AoE Protection Paladin Tanking Guide

I disagree with some of the information in this guide. Having said that, I can appreciate the efforts that went into creating it!

I have played with Whataburger many times. Always a fun time!

Protection Paladins are basically an OT for the OT in Raid. As we all know they are excellent with AoE control.

I have played a Pally for 3 years with extensive testing in Ret and Prot specs.

My Pally #1 has full T2 and the HoR along with T2.5 etc. I usually am in the top 10 dps depending on the encounter. I have raided exclusively for years with the Ret Spec and in downtime I specc'd Protection for fun.

I now have a Pally #2 which is 100% dedicated to Protection with 428 defense , 5001 HP unbuffed and 0 spell damage. He uses Quel' Serrar and when it procs has 441 defense and almost 8900 armor. Decent for an off tank.

***As far as spell damage is concerned and its' effects on the Paladin's Spell based abilities, I have found that spell damage is a complete waste of a stat and slot. I have had my pally upwards of +300 spell damage only to see my Consecrate produce 2-3 points of damage more per tick then with 0 spell damage for example. Prioritizing spell damage gear will sacrifice more important stats.

One of the foundations of Whataburger's guide is that more +spell damage means more damage done, which means you have more threat, but this is astronomically overrated, at least on VG. If +spell damage scaled well, then Rets would love their T2 sets in PVE.

All of the Pally's spell based abilities next to Maybe Exorcism and possibly when you judge Seal Of Command as Ret, do not scale well with + spell damage. If you use a Sageblade, sorry to say, I believe this to be the wrong approach to Protection.

The top issues with Pally tanks are no taunt and having mana issues. On top of this there is virtually no gear designed for the Prot Pally next to Deathbone, which is mediocre and makes important stats like stamina suffer. I have no problems with Threat and having 0 Spell Damage, especially with Seal of Crusader applied on a single target. It isn't unusual for me to pull 26K threat in Onyxia's Lair.

I gear my Protection Paladin like a Warrior and he absolutely excels in both AoE and single target tanking.