Table of Contents
[T_1] Protection Spec and General Overview
[T_2] Notable Talents
[T_3] Glyphs
[T_4] Gearing and Stats
[T_5] Gemming and Enchants
[T_6] Mitigation and Avoidance
[T_7] Hit Points versus Damage Reduction
[T_8] Threat
[T_9] Positioning, Movement, and Crowd Control
[T10] Openers, Rotations, and Cooldowns
[T11] Macros
[T12] Available Gear List
Disclaimer - This is and will continue to be a work in progress. This guide focuses on 85s currently getting through the middle grounds between normals and raiding, often opting for survivability with PUG and under-geared DPS in mind.
Limited familiarity with the Paladin class is required. This is not a guide on how to be a great paladin, only to fill the role of tank. Being great means knowing your strengths and weaknesses and adapting to the situation. Remember the tactics discussed here may not be the best option for your gear level. This should apply to Paladins between iLevel 315-350.
While it remains relevant, here is my Paladin, Artheo. I suggest finding an associate/friend to use as a template for yourself and a mentor. In the case that is not possible, feel free to use my paladin. I am nowhere near the best in the game, nor a dedicated Min/Maxer: I am simply doing my best to share my experiences and strategies that I know work.
[T_1] Protection Spec and General Overview
Patch 4.1 has changed the paradigm of Paladin tanking leaving 1 viable talent build:
Protection Paladin :: This build opts entirely for situational readiness. The Paladin will be switching Seals and between Hammer of the Righteous and Crusader Strike regularly. This new build opts for reduced Holy Power generation and increased swing counts to increase hit based self healing and defensive effects.
There truly is very little room for swing talent points in Paladin's current state. Despite a new appreciation for attack speed, delving into the Holy Tree requires giving up the much more potent Rule of Law. During this gearing period for the paladin, self preservation becomes somewhat difficult and proper (every CD) use of WoG becomes almost necessary. Holy Shield also is now effected by Inquisition which will now become a regular HoPo dump in AoE situations as opposed to the straight WoG spam. This increase in threat allows the Paladin to relinquish some older standbys in the search for self preservation.
Proper Seal Usage
Seal of Truth (Seal of Truth) - This seal is a substantial DPS - and therefor threat - boost to Tanking Paladins. Expertise allows our Melee abilities such as Crusader Strike to land more regularly. This seal excels in long fights because after 5 stacks of Censure, each swing deals a potent direct damage attack as well as refreshes the DoT. In fights with multiple targets, this seal can effectively be used as a bleed to keep a bit of threat building on different targets while the Paladin switches through them. This seal is highly recommended for boss fights or situations where CC or some other factor is reducing most encounters to one or two enemies.
Seal of Insight - Seal of Insight is one of the few remaining heals a Protection Paladin uses that will still generate consequential threat. While minuscule to the old values Protection Paladins used to be able to generate, using this seal effectively grants threat to all monsters engaged equal to (.75 x healing) + (1.5 x mana gains.) It is also now one of our main sources of self healing. While it completely lacks control, it is a noticeable amount especially against a constant barrage of trash packs, allowing the healer to retain mana reserves. Insight also gives enough mana for Paladins to forgo looking at their mana bars entirely, allowing constant use of spells that may otherwise drain them quickly. With all of this in mind, Seal of Insight can still be a good choice of a seal when dealing with trash packs.
Essentially, if you are going to be using Crusader Strike, Seal of Truth is a better choice. If it is beneficial to instead use Hammer of the Righteous, it is likely that Seal of Insight will carry it's weight.
Holy Power Dumps
Abilities that are a viable use of Holy Power are referred to as Holy Power Dumps. It is referred to as this because once a Paladin gets 3 stacks of Holy Power, it is generally a high priority that he/she uses them in order to not waste further Holy Power gains.
Word of Glory - Otherwise known as WoG, this heal is generally the best use of Holy Power. Although it generates no threat, like the rest of the HoPo dumps, WoG activates Holy Shield with the proper talent. Despite hesitation for the need to save WoG for emergencies, it's recommended that WoG is used every 20 seconds, as long as there are missing hit points to heal. What you do with the rest of your HoPo, while WoG is on cooldown, is up to your current situation.
Shield of the Righteous (Shield of the Righteous) - SotR is a single target shield slam which is made exceptionally powerful by the talent Sacred Duty. On single target fights, when the Sacred Duty buff is active, SotR can be the best HoPo Dump available.
Inquisition - Inquisition is a 4/8/12 second buff that drastically increases Holy Damage done by the Paladin - especially potent when using Hammer of the Righteous, Holy Wrath, and Consecration. This is not a scaling factor, such as Attack Power or Spell Power, but a straight 30% increase on top of your current damage. Because this talent now also activates Holy Shield, this has become a viable use for Paladins in situations where they cannot maintain agro through single-target abilities.
Generally speaking, SotR is best used when a Paladin is using Crusader Strike, where Inquisition is better used when using Hammer of the Righteous.
[T_2] Notable Talents
All Protection Paladins must have Toughness, Judgements of the Just, Sanctuary, Shield of Righteousness, Holy Shield, Vindication, Ardent Defender, and Crusade maxed out.
It is highly recommended that you consider Divinity, Wrath of the Lightbringer, Hammer of the Righteous, Reckoning, Grand Crusader, Shield of the Templar, Divine Guardian, and Rule of Law.
Hallowed Ground is a required talent if you wish to use Consecration. This is now one of the best talents to steal points from to use as swing points.
Sacred Duty is recommended for single target threat.
Reckoning is now a more valuable talent as most other options for self healing have been greatly diminished. It is highly recommended you use this talent to double the potency of Seal of Insight and Enchant Weapon - Mending.
Eye for an Eye is a non-nil DPS increase. Lucky procs can help secure threat on casters at a range, and over the course of long fights, it is possible for E4E to net 10-to-15% of damage done by the Paladin - it just depends on if/what the enemy is casting. For control's sake, it is recommended that you choose Improved Judgement instead.
Pursuit of Justice has been repeatedly degraded through nerfs of its Internal Cooldown. It is now recommended that you opt instead for Earthen Vitality and use your talent points elsewhere.
Judgements of the Pure is still a relatively weak talent considering a huge portion of our hits come from CD'd melee abilities, spells, and DoT ticks.
[T_3] Glyphs
For the most part, glyphs are not deal breakers for Paladins. Glyph of Seal of Truth and Glyph of Holy Wrath are the only 2 must-haves.
You should simply glyph for whichever Holy Power ability-set you are planning on using the most. Glyphing by no means restricts your options, but it is wise to figure ahead of time which moves you would prefer to be using so that you can strengthen them.
I recommend Glyph of Hammer of the Righteous and Glyph of Shield of the Righteous because they outweigh their counterparts and offer a good mix of AoE and single target threat control.
[T_4] Gearing and Stats
While gearing up, nothing beats out Stamina and Armor one-for-one for Paladin tanks. It is for this reason that it may sometimes be acceptable to use DPS Plate and even Holy Plate for brief stints. Especially in cases where secondary stats are acceptable. While keeping Stamina on the top of the list, it becomes important to choose your secondary stats correctly.
There are two different secondary objectives you must gear for: Mitigation and Threat. During the front end of this stage, the need for raw mitigation trumps the need for threat. Despite Paladins being the worst threat generators out of all the tanks, it is not often that a similarly geared player will cause threat trouble for you if you are using the correct abilities.
This does mean that it is acceptable to forgo or even Reforge Hit in favor of mitigation stats at first. Just remember that if you do not have threat, your Mitigation is worthless as well. For every bit of hit and expertise you forgo, know that somewhere down the road you may have to scramble for threat to make up for your choices.
With this balance being a constant issue, it is impossible to define a omnipotent Stat-weight chart. It is possible, however, to note the effectiveness of different stats for offensive and defensive capabilities. As the overall damage intake to these monsters grows with your group's abilities, so to will the need for your Threat output.
Defensive Stats in Order of Importance
Stamina - Hit Points, greatly boosted through Passive Abilities.
Armor - First Layer of Mitigation. 1 Mastery Rating ~ 7 Armor.
Mastery - Shield Block Mitigation.
Parry - Avoidance with slightly better diminishing returns.
Dodge - Avoidance.
Strength - Useful for Spell Power for Healing and Grants 25% Parry Rating.
Agility - Provides a minimal amount of Dodge.
Critical Strike - Useful for Healing, Deminished greatly by Rule of Law.
Offensive Stats in Order of Importance
Weapon DPS - More-so for Crusader Strike users.
Expertise - Only to 16.
Hit - Only to 8%.
Strength - Provides AP and SP.
Stamina - Provides AP through Vengeance.
Critical Strike - Provides critical hits, more useful with AoE Builds.
For current intents and purposes Strength, Critical Strike, Haste, Agility, Intellect and obviously Spirit can be ignored.
[T_5] Gemming and Enchants
Keeping stat weights in mind, all Gemming and Enchants and consumables should provide Stamina or Mitigation. Essentially, where you're trading Stamina on a 1-to-1 with Mitigation, it is wise to take the Mitigation. When you are at a 3-to-2 tradeoff, including Gems, it is wise to take the Stamina. As such, the Mastery bonuses on Hands and Feet outweigh their Stamina counterparts.
Weapon Enchant on the whole is being changed to Mending. While Mending's potency has not risen, its relative strength to the rest of the Paladin's self healing abilities has. At GS350, WoG can provide about 1200HPS, Seal of Insight can provide nearly 900, and Mending can provide 400. Furthermore, when Insight is not in use - say for a Boss fight - Seal of Truth's extra hits and DoT effect can boost this number a decent amount.
Enchants
Weapon :: Enchant Weapon - Mending
Hands :: Enchant Gloves - Mastery
Feet :: Enchant Boots - Earthen Vitality or Enchant Boots - Mastery (if you've taken Pursuit of Justice)
Helm :: Arcanum of the Earthen Ring
Chest :: Enchant Chest - Stamina
Shoulders :: Greater Inscription of Unbreakable Quartz (Lesser Version at Honored)
Legs :: Twilight Leg Armor
Shield :: Enchant Shield - Mastery
Gemming Tips
It is best to stick with Solid Ocean Sapphire for almost all slots. The only time to use a different gem is if the Socket bonus is remarkably potent and counteracts the loss of 30 Stamina. Generally speaking, if a socket bonus grants Stamina, then it is wise to socket accordingly.
For example, Helm of the Proud grants more than the 30 Stamina lost by using a green gem. Because of this, it is optimal to use a Puissant Dream Emerald instead, as it will net 20 Mastery and 15 Stamina more than a Blue Gem.
Remember that Stamina is the only stat in the game that has this 1.5 ratio and therefor makes it a wise choice in gems until you've become comfortable with your HP.
With this in mind, your Meta Gem choices are between:
Austere Shadowspirit Diamond - In most cases the best option.
Eternal Shadowspirit Diamond - A great meta that does not require 2 yellow gems, which may be the easier option at first.
As your gear progresses, the potency of these switches back and fourth, but with current BiS gear the Eternal is actually slightly on top again. Bottom line: it's not worth losing sleep over.
Never follow Gem colors for bonuses to Strength, Crit, Haste, Intellect, Agility, or Spirit, as there is no way these stats can match up to the potency of the Stamina lost.
[T_6] Mitigation and Avoidance
So how do we know when we have enough Mitigation and Avoidance? The need for +Defense has been removed from the game, but there is a very similar system in place now: the difference between taking full hits - or "white hits" - and taking only hits that have been someway mitigated before hand. This is called Block Capping.
Here's the general idea:
Mastery increases the number of blocks you perform - Mitigation - reducing many hits by some.
Dodge and Parry increase the amount of times your enemy will miss you entirely - Avoidance - reducing few hits by all.
Due to these principals, Mitigation creates control, where Avoidance creates damage spikes.
The principals at play here revolve around the fact that
Some Damage Reduction all of the Time is better than All Damage Reduction some of the Time.
This is the golden rule of tanking. Mitigation helps smooth out damage intake to help your healers adjust properly. Avoidance is unreliable and can confuse healers or even mess up their rotations. This is not to say that Avoidance is a bad stat, simply that it should not be chosen in favor of Mastery.
Avoidance has diminishing returns - as you get higher and higher rating the actual effectiveness goes down. It is also naturally harder to gain a % in avoidance due to the stat-weight. This means that Avoidance is less potent of a source of damage reduction in every way compared to Mastery.
The solution here is a happy medium. Again, there is a balance that will shift as gear progresses, but these rules ring true throughout Heroics.
Your goal is to have Avoidance (dodge% + parry%) + Mitigation (block%) = 102.4%. This will mean that no hit taken will go Unblocked or Unavoided. It does not matter how these numbers are stacked, but it is easier to accumulate Block faster than Avoidance. It will not be an easy feat to reach this number - and is likely not possible in Heroic gear. Assuming 25% Avoidance, Block Capping requires 34 Mastery, or a Rating of 4680.
Once you have reached your 102.4% goal, it is very relevant to note that Avoidance is the better option as long as you can keep the numbers high. At this point in gearing, dropping Mastery for Avoidance is viable, but it may be more intelligent to shift extra gear towards Threat instead.
[T_7] Hit Points versus Damage Reduction
The age old debate of which is more important is more alive today than ever. Many gearing strategies suggest that you stack Mastery and let Stamina come with gear, while others suggest just the opposite.
If we consider your effective Survivability at any given point in time we can agree it is a combination of your total Mitigation and your Health Pool. For instance, blocking 41% of your entire health pool is in effect granting a 41% bonus to your total health. This means that HP changes should be considered in terms of percentage change as well, as in the end any change to either stat is a change to your general survivability.
Pro Stamina
First, the way Stamina is weighted right now, it is quicker to scale up your total Survivability by continuing to stack Stamina. Secondly, we must remember that our avoidance and mitigation are compound numbers being multiplied and effected by our Buffs, Cooldowns, and most importantly Armor.
Armor effectively boosts the potency of our Health by another drastic margin - 60% physical reduction at 350iLevel. This becomes a static gain in our Survivability regardless of Block/Parry/Dodge. What this effectively does is multiply any health you get by that 60%. Again, this is not including buffs/debuffs such as Vindication and Inspiration, nor is it including Cooldowns such as Guardian of Ancient Kings. All of these effectively boost the potency of Stamina before Dodge/Parry/Block come into the equation.
Thirdly, a higher health pool effectively increases your threat generation via Vengeance, especially over long fights.
Lastly, remember that your Physical Mitigations have no effect on Spells and certain attacks. Again, for these situations Stamina wins over Mastery.
Pro Mastery
As your Health Pool increases, it takes more and more Stamina to effect the same percent change. When you have 100kHP, 50kHP is a 50% increase. When you have 150kHP, 50kHP is only a 33.33% increase. This is a valid arguement, as Mastery effectively increases survivability based on percentages as well.
Also, healing over-sized health pools can throw healers off, and when combined with poor mitigation, can quickly drain a healer's mana. Generally speaking, more health allows healers more time to assess damage intake, and more time to correct mistakes which is a good thing - but without Mitigation to match, there is nothing separating a Tank from anyone else, meaning you're not doing your job.
Also, In some cases - namely percentage based attacks - more health simply means more for the healer to have to heal through. Examples of this can be found all throughout Heroics (Gravity Strike), and through select boss encounters as well.
This is a personal call, but again a happy medium is your best bet.
It is my personal advice that you stack Stamina until you are very comfortable with your Health Pool. At least 150kHP group buffed is required to ease healer's jobs. I would aim for 150k unbuffed before swapping over to Mastery Stack - this takes a lot of Stamina.
Edited, Feb 17th 2011 3:20am by tzsjynx
Edited, May 18th 2011 12:48am by tzsjynx