Life and times of a Paladin

The random dungeon finder has somewhat revitalised instance runs for many people (badges ftw as they say). I generally run at least one (usually more) a day on both my characters – I have a mage too, my former main from when I first started playing in 2005. As a result I see a lot of my fellow paladin tanks – and being honest with you many are pretty awful! So here is my quick guide on tanking (primarily heroics) as a protadin.

Firstly gear for the situation – no heroic in Wrath is particularly difficult or contains bosses which hit overly hard. Do not be afraid to change your gear around to increase your threat (and dps) output.  My general heroic tanking set can be seen here. Trinkets such as [Darkmoon Card: Greatness] are a real boon – it’ll give you direct threat in the form of attack power and “indirect threat” (and mitigation) in the form of block value (increasing the damage/threat of your [Shield of Righteousness]). You can safely swap about a significant amount of gear – get a 1H DPS weapon if you can. Theck has posted a great guide on weapon selection via his MATLAB simulations. The [Black Icicle] is great if you do not raid – else almost any 1H DPS weapon from ICC 10 or 25 man will do. I personally enchant it with [Enchant Weapon - Berserking]. I may swap a trinket out for more stamina if I’m concerned about the healer (green equipped healers ftl!) – always be mindful of the situation. Don’t be surprised if the healer (in particular) kindly points out you’re in “Retri gear”, just be polite and say if he has any difficulties keeping you alive you’ll happily swap gear. You may also be pleasantly surprised to find peeps congratulating you on going with more dps gear.

Secondly, speccing for heroics – you do not need to spec specifically for heroics. A “standard” 0/53/18 end tanking spec will often do you fine. This is particularly true if you gear as above. However you may decide to respec to further increase your dps/threat output. In that situation I’d recommend a spec like 0/53/18. Reckoning procs will up your dps and threat and [Seal of Command] is godly for tanking multiple mobs. If you don’t mind lossing run speed you can further increase output by plopping the two points into [Conviction] – personally I prefer, even in heroics, to having a little more movement speed.

Thirdly, how to pull – pull often and pull as much as you feel you can safely tank. For meleeing mobs you will find your high block value will help to significantly reduce incoming damage. Reckoning combined with Seal of Command will ensure damage is kept consistently high on multiple mobs. Be quick to pull – while being aware of healing of course – this will ensure your [Divine Plea] remains active as often as possible. If you’ve never run the instance before do point that fact out! Most people will happily give you advice on what to pull, when, what it may do, where to pull from, etc. Sure there may be the odd person who complains and sighs that you don’t know the instance … don’t worry, they are usually bottom on damage done and die most frequently. With that said if you feel confident about how you’re tanking don’t feel you have to listen to every last thing the group “advises” you on.

Don’t feel you have to stick to the 969 rotation and use all the tools you have. For example in Halls of Reflection the first two boss waves are a great time to use [Holy Wrath] to control the mobs. Remember to use [Avenger's Shield] to silence a mob at range – indeed it’s good practice to do this whenever you pull, target the caster. If you’re pulling multiple mobs  - and why wouldn’t you? – [Hammer of the Righteous] is a good initial attention grabber, as is [Consecration]. Seal of Command damage will quickly glue most/all the mobs to you.

Fourthly, stay alive – sometimes you may get a little carried away and pull a few too many mobs (or someone else may do so). Equally you may have a healer that … well … cannot heal. In either case remember you’ve various tools for staying alive, do not be afraid to use them! Whether it be an oh shit moment [Divine Protection] or just a routine [Sacred Shield] staying alive is the most important single thing you can do.

Finally, listen to the group – pay attention to party chat and particularly the healing situation. If the healer AFKs you may want/need to stop pulling and simply wait. Blessing requests – a thorny subject – keep in mind many people do not really know what blessing is best for them. Quite often [Blessing of Kings] is best regardless of what peeps may request. I recently ran a random, well it had four guild members and one pug (healer) in which there were two Shaman (one the healer). The resto shaman, after a near wipe said he was waiting for the “correct blessing”. In other words he was was [Blessing of Wisdom]. The group was quick to point out that; a) Kings is better for him regardless and b) we had two shaman and thus he (or our other shaman) could very easily put down a [Mana Spring Totem]. It is quite common to find DPS warriors and Rogues asking for [Blessing of Might] – when they do I usually just yield and give it to them. Typically the warrior then uses [Battle Shout] making the blessing totally worthless but it’s quicker than arguing with them!

Have fun!