Please let me know of any changes/corrections I should make. This is obviously long, and I could have missed something. I wrote this for my guild to explain how tankadins work, so it was more of a guide to people not familer with the pally class... but hopefully other people find it helpful as well. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

A Tanking Paladin

This is written with the purpose of education to non-paladin classes that are still new to the idea of a ‘Tankadin’. In addition, I hope it helps people that need to learn more about tanking as a paladin.

Here is a basic pally tanking build. As you can see, in order for a Paladin to be an effective MAIN tank the paladin must spec for it. However, this build would change depending on play style, types of instances tanked, and gear involved. There are other viable builds for off tanks as long as 13 points are spent in the prot. tree. However, to be a main tank in an instance, I would highly recommend 41+ points invested.

I am mainly showing this so you can see what the pally abilities are:

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/paladin/talents.html?000000000000000000005532513300002152515010520500000000000000000

Threat Generation

Paladins are different than druids and warriors in that we don’t focus so much on white dmg to cause our threat. Instead, 90% of our threat comes from holy dmg. This is our sole way of getting and holding agro effectively. This is also why you see +spell dmg on our dungeon tanking set and not a single stat of +strength.

Abilities to Generate Threat

Our main tanking ability, called Righteous Fury, increases all holy dmg threat by 60% and an additional 50% with talents, for a total of 90% boost to holy dmg threat. This is a MUST for a paladin when tanking.

Seals

There are two main seals used by paladins when tanking (not counting a judgment of light/wisdom/crusader)

1) Seal of Righteousness: This does a steady amount of holy dmg on each attack. It is rated by swing speed, but will land holy dmg (modified by +spell dmg) on every swing that hits the target. A judgment of this seal does x number of holy dmg to the target modified by +spell dmg. This judgment can be resisted.

-This ability is excellent for gaining initial hate of the mob, although doesn’t do too much for multi-targets. However, if the group isn’t letting the pally get his/her ‘sunder’ of SoV in, this is a nice alternative. It also is the primary tanking ability for a blood elf tankadin.

2) Seal of Vengeance: This seal has a chance on hit to place a Dot of Holy dmg that does X holy dmg over 12 seconds. This can stack up to 5 times. A judgment of this seal does an additional Y amount of dmg for every application of Vengeance on the target. Judging the seal does not remove or ‘use up’ the dots on the target. However, the seals do 'fall off' if their timer runs out. So becareful when switching between mobs. It is modified by +spell dmg. The ticks of SoV also proc judgement of wisdom/light.

-This ability is phenomenal for the extended fights to hold agro on a single target. The dot can be continually added, and every judgment of SoV does a nice amount of holy damage. It can also be used on multiple mobs the same way ‘tab sunder’ works for a warrior. The only draw back is that these do not hit on every swing.

For both seals, +spell hit helps that the procs and judgments will not be resisted. +spell hit will NOT increase the proc rate of SoV.

Additionally, SoV is not available to Horde Pallys. They have an ability called Seal of Blood which does nice dmg, but takes health for each hit. Obviously not the optimal tanking ability. For Horde, Seal of Righteousness will be the way to go.

Other Spells and Abilities for Threat Generation

1) Avenger’s Shield. This is the way a paladin pulls the mobs and builds a high amount of initial threat. It will hit and daze up to 3 targets. AS will hit your target and will travel to the next closest target. If the mobs are standing side-by-side, it will travel down the row. It is better to have the CC take place after you do the initial pull. The exception is Sap, which can be done by sapping the mob at the end of the line, and using Avenger's Shield on the mob on the OTHER end of the line (make sure there are at least 4 mobs for this to work!).

2) Consecration. This is our holy AOE spell. It is great for getting the additional hate after your Avenger's Shield. It should be primarily used for tanking multiple targets. It is somewhat mana costly, but can be worth it when fighting more than one mob. Also, when you are in fights where you will be healed for quite a bit (such as Boss fights and Heroic instances) it is good to keep using this ability, as the heals you recieve will often times regen your mana. Just always be aware of mobs that are CC'd, as it WILL break sheep and Sap!

3) Holy shield is the 2nd best way to generate threat on multiple mobs (behind Consecration). This ability increases chance to block with a shield and does X holy damage when a block occurs. This is a great way to increase damage mitigation, and one of the best ways to create threat without having to rely on your swings hitting the target. This, in combination with Redoubt, increases the chance to block by quite a bit. Sometimes, on fights where you do not recieve much healing, and mana can get low, it is good to use Rank 1 of this ability. It will keep your block rate up at a much lower mana cost than using the highest rank you have. Just keep in mind it just won't do as much holy dmg.

4) Retribution Aura. This is not always the aura of choice for the hard hitting instances/raids where Devotion is a good aura to keep up, but it puts out holy damage to every melee attack the paladin receives. It is a great way to hold agro on many mobs at one time.

5) Blessing of Sanctuary. This Blessing (learned through talent points) reduces all incoming damage by X, but it also returns Y amount of holy dmg when the attack is blocked. This, in combination with holy shield and Retribution aura, can metaphorically turn the paladin into a ‘porcupine’. (at lvl 70 and assuming a block, a melee can receive 227 holy damage for one hit on the paladin. This is where paladins excel in multi-mob tanking)

6) Reckoning. This ability (obtained through talent points) causes a 10% chance on taking dmg to gain 1 additional melee attack for the next 4 swing for 8 seconds. This increase the ability for the paladin to hit the mob with seals at a much higher rate.

7) Blessing of Salvation. Although people generally like to have kings, might, and wisdom over salvation. BoS can be used to lower other party member's threat generation by 30%. This allows the party member to dps/heal more and makes it easier for the paladin to maintain aggro.

8) Avenging Wrath. Obtainable at lvl 70, this spell will increase ALL damage done by the paladin by 30% for 20 seconds. This is a great way to make sure you lock in that hate early on in a fight, or really need to keep it on a healer intensive fight with more than 1 mob. This will cause forbearence, but that shouldn't be a problems since you shouldn't really have to bubble as the MT. (not to mention, if you aren't careful about it, it can kill your party members)

9) Blessing of Sacrifice. This is rarely used with pally tanking, but is very useful on certain fights. For example, there are abilities that will stun the tank until the debuff either 1) wears off, or 2) the tank takes dmg. A paladin can cast this ability on someone else (normally the OT) while fighting a boss, and when the boss 'saps' the MT, and hits the OT, the paladin will instantly take some of the damage and come out of the sap. (also very handy in PvP when the pally is sheeped/sapped)

Taunt

1) The Paladin taunt works differently than the druid and warrior taunt. It is on a 15 second cool down and will command up to 3 targets focusing on one target (your healer) to attack the paladin.

The downside is that it can only taunt mobs from one target, but the upside is that it can do 3 mobs at one time, and has a 40 yard range. This range also helps because the paladin doesn’t have a charge/intercept. However, it can be very handy to get initial hate on yourself when your rogue does not have imp sap. Simply cast it on the rogue as soon as the mobs target him after the sap.

This macro is very helpful so that the taunt can be used the same way a warrior taunt is:

/cast [help] Righteous Defense; [target=targettarget] Righteous Defense

2) Blessing of Protection. This blessing, althought NOT a taunt, can be used as a taunt in a way. If a crit-happy party member pulls aggro from you, you can cast BoP on them, and the mob will stop attacking them and move to the next person on their aggro list (hopefully you). Keep in mind, that if you do not pass the party member on the aggro list before the BoP wears off, the mob will return to that player. BoP does NOT reset aggro, it just makes the player immune to physical attacks, and the mob will attack the next perrson in line.

Damage Mitigation

Damage comes in two main forms: Physical and Magical

Damage Mitigation comes in five forms: Armor Class, Dodge, Parry, Block, and Resist.

(+Def. Gear is found throughout the game to up our Defense Rating. This works the same way with warriors, druids, and paladins so I won’t go into it.)

Armor Class
Wearing plate, and with the addition of devotion aura (appox 1200 armor with talents) we can be on par or in some cases exceed the amount of armor a warrior has. This is the first and foremost way to mitigate physical damage. Druids will almost always out armor us because of their lack of other mitigation.

Dodge and Parry
Our dodge and parry abilities are the same as that of a warrior in how they work. Besides gear and the talent of +5 to Parry, paladins do not have any abilities to increase these forms of damage mitigation

Block

Using the ability of Holy Shield and having a proc of redoubt ups the Paladain’s chance to block by an additional 60%. These blocks will provide not only threat generation, but also a nice amount of damage mitigation.

Resist

Magical resists are based on gear, the same way every other class is. However, a paladin has the option to change auras to better suit the needs of each fight (or mid fight). This will help with lowering magic damage taken and is an option not available to druids or warriors. (Warrior, however, have a very nice spell reflect ability)

Other Talents for Damage Mitigation

1) Imp. Righteous Fury. This talent not only increase threat generation, but also decreases all damage taken by 6%. This is comparable to a warrior switching to def. stance (which lowers dmg by 10%)

2) Imp. Hammer of Justice. Hammer of Justice is a 6 second stun on a 1 min. cool down. With talents this can be reduced to 45 seconds. If the mob can be stunned, it won’t be hitting you, therefore lowering the amount of damage you take.

3) Spell Warding. Decreases all spell dmg taken by 4%

4) Sacred Duty. Increases total stamina by 6%

5) Ardent Defender. When the Paladin has less than 20% health, ALL incoming dmg take is reduced by 50%. This is the paladins way of staying alive when low on health, and it is a dramatic decrease in dmg taken. The drawback to this ability is that it can be "Leap Frogged". For example, if you are at 21% and you recieve a crushing blow that takes out 22%, you will die without Ardent Defending kicking in.

6) Blessing of Kings. This blessing will increase all of your stats by 10%. It can be an excellent way to have more stamina on yourself for some of those hard hitting instances/fights where you want as much health as you can get.

Mana vs. Rage

The large difference from a paladin to a warrior/druid is that we use mana instead of rage. The positive side of this is that we don’t need to generate any rage in order to cause threat. Instead, we use our mana to get it. This is very helpful at the start of the fight. However, mana can run out. That is why +int and mana/5 gear is important. Also, and more importantly, Paladins have an ability called Spiritual Attuinment. This ability returns mana to the paladin every time the paladin is healed. The amount of mana returned equals 10% of the heal. It even works when the paladin is at full health.


Paladin Tanking Gear

When looking at the gear you have vs the gear you WANT to have, you have to know what kind of tanking you will be doing. Raiding gear vs 5 man gear will have different needs, along with your playing style. However, these stats are usually the most important:

- Stamina
- +def rating
- Mitigation (Dodge/Parry/Block)
- Intellect
- Armor
- +spell dmg
- +spell hit
- Mana/5

You can see examples of these stats in the “Dungeon 3” armor set called the Righteous Armor found here: http://beta.worldofraids.com/burning_crusade/armor-sets/paladin-sets/

All of these stats are important, and finding the right mix is something you will need to do for yourself baised on the type of runs you are doing. The more difficult the instance, the higher the stam/mana/+spell dmg you need. However, there are some minimums you should be shooting for if you can, which will be explained in the next section.



Crits, Crushing, and You

At lvl 70, having 490 Def. is a must for tanking. This will make you 'uncritable' by mobs. (technically, your chance to be crit will still be there... something like .01%, but for all intents and purposes, you are uncritable)

Crushing blows, however, are different than crits, and even with 490 def. they can still happen from mobs 3 levels higher than you (aka, bosses). In order to achieve the ability to be "uncrushable", you need to have a combined avoidance of 100% through dodge, parry, block, and miss.

(thanks to Aegris for this info)

If you are MTing raid bosses ( lvl 73 ) you need to have dodge / parry / block up to 60% without Libram of Repentance,55% with it. You cannot rely on redoubt to proc, you will be dead before it does. Redoubt is a backup +30% for when bosses attack so fast they eat through the first 4 charges of holy shield while it's still on cooldown. Redoubt will proc more often when the boss attacks faster, increasing it's likelyhood if holy shield charges are gone, futher pointing to this usage.

Add in the % chance the boss has to miss you naturally ( 5% ) as well as the amount reduced by at least 490 defense ( 5% ). However, on lvl 73 bosses both base and miss from defense are lowered, meaning you need another 2.4% avoidance to get miss + dodge + parry + block + holy shield to 102.4% on your character sheet ( 100% for 73 bosses ).

If you are talking about non-raid tanking ( heroics and 5 mans ) then you don't have to worry about crushing blows at all anyway

Here are the numbers for what each rating translates into. As you can see, block rating "costs" less to still get 1% than parry for example. However, shield block still lets damage through, and so is not nessarily the best for overall mitigation. It will,however, stop crushing blows.

7.9 block rating = 1% block
18.9 dodge rating = 1% dodge
25 agi = 1% dodge + 50 armor
31 parry rating = 1% parry
2.37 defense rating = 1 defense skill = 0.04% to miss, dodge, parry, and block, or 0.16% total

Looking at the above, shield block is the easiest way to gain 62.4% dodge + parry + block, however the least effective for mitigation. Parry is very hard to gain enough to get to 62.4%. Dodge then is the middle ground, payoff for removing crushes to damage avoided is the best solution. Adding raw defense past 490 is probably second best, each skill point giving 0.12% chance to take 0 damage.

If you are under the 102.4% mark, stack block% first to get uncrushable, then upgrade for dodge once you're there.

Tanking Weapon

Greatsword of Horrid Dreams
35-115 dmg 1.8 swing speed
41.4 dps
60 Armor
+15 Stam
+14 Intellect
Equip: Improves spell hit rating by 14
Equip: Increases all dmg and healing by magical spells and effects by up to 130.

I know the warlocks are turning in their grave at thinking of giving a paladin that weapon, but keep in mind that paladins want +spell hit and +spell dmg, stam, armor, and intel. As shown, not much is based upon white dmg for a paladin to tank. (obviously, however, a warlock/mage would also greatly benefit from that weapon)


Summary

Paladin tanks have excellent multi-mob tanking abilities and a fair amount of dmg mitigation. However, to be a good paladin main tank they must be specced well into the Protection Tree and have a good amount of gear to support it. Obviously, skill will always play a part. Paladins do not have quite the mitigation that warriors do, due to the difference between Defensive Stance and Imp. Righteous Fury, but they can certainly hold their own since TBC.

I hope this was helpful, and don’t be shy to let a protection paladin tank your instance for you.

Comming Soon!

I've read your damn guide, now how do I actually USE all of this info!


Feel free to add comments and suggestions to this thread so I can make this guide the best I can. People have mentioned that it doesn't flow well. please feel free to add your suggestions and recommendations. I am aware that there are grammar errors along with the fact that it doesn't look pretty yet :) Thanks!

Thanks for writing this, hopefully it gets stickied.

Very informative. Thanks so much for writing this!

Power to the paladin tank my friends! I will always go out of my way to argue with someone, and try and beat it into the heads of the general public that there are now 3 tanking classes :P

Although- buff warriors.

Good guide; every non-paladin should read this.

Excellent overview. I just started this alt and was thinking about speccing prot as tanks have been the hardest for me to find. This overview had the exact type of info I was looking for. Thanks.

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Q u o t e:
1) Stamina
2) Intellect
3) Armor
4) +def rating
5) +spell hit
6) +spell dmg
7) mana/5

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Never say "in no particular order" because half the people don't read. This is why you see protection paladins running around in 5/5 Avengers thinking they pwn because they have a lot of sta + int.

For a full on protection spec (In order):

1) Stamina
2) Defense
3) Dodge/Parry
4) Parry/Dodge
5) Block
6) Intellect
7) mp5

For base stats:

1) Stamina
2) Agility
3) Intellect
4) Strength

The only thing spell hit will affect with Seal of Vengeance is reducing the resist rate of the actual proc. Increasing spell hit will not increase proc chance.

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Q u o t e:
Summary

Paladin tanks have excellent multi-mob tanking abilties and a fair amount of dmg mitigation. However, to be a good paladin tank they must be specced well into the Protection Tree and have a good amount of gear to support it. Obviously, skill will always play a part.

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People also need to be advised that not all paladin tanks have 41+ points in the protection tree.

Depending on the talent spec, the threat generation is VERY different. A 34-17-10 build will build initial threat far faster than a Protection paladin and does not need to be hit in order to build high levels of threat. While better suited to OT than MT, it is still a very viable tanking build with high threat generation and a substantial amount of mitigation.

(Hell, depending on your feelings about Ardent Defender you might even prefer such a build. Furthermore, if Blizzard ever changes the way Crushing Blows are dealt, it was rumoured at one point they were changing the mechanics such that 100% miss/Parry/Dodge/Block would not push them off the table, it arguably has equal(?) mitigation.)

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/paladin/talents.html?055020225031023013000530203040000000000000500500000000000000000

Forgive me if this was addressed, but I didn't see it mentioned specifically:

Seal of Vengence is only available to Alliance paladins (humans, dwarves, and draenei). Blood elf paladins will have access to Seal of Blood. It's use is far more open to debate than SoV (meaning some people hate it, and some people REALLY hate it).

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Q u o t e:
Forgive me if this was addressed, but I didn't see it mentioned specifically:

Seal of Vengence is only available to Alliance paladins (humans, dwarves, and draenei). Blood elf paladins will have access to Seal of Blood. It's use is far more open to debate than SoV (meaning some people hate it, and some people REALLY hate it).

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Thanks, I'll put it in

very nice .......................


promethis? no +spell damage on your list? <<<< #3 suppose to be ?

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Q u o t e:
The only thing spell hit will affect with Seal of Vengeance is reducing the resist rate of the actual proc. Increasing spell hit will not increase proc chance.

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Good Catch, thank you

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Q u o t e:



People also need to be advised that not all paladin tanks have 41+ points in the protection tree.

Depending on the talent spec, the threat generation is VERY different. A 34-17-10 build will build initial threat far faster than a Protection paladin and does not need to be hit in order to build high levels of threat. While better suited to OT than MT, it is still a very viable tanking build with high threat generation and a substantial amount of mitigation.

(Hell, depending on your feelings about Ardent Defender you might even prefer such a build. Furthermore, if Blizzard ever changes the way Crushing Blows are dealt, it was rumoured at one point they were changing the mechanics such that 100% miss/Parry/Dodge/Block would not push them off the table, it arguably has equal(?) mitigation.)

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/paladin/talents.html?055020225031023013000530203040000000000000500500000000000000000

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True, I'll add that.

I am unsure about Ardent Defender.... I never heard or got a definite response as to if it can be "Leapfrogged" does anyone know?

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Q u o t e:


True, I'll add that.

I am unsure about Ardent Defender.... I never heard or got a definite response as to if it can be "Leapfrogged" does anyone know?

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It can be leapfrogged.

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Q u o t e:


It can be leapfrogged.

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TY for the info

3) Dodge/Parry
4) Parry/Dodge

The way I listed that is really up to gear choice. Dodge and Parry are both equally good, so focusing on whichever one works.

I don't worry about +spell damage (or any +spell modifiers for that matter) because 90% of a tanks job is damage mitigation and fight control. The other 10% is threat. Improved Righteous Fury and 100-200 spell damage will be all you need to hold aggro in the average encounter. My spell damage right now is only about +125 in my full tanking gear, and I do not have any problems not holding aggro at level 70.

One other thing I'd like to mention about Defense: Anything less than 490 at level 70 is insufficient. Yes, you can tank with 400 defense, but every pull will mean downtime as your healer gets back mana. At 490 defense you become immune to critical strikes, which decreases the overall damage you take dramatically.

Shoot for 500 defense, to give yourself some wiggle room. 520 would be best.

I updated some of the information and added one or two more ideas. feel free to comment on any other changes...

I'm thinking of adding a section of minimum gear/stat requirements to be uncrushable etc...