Post by Ryan on Oct 17, 2007 20:53:38 GMT
Zen Tanking, the Paladin Way
"My Friends are my weapons, I am Thier Shield - Paladin Tank Mantra"
Since Paladin tanks are pretty new in the game (at least as serious tanks), I've noticed that quite a lot of people don't know the main differences with working with a Paladin tank. So, this post is intended to give those people some insight into how things work differently;
Threat Generation
Paladins have massive threat generation, and can frontload quite a lot of threat straight off the bat. But, it's important to remember that this isn't a licence to go berserk instantly - our threat generation drops by a LOT if we aren't getting hit (BoSanc, Holy Shield, Consecration are big components of our threat). Just like with a Warrior, we need a few seconds to establish sufficient threat, then you can go for your life.
Fear Breaks
We don't have a reuseable fear break like a Warrior. Thus, things like Fear Ward and Tremor Totem are very valuable. Barring that, be ready for the tank to be feared if the encounter has a fear component.
Crowd Control
Avenger's Shield is incredible threat, and an amazing pulling tool. However, if any CC is to be done, it should be used just after the Shield throw, since its bounce is unpredictable.
Taunting
We have a taunt, but it is on a 15 second cooldown. Additionally, our threat generation while not being hit is quite low, so if you get aggro, stop hitting the mob. Once we taunt it off you, we need a few moments to solidify threat on it again. Don't immediately go all out on it. Additionally, if you see someone else pull aggro off the tank, that's the queue for you to slow down too - the reduced threat generation of the tank during the recovery will mean you might pull aggro while taunt is on cooldown.
Healing & Mana
Paladins rely on mana for threat generation. We get mana back from healing. This means that if we're out of mana and a healer isn't, overhealing us with efficient heals will give us mana to continue generating threat.
This also means that abilities such as Vampiric Embrace are very powerful for Paladin tanks - they heal us and give us mana.
