[quote='Toned',index.php?page=Thread&postID=107772# post107772]Because Paladin's are like shortbus tanks. You don't even have to try and they can hold agro on tons of mobs.[/quote]

I considered rolling a druid tank for [url='http://dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=3060']my initial 4 shammy+tank group[/url].

These are the three tanks I considered, and why I choose pally:
Warrior: (leveled 20-40 w/4 ele shammies)
Synergy: WF totem, STR totem, AGI totem, STONESKIN, healing streams
Drawbacks: Low multi-target threat generation. Harder time keeping aggro off healers when multi-mob tanking. Harder to macro.
Meh: Tremor totem can be negated by stance dancing, but is still useful for the shammies

Summary: Warriors are great single-target threat generators, and STR+WF makes them even better at it. However, shammies have ZIPPO cc abilities -- so they don't play on warrior strengths well.

Druid:
Synergy: AGI totem, STONESKIN, STR totem, healing streams, TREMOR totem, MoTW buff -- also swipe hits exactly 3 targets so may work with CL, respec to boomkin for PvP (high synergy as boomkin)
Drawbacks: Unable to use innervate while tanking (plus low shaman spirit regen), unable to use WF
Meh: easier to macro and few abilities to micro, but doesn't benefit from certain shammy totems

Summary: Druids are great tanks in general, and well rounded enough to tank up to 3 mobs (which is perfect for CL). That being said, they can't use certain totems like WF, but since shammies don't need WF totem anyway it's not a big deal. They're a solid choice, particularly since a respec turns them into another role (Boomkin) with HIGH synergy with ele shammies.

Pally: (leveled 40-70 w/4 ele shammies)
Synergy: EVERYTHING. Mana, Healing, Agi, WF, Str (minor buff to block, but still usable), Tremor, Wis buff, Salv buff, Kings buff, WoA totem, hits multiple targets for CL, easy to macro (lawl holy shield spam), respec to holy for PvP
Drawbacks: LowER single-target threat, but as long as you give standard "lead time" (i.e. "wait for sunders") you're fine. Click-cast at the beginning to get an aggro lead unless you can Avenger's Shield in which case DPS away
Meh: Prot sucks for PvP, but Holy is decent

Summary: Pallies not only play well with ALL shaman buffs, but have very valuable buffs to GIVE shaman. AoE tanking is easy to macro and micromanage, and they are a respec away from being your healer in PvP. Pally has high threat generation on multiple mobs, allowing chain lightning to be used liberally. Consecrate tags all mobs such that Magma/Fire Nova aoe farming is doable (without mobs peeling off and one-shotting your 5hp nova totem) -- since if a totem kills a mob 100% by itself you get no XP, consecrate can be used to "tag" mobs while the shammy aoe totems kill them.



In the end I choose pally for its INCREDIBLE synergy with shaman. Not that warriors and druids have NO synergy, but the amount of synergy pallies have with shamans is near 100% -- I can't think of a single totem (besides maybe Tranquil Air -- but clever positioning can even make that useful -- and it DOES stack, multiplicatively, with Salv) that a pally wouldn't find useful. Not only that but pally buffs are uber useful for shammies, too! Blessing of Wisdom helped TREMENDOUSLY for outdoor quest leveling since ele shammies suffer from mana problems early on. In instances, salv helps when I'm doing single-target tanking since the pally isn't as good as a warrior or druid. Kings helps for PvP, so that's even useful too.

Second, Pallies make EXCELLENT boosters. So if I ever want a warrior or a druid to mix and match, all I have to do is boost it up with the pally. So they are a good long-term investment.