TBC Paladin Tank Guide (1-70)

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Being a Good Tankadin

Table of Contents:

1. What is a Tankadin
2. Basic Numbers
3. Holding Threat
4. Consumables
5. Gearing up – Getting ready for Karazhan!

What is a Tankadin:

wowwiki definition of Tank:

A tank is a character whose primary role is to absorb damage and prevent others from being attacked. Tanks are “meatshields”, so to speak, putting themselves between the mobs and the more vulnerable party members.

Paladins use mana and build threat with spell damage, with the key to their threat-generation being [Righteous Fury]. They can wear plate armor. They excel in pulls with many mobs, with abilities such as [Consecration], [Holy Shield], [Retribution Aura], and [Avenger’s Shield], enabling them to keep many mobs on themselves more easily than a Warrior or Druid.

Being a tank is being the most important player in the raid. If you die – the raid wipes. Healers should always focus heals on you.

Being a good tank is NOT easy, and being a tankadin is even harder:

• You will forever be underestimated due to not being a warrior.
• You have no defensive cooldowns.
• You use mana for your spells. If you somehow run out of mana, you are useless.
• You take more damage than a warrior geared the same (and usually a druid too). This is because our talents provide 4% less overall damage taken (Improved Righteous Fury versus Defensive Stance) and in addition, we lack the vital Spell Reflection.
• Itemization, especially pre-raid, is pretty hard. Most items are suited for warriors and in order to be able to hold threat, you will have to gem/enchant for Spell Damage.

Being a Tankadin, however, gives you great powers:

• You are, without a doubt, the king of AoE aggro. This is the duty of holding many mobs attacking you instead of your raid members.
• A very special taunt, which brings not 1 mob to attack you, but 3!
• A passive Shield Wall, which takes effect whenever you are at or below 35% HP, unlike Warrior’s 30 minutes cooldown.
• Using mana is also an advantage – You do not need to be hit for rage (You do, however, get mana from being healed – don’t forget that!). You are always ready to go, no need to take thousands of damage in order to use a Devastate.
• Due to Holy Shield having 8 charges (every 10 seconds) as opposed to Shield Block (2 charges every 5 seconds), you can remain Uncrushable against fast-hitting bosses with ease. (Yes, a Tankadin is actually the best to tank Prince Melchezaar phase two).

Basic Numbers:

• 485 Defense = Critical Hit immune to almost all mobs level 72 and below (all 5-man instances and heroics)

• 490 Defense = Uncrittable by almost any mob or boss in PvE

• 102.4% Avoidance = Uncrushable by level 73 bosses

• 11,000+ Hit Points is desired for tanking Karazhan

• 160 Spell Damage is the absolute minimum needed for building threat

Avoidance is calculated using: Block Rating, Dodge, Parry, and Enemy’s chance to miss (5% + the number shown on your character sheet)

Macro that calculates your current avoidance (you have to activate Holy Shield before using this):

/script DEFAULT_CHAT_FRAME:AddMessage("Need 102.4 combined avoidance. Currently at:",0.8,0.8,1)
/script DEFAULT_CHAT_FRAME:AddMessage(GetDodgeChance()+GetBlockChance()+GetParryChance()+5+(GetCombatRating(CR_DEFENSE_SKILL)*150/355 + 20)*0.04,1,0.5,0)

3) Tanking Build:

This build is very standard and optimized for raids. You should have another paladin in your raid specced for Improved Seal of the Crusader and Vindication.

Holding Threat:

As already stated, a tank who can’t hold aggro is not a good tank. Learning how to effectively hold threat will make you a good tank. Tankadin, unlike other tanks, do a big chunk of their aggro from reactive damage.

Important spells:

Righteous Fury – Should be ALWAYS on. In addition to giving you an extra 90% threat from holy spells, it also reduces all damage taken by 6% (talents, of course).

Holy Shield – +30% (35 with a relic) chance to block, 8 charges (talented). ALWAYS have it up as well. In addition, blocks will also cause holy damage back on the target, which will be very important in holding aggro.

Consecration – The bread and butter of the Tankadin. Deals holy AoE damage to all enemies in a large area around you.

Avenger’s Shield – Hits 3 targets for Holy damage. Used for pulling and initiating. Be careful when you use this, you might pull unwanted guests.

Seal of Righteousness – The tanking seal. Deals bonus holy damage on every hit. Judging this will cause holy damage to the target.

Seal of Vengeance – Alliance Paladins were blessed with this spell. Melee hits have a chance to stack a holy dot on the target, stacks up to 5 times.

Seal of the Crusader – The seal itself is pretty useless to us, but judging this will cause the target to take extra holy damage – means extra threat for us. The best option is to have a fellow Retribution judge it.

Exorcism – Deals holy damage to an enemy Demon or Undead. Good to mention this since many mobs and bosses in Karazhan are undead.

Blessing of Kings vs Blessing of Sanctuary – As a rule of thumb, Kings is better than Sanctuary in 95% of the cases. On single target tanking, Kings is ALWAYS better. On AoE tanking, Kings should be better in raids (since 80 damage reduction is a joke compared to their damage). However, in some fights where there are many mobs attacking for low damage (Illhoof fight, for example) Sanctuary might be better. In most cases, you should have another paladin buff you with Kings and you buff yourself with Sanctuary.

Basic rotation for holding a single mob:

Seal of Crusader/Wisdom depends on what do you need more threat/mana -> pull with Avenger Shield -> Judgement while the mob is approaching you -> Holy Shield when the mob is about to hit you -> Seal of Righteousness (Or Vengeance) … at this point, you just keep resealing and judging SoR/SoV while keeping Holy Shield up, use Consecrate for single target when you need additional threat.

Alliance: If you find yourself full on mana and you know how to seal twist, you can get 5 stacks of vengeance, judge it then use SoR for 6-7 seconds, switch to vengeance again to refresh it, and judge vengeance/reseal SoR again. This can guarantee around 100 more TPS or more if you know how to do it correctly. In no situation, you should get your SoV to drop.

Basic rotation for holding more than 1 mob:

Seal of Righteousness -> pull with Avenger Shield (careful) -> Holy shield -> Concecration -> Refresh Holy Shield and Concecrate.

If you find yourself running low on mana fast, use a lower rank of Consecration.

Alliance: Optional use of SoV if you tank 2-4 mobs: 2 stacks of vengeance on each of them will generate HUGE amounts of aggro.

Consumables:

New players to TBC, especially those coming from retail Cataclysm or WotlK, will underestimate the power of consumables. Old players, mostly those who played in retail Vanilla/TBC, will overestimate consumables and will harshly disagree with me on the following:

The truth is – Consumables are nice. Nothing more, nothing less. They are helpful, but usually lack of a flask will not cause a wipe. However, with you being the tank, you set the bar for the rest of the raid. And yes, every little bit helps.

On progression raids, always be stocked with consumables. The raid is hard enough as it is, and yes, food plus flask plus weapon enchant do make a difference.

Food buffs:

[spicy Crawdad], [Fisherman’s Feast]. Both of them give +30 stamina and +20 spirit. The spirit is actually a wasted stat, but +30 stamina is a great buff.

[Crunchy Serpent], [Poached Bluefish], [blackened Basilisk], These ones are the second choice when it comes to tanking as they provide no defensive stats. +23 spell power and yet again wasted +20 spirit. Use these when (if) you have aggro issues or if your tank trashes/aoe.

Weapon Enchants:

Runes/Wards of Warding/Shielding – While very useful when soloing, their buffs won’t last. One will give you a 4000 physical shield at the start of the battle (assuming you can’t refresh it), the time you need a shield the least. Your healers will be full of mana and ready to toss a heal on you anyway. The other has a 90sec internal CD for a 400 damage reduction. Joke.

Weightstone/Sharpening Stone – Both add physical damage increase, which will only increase your threat by a minimal amount. Avoid using those. Instead, use:

[Superior Wizard Oil] -Provides +40 spell damage for an hour. Since you generate threat using spell power, this simply increases your TPS. The best and only choice.

Elixirs/Flasks:

[Flask of Fortification] – +500 HP, +10 defense rating. Lasts 2 hours, persists through death. The classic choice for tanks.

[Elixir of Major Defense] + [Elixir of Major Agility] OR [Elixir of Mastery]. These combos are actually slightly better (theoretically) than the Flask of Fortification. They only last 1 hour and will be removed on death. Personally, I believe that the extra 500 HP from Fortification is much better for us at the current content level, and I use the flask for now, but the avoidance from the elixirs will be more useful later on.

[Flask of Blinding Light] – This one, giving +80 Holy spell damage, is a huge increase in TPS. Use this when you have aggro issues.

Scrolls:

You can have any number of different scrolls active on you (unlike 3.0+). Just stack any of the following:

Agility, Stamina, Intellect, Protection.

Potions:

Lots of [super Mana Potion]. You will choke many of those.

Other potions coming to mind are resistances potions for specific fights.

Gearing up – Getting ready for Karazhan!

Below you find many items listed. These are just suggestions. Best options are shown first, while others are at the bottom of the list.

Head

[Faceguard of Determination] – 50 Badge of Justice

1129 Armor

+36 Stamina

Blue Socket

Meta Socket

Socket Bonus: +6 Stamina

Requires Level 70

Equip: Improves your dodge rating by 24.

Equip: Increases defense rating by 32.

Equip: Improves your block rating by 24.

[Felsteel Helm] – Blacksmithing

1284 Armor

+27 Stamina

Red Socket

Blue Socket

Blue Socket

Socket Bonus: +4 Hit Rating

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases defense rating by 33 (13.95 @ L70).

[Helm of the Righteous] – The Mechanar

946 Armor

+30 Stamina

+20 Intellect

Yellow Socket

Meta Socket

Socket Bonus: +4 Intellect

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases defense rating by 21 (8.88 @ L70).

Equip: Increases spell power by 23.

Equip: Restores 6 mana per 5 sec.

Enchant

[Glyph of the Defender]

Requires Keepers of Time – Revered

Use: Permanently adds 16 defense rating and 17 dodge rating to a head slot item.

Neck

[strength of the Untamed]

+27 Stamina

Requires Level 70

Requires Cenarion Expedition – Revered

Equip: Increases defense rating by 19 (8.03 @ L70).

Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 18 (0.95% @ L70).

Shoulder

[spaulders of Dementia] – Sethekk Halls (Heroic)

Binds when picked up

Shoulder

1042 Armor

+24 Agility

+25 Strength

+34 Stamina

Requires Level 70

Item Level 110

Equip: Increases defense rating by 23.

[spaulders of the Righteous] – Botanica

873 Armor

+22 Stamina

+22 Intellect

Red Socket

Blue Socket

Socket Bonus: +3 Defense Rating

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases defense rating by 20 (8.46 @ L70).

Equip: Increases spell power by 15.

Back

[slikk’s Cloak of Placation] – 35 Badge of Justice

346 Armor

+37 Stamina

Requires Level 70

Item Level 128

Equip: Increases defense rating by 16.

Equip: Improves your dodge rating by 25.

[Devilshark Cape] – Steamvaults

78 Armor

+22 Stamina

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases defense rating by 20 (8.46 @ L70).

Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 18 (0.95% @ L70).

Equip: Increases the block value of your shield by 29.

[burnoose of Shifting Ages] – Black Morass

216 Armor

+15 Stamina

Requires Level 68

Item Level 112

Equip: Increases defense rating by 26.

Equip: Increases the block value of your shield by 29.

Enchant

Dodge – 12 dodge rating

Chest

[Chestguard of the Stoic Guardian] – 75 Badge of Justice

1607 Armor

+38 Strength

+60 Stamina

Red Socket

Yellow Socket

Blue Socket

Requires Level 70

Equip: Improves dodge rating by 30.

Equip: Increases defense rating by 22.

[Jade-Skull Breastplate] – The Mechanar

1164 Armor

+30 Strength

+50 Stamina

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases defense rating by 25 (10.57 @ L70).

Equip: Increases your shield block rating by 23 (2.92% @ L70).

[Vindicator’s Hauberk]

1164 Armor

+39 Stamina

Requires Level 70

Requires The Aldor – Revered

Equip: Increases defense rating by 46 (19.45 @ L70).

Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 19 (1% @ L70).

Enchant

Exceptional Health +150 health

Wrist

[bracers of the Green Fortress] – Blacksmithing

581 Armor

+39 Stamina

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases defense rating by 17 (7.19 @ L70).

Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 10 (0.53% @ L70).

[Vambraces of Daring] – Hellfire Ramparts (Heroic)

509 Armor

+18 Strength

+26 Stamina

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases defense rating by 11.

Equip: Increases the block value of your shield by 23.

Enchant

Major Defense +12 Defense Rating

Fortitude +12 Stamina

Hands

[Felsteel Gloves] – Blacksmithing

943 Armor

+27 Stamina

Blue Socket

Red Socket

Socket Bonus: +3 Parry Rating

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases defense rating by 25 (10.57 @ L70).

[Gauntlets of the Righteous] – The Shattered Halls

728 Armor

+22 Stamina

+20 Intellect

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases defense rating by 19 (8.03 @ L70).

Equip: Increases spell power by 21.

Equip: Restores 7 mana per 5 sec.

Enchant

Heavy Knothide Armor Kit +10 Stamina

Superior Agility +15

Major Spellpower +20

Waist

[Girdle of Valorous Deeds] – Black Morass (Heroic)

782 Armor

+30 Strength

+37 Stamina

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases defense rating by 24.

Equip: Increases your shield block rating by 16.

[Girdle of the Immovable] – The Slave Pens (Heroic)

655 Armor

+17 Strength

+33 Stamina

Red Socket

Yellow Socket

Socket Bonus: +3 Dodge Rating

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases defense rating by 18 (7.61 @ L70).

Equip: Increases your shield block rating by 12 (1.52% @ L70).

[sha’tari Vindicator’s Waistguard] – Quest – How to Break Into the Arcatraz

655 Armor

+33 Stamina

Equip: Increases defense rating by 20 (9.92 @ L67).

Equip: Increases your shield block rating by 24 (3.57% @ L67).

Equip: Increases the block value of your shield by 29.

Legs

[Timewarden’s Leggings]

1019 Armor

+57 Stamina

Red Socket

Yellow Socket

Blue Socket

Socket Bonus: +6 Block Value

Requires Level 70

Requires Keepers of Time – Revered

Equip: Increases defense rating by 18 (7.61 @ L70).

Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 11 (0.58% @ L70).

[Legplates of the Righteous] – The Black Morass

1019 Armor

+27 Stamina

+24 Intellect

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases defense rating by 26 (10.99 @ L70).

Equip: Restores 10 mana per 5 sec.

Equip: Increases spell power by 28.

Feet

[boots of the Righteous Path] – The Shattered Halls Heroic

955 Armor

+34 Stamina

+26 Intellect

Requires Level 70

Equip: Improves your defense rating by 23.

Equip: Increases spellpower by 28.

[boots of Righteous Fortitude] – Anzu (Sethekk Halls Heroic summon)

800 Armor

+37 Stamina

+14 Intellect

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases defense rating by 19.

Equip: Increases spell power by 29.

Enchant

Fortitude +12 Stamina

Rings

[Elementium Band of the Sentry] – The Arcatraz

+24 Stamina

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases defense rating by 20 (8.46 @ L70).

Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 19 (1% @ L70).

[Dath’Remar’s Ring of Defense] – The Mechanar

+15 Stamina

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases your shield block rating by 15 (1.9% @ L70).

Equip: Increases the block value of your shield by 39.

[Lieutenant’s Signet of Lordaeron] – Old Hillsbrand Foothills (Heroic)

143 Armor

+30 Stamina

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 21.

Trinket

[Gnomeregan Auto-Blocker 600] – 41 Badge of Justice

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases the block value of your shield by 59.

Use: Increases the block value of your shield by 200 for 20 sec.

[Figurine of the Colossus] – The Shattered Halls

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases your shield block rating by 32 (4.06% @ L70).

Use: Each successful block heals you for 120. Effect lasts 20 sec. (2 Min Cooldown)

[Adamantine Figurine] – Shadow Labyrinth

Requires Level 68

Equip: Increases defense rating by 32 (15.09 @ L68).

Use: Increases armor by 1280 for 20 sec. (2 Min Cooldown)

[Argussian Compass] – The Underbog (Heroic)

+36 Stamina

Requires Level 70

Use: Reduces damage from each attack by 68, up to a total of 1150 damage absorbed. Lasts 20 sec.

[Alchemist’s Stone] – Alchemist Only

+15 Strength

+15 Agility

+15 Stamina

+15 Intellect

+15 Spirit

Requires Alchemy (350)

Equip: Increases the effect that healing and mana potions have on the wearer by 40%. This effect does not stack.

Weapon – You should always have 2 types of weapons – one for avoidance (typical tanking weapon) and another for threat (a caster-dps weapon).

[The Sun Eater] – The Mechanar Heroic

93 – 174 Damage

(83.4 damage per second)

+22 Stamina

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases defense rating by 13.

Equip: Increases your dodge rating by 19.

[Gavel of Unearthed Secrets]

45 – 178 Damage

(41.3 damage per second)

+16 Intellect

+24 Stamina

Requires Level 70

Requires Lower City – Exalted

Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 15.

Equip: Increases spell power by 159.

[Continuum Blade]

35 – 114 Damage Speed 1.80

(41.4 damage per second)

+30 Stamina

+11 Intellect

Requires Level 70

Requires Keepers of Time – Revered

Equip: Improves hit rating by 8 (0.63% @ L70).

Equip: Increases spell power by 121.

Enchant

Major Spellpower +40

Shield

[Crest of the Sha’tar]

4465 Armor

108 Block

+13 Strength

+19 Stamina

Blue Socket

Blue Socket

Socket Bonus: +3 Dodge Rating

Requires Level 70

Requires The Sha’tar – Exalted

Equip: Increases defense rating by 11 (4.65 @ L70).

Equip: Increases the block value of your shield by 15.

[shield of the Wayward Footman] – BoE world drop

3329 Armor

71 Block

+24 Stamina

Requires Level 65

Equip: Increases defense rating by 16.

Equip: Improves your block rating by 18.

[Netherwing Defender’s Shield] – Quest

3615 Armor

80 Block

+21 Stamina

+13 Intellect

Durability 100 / 100

Equip: Increases defense rating by 13 (5.5 @ L70).

Equip: Increases the block value of your shield by 19.

Equip: Increases spell power by 15.

Enchant

Shield Block +15 Block Rating

Major Stamina +18 Stamina

Libram

[Libram of Repentance] – the first item you should buy with your badges

Requires Level 70

Equip: Increases your block rating by 42 while Holy Shield is active.

[Libram of the Eternal Rest] – Sethekk Halls

Requires Level 68

Equip: Increases the spell power of your Consecration spell by 47.

Gems

[solid Star of Elune] +12 Stamina

Once you get uncrittable and uncrushable stamina becomes your best stat to aim for. Others coming from gear upgrades.

[Powerful Earthstorm Diamond] +18 Stamina and 5% Stun Resist

[Eternal Earthstorm Diamond] +12 Defense Rating and +5% Shield Block Value – Sunwell recipe, so we might need to wait a while ^^

Congratulations you are ready to start tanking in Karazhan!

Feel free to add additional information.

Credits: threesix for very base of the list and the idea