Tanking crib sheet – ICC Lower Spire

It doesn’t take a lot of looking to find boss guides on the internet, and TankSpot does a great job of providing videos and walkthroughs. There aren’t a lot of guides that specifically outline the key things you should be watching for on each fight though (positioning, etc), which is what I’m hoping this list will remedy. I’m going to start with the ICC bosses since they’re the most ‘relevant’, and then work my way through ToC (heroic and regular), Ulduar, and then finally Naxx. I include the earlier raids simply because there are many who are just now trying their hands at tanking, and it’s a different perspective than if you DPS’d or healed in the past.

Each write-up will include tips for both an MT and an OT – with an emphasis on Paladin tanks in particular, and a focus on 10 man versions of the boss (as I haven’t done 25 ICC yet, and don’t know if I ever will).

Lord Marrowgar

· MT and OT stack together in front of the boss to share a SaberLash type cleave. Nobody else should be here.

· Sacred Shield on a squishy raid member when he does his Bonestorm whirlwind. HoP will remove the DOT if it's critical.

· OT should be prepared to taunt if the MT’s taunt misses after a Bonestorm. It is a complete agro reset, so any DoTs or HoTs rolling will get his attention.

· Use Hand of Reckoning or Avengers Shield to help with the impale. It's not a huge hit, but it's still DPS.

· Don’t stand in the fire. It will target one player then move out in 4 directions. The room can get quite full in a hurry.

· Try and position Marrowgar directly opposite the door to give the raid the most room to spread out.

Lady Deathwhisper

· Adds will spawn from the left and right side of the room. Watch out for Deformed Fanatics – they move slow and hit like raid bosses. Keep agro and kite them around while your ranged burn them down.

· Keep Frost Aura up (Shadow Aura if no priests available).

· The MT will get a stacking debuff that reduces threat generated, so taunt off them when they get 3 or 4 stacks.

· Death and Decay will be all over the floor, try to move her out of it by LOSing her around her platform.

· Be ready to HoP a clothie if a Fanatic (deformed or otherwise) gets loose – as they’ll one shot them.

· Tank Deathwhisper at the bottom of her platform to prevent LoS issues when you’re moving from her Death and Decay.

The Gunship

· One tank (I recommend a bear if you have one, simply because it’s hilarious) will use a rocket pack and jump to the other ship. Mauradin (or Saurfang) will have to be picked up and tanked. They get a stacking buff, so be prepared to jump back as soon as the mage dies. Don’t jump before your DPS goes though, remember – first in, last out.

· OT will be looking for a portal on their own ship. Three adds come out, so just drop your consecrate and be ready to pick up the three adds (they don’t all come at once). They don’t hit hard, I generally do this fight in my heroic build/gear.

Deathbringer Saurfang

· Position Saurfang right on his steps (or just below them) facing the gunship.

· Watch your use of Consecrate/HotR as his Blood Beasts will agro in it and start hitting you – which is bad.

· Tanks swap whenever Rune of Blood is out on the current tank. Taunt quickly, as his self heals are pretty impressive.

· If there aren’t enough slows in the raid, HoJ or AS the Blood Beasts to buy the ranged more time to burn them down.

· Save cooldowns for the sub 30% mark when he goes into a Frenzy.

Next week I’ll put out the crib sheet for ToC (regular and heroic), as well as the Ulduar information. If we actually get the Plagueworks on Tuesday, I’ll try and have that by Wednesday so it’s still fresh and useful.

Tanking 401 - Becoming the MT (and beyond)

In all honesty, this article should be titled “becoming the master of Zen”, because as a MT, that’s what you’ll have to do in order to be more than just another tank.

In and of itself, being the MT of a guild/raid probably won’t garner you any special benefits or privileges. If anything, more will be expected out of you than ever before – both in the raid and in the guild. In my opinion, the MT (second only to the Raid Leader) is the fastest burnout position in the game. While this has changed with the advent of dual-specs and the increase in Prot DPS, being the MT is a largely thankless job.

The History of the MT

During the Vanilla days, a guild MT was easily spotted across IF/Org. It was the one or two guys in their T2/T3, Thunderfury strapped to their backs, and rocking the best of everything. These players were the rockstars of their guilds, and they rarely broke out to do anything but raid. Most of their time was spent on an alt trying to farm the money needed for repairs and consumables, or paying the 50g (which was a lot of money in Pre-BC days) respect fee a couple of times a week. The overwhelming majority of MTs (and tanks in general) were Warriors, as the Druid and Paladin tank were not generally seen as overly viable. There was also such a high need for cleansing and healing, that those classes were pushed into healing roles.

Over time more classes were allowed to step into mainstream guilds as MTs, and in Wrath you can reasonably expect to find any of the four tanking classes listed as the MT. Fortunately the game has changed in such a way that the class you play is not as important as the skill that you bring to the table. While there are certainly some fights (especially early on in Wrath) that favored one tank over another (Sarth 3D with DKs), the designers have specifically stated that they don’t want that trend to continue. What you are instead finding is that the right tank is used (except in ) based on their toolbox of spells and abilities.

What you can expect to get

If you find yourself elevated to the position of a guild MT, you can reasonably expect a few perks/benefits to be heaped upon you.

· You get the expectation of never missing a raid. Ever. Even if your cat is on fire and has stapled itself to the dog, you’re expected to raid.

· Pre 3.3 (and possibly as much now with the instant queues tanks get) you’ll get asked to chain tank heroics until your shield falls off and you kick your tower over.

· You may get a chance at priority loot, providing your guild loot system works that way (I am personally against this).

· You will get extra blame if things go wrong.

· You get to spend the foreseeable future staring at the crotch of whatever boss you’re facing.

· Finally, you can expect to get challenged by every upstart OT who read my Tanking 301 module that is looking to take your position of presumed power and glory.

Fortunately, it’s not really all doom and gloom. A MT is generally respected within the guild, and throughout the server if they’re a member of a successful guild. Sorry to say, the MT of a guild that just got Naxx on farm this far into 3.3 probably isn’t going to have the notoriety that you may be looking for.

What’s really different from being an OT?

First, and possibly most important, you will never have to sit or miss a raid. You will never be asked to spec DPS for a fight, and you won’t spend the encounter time running around picking up trash. As a MT however, it is expected that you are intimately familiar with all the bosses/trash you face – preferably before the first time you actually pull them (unless blind runs are your guild’s thing – which I totally approve of).

Second, you have to maintain an almost inhuman awareness of what’s going on in the raid. This is probably a significant contributing factor in why so many raid leaders are the MT. Knowing how many raiders are dead, what raid CDs are available (much less of an issue now with the reduced CDs and removal of drums), and what your healer situation is will allow you to make calls on your own CD usage. You need to maintain an eye on adds, OT debuffs, raid/boss positioning, portals, timers, etc. More importantly, you need to know who you can call on to get the information you need, when you need it.

Next, you need to be doing everything that you did as an OT (or that your OT is doing) to be successful. Lots of raid AoE damage? Throw your Sacred Shield on someone a touch more squishy (Arcane mages love this for the DPS increase). Keep an eye on your threat meter and be proactive with Salvation. Don’t be afraid to heal yourself if you’re not being beat on and things are going sideways (Marrowgar on Heroic 25 would probably be an instance where this would ring true).

Finally, you’re going to have to make sure that your gear is the absolute best it can be. You should have multiple sets (block, mitigation, avoidance, threat), and every piece should have epic gems and top of the line enchants. Even though the content is fairly easy (ok, trivial for cutting edge guilds – challenging for your average raid group), there will come a day where you’ll be happy that you hung onto that random stat trinket.

Things to remember

If you take nothing else away from this, remember that you are not a unique and beautiful snowflake. There are plenty of other tanks sitting on the fringes that would love to have your spot, and they’re probably just as good. The things that set you apart are attitude, attendance, and dedication. Your guild is depending on you to be there every night for them (raid nights, not 24x7 – nobody should expect that), and that you’re going to be the keystone that they can build successes on.

Train your OTs, and don’t be afraid to swap roles with them (particularly if they are a different class). If you have to miss a night, the raid should be able to continue without you. This will also build a sense of cohesion amongst your tanks. You don’t want your OT stepping into your place without knowing the role (unless you’re trying to set them up for failure).

Read, read, read. The blogsphere is full of information just waiting to be found. It’s not at all uncommon for me to find a tip here or there on a spell or build that I’ve never thought of trying. Be adventurous, and don’t be afraid to think outside the proverbial box.

Conclusion

Being the MT of a guild/raid is a huge responsibility, and not a position to be taken lightly. Be prepared to give your best to your guild, and they’ll take care of you. At the end of the day, there’s 9/24 folks counting on you to be there, and that’s a big weight for the old shoulders. Remember that this position isn’t for everyone, and you shouldn’t feel bad if you’re not ready/willing to step up and fill it.

Paladin Tanking 301 – The way of the OT

Today’s post is going to cover some of the differences between tanking heroics, and stepping in as an OT (Off Tank) in your first raid. Later posts will cover transitioning to a MT (Main Tank) role, and the graduate course of raid leading (not for the timid or faint of heart).

What is an OT?

Quite simply, the OT is one of the additional tanks in a raid. Generally the OT is slightly less geared and/or experienced than the MT, and has a different set of duties and responsibilities. In Vanilla WoW, the OTs often received trickle down gear after the MT had already picked through the best of the loot, and there was a much higher competition for the MT position.

Most importantly though, the OT has the thankless job of handling everything that the encounter throws at the raid – other than the main boss. If there are adds, they’re yours. Someone has to taunt the boss to eat some nasty spell? Welcome to the show kid, hope you brought your fastball. Basically the MT goes on to fame and riches, while you bide your time and plot your hostile takeover.

I guess the MT/OT relationship is a lot like the Sith – eventually one will kill the other.

In all honesty though, the OT position is dynamic, and the OT can be extremely challenged with responsibilities. Wrath has done a fairly decent job of keeping the OTs engaged, and in many guilds the mentality has definitely shifted to a shared tank pool, instead of the traditional MT/OT roles.

So what do you do different?

First thing – make sure your defense is over 541. The odds are good that you’re way above it, and that’s never a bad thing. Raid bosses (even 10 man normal versions) hit a bit harder than their heroic dungeon counterparts, so getting your defense and mitigation up is extremely important.

Unlike the MT however, since the OT will probably be handling adds (or special abilities), you’ll want to worry less about maxing out your Stamina, and more about hit and expertise rating. You don’t want to have a taunt or Avenger’s Shield miss, and if the adds are getting burned down – you’ll need to establish threat quickly. Building a quality block set is also helpful. Consider it a bonus if the MT is a DK or a Druid.

Speccing to OT

Fortunately, if you’re just filing the OT role, you can keep your heroic tank spec/glyphs and be in great shape. I would make sure you have the Glyph of Righteous Defense in, as well as Divine Plea. After that, it’s really a choice based on the boss you’ll be facing. With all the undead in ICC though, Holy Wrath is a nice third glyph to have. If you’re joining a new guild and are trying to make that great first impression, buddy up with a Scribe (no, they aren’t called insciptionists) and keep a stack of your different glyphs. This way you can swap out between fights.
Your talent tree won’t change up too much, as I mentioned your heroic spec will work fine for OT duty. There are a couple of changes you might make though, both to increase your survivability and to help mitigate some of the raid damage.

You’re going to get the points you need by dropping Reckoning, and one point in Spiritual Attunement. The points in ret are largely arbitrary. Depending on your tank/raid composition, you may want to pick up different talents for utility purposes.

Prot Tree

• Divine Sacrifice – After getting a facelift in 3.3, this talent will now only protect your party, but is still very effective in helping to mitigate some AoE damage.

• Divine Guardian – This talent makes DS really shine, as it allows for a 20% raid wide reduction in damage. You can make a /cancelaura macro to get rid of the DS ‘debuff’ so you stop taking damage, but still reduce raid damage. An excellent talent to pop during phase three of Anub’arak (as long as you don’t have any adds on you). It also buffs your Sacred Shield, which you should have up at all times.

• Imp Hammer of Justice – A nice talent to take for interrupts, but you’re going to lose points to put into Touched by the Light. I personally skip this, unless I know I’m going into an interrupt heavy encounter.

• Touched by the Light – I skip this in my heroic tank build, but for raid tanking it will come into play more since you will be running SoV on bosses.

Ret Tree

• Benediction – I picked this up for Vezack, since 10% mana reduction for all instant cast spells (all our tank abilities) is nothing to scoff at. If you don’t have a ret paladin in your raid though, these points are probably better spent in other places.

• Heart of the Crusader – Worth picking up if you don’t have a retadin, as it will give a 3% increased critical strike chance to your whole raid.

• Imp Blessing of Might – Again, if no retadin, pick this up. Your melee will thank you, and it will let your warriors use Commanding Shout.

• Vindication – Sell your first born if you have to, but pick this up. Bosses don’t have a lot of extra AP to begin with (their damage is generally pure strike based), but this will reduce it to zero, and will lower the damage the tanks take.

• Conviction – This talent loses out in my build. The crit is nice, but I prefer Pursuit of Justice and Crusade for the increased run speed and 3% damage done.
Of course you should feel free to play with the talents, and work with your guild/raid members to make sure you’re brining the optimal set of buffs mixed with the right talents for mitigation and survivability.

I’m here, I’m talented, and I have flasks. Now what?

Congratulations, the hard part is over. Just getting into a guild/raid is the first step to success. Now it’s time to start learning all the intricacies of the fight, and polishing the situational awareness skills that you picked up at the beginning. I’m putting together a crib sheet for new tanks which will cover all the raids – from ICC to Naxx, but until then – read the strats and watch the videos. Here’s a few other things that you can do to maximize your utility as an OT.

• Watch the raid’s agro – Be ready with an early Hand of Protection/Salvation or taunt. Even though you’re not tanking, you should still be checking threat via Omen (or your threat meter of choice).

• Be ready to pick up anything – Up to and including the boss. Sometimes weird things happen and the next thing you know you’re tanking Anub and his adds. Be ready with the cooldowns.

• Track abilities – This is especially important for fights like Saurfang. Be proactive and taunt as soon as you see the raid warning. Use Big Wigs or DBM – anything to give you a heads up on when an event is going to happen.

• Have a viable off-spec – I know this sounds horrible, but as a tank you’re in a unique position where you can swap gear and sets to help your raid out in other ways. Use those instant queues to get yourself some Ret or Holy gear.

• Don’t be afraid to tank – Once you’ve been in a group for a few weeks, don’t be afraid to ask if you can tank a certain boss or two. It’s important for the tanks to share the experiences, because the MT may not always be there – and you want to be ready to jump in and save the day.

• Maximize your loot – Get multiple sets, and change up as needed. A block set for melee heavy adds, stam sets for fights like Twin Valks, and threat sets for Deathwhisper and the Gunship. Swapping gear is pro.

Conclusion

Personally I find being an OT as, or more, enjoyable than being the MT. It’s really about sharing the responsibilities, and making sure you use the right player in the right spot. Unbearabull and I swap roles regularly, depending on our strengths or weaknesses in a certain encounter. For example we share Marrowgar, he MTs Deathwhisperer and the Gunship, and I MT Saurfang.

Later this week I’ll go over some of the things required to MT, and moving into a raid leader position, as well as a full crib sheet on raid bosses in Northrend.

Paladin tanking 201 – Tanking Heroics

A while back I wrote a post on leveling as protection, and how ridiculously simple (even if it is boring) it is to do. Assuming you followed that post to level 80, you’ve not got yourself a freshly minted tank that is looking to get some gear upgrades.

Like I wrote a few days ago, patch 3.3 is a god-send for tanks. Instant queues are the order of the day, and even if you run into some rude DPS/healers – your badge to hour ratio should still be exceptionally high. With that in mind, I’m going to go over a basic talent/glyph set, basic stats you should be shooting for, and a rough outline of spells and the 9/6/9 rotation. I’m not going to go over specific gear lists, because honestly there are some already out there, and your gear will upgrade so quickly that your head will spin.

First – get your spec right

Rhidach (and many others) have posted on the merits of using Seal of Command (SoCom) in five man instances for the snap agro you’ll need to help hold mobs off those trigger finger DPS. While a protection build is fairly flexible, there are certain things to keep in mind when speccing for tanking heroics.

1. It’s all about damage. Survivability is important, but you don’t need all the talents you’d normally take for raid tanking.

2. Speed is the key. While you can get away (to some extent) with a slower speed, you’re going to be getting pushed by the DPS.

3. Remember the Sunwell. I don’t know how that really fits in, but they yell it to me all the time in Silvermoon/Shattrath – so I’m assuming it’s important.

My personal spec for heroics is a variation on the 53/18 I use for tanking raids. I don’t know that this build is perfect, but it gets the job done.

Protection Tree

· Divine Strength: 5/5 – More Strength means more block value, more damage, and thereby more threat.

· Anticipation: 5/5 – More dodge equals, more dodge?

· Imp. Righteous Fury: 3/3 - 6% less damage taken, right off the top.

· Toughness: 5/5 - More armor equals more mitigation.

· Imp Devotion Aura: 3/3 – More armor plus 6% more healing done to anyone hit by your aura.

· Blessing of Sanctuary: 1/1 – 10% more Stamina and Strength, plus 3% reduced damage taken, and mana back when you block, dodge, or parry. This will be the only blessing you should be running.

· Reckoning: 5/5 – This build centers around SoCom, which can proc from reckoning hits.

· Sacred Duty: 3/3 – We’re taking this for the 8% more stamina. The 60 seconds off our bubble wall is just pure gravy.

· One-Handed Weapon Specialization: 3/3 – 10% more damage from your 1H weapon.

· Spiritual Attunement: 2/2 – I only run 1/2 in my raid build, but you may need more mana back due to lower avoidance. If you’re finding mana isn’t an issue, feel free to put one (or both) of these points elsewhere.

· Holy Shield: 1/1 – Part of the 9/6/9, this deals damage and ups your block percentage. It’s win all around.

· Ardent Defender: 3/3 – your extra life. This talent is so overpowered that no Paladin should be without it.

· Redoubt: 3/3 – More block value and block percentage on chance.

· Combat Expertise: 3/3 – Doubly important now that Shield of Righteousness is now a melee hit and can be dodged or parried. 6% more stamina and crit is just pure deliciousness added to this.

· Touched by the Light: 0/3 – If you can find points to slam into here, please do – but I can’t find any, and since this build is dependant on SoCom instead of SoV, spellpower isn’t as important.

· Avenger’s Shield: 1/1 – Your Captain America, and the reason we all rolled Pally tanks to begin with.

· Guarded by the Light: 2/2 – Less spell damage taken, and your Divine Plea stays up as long as you’re hitting something.

· Shield of the Templar: 3/3 – 3% less damage taken, and your Avenger’s Shield can now be used as a silence/interrupt.

· Judgements of the Just: 2/2 – 10 sec reduced CD on your one true stun/interrupt (Hammer of Justice), plus you reduce a target’s attack speed by 20%. These points can go into Touched by the Light if you so choose.

· Hammer of the Righteous: 1/1 – Reach out and touch many mobs.

Retribution

· Deflection: 5/5 – 5% more parry.

· Imp Judgements: 2/2 – While I normally only run 1/2 in this talent for raid tanking, you’re going to run into situations where you need this spell up faster in order to pick up a loose mob.

· Heart of the Crusader: 3/3 – Gives everyone an extra 3% crit chance against your target. You can take 2/2 in Imp Might here instead if you want, but I just give everyone kings anyway.

· Conviction: 2/5 – Increases crit chance

· Seal of Command: 1/1 – The core of this build, and the seal you will run on all trash.

· Pursuit of Justice: 2/2 – Personally I like the increased speed, but you can swap these talents out and put a speed enchant on your boots if you like.

· Crusade: 3/3 – 3% more damage against 75% of the mobs you’ll be facing.

Remember that this build is not ideal for raid tanking, or even for soloing as you’ve lost the increased spell power and buffed Sacred Shield. This build is designed for maximum damage, while still tanking.

Second – Your Glyphs

Glyphing for heroic tanking is slightly different than glyphing for raid tanking. I like to run with the following glyph set.

Major Glyphs

· Glyph of Holy Wrath – Reduces the CD of your Holy Wrath by 15 seconds. A nice DPS boost, plus it stuns your targets (undead), and helps hold them in your consecrate for an extra second.

· Glyph of Hammer of the Righteous – HotR hits one additional target. Helpful with AoE tanking, especially when you’re running Seal of Corruption/Vengeance instead of Seal of Command.

· Glyph of Divine Plea – 3% less damage when Divine Plea is up.

· Glyph of Seal of Command – If you’re really having mana issues, this can help some. Not my first choice though.

· Glyph of Righteous Defense – Increases the chance for your taunts to hit. Use this if you’re missing a lot of taunts. Personally, I just let the melee die if they’re pulling agro.

Minor Glyphs

· Glyph of Blessing of Kings – This is the only blessing I generally put out (other than Sanct on myself) so this helps reduce the initial mana cost.

· Glyph of Sense Undead – 1% increased damage against undead, which is a good chunk of what you’re tanking.

· Glyph of Lay on Hands – Really the only other minor glyph worth taking here, reduces the CD of your LoH by 5 minutes.

Basic gear and stats

Now that you’ve got your talents and glyphs set, let’s look at your basic gear and stat layouts. The first, and most important thing, is to reach the heroic defense cap of 536. Don’t worry about it if you go over, and don’t worry about hitting 541 just yet – that’s your soft cap for tanking in raids.

Don’t stress hit or expertise at this point, as your entry level gear won’t have a lot of these stats on them. While I personally like to run fully hit capped (or as close as I can get), it’s not imperative for heroic farming. If you can get around 150 hit or so, you should be fine. You’re going to lose out on 10 free expertise by not running Seal of Corruption and its corresponding Glyph, but that’s the price we play for Seal of Command cleaves.

My best advice is to get yourself to 536 defense, and then stack stamina. With the cost of rare gems so low, don’t be afraid to use them or even epic gems if you can afford them. Make sure your gear is enchanted as well. Having good gems and enchants on your gear will go a long ways towards comforting your group members who may be upset that they didn’t draw a T10 geared tank with 50k HP.

For your tanking weapon, pick up the slowest 1H you can that has some Strength and Stamina on it. Don’t worry about getting a tank-stat weapon, unless you need it to reach your defense cap. Enchant it with Mongoose or AP, and get thyself to cleaving.

I’m geared and talented – now what?

Fortunately, the LFG tool should prevent you from landing in HoL or HoR right off the bat. Just in case, it might be best to queue yourself for some of the easier heroics (UK, Nexus, AN) or even start in non heroics (choose the random so you get two badges) until you get your feet steady under you. Don’t be afraid to let your group know right off the bat that you’re working on your tanking, and to please give you a bit of extra time with the boss and trash. Your healer is your number on ally here – as long as they are comfortable with it, you should be fine.

Most importantly though Read the strategies before you walk in the door, and don’t queue as the leader unless you mean it. It’s a lot easier to forgive a tank when they seem to have the basics (like not standing in Anub’s pound ability in AN).

You may want to make a few macros similar to these.

/p Hi guys. Just a heads up that I’m fairly new to tanking and am still working out the kinks. I’m defense capped, but would really appreciate a few extra seconds to establish threat on any trash and the bosses.

If there is another paladin in your group:

/p I will be buffing Kings. Please pick up Wisdom and Might.

What if my group is a bunch of jerks?

Fortunately for you, you’ll have instant queues as a tank. While some groups may vote kick you, or give you lots of harassment, you’ll ultimately come out on top. There’s a lot more DPS out there looking for groups than there are tanks looking to lead them.

Final tips, spells, and “I used to be a xyz tank, what now?”

Run Seal of Command and judge Light whenever possible. You can switch to judging Wisdom if you’re having mana problems or if there’s no replenishment in the party. Between 2/2 SA, Divine Plea, and BoS, you should be ok for mana though.

Don’t be afraid to stop and drink. Buy some cheap water (Honeymint Tea is about 3x the amount of mana you actually have – maybe more) and don’t be afraid to use it.

Use buff food on yourself, and spend the money on flasks or elixirs. Again, you’ll buy a lot more leniency if you’re showing that you’re putting out the maximum effort to make yourself the best you can be. You can also close some defense/HP gaps by using elixirs or flasks. Think of them as investments, especially if you’re chain running heroics.

Righteous Defense is your AoE tuant – you can simply click on a player who has agro and hit it. Hand of Reckoning causes damage now, and is great for breaking CC or pulling if Avengers Shield is on CD.

Learn to love the 9/6/9 rotation. You’ll live by it, or die by it. Basically it is Shield of Righteousness/Consecrate/Hammer of the Righteous/Holy Shield/SoR/Judgement/HotR/Consecrate – forever. You are rotating a short CD ability (SoR or HotR) with a long one (Consecrate, HS, or Judgement). On trash it’s tougher to keep this rotation up, but on bosses you should settle into the rhythm fairly quickly. Download the mod CLCRet for some help with this. It will show you what ability you should use next – think of it like training wheels.

You have no closer, and your interrupt is on a long CD. Use them wisely.

Pop your wings before a boss pull for extra threat. Just remember you can’t use your damage CDs for 30 seconds.

Conclusion

Hopefully this wall of text helps some new Paladin tanks feel more comfortable stepping into the heroic scene. With the bonus badges, it’s entirely possible to start today and be in full T9/232 gear by New Years. Good luck, and I’ll try to answer any questions in the comments in a timely fashion.