Useful professions for a Protection Paladin (I): Blacksmithing



Wel­come to Part I of my “Use­ful pro­fes­sions for a Pro­tec­tion Pal­adin” series. Today we open with: Blacksmithing.

So you want to know what Black­smithing can do for you in terms of Pal­adin tank­ing? Excel­lent! Here are some facts that I hope will help you.

Black­smithing pro’s:

In gen­eral:

• Best tank­ing set avail­able until you hit Out­land: Impe­r­ial Plate set. It’s good for War­riors and Pal­adins alike. Also makes you look like a Stormwind guard. FUN!
• Excel­lent BoE or BoP recipes avail­able: Plans: Fel­steel Helm, Plans: Fel­steel Gloves, Plans: Fel­steel Leg­gings, Plans: Oathkeeper’s Helm, Plans: Brac­ers of the Green Fortress, Plans: Red Havoc Boots, Plans: Boots of the Pro­tec­tor, Plans: Belt of the Guardian and many more.
• You can make a very nice profit by sell­ing either the BoE items that you craft or even the plans them­selves that only show for Blacksmiths.

Armor­smith:

• Two good BoP items to start you out with: Earth­forged Leg­gings and Heavy Earth­forged Breast­plate.
• If you ever want to switch to Ret­ri­bu­tion, you have Breast­plate of Kings, which is a good option, espe­cially if you upgrade it to Bul­wark of Kings and later on to Bul­wark of Ancient Kings.

Weapon­smith:

• Not really a good option for a Pro­tec­tion Paladin.
• As a Sword­smith, I went and crafted (don’t ask me why, I just did) Fire­guard, which I plan to upgrade soon to Blaze­guard and later on to Blaze­fury. NOTE: I only use Fire­guard for boost­ing and some­times while grind­ing. No mat­ter under what cir­cum­stances, DO NOT TANK WITH IT! (unless you have no other sword at all -.-)
• If you ever want to switch to Ret­ri­bu­tion, there are sev­eral options avail­able for you: Axe­smith (Lunar Cres­cent -> Moon­cleaver -> Blood­moon), Sword­smith (Lion­heart BladeLion­heart Cham­pion -> Lion­heart Exe­cu­tioner), Ham­mer­smith (Thun­der -> Deep Thun­der -> Stormher­ald), the lat­ter being the best option.

Black­smithing con’s:

• Hard and expen­sive to level.
• Not that profitable.
• Not really that fun com­pared to Engineering.

A good and com­pre­hen­sive list can also be found at wowinsider.com: The Light and How to Swing It: Black­smithing for the rest of us (cov­ers all aspects of a Pal­adin, not only tank­ing).

See More Pop­u­lar Posts:

• A Guide to Pro­tec­tion Pal­adin Glyphs
• Patch 3.1 Pro­tec­tion Pal­adin Specs and Glyphs
• Best WotLK Weapon Enchant for Pro­tec­tion Paladins
• Pro­tec­tion Pal­adin build for Wrath of the Lich King
• A ques­tion for all tanks

Sim­i­lar Posts of Interest:

• Bliz­zard, please give us a third profession
• 2.4 Shop­ping List
• Use­ful pro­fes­sions for a Pro­tec­tion Pal­adin (IV): Enchant­ing
• How I started tanking
• Use­ful pro­fes­sions for a Pro­tec­tion Pal­adin (III): Engi­neer­ing

 

One Response to “Useful professions for a Protection Paladin (I): Blacksmithing”

1. Randy Fratnick says:

   29/01/2010 at 09:44

   Nice site here man, thanks. Can’t wait for the lat­est enlarge­ment, Cat­a­clysm. Know­ing Blizz though I would not be shocked if it was released in 2011!

   Reply