Although I am in support of the no changes to WoW Anniversary servers… I am begging for Protection Paladins to at least receive their taunt ability ahead of TBC, especially since we are now in P4 and moving soon into P5 of the Anniversary servers which is some of the most fun content there is.
Paladins have been locked into the healing role as being their only viable raid option, being disregarded as DPS and as Tanks. The Protection Paladin is a wonderful and fun spec to play and I would love to see it actually somewhat viable within the Anniversary servers.
The hybrid tax which was seen on many classes sporting the various specs like Tank, Heals and DPS such as Druid – is of course a contributing factor on why Paladin Tanks will NEVER be able to surpass something like a Warrior.
I just want to be clear that this post is less about buffing the Protection Paladin but more-so just allowing them to have a CHANCE to be able to compete in the tanking scene.
Sure, the itemization is not the best in Classic for Protection, sure there can be threat issues, but just as Druids can have the same issues on occasion; they have their taunt which at least keeps them as a potential option, they remain at least viable for boss tanking which can require taunt swaps or even simple things like trash if DPS manages to snap a few crits and pull threat.
Personally, I accept and welcome the itemization limits, the lack of defensive cooldowns, it makes paladin tanking still not as effective as warriors, maintaining the hybrid tax but missing the taunt when even Druids have one, makes Paladins an absolute no-go in any raid setting – I really want to see this change just for the sake of the class’s enjoyment.
A taunt would give Protection Paladins a shot at being less of a meme and more of an option to those who want to play it.
The gearing dilemma, lack of defensives and such would still keep them balanced and not overpowered.
This is a topic I want to see some engagement on, I want to get the attention of Blizzard to allow Paladins the opportunity to raid as tanks and not be stuck in just one role.
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You can play SoD. Or Cata. Or Retail. Or wait less than a year for TBC.
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SoD is just too far from Classic, Cataclysm isn’t Classic Vanilla, Retail just isn’t at all what the game used to be and the post mentioned TBC, but just getting it ahead of time. Definitely a lot said in the post I made about why now rather than later or elsewhere for sure
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I’m just saying there’s one version of WoW where paladins aren’t ideal as a raid tank. That’s ok. This is how Vanilla worked. It was about class design more than spec design. Raiding wasn’t the only form of content that mattered. Paladins excel in other areas, but these days Anniversary players only care about raids.
Seasonal servers are made for what you want. You might say SoD has gone too far, but who’s to say when that happens? Paladins get a taunt and watch what happens to the forums. The snowball effect is very real. Anniversary isn’t another seasonal server. It’s a re-release of Classic. I don’t even like the changes they’ve made compared to 2019 (they’ve just made the playerbase even more sweaty and toxic). But class changes would be at a whole new level.
So long story short…this is Vanilla. You’re choosing to play this. You knew going in paladins wouldn’t have a taunt. But they will relatively soon.
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They won’t make this change but I wish it existed. As a mage, I 100% prefer Paladins as dungeon tanks and it’s too bad they aren’t capable of raid tanking.
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Uh oh. You asked for an extremely reasonable thing that makes sense and there is literally zero reason to objectively disagree.
The redditor classic andys are coming out of the wood works… fedoras off this time. NO changes, remember? Even though this is the 5th run of Classic and this change would do… literally zero harm to the game they don’t care!
As long as they get to chase that feeling of being a teenager again (lmfao you will never get that feeling back. Most play wow because they are afraid to stop) they will continue to spout their usual nonsense.
Now what are you doing here! Go buy a boost instead of quest or sit afk in a pvp event!
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Prot deals much more base aggro with RF than warrior or druid. They also have BoP which is stronger than taunt. With taunt, prot pal would be OP.
BoP is by no means stronger than taunt – it’s basically just a combat stopper, doesn’t reset threat, doesn’t put you at the top of threat, if anything you kill the second threat if it isn’t you or another tank. It’s also got a massive cooldown. Protection Paladins are actually only viable threat machines when TBC comes in, otherwise you are churning through your mana trying to catch up to a Fury Protection’s threat. This has been tried and tried again, the only way you can compete would be if you start with the boss on you; even then, a warrior could and SHOULD rip off you. Like I said… taunt would just put them on an even playing field for being able to actually keep themselves on top as they’re reliant on the boss hitting them for a majority of their threat (through Holy Shield).
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With the speed that blizzard moves; TBC will be sooner.
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The unfortunate truth lol
um don’t they have a taunt in SoD? enjoy 
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The only three crap parts of TBC are Reckoning may as well not be a talent anymore, blessing of sacrifice has a 30sec CD and 30 sec run time, and the illumination talent is nerfed outa existence also.
Really the only good thing about TBC is Taunt and the ability to gain a touch of mana when healed. Crusader strike is fun, but Reckoning and Sac are stronger skills in Vanilla by a mile.
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That’s one issue i don’t get why people get bent over. Giving Paladins and Shamans a taunt wouldn’t break the game, it would just mean there would be that many more people able to fill the ever so elusive tank slots in 5man dungeons.
I know i would tank dungeons all day if i could.
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That’s what I mean, it isn’t game breaking because at the end of the day – the Warrior is still the better option by defensive cooldowns alone, this isn’t even mentioning the better itemization, weapon choices available through their skills, abilities and so on.
“Sod is too far from classic” precisely because they made changes like the one you want.
If blizzard add taunt, every other class will want their own changes. Pretty soon you’ll just get Sod.
So, no, not in favour of your suggestion.
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People are already clamoring that Anniversary is a dumpster fire, so why not have some fun and throw more fuel on the fire? Let Pallys and Sha-folk have a taunt!
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Mentally ill redditors don’t speak for everyone. If you want changes to individual classes, sod has everything you need and more. It’s a literal funserver at this point where you can have all the silly fun you want. Have at it
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Not looking for a complete change like I said – a taunt to bring a spec to a viable state, that’s far from what SoD has done with all their changes, it’s not Classic anymore or even close to it.
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A taunt will not address mana issues and lack of mitigation/shield block and no defense on gear. It would make dungeon tanking while leveling a little easier but that’s about it.
Paladins were not intended to be tank or dps in a raiding environment in vanilla. Time to get over it. Sod lets you do everything so go play it and let others (myself included) enjoy vanilla paladin for what it is.
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I am going to disagree with you. The only issue I have run into has been the taunt, otherwise – the limitations are balanced imo.