WotLK Icecrown paladin tanking questions.

[Orendil]

So I used to play on Lorda (My character http://armory.warmane.com/character/...daeron/summary) but I quit that server after.. Let's just say the guild broke up due to some guildies making big mistakes. So with no guild that fit my raiding time and with the buffs that made it nearly impossible to raid with pugs I decided to join Icecrown.

So on to the questions!

1) BiS professions for tanking as a paladin? Back in Lorda we were required to stamina stack to survive hits from bosses up to a certain point so those were LW and JC... What are they here, and why? (Such as if engineering for armor and why, pros cons if you want to answer this.. I know it's asking a lot but any info helps before I spend a ton of gold I got from questing on a profession.)
Really want to know the best of the best for this one.

2) What should I aim for first? I'm just need to max Argent Crusade rep and I have all the factions maxed. (Minus that verdict one...) Which dungeons should I que for to tank, and how geared do I need to be to tank stuff like FoS, PoS, and the heroic versions.

3) Is 535 still the req defense to tank heroics, and 540 raids?

4) Any BoEs I should purchase on the AH that are worth it? (Such as the BSing tanking helm that I still use even on my Lorda tank)

[Lynea]

@ #1 - My personal preference is Engineering and Jewelcrafting for min/maxing stats. Engineering offers HUGE armor on the gloves and nitro boosts on the boots can be invaluable. Blacksmithing and any other profession that can provide stamina is a suitable alternative. If you're going to be gearing up normally, Blacksmithing may have a greater value, due to you being able to craft your own gear should you need to.

@ #2 - I assume you're talking about reputations, which you should aim for first? I believe Argent Crusade has the helm enchant. Items from the reputation vendors don't last long at all, though. I wouldn't bother too much with them. To be able to queue up for RDF, you should be able to at about 180 average item level. You'll want to be at about 200 average item level before you want to go into FoS & PoS, and be as close to your defense cap (540) as much as possible. The heroic versions of your dungeons, you'll want to be closer to 215-220 average item level before you go into those, and should be fairly easy to obtain once you're able to farm RDF and FoS/PoS.

@ #3 - Correct. 535 defense is the cap for a level 82. 540 is the cap for a level 83 (usually a raid boss).

@ #4 - Harbinger's Bone Band
Wapach's Spaulders of Solidarity
Torta's Oversized Choker OR Burning Skull Pendant
Avool's Sword of Jin <- technically not a tanking weapon, but gives hit and helps a bit with threat when first starting to gear up.
Pillars of Might

The rest is up to personal preference, but I wouldn't buy any crafteds that are under 220 item level.

[Orendil]

@ #1 - My personal preference is Engineering and Jewelcrafting for min/maxing stats. Engineering offers HUGE armor on the gloves and nitro boosts on the boots can be invaluable. Blacksmithing and any other profession that can provide stamina is a suitable alternative. If you're going to be gearing up normally, Blacksmithing may have a greater value, due to you being able to craft your own gear should you need to.

@ #2 - I assume you're talking about reputations, which you should aim for first? I believe Argent Crusade has the helm enchant. Items from the reputation vendors don't last long at all, though. I wouldn't bother too much with them. To be able to queue up for RDF, you should be able to at about 180 average item level. You'll want to be at about 200 average item level before you want to go into FoS & PoS, and be as close to your defense cap (540) as much as possible. The heroic versions of your dungeons, you'll want to be closer to 215-220 average item level before you go into those, and should be fairly easy to obtain once you're able to farm RDF and FoS/PoS.

@ #3 - Correct. 535 defense is the cap for a level 82. 540 is the cap for a level 83 (usually a raid boss).

@ #4 - Harbinger's Bone Band
Wapach's Spaulders of Solidarity
Torta's Oversized Choker OR Burning Skull Pendant
Avool's Sword of Jin <- technically not a tanking weapon, but gives hit and helps a bit with threat when first starting to gear up.
Pillars of Might

The rest is up to personal preference, but I wouldn't buy any crafteds that are under 220 item level.

1) Was really thinking about engineering just wanted to make sure it would be okay. Mainly because of the speed boost and armor it seems so great. I'll definitely get it then!

2) Yeah I was. And alright thanks for the info.

3) Great so not much changed.

4) Thanks so much for the item list, it'll help me avoid junk items.

Thanks for all the info and help it means a lot!

[Valimus]

Engineering offers HUGE armor on the gloves and nitro boosts on the boots can be invaluable

Arrgggh, I really want to switch from BS/JC to JC/EGR but I'm dreading leveling Engineering. Engineering just seems like so much more fun than a couple of extra sockets. Boots, parachute, seaforium..I love more buttons!

I think you may have just cost me 10,000 gold in leveling material. Thanks, Lynea!


Edit: Yep, you did cost me 10k gold. I went ahead and bought all the mats to get to 440. Did ZERO farming.

[Lynea]

Haha :D
But yeah, can't beat that 885 (?) armor. Grenades, boots, parachute, etc. are great utilities. By the way, the boots are currently scripted to never fail in an instance (which they shouldn't).

[Valimus]

@ #1 - My personal preference is Engineering and Jewelcrafting for min/maxing stats.

I get how valuable the Engineering armor bonus is but I was still pretty skeptical about Engineering and Blacksmithing having a comparable DPS boost in BIS Ret gear. I just didn't think the glove Haste Buff could make up for losing 2 sockets and Crusher enchant, that's a loss of constant 40 Strength and 44 AP to gain 12 seconds of 340 Haste once a minute.

I was pretty surprised that RAWR actually shows them to just about equal in BIS geared fully raid buffed:

BS BIS Ret (Shadowmourne and Raid Buffed + Double Speed Pot): 20,679 DPS.
EGR BIS Ret (Shadowmourne and Raid Buffed + Double Speed Pot): 20,673 DPS.

RAWR assumes you're using the gloves as soon as they come off cooldown so it's not a constant buff like the sockets. I may end up macroing the gloves to a Judgement or something if I can't get myself to remember using them consistently.

What do you think of the glove enchant? Are you trying to time it with wings and procs or just using as soon as available?

Edit: What about cloak enchant in prot spec? I'm guessing you're sticking with the armor there and giving up the agility and parachute.

[Beanlord]

Since it's a one minute CD it will always line up with wings, provided you use in on cooldown.

@proffesion discussion
Try leatherworking if you're going to solely or mostly tank. The resistances provided by that proff are more valuable at certain fights. Of course this is assuming you go through the entire proces of constantly re-enchanting your bracers.

Edit: @ cloak question, for a tank there's literally no reason at all for you to skip that armor enchant in favor of parachute. You will literally never be flying, ever, or at least you shouldn't be.

[jendah]

I get how valuable the Engineering armor bonus is but I was still pretty skeptical about Engineering and Blacksmithing having a comparable DPS boost in BIS Ret gear. I just didn't think the glove Haste Buff could make up for losing 2 sockets and Crusher enchant, that's a loss of constant 40 Strength and 44 AP to gain 12 seconds of 340 Haste once a minute.

I was pretty surprised that RAWR actually shows them to just about equal in BIS geared fully raid buffed:

BS BIS Ret (Shadowmourne and Raid Buffed + Double Speed Pot): 20,679 DPS.
EGR BIS Ret (Shadowmourne and Raid Buffed + Double Speed Pot): 20,673 DPS.

RAWR assumes you're using the gloves as soon as they come off cooldown so it's not a constant buff like the sockets. I may end up macroing the gloves to a Judgement or something if I can't get myself to remember using them consistently.

What do you think of the glove enchant? Are you trying to time it with wings and procs or just using as soon as available?

Edit: What about cloak enchant in prot spec? I'm guessing you're sticking with the armor there and giving up the agility and parachute.

It aligns with wings nicely as they have 2 min cd, dont bother with waiting for trinket unless its last time you are going to use them.

[Valimus]

Since it's a one minute CD it will always line up with wings, provided you use in on cooldown.

@proffesion discussion
Try leatherworking if you're going to solely or mostly tank. The resistances provided by that proff are more valuable at certain fights. Of course this is assuming you go through the entire proces of constantly re-enchanting your bracers.

Edit: @ cloak question, for a tank there's literally no reason at all for you to skip that armor enchant in favor of parachute. You will literally never be flying, ever, or at least you shouldn't be.

What if a tank really hates waiting for elevators? :P

How bout Gnomish vs Goblin, make any difference on our server?

[Selaya]

People usually opt for Goblin because of the Global Thermal, but thats not really relevant for tanks

[Beanlord]

What if a tank really hates waiting for elevators? :P

How bout Gnomish vs Goblin, make any difference on our server?

There's HoP for that or just get some cloak from a world drop/vendor of low quality and enchant it and swap cloaks when falling. As for the specializations, I don't know if there's any real gain to either.

[Valimus]

Yeah I'm skipping the cloak tinker on my tank and holy specs. I don't like giving up haste for spellpower either.