Paladin Tanking: +Strength vs. + Spell Damage

[mackenziemi]

I have a general paladin tanking question. In filling gem slots which is better +Str or +Spell Damage? I am asking mostly for selecting gems to put in sockets. Also I have seen many Paladin Tanks that ignore the color of the socket and just put +Stam gems in their sockets, is this the best route?

Thanks

[RadicalPi]

Unless you need to gem for Defense or Dodge to hit uncrushable/uncrittable, you're almost always going to want to gem for +stam unless you really want to get a socket bonus.

http://maintankadin.failsafedesign.c...pic.php?t=4859 - A great guide to Gems and Enchants.

[Stabface]

Strength is almost always the wrong choice.
Already been said, but heroics you want 490 defense (nothing crushes), enough spell damage to hold threat 200-300 is normally good, more if you have mad deepus. Then the rest stamina pretty much.

[mackenziemi]

Thanks for the info all

[NevadaGuy]

For a level 70 toon isn't 485 defense enuff to push crits off the table in normal and heroic intances?

490 once the mob is 3 levels above you.

And yes pack on the +stamina once you have your defense where you want it.

Uncrushable against level 73 bosses is a whole different set of worries.

[noir]

+STA
+STA
+STA
+STA
+STA

At 70, all the threat you need to start with can come from a +120 spell damage weapon with +40 spell damage enchant and +spell damage oil.

As a tankadin, you can never have enough HP. =)

[geoffdavison]

For a level 70 toon isn't 485 defense enuff to push crits off the table in normal and heroic intances?

490 once the mob is 3 levels above you.

And yes pack on the +stamina once you have your defense where you want it.

Uncrushable against level 73 bosses is a whole different set of worries.

the 490 is for level 70 boss mobs which are considered to be level 73..

[NevadaGuy]

For a level 70 toon isn't 485 defense enuff to push crits off the table in normal and heroic intances?

490 once the mob is 3 levels above you.

And yes pack on the +stamina once you have your defense where you want it.

Uncrushable against level 73 bosses is a whole different set of worries.

the 490 is for level 70 boss mobs which are considered to be level 73..

According to the guys over at http://www.failsafedesign.com/mainta...pic.php?t=9023 "It requires 485 defense to be uncrittable in heroics"

[homerjunior]

For spell damage get a merc gavel+spellpower on it and bam! your done for spelldamage until high end content(Starting Hyjal)

[Vyndree]

In filling gem slots which is better +Str or +Spell Damage?

Do not, do not, do not EVER consider +str for a TANKING paladin.

Paladins have these important stats for threat generation:
+spell damage
+holy damage (yes, there are a few pieces that exist with +holy damage)

Paladins have these important stats for mitigation:
+block RATING
+armor
+stamina
+block value

Paladins have these important stats for avoidance:
+agility (dodge rating)
+parry

While strength does help by increasing your block, it scales poorly and is one of the weakest form of mitigation. Strength is a warrior stat because it is the warrior's form of threat generation -- it is not a pally's.

Your first priority will be to reach 490 defense. Your second priority will be to reach uncrushability (102.4%) -- this is only important in raids since you will be fighting level 73 mobs -- you may remain crushable in instances/heroics with no problems. Your third priority will be to get enough spelldamage to hold threat off of your dps (typically 300-350 for kara progression geared dps, 400-450 for BT/Hyjal geared). Once these three priorities have been filled, you may then begin to stack more flat stamina such that you can survive the boss's hits, and continue stacking stamina/avoidance as you prefer (I prefer stamina, since I gain mana from heals so too much avoidance is no good when I'm going oom).

I suggest you read up on http://maintankadin.failsafedesign.com -- it has some great pally tanking guides.