80 Protection Paladin Starter Kit

[Smithnweson]

Smithnweson's Tried and True Protection Paladin Starter Guide
(This is how I started with my Paladin the moment he hit 80 and went from Ret to Prot)

Materials List (Armor + Weapon)

02 Arctic Fur
10 Nerubian Chitin

07 Frozen Orb

12 Cobalt Bar (1 bar = 1 ore)
79 Saronite Bar (1 bar = 2 ore)
06Titanium Bar (1 bar = 2 ore)
15 Titansteel Bar*
*15 Eternal Fire, 15 Eternal Earth, 15 Eternal Shadow & 45 Titanium Bar

01 Crystallized Earth
12 Eternal Earth
10 Eternal Life

===========================
Below is the list of items created from the above materials. I did not add Ulduar/ToC/ICC Patterns into this list, however if you have the means to upgrade these at the time you hit 80, I would insist in doing so.

Head - Tempered Titansteel Helm (BS)
Neck - Titanium Earthguard Chain (JC)
Shoulder - Tempered Saronite Shoulders (BS)
Back - Durable Nerubhide Cape (LW)
Chest - Tempered Saronite Breastplate (BS)
Waist - Tempered Saronite Belt (BS)
Legs - Daunting Legplates (BS)
Feet - Tempered Titansteel Treads (BS)
Wrist - Tempered Saronite Bracers (BS)
Hands - Daunting Handguards (BS)
Finger A - Titanium Earthguard Ring (JC)
Finger B - Ring of Earthen Might (JC)
Weapon - Titansteel Bonecrusher (BS)
Shield - Titansteel Shield Wall (BS)

At this point you will end up with 499 Defense, cap is 540. I prefer to do enchants for defense before gems.

Enchants/Enhancements: (not including gems)
This list was created with the thought that you have NO professions. Every profession has its perks and you should check out yours before applying any of these enchants/enhancements to get the most bang for your buck.

Head: Arcanum of the Stalwart Protector if you are Revered with Argent Crusade with any character on your account (Revered to buy, not to wear BoA). 37 Stamina 20 Defense.

Neck: No current enchants or enhancements for this slot.

Shoulder: Greater Inscription of the Pinnacle if you are Exalted with The Sons of Hodir with any character on your account (Exalted to buy, not to wear BoA). 20 Dodge 15 Defense.

Back: Titanweave 16 Defense.

Chest: Powerful Stats +10 to all stats.

Waist: Eternal Belt Buckle (BS) Creates a Prismatic Socket into your waist item.

Legs: Frosthide Leg Armor (LW) +55 Stamina +22 Agility.

Feet: Tuskarr's Vitality Minor Speed Increase + 15 Stamina.

Wrist: Greater Stats +6 to all stats. (alternatively you can use Major Stamina +40 stam)

Hands: Armsman +2% Threat & +10 Parry.

Finger A: Enchanter only.

Finger B: Enchanter only.

Weapon: Blade Ward - Chance on hit to grant Blade Warding. Blade Warding increases your parry rating by 200 and inflicts 600 to 800 damage on your next parry.

Shield: Defense +20 Defense


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At this point you will be well over the defense cap and you will still have:

3 Blue Sockets (Solid Majestic Zircon)

1 Red Sockets (Defender's Dreadstone)

1 Meta Socket Austere Earthsiege Diamond +32 Stamina & +2% increased armor value from items.

1 Prismatic Socket Nightmare Tear (+10 stats)



Author's Note:

I am by no means a numbers guy or hardcore tank. I do my fair share and I don't wipe on my paladin. Any questions/comments I will try to answer and take into consideration.

After you begin to do heroics, pick up pieces to replace as you go but keep your eye on the prize of getting your emblem gear. I highly recommend that you go to the tournament grounds to buy your gear as they show you the entire set and not just a few select pieces in Dalaran.

[Ualaa]

Nice list.

And with that level of gear, you'll be able to do most of the random heroics.

Queue as a tank, for a weekend (basically instant queue's), and you'll have a lot of badge gear which is major upgrades. You can basically get full tier 9.1 gear from heroics alone.

And the tank is the cornerstone of the team, at least for PvE/Heroic content. Once your tank is somewhat geared, they'll pull even a very undergeared team through a lot of content.

[lofblad]

This list is incredibly helpful, thank you so much!

[Janus]

Isn't the Titansteel Destroyer a 2-hand mace ?? What's a good 1-hand tanking weapon ?

[TheMuffinMan]

Blade of the Empty Void - Item - World of Warcraft
from the quest
Tirion's Gambit - Quest - World of Warcraft

or

Hammer of Quiet Mourning - Item - World of Warcraft
from the quest
Wanted: Ragemane's Flipper - Quest - World of Warcraft

are the best "Pre-Any instance at all" tanking choices.

Your next best bet for a weapon (excluding new IC 5-mans) is
Eternally Folded Blade - Item - World of Warcraft from Volkhan in Halls of Lightning.

if you are geared enough to do regular IC 5-mans, then shoot for:
Lucky Old Sun - Item - World of Warcraft
from Bronjham in FoS.

There isn't much better in Heroics until you are geared enough for ToC 5-man and can get
Peacekeeper Blade - Item - World of Warcraft
from the Black Knight.

The only thing better than that from 5-man heroics is
Rimefang's Claw - Item - World of Warcraft
from Scourgelord Tyrannus in PoS (new IC 5-man).

[Smithnweson]

I blame not having my laptop with 2 monitors on that mixup between Titansteel Destroyer and Titansteel Bonecrusher. I edited the list for reflect as such.

And Muffin I thank you for the weapon upgrade list. I currently use Peacekeeper Blade from HToC5 and love it.

[Tim]

Great guide CMS! Should make you a news editor for the site, saves me the time of putting the guide up

Great stuff! I have to speak to you bout something soon too by the way!

[TheMuffinMan]

Originally Posted by Smithnweson

I blame not having my laptop with 2 monitors on that mixup between Titansteel Destroyer and Titansteel Bonecrusher. I edited the list for reflect as such.

And Muffin I thank you for the weapon upgrade list. I currently use Peacekeeper Blade from HToC5 and love it.

NP!

The blade from the final boss of PoS is the only upgrade from that outside of a raid.

[EaTCarbS]

Wrists should be +40 stam.
Changing to the BC +18 stam on your shield if you are def capped isn't a bad idea.
Also, the pvp shoulder enchant is on par with the Sons of Hodir one for tanks.

[Smithnweson]

Good point on the enchantment ideas. I went with +6stats over 40stam only because I felt that it gave the best overall gear improvement. However you can make a case for either I guess. I just took it from my point of view.

I did think about the PVP enchant to shoulders via Wintergrasp. I felt that the Sons of Hodir was more important to mention because, as of now it being BoA, it seemed more attainable at hitting 80. Now having put more thought into it, I guess I should have taken into account that there are new people to the game still and not everyone already has an 80 to buy that item.

I guess I rushed a bit much, basically read the post "Square One" and got inspired. Wrote the above in maybe an hour if that. (researching materials and needing to reference the correct items took time... though I still messed up with the whole Destroyer/Bonecrusher issue). Always happy to hear feedback, the only way to make this the best there is