#0 - June 13, 2007, 8:25 p.m.
We stand, we fight!
If you get aggro, run towards us, chances are we will AOE to keep threat up on multiple mobs, get them in the AOE range, we also have the taunt ability, give us time to use it, even if it gives you more threat.
You pull, you tank! So let us pull.
Let the Paladin do the initial pulling, this should be true in almost all situations, unlike Warriors we have an excellent pulling tool called Avenger's Shield, it does damage to up to 3 targets if they are close to each other, it also "Dazes" them, slowing their movement. This pulling gives us an incredible amount of threat and enables the DPS to start almost right away.
Sap is overrated
If 3 mobs or less, Rogues do not use SAP. Since our Avenger's Shield allows us to pull all those 3 mobs with a large amount of threat, there is really no need to sap, this might not be the suitable in all cases tho, but in normal instances it should not be a problem for a decently geared Paladin to tank 3 mobs at the same time, of course healer need to be decent as well.
It's tricky this sheep business
If 3 mobs or less, Mages Sheep AFTER Paladin has pulled, not before, but before the mobs arrive at Paladin, we might want to AOE Concecration to keep mobs on us.
More tricky crowd control, plan ahead
If 4 mobs or more, arrange SAP and SHEEP with Avengers Shield in mind, The Paladin can for example target the most right mob, so that the Avenger's Shield damage hits the 3 mobs on the right side, but not the 4th sapped left side mob. Again, sheep After the pull, but before they arrive in Paladins AOE Concecration spell range. Please note that rats and other critters can take one of the hits from Avenger's Shield.
We know how, let us show how
Making the Paladin the party leader may be preferable as he can mark up pulls with his own class in mind.
Noone wants chaos
If we for some reason do not pull, chaos can spread very quickly, if a mage pulls with sheep, all mobs will aggro him first, then healer heals the mage, getting aggro from a few mobs, now we have threat spread on different party members and with 15 sec cooldown on our taunt, party can be in a lot of trouble. You will probably see Paladin trying to AOE to catch as many mobs as possible, try to get the mobs to run to or through the AOE.
Please keep animals out of the area
If you do try to Sheep a mob that is in AOE range, forget it, we will do everything we can to keep hate on as many mobs as we can, avoiding AOE might cause more chaos than tanking that extra mob.
All out, or all in, dps delivers
Depending on the Paladin gear and spell damage, DPS might want to wait a little bit before going all out, also watch the Paladins mana pool very carefully, it is like a reversed Rage for Paladin, more mana = more threat.
Better safe than sorry!
Always take the safe choice, if you are unsure of your tanks threat gain, be careful, this is especially important in heroics and raids. Crowd control and mitigation (ie. only tank takes damage) is more important than your damagemeters list. In my opinion everyone should have KTM and/or the Omen addon.
Salvation or Damnation?
We can give you Salvation, but you have to say if you need it or want some other blessing, we do trust you with Might or Kings (if we have it), but manage your threat or we will force Salvation on you.
Healing when tanking works against its purpose!
We do not heal ourselves or anyone else, first of all, it gives almost no threat to us, we can not hit the mob while we are healing, and we can not block/parry/dodge while we are healing so we will end up taking more damage than we can heal. I know there are some Paladins specced in Prot/Holy to avoid spell interruption, I believe this is the wrong type of spec for a true Paladin tank, make your own post if you do not agree.
We are not Jedi!
If you are annoyed of us moving around while tanking multiple targets, get used to it, we can not parry and block if the mobs are behind us.
We like pain, so do our enemies
A Paladin generates threat by being hit, allow us to get hit, do not use stun abilities on the mob right at start of fight, use it mid-fight or late in the fight when we have threat control.
Rules of Enemy Insult
Our taunt is different from the ones Warriors have, we do not taunt the mob, we taunt YOU getting at the top of the threat list on up to 3 mobs that are on you, it has a 15 second cooldown, might be useful to know. Do whatever you can to increase the time we have to use it, even if that action causes more threat.
God mode active, stand back please.
Do not panic, when we are under 35% we enter god mode, taking -30% damage from all sources, now might be a good time to start casting that big 7k+ crit heal though, you will probably see us pop a potion at this point as well, especially if its a heroic boss or similar, that still can one-shot us if we are unlucky.
Give us health, and we will keep you alive
Any +HP buffs you can use is good for us, cause Paladins tend to have lower HP than Warrior or Druid tanks, things like Blood Pact etc, helps a lot.
Shiny bubbles = Bad idea!
Don't expect us to use Divine Shield (bubble) on ourselves, if we do, you will die.
Heal or Die
Healers, keep us alive, seeing a Paladin tank 6-8 elite mobs of the same level, keeping aggro on all of them is beautiful, with the right gear and right healer it is possible, and we love it, so will you. This might cost the sacrifice of a rogue or two though.
We fear only fear!
One big weakness for Paladin tanks are the non-existent counter to Fear, this can be very dangerous especially in raid/heroic encounters. Unless fear ward (lucky you) is available, the best is probably to have a mage Frost nova all the mobs and wait for the tank to come out of fear. Another tactic that might work in some cases, is to have everyone stand in range of the fear so all get feared, then the mobs should stick on the tank, but this is risky since if someone resists fear, he will probably die.
Let us show you the true path
Don't try to tell the Paladin how to tank, a Paladin who chooses protection spec and tanking should know how to tank, it is probably you who are not used to the Paladin tank, so listen carefully to him or you will not have a successful party.
And have fun! If we changed your mind about Paladin tanks to the positive after the Party is over, let us know.
A few basic pointers to the Paladin tanks as well.
- Get uncrittable before trying anything harder than normal instances
- Try to get uncrushable as soon as you can, there are plenty of information regarding this topic, read it.
- Keep an eye on your spelldamage, above 200 is good, 250-300 very good
- Tap that Holy Shield key/macro/button like it was the last thing you did alive, cause it might be.
- Learn to be quick using the Righteous Defence (taunt), get some addons that help you identify who has threat fast and target + use on them.
- You should have the KTM or/and Omen addon that shows you all raid/party members threat.
- Your on a holy crusade, show others that Paladin can tank, and be the best you can at your class/spec, give us a good reputation!
Never give up!
[Edited]
Thanks for the feedback, Ive added titles, moved a few things around (that where related) and added
the suggested change by Doomhamma. Added Omen to suggested addon. Added "We fear only fear" topic.
