PVE WotLK Protection Paladin Tank Guide (Short)

Welcome to our PVE Paladin Tank guide for WoW WotLK. This guide will show you what you need to know to play the Paladin class as Tank.

Protection Paladins are good AOE tanks that have good damage mitigation. The take less damage than a Druid/Death Knight so mixing in a shield tank will really help your healers out.

Talents

Firstly, we have a build with just the core 56 talent points which are required as a prot paladin tank regardless.

This 2nd build is the first “core” build filled out with Retribution talents to complete the build. The retribution talents give us better threat generation.

Glyphs

Major Glyphs

• Seal of Vengeance
• Divine Plea
• Hammer of the Righteous or Righteous Defense

Minor Glyphs

• Blessing of Kings
• Sense Undead
• Lay on Hands

Gems

Gems can change based on your build, equipment and caps. You may need to adjust your gems to account for your gear.

• Meta: Austere Earthsiege Diamond
• Red: Regal Dreadstone or Sovereign Dreadstone
• Yellow: Enduring Eye of Zul
• Blue: Solid Majestic Zircon

Insightful Earthsiege Diamond requires 2 blue and 1 red gem to activate. After you activate your meta you can either stack Solid Majestic Zircon for health or gem for stats depending on what you need/prefer.

Enchants

You may need to adjust your enchants based on your gear but these are the standard enchants.

• Head: Arcanum of the Stalwart Protector
• Shoulder: Greater Inscription of the Pinnacle
• Back: Mighty Armor or Titanweave
• Chest: Powerful Stat, Super Health or Defense (if not at 540 Def)
• Bracers: Major Stamina
• Gloves: Armsman or Heavy Borean Armor Kit
• Waist: Eternal Belt Buckle
• Legs: Frosthide Leg Armor or Greater Fortitude
• Boots: Tuskarr’s Vitality
• Weapon: Blade Ward or Mongoose
• Shield: Major Stamina or Defense

Stat Priority

1. Defense (540 is def cap / required to raid)
2. Stamina
3. Armor
4. Hit rating (8% for raids)
5. Expertise (26 is cap)
6. Strength
7. Dodge/Parry
8. Block

You will need 540 Defense to be capped in raids. Keep in mind, this is 540 “Defense”, not defense rating. For raids you will need 8% hit, which is 263 hit rating. For dungeons you will need around 5%, which is 164 rating. Expertise cap is 26 which should be pretty easy to hit with the help of Combat Expertise, Glyph of Seal of Vengeance and racial weapon passives.

Rotation

Protection paladins follow the 969 rotation. This rotation contains 5 skills total. The first two skills have a 6 second cooldown and the other 3 skills have a 9 second cooldown. You use a 9 second CD skill then use a 6 second CD skill and work your way down the list alternating.

9 second skills

• Judgement of Light
• Consecration
• Holy Shield

6 second skills

• Hammer of the Righteous
• Shield of Righteousness