Gear mechanics of paladins as tanks The success of a tank depends highly upon his gear . Fortunately , gear for tanking Paladins is mostly the same as gear for tanking Death Knights and Warriors , so it is not difficult to find . Basics of Tanking . The job of a tank can basically be divided into two things : These are also the basic factors concerned when choosing tankadin gear . Gear Mechanics : Threat Generation . Strength is the primary stat a tankadin needs for threat production . The amount of strength needed depends on your group ' s DPS . Other stats that improve threat production include expertise rating , hit rating , block chance and block value . ( Hit rating also affects Righteous Defense . ) Haste rating is mostly useless because of skill cooldowns . As of 3 . 2 . 2 , stamina no longer increases spellpower as Touched by the Light was changed to scale from strength instead . Tankadins no longer need to stack Intellect or mp5 in order to have mana , and there is no level 80 tank gear that has either one . To effectively tank and maintain a threat lead , Righteous Fury must be turned on . Gear Mechanics : Survivability . Becoming uncrittable is the foremost concern for level 80 tankadins gearing up for raids . Paladins need at least 540 defense ( base 400 + 140 defense ) , to be uncrittable by raid bosses , and 535 defense to be uncrittable in heroics . 4 . 92 Defense Rating gives 1 Defense . 540 defense can be achieve by wearing enough gear with defense rating . A naked level 80 Paladin has 400 defense , and will need ( ( 540 - 400 ) * 4 . 92 ) = 689 defense rating to reach 540 defense . After becoming uncrittable , the next priority is more health and armor , and then block and avoidance . Lastly , some items have block value ( not block rating ) on them . When we block an attack , a certain fixed amount of damage is " blocked " . This amount is the sum of " block " on your shield and block value from other items , as well as contribution from strength . Block value is good to have but not strictly necessary unless when AOE tanking . Raid bosses usually hit for several thousand damage , so blocking a few hundred is not going to help much . On the other hand , when AOE tanking trash mobs , you are getting more frequent but weaker hits . In such case , damage prevented by block becomes quite significant . Therefore , some tankadins would keep a set with high avoidance and stamina for boss encounters and another with high block value ( and block rating ) for trash mobs . Blizzard did however announce that in the next expansion blocking will reduce damage by a percentage rather than flat value . Easily Attainable Pre - Heroic Tanking Gear . Gearing up your tankadin is much easier in WotLK than TBC . There is a great Blacksmithing set and with the new Championing system grinding reps is extremely easy and has some very good tanking rewards as well . Below is a list of some easy to obtain yet good tanking gear . If you still need enchants or gems ( to meet 535 defense or certain HP for heroics ) , see the next section . Head : Neck : Shoulders : Back : Chest : Wrists : Hands : Belt : Leggings : Feet : Rings : Trinkets : Weapon : Shield : Libram : It is also worth noting . These are engineer only items and require a , but a Frozen Orb can be bought on the Auction House , or if you can run some heroics you may get one . This head piece is comparable to the Tier 7 10 - Man , and so can be used in the early end - game . Easily Attainable Pre - Raid Tanking Gear . Once you have the above set you should dive into heroics . There are many great gear upgrades , including some epics , that will get you well on your way to tanking Naxxramas successfully . The final boss of each heroic drops an epic item equivalent to 10 - man Naxxramas gear . Head : " Enchant : " Neck : Shoulders : " Enchant : " Back : " Enchant : " Chest : " Enchant : " Wrists : " Enchant : " Hands : " Enchant : " Belt : Leggings : " Enchant : " Feet : " Enchant : " Rings : Note : Rings should be chosen based on your need of defense . If you are capped with only one ring equipped then get the Keystone Great - Ring . If not , then use the rings that get you capped . Trinkets : Weapon : " Enchant : " Shield : " Enchant : " Libram : Gems : Red : or ; or if the socket bonus is no good ) Yellow : or ; or ; or if the socket bonus is no good ) Blue : or ; or Meta : ; ; Wish - List after Patch 3 . 3 . With the changes in Patch 3 . 3 , this raiding gear can be purchased with that will now drop from 5 - man heroics , in addition to most WotLK raids . The costs may be subject to further change . Also , remember that with items that cost emblems of lower value than , you can trade for at the Emblem of Triumph vendor , and so on through the rest of the lesser emblems . Look to the emblem flow chart on any of the emblem information pages for more information about the conversion rate . Head : Neck : Shoulders : Back : Chest : Wrists : Hands : Belt : Leggings : Feet : Rings : Trinkets : Libram : For your weapon and shield , you can keep from Utgarde Pinnacle Heroic and from Culling of Stratholme Heroic until you are able to acquire a raid level weapon and shield from an actual raid . For gem and enchanting suggestions , look to the Pre - Raid Tanking Gear section above . Remember that as you are able to stay comfortably within the defense rating soft cap of 540 , you should begin to gem and enchant more for stamina and strength , for further mitigation and threat generation respectively as you begin / continue raiding . Alternative weapons to the from the new Icecrown 5 man instances are from Forge of Souls Normal mode , from Pit of Saron , and from Halls of Reflection . Remember these instances will be more challenging than the traditional Wrath of the Lich King heroics . As for shield there is also the option , though a difficult drop from Halls of Reflection Normal mode for your shield . Additionally , once you ' ve begun to acquire from raids and running the first random dungeon heroic each day , you can eventually replace some of the above with the following items from the Emblem of Frost vendor . Back : Chest : Hands : Belt : Trinket : Libram : Tier Pieces There are pieces known as the Lightsworn Battlegear available at the blacksmith shop in Dalaran . There is the option of obtaining these gauntlets and leggings both item level 251 and 264 from [ Vault of Archavon ] . These can be upgraded to 264 versions upon raiding and obtaining a Useful links . Maintankadin Forum : Gear Section A good place to discuss anything about tankadin gear Beginning Level 80 Plate Tank Gear Frequently updated listing of plate tank gear , that can be obtained without dungeon boss drops . Advanced Level 80 Plate Tank Gear Frequently updated listing of plate tank gear , that can be obtained from dungeons ( via boss drops , badges , etc . ) . List : Tanking Gear Uncrushability Value ( TBC ) A handy list of avoidance / blocking provided by tanking gear Resistance Gear ( TBC ) A complete list of resistance gear Warcrafter . net Sandbox A useful tool for planning your gear ! Wowhead . com / profiler Another useful tool for gear planning .