Pali vs Death Knight "Tanking"

[algol]

Does AMZ require a target ring for casting?

Range = 0 yards (self)
http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=51052

If you look at Blizzard for example, you'll note that field shows the max range of the targeting circle. AMZ is not targeted.

[blbjtb]

What is AMZ and AMS?

and ya im dumb ROFL I got it lol

Anti magic shield and zone gotcha

[Ualaa]

I would tend to say, threat is now mostly from damage dealt, and the DK is the highest dps of the tanks, so in a single target fight they're the best tank.

Against multiple opponents, the paladin has the best AoE damage, not specifically because of Consecrate which may or may not compare with Death & Decay, Thundershock, Swipe etc, but because of Holy Shield which causes a high amount of Holy Damage (threat) whenever the paladin blocks, which is very often. So, on the six adds who came with the main target, the paladin has exceptional threat via their basic tanking manuevers, and the same ability to pick up an add via their AoE move.

Paladin would be my top vote for a boxer, because of their ease of play. The fewer things you need to click to be effective, the more useful the respective tank is for a boxer who already has a lot of things to click. A paladin can be extremely effective with a "/castrandom Holy Shield, Consecrate, Hammer of the Righteous" macro. With a cast random, if an ability is on cooldown, the macro will not try to use it, so one button mashed and tied to your other toons main dps move results in effective tanking. True, you may need to adjust your positioning to avoid an AoE or break line of sight or move so a mob is not behind you, but that is true for all of the other tanks as well. The paladin has an aoe taunt, which is cast at a friendly and then taunts up to 3 mobs from them to the paladin, adding to their AoE supremacy. Pally buffs are very nice as well, and Hand of Protection is effectively a taunt vs taunt immune mobs, as an immune target does not interest mobs that much.

I'm not saying a DK won't work, just that any of the tank options will be fine for both single target pulls and AoE pulls... but the Paladin is an easier tank to multi-box then the others and is probably the best option for multiple pulls.

[Mosg2]

I understand where you're comeing from Ualaa, but I would still choose DK over Paladin for a pure tanking role and here's why:

1. DK's have more AE damage. Unholy will put two damage dots on one mob, spread them to every mob then drop Death and Decay and Unholy Blight. In my experience so far the damage is almost that of a Mage's AE'ing. This directly translates into threat.

2. Ebon Plague. This to me is the number one reason to pick the DK over the Paladin. 13% more damage for your group across the board is the best buff that a tank can bring to your 4 Shaman.

3. You have a 30 yard range taunt that pulls them to you, an 8 second cooldown melee taunt, and you can macro your ghoul to leap at the target and stun for 3 seconds. Not better than a Paladin, but comparable.

My tanking rotation looks like this: I pull a mob with E (Ranged disease), then put my second disease on the target (F), then spread those disease to all the other target (R). Then I put up Death and Decay (Shift+R). My DPS button is the spacebar which does a castsequence on my Shaman and it automatically does the +threat strike and Unholy Blight for my DK. You're talking about basically four buttons to make my DK tank work. Shift+Space heals my DK and Control+Space heals my group. With this setup I can focus very easily on tanking.

I'm not saying it's as simple as spamming one castrandom macro, but you get tangible gains for putting in just a little more effort.

[TeK23]

There is a few draw backs by not having a pali:

1. No Blessing of Kings 10% Status
2. No Devotion Aura with +6% Heal (Huge with (4) Healing totems)
3. No +3% Crt to Judged Targets, so no extra 3% Crt bonus to bosses

=======
So is loosing this really worth a DK?

[Hor]

There is a few draw backs by not having a pali:

1. No Blessing of Kings 10% Status
2. No Devotion Aura with +6% Heal (Huge with (4) Healing totems)
3. No +3% Crt to Judged Targets, so no extra 3% Crt bonus to bosses

=======
So is loosing this really worth a DK?

In a word, yes.
1. I haven't specced into Kings since the patch, and won't be on my Paladin. There's not really a need, I keep Sanc on myself, and Wisdom on the casters. I can live without the blessings entirely however, I mean Mana Spring Totem DOES stack now.
2. Loss of Devotion Aura, eh I don't really notice it. I HAVE however noticed less overheals on recount. I just hit myself with 4 lesser healing waves, and even though they're Elemental it still tops me off. And honestly, who uses Healing Totem now? Mana Spring STACKS!
3. Again, not a huge loss. I'll take the static 13% damage increase over a 3% crit chance ANYDAY. There are a multitude of theorycraft posts all over the web about this very topic, in various forms. And the general concsensus, for me ... is that constant spell damage, will always be better than spiked spell damage.

But in the end, it's not all about theorycrafting or min/maxing is it? Death Knights are just freakin fun. And if you prefer the Paladin, that's your business. Personally, I've parked mine till I'm ready to go back to levelling my second team. But that'll be a while.

[Tdog]

GD it now I want to try out a DK tank

BTW I'm LOVING a warrior tank in comparison to my Paladin tank. Though Ebon Plauge's 13% damage bonus sounds sexy as hell.

[Mosg2]

I can't imagine using Healing Spring ever now. 4x Mana Springs mean that I only ever have to drink if I happen to wipe on something. It's incredible.

Honestly, the biggest downside I see to using the DK is that you can't get the 10% hp bonus. That's significant when your'e starting heroics.

[Hachoo]

Possibly, but there are other just-as-significant things the DK gives - 86 str/agi, anti magic zone for buttloads of magic absorption, self healing to rely slightly less on shaman heals, better ability to pull entire groups including magic users if need be (death grip and/or strangulate will make magic users come straight at you), a pet to temporarily distract a mob, and WAY more dps than a paladin to boot.

Not saying the DK is better than a pally, just that a couple pally buffs hardly make the pally a better MB tank.

[Mosg2]

Possibly, but there are other just-as-significant things the DK gives - 86 str/agi, anti magic zone for buttloads of magic absorption, self healing to rely slightly less on shaman heals, better ability to pull entire groups including magic users if need be (death grip and/or strangulate will make magic users come straight at you), a pet to temporarily distract a mob, and WAY more dps than a paladin to boot.

Not saying the DK is better than a pally, just that a couple pally buffs hardly make the pally a better MB tank.

Horn of Winter does not stack with Strength of Earth. It's an either/or situation.