[Prot] Challenge Mode Gold

[Riemu2k3]

Hi,

I'm going to tackle the Gold Challenge Modes with my Prot in a couple of days for that sweet X-Mog.
I have already completed all challenge mode gold runs with my Blood DK couple of month back.

So I should still know how to pull / progress through them (that is, if I can remember :-))

What I'm quite unsure about is how to equip, gem, glyph etc.
But since this forum is full of capable Prot Tanks who have already completed all Gold modes, I hope you guys can help me out!


Stats

- Do you go full haste? full mastery? or even full stamina? (I went with Full Stamina on my DK the first time around and it worked quite well)
- I guess either full haste or full stam, since most of the "wtf-lol-dmg" is magical. And physical we should be fine anyway?
- Still hardcap Exp? Or only softcap it? Softcap Hit is a given I guess

Glyphs

- I was thinking of going with Battle Healer, Blinding Light and Alabaster Shield
- Is Consecration Glyph needed?
- Holy Wrath Glyph situational for some instances - like Jade Temple?
- Divine Protection Glyph situational for some instances where there is no magic-burst

Talents

- Repentance rather than Fist of Justice
- Unbreakable Spirit + Sacred Shield + Pursuit of Justice
- Divine Purpose and Holy Prism

Playstyle

Is there anything Prot Pala specific to challenge modes? Something to watch out for or something I really need to do?
Any "Instance-Breaking" Feature that only Prots can do in a specific instance?


Thank you guys for your input!

Greetz

Riemu

[tuesday the paladin]

I'd imagine you'd still want 15% expertise, the bosses are all level 93.

[Nairobi]

Stats

- Do you go full haste? full mastery? or even full stamina? (I went with Full Stamina on my DK the first time around and it worked quite well)
- I guess either full haste or full stam, since most of the "wtf-lol-dmg" is magical. And physical we should be fine anyway?
- Still hardcap Exp? Or only softcap it? Softcap Hit is a given I guess

I went a mix of haste/mast back when I did them. I think I used the stam trinket from SP rep (macro'd to HA) to function as a beast physical cooldown. I'd shoot for soft-cap exp personally, or maybe 7.5-10%, hardcap is kinda a waste since you'll lose a LOT of other stats based on their stupid downscaling rules WRT accuracy.

Glyphs

- I was thinking of going with Battle Healer, Blinding Light and Alabaster Shield
- Is Consecration Glyph needed?
- Holy Wrath Glyph situational for some instances - like Jade Temple?
- Divine Protection Glyph situational for some instances where there is no magic-burst

Cons glyph is pretty bad, as it requires additional time to target and drop the reticule, and if you drop it far away, they'll run out of it and to you, wasting the dmg. BH is good, but most of the damage out is on YOU not the party. Blinding glyph is ok, but really kinda weak in that its a 2-min CD for a 3 sec stun. If your group comp has other stuns, it will DR it further making it really lackluster. I found un-glyphed more useful msot times. Holy Wrath is AMAZING for TJS, SPM, and SNT; anything with elementals basically. Double Jeopardy is also an underrated glyph for CMs. DivProt you will swap in and out a LOT. 90% of the time I ran with Alab, BH, and a floater.

Talents

- Repentance rather than Fist of Justice
- Unbreakable Spirit + Sacred Shield + Pursuit of Justice
- Divine Purpose and Holy Prism

Def use Fist. The extra interrupt/ranged silence and short CD are invaluable. Rep is just too slow and too meh. Pick up a Rod of Ambershaping (and a Battle Horn!) instead. UbS is the best talent on that tier, but there are SOME uses for Clemency (I just never used it). POJ is probably the best overall, but LAotL is better on-demand. POJ allows for haste on boots, LAotL requires mastery/speed; your call. Speed of Light also isn't bad, but I am an engi so used boots for sprints instead. Holy Prism yes, unless you need AOE. I used Light's Hammer a lot, honestly, and that was before the addition of a snare to it. Don't overlook it. Would strongly suggest against DP, as HA will be your longest and strongest physical CD, with a 2min CD that provides large burst too. DP, at 463 haste levels, is just not up enough to compete. Chaining a mastery trinket with HA will give you ~25-30 sec of 55% reduction.

Playstyle

Is there anything Prot Pala specific to challenge modes? Something to watch out for or something I really need to do?
Any "Instance-Breaking" Feature that only Prots can do in a specific instance?

Def nothing "gamebreaking" like blood DKs have with the command undead, or general cheese of your t90 talents. Or AMS, or Army or chillblains. DKs are made for CMs, so you'll have to work a little onthe Pala, but it's still a lot of fun. Be sure to use bubble and LOH often, as they are short CDs with UbS. They can def save the day with clearing debuffs or topping a DPS. Also be sure to use the Battle Horn, Rod of Ambershaping, and other toys to help speed up pulls.

[Veliane]

Stats
- Do you go full haste? full mastery? or even full stamina? (I went with Full Stamina on my DK the first time around and it worked quite well)

I went full out haste, as nothing can instagib you being basically another DPS, if noi the highest DPS, is king.

Glyphs
- I was thinking of going with Battle Healer, Blinding Light and Alabaster Shield

Don't think I recall a pack that ever made me consider dropping Div. Prot glyph, there's physical damage anywhere, OMG spells are for your DPS to interrupt.

Battle Healer, Alabaster, Div. Prot.

Talents
- Repentance rather than Fist of Justice
- Unbreakable Spirit + Sacred Shield + Pursuit of Justice
- Divine Purpose and Holy Prism

PoJ, Repentance, Unbreakable Spirit, Sacred Shield, Holy Avenger, Light's Hammer.

Pulls are often large and controlled, but the damage is DEADLY, you can't rely on DP at all, if it doesn't proc at first you'll be dead in a blink, if it doesn't keep proc'ing after that, you'll be dead.

HA allows you to sustain max mitigation from second 1, for a very long time with a very short CD, giving you enough vengeance to make SS absorb 700-100k ticks which covers your after cooldown vulnerability.

Light's Hammer is AWEsome, with the right pull it can be your own healer and DPS squad (I pulled the room before lillian voss full once and ended up short a few K of 1 million DPS, Arcist light being a third of it.)

Playstyle
Is there anything Prot Pala specific to challenge modes? Something to watch out for or something I really need to do?
Any "Instance-Breaking" Feature that only Prots can do in a specific instance?

Yes, your biggest enemy are cooldowns, position and loss of control abilities.

If something 'stuns' know beforehand what you need to do to soak it, even if it means single pulling that asshole mob, the second you get stunned you'll die, pallys are all about active mitigation, if you lose control you're nothing more than a Ret with a shield.

Cooldowns are very important, you need to use them all the most you can, create the situation where if you don't need them pull more so you need them, and make it few enough to know when it'll be back, from A to B to C, having mental checkpoints of when high damage is coming and having something just barely come off CD to face it can make the difference between you setting the pace of the group up or dragging everyone down.

[Deleted]

Just adding to what Nairobi said, I would highly recommend you get hold of this item. Battle Horn I found it very useful for Scholomance and Stormstout Brewery, there's probably some other areas where it is useful. On Scholomance, for the Rattlegore trash, just run to the middle of the room, use the horn, and run into the previous room and Line of Sight the mobs. You'll now have all of the Rattlegore Trash neatly stacked up for AoE. (Just mind out as they do damage to any players in front of them) In Stormstout I used it just slightly past the entrance to the large monkey room, this should gather up enough to reach the 40 mark, without overwhelming you at the same time.