Tier-10 Set Bonuses: Paladin (Prot)

Today is part 2 of X (where X is the number of posts it takes for me to get tired of writing about set bonuses), and in this post I will be examining the Protection Paladin Tier-10 set bonuses. I have had the most tanking experience as a Paladin aside from my Druid. I have been tanking as a Paladin since BC, where Prot Paladins were un-hittable block machines that craved spellpower, an odd remnant of the old ways of itemizing and paladin spell mechanics. The class has undergone quite a few changes, especially in the tanking department, to the point where the once AoE masters now have solid single-target threat and are quite capable main-tanks. Tier-10 has some interesting things in store for the Prot Paladin, not the least of which is the 4-piece set bonus. Here are the set bonuses as they exist on the PTR now:

• 2 Pieces (Tank): Your Hammer of the Righteous ability deals 20% increased damage.
• 4 Pieces (Tank): When you activate Divine Plea, you gain 12% dodge for 10 seconds.

As with the last post, I'll start with the 2-piece bonus. Hammer of the Righteous is a core Prot Paladin tanking ability (it is, after all, the Protection 51-point talent). It is a strong ability that, when glyhped, will strike 4 targets. The 2-piece bonus will grant it additional damage. 20% is nothing to scoff at. It is a quite major increase in the damage of an ability that can effectively glue 4 mobs to the Paladin at one time without much work. On top of that, it will apply stacks of Seal of Vengeance/Corruption for even more threat on tertiary targets. Again, as with the Druid feral 2-piece, it's not terribly exciting, but it is, nonetheless, a significant boost to a strong ability.

And now the 4-piece. Ah, yes, here we get our ability altering bonus. Divine Plea is a favored ability by any Paladin spec, but especially so to a Prot Paladin thanks to the Glyph of Divine Plea, which grants the Paladin 3% damage reduction for the duration of Divine Plea; thanks to talents, Divine Plea can be kept up indefinitely. The trick to this bonus, however, is that it pops up when you activate Divine Plea. What this means is you must use the ability (which is on a 1-minute CD). No a huge issue, except that you will almost always pop Divine Plea while running in to engage a mob. Like I said, it won't ruin the bonus, unless there happens to be an encounter in the Citadel that requires massive avoidance boosts within the first minute but not in the first 10 seconds. Anyway, on to the usefulness. 12% dodge is a truck-ton of dodge. My Paladin sits at about 53% avoidance against a level 83 mob in a 10-man raid. This bonus will put her up to my Death Knight in terms of avoidance, and WAY past my Druid. Also note that it says 12 percent, so you will get the full amount as it does not suffer diminished returns the way dodge rating would. It may sound good, but it has two serious drawbacks compared to the Druid bonus.

See, avoidance does nothing to mitigate or otherwise prevent spell damage. It is useless against spells. It does, however, make it quite good for trash and add tanking, where I find avoidance to be quite useful since usually adds and trash are primarily physical based. The other major drawback is that increases your change to dodge does only that; increases your chance to dodge. It is up to the RNG to determine if you actually do succeed in your dodge. Avoidance tanks are scary to heal because, while they can go long strings of taking no damage, the damage they DO take is usually quite spikey. Also, because of the chance to dodge, anything that keeps you from being able to dodge, like getting stunned, completely negates the effect of this bonus.

The bonuses aren't terrible, and likely you will drop your old sets for them, but the Paladin 4T10 bonus is definitely on the weaker side of the tanking bonuses. I would much prefer something that buffed my Bubble Wall, but the dodge is a unique bonus that may find its niche in the Citadel encounters.