Guide to Tankadin and Healadin (Updated 9 FEB 2010)

Once again -- Server maintenance has me bored out of my mind now that I've finished all of my wife's Honey-Do-List. So, I've delved into a lot of research on Paladins. First off, the gleanings posted here are drawn from my research of other's work. I in no way take any credit for the number crunching. That being said, here's my conclusions.

Tanking as a Paladin

Talents

Tanking build for ICC since 3.3 :

Crusade build for DUH(Demon,Undead,Human) Mobs
http://www.wowarmory.com/talent-calc.xml?cid=2&tal=000000000000000000000000000500513520310231133331232150230210200300000000000000

This build is based primarily on TPS (threat per second). It takes all of the talents essential for staying the heck alive, and then goes for broke making sure that ugly mug of a boss is always targeting you, the tank... and not a healer... or a tard of a dps that doesn't know how to manage their threat. (Ahem.... Huber... just saying...)

I think most of the talents are pretty self explanitory, so I'm only going to answer the *why?* for a couple of my choices.
   1) I put 2 points into Divine Guardian because of the utility it provides to reduce overall raid damage on bosses such as Festergut and Rotface where raid damage is quite a lot... not to mention the pounding the tank(s) take.
   2) 2 Vindication, 1 Conviction, 2 Pursuit of Justice. Their are variations in this area at times between 1/2 PoJ but I feel that it's useful to be able to run faster when I'm chasing down a mob beating on a healer (since most of the time people tend to run away from the tank instead of TO the tank.. hehe) and let's face it an extra 2% to crit isn't really going to affect Prot much in the way of threat generation.
   3) Finally 3/3 Crusade because it generates more threat than Seals of the Pure agains Demon/Human/Undead which is all of ToC/ICC.

Which Glyphs and Why

Major Glyphs

[Glyph of Seal of Vengeance] If you don't have SoV up and you're tanking... you're WRONG. 10 Expertise is nice any way you slice it.

[Glyph of Divine Plea] Holy crap! 3% reduced dmg when Divine Plea is active... and guess what with talents it's active 100% of the time (theoretically).

The last one is kind of up to personal choice. Personally I use [Glyph of Salvation] as I rarely lose agro and I generate plenty of threat... this is like having an extra trinket since I rarely have to use Salvation on a DPS or healer.
Couple of others to consider are [Glyph of Righteous Defense] or [Glyph of Judgement]. If you're not hit capped then the former is good to have so your taunts are less likely to be resisted. If you're capped then you could go with the latter to generate more threat. I used to use Exorcism but since they made it a 1.5sec cast now it's worthless in a tanking rotation.

Minor Glyphs

There are two that are must-have : [Glyph of Sense Undead] and [Glyph of Lay on Hands]

Third is personal choice. I think these explain themselves based on the limited choices available.

The 969 Rotation for all your tanking needs
^{Thanks to Sunhawk on Frostmane for writing this so I could copy and paste and not have to retype it all}

As a tankadin, a nice rotation to master is the 969 rotation. Basically, it means you use one 9 second cooldown ability (consecration, holy shield [HS], judgement 1/2) and then one 6 second cooldown ability (hammer of the righteous [HotR], shield of righteousness[ShoR]). You alternate them in this way to produce a constant cycle of spells and an efficient use of GCDs.

So, if pulling a boss you might go something like this:

0.0 HS
1.5 ShoR
3.0 Consecration
4.5 HotR
6.0 Judgement
7.5 ShoR
9.0 HS
10.5 HotR
12.0 Consecration
13.5 ShoR
15.0 Judgement
16.5 HotR
18.0 HS

When pulling a group, I tend to start with HotR and consecrate. Also note that you can start with holy shield or consecrate before the mob(s) get to you. That's part of the beauty of the rotation: you can substitute the order of spells depending on the mobs.

Other spells can get bumped into the rotation too, cleanse, sacred shield, Seal of Vengeance, etc. When this happens, I try to refresh Holy Shield and then restart the rotation.

It takes a little getting used to, but its very worthwhile to learn.

USEFUL 969 MACROS

Although this rotation is pretty simple to put into your muscle memory, it does leave your hands occupied when you need to use the keyboard to move. I also find it takes too much attention away from what is going on around you. Situational awareness makes a good tank so I would like a way to focus less on the rotation and more on the encounter. I am apt to get a little tunnel vision so I have turned to macros to help me out.

Macro #1: 6 Second CD
#showtooltip
/startattack
/castsequence [mod:alt] Divine Plea; reset=5 Hammer of the Righteous, Shield of Righteousness

Macro #2: 9 Second CD
#showtooltip
/startattack
/castsequence [mod:alt] Consecration; reset=5 Holy Shield, Judgement of Wisdom, Consecration

I bound these macros to the 4 and 5 keys on my toolbar. I typically use these two macros on a boss fight as the mana consumption of Concecration is easily offset by the mana gained from healing. These two macros are also useful when tanking trash that has more than 3 mobs. As you can see, now all I have to do is mash the 4,5,4,5 keys to complete my max threat rotation. This makes it much easier for me to focus on the encounter and move if I need to. You will also notice that there is an ALT key binding on each. ALT 4 will cast Divine Plea instead of the next spell in the 6 second rotation. ALT 5 will cast Concecration, which can come in handy if you want to lay a Concecration down before you pull.

You can substitute the following macro for the 9 Second cooldown if you prefer to leave Concecration out. I find this leaves me the opportunity to use an Exorcism or a Holy Wrath in the rotation if I wish.

#showtooltip
/startattack
/castsequence [mod:alt] Consecration; reset=5 Holy Shield, Judgement of Wisdom

I must warn you, however, that there are certain instances where these macros will not work very well. If your Seal wears off, you may have some issues with the 9 second macro not resetting in time for you to keep up your rotation. Also, I would recommend keeping your 969 spells on the toolbar somewhere just in case the situation requires you to change up the rotation a bit. These macros are not foolproof but I think you will find that they help more than they hurt.
_{*Thanks to Galyan for his macros found on sacredduty.com}

Stats Breakdown

I very seriously considered reposting all this and citing it all as I did with previous portions of the guide... then decided it was a waste of time. A really, really great and detailed stat breakdown for prot paladins can be found at this link http://elitistjerks.com/f76/t37172-protection_paladin_field_manual_wow_3_0_wotlk/p58/#post1337042 .. Just scroll to where it says Reference Stats and Other Numbers (read that stuff and you're set to go on stats edumication). Thanks Cathela!!!

Gearing Up

*Initial Gearset* Here's a couple of different resources for an initial gear set. Keep in mind this gear will really only get you at the bare minimums for Heroics and/or Naxx 10.

http://elitistjerks.com/f76/t37172-protection_paladin_field_manual_wow_3_0_wotlk/p58/#post1337042
*check out the Quick and Dirty Level 80 Gear Set

and also

http://www.wow-loot.com/paladin.htm
this lists items by spec for paladins and where they come from... focus on Instance & Quest Loot I haven't quite made it to the *good stuff* just yet.

- Finally, this gearset is taking a look at the BiS available to take you into ToC & ICC. Primarily, this will be badge gear, as well as gear from H ToC, FoS, PoS, and HoR plus a few crafted items. (Keep in mind this is Pre ToC/ICC 10-25)

Helm - [Headplate of the Honorbound] 75 Emblem of Triumph

Neck - [Fossilized Ammonite Choker] Heroic Halls of Reflection

Shldr- [Shoulderguards of Enduring Order] 45 Emblem of Triumph

Back- [Eerie Runeblade Polisher] Halls of Reflection (Normal)

Chest- [Liadrin's Breastplate of Conquest] 50 Emblem of Triumph

Wrist- [Saronite Swordbreakers] Crafted Blacksmithing

Hand- [Liadrin's Handguards of Conquest] 30 Emblem of Triumph

Belt - [Indestructible Plate Girdle] Crafted Blacksmithing

Legs- [Liadrin's Legguards of Conquest] 50 Emblem of Triumph

Feet- [Spiked Deathdealers] Crafted Blacksmithing

Ring1- [Mark of the Relentless] Heroic Trial of the Champion

Ring2- [Clutch of Fortification] 35 Emblem of Triumph

Trink1 - [Glyph of Indomitability] 50 Emblem of Triumph

Trink2- This one is a toss up but go for stam when possible. If you're a JC go for the Monarch Crab with +30 stam gems

Mainhand - [Rimefang's Claw] Heroic Pit of Saron

Shield - [Crygil's Discarded Plate Panel] 35 Emblem of Heroism (convert emblems of triumph or craft Titansteel Shieldwall it's almost identical)

Libram - [Libram of Defiance]

And there you go, a complete gear set having not stepped foot into a raid. I reiterate, there are much better pieces for some slots, but this is without doing any raids Some of the crafted pieces might seem expensive, but remember you can buy all of your orbs through some form of Emblem and the rest of the mats can be farmed. All in all, they're fairly easy to make anymore. I left out any new patterns from ICC.

Gems for all the pretty colored holes (in your gear?)

Ok, time for a gem list... Keep in mind I will only list the BiS gems by color along a few conditions to meet meta req.'s. Meaning... there are other choices out there... these are just considered by most to be the BiS

Meta - [Austere Earthsiege Diamond]

Red - [Shifting Dreadstone] *Need one of these to fill your meta req's.

Every Remaining Gemslot = [Solid Majestic Zircon]

*Note- Jewelcrafters make sure to smartly sub-in 3 [Solid Dragon's Eye] for the added stam.

Explanation : The reasoning behind this is simple. All tanks are affected by the debuff in ICC that reduces their dodge by 25%. Because of this, all tank classes are finding it necessary to stack stamina to be able to survive the pounding they take in all modes of ICC. There's really no reason not to gem this way for anything else as a tank. Unless of course you're below 540 Def. In which case gems and/or enchants can allow you to make up for the lack of Def on your gear itself. However, if you have the basic set of *Heroic* gear that's posted in this guide, you should have more than enough defense without gemming/enchanting anything to attain it. So we bid farewell to the days where gemming for mitigation was win.. and say hello to the age where everyone gems one way... yay for standardization.

Enchants... is it really that hard to get mats?? Noobs

Here I'll list the BiS enchants by slot. There's really nothing left to explain. Just keep in mind this is *end-game* and not beginner tank. Beginner tanks might need to enchant for def. until they reach 540.

Helm - [Arcanum of the Stalwart Protector]

Shoulder - [Greater Inscription of the Pinnacle]

Back - [Enchant Cloak - Major Agility]

Chest - [Enchant Chest - Powerful Stats]

Bracer - [Enchant Bracers - Major Stamina]

Hands - [Enchant Gloves - Armsman]

Legs - [Frosthide Leg Armor]

Boots - [Enchant Boots - Greater Fortitude]

Rings - [Enchant Ring - Stamina] *Enchanters only

Mainhand - [Enchant Weapon - Blade Ward]

Shield - [Enchant Shield - Major Stamina]

THE HOE-DOWN ON HOLY (HEALADINS READ BELOW)

While I could have taken hours to do massive amounts of research, and more time to compile it all and make it extremely in-depth for the Healadins out there.... instead I submit to you this link:
http://elitistjerks.com/f76/t84922-holy_paladin_compendium_3_3_a/

I guarantee that this guide more thoroughly covers holy paladins than anything else I have found. Thanks Frmorrison for your hard work. May many more than I benefit from it.

Many thanks to Theck @ maintankadin.failsafedesign.com for his time and effort on his theorycrafting. And to ElitestJerks for what they do.

Direct links to the work I reviewed and used primarily to create this post: http://elitistjerks.com/f76/t37172-protection_paladin_field_manual_wow_3_0_wotlk/ AND http://maintankadin.failsafedesign.com/viewtopic.php?p=474673#p474673