Protection Paladin Tanking Guide - WoW Classic

By Askalon Updated: 2024/11/21

Welcome to Askalon's Protection Paladin Tanking guide for WoW Classic (v 1.13)!IntroductionStrengths

Massive multi-target threat generation.

Excellent at tanking large groups of mobs,

Can tank dungeons more effectively than warrior tanks.

Extremely high single-target threat generation in raid settings.

Large set of utility spells for aiding allies (e.g. Auras, Blessings)

Weaknesses

No taunt.

Limited access to raid-tier tanking gear.

Almost no abilities available for single-target crowd control,

No emergency damage mitigation abilities (e.g. Last Stand, Shield Wall)

Limited mana resource pool for spells and abilities.

A Brief History of Paladin Tanks:Topics

Talents, Spells, and Abilities

Spell rotations.

Recommended Items. equipment, and consumables.

Strategies for general main tank and off-tank roles.

Strategies for tanking specific dungeons and raids.

Disclaimers

Vanilla Prot paladins will generally never be able to fully replace warrior tanks as raid tanks. The paladin tanking toolkit is very limited in scope, particularly for damage mitigation as they lack abilities similar to Shield Wall, Defensive Stance, and other powerful tanking abilities. There are also a few encounters in which taunt rotations are all but necessary.

There are extremely few items in Vanilla WoW specifically made for paladin tanking, so paladin tanks will generally have a harder time upgrading their gear compared to warrior tanks, who have raid-tier sets dedicated to tanking.

TL;DR Summary

Primary abilities:

Righteous Fury - Provides a significant bonus to your threat that enables you to maintain aggro. ALWAYS have it active.
- Your main AoE threat ability. Use Rank 5 on pull, then downrank to Rank 1 to save on mana.
- Your main damage mitigation ability, also a good source of threat. Use Rank 1 to save on mana.
/ - Your most powerful mana regeneration abilities. With a weapon under 2.00 Speed, you easily maintain approximately 100-175 MP5 during combat while both of these abilities are active.
- Your primary single-target threat ability for dungeons. Use its Judgment to get a boost in threat.
- Your primary single-target threat generation ability for raids. Scales with Righteous Fury and number of players buffed.

Gearing:

Primary stats to go for are Stamina, Armor, Defense, Spell Damage, and MP5.
A good start would be to go for the Deathbone Guardian set which drops in Scholomance, which provides substantial amounts of Defense and MP5.
Check the Gearing section for a more comprehensive list of recommended equipment.

Tips

Take advantage of Line of Sight and Positioning to ensure all mobs move to you and land on your Consecrations.
Try to conserve your mana by downranking your Holy Shield and Consecration once you have aggro on mobs.
(on ally) and (on mob) are useful for single-target crowd control if you lose aggro on mobs.

Spells & Abilities

Offensive

Defensive

- One of the primary prot paladin abilities. The +30% Block Chance from the spell gives a significant boost to your damage mitigation, while generating significants amount of threat when enemies are hurt by your blocks.
- Provides passive damage mitigation from physical attacks.
- Excellent supplement to Holy Shield. as it further increases your damage mitigation and damage dealt by blocks.
- Bubble boy time! This ability can be useful when you're pulling mobs or bosses that deal lots of damage that may require positioning. It is not recommended to use this during combat as any aggro'd mobs will aggro on the player with the next highest amount of threat.

Utility/Other

- An extremely useful ability for crowd control. Applying Blessing of Protection on a friendly player with aggro of an enemy mob will make them temporarily reaggro on the person with the next highest amount of threat, which should be the tank.
- This is a very useful ability to have for crowd control, in case a mob breaks loose and starts attacking your healer or damage dealer. During the stun duration, you can begin building more threat on the mob to try to regain aggro before the stun expires.

Mechanics and AnalysisGreater Blessing Spam

It is well established that damage from Holy spells and abilities are a paladin tank's main source of threat, however, there are additional non-damaging spells available that can also be used for generating additional threat. Examples of such spells that can generate threat are Seals, Blessings, Cleanses, etc.

As of Phase 5, with the implementation of the Threat API, threat meter addons can now accurately track all threat sources.

Some of these spells have the potential to become powerful threat generators that can far exceed the threat generation of any other tanking classes, as shown in the following videos:

A notable benefit of utilizing blessing spam is that it can generate threat at long ranges without having to directly attack enemies. In the Onyxia video below, blessing spam is used during Phase 2 of the fight in order to remain high up on the threat table despite being fireballed, thus improving the likelihood of gaining aggro at the start of Phase 3.

Why does this work?

The tooltip for Righteous Fury states the following:
Increases the threat generated by your Holy attacks by 60%. Lasts 30 min.

On October 28, 2019, Blizzard updated its "Not a Bug" list to include that Righteous Fury is working as intended.

Righteous Fury grants additional threat on all holy abilities, not just attacks.
Source: https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wow/t/wow-classic-not-a-bug-list-updated-10-28-2019/175887/139?u=askalon-pagle

Greater Blessing Threat GenerationRighteous Fury

Spell

Base Threat

Mana Cost

Total Threat Per Player*

150

114

(Rank 1)

220

98.8

270

114

260

114

16% of base mana

114

(Rank 1) $

230

* Using Improved Righteous Fury, which increases threat generated by all Holy spells by 90%.$ All Blessing of Wisdom spells generate 0 when cast. Mana regen from BoW does not generate threat either.Formula for calculating total threat from a single Greater Blessing cast:

Not subject to partial or binary spell resistances.

Cannot be physically avoided.

Generates global threat that is split up evenly between any mobs being fought.

Can generate threat at long-range.

Seal of Wisdom - Mana Regeneration & Threat

Without mana, Protection Paladins cannot cast abilities necessary to generate threat.
Paladins have several mana regenaration abilities available to them that can minimize the mana consumption rate of their rotations during dungeon and raid encounters.

is the most powerful mana regeneration ability available to paladins, and is comprised of its Seal and Judgement effects.

The Seal portion has the following properties:

Static PPM. Fixed proc rate of 15 Procs per Minute (PPM) regardless of weapon speed.
Restores 90 mana when proc is activated.

The Judgement portion has the following properties:

Dynamic PPM. Flat proc chance of 50% per hit regardless of weapon speed.
Restores 59 mana when proc is activated.

While the Seal portion is expected to restore a fixed amount of mana per minute, the Judgement portion will vary based on the weapon speed. For the following calculations and charts it is assumed that all your swings will land on a mob and that the mob has no avoidance.

Formula for Judgement of Wisdom PPM:

JoW PPM = (1 / weapon_speed) * 0.50 * 60

Using the static Seal PPM and the dynamic Judgement PPM, the expected mana regeneration of both effects can be calculated. In the following chart, the approximate MP5 for the separate and combined portions of for varying weapon speeds are shown:

As demonstrated in the chart, the mana regeneration contributions of the Judgment portion of increases when using faster weapons (lower weapon speed). Although the mana consumption rate of your rotation will very likely exceed the mana regeneration provided by , at the very least you have a stable source of mana regeneration that will significantly reduce the delay between being out of mana to being able to cast another spell, inreasing your combat effectiveness.

Another added benefit of using is that mana restored by the Seal and Judgment effects generate threat. Mana restored by these effects have a threat multiplier of 0.50 which be multiplied further by Righteous Fury's multiplier of 1.90. What this means is that while improved Righteous Fury is active, any procs from will generate threat equivalent to 95% of mana restored. You can multiply the MP5 values shown on the chart by 0.95 to get an idea of how much threat will be generated.

Holy Shield - Damage Mitigation and Threat Generation

- Damage Mitigation and Threat Generation

Formula for calculating theoretical maximum damage mitigation from Holy Shield:
Damage Mitigated = (duration * 0.4 )* * 1.30
-Variables:
duration: time length of encounter in seconds.
shield_block_value: block value contributed by your shield.
Strength: total strength stat from all sources.

-Assumptions:
Holy Shield uptime is 100% and all 4 charges consumed per charge cycle.
Dodge, Miss, Parry, and Block (from equipment) not accounted for.
Armor damage mitigation not accounted for.
Shield Specialization talent is maxed out (3/3) for +30% block value.

-Derivation: 1 Holy Shield cycle <=> 10 seconds <=> 4 charges -> 1 block / 2.5 seconds == 0.4 blocks / second

Formula for calculating theoretical maximum threat generation from Holy Shield:
Threat per Second = 0.4 * * 2.10
-Variables:
spell_damage: spell damage contributions from equipment and/or buffs. +0.05 coefficient.
base_damage: base damage dealt by Holy Shield (65, 94, and 129 for Ranks 1, 2, 3, respectively).
-Assumptions:
Holy Shield uptime is 100% and all 4 charges consumed per charge cycle.
Rank 1 Holy Shield being used ( Dodge, Miss, Parry, and Block (from equipment) not accounted for.
Improved Righteous Fury talent has been maxed out (3/3).
Righteous Fury is active (+90% threat from Holy spells).
Righteous Fury and Holy Shield threat bonuses stack ADDITIVELY (90% + 20% = 110%) .

Empirical damage mitigation and threat generation contributed by Holy Shield will likely be lower than the theoretical maximums due to the following factors:

Number of mobs attacking you
Damage dealt by mobs.

A decent method for estimating more realistic threat generation and damage mitigation is to multiply the theoretical values by the following coefficient:coefficient = 0.33 * number of mobs
Assuming that when fighting 3 or more mobs, all Holy Shield charges will be consumed per cycle.

Seal of Righteousness - Mechanics & Damage/Threat Generation

- Mechanics & Damage/Threat Generation
Yellow Hit and Procs:
As indicated by the description of Seal of Righteousness, yellow damage is applied alongside each of your white damage melee auto-attacks while this ability is active. This additional yellow damage has a hidden mechanic such that it acts as an additional hit with regards to being able to activate procs for weapons with permanent 'Chance on Hit' enchantments. The proc rate for 'Chance on Hit' enchantments is dependent upon the weapon speed and a fixed coefficient (varies by enchantment), generally set up such that regardless of weapon speed, the observed procs per minute will be the same. The implication of this additional yellow hit from SoR is that the expected procs per minute is almost doubled.
Every time you swing your weapon while SoR is active, there are four possible outcomes with regards to procs:

White Hit	Yellow Hit
Yes	No
No	Yes
Yes	Yes
No	No

The probability for a single swing to proc once or twice while SoR is active is the following:
Proc Chance = 1 - ( (1 - P) ^ 2)
Variables: P = Base Proc Chance (ex: 5% = 0.05)

The table below contains examples of items/enchantments that may be affected by this mechanic:

Affected	Not Affected
Flurry Axe (5.02% Proc Chance w/out SoR) (9.78% Proc Chance w/ SoR) Thrash Blade (4.4% Proc Chance w/out SoR) (8.61% Proc Chance w/ SoR) Masterwork Stormhammer Crusader Lifestealing Fiery Weapon	Shadow Oil Frost Oil

Damage and Threat Generation
Note that for Rank 3 Seal of Righteoussness, the Spellpower coefficient is 0.18, but for subsequent ranks (4 and up), the Spellpower coefficient decreases to 0.10.The formula for calculating the theoretical maximum damage from Seal of Righteousness:

Damage = ( 22.075 * weapon_type_coeff * attack_speed * sor_talent_bonus * one_handed_talent_bonus) + (0.10 * spellpower)

-Variables:
weapon_type_coeff: 0.85 for 1-Handed weapons; 1.20 for 2-Handed weapons.
attack_speed: attack speed of your weapon.
sor_talent_bonus: Improved Seal of Righteousness bonus. Set to 1.15 if maxed out at 5 points; 1.00 if 0 points.
one_handed_talent_bonus: Applies only if using 1-Handed weapon. Set to 1.10 if maxed out at 5 points; 1.00 if 0 points.
spellpower: Spell Damage bonus from gear, consumables, buffs, etc..

-Assumptions:
Player is level 60.
Max Rank Seal of Righteousness is being used (Rank 8).

The table below shows expected damage per hit, DPS, and TPS for SoR at different attack speeds and spellpower.The data assumes the following:

One Handed Weapon being used.
5/5 Improved Seal of Righteousness
5/5 One-Handed Weapon Specialization
3/3 Improved Righteous Fury
Global Cooldowns and Parry Haste are not accounted for.

The most notable trend in the table is that as spellpower increases, faster weapons are capable of dealing more threat and damage per second compared to slower weapons, despite fast weapons dealing lower damage per hit. This is because the spellpower damage bonus for SoR is calculated independently of the base damage; it is not affected by any variables related to the weapon's attack speed.

Talent BuildsConsecrationSacred Shield4 Points will be leftover after Benediction, so it is up to you to decide how to split up the 4 points among the following three talents.Leveling as a Protection PaladinConsecration

If this is your first time playing WoW Classic or have little to no tanking experience, expect tanking dungeons to be very difficult, as it requires more situational awareness and knowledge of mob/boss mechanics compared to healing or DPS roles.

Below is a brief outline of recommended dungeons to grind for different level ranges:

20 - 24: The Deadmines (DM/VC/NO U): Regardless of what people like to call it, this will very likely be the first dungeon you tank. As a starter dungeon, it is not that difficult and it is a good place to start becoming familar with positioning and maintaining threat.
24 - 30: The Stockades: A very easy dungeon for Protection Paladins thanks to Consecration and cramped hallways. Experience gain can get a little slow towards the late 20's at this point so questing is a decent alternative unless you want to do Blackfathom Depths.
31 - 38 Gnomergan: A fun dungeon with plenty of good loot. Not that many challenging mechanics or bosses.
32 - 44: Scarlet Monastery: Your home for the next 10 or so levels. The cramped interiors and winding passageways of the mini-dungeons make them excellent for exploiting Line of SIght to do large AoE pulls. You'll probably make friends with many mages and warlocks along the way.
42 - 53: Zul'Farak Zombie Graveyard Runs: With a good spellcleave group made up of warlocks and mages, experience rates will vary from 40k to 65k experience per hour. Do be wary that the zombies will hit hard even with full plate gear, so using a mage's improved Blizzards to kite adds is a useful strategy. Towards the early 50's the experience can taper off a bit, so questing is an option.
50 - 57: Blackrock Depths Prison/Arena Runs: Doing circuits through the prison and arena loops will bring good experience and loot, although there are many mobs with dangerous mechaincs. When fighting Fire Elementals, use to help mitigate some of the fire damage as they hit rather hard. Some of the mobs do on you so make sure to wait for the debuff to wear off before proceeding,
56 - 60: Lower Blackrock Spire Orc Runs: You're finally at the home-run stretch and can barely see the finish line! Grinding through the orcs in LBRS up until the Ogre area then resetting can fetch hefty experience rates of 60k to 90k experience per hour. Make sure your group kills the Orc Warlocks first!

GearingStat prioritiesThe criteria I considered for items on the list are, in no particular order:

ArmorPrimary source of physical damage reduction when struck.

Defense

Reduces chance of being critically hit (2x damage). Raid bosses have 5.6% Critical Strike chance.
Defense (soft) cap for raid bosses is 440, with 140 Defense coming from gear at level 60. -0.04% per Defense point.
Increases Dodge, Parry, Block, and Miss % by 0.04% per Defense point.
For dungeons and 20-man trash, aim for at least 360 Defense.
For skulled enemies/bosses, go for at least 400 Defense. Not recommended to go for Defense cap, as you will usually end up gimping your other stats.

Dodge/Block/Parry %

Improves damage mitigation from oncoming physical attacks
Uncrushable (1.5x damage) by raid boss at 102.4% combined Miss/Parry/Dodge/Block %

Stamina

Increases your health pool by 10 HP per Stamina point.

Spell Damage

Increases damage dealt by spells, improving threat generation.
Becomes increasingly useful when blessing spam threat generation cannot be relied upon, such as in dungeons or 20-man raids.

MP5

Improves mana regeneration during combat, allowing for constant threat generation

Agility

+1% Dodge per 20 Agility points.
+2 Armor per +1 Agility (armor contributions from agility added after armor multipliers).

Intellect

Increases your base mana pool.
+15 mana per Intellect point.

Strength

Increases total block value by 0.05 per Strength point. Marginally improves your block value.
Total Block Value = Shield Block Value + (Strength / 20)

Dungeons

10-man/20-man Raids/MC

BWL/AQ40/Naxx

Stamina (4.0k HP unbuffed)
Armor
Defense (40-80)
Spellpower
Block
Dodge/Parry

Stamina (4.5k HP unbuffed)
Armor
Defense (60-100)
Spellpower
Dodge/Parry
Block

Stamina (5.0k HP unbuffed)
Armor
Defense (80-140)
Dodge/Parry
Block
Spellpower

EnchantmentsSpellpowerAgilityMighty IntellectLesser ParryGreater StaminaSyncretist's SigilArcanum of ProtectionLesser Arcanum of ConstitutionZandalar Signet of MojoGreater StatsMajor HealthSyncretist's SigilArcanum of ProtectionLesser Arcanum of ConstitutionSuperior AgilityThreatGreater AgilitySuperior StaminaDodgeArgent VersatilityGreater StaminaGreater AgilityDodgeSuperior DefenseWeapons & Armor

Launch

(+2.5) Dire Maul, Azuregos & Kazzak

Blackwing Lair

Zul'Gurub & Dragons of Nightmare

Ahn'Qiraj & Dungeon Itemization Overhaul

Naxxramas

NoteThis section IS NOT a BiS list separated by phase

Phase

Item

Dimensional Blade (Stamina/Monkey) - Dungeon World Drop Flurry Axe - World DropAurastone Hammer - Molten Core - GarrArbiter's Blade - BRD - Warder StilgissAxe of Rin'ji - World Drop Mirah's Song - Scholomance Questline

2/2.5

Quel'Serrar - Foror Book QuestlineHedgecutter - Dire Maul North - Guards Mol'dar & Slip'kikMastersmith's Hammer - LBRS - Goraluk Anvilcrack

Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker - MC Bindings + QuestLok'amir il Romathis - Blackwing Lair - NefarianBlackguard - Swordsmith Craftable

Bloodlord's Defender - Zul'Gurub - BloodlordBloodcaller - ZG - HakkarFiery Retributer - ZG - Hazza'rahRenataki's Soul Conduit - ZG - Renataki

Stinger of Ayamiss - AQ20 - AyamissSageblade - Crafted by BlacksmithRunesword of the Red - Scepter of the Shifting Sands QuestlineSharpened Silithid Femur - AQ40 - Viscidius

The End of Dreams - Naxx - Grobbulus

Phase

Item

Draconian Deflector - UBRS - General DrakkisathArgent Defender - "The Argent Hold" Questline (WPL)Troll Protector - World DropForce Reactive Disk - Crafted by EngineerDrillborer Disk - Molten Core - GarrMalistar's Defender - Molten Core - Ragnaros

2/2.5

Barrier Shield - Dire Maul North - Mizzle the Crafty

Elementium Reinforced Bulwark - Blackwing Lair - Chromaggus

Aegis of the Blood God - Zul'Gurub - Hakkar

Draconian Aegis of the Legion - UBRS - ValthalakkBuru's Skull Fragment - AQ20 - Bu'ruBlessed Qiraji Bulwark - AQ40 Token Quest

The Face of Death - Naxx - SapphironThe Plague Bearer - Naxx - Patchwerk

Phase

Item

Judgment Crown - OnyxiaGyth's Skull Golem Skull Helm Helm of Awareness - Dire Maul East - Zevrim Thornhoof

2/2.5

Enchanted Thorium Helm Helm of Awareness

Helm of Endless Rage - Blackwing Lair - Vaelastrasz the Corrupt

Southsea Head Bucket

Avenger's Crown Helm of Domination Soulforge Helm

Item

Judgment Legplates Deathbone Legguards Legplates of the Eternal Guardian Bejeweled Legguards

2/2.5

Enchanted Thorium Leggings

Legguards of the Fallen Crusader - Blacking Lair - Firemaw

Bloodsoaked Legplates

Avenger's Legguards Legplates of Vigilance Soulforge Legplates

Item

Stockade Pauldrons Stoneform Shoulders Wailing Nightbane Pauldrons Earthslag Shoulders

2/2.5

Bulky Iron Spaulders Bile-Etched Spaulders

Drake Talon Pauldrons - Blackwing Lair - Drake TrioJudgment Spaulders

Pauldrons of the Unrelenting Avenger's Pauldrons Polished Obsidian Pauldrons Soulforge Spaulders

Item

Deathbone Chestplate Ornate Adamantium Breastplate Plate of the Shaman King Spiderfang Carapace Demon Forged Breastplate Warrior's Embrace

2/2.5

Enchanted Thorium Breastplate Kromcrush's Chestplate

Judgment Breastplate

Avenger's Breastplate Soulforge Breastplate

Item

Deathbone Gauntlets Stonegrip Gauntlets Boneclenched Gauntlets

2/2,5

Force Imbued Gauntlets

Judgment Gauntlets

Bloodsoaked Gauntlets Darkrune Gauntlets

Gauntlets of Steadfast Determination Gauntlets of the Immovable Soulforge Gauntlets

Item

Lawbringer Bracers Wristguards of True Flight - Molten Core - Majordomo ExecutusVigorsteel Vambraces Lightforge Bracers Bracers of Valor

2/2.5

Fel Hardened Bracers

Judgment Bindings

Dragonbone Wristguards

Soulforge Bracers

Item

Core Forged Greaves - Molten Core - Majordomo ExecutusDeathbone Sabatons Boots of Avoidance Shalehusk Boots Master Cannoneer Boots

2/2.5

Judgment Sabatons

Bloodsoaked Greaves - Zul'Gurub - Arlokk

Avenger's Greaves Boots of the Unwavering Will Soulforge Boots

Item

Deathbone Girdle Stalwart Clutch Lightforge Belt

2/2.5

Unmelting Ice Girdle - Azuregos

Judgment Belt Girdle of the Fallen Crusader - Blackwing Lair - Chromaggus

Royal Qiraji Belt Triad Girdle - AQ40 - Bug TrioSoulforge Belt

Item

Medallion of Steadfast Might - Molten Core - MagmadarrMedallion of Grand Marshal Morris Verek's Collar Talisman of Evasion

2/2.5

Evil Eye Pendant

Master Dragonslayer's Medallion

Talisman of Protection

Mark of C'Thun Pendant of the Qiraji Guardian

Gluth's Missing Collar - Naxxramas - Gluth

Phase

Item

The Emperor's New Cape Sergeant's Cape Spritecaster Cape

2/2.5

Redoubt Cloak Cloak of Warding Shifting Cloak

Elementium Threaded Cloak

Overlord's Embrace

Sandstorm Cloak Cloak of the Golden Hive

Cryptfiend Silk Cloak

Phase

Item

Naglering Hardened Stone Band Myrmidon's Signet Magma Forged Band Cyclopean Band

2/2.5

Archimtiros' Ring of Reckoning

Overlord's Onyx Band Overlord's Crimson Band

Signet Ring of the Bronze Dragonflight Angelista's Touch Ring of Emperor Vek'lor

Band of Resolution

Phase

Item

Onyxia Blood Talisman Essence of the Pure Flame Mark of the Chosen Force of Will Mark of Tyranny Shard of the Scale Briarwood Reed Smotts' Compass Uther's Strength

2/2.5

Vigilance Charm Mindtap Talisman Stormpike Insignia Rank 6 - Stormpike Reputation Reward (Exalted)

Styleen's Impeding Scarab

Zandalarian Hero Badge - Zul'Gurub - Head of Hakkar

Glyph of Deflection

Phase

Item

Libram of Hope - Dire Maul East - Isalien

Slot

Enchantments

Item

Location

Main Hand

Spellpower Agility

Sageblade

Crafted by Blacksmith

Flurry Axe

World Drop

Hedgecutter

Dire Maul North

Off Hand

Lesser Parry Greater Stamina

Draconian Deflector

Upper Blackrock Spire

Force Reactive Disk

Crafted by Engineer

Head

Syncretist's Sigil Arcanum of Protection Lesser Arcanum of Constitution

Gyth's Skull

UBRS

Enchanted Thorium Helm

Crafted by Blacksmith

Golem Skull Helm

Blackrock Depths

Legs

Syncretist's Sigil Arcanum of Protection Lesser Arcanum of Constitution

Deathbone Legguards

Scholomance

Enchanted Thorium Leggings

Crafted by Blacksmith

Chest

Greater Stats Major Health

Deathbone Chestplate

Scholomance

Ornate Adamantium Breastplate

Quest

Enchanted Thorium Breastplate

Crafted by Blacksmith

Shoulders

Zandalar Signet of Mojo

Stockade Pauldrons

World Drop

Wailing Nightbane Pauldrons

Stratholme

Stoneform Shoulders

Scholomance

Hands

Superior Agility Threat Greater Agility

Deathbone Gauntlets

Scholomance

Boneclenched Gauntlets

Scholomance

Stonegrip Gauntlets

World Drop

Wrist

Superior Stamina Dodge

Vigorsteel Vambraces

Scholomance

Bracers of Valor

Dungeon World Drop

Lightforge Bracers

Dungeon World Drop

Back

Dodge Superior Defense

The Emperor's New Cape

Blackrock Depths

Sergeant's Cape

PvP Reward

Neck

None

Medallion of Grand Marshal Morris

World Drop

Talisman of Evasion

Lower Blackrock Spire

Verek's Collar

Blackrock Depths

Feet

Greater Stamina Greater Agility

Deathbone Sabatons

Scholomance

Shalehusk Boots

Blackrock Depths

Boots of Avoidance

World Drop

Waist

None

Deathbone Girdle

Scholomance

Stalwart Clutch

Quest

Rings

None

Naglering

Blackrock Depths

Band of Resolution

Argent Dawn Rep Quest

Ring of Protection

Battle of Darrowshire Questline

Hardened Stone Band

World Drop

Myrmidon's Signet

World Drop

Magma Forged Band

Blackrock Depths

Trinkets

None

Force of Will

Blackrock Depths

Smotts' Compass

Quest

Stormpike Insignia Rank 3

Stormpike Honored Rep Reward

Mark of the Chosen

Quest

Mindtap Talisman

Dire Maul West

Vigilance Charm

Dire Maul West

Relic

None

Libram of Fervor

Dungeon World Drop

Libram of Hope

Dire Maul East - Brazier of Invocation Required

Notable ItemsLibram of Hope

Libram of Hope is the most useful out of all Paladin librams for tanking, due to the mana savings it can provide.
As the tooltip states, equipping the libram will reduce the mana cost of your Seal spells by 20.

How to Acquire:
Libram of Hope has a chance to drop from Isalien, located in Dire Maul - East, and will only spawn upon using the Brazier of Invocation. For detailed information on how to acquire the Brazier of Invocation, check out the Dungeon Set 1/2 Quest Walkthrough.

How Good is it:
The mana savings from this item are far from game-breaking, but are still better than having an empty libram slot (or Egan's Blaster). Depending on how often you refresh your seals and what ranks you use, the mana savings will range from marginal to decent.

To make the most of the libram's effect and minimize your Seal mana cost, make sure you are specced into .

Case 1: Two Seals per Minute (3.33 MP5)
Let's say that you are refreshing exactly every 30 seconds, such that you cast it twice every 60 seconds.
Two Seal casts per minute means that you will save 40 mana per 60 seconds, which is equivalent to approximately 3.33 MP5.

Case 2: Seven Seals per Minute (11.66 MP5)
Let's say that your talent build has , which reduces your Judgment CD from 10 seconds to 8 seconds.
Let's also say that you are casting Judgement on cooldown, and refreshing your Seal immediately afterwards, such that you cast a Seal 7 times per minute.
Seven seal casts per minute means that you will save 140 mana per 60 seconds, which is equivalent to approximately 11.66 MP5. At the cost of these increased mana savings however, do consider that your mana consumption rate will be much higher due to casting Judgement and refreshing Seals much more often.

Mark of the Chosen

Despite being a low-level green trinket, this trinket is remarkable in terms of its stat bonuses and uptime for paladin tanks, even at level 60.The +25 stats buff from the proc directly translates into:

+1.25% Dodge Chance from the +25 Agility
+375 mana from the +25 Intellect
+250 health from the +25 Stamina
+1.25 Block Value from the +20 Strength

Although the 2% chance to proc when struck does lower expectations of the uptime, based on the number of mobs attacking you and their average attack speed, the trinket's buffcan be active for the entire duration of an encounter.A formula for calculating the approximate uptime percentage of the buff is as follows:
Uptime % = 60 / (50 * avg_attack_speed / num_mobs) * 100

-Variables:
avg_attack_speed - average attack speed of mobs
num_mobs - number of mobs attacking you

-Assumptions:
All attacks are hitting you. i.e. no attacks are being dodged, missed, parried, or blocked.
Uptime % greater than or equal to 100% indicates buff will be up for entire duration of encounter

As shown by the table below, increasing the number of mobs and/or reducing their average attack speed will significantly increase the uptime of the buff. For trash packs with 3 or more mobs, the trinket's effect can be expected to be active for the entire duration of the fight.

Skullflame Shield

A very unique shield that shows its true potential when tanking large quantities of mobs. Its Flamestrike and Lifesteal procs gives the shield both offensive firepower and minor sustainability when it comes to AoE farming.
Formulas for theoretical Procs per Minute (PPM) for the Flamestrike and Life Drain procs:
Flamestrike PPM = (1/avg_attack_speed) * num_mobs * 0.01 * 60Life Drain PPM = (1/avg_attack_speed) * num_mobs * 0.03 * 60

-Variables:
avg_attack_speed: average attack speed of mobs
num_mobs: number of mobs attacking you

-Assumptions:
Dodge, Miss, and Parry are not accounted for. E.g. 0% Avoidance.

At 2.00 mob attack speed and 0% avoidance, the Flamestrike PPM would increase by 1 and Life Drain PPM by 3 for every 3.33 mobs, as indicated by the following table.

Chart showing relationship between number of mobs and the theoretical damage per minute of Skullflame Shield's abilities.

Force Reactive Disk

To no one's shock, this shield synergizes beautifully with paladin tanks thanks to their Holy Shield ability. The DPS of the shield scales exponentially based on the number of mobs being tanked simultaneously.Some characteristics of the shield:

Deals 25-35 Nature damage to each target within 10 yards
The proc can crit based on your spell critical hit chance
50% chance on block for shield to lose 1 point of durability

Formula for calculating the maximum possible DPS from FRD procs.

DPS = (block_chance / 100) * (1 / avg_attack_speed ) * 30 * (num_mobs ^ 2)

-Variables:
avg_attack_speed: average attack speed of mobs
block_chance: total block chance = base block chance % + 30% block chance from Holy Shield
num_mobs: number of mobs attacking you

-Assumptions:
Holy Shield uptime is 100% and has unlimated charges per cast cycle.
Dodge, Miss, and Parry are not accounted for.
Damage dealt by proc is 30

A unique characteristic of FRD DPS is that it scales exponentially based on the number of mobs being fought simultaneously.Below are two sets of tables and charts illustrating the FRD DPS formula in action.

Based on the data shown, FRD excels when tanking groups of mobs rather than individual mobs (bosses).Note that max DPS will rarely be reached. For a more accurate expected DPS, multiply the max DPS by your combined Miss, Dodge, and Parry chance. To get a guesstimate DPS, multiply the theoretical max DPS by anywhere from 0.65 up to 0.80.

Thick Obsidian Breastplate

A very unique chest piece with the niche role of being able to provide spell damage mitigation while tanking without needing to put on spell resist gear.The most opportune moments to equip this item is in dungeons where the majority of mobs are spell casters. i.e. Stratholme Living Side Cathedral, Scholomance, or Blackrock Depths Throne Room. It wouldn't be as effective against single-target boss caster enemies as the damage mitigated would be negligible.Below are formulas and spreadsheets demonstrating the effectiveness of this item, which can aid you in determining the most opportune time to equip it.
Formula for calculating theoretical maximum Procs per Minute (PPM):
PPM = (1 / cast_time) * num_mobs * 0.30 * 60

-Variables:
cast_time: time it takes for a mob to cast a spell.
num_mobs: number of mobs that are spell casters

.-Assumptions:
Binary and Partial spell resists unaccounted for.
Proc has no internal cooldown.
Proc is consumed immediately to allow for subsequent procs shortly after.

Formula for calculating theoretical Damage Mitigation per MInute (DMM):

DMM = ppm * 400

-Variables:
ppm: Procs per Minute of Thick Obsidian Breastplate. Calculated using the preceeding PPM formula.

-Assumptions:
Binary and Partial spell resists unaccounted for.
Average damage mitigated per proc is 400 damage (300 floor, 500 ceiling).
Proc has no internal cooldown.
Proc is consumed immediately to allow for subsequent procs shortly after.

Formula for calculating the theoretical % spell damage mitigation:

% Mitigation = (dmp * 0.3 / spell_dmg_total) * 100

-Variables:
dmp: spell damage mitigated per proc. Range is 300 to 500.
spell_dmg_total: total spell damage of a single cast dealt by enemy spell caster.

-Assumptions:
Binary and Partial spell resists unaccounted for.
Average damage mitigated per proc is 400 damage (300 floor, 500 ceiling).
Proc has no internal cooldown.
Proc is consumed immediately to allow for subsequent procs shortly after.

As shown by the data, spell damage mitigation is higher when fighting spellcaster mobs that deal 500 damage or less, with at least 24% of the damage being mitigated, assuming that the average damage mitigated per proc is 400. This indicates that the chest is most effective in scenarios where there are several spell caster mobs that deal relatively minor damage.

Demon Forged Breastplate

Formula for calculating theoretical Heals per Second (HPS) while equipping item:
HPS = (1 / avg_atk_spd) * (num_mobs) * 0.03 *

-Variables:
avg_atk_spd: average attack speed of mobs.
num_mobs: number of mobs.
spell_dmg: bonus spell damage from gear and buffs.

-Assumptions:
Miss, Dodge, Parry, and Block not accounted for.
Proc has no internal cooldown.

Consumables + Raid BuffsWorld BuffsTemporary Weapon Enchants

Category

Defensive

Offensive

Mana Regeneration

Restorative

Major Rejuvenation Potion Major Healing Potion Whipper Root Tuber

Major Mana Potion Dark Rune Demonic Rune Night Dragon's Breath

Elixirs/Flasks

Flask of the Titans Elixir of Superior Defense Elixir of Fortitude Elixir of Greater Agility Greater Stoneshield Potion Free Action Potion Mighty Troll's Blood Elixir

Flask of Supreme Power Elixir of the Mongoose Greater Arcane Elixir Gift of Arthas - Procs grant threat

Mageblood Elixir

Food

Dirge's Kickin' Chimaerok Chops - (Phase 5)Monster Omelet Tender Wolf Steak Grilled Squid

Dragonbreath Chili

Nightfin Soup

Special

Lung Juice Cocktail - Blasted Lands QuestSpirit of Zanza - (Phase 4)

Goblin Sapper Charge Dense Dynamite Crystal Spire - Does not stack with Oil of Immolation

Songflower Serenade - FelwoodMol'dar's Moxie - Dire Maul Trbute BuffSayge's Dark Fortune of Stamina - Darkmoon FairSpirit of Zandalar - Heart of Hakkar

Rallying Cry of the Dragonslayer - Onyxia/Nefarian HeadSayge's Dark Fortune of Damage - Darkmoon Fair

Elemental Sharpening Stone Frost Oil Expired Wizard Oil

Expired Mana Oil

Dungeon TankingRotations

The spell rotation for paladin tanks is very straightforward, however, depending on the engagement, you will need to maintain high threat on a single target, or threat evenly spread out amongst multiple targets. The primary considerations about maintaining threat generation is that they have to exceed the healer's threat and damage dealer's threat so that you don't lose aggro on your targets. The first ten seconds of a pull are the most crucial towards maintaining aggro for the rest of the encounter, since if you are unable to build up enough threat within this period of time, it is very likely that you will struggle to maintain aggro on enemies.Make sure to have Righteous Fury active prior to pulling, or else your threat generation will be ineffective.

Trash mob rotation

Seal of Righteousness
- Only refresh when buff about to expire or judgement has been used.
- Depending on threat of each enemy, melee enemies being attacked by damage dealers to maintain aggro.
- Holy ShieldUse Rank 1 to minimize mana consumption.
- If Holy Shield and Consecration cooldowns are refreshed at the same time, go with Holy Shield, as damage mitigation is generally more important.
- ConsecrationUse Rank 5 for your first cast to maximize initial threat on mobs. Use Rank 1 for subsequent casts to maintain consistent threat generation and minimize mana consumption.
- If your party is casting AoE spells on the entire trash pack to kill them simultaneously, keep using high rank casts.

Single-target rotation

Seal of the CrusaderSkip if Judgement of the Crusader debuff has already been applied on your target.
Judgement
Seal of RighteousnessOnly refresh when buff about to expire or judgement has been used.
Depending on threat of each enemy, melee enemies being attacked by damage dealers to maintain aggro.
Holy ShieldUse Rank 1 to minimize mana consumption.
If Holy Shield and Consecration cooldowns are refreshed at the same time, go with Holy Shield, as damage mitigation is generally more important.
ConsecrationUse Rank 5 for your first cast to maximize initial threat on mobs. Use Rank 1 for subsequent casts to maintain consistent threat generation and minimize mana consumption.

Wisdom Rotation
For those that want to prioritize mana regeneration while still generating good threat. Recommended rotation.

Maintain Seal of Wisdom and Judgement of Wisdom up on your current target at all times.Use a fast weapon to maximize the amount of mana restored by Judgement of Wisdom

Mana restored by SoW/JoW also generates threat on your current target, so you will have additional single-target threat without having to use Seal of Righteousness.

Holy Shield

Use Rank 3 to maximize threat generation.
If Holy Shield and Consecration cooldowns are refreshed at the same time, go with Holy Shield, as damage mitigation is generally more important.

Consecration

Use Rank 5 for your first cast to maximize initial threat on mobs. You can keep using Rank 5 Consecration for much longer because of SoW/JoW mana regeneration.

Line of Sight Pulling

Many trash packs will often contain a mix of melee and ranged enemies, which can make it difficult to keep all of them within a Consecration's area of effect and in range of crowd control abilities when necessary. Damage from ranged enemies is also generally magic based, and such spells can easily melt a tank unless they're killed quickly or kept in melee range, in which case they wlil alternate between spells and melee attacks which tend to be very weak.
An effective solution to this problem is to exploit the line of sight of enemies to force them to move to you in a location where they can be kept close together. The general idea of line of sight pulling is to get within line of sight of a trash pack, them move back to a spot beyond their line of sight so they can't target you, forcing them to move to your location in which the tanking situation will be much more favorable to your party. Below is a simple illustration of how to execute a line of sight pull as a paladin tank.
Simple walkthrough of the illustration:

Start Point/End Point. This is where you'll be tanking the mobs.
Drop your first consecration here.
Max aggro radius of mob. Pull mobs at this point then run back to your starting point.
End Point. Drop your second consecration here. Once all mobs are in melee range, resume your rotation.

Paladin Raid Tanking for DummiesPrelude

They said it couldn't be done. They said it wouldn't be done. They said it shouldn't be done. They doubted it would ever be done.

Recent discoveries and advances in understanding paladin mechanics have provided paladins with the tools necessary to become viable raid tanks, minus a few encounters where taunts are required as part of a tank rotation. This is primarily due to blessing spam being a powerful long-range threat generation tool that can allow paladin tanks to easily compete against warrior tanks on threat generation, and even trivialize certain encounters. As spellpower is no longer essential for threat generation in raids, paladin tanks are also able to maintain relatively high defensive stats, especially compared to fury-prot warrior tanks.

Disclaimers

Using consumables is essential for improving your survivability and effectiveness as a raid tank.
Make sure to coordinate with fellow tanks on tanking assignments and strategies. Raid tanking is a team effort!
The massive threat generation of Greater Blessing spam is a doubled-edged sword. Recklessly spamming it for threat may result in accidentally stealing aggro from other tanks' targets, leading to widespread chaos in the raid. Using threat meters to keep track of the threat of other tanks is a must.
Encounters that require immediate taunt rotations will still be a significant barrier for paladin tanks
Have fun!

Raid Tanking Rotations

The three core requirements of a prot paladin's rotation for raid encounters are the following:

Threat Generation
Damage Mitigation
Mana Regeneration

Raid boss encounters tend to be rather long, so there is not much room for flexibility when it comes selecting other abilities that will satisfy the three core requirements.

Primary Raid Rotation:

/
This is your primary source of mana regeneration. Critical towards perpetuating your rotation and not going OOM.
Maintain Seal and Judgement of Wisdom up on your current target at all times.
Use a fast weapon to maximize the amount of mana restored by Judgement of Wisdom
Mana restored by SoW/JoW also generates threat on your current target, so you will have additional single-target threat without having to use Seal of Righteousness.

Sacred Shield

This is your primary source of damage mitigation.
Use Rank 1 to minimize mana consumption.
To maximize your damage mitigation, it is imperative to keep this ability up as often as possible.
If damage mitigation isn't an issue, and threat generation is your priority, you can skip using this in your rotation.
The most ideal situation to use Holy Shield in is while is active after being crit, as you'll be able to simultanesouly maximize your Holy Shield blocks and temporarily flatten your damage intake through reducing your Crushing Blow chance.

This is your primary source of threat generation.
Over the course of a raid, you will likely consume hundreds to thousands of Symbol of Kings so make sure to bring plenty.
Spam cast only when necessary to maintain aggro on your target.
At the start of fights, spam cast at least 10 times to have a sizable threat base, then cast intermitently to for steady threat generation while reducing mana consumption.
To maximize threat generated per cast, ensure that you're casting it on class with the highest number of players.

Additional Considerations

If you are in a high-performing guild (<120 second boss kill times), it will usually be the case that tanks must prioritize threat generation over mana regeneration and damage mitigation. In such scenarios, using each GCD to its full threat potential is a must, in which case, casting GBoK will be the preferred option. If GBoK threat generation is barely keeping up with threat from your raid DPS, consider how you can maximize your passive (autoattack) non-GBoK threat generation.
For white damage, use weapons with a higher DPS value.
If using , use a relatively fast weapon (<2 Second Swing) and maximize your Spell Damage.
If using , use a slow weapon (>2 Second Swing) to maximize damage from SoC procs.
Avoid using , as it applies a hidden debuff to enemies and uses up one of the 16 debuff slots.

Molten CoreTips & Strategies

You can dispell Impending Doom from yourself and other raid members with .

Position adds facing away from the raid so that they won't be hit their Cleave.

If another tank becomes mind-controlled, their target may aggro on you if you've been doing blessing spam.

Use Major Mana Potion in case you quickly get low on mana due to Lucifron's Curse.

Paladin Tank PoVTips & Strategies

This is a pretty straightforward tank and spank fight, so just keep doing blessing spam to stay on top of threat.

Use to reduce fire damage dealt by Magma Spit and Lava Bomb.

If Lava Bomb lands you, make sure to move away from the lingering flames.

Have dwarf priests maintain up on you to avoid being feared by Panic.

Paladin Tank PoVFootage provided by HolyfrogTips & Strategies

Use a Free Action Potion at the very start of the encounter in order to prevent getting stunned by Fist of Ragnaros.

If tanking Gehennas, make sure to maneuver him out of Rain of Fire so that you and melee DPS don't get hit by it.

Have a mage or druid assigned to remove the Gehennas' Curse debuff from you.

Paladin Tank PoVTips & Strategies

Use to reduce damage taken from Immolate and Eruption.

Expect to tank multiple Firesworn adds. Their damage will pile up, so Greater Stoneshield Potion is highly recommended.

Try to have at least 2 dedicated healers assigned to you, and an additional healer to focus on cleansing Immolate from you.

Before adds die and knock you back with Eruption, position yourself against the wall so you don't get knocked into trash packs nearby.

At the start of the encounter, use to help you build up threat on multiple adds. Blessing spam isn't as useful early in the encounter due to the threat being split up between adds.

Paladin Tank PoVTips & Strategies

It is essential to have a Fire Resist set with at least 275 Fire Resistance (including ).

You can remove Ignite Mana from yourself and fellow mana-users with Cleanse.

Be sure to run away from Baron when he casts Inferno or shield yourself with .

You can continue building threat at a distance through blessing spam.

Paladin Tank PoVComing soon...Tips & Strategies

Shazzrah's threat table will reset after casting Blink.

To regain aggro on Shazzrah after he casts Blink, use and blessing spam.

An upside of using blessing spam threat to regain aggro is that it cannot be resisted unlike a warrior's or druid's Taunt, which can be resisted

When you have aggro on Shazzrah, make sure to position him far away enough from range DPS and healers so that they're not hit by Arcane Explosion.

Paladin Tank PoVTips & Strategies

If tanking Sulfuron Harbinger, be sure to use a Greater Stoneshield Potion or Free Action Potion to minimize incoming damage.

Have Sulfuron Harbinger positioned away from everybody else in the raid so that they're not hit by Hand of Ragnaros.

It is recommended to hold off on blessing spam until all the Flamewaker Priest have been defeated, since threat from blessing spam is split up between any living adds.

Paladin Tank PoVTips & Strategies

If main-tanking Golemagg, excess stacks of Magma Splash can be removed by casting . Before you do this, make sure that your threat is at least 10% higher than the person with the second highest threat. Be sure to remove the buff immediately afterwards to regain aggro on Golemagg.

When assigned to tank Core Rager, make sure to move the dog far away from Golemagg so that the dog's horns stop glowing red, which will significantly reduce its damage output.

Paladin Main Tank PoVFootage provided by HolyfrogCore Rager Tanking PoVTips & Strategies

Activate to reduce damage from Fire Blast.

Have your priest buff you with to reduce damage from Shadow Bolt and Shadow Shock.

If you're tanking Majordomo, you can regain easily aggro after a Teleport by blessing spamming. The threat generated by blessing spam bypasses the need to generate threat via physical or magic damage.

A side effect of using blessing spam throughout the fight is that in case any other tanks die, any mobs that they were tanking will very likely target you next, so make sure that your healers are prepared to quickly focus on you.

Paladin Tank PoVTips & Strategies

It is essential to have a Fire Resist set with at least 275 Fire Resistance (including ).

As a mana user, you are a potential target for Lava Burst. As a precaution, be sure to distance yourself from the melee and tank group so they do not get knocked back in case you get hit by the spell.

Wrath of Ragnaros resets Ragnaros' entire threat table and knocks up 3 random players that are at melee range. If you're not knocked back, immediately start blessing spamming to regain aggro on Ragnaros if any other tanks have been knocked back and are unable to taunt.

You can use or to shield yourself against fall damage after being knocked up by Wrath of Ragnaros,

In case Ragnaros submerges, start blessing spam in order to get aggro on all the Son of Flame that spawn. Right before they reach you, cast to build additional threat, allowing your casters to easily defeat them with AoE.

Paladin Tank PoVOnyxia

Onyxia is a raid boss which paladin tanks can excel at compared to other tanks, as they are capable of consistently maintaining aggro on Onyxia for both Phases 1 and 3, as well as being able to easily round up whelps during Phase 2.

Tips & Strategy

For this encounter, aim to have about 150 Fire Resistance (including ), and at least 380 Defense if you want to play it safe.
Phase 1
At the start of the fight, make sure to have Onyxia properly positioned. Try to stand with your back aginst the rear wall of the arena.
Once Onyxia has been positioned, start building lots of threat with blessing spam in order to have a large threat cushion for Phase 2.
Try to use a Major Mana Potion as early as possible in order to have a cooldown reset midway through Phase 2 or 3.

Phase 2

Onyxia's targets for her Fireball ARE NOT RANDOM. Onyxia chooses her targets based on what player is currently at the top of her threat table.
You will very likely be hit with Onyxia's Fireball one or more times throughout Phase 2 due to being high on Onyxia's threat table. Each Fireball that hits you will reduce your current threat on Onyxia by somewhere between 50% to 75%.
Make sure to grab any Whelps that spawn from the left/right hatcheries with your .
After all the whelps have been slain, you can resume blessing spam in order to maintain yourself high up on the threat table despite being fireballed repeatedly. If possible, use another Major Mana Potion at this point.
To minimize the chances of being hit with a Fireball while building threat during Phase 2, wait until Onyxia is at 45% health or less, depending on how fast the raid DPS is.
You should only use if you are caught in the middle of a Breath. It is not worth using to protect yourself against Onyxia's Fireball, since even if it fully does shield you, she'll likely target you again once the bubble expires.

Phase 3

As Onyxia is landing, keep up the blessing spam in order to reach the top of Onyxia's threat table.
Even if Onyxia doesn't initially aggro after she lands, keep up the blessing spam while trying to position yourself at the spot where she was tanked in during Phase 1.
Once you regain aggro on Onyxia and have her properly postioned, resume your ability rotation as well as blessing spam.
Make sure that any Dwarf priests in your raid maintain buffed on you at all times.

Blackwing Lair

Blackwing Lair is the next raid tier after Molten Core, and will subquently have increasingly difficult bosses and trash mobs to tank. Raid consumables are absolutely required at this point. Despite some bosses such as Ebonroc requiring taunt rotations, it is still more than possible to successfully main tank or off-tank any boss alongside your raid's other tanks without hampering your raid's effectiveness in Blackwing Lair.

Tips & Strategies

Gauntlet

Use SoR and Conscecration to maintain aggro on adds that spawn.

Use to stun any Blackrock Mages.

Razorgore the Untamed

Have at least 150 Fire Resist from gear and buffs to reduce damage from Fireball Volley and potentially resist Conflagration.

Use blessing spam to maintain high threat so that you can become next aggro target if other tanks become Conflagged.

Paladin Tank PoVTips & Strategies

Have at least 250+ Fire Resist from gear and buffs to reduce damage taken from Flame Breath, which is the primary source of damage taken.

It is recommended that paladins tank Vaelastrasz first because they are still susceptible to the Burning Adrenaline targetted towards mana-users every 15 seconds even if they are tanking. The Burning Adrenaline targetted towards the current tank only occurs every 45 seconds.

Before the fight begins, have Seal of Righteousness, Holy Shield, and Conscration up in order to maximize your threat at the start.

Essence of the Red will provide you with virtually unlimited mana, so try to use every GCD possible for blessing spam to maximize your threat.

Paladin Tank PoVTips & Strategies

Maximize your armor and health in order to survive Broodlord's Mortal Strike, which can easily hit you for 7k+ damage at 9500+ armor.

It is highly recommended that you use Greater Stoneshield Potion and Flask of the Titans for this fight.

Since whelps will continuously respawn throughout the fight, so it is essential that you only blessing spam after all whelps have been killed so that your threat doesn't get split to maximize your TPS.

Paladin Tank PoVTips & Strategies

Equip Onyxia Scale Cloak to mitigate the effects Shadow Flame, especially its DoT.

Have at least 250+ Fire Resist from gear and buffs to reduce damage taken from Flame Buffet. It is also possible to fully resist applications of Flame Buffet which can eventually cause your stacks to clear.

Successive melee damage taken from Thrash can quickly eat away at your health, so Greater Stoneshield Potion and Flask of the Titans are recommended.

Keep Firemaw facing facing away from the raid so they don't get hit by Shadow Flame.

Make sure that you and any other tanks are prepared to reposition when Firemaw casts Wing Buffet on the current tank.

If off-tanking Firemaw, you can build threat with blessing spam without being in LoS of Firemaw to avoid Shadow Flame.

Paladin Tank PoVFootage provided by Holyfrog.Tips & Strategies

Equip Onyxia Scale Cloak to mitigate the effects Shadow Flame, especially its DoT.

Successive melee damage taken from Thrash can quickly eat away at your health, so Greater Stoneshield Potion and Flask of the Titans are recommended.

The majority of the damage dealt by Ebonroc is physical, so is recommended for additional mitigation.

Keep Ebonroc facing facing away from the raid so they don't get hit by Shadow Flame.

Tanks should have buffed on them to increase the chance of resisting Shadow of Ebonroc.

Make sure that you and any other tanks are prepared to reposition when Ebonroc casts Wing Buffet on the current tank.

Paladin Tank PoVTips & Strategies

Equip Onyxia Scale Cloak to mitigate the effects Shadow Flame, especially its DoT.

Successive melee damage taken from Thrash and Enrage can quickly eat away at your health, so Greater Stoneshield Potion and Flask of the Titans are recommended.

The majority of the damage dealt by Flamegor is physical, so is recommended for additional mitigation.

Keep Flamegor facing facing away from the raid so they don't get hit by Shadow Flame.

Make sure that you and any other tanks are prepared to reposition when Flamegor casts Wing Buffet on the current tank.

Paladin Tank PoVTips & Strategies

Chromaggus will always have 75% damage reduction against Holy damage, so the majority of your threat should come from blessing spam, which is unaffected by this.

Successive melee damage taken from Enrage and breaths can quickly eat away at your health, so Greater Stoneshield Potion and Flask of the Titans are recommended.

If none of Chromaggus' breaths are Time Lapse, Chromaggus becomes a simple tank-and-spank fight.

Make sure to cleanse Brood Affliction: Blue from yourself as soon as possible in order to prevent your mana from being drained.

As an off-tank, you can continue building threat with blessing spam out of Chromaggus' LoS to avoid his breaths, which can be useful if Chromaggus' breath rotation includes Time Lapse. Be prepared to reposition yourself if Chromaggus aggros on you after MT is hit by Time Lapse breath.

Prior to Frost breaths, activate to reduce damage taken from Frost Burn.

Prior to Black or Red breaths, activate to reduce damage taken from Ignite Flesh and Incinerate, respectively.

Paladin Tank PoVFootage provided by Holyfrog.Tips & Strategies

Phase 1: Dragonkins

Avoid tanking sides that spawn Blue Drakonid due to their mana drain ability, which will reduce your threat generation.

Use SoR and Conscecration to maintain aggro on any adds that spawn.

This phase is rather mana-intensive, so be prepared to use mana consumables like Major Mana Potion.

After all the dragonkin have been slain, it is possible to get out of combat, allowing you to switch to your boss tanking gear.

Phase 2: Nefarian

Equip Onyxia Scale Cloak to mitigate the effects Shadow Flame, especially its DoT.

If main tanking Nefarian, ensure that your priests keep up on you at all times so you don't get feared by Bellowing Roar.

Tanks should be buffed with , as it is possible to fully resist Nefarian's Shadow Flame breath.

During Paladin class calls in which Nefarian's Improved Blessing of Protection grants him immunity to physical damage, you can continue building threat with blessing spam, so your threat generation should largely be unaffected.

For Rogue class calls, in which rogues get teleported and stuck at your current location, make sure to reposition Nefarian so the your rogues don't get hit by Cleave or Shadow Flame.

Phase 3: Bone Constructs

As soon as the Bone Construct spawn when Nefarian is at 20% health, start blessing spamming so that they all aggro and run towards you.

It is recommended that you only handle Bone Constructs if you're currently main-tanking Nefarian.

Make sure that healers are preapred to heal you as you will take lots of damage.

Before the Bone Constructs reach you, cast and to build threat against them.

You can also use Stratholme Holy Water or Goblin Sapper Charge to deal additional damage and threat.

Paladin Tank PoVFootage provided by Holyfrog.Tips & Strategies

Goblin Technicians

You can kite the technicians and maintain aggro with .

Fire resistance gear is not necessary as the explosives cannot be mitigated or resisted.

Death Talon Wyrmguards

Wyrmguards will always have 75% damage reduction against Holy damage, so the majority of your threat should come from blessing spam, which is unaffected by this.

Avoid tanking Wyrmguards that cast Brood Affliction: Blue on you, as it will quickly drain you of your mana which will negatively affect your threat generation.

Use a Free Action Potion at the start to avoid getting stunned by War Stomp.

Blackwing Spellbinders

Even though Spellbinders are immune to all magic damage, you can build threat on them with blessing spam, which bypasses this immunity.

Goblin Technicians Paladin Tank PoVZul'Gurub

Zul'Gurub is a 20-man raid instance with many bosses and valuable pieces of loot for players of all raid tiers. Although Zul'Gurub is generally regarded as easier than Molten Core in terms of difficulty and gear requirements, it can still pose a challenge for paladin tanks by putting their combined dungeon and raid tanking skills to the test. Due to the 20-player cap, the threat potential of GBoK spam will be significantly reduced, so paladin tanks will have to increasingly rely upon their entire arsenal of abilities for threat and equip Spellpower-heavy gear such as the Judgment Armor.

Tips & Strategies

Phase 1 (Bat form)

Jeklik can cast Sonic Burst, an AoE silence that will silence anyone within 20 yards of her, so make sure that your healers are at least 20 yards away from the boss so that they can dispel/cleanse the silence debuff from you.

Jeklik will occasionally summon waves of Frenzied Bloodseeker Bat which can be easily dealt with using Consecration and caster AoE abilities.

Face the boss away from the rest of the raid so that they don't get stunned by Swoop.

You can remove the Pierce Armor debuff using , but doing so will make you temporarily lose aggro, so make sure to quickly remove the bubble buff to regain aggro.

Phase 2 (Priest form

If possible, have your priests maintain on you to avoid being feared by Jeklik's Psychic Scream.

Bats flying above the raid will occasionally cast Throw Liquid Fire which creates fires on the ground that will hurt anyone standing in them. If a firebomb lands on you, make sure to reposition the boss.

Make sure your damage dealers interrupt Jeklik every time she begins casting Great Heal.

Paladin Tank PoVTips & Strategies

Phase 1 (Priest form)

If tanking the snakes at the start of the fight, bring them downstairs and use Consecration to maintain aggro on them while your DPS takes them down.

Venoxis will occasionally cast Ancient Power, an ability that hits the tank for 300 Holy damage and will chain to nearby players, multiplying in damage by 1.30 for every additional player hit. Ancient Power does not have a limit to how times it can chain, so it can easily cause wipes. At the 10th chain, the damage dealt is over 4k, meaning subsequent chains will very likely be lethal.

Position Venoxis away from the rest of the raid, preferably 30-40 yards.

It is highly recommended that melee damage-dealers not engage Venoxis during Phase 1 to prevent massive Ancient Power chains.

Phase 2 (Snake form)

Venoxis will stop casting Ancient Power during this phase so melee damage-dealers are now free to engage the boss.

Venoxis must be repositioned every time he casts Poison Cloud because the poison clouds will hurt anyone standing inside them.

Tips & Strategies

Phase 1 (Priest form)

Use Consecration to get aggro on any spiderlings that spawn.

You can remove any poison debuffs from yourself using Cleanse.

Phase 2 (Spider form)

Mar'li can cast Enveloping Webs which will hit anyone within 20 yards of her and wipe their aggro. There should be another tank with the ranged/healer group ready to pick up Mar'li.

You can use to free yourself from Enveloping Webs, although your aggro will still be wiped out.

If you're the tank assigned to the ranged/healing group, you can still build some threat using GBoK spam, although it won't necessarily guarantee that Mar'li will aggro on you after she wipes the MT's aggro.

Mar'li will occasionally cast Corrosive Poison on the tank which applies a nasty debuff and should be cleansed as soon as possible.

Paladin Tank PoVTips & Strategies

This fight requires 2 to 3 tanks; 1 tank for Mandokir, and 1-2 tanks for Ohgan.

Bloodlord Mandokir

Mandokir is tauntable.

Note: The charges from Threatening Gaze and Charge have their own separate mechanics.

Approximately every 30 seconds, Mandokir will Charge the player that is furthest away from him and within a 30-yards, followed by a permanent aggro wipe. Damage on Mandokir should stop after every Charge until the tank can regain and build up threat.

See the positioning diagram below for an idea of how to position Bloodlord and your raid to minimize aggro issues after the Charge aggro wipes. If done correctly, only one person should be getting hit by Charge and the tank should be able to easily intercept Mandokir to regain aggro on him.

If you receive the Threatening Gaze debuff, immediately stop anything that you're doing, including movement, autoattacks, ability rotations, etc., or else Mandokir will charge at you and hit you with Guillotine, which can potentially be fatal even as a tank. Note that this ability will not cause an aggro wipe.

Mandokir's other abilities include Overpower, Whirlwind, and Mortal Strike, each of which hit fairly hard on tanks. These abilities may sometimes occur one after another, so make sure your healers are keeping you topped off on health.

Ohgan (Raptor)

Ohgan is tauntable.

Ohgan will intermittently cast Sunder Armor and Thrash on their target. which can become a potentially deadly combo if the tank has a high number of stacks. If the tank has too many stacks and is taking too much damage, a taunt rotation may be necessary so that the stacks can wear off.

You can remove Sunder Armor stacks using , but doing so will make you temporarily lose aggro, so make sure to quickly remove the bubble to regain aggro again.

If Ohgan is killed first, then Bloodlord Mandokir will receive a powerful buff that increases his damage dealt and attack speed, making his autoattacks and abilities much deadlier. It is not recommended to kill Ohgan first.

Positioning DiagramPaladin Tank PoVTips & Strategies

Phase 1 (Trio)

Thekal’s autoattacks and Mortal Cleave ability can hit fairly hard on tanks.

Thekal can Silence you, so make sure healers are ready to dispel it.

Thekal will occasionally buff an ally with Bloodlust, which can make them slightly more dangerous.

To prevent Thekal from healing the other mini-bosses, you can position Thekal out of line of sight of them around a corner. Thekal can still heal himself so DPS should still be ready to interrupt or counterspell his healing casts.

Zealot Zath regularly casts Gouge or Blind on her current tank, causing her to temporarily switch aggro to the person with the most threat after the tank. Try to maintain secondary threat or stun Lor’Khan with Hammer of Justice so that she doesn’t attack DPS or healers.

Once all three mini-bosses are at low health, tanks should group them up so that they can AoE’d down by DPS to defeat them simultaneously or else they will resurrect.

Phase 2 (Tiger form)

Thekal will periodically summon Zulian Guardian, which can either be nuked down or CC'd.

Theka's Force Punch will knockback the tank and wipe their aggro, so make sure there's another tank ready to pick up aggro on Thekal.

Thekal can Flurry, Enrage, and Speed Slash so make sure your healers are ready to keep you topped off on health.

Tips & Strategies

Phase 1 (Priest form)

Arlokk will occasionally cast Gouge on the main tank, so make sure another tank is ready to pick her up.

Anyone that receives Mark of Arlokk should move to the back of the room near the entryway to try to avoid getting aggro from panthers that spawn from the pens, as Line of Sight is required for to give aggro the afflicted player.

If tanking panther spawns, stay in the pens and within line of sight of healers. Use Consecration to build threat on panther spawns.

Another way to deal with panther spawns is to have the DPS quickly take them down with AoE.

Phase 2 (Panther form

In her Panther form, Arlokk will be able to cast Thrash, Whirlwind, and Ravage which means the tank will llikely be taking more damage.

Arlokk will periodically stealth while in Panther form. Tanks should be ready to get aggro on her once she unstealths, as she can quickly kill your casters and healers.

Tips & Strategies

At the start of the fight, if you're tanking the troll mobs near Jindo, make sure your mages and druids quickly decurse you to remove Curse of Blood and Veil of Shadow from you.

It is recommended that you tank Jin'do near the pool where the Sacrificed Troll spawn so that you can get aggro on them using Conscration after somebody has been teleported into the pool.

Make sure other tanks are ready to pick up aggro on Jin'do in case the main tank gets Banish.

If Jin'do casts Hex on you, you will temporarily lose aggro until the debuff is removed. Have your healers dispel the Hex from you as soon as possible.

Have your melee DPS prioritize destroying the Brain Wash and Healing Ward totems, as keeping either totem up will prolong and complicate the fight.

Paladin Tank PoVTips & Strategies

Hakkar is untauntable.

Approximately every 20 seconds, Hakkar will cast Cause Insanity on its current aggro target which will mind-control them and cause them to temporarily lose aggro. Hakkar will then aggro on the player with the next highest threat until Cause Insanity expires on the mind-controlled tank, effectively making this a soft tank swap. Throughout the entirety of the fight, you and the other tank must be the top two on threat or else Hakkar will aggro on DPS and healers if one of the tanks gets mind-controlled.

If you get afflicted with Corrupted Blood, reposition yourself away from any nearby melee DPS so that they do not get hit by it as well.

Corrupted Blood deals Shadow damage, so have priests buff everybody in the raid with to increase the chance of partially mitigating damage ticks taken from Corrupted Blood.

Before Hakkar casts his Blood Siphon ability, make sure you obtain the Poisonous Blood debuff by stepping into the poison gas cloud that spawns after killing a Son of Hakkar. Each person without the Poisonous Blood debuff during Blood Siphon will heal Hakkar for approximately 8000 health.

Paladin Tank PoVRuins of Ahn'Qiraj (AQ20)

The Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj is a 20-man raid instance. The difficulty of this raid tier is generally considered to be above that of Molten Core and Zul'Gurub, as many boss and mob mechanics here cannot be brute-forced, instead requiring coordination from all players. Due to the 20-player cap, the threat potential of GBoK spam will be significantly reduced, so paladin tanks will have to increasingly rely upon their entire arsenal of abilities for threat and equip Spellpower-heavy gear such as the Judgment Armor.

Tips & Strategies

This fight is a DPS check for the most part, particularly towards the end of the fight, as Kurinaxx enrages at 30% HP.

As the fight will be relatively short due to high DPS, prioritize threat generation.

The Mortal Wound stacking debuff CANNOT be removed by nor . If you have too many stacks, let the other tank take aggro until your stacks wear off. To force a temporary aggro switch in case the other tank has too many stacks, you can cast .

Watch out for Sand Trap that may spawn below you. Be prepared to reposition the boss so that you don't get hit by it.

Paladin Tank PoVTips & Strategies

Use Consecration to maintain aggro on adds that come during each wave.

This encounter is a fairly long gauntlet, so it’s very easy to become OOM. Be sure to bring mana consumables.

Have your DPS prioritize killing the Swarmguards before other mobs/minibosses due to their dangerous Whirlwinds.

Rajaxx' AoE Knockback will cause a full threat reset to all those hit by it. Due to a lack of taunt, this can be an annoying ability to deal with as a paladin tank. However, this can be cheesed by having everybody get hit by his AoE knockback. Note that his AoE knockback ability hits everybody for 50% of their max HP.

Paladin Tank PoVTips & Strategies

This fight is a fairly straightforward DPS race. Prioritize threat generation.

Moam does a mana drain on everybody, so you may need to use mana consumables.

Have your priests/warlocks mana drain the boss. Moam casts an explosion if it reaches full mana, which effectively causes a wipe.

If 90 seconds elapse during fight, three Arcane elementals will spawn that spam Arcane Explosion. Use GBoK spam to aggro them and move them away from raid. Have your warlocks banish as many elementals as possible.

Paladin Tank PoVTips & Strategies

With good coordination, this is the easiest boss in AQ20. Have all the eggs damaged until they're at 5k HP, then have the boss kited towards each egg and destroy the egg once Buru is directly standing above it.

Every time an egg is destroyed, Buru will change aggro to a random player.

Once all the eggs have been destroyed and/or Buru is at low HP, he will apply a powerful stacking debuff that will quickly wipe the raid if Buru isn't killed fast enough.

Paladin Tank PoVTips & Strategies

During Phase 1, Ayamiss is airborne, but you can maintain aggro by spamming GBoK.

When Ayamiss lands, she has an aggro reset. Don’t bother building threat UNTIL she’s on the ground.

Once Ayamiss lands, the fight turns into a quick tank and spank. Make sure that the DPS kill golden larva to avoid sacrifices.

Try to tank Ayamiss at the base of the altar so that in case swarms of wasps spawn, you can quickly aggro them with Consecration.

Paladin Tank PoVAnubisath Guardian

These mobs are found in Watcher’s Terrace, where Ossirian is located. All 8 must be killed before engaging Ossirian, as the entire area must be used during the encounter. They only have 50k HP, but have several mechanics that can easily wipe raids.

Each Guardian will randomly use two out of the four possible abilities: Plague, Meteor, Shadowbolt Volley, and Thunder Clap. Each of these abilities can easily wipe the raid if not dealt with correctly.

Throughout the fight, the Guardian will spawn 2-3 mobs, including Swarmguards. Swarmguards must be tanked away from the raid due to their Whirlwinds or killed immediately.

Anybody afflicted with the Plague Effect debuff must immediately move 20 yards or more away from the raid.

Meteor damage can be mitigated by having two tightly stacked groups - one group for melee DPS and tanks, and the other group for range DPS and healers.

When the Guardian is anywhere between 10k to 25k HP, they will either Enrage or begin to Explode. If the Guardian begins to explode, the raid must either kill him before it explodes, or run away at least 20 yards from the mob. The explosion deals about 4k-6k damage.

Ayamiss Trash Packs

Hive'Zara Stinger use an EXTREMELY DANGEROUS Stinger Charge and Stinger Charge abilities that deal very high amounts of Nature damage, from randing from 500 to 3.5k damage, which can easily kill your tanks.

Have your raid DPS prioritize killing the Stingers first.

Have a hunter or range DPS pull these packs -not a tank- as the player who pulls will likely get charged MULTIPLE times, which will more than likely result in death.

Stinger Charge and Stinger Charge do not have a minimum range, so the Stingers can charge anybody at melee range. The max range appears to be 25-30 yards.

Damage from Shadow Bolt Volley can be mitigated with Shadow Protection Aura or Prayer of Shadow Protection.

Tips & Strategies

Ossirian starts off with the Strength of Ossirian buff (commonly referred to as Supreme Mode) which allows him to easily terminate tanks in one to two hits, even with Flask of the Titans. Strength of Ossirian increases his damage by 300%.

The pull is the trickiest part of the fight. You can use Divine Shield during the pull so that you don’t take damage from Ossirian while moving him to first crystal.

Crystals have a 15-20 yard range and take about 3-5 seconds to activate after clicking on them. Once activated, the crystals temporariliy remove the Strength of Ossirian buff from Ossirian for approximately 45 seconds. During this 45-second window, Ossirian is easily tankable, and must be kited by the tanks to the next crystal before he reenters Supreme Mode.

Have a spotter guide you to the next crystals. Hunters or mounted players make for excellent spotters, as they can quickly search for spawned crystal nodes and ping them on the map.

To ensure that tanks have a strong threat lead throughout the entire fight, don’t allow DPS to start until you have reached the SECOND crystal.

Have your healers move AHEAD of you, not following you, as everybody is moving towards the next crystal.

Take advantage of Ossirian’s War Stomp knockbacks so that they throw you into the next crystals.

Ossirian will occasionally cast Enveloping Winds on the current tank, forcing a temporary tank swap similar to Hakkar's Mind Control. Make sure all tanks are prepared to gain aggro on Ossirian and continue moving him towards crystals.

Paladin Tank PoVTemple of Ahn'Qiraj (AQ40)

The Temple of Ahn'Qiraj is a 40-man raid instance. and is the next raid tier after Blackwing Lair. The foes found within the depths of Ahn'Qiraj are numerous, vicious and cunning, and will push many guilds to their limit. Raid consumables are absolutely required at this point, and odds are that you will only be tanking this instance once you've proven yourself as a reliable tank in Blackwing Lair. Despite the challenges and handicaps present in this raid, paladins are more than capable of being viable tanks for the majority of encounters.

Upcoming endgame content will be covered in future updates once reliable strategies for paladin tanks have been developed. Stay tuned!

MiscellaneousRecommended Addons

PallyPower

Twitch Summary
This add-on provides an interactive and easy to use interface that allows you to set your own blessings (Righteous Fury, Aura, Seal and Blessings) and automatically checks for missing buffs with an easy to read indicator. While in a Party or RAID Pally Power can be used to assign blessings to other Paladins.
Usage as Paladin Tank
This addon facilitates being able to cast Greater Blessings on players of the same class for GBoK spamming. When pressing the button for a specific class, the addon will automatically search for a player of that class that is within 40 yards of you and in Line of Sight. As an additional feature, hovering your mouse over a class button will also display a dropdown list of players of that class, from which you can manually select which player to cast GBoK on, which is an excellent backup in case the autotarget button isn't working.

Recommended Weak Auras

Tank Stats Table

This WA displays your complete tank stats table based on the level of the mob that you are currently targetting and updates in real-time. Works on raid bosses as well. This WA is an excellent tool for planning out what gear to equip for your tanking sets depending on your needs.

Credits

Despotus

Dmzor

RedneckRebel

HolyFrog

Lestorr

Tesla

Adolpho

Rain_Ironwolf

Sultix

Pyrulen

Demo/Edict

Fight Club - WoW Classic Warrior Discord Community

Pretty Lame Paladin Spreadsheet- WoW Classic Paladin Theorycrafting Discord Community

Note that this guide is still far from being complete, so stay tuned for new updates!

Comments

Comment by Mithrox

Hello Askalon,

thanks for the effort put in the guide. While I enjoyed reading most of the stuff, there are 3 points I cannot agree with.

1. Dont base e.g. the viability of Paladins at certain Boss Encounters on your private Server experience, especially since the one you played on is commonly known as very badly scripted. (Hakkar has no Taunt Mechanic, Ayamiss is untankable for Prot Pallies since threat Generation without holy Shield is too low (flying Phase), etc.. You are only stacking defensive values, you should really more focus on threat instead. (Seal of Light Aggro, Reflective Tanking etc.)
3. Also your Talent tree is nowhere near good, stacking defensive stats on gear and only speccing 1/5 into improved Parry? 4% equal a networth of 25 def. While I can understand that you dont get improved 1H specialisation, not getting improved righteousness is a very big mistake in my eyes, because of the threat you lose.

Comment by orionaegis7

What about the 17% spell miss bug(?) On ret aura, BoSanc, and Holy shield?

Comment by Coeren

With all respect, lack of taunt ability drops the idea of paladin tanking dead. It requires to apply very high requirements to your party/raid mates, I doubt many of them will be happy of this besides runs for fun, "look how we can!".

Comment by Maldaf

I registered just to add my reply here so, if you want to tank as paladin, do not aim for raid tanking as this guide says, it heavily cripples your guild and relies on them putting up with you.

You want to tank as paladin? Roll this build:
https://classic.wowhead.com/talent-calc/paladin/055031105-053241330001531

With this build you can heal raids and tank dungeons effectively.
You don't need defense rating to tank dungeons so aim for T2 raid set, mainly intellect and spell damage, followed by stamina and strength.
Paladin's strengths lie in AoE tanking so just dropping a consecration and getting hit once will get you aggro.

Have fun!

Comment by demotivation

paladin prot spec in vanilla is for aoe farming, not for tanking

Comment by Sultx

Glad to see a guide that is in dept as this one is. I very much enjoyed the formatted drop downs for the different items you further broke down into the supporting math. My biggest qualm is that this guide primarily focuses on a Paladin Tanks Main Tanking or #2 Off tanking.

I believe that a large majority of Prot Paladins know that the real strengths of the Prot spec lie in the AoE Tank/Off Tanking Adds capabilities while providing Raid utility: Blessing of Sanc, cheap cleanses, ability to heal when not needing to tank with only the simplest of hybrid talent points (3/3 Healing Light and maybe even 5/5 Illumination) with a large majority of gear and consumable overlap. Why not add more information to better equip this smarter play-style?

I recognized that to further break down these AoE encounters or how to tank boss adds (while providing further utility for the raid) would increase the complexity of the "Can I Tank THIS Raid Boss, Mom?" subsection. But in my mind, this is what the standard player population Needs. The majority of the dedicated Prot player-base does not play Prot because its a "meme spec," so why then create a "guide" that in my mind shows very little on how to optimize your play-style and your general uses/utility to the raid?

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing back!

Comment by Dommey

So guys, now to the paladins. Paladins are really good healers if you skill right, because if you put five points in the talent in the holy tree you get 100% mana back if you crit with a heal.

Comment by fedelars

Thank you for this guide!

Very interesting and so much useful information! As with any guide, it's just one way to look at the task at hand, and in this case substantiated with useful data and even graphs! Don't mind the trolls that confuse viable and optimal :) Looking forward to reread once you get more data from classic.

Comment by yougonogo

I would bring one for trash clearing and maybe as a third tank when you have lots of adds on a boss fight. at lease tell you have things down then have them change to ret or holy. also when there is undead or elementals they have 2 spells that give a lot more damage and threat on the spot if needed. word to wise if you are paly heavy in such a place don,t tell them to light it up on all the trash. I think my druid friend is still trying to get his sight back.

Comment by CameHonor

Hey Askalon,

Any idea if your guide will be updated in the same manner as the other guides?
WoWHead has it on the news headline that DM items will be swapped to phase 1 BiS gear/etc.

Cheers!

Comment by nodoze

What about using Argent Defender when there are lots of mobs? What are the uptimes and how does the proc affect mitigation?

Argent Defender#comments

It should be ideal for use when there are lots of mobs (assuming your priority is damage mitigation).

Would the block of an attack prevent the proc?

Comment by kring

Why is Mastersmith's Hammer mentioned for phase 2, wasn't this available in phase 1 or did something else change?

Comment by Sharizon

Hey Askalon

I really appreciate the amount of depth that was put into this guide for protection paladins and actually learned a few new things by going through it. The only real issue I have is with the BiS list. How come there was so much depth put into the rest of the guide but when it came to the BiS list it was carelessly thrown together with wrong information? It is missing things like Medallion of Steadfast Might and Heavy Dark Iron ring from the list. The irony is that it has items listed like Verek's Collar which has literally the same stats as the Medallion in lesser amounts and just missing the defense completely. I would love if someone could go through it and update the BiS with correct information.

Comment by Pickrobber

Askalon, thank you for this guide! Im vanila wow veteran, but the BOK changed game. Here is proof. I was bit nerveus and my positing is bad. But my guild was able to burn all cds at start when i was on place! Thi si awesome. Before phase 2 i did 70000 threath and second most threath had 17000, so this blowed my mind. I counted just buffs did around 85 casts x 8 wars! So again thank you!

https://youtu.be/dOZ2-2-PkFg

Comment by Aarandal

Hey Askalon,

Let me first say thank you for writing this incredible guide. This information is the first in a great many steps to inform others that Paladins can in fact, Main Tank a vast majority of raiding content. As a passionate and aspiring Paladin Tank myself there have been quite a few theorems I have come up with myself. One of which I feel the need to tell you in a comment, especially in regards to the "Paladin can't taunt" crowd. With the newly released Add-on known as "Classic Threat 2" an individual developer has created the ability to accurately calculate threat generated by Greater Blessing of Kings. This, and the fact that GBoK threat is static means that you can easily calculate and maintain the 2nd Highest Threat in a raid. After that you can Simply use a Target-of-Target Macro for Blessing of Protection on the main tank, after casting a few more GBoK, You have successfully "Taunted" the boss. In addition this acts as a Tank-Swap that a great many fights require. To be noted this technique SHOULD work on un-taunt-able bosses, but has not been tested by myself. It is also to be noted that when talented, Blessing of Protection has a 3 min CD.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Comment by Bladechaos

Like everyone said Thank you very much for the time invested in this.
So what is your thoughts on taking Divine Strength over Imp SoR?
I feel like I run SoW 90% of the time and only use Crusader/ SoR on the kill target IF there is a kill order. I'm only 51 but have tanked my way to 51 so I might be missing something end game.
But with the threat from SoW I'm not seeing the SoR need other than maybe questing.
Thoughts? Thanks for your time!

Comment by veganfood

I can see that using Greater Blessing of Kings is the most efficient to generate threat but the guide mentions that BOW does not generate any threat. I did a quick test using a threat add-on and casting the spell and Regen tick would generate threat. Why does the guide say that BOW does not generate any threat when it does? Maybe I am missing something.

Comment by Forvaine

Thanks so much for this guide - Been using it a while now, very in-depth.
I was wondering, in the context of the Season of Discovery changes, would a slower weapon with Seal of Martyrdom, and ideally a druid with Windfury in the party, be better, or would you still go for a fast one-hand and improved hand of righteousness? I've been thinking about testing this, but maybe you have some input on this already?

Protection Paladin Tanking Guide - WoW Classic

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