Pally vs DK tanking

[mrdrsrow]

Hi all, my main has been a DK since WotLK came out and even though tanking has been my offspec, I enjoy it a lot, even with the 4.0 changes. I recently began lvling a prot pally though and even though I'm only lvl 35, I've found it a complete blast to play. So I'm essentially left with a choice here between which class to take to 85 and make my tank (I can always make the other one dps or healer in the pally's case), since I only want one tank character.

I was just wondering if you guys could enlighten me to the strengths and weaknesses of the pally tank relative to the dk tank since I really don't know a damn thing about paladins beyond lvl 35 aside from simple observation

[rhea]

I have both a blood dk tank and a prot palladin and you will find in my opinion the palladin will be easier. although there have been some big changes in patch 4.0 that make blood tanking a lot easier you dont have the joys of a mulitude of taunts on a 5 second cd, and if you rotaion is correct you will never even need to use your taunts unless you are switching for a raid fight that requires to switch at a certain number of stacks. If your OT or maybe MT has trouble getting the boss off of you, there are many options. bubble, drop righteous fury, or Hand of Salv yourself. pally are only getting easier from what i have already seen, and if you like me easy=boring, stick to the dk if you want a bit more fun tanking or roll a feral druid if you want to stay wake/focused in your raids.

[Deleted]

After the change's in 4.0.1 and the changes to come to our Block in 4.0.3 then I would say go with the DK in all honesty.

I have a blood DK ,2x Prot Paladins and 2x Warrior tank's. Prot Paladins are fun but they are nowhere near the faceroll they have been in the past, the changes to threat mechanics have basically seen to that. Warrior's are prob the most engaging of all the tanks and as far as they go have probably the only answer to almost any scenario for tanking. They are also great fun :P

DK's now imo are the easier "Tank" (although that depends on the encounter aswell). Pally's are more engaging to tank with now and have a lot of fun little "tools" to do the job.

Tbh play what you enjoy the most. All the tank's now are "around" the same level. They basically come down to whether your a sword and board guy/girl, or a shapeshifter or just like smashing stuff with big 2h's lol

[mrdrsrow]

interesting, two contradicting opinions. .my favorite lol

[Dethric]

I find both DKs and Paladins to be awesome, although im a tankaholic (4/6 80s are tanks, and 2 are unplayed, guess which are unplayed).
Pros of being a pally:
Awesome to pick up healer slack with 3hp selfheal and Ardent Defender (Saves you from death and puts you at 30% hp)
Hit immunity is a possibility (Stack mastery to reach 102.5% block, dodge and parry)
Mana as a resource: You can keep some aoe of cd while using mana for single target (for example save Conc and if someone pulls an extra pack, use it)

Pros of being a DK
Neat looks. Being dead is cool.
Self healing through DS + shield lets the healers slack a bit.
Strong anti magic cooldown.
Vamp blood is great overall.

So, both are neat, have their pros and cons, but i prefer my pally for tanking (I hate you blizzard for removing frost as a viable tanking tree), Vamp blood and AMS are really strong, but Ardent Defender trumps it imo, atleast with unreliable healers. Also i dont like to get extra packs after doing Hs>hs>Ds>ds, just to have to wait 8 sec before i can blood boil or DnD.
If you have played DK a while and like it, go for blood. But if you want something new, try paladin, its not like you cant level the other toon if you find one boring.

All comes down to preferance, imo, level both to atleast 80 and try it out. Tanking is always fun, no matter what class you choose (except when you are a druid and ppl say FUFUFUFUFU when you say "plix, no aoe before i have gotten atleast 1 swipe (Swipe is expensive these days, cant enrage>charge>swipe anymore, have to enrage>charge>wait>Swipe))

Oh, and just to have an opinion in above discussion:
Tanking is not hard overall, i think all tanks (Except feral starting aoe threat) are equally hard/easy they all have their pros and cons as i said. Can't say pally tanking has gotten easier in the last patch, it just got some holes in its rotation that we really cant fill with anything (where all other tanks have Rune strike, Maul and Cleave/Hs, but that kind of ability wouldnt fit paladins, since we don't have a resource that run out from time to time and we have to wait to get it back up.)

[BM-Hunter]

i would say DK tank and go Healadin for pally...cause being a holy paladin 4.0.1 is freaking awesome.

[davep]

If you plan on leveling both to 85 they should both have tank specs since it is easier to get into dungeons as a tank (insta que). Now the difference is if you don't both to dps on both of them you can heal on your pally and dps on your dk. So basically Tank/DPS for DK and Tank/Heal for your pally.

[mrdrsrow]

I think i plan on doin healing on a druid for 85, so I prob wont heal on the paladin. but i wouldnt rule it out by any means

[sethers656]

,i think all tanks (Except feral starting aoe threat) are equally hard/easy

I dont know if you have a feral tank, but my Bear is my main and starting AoE threat is just fine for us. Throw thorns on your self, never use charge if you are low on rage because it takes rage, not gives it to you, and then you got swipe, maul(with glyph), and Berserk --> Mangle spam if you really need snap aggro. I have been loving my bear tank in 4.0.1 and I have been fine with AoE.

On topic, Between my pally and DK tank, I would have to say I like my pally more.... I really am not a fan of DK's new rune system, but I could get used to it.

It all comes down to preference really. All the tanks are in a good spot so just go with which you like most. For me it's my druid, then pally, then DK. I am also making my last tank (Worgen Warrior) come Cata.... and I think I am going to really like him.

[Verzerrung]

Paladins have a shield.
DKs do not have shields.

[Deleted]

With the changes to deathstrike I found myself to be alot more in controll on fights like lk heroic. Pre-patch u just cycled cds and timed them with soul reaper. Now with deathstrike working as a reactive block/absorb mechanic where u can choose how much u will heal and block if timed right i find it more fun cos you're in more control over incoming damage.
Warriors tend to think their class takes more skill and that is true in trash packs & heroics. On raid bosses however its different, theyre still left in spam land, u wont notice any big difference between a mediocre/great warr in a raid enviroment contra a well played dk which can pull of some amazing tricks if played right.

Pallywise, I dont know. Our pally Ot is complaining about prot still being boring as hell. However id say pallies survivability is in quite a good spot atm.

[Drekor]

Paladins have a shield.
DKs do not have shields.

Death strike and Blood Shield do not exist!!

[elchazz]

why did always guys compare whos the best tank? i understand this really

blizzard never have even a chance to blanace all 4 claases in same lvl.

and every tank claas got a advantage or a disadvantage for some bosses.

the one how do blizzard is share the cooldowns on same lvl. divine protection barskin and stuff.

and the most important thing he dont balance aggro

but i play tank pally since bc and i never reroll a other tank class i got all pala for me funnyst to play. the nervs imo ok the pala becoms a little bit more dmg inc but on highcontent we are strong back with our importanst thingi the magical blockcap lolz

[MestHoop]

Warriors tend to think their class takes more skill and that is true in trash packs & heroics.

Like, where does this come from?
I play a paladin, warrior and DK tank and my warrior isn't any harder than the other 2 :\ Even pre-patch when people said pallies to be imba, I'd still rather tank certain instances on my warrior than on my pally! And it's not like I had to push more buttons or anything....
The only problems warriors MIGHT have now is no more bloodrage for that snap rage when you need it.

Anyway, I'm sticking with the paladin because of the same reason as I played one through TBC and wotlk: more utility than the other tanking classes.

[towelliee]

I would wait until the Devs get done figuring out the DK nerfs before you make a decision. They are coming.

[mrdrsrow]

Thanks for all the great opinions. I am really only concerned between pally and dk tho. I have no interest in warriors (I dunno in every game ever ive had an aversion to liking warriors. I can't explain) and I am making a druid worgen which is a given so i don't have to ask about them

[towelliee]

It's a myth, for 5 to 6 years there are dogma's in WoW.
Mages are a two button class.
Hunters are a one button class.
Pallies are faceroll and OP.
Warriors are the hardest yet best tanks.
Priests are the hardest and best healing class.
The Horde is more mature/Alliance is full of kids.

That are the few I could think of, and I am afraid those things will never change.

Kind of hypocrite to state this now: But in my experience (tanks from VT or I know irl) the warrior tanks have always been the most 'vocal'. As in yelling, raging and talking loud/bragging.

Sir I am going to have to ask you to give me a comparison to other tanks with evidence as to how and why Paladin's are so OP. I don't believe you can just say something is OP without actually comparing them to other tanks healers or DPS. Thank you!

Oh the IRONY!