Minimum Pally Tank gear for ICC

[Ballador1]

I just recently renewed a couple of weeks ago, and would like to catch up to my guild who is about halfway through ICC. My guild wasn't too sure about what my stats should be for entry into ICC, so i figured i'd try here.

My main question is, am i geared enough? I'm assuming probably not, as there are some old old items from naxx etc that i need to get rid of. And if im not geared enough, about how much more do i need to get there, and whats the best way to do it.

How much health should i have?
How much avoidance?
etc.

Ideally I'd like this to be a decent place for fellow pallys and other tanks looking to get into ICC to go and figure out what they need, as there doesn't seem to be too many threads on baselevel stats for ICC entry.

feel free to comment on whatever you see in the armory link, i'll take all the help i can get
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...er&cn=Ballador

[Naarius]

A sense of you current gear would be really helpful (Armory link, etc.).

Edit: Thanks for adding the armory link

[Aimis]

Okay let's see here, it says you're sitting at 33k unbuffed, which I would say is good enough to tank the first four bosses in 10 ICC. I doubt you'll be able to go any farther in 10, or anywhere at all in 25 with your current gear. With that being said here are just a few things I would do to improve your gear quickly:

1) Start running 10 and 25 ToC weekly, pick up all the upgrades you can get.
2) Also continue running heroics. You can get a good stam trink from Normal ToC 5 man, and a tanking necklace from Heroic HoR. Spend your emblems of triumph on the tanking ring first (replace the Mark of the Relentless immediately) and then the 245 libram.
3) As soon as you replace the Mark of the Relentless, regem all your 10 def 15 stam gems to 30 stam. This will keep you def capped and raise your hp by 450 alone. Also replace two of your 10 dodge 15 stam gems with 30 stam. You only need one for your meta to work.
4) Enchant wise, get rid of the 2% threat on your gloves and use a heavy borean armor kit for +18 stam. Also change your shoulder enchant to Greater Inscription of the Gladiator for another +30 stam.
5) Start running 10 ICC for the first four bosses if you can. If not see if you can find a rep farming group and pick up the tanking ring asap to replace your other one.
6) Finally, use your frost emblems wisely. In my opinion, the ideal upgrades would be trinket, belt, cape, and gloves in that order. Although this is primarily on a need basis, so I would wait until you have the badges and see which helps you most.

In closing, it's hard to say what the ideal health and avoidance is for you to tank ICC. I'm also a prot pally and I can honestly say I've never really even look at my avoidance. This, in my opinion, should be the least of your worries. Never gem for avoidance (except for one 10 dodge 15 stam for your meta) over stamina, the avoidance will come with your gear. As for health, I wouldn't look to get deep into 10 or 25 ICC without 40k HP. I'm sure it is possible to do it with less, but I wouldn't suggest it. Hopefully this has been somewhat helpful, feel free to ask any questions!

[Téuntjûh]

With ToC10 item lvl gear you are ready for ICC10, so all 232 gear (TOC10, new ICC dungeons)
With ToC25 item lvl gear you are geared for ICC25 ,as simple as that (TOC25, triumph emblem gear)

[Tyaldrìa]

*What Aimis said* <--- QFT^^

Aimis relpy is one of the best I've ever seen
There should be more ppl like him on other threads!^^

[wonderweiss]

You mite find it hard getting into pugs at first with 33k hp, I have found on my warrior tank that until i had 38k unbuffed no one would even look at me.

As the others have said though getting geared up in toc10 and 25 will get you into ICC10, and getting items with bonus armor will really help on the later fights the rest is just stacking HP.

With the current 15% buff you should have around 37500 hp unbuffed in ICC, I would recommend aiming to have somewhere in the mid 40k range fully buffed from my experience especially if you don't know the healers and other tank.

[Ballador1]

Aimis, thanks for the great reply, thats exactly the kind of focused advice i was looking for. Hopefully this thread has/will help other Paladin tanks in my position.

[Kpoof]

Managed 10/12 in ICC10 normal with me tanking (49k in frost pres.) and a paladin tank with 38k with sanctuary (more in ICC with buffs + area buff), was really nice. As long as you know what to do, you'll manage with 33k unbuffed. (Assuming you're not playing with retards)

[Kaeyne]

It all really depends on if you run with your guild or in a PuG.

With a 15% area buff, and a decent health pool (which you have), a guild run should have no problem taking you (especially as an off-tank) to an ICC-10, or perhaps even the third tank in a 25 Man run.

In a PuG however, you may have a lot of difficulty finding a group simply due to people being elitist when looking for people for ICC.

[xstratax]

First, remember that Avoidance is basically not worth stacking or seeking in ICC. Stamina and Armor are king.

Second, when seeking Paladin Tank advice go where the experts are: Maintankadin

With that said theres much that can be done to maximize your survivability and your Raids survivability.

Talent Spec : 0/53/18

Key points: Divinity - Unless youre tanking Heroic Lich King Divinity is just 5% more overhealing done to you.

Seals of the Pure - not as good for threat as speccing into Crusade in the Ret tree.

Spiritual Attunement - You only need 1 in SA plus Divine Plea to make sure you have enough mana for any and all occasions, and BoSanc makes this even more true.

Vindication - Bosses have almost no AP compared to players, yet the full 574 AP reduction on bosses can reduce incoming damage up to 20%

Seal of Command - Tank a few heroics with this and I promise you will never use anyother Seal for AoE ever again, the cleave is that good

Pursuit of Justice - Paladins cant charge, so moving 15% faster is amazing. It also means you get out of danger 15% faster.

Crusade - Point for point its the highest available threat talent after speccing into all the needed talents.

Glyph of Sense Undead - 1% extra Damage while SU is on, thats perfect for threat

Gear:

Again we want to maximize Stamina and Armor. The truth is that for 9/12 ICC fights you will want as much Armor as possible (8/12 if you tank Keleseth in the Princes fight). Armor will make you take less damage, and your healers will notice how much easier you are to keep up. The other fights have a bigger magic component, and Stam stacking is better for those.

Aimis said most of the how to do its, Ill cover the what to get if possible.

Head: Judgement Heaume
Meta: Austere Earthsiege Diamond
Red: Solid Majestic Zircon
Ench: Stalwart Defender

Neck: The Arbiter's Muse - This Neck is BiS until you can get the Bile Encrusted Medallion in ICC25

Shoulders: Shoulderguards of the Enduring Order
Red: Solid Maj Zirc
Ench: Gladiator *Note: With Gladiator, your Defense minimum drops to 536 since the 15 Resil covers .16% chance to be crit, or 4 Dfense Skill*

Back: Sentinel's Winter Cloak - BiS Cloak, dont bother getting anything with EoFs until this is bought
Yellow: Solid Maj Zirc
Ench: Mighty Armor (225 Armor)

Chest: Chestplate of the Towering Monstrosity
Red: Shifting Dreadstone
Blue: Solid Maj Zirc
Ench: Super Health (Sadly since our Stam nerf, Super Health FAR out shines an armor kit here)

Wrist: Youre are perfect for now, just switch to Double Solid Maj Zirc asap

Gloves: Also your only option in this slot, go Double Solid Maj Zirc, and I disagree with Aimis and say Glove Reinforcements (240 Armor) here over the Armor Kit

Waist: Girdle of Bloodied Scars
Red: Solid Maj Zirc
BS Socket: Solid Maj Zirc

Legs: Stick with what you have, the 2p on T9 is good enough to warrant using these Legs, just switch the Dodge gem for a Shifting Dreadstone, Maintankadin has a whole thread on how Agil > Dodge now.

Feet: Either of the ToC ones would be your Best bet, Solid Maj Zirc in all sockets, and Greater Fortitude for the Ench

Rings: Clutch of Fortification and Loop of the Twin Val'kyr. Replace the Loop with the Rep Ring from ICC

Trinkets: Get The Black Heart out of ToC5 regular, and only use Essence of Gossamer if you are on a Magic heavy fight (Deathwhisper, Sindragosa, LK, Keleseth Tank) Glyph of Imdomitability is one of the top armor Trinkets available, and worth using on 90% of fights.

Weapon: Ardent Guard
Ench: Mongoose (Blade Ward was severely Nerfed when they nerfed proc effects, Mongoose is up twice as much, AND provides armor via Agility)

Shield: Bulwark of the Royal Guard
Blue: Solid Maj Zirc
Ench: Major Stamina (18 Stam)

Libram: Libram of Valiance - I advocate using this, since getting a free 200 Str in tanking gear is absolutely wonderful. Otherwise use [urlhttp://www.wowhead.com/item=47664]Libram of Defiance[/url].


For EoF purchases, go Cloak > Gloves > Waist > Trinket > Chest. Paladins shouldnt get their 4p unless theyre tanking Heroic LK, its just a fairly lousy bonus. for 2p use Helm and Shoulders, since the other slots have better pieces we can use. Use Crafted Legs to replace all, and boots Ive found are personal preference. Only gem non Solid Maj Zirc Gems if theres a 9 or 12 Stam bonus, and Use Shifting Dreadstone for Red, and most likely Vivid Eye of Zul for Yellow, unless youre under Def minimum.



For reference to those who would choose to flame or doubt me without reading Maintankadin, MY armory link is: http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...eam&cn=Straata

[Surtain]

Aimis had some really good points but there are a few things that you could change from his post.

First of all dont gem dodge/stam for meta, gem agi/stam. In ICC dodge in cut by 20% so Agi/stam, while not giving you the exact ammount of dodge and 10 dodge will, will give you dodge, armor, and crit. Armor is very important to ICC tanking. Get all you can!

For frost emblems you do not need the trinket first but that is honestly a personal preference. If you can pick up a cloak from Lord Jaraxxus 25 man it will solve a big exp issues you may encounter later and provide you with a good cloak so you can focus on the frost belt, gloves, and even chest (which all provide you with massive armor which again is very important in ICC). If you focus on those pieces and pick up the tier 10 2pc for the hammer boost you will be in a great spot. I personally run the gloves and belt from emblems and the chest and shoulders for 2pc. There are better options in which i could use the 2 slot shoulders from ICC 25 and use my 264 tier gloves for the same armor and some hit but the things wont drop. Ill be getting HM ones before em anyways heh. But in your current situation I would get the 264 belt first as it would be the largest upgrade and try to get tier in VoA.

You should also probably swap your weapon enchant to mongoose as the agility from it is more beneficial than the parry rating from blade ward.

Your spec is a little outdated. I would swap to a 53/18 http://www.wowhead.com/talent#sZV0tAbuMusIufdxf0hbc is a variant you can use but pick up PoJ and Crusade maxed. The drop your 15 stam run speed chant on biits and go fro 22 stam. The over all damage increase will up your threat over SotP.

In your current gear you can probably easily get an Ulduar 25 for a 162 stam Heart of Iron from Ignis for a solid entry trinket.

The crafted 245 tank chest is still really nice as it provides great overall avoidance and EH with 3 gem slots. GET IT! =)

Drop the tier 9 232 helm and grab the 245 one. The 245 4pc is nice but not necissary.(preference)

That should get you going even more. Hope it helped. Post back if you have any other questions =) Good Luck!

[Spartanoble]

Swap Mark of the Relentless for the ICC rep ring .

Swap your Fleshless Girdle with a Conquest Emblem one

You could swap your T9 shoulders for Triumph 245 ones

You could swap T9 helmet for Triumph 245 ( Its really good)

You may want to save up for the 228 stamina trinket via frost emblems .

You can trade your necklace with the Conqeust one

I think that could push you to 36-38k UB . I have 40 k Unbuffed but I have 2 251 items and some 245 the rest are 232 ones . Best of luck with your raiding mate

[Riek]

tbh with the ICC buff and raid buff, you'll have no problem tanking ICC10. If there would be any issue, it'd be aggro issues cuz of high dpses. If you have rogue constantly giving you Tricks, I think you'll be fine tanking ICC in 10 man. 25 shoudl be possible with some upgrades from 10 man, and as an Off tank.

good luck

[Sourjoe]

Long story short, I was able to tank ICC 10 when my paladin only had 34k unbuffed and went through the first 3 wings like it was nothing. This was before the % increase buff also. As long as you're not sitting in all heroic 5 man gear you should be solid.