on getting it ? What is the best way of spending triumphs ? And when to collect tier 10 pieces and how to spend frosts ? ( I don't like ICC BS plans for boosting my gs because they lack basic stats for beginners, but TOC and ULDUAR plans are worthwhile. )

    I have atlas loot and I know how to optimize my gear if I get an upgrade. The thing is I want to hear all of you guys and your perspective on gearing at that stage. I want to know how to give advice to new players on this particular subject and I want to know what to do if I decide to gear my third tank. All of this questions can be answered for the paladin specifically, but any additional info on gearing other tanks (dk,warrs) will be much appreciated.
    Have a look at my alt pally that i am gearing up atm. http://armory.warmane.com/character/...ecrown/summary

    You can get great neck/back/Trinket and shield from Votepoints, crafted Legs are a must!
    Rings from ICC rep + AH.
    Spend your EoFs on the T10 chest and hope for the Hands to drop in VoA.
    Get the libram lvl 226 and farm 5 mans alot.
    2xT9 is great for the start.
    You are ready to tank LK 10 nm in no time like that!

  12. Macro

    What are the macro's you reference that takes it to a 2/3 button rotation?

  13. What are the macro's you reference that takes it to a 2/3 button rotation?
    Try this:

    /castsequence reset=6 Judgement of Wisdom,Shield of Righteousness,Holy Shield,Hammer of the Righteous,Consecration,Shield of Righteousness,Judgement of Wisdom,Hammer of the Righteous,Holy Shield,Shield of Righteousness,Consecration,Hammer of the Righteous

    I will warn that this is not optimal play. If you just want to be lazy on a pure single target boss, i.e.patchwork, it's awesome. 696 isn't actually the optimal way to play in general, it however gives you close to optimal while still being mana efficient. If your on a boss that's hitting hard enough to restore your mana you should play a priority.

    Keep judgement buff up*
    Keep holy shield up if needed *
    ST: Sotr>consencration>avengers shield> Hotr>judge>HS
    Aoe: Hotr>consencration>avengers shield>Sotr> judge>HS

    If you try to do this on a dummy you'll go oom really really fast! You need mana from spiritual attunement and other raid buffs.

  14. Try this:

    /castsequence reset=6 Judgement of Wisdom,Shield of Righteousness,Holy Shield,Hammer of the Righteous,Consecration,Shield of Righteousness,Judgement of Wisdom,Hammer of the Righteous,Holy Shield,Shield of Righteousness,Consecration,Hammer of the Righteous

    I will warn that this is not optimal play. If you just want to be lazy on a pure single target boss, i.e.patchwork, it's awesome. 696 isn't actually the optimal way to play in general, it however gives you close to optimal while still being mana efficient. If your on a boss that's hitting hard enough to restore your mana you should play a priority.

    As you said yourself this is not optimal play, and the reason for that is because if for whatever reason you are not able to be in melee range of the boss 100% of the time, you'll end up losing the Holy shield buff before you reapply it.

12 Last

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •