a talented tankadin

I thought I'd repost this from my previous blog, yes lazy day! Too busy getting my butt whipped by some rather pesky murlocs!

So...
What do you need to be a decent Tankadin? The key is talents and correct gearing, without these you really are useless as a Tank. No Holy or Retribution spec Paladin will ever make an even half-way reasonable Tank, no matter what they tell you.

My build comprises mostly of talents from, unsurprisingly, the Protection Tree. I am heavy in this tree having spent fifty-one points here, the remaining points going into the Retribution Tree.

Redoubt
You need five points in this there is no avoiding it. As much as it might seem tempting to improve Devotion Aura, you just don't need it. The likelihood is that there will be a Holy Paladin in the Raid that will have Improved Devotion Aura and even if there isn't it's not important enough for you to take it over Redoubt.

Without five of five points in Redoubt you will never achieve the required percentage to be Crushing Immune - or more correctly almost to the point of infinitesimally small odds be Crushing Immune- which is currently believed to be 102.6% Avoidance. A Paladin cannot reach that without Redoubt procced, at early Kara gear stage, so you need it, end of story.

Toughness
This is where you make up for not having Improved Devotion Aura. With this talent and your standard Devotion Aura you will have 18% extra Armour than comes from the actual gear. It's a nice talent and the points aren't better spent elsewhere.

Blessing of Kings
Who doesn't want to add an extra 10% to their stats? Really does it need any more explaining than that?

Improved Righteous Fury
This reduces the amount of damage from all sources and gives you more threat. You need it, you can't tank without keeping aggro on the mobs. Without this talent every single DPS and Healer will be pulling aggro left right and centre. It's a must to have all three points in this.

Shield Specialization
Take less damage when you block? Yes please. A proportion of a Paladin Tank's threat comes from the spell damage done to a target when you block with either,or both, Holy Shield and Blessing of Sanctuary up. Paladins block a lot, they need to so they can hold aggro. So taking less damage in those blocks is a very sensible idea. It's not a vital must, like some other talents, but it comes heavily recommended.

Anticipation
Tanks need Defense Rating, there is not getting around that. It increases your avoidance but most importantly it reduces the risk of a crit landing. At 490 Defense you are considered to be Crit Immune, however bosses have a higher chance to crit and so you will be the victim of the odd critical strike. 490 Defense is required for all tanks and this talent gets you to the magic number more quickly. Don't skip it just to take Defense on gear, that is intentionally gimping your ability to take other important stats on gear.

Spell Warding
Reducing the amount of spell damage you take from a mob is nice but it isn't critical. I had two points left over and I spent them here. They don't have to be.

Blessing of Sanctuary
It's not important to take this talent because of the Blessing itself but because it leads to Holy Shield which is a must have talent. However when you can get Blessing of Kings from another Paladin it is a nice buff to your threat and mitigation. You can't avoid this talent if you want to be a Tankadin.

Reckoning
If you are an Alliance Paladin you don't have to take this talent. Seal of Vengeance replaces it comfortably but for a Blood Elf it really is recommended even though Paladins don't tank with white hit damage, but with Seal of Righteousness and Reckoning up you get a nice boost to your threat.

Sacred Duty
The reduction in Divine Shield is useless but the extra 6% this talent also gives, which stacks with Combat Expertise, allows you to get comparable stamina to a Protection Warrior. You don't have to take it but it's free hit points and I like free things!

One Handed Weapon Specialization
As I mentioned before Tankadins don't tank with white hit damage. Our threat is generated with passive spell damage from our shield block and also from consecration. This talent increases spell damage and allows you to take other stats on gear. Another one you don't have to have but more free stats so why not.

Holy Shield
You can't avoid this talent. As a Tankadin you will spam this until your fingers bleed. It is the mainstay of your ability to Tank anything more than a Critter. It generated aggro and increases your avoidance. You must take it.

Improved Holy Shield
Amother must for all the same reasons as Holy Shield. You can't miss this one out.

Ardent Defender
This is a nifty talent in hard bosses, big trash pulls and simply when the going gets tough. It isn't a must but it is a fantastic talent and it would be a shame to miss it.

Combat Expertise
Reducing your target's ability to dodge you is not vital or even really that needed but each hit that lands is a little more aggro on the mob. The reason you take this talent is for the extra 10% stamina. Again not a must but more free hit points that Paladins really can't afford to do without.

Avenger's Shield
This is a Tankadin's only real way to pull. You can get others to pull for you and in some situations that is best but Avenger's Shield is a great way of getting a lot of instant threat on a mob. Some Tanks skip it, especially Engineers, but for the amount of threat it can give you at the start of a fight, and sometimes midway through, in my opinion it is foolish to skip it.

Benediction
Tankadins have very little mana. Any reduction in the cost of spells is worth having. The alternative is Improved Blessing of Might which you will have no use for. Benediction is the only real choice.

Deflection
The final absolute. Increased Parry means increased Avoidance mean taking less damage. Simple really.

So that is my talent build and the build I would recommend to any Paladin serious about Tanking. There are variants on the build that do still work well but this is the standard for a Raiding Tankadin