New to Death Knight - Tank questions

I have been looking for a new melee class to play for a long time, and I want to focus on tanking. I think I have made my decision and went for the Death Knight.
I am currently leveling as DW Frost, but I was wondering how the other specs are doing when it comes to leveling?
I have been reading about DK tanks, but I still have some questions.
What spec would be the best for a first time DK tank (focus on dungeons and heroics)?
How would that spec work for leveling solo (to get used to the spec before 80)?
How are DK Tanks compared to warriors or paladins right now?

This is on Lordaeron btw

Respec to Blood. It's without a doubt the best leveling spec for DKs, able to solo almost all of the elite quests with ease.

Once you hit 80lvl you can try tanking as Frost initially. Frost is sturdier than Blood and easier to play than Unholy. Once ICC gets released, you can respec back to Blood.

I'm no DK pro, and i see taralej is browsing this thread right now (ninja post!)

But for levelling i recommend Unholy, the access to a permanant pet, as well as the passive mounted speed increase from on a pale horse is VERY handy when levelling.

All 3 tank specs are viable at end game, but most people associate level 80 tanking with Blood. I've seen good Unholy and Frost tanks mind you, at level 80. But blood is what i've chosen and i maintain that it is both a safe choice, and a fun spec to learn to tank with (my Blood tank is only 5 days old at 80)

For Dungeons, you probably would be well in either frost/unholy depending what you fight most fun, its more about AoE aggro at those levels in lowby RDFs to my knowledge, so one of those 2 would work nicely. Don't be afraid to try both, especially as you should be able to get Dual Specialization, for 1000 gold, pretty much right off the bat.

DW frost is the accepted "DPS at level 80" spec, but again, blood and unholy are viable as well but require INSANELY GOOD GEAR from what i've seen. As a levelling spec, i'm unsure of how it would compare to unholy - Probably slower if what i recall from retail serves.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by taralej

Respec to Blood. It's without a doubt the best leveling spec for DKs, able to solo almost all of the elite quests with ease.

Once you hit 80lvl you can try tanking as Frost initially. Frost is sturdier than Blood and easier to play than Unholy. Once ICC gets released, you can respec back to Blood.

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There's that post i was expecting lol! I do agree, i played a frost tank on retail 3.3.5 and it's definitely better at low gear. When levelling, lets be honest, all 3 specs are viable - I levelled in blood on retail actually, but everyone else i knew on retail went unholy and swore by it *shrug*

Mind you - Play the spec you find MOST FUN - the more fun you have, the more you'll play, and the faster you'll end up gearing/levelling due to the hours you invest.