Tanking

[Theloras]

You don't use Force Reactive Disc for boss fights - nor do you need to be crush capped for aoe fights - besides on gauntlets, you WANT redoubt to proc if you are rocking Force Reactive Disc cause it procs on every block and chains to ALL targets.

As far as mana goes, rank 1 Consecration isn't mana heavy at all and can be spammed ad nauseum with Seal of the Crusader boosting it's dmg here as well on Nostalrius = no threat problems at all when paired with FRD.

Check out my video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STIixkkOmms

Granted this was on "The server which shall not be named" and I didn't have consecration talent at the time, but this is the power of Force Reactive Disc and reflected dmg with a boatload of spell dmg.

[Armilus]

The problem with redoubt is that most tanking gear has defense on it. It's pretty hard to avoid defence and still have good armor/stam. Paladins are going to suck on bosses because they can't make themselves crush/crit immune.

If it wasn't for itemization and the fact that there really aren't many AoE pulls in MC/BWL, they would be awesome off-tanks.

Assuming they fix demoralizing shout, warriors have no problem tanking welps during the BWL gauntlet and goblins during the lab packs (assuming your mages/warlocks don't AoE 3 seconds after the pull).

I think prot paladins were a missed opportunity in vanilla wow, they could have seen a lot more use with a few small changes.

[Theloras]

The problem with redoubt is that most tanking gear has defense on it. It's pretty hard to avoid defence and still have good armor/stam. Paladins are going to suck on bosses because they can't make themselves crush/crit immune.

If it wasn't for itemization and the fact that there really aren't many AoE pulls in MC/BWL, they would be awesome off-tanks.

Assuming they fix demoralizing shout, warriors have no problem tanking welps during the BWL gauntlet and goblins during the lab packs (assuming your mages/warlocks don't AoE 3 seconds after the pull).

I think prot paladins were a missed opportunity in vanilla wow, they could have seen a lot more use with a few small changes.

If you watch the video, you will notice that I /sit which causes incoming melee attacks to crit, thus causing Redoubt and Reckoning to proc - plus I am wearing mostly Tier 2.5 gear with a few offset tanking items but mostly stacking spell dmg when and where I can.

Being able to keep permanent Redoubt up with it's multiple charges of +30% blocking isn't an issue with this technique. Likewise being able to AOE tank and be able to put out stupid amounts of AOE dmg at the same time make it the best of both worlds.

As far as crush/crit immune for bosses, Paladins can get there, they just need to pickup all of the offset items from ZG and AQ20 along with pieces from BWL/AQ40. Sistine, a fellow Paladin from the other private server which shall not be named did as much and main tanked for his guild:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xCLxq3DHt4

He was more into being a MT than me however, I was 11/9/31 spec when I was raiding to be a jack of all trades for whatever the situation needed.

[Armilus]

Forcing yourself to be crit is not a viable method to making yourself crit immune on bosses.

As you say, you need BWL and T 2.5 gear. The OP said they're not sure if they are even going to raid.

Pre-raid, there is no decent gear for prot paladins (nothing with high armor, stam and spell damage).

[Rhinzual30]

Forcing yourself to be crit is not a viable method to making yourself crit immune on bosses.

As you say, you need BWL and T 2.5 gear. The OP said they're not sure if they are even going to raid.

Pre-raid, there is no decent gear for prot paladins (nothing with high armor, stam and spell damage).

I'm pretty sure his method would cause the healers to have heart attacks.

[Theloras]

Forcing yourself to be crit is not a viable method to making yourself crit immune on bosses.

As you say, you need BWL and T 2.5 gear. The OP said they're not sure if they are even going to raid.

Pre-raid, there is no decent gear for prot paladins (nothing with high armor, stam and spell damage).

I never said my /sit technique was intended for main tanking bosses but for AOE TANKING gauntlets and you don't need to be crush immune or have spell dmg for that matter either on Nostalrius as Consecration is stacking with Attack Power here and Seal of the Crusader is meni good as it's AP bonus is also boosting consecration's dmg output as well

I never had issues with healers who pay attention - it would be worse for warlocks AOE tanking in those situations with nothing but cloth armour so it's a moot point.

[Armilus]

As I said, there is only 1 gauntlet in the first 2 tiers of raiding content and warriors have absolutely no problem tanking it with demo shout.

Listing a bunch of bugs that cause the class to be effective is hardly a good argument for the effectiveness of the class. If you are recommending that someone roll paladin because they want to tank and paladins are totally viable tanks due to a bunch of bugs that will probably be fixed... that's kind of a dick move tbh.

[Theloras]

As I said, there is only 1 gauntlet in the first 2 tiers of raiding content and warriors have absolutely no problem tanking it with demo shout.

Listing a bunch of bugs that cause the class to be effective is hardly a good argument for the effectiveness of the class. If you are recommending that someone roll paladin because they want to tank and paladins are totally viable tanks due to a bunch of bugs that will probably be fixed... that's kind of a dick move tbh.

LOL a dick move?!? Demo shout will be nerfed here as it was on retail in a later Vanilla patch - good luck having your warriors AOE tank at that point.

Currently Consecration is stacking with AP - if/when they do change it to scale with spell dmg then it will be...wait for it...wait for it...

WHEN JUDGEMENT ARMOR'S STATS ARE REALLOCATED TO HAVE SPELL DMG ON IT!

[JCarrill0]

Full disclosure, I've never once logged into WoW. Ever.

Curious, as most stuff I see says that warriors are the tanks, and paladins, druids, shaman can tank but generally have other group roles (paladin heal, etc).

But... Is it possible to spec to tank in any of these classes and actually JUST be a tank? I'm a big fan of picking something and sticking with it (although I understand that you may level in one spec and end game in another). I just don't want to be constantly changing specs, and I want to know if I can tank as a class other than warrior.

While I sit here and read the dramatics fly high about Paladin tanking, here is my take on it.

Warriors - BEST TANKS IN VANILLA. (hands down folks)
Palaidns - Best AoE tanks in the game (sorry warriors)
Druids - BEAR TANK RAWR.

I myself play a paladin over the last 10 years, love em. I will add I did not tank in vanilla (during retail). Now that private servers been out, I have done it, and I can say it's a pretty challenging role. A lot more challenging then Warriors. We have no taunt, itemization is pretty much hand me down warrior gear. Sorry about the truth folks. Paladin have pretty amazing ability that warriors just don't have. It is what makes us unique! We don't have shield wall which is a raid tank saver, and I have excepted the fact if I ever Tank as a paladin, I wont ever be a Main tank.

Now don't get me wrong, I have SEEN paladins MAIN TANK. (Onyxia was always my fav to see a paladin tank). What I also have accepted is that we are THE BEST AOE tanks. We can raid tank, sure maybe not MT rag, but Molten core trash packs (we can solo tank it), BWL Suppresion room (not a problem), AQ Swarm Trash (that's our job), even in naxx, our AoE saves the lives of the raid. This does not come without a heavy burden. Cost is crazy, farming for Flask/Elixr/Food buffs is a must if ever consider raiding. Mana is not an issue so long as you have the consumables for it, without them, your entire raid is at risk.

I'm sure there will be many who disagree, as it has always been nay-sayers in vanilla about what us Paladins can do. In the end all I can say is you have your opinion, and I will have mine, we can agree to disagree from there.

If you do think it's worth a shot and are looking for a pre-raid Gear set, Check out the paladin forums thread here. I just released it this morning.

[Theloras]

Full disclosure, I've never once logged into WoW. Ever.

Curious, as most stuff I see says that warriors are the tanks, and paladins, druids, shaman can tank but generally have other group roles (paladin heal, etc).

But... Is it possible to spec to tank in any of these classes and actually JUST be a tank? I'm a big fan of picking something and sticking with it (although I understand that you may level in one spec and end game in another). I just don't want to be constantly changing specs, and I want to know if I can tank as a class other than warrior.

While I sit here and read the dramatics fly high about Paladin tanking, here is my take on it.

Warriors - BEST TANKS IN VANILLA. (hands down folks)
Palaidns - Best AoE tanks in the game (sorry warriors)
Druids - BEAR TANK RAWR.

I myself play a paladin over the last 10 years, love em. I will add I did not tank in vanilla (during retail). Now that private servers been out, I have done it, and I can say it's a pretty challenging role. A lot more challenging then Warriors. We have no taunt, itemization is pretty much hand me down warrior gear. Sorry about the truth folks. Paladin have pretty amazing ability that warriors just don't have. It is what makes us unique! We don't have shield wall which is a raid tank saver, and I have excepted the fact if I ever Tank as a paladin, I wont ever be a Main tank.

Now don't get me wrong, I have SEEN paladins MAIN TANK. (Onyxia was always my fav to see a paladin tank). What I also have accepted is that we are THE BEST AOE tanks. We can raid tank, sure maybe not MT rag, but Molten core trash packs (we can solo tank it), BWL Suppresion room (not a problem), AQ Swarm Trash (that's our job), even in naxx, our AoE saves the lives of the raid. This does not come without a heavy burden. Cost is crazy, farming for Flask/Elixr/Food buffs is a must if ever consider raiding. Mana is not an issue so long as you have the consumables for it, without them, your entire raid is at risk.

I'm sure there will be many who disagree, as it has always been nay-sayers in vanilla about what us Paladins can do. In the end all I can say is you have your opinion, and I will have mine, we can agree to disagree from there.

If you do think it's worth a shot and are looking for a pre-raid Gear set, Check out the paladin forums thread here. I just released it this morning.

^^^ Pretty much this ^^^ being a main tank has never been a goal of mine playing Vanilla WoW on private servers - like JCarrill0 said, it's doable, but you have to put in 300% effort to do it properly not just getting the appropriate gear to be a MT, but to also farm mats/consumables in order to be effective.

Where we truly shine are in AOE situations where not only can we tank these multiple mob fights extremely well, but we can also put out stupid amounts of dmg against them as well

- BWL Gauntlet prior to Broodlord Lashlayer and then the Goblin Technician packs afterwards
- Nefarian phase 1 Drakonids and phase 3 Undead Constructs
- Onyxia Whelp adds in phase 2 and phase 3

Since AQ40 and Naxx will not be released for quite some time here on Nostalrius, I won't bore you with those fight details, suffice to say on the AOE fights in those raid instances, my dmg output was stupidly high.

But I will give this example to illustrate my point:

Back on the other private server I used to play on, my raiding guild there ran Onyxia one time and our former GM had come back to play with us and had never raided with me before. He was the former MT for the guild and was tanking Onyxia for old times sakes when he called out on Vent, "OK everyone collapse into the middle so we can AOE down the whelps..."

Two seconds later another guild mate who was quite familiar with what I could do replied, "Theloras already killed them!"

The former GM saw this unfold and could say only, "Damn dude..."