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Tanking Macros

There are several very common macros that every Tankadin should use (assuming they haven't started already) to simplify their life. Many more can be found in the official forums. The most common that I use though are as follows.

Managing Judgements

With the new Judgement system you have several choices when you do judge a seal on an enemy. Most of the time you will be using Judgement of Light, however sometimes you will need wisdom or justice. Most players will not want to tie up 2 extra slots on their action bar for them though. What you do then is create a macro that will cast Light by default, or Wisdom if you hold down a modifier key (Alt in this case) or Justice if you hold a different modifier key (Ctrl in this case). Then simply replace your Judgement of Light button on your toolbar with this macro.

Taunt

This macro can be used to turn your Righteous Defense taunt into a more warrior like taunt. Simply click on the MOB you wish to taunt and the macro will target their target for you and cast Righteous Defense. If however you already have a friendly target set as your target it still works as it normally would.

Emergency Taunt

While not really a taunt, many Tankadin's use Hand of Protection (HoP) as a backup taunt. Since it protects the affected player from physical damage if the attacker is only doing physical damage they will leave them to attack the new person on top of their aggro table, which is hopefully you.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is possible to hit yourself with HoP with this macro if the attacker switched targets while you are targeting them, If you do, the macro will cancel the bubble if you simply use it again, however you have now wasted your HoP.

All in One Taunt / Backup Taunt

For those minimalist players that want as few commands on their toolbars as possible, you can combine the above two macros into one. When combined it will first try to use Righteous Defense on the target or targets target and if that has already been used it will cast Hand of Protection on that target.

Bubble to Break Fear, Poison, Debuffs

Sometimes you get feared, poisoned or something else and need to get out of it fast. This can happen in fights such as Nightbane when you do not have enough priests for a full fear ward rotation or don't have Shamans for tremor totems. Using this macro once casts your Divine Shield, using it a second time cancels it so that you can grab threat back from the target fully cleared of debuffs.

You will notice that technically it cancels the aura first, that is so that when you use the macro the second time it does not error out with "Spell not ready". If you do not have Divine Shield active already the cancel aura command does nothing.

Tips

• Prepare for many comments about how Paladins can't tank, invites to be the healer instead of the tank, etc. Get used to it, be patient and prove them wrong.
• When staggering your casting use Holy Shield before casting your consecrate, and then do not use until you have recast holy shield. Because they have a 2 second difference on their cool down it may mean giving up a consecration so that you do not miss you holy shield cast.
• You should always run a threat meter of some sort (the one I prefer is Omen). It will allow you to judge how far ahead you are of your DPS'ers. If you are far enough then you can bring seals of light or wisdom into the fight if you need. Without knowing exact numbers though you are left guessing and could lose the use of this very valuable tool. You can find a copy of Omen in our UI Database.
• Try to use post-pull CC as much as possible, especially if you are relying of Avenger's Shield for your pulls. While it will not hit CC'ed targets it may not jump to what you expect. It hits 2 random targets after your first. While it will be the closest to the previous target, if 2 targets are equidistant it is random. Sheep, banish, shackle and trap should be your preferred CC as a Paladin tank, sap only when necessary and then pull by getting close and judging instead of using avengers shield.
• Remember everything in this guide! Your not a warrior tank, you have different concerns and requirements. While they are different they are not necessarily better or worse, just different.
• Tanking is not something you can pick up in a day, it is a long hard road that requires lots of practice and gear. Make sure it's for you before you even start.

Things to avoid

• Since you really need to use consecration to hold aggro on multiple MOBs, make sure you back up from any crowd controlled MOBs so that you do not set them free.
• Do no use your taunt right way, instead of trying to pull the MOB back in some other method, unless there is more than one MOB on that group member.  Then taunting should be your first option to grab them back.  Try to save it for when your healer has pulled aggro or when a DPS'er’er has several MOBs on them at once.
• Avoid looking at stats other than your core stats. Due to mana return from healing and blessings you no longer need to worry about Intelligence as a Paladin tank (at least on gear). Similarly, since you get +spellpower from stamina, you do not need to focus on +spellpower on your gear, other than potentially on a weapon for mass AOE tanking.

Comments or questions? Email me (Messiah@TenTonHammer.com) or post in our Paladin forums!

Note from the Author: While I try to cover off everything I have learned about tanking while playing my Paladin and main tanking for my guild in this guide, I would be remiss to not mention the excellent sites that have helped me learn to be a Paladin Tank. The two main forums I read on a constant basis to uncover all the best tricks, tips, tactics and math behind the game are Maintankadin and Tankspot. In game I use the addons Tankadin and RatingBuster and out of game I use WoWwebstats to figure out math, rotations, and mechanics. If you really want to be the best Paladin tank you can be, I strongly suggest referancing all the great material out there.