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| The 3.3 WotLK Tankadin Spec |
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| Written by Invisusira | |
| Jan 02, 2010 at 02:16 PM | |
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As we traverse into Icecrown Citadel, the final journey of Wrath of the Lich King begins. Now that Blizzard has had some time to more or less finalize our talent trees, I think I can safely update this guide. Without further ado: the WotLK 3.3 tankadin spec. Each talent has been rated with my patented Kitten Scale on a scale of one to five White Kittens for both main tank specs (MT) and off-tank specs (OT): 
Holy It's no longer really viable to put points here. It's good for sorting out the paladins who don't do their homework from those who do!  While once viable, SotP is really not your best bet anymore. You'll get better threat out of Conviction/Crusade in the Retribution tree! MT:
OT:
 Technically not a bad talent for tanking, but nothing all that special. You have many tools at your disposal to avoid these types of situations. MT: OT: Protection You will, of course, be spending the bulk of your points here. But where to PUT those points?  Divinity may seem like a good idea, but it's actually not all that great. The returns you get from putting points here are not as viable as, say, a healer - who gets twice as much return from similar talents. You're better off spending these points somewhere else. MT:
OT:
 Divine Strength is a fantastic talent. Since our abilities now scale with Spell Power (SP) AND Attack Power (AP), it directly affects our threat generation. In addition to giving us more AP, strength also gives us additional Block Value (BV)! Our gear now gives us Str instead of SP - Str is our threat stat. This talent is a must-have. MT:
OT:
 This is absolutely (still) a PvP talent. MT: OT:  Two minutes off your Hand of Protection (BoP) is no doubt quite a useful talent. In addition to protecting your healers and other softies, it can function as a secondary taunt should yours be on cooldown. However - especially with a new additional taunt coming soon - there are better places to spend your points. MT: OT:  No longer Defense, but Dodge. An excellent talent; there is no reason to skip this. MT:
OT:
 Don't freak out about how it no longer grants us additional threat - it's built into the base talent. This is NOT, however, a reason to skip the talent. 6% damage reduction is no joke and should be in every tank's build. MT:
OT:
 Another no-brainer. It was a must-have in BC, and now it's been buffed to reduce the duration of snares as well. MT:
OT:
 DS/DG has been revamped a couple times, and here in 3.3 there's a bit of confusion on how it works. So, BE CONFUSED NO MORE! DS works very similar to the way it was before. It redirects incoming damage from PARTY members to the paladin. The big thing here is that it's party only. Now, for MTing, that may seem like a bad idea. However, you'll still probably want to take it because of the DG... MT:
OT:
 Here's the kicker. This is a straight shield wall for the entire raid that does NO DAMAGE TO YOU. It doesn't last QUITE as long as DSac, BUT... it is a separate buff. What this means is that you can set up a macro: #show...which will REMOVE the incoming damage from the party, but still give the raid 20% reduced damage! This makes these three talent points great for untility and very well spent. MT:
OT:
 Now that Hammer of Justice is also a spell interrupt, this talent is worth a second look. Not a bad place to throw some extra talent points. MT:
OT:
 As you would expect from its new location further down the tree, Imp Devo is now quite a bit nicer. In addition to a percent based chunk of armor, you also get bonus healing from it. A formidable talent! MT:
OT:
 In addition to being RIDICULOUSLY good, it's a pre-req to many other must-haves. And now it's got Kings built into it!! The 10% Str/Stam does NOT stack with kings, btw. MT:
OT:
 Reckoning is currently one of the best threat talents you can get. If you ARE going to take this talent, take 3/5. The extra 2 points do not return anywhere near as much as the first three do! MT:
OT:
 It increases your stamina and reduces your shield wall cooldown. Yes, take it. MT:
OT:
 Nothing has changed in this talent, including the fact that you should pick it up. Remember, it's 10% to ALL DAMAGE DONE when a one hander is equipped. That's a 10% threat increase. MT:
OT:
 Now that this has been made prot-exclusive, many tankadins assume it's a baseline talent. However, in many situations, it's actually not needed simply because Sanctuary provides enough mana return. Typically, tanks who outgear content may want to look at this; otherwise, you can just put one point in it or skip it altogether! MT:
OT:
 A core tanking ability, and now more than ever important to what makes tankadins unique from other tanking classes by keeping us from being hit. MT:
OT:
 While there were still some people holding out on this talent for whatever reason, it's been made into a passive cooldown. Take it. MT:
OT:
 Redoubt has been pretty significantly changed, and is now quite a bit more useful than before. All the additional block value increases your threat generation and decreases damage taken! MT:
OT:
 Obviously a must-have. Stamina, expertise, AND crit? Sure, pile it on! MT:
OT:
 This is the talent that keeps us on top of our AoE abilities. With the coming of 3.0, spell damage gear and weapons are a thing of the past due to our abilities scaling with both AP and SP. With this talent, our consecrate steal deals out a hearty amount of threat. MT:
OT:
 The famous Captain America move has is one of our core abilities. Absolutely no reason not to be taking this. MT:
OT:
 An interesting new addition to the protection tree! Basically an improved spell warding with built-in mana return. MT:
OT:
 A talent which has no business being anything but in your build. Damage reduction AND a silence that allows you to pull casters, all for only 3 points! MT:
OT:
 A lot of people pass this off as "some debuff that some other person can do." So, for their sake, I'm going to go ahead and list this as a 5-kitten talent. TAKE IT. MT:
OT:
 Our new top-end talent is a good example of reasons to move forward. Its damage is based off of weapon damage, so using a spell damage weapon like you would in days of old will actually nerf your threat generation. MT:
OT:
Retribution There are still points to be spent here, although not as many as you may think!  This is a pretty simple one. It's been around forever, and you'll still want to fill it up. MT:
OT:
 This talent is not as important as it used to be. If you're going to go up higher in the tree - say, to get Pursuit of Justice - you may want to put some in here; otherwise, you can probably avoid it. MT:
OT:
 Here's another old staple. Something to note, however: you should only put one point into this talent. With all of the cooldowns you'll be managing, the rotation with the best threat generation is actually be achieved without putting two points here! MT:
OT:
 At first glace, you may think of this as a threat increase for yourself. You would be incorrect - remember, EVERYONE in your raid gains the extra crit, so you're not the only one who will be generating more threat. That being said, this is still a nice raid buff talent to pick up, especially if you don't have a retribution paladin or arcane mage in your raids on a regular basis! MT:
OT:
 This is no longer a PvP talent, it's now a Demoralizing Shout... and should be part of your build. MT:
OT:
 Conviction may not be the first thing you think of when you think "tank spec," but this is what you'll pick up instead of Seals of the Pure. Get what you want in the Ret tree, then put enough points into this that you can get Crusade. MT:
OT:
 Now that Seal of Command is a cleave, it may be tempting to pick up for trash! It's great fun in heroics, but hardly a necessity. MT:
OT:
 At first glance, this talent may seem mostly a PvP talent; however, remember that increased mobility can be key in some encounters. Not a bad talent for any tank to pick up. MT:
OT:
 After you've filled up your trees, this is where you'll dump the rest of your points. Remember, spending 5 points between Conviction and Crusade will give you MORE threat than spending 5 points in Seals of the Pure. MT:
OT:
Recommended Talent Specs After having some time to play around with the talent tree at L80, here are some builds I recommend.  0/53/18 This is an excellent all-around build for both beginners and seasoned veterans alike. It provies maximum untility while making sure to have absolutely everything you need for your tanking career. |
