So the whole point of this blog is to help up and coming paladins learn the ropes. While I will do the best I can with Holy and Ret, Tanking is my specialty and I will probably spend a lot of time on the subject.

So where to start? Paladin tanking has come such a long way since I started playing. Back in that day being speced anything other then Holy would be met with ridicule. WoW first expansion, The Burning Crusade, changed all that. Paladins became viable tanks, ok (good at higher gear levels) PvE DPS, and continued their tradition of strong healing. It was amazing to watch the paladin evolve over the course of the expansion; suddenly we where in demand, it felt good.

Then Wrath came along. WOW. The class got a complete overhaul to several of its main mechanics. Ret came into its own as a DPS spec, and Prot truly began to feel comfortable. The boots finally fit so-to-speak. So lets take a look at the basics of paladin tanking in the current game world...

Buffs...
There are 4 things you should ALWAYS have on your buff bar as a Tankadin.

(Greater) Blessing of Sanctuary
I use greater because my other buffs all last 30 minutes. It is therefore convenient to use my greater blessing and have everything go out at once. Why do we use this blessing? The mana return in vital to keeping us running. If you are solo, a paladin without mana is a dead paladin. Likewise, in a group without mana you generate zero threat, this can, and probably will, cause a wipe.

Righteous Fury
This is your second most important buff. As a tank your job is to hold the attention of MOBs. This is done by generating more threat then anyone else in the group. Righteous Fury increases your threat from holy damage by 90%. As a Tankadin, almost everything we do causes holy damage in some way.

Your Aura
Your Aura is important. You should always have one up. Which one will depend on your situation. If you find yourself having trouble holding threat, use Retribution Aura. If you are in a magic heavy fight, use the appropriate spell resistance aura. I generally default to Devotion aura if nothing else fits.

Your Seal
This like your aura is somewhat dependant on what you are doing. When tanking I use Seal of Vengeance (Corruption) almost exclusively. The only exception is that in a fight where I am significantly mana starved, I will switch to seal of wisdom after establishing threat. This is a common problem for me in non-heroics as I out gear them.

So these buffs should never go down. They all last 30 minutes, and your aura should never go down. Personally I buff as soon as I log on, and keep myself buffed until I log off. It doesn’t matter what I do in-between.

The thing I see new paladins struggle with the most, and admittedly I had a problem with myself is keeping Righteous Fury up. I can not stress enough how important this is. Without Righteous Fury, you are over armored underperforming DPS. Teach yourself early to rebuff it and rebuff it often. Even when soloing, train yourself to keep this buff up.


Gear Stats...

I will at some point, check/update my starting gear list, and post it here. For now however, let me just run down the stats your looking for...

The Good...
Defense Rating – Cap is 540 Skill. Do NOT confuse Skill with Rating.
Stamina – Once you reach Defense Cap, stack stamina for hit points.
Strength – General comes with Stamina on plate. 2 Strength = 4 Attack Power (Threat) and 1 Block Value (Avoidance/Threat)
Avoidance (Shield Block Rating, Dodge Rating, Parry Rating) – Try to stack Dodge/Parry somewhat evenly. Take Block wherever you find it.
Expertise – Good stat, low on the totem pole. Stack it where you can get it, but not at the expense of anything above.
Block Value – Nice Stat, Stack it if you can. Keep in mind 2 Strength = 1 Block Value

The OK...
Hit – Not supper important, 3-5% is good, more then 8% is wasted.
Agility – OK state, Rare on Plate.

The Bad...
Haste/Crit – Generally come on DPS plate. If you get them fine, don’t go out of your way to stack them.
Intellect – If you get some that’s great, don’t go out of your way to find it. You will be relying on your mana regen to keep going, not your mana pool.
Attack Power – Typically a DPS stat, you should get all you need from Strength. Don’t go out of your way for this.

The Ugly...
Spell Power – Avoid this stat. If a piece of plate has spell power, give it to a holy paladin.
Sprit – Avoid this stat. It does NOTHING for you.
Armor Pen – Avoid this stat. This is a waste of item budget. DPS warriors and PvP rogues are about the only ones that like this stuff.

In short,
Defense (to 540 Skill) > Stamina > Strength > Avoidance > Expertise ~ Block Value

Anything beyond that is Icing. If you find Hit with 2 or 3 of the above stats, take it, you can use a little. If you only find 2 of that list on a piece of gear (Especially Stamina + Strength only) look real close, its probably DPS plate.


So that’s the down and dirty summery. Next time we will look at talents and skills to find out just what is in the Tankadins toolkit. After that we will do a basic sum up and move on to applying all this information to the... “real” world.

For the Light
~Bloodgarde