Struggling between choices? Just rerolled and don’t know what to chose? Dinged 70 recently and confusion has taken over you? Look no further! This guide will (hopefully) answer all your question regarding the weapon of choice for Protection Paladins.

This guide is being continuously being updated. Although you might not notice changes in the actual post, the online spreadsheet displays all the new and old information you need so check that as often as you would like.

Who do I write this guide for?

This guide is for those brave Protection Paladins that are on the brink of their carriers, those who are only now starting Karazhan or storming through 25-man content. It doesn’t address those who tank Illidan with The Sun Eater. If you are one of those Paladins, you can safely skip this read, as you probably know much more than me.

General considerations

What to look for in a weapon for tanking Paladins? Let’s see:

1. Spell damage - the more, the merrier;
2. Stamina - obvious, isn’t it?
3. Spell hit rating - secondary stat, but nice to have;
4. Spell critical strike rating - nice to have some crits from time to time for a threat boost;
5. Intellect - Again, not that important;

All other stats are not important and should be ignored.

More specific details and nifty calculations after the jump.

How I made my calculations

It’s very simple and very subjective. That means, it’s not some official stuff. I made it up and it’s not based on some incredible theorycrafting. You can call it The Tepisor Scale if you will. If you don’t like it, don’t use it. On the other hand feedback and criticism is strongly encouraged.

• Each point of Spell Damage gets 1 point on my scale;
• Each point of Stamina gets 0,8 points;
• Each point of Spell hit rating gets 0,6 points;
• Each point of Spell critical strike rating gets 0,4 points;
• Each point of Intellect gets 0,4 points;
• Each point of Resilience gets 0,2 points;

Pretty simple, eh?

Why did I chose this distribution of points? Well, we all know the basics. Spell damage is our primary threat generator and our weapon provides the bulk of it. So putting this on the first place seems pretty logic to me. Next, Stamina. We all know that Paladins lack the base stamina that Warriors have and getting extra Stamina on our weapon is important. Spell hit? Yes, it’s important and good to have, since other items might not provide enough. You know, it’s not a pleasant feeling when your Avenger’s Shield misses on a important pull. Spell critical strike rating and Intellect are less important as the first is a possible threat boost and the other is, well, not really needed. And Resilience, included only because we have PvP weapons on our Scale.

Alas, a question arises. “Why doesn’t your scale give points for Defense, Dodge, Block Rating or Block Value?”. All weapons with Defense and/or Dodge are intended for Warriors. They should not be used by Paladins, unless they really know what they are doing. There is an exception, Crystalforged Sword. I decided not to give points for the Shield block rating on this weapon because it’s an isolated item (only weapon in game with that stat).

Enough with the blabbering, let’s get to the goodies!

Karazhan and you!

Continuum Blade

Item breakdown:

121 Spell damage * 1 = 121 points;

30 Stamina * 0,8 = 24 points;

8 Spell hit rating * 0,6 = 4,8 points;

11 Intellect * 0,4 = 4,4 points;

Total = 154,2 points

This is the default weapon for any Paladin that is starting to raid. Getting it is really not hard. I got mine just by doing the quest to get the Kara key (for those who don’t know, you need to do, among other things, Durnholde and Black Morass) and then 1 or 2 runs of Black Morass.

Crystalforged Sword

Item breakdown:

121 Spell damage * 1 = 121 points;

30 Stamina * 0,8 = 24 points;

8 Intellect * 0,4 = 3,2 points;

Total = 148,2 points

You can get this weapon in two ways: 1. buy it from AH, costs from 100g to 250g (I got mine for 150g), depending on the server; 2. quest on the Ogri’la grounds and hope that Depleted Sword drops and then infuse it with 50 Apexis Shards to create the final weapon. Some consider this an upgrade over Continuum Blade and I tend to agree, even though it scores lower (due to not including Shield block rating in the calculations). Crystalforged Sword can provide you with that extra stats you need to reach uncrushable. If it does, use it. It’s really your choice if you use this or the Continuum.

Weapon of choice: Gladiator’s Gavel

Item breakdown:

199 spell damage * 1 = 191 points;

28 Stamina * 0,8 = 22,4 points;

18 Intellect * 0,4 = 7,2 points;

18 Resilience * 0,2 = 3,6 points;

Total = 232,2 points

Clear upgrade over all that you can get until now. I don’t care if you don’t like to PvP. Get it now! You will clearly see the difference in aggro generation when switching to this weapon. I was amazed. Again, farm the honor for it and buy it as fast as you can. Note: this is a S1 weapon and when S4 hits, it won’t be available anymore. So you’ll need to buy the S2 equivalent instead. For it, keep reading, it’s a bit more down.

Hitting 25-man content

So you cleared Karazhan, got all the phat lootz you can get from there. What now?, you may ask yourself. Time for the next best thing: heroic MGT, ZA and starting raiding big.

Cudgel of Consecration

Item breakdown:

203 Spell damage * 1 = 203 points;

15 Stamina * 0,8 = 12 points;

18 Spell hit rating * 0,6 = 10,8 points;

20 Intellect * 0,4 = 8 points;

Total = 233,8 points

This is a nice mace to have around. It drops from Kael’thas in heroic Magister Terrace. A small upgrade over the Gavel, but a good upgrade in terms of PvE (Spell hit rating instead of Resilience and a blue socket in which you should put a stamina gem). If you’re geared and brave enough, try and farm for it, especially that you will eventually get Commendation of Kael’thas in the process.

Amani Punisher

Item breakdown:

217 Spell damage * 1 = 217 points;

30 Stamina * 0,8 = 24 points;

20 Spell hit rating * 0,6 = 12 points

21 Intellect * 0,4 = 8,4 points;

Total = 261,4 points

This beautiful mace drops in Zul’Aman from Akil’zon, the Eagle avatar. It’s a good and solid upgrade over the Cudgel: twice the Stamina, more Spell damage and a bit more Spell hit rating and Intellect. Try and get it, it will last you until Mount Hyjal.

Merciless Gladiator’s Gavel

Item breakdown:

225 Spell damage * 1 = 225 points;

27 Stamina * 0,8 = 21,6 points;

15 Spell hit rating * 0,6 = 9 points;

18 Intellect * 0,4 = 7,2 points;

18 Resilience * 0,2 = 3,6 points;

Total = 266,4 points

Not such a big upgrade over the Punisher (even a bit downgrade for PvE). It has one big advantage: you can have it much faster is it requires only a bit of Arena or, when S4 hits, a bit of BG farming, unlike farming ZA and depending on lucky rolls.

Weapon of choice: slight advantage Amani Punisher

Depending of which you get first, it’s up to you. If you’re lucky enough and get Amani Punisher first, stick to it. But I suggest getting Merciless Gladiator’s Gavel first and then work your way towards the Punisher.

T6 and beyond

Hammer of Judgement, the only logical choice

Item breakdown

236 Spell damage * 1 = 236 points;

33 Stamina * 0,8 = 26,4 points;

22 Spell hit rating * 0,6 = 13,2 points;

22 Intellect * 0,4 = 8,8 points;

Total = 284,4 points

Awesome mace and with zomg looks also. Drops from Mount Hyjal trash and you will have to fight Shadow Priests for it. I got mine a few days ago and I can really tell you, there is no better feeling than wielding this baby around. Really gets your ego boosted by a lot. Great stats, lots of Spell Damage, lots of Stamina and Spell hit rating also. Good luck getting it!

Weapons you won’t get while tanking

Pretty simple: Vengeful Gladiator’s Gavel and Brutal Gladiator’s Gavel. Why? Because they require way too much personal and/or arena rating for your spec to be viable. You can see the item breakdown for these two in the spreadsheet.

The spreadsheet

You can view the latest version here.

If you would like to contribute, you can do it (freely) here. If I give free access it doesn’t mean you can ruin it. I believe in sharing the knowledge so please be fair. I always have a backup just in case.

Or you can just download in .xls format here.

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