Long time admirer of the Paladin class but I just have never had the urge to level a Paladin until recently. I primarily tank Raids/M+ and FC in RBGs. Our group reformed shortly after Classic release and we are going to try and push content in 8.3.
I wanted to give it a go so last night I rolled a lvl 20 ZTroll Paladin, went prot, grabbed some heirlooms and hit LFG which gave me Shadowfang Keep. Cleared it easily and I felt like a wrecking ball cutting through packs. I was pulling big and pull often. The gameplay felt really good with the limited abilities that I had. Now I have 20 minutes played and a lvl 21 Paladin waiting on me to make a decision.
All of my Tanking experience has either been on a Guardian or Warrior with a smidge of DK. I am looking for feedback from experienced tanks on what they like and don’t like about a Paladin in a Raid or M+ environment. I can see a heavy movement fight in a Raid or Nercrotic pools in M+ being an issue. What should I expect out of the end game when it comes to what the class can and can’t do?
well I dont raid but they are fun for world pvp if that helps (I can 1v1 DH’s so thats something)
I don’t PvP so I can’t speak on FC but Prot is a wheel chair spec just like DK’s, even with 2x Cavalier. Prot Paladins are fine for all PvE content. I mostly tank heroic raids (with mythic when we have the bodies) and a weekly +10 without issue.
The next season it appears the M+ meta will favor monks but meh, I play what I know and enjoy and for the content I do, it suits me just fine.
To answer your questions,
What I like:
Plenty of CD’s and Oh $h!t buttons
An AoE taunt with immunity (when talented)
The ability to solo cheese mechanics in raids
More forgiving of screw ups than other tanks IMO
Cons:
Not that mobile. You will need the consecrate slow to help kiting
No AoE stun. Blinding light is fine solo but in group content breaks so fast it’s useless
You have to be careful with Avenger’s Shield or it will bounce to another group if they are tightly packed. Pull with judgment or taunt and when they are clear throw the shield. Mostly an issue for me in TD and ML when I’m not being careful.
Thank you that is the feedback that I was looking for. I figured any tank can handle any content these days it just comes down to the player enjoying the playstyle of that toolkit.
Do you ever feel like that you are getting trucked outside of Consecrate? It is that hard to manage keeping it down while trying to maneuver a boss around?
If you’re in a movement period you don’t drop cons, you have it where you started and drop it where you finish. Easy
Bit different if you’re kiting. You don’t have to be standing in it while kiting cause you’re taking no damage anyway, and because it’s a slow it’s pretty simple to keep it between you and the mobs and just slowly migrate around the room. Hardest part is not pulling other trash while kiting, which just requires a minimal amount of brain.
Pros:
Cheese
Solid baseline of a tank - above average never fotm so don’t get nerfs
Bring your own slow
Magic mitigation
Utility - Freedom, cleanse, BoP, SW, sac, hotp (tho weaker these days)
Interrupts - Opens up other comps like double ranged to m+ which you wouldn’t be comfortable doing with any other tank
Cons:
Require thinking to use sotr well
Weaker at extended periods of tanking (loong tyrannical fights)
Mobility below average
Punishing
Utility - No brez, grip, aoe stun, displacement, multi taunt
Can’t be a night elf
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Nope. You shouldn’t be getting hit when kiting 
but if you feel like you need a cd during, you can hit SoTR as it no longer needs a target to hit to get it’s benefit.
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Extremely fun and well rounded tank.
Pros:
Quick snap aggo through SoTR which is also your active mitigation means not being hung up in multiple globals to get aggro and get your mitigation/CD’s going.
You can interrupt everything.
You can one-shot explosives on explosive weeks with judgment - at range.
Perma slow via consecrate.
Great damage throughput. Second to only warrior in my experience.
Bubble taunt is extremely fun for ridiculously huge pulls.
Utility to severely help your group through Lay/BoP/Sac/freedom
The ability to rez.
Single target stun and blind for aoe interrupts
When wings is up you feel like a boss.
If you want to switch it up you can go holy or ret.
Cons:
Active mitigate must be played correctly. When its up you’re fine, when it’s not you’re not.
Only mobility is horse.
As others have eluded, long tyrannical fights are challenging due to the inability to maintain 100% uptime on active mitigation.
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