[Ciderhelm]

Jump To Patch 3.0 Preparedness Guides: Paladin / Warrior

I intended to go a bit more in-depth on the subject of an instance run I completed tonight with two other tanks (one specced Holy while he collects gear)... but I'll get to that after another run tonight.


The Spec -- A Little Different
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

I made a conscious choice to drop all Avoidance talents in favor of damage. So far, I'm very satisfied with the decision, and it fits in with the decision I made to drop Deflection when 2.0 came out during Naxxramas. If your gear is well beyond the content you'll be tanking until Wrath comes out, consider doing this.

Looking at performance after the run, I wish I had not put the points in Improved Spell Reflect but had instead opted for Improved Bloodrage. There was not a single situation tonight where I felt the benefit of reflecting a spell on another party member was worth the points.

Last Stand is a point I'm sure will stir up concerns, but at the moment I don't see myself in a position where I'm worried about a temporary health gain.


Glyph of Revenge
Get this. We already knew it was good, but after using it in level 70 instances, I walked away seeing this as absolutely irreplaceable. In a Heroic Shadow Labs, I was bordering an infinite rage scenario (i.e. Rotation & 100% Heroic Strike up-time).


Keybind Feedback
Here's a very basic change I've made to my 8 most-used keys:
1. Shield Slam (Macro or single ability)
2. Revenge
3. Devastate
4. Heroic Strike

Then:
Alt 1. Charge
Alt 2. Shockwave
Alt 3. Thunder Clap.
Alt 4. Cleave

That's a new configuration for me since I don't tend to use Alt as a modifier (I prefer Shift). The A and D have moved to Strafing, so I'm deciding what to do with my ~, Q, E, F, and Shift+F keys as far as interrupts, emergency buttons, etc. We'll see.

What are your own setups?


Vigilance -- Added Bonus
I secretly put Vigilance on a Feral Druid in the party about halfway through the heroic. When I peeled mobs off him, he got frustrated, and started complaining about the size of my Shield Slams. This made me happy.

[Morgo]

Key   Normal     Alt modifier
1     Taunt      Charge
2     Revenge    Berserker Rage
3     HS         Cleave
4     SB         SB+Trinkets
Q     SS         SS+Trinkets
E     Revenge
R     Disarm
T     Conc. Blow Fear
F     TC         Shockwave
G     Shoot      Bloodrage

[Ciderhelm]

I use one of my left mouse buttons for shooting.

[Morgo]

Why can't I find the edit button?
E is Devastate, V is interrupt, x last stand, x+alt shield wall

[Dots]

I never understood how someone can stay mobile with main abilities on 1-5 or so, unless you are not using WASD to move. The four main abilities are on ERTF for me, Charge shift+E, Shockwave 4, TC 5, Cleave shift+R. Basically all the keys I can reach easily while still moving around with WASD. Less often used abilities are on 1236QG, a few more shift combinations and last but not least the key between shift and Z (don't know what it is on an american keyboard layout).

[Dots]

Oh right, some other important stuff like Taunt and stances (well, used to be important...) are on mouse keys.

[Aruthra]

Source: Ciderhelm [b] I secretly put Vigilance on a Feral Druid in the party about halfway through the heroic. When I peeled mobs off him, he got frustrated, and started complaining about the size of my Shield Slams. This made me happy.

I LOL'd so loudly that everyone at work around my cubicle was wondering what the heck just happened. Funny stuff.

[Edge]

My new key binds will be like this:

R - Shield Slam
F - Revenge
E - Devastate
Q - Heroic Strike

X - Charge+Taunt-Makro
C - Shockwave
T - Thunder Clap
V - Cleave

Yeah I don't use 1234 at all.

Buffs and Gains are on Ctrl. Rarely used abilities are on Shifts.

[Horacio]

I'm not a dirty keyboard turner' but I need my traditional movement keys there none the less. I do both, I guess but consider myself adept at using the mouse exclusively in tight situations.

I don't have my bars like I want them yet but....

~ taunt
1 HS
2 Dev
3 SS
4 Rev
5 SB

M1 Shield Bash/Pummel
M2 Bloodrage...but this might become shockwave.

Probably use F1, F2, F3 for TC, Charge, Spell reflect
other than that, I fail at keybinds. I cannot use modifiers like shift...it just doesn't work for me. If I move off my basic keys, I get lost.

[Galushi]

normal - 1 taunt 2 devastate 3 shield slam 4 revenge 5 shield block
shift - 1 shoot 2 HS 3 charge 4 intervene 5 concussion blow 6 shockwave
g- reflect, y zerker rage

on mouse buttons i have thunderclap, battle/comanding shouts (via shift) and bloodrage

i move with a combination of WASD with q/e as strafe and mouse look.

Its not hard to move and use 1-5 abilities Dots if you can move with both wasd and mouse. for example while running forward can jump and lift finger off W cuz your momentum will keep you going forward. Also holding both mouse buttons is also Forward.

[nips]

|. next target
1. dev
2. ss
3. sb
4. rev
5. sw
6. conc.b
q. taunt
e. heroic strike
r. shield bash
f. auto run
c. charge
x. shoot
z. disarm
<. cleave
tab. mouseover sunder

Demo shout on mouse down and thunder clap on mouse up.

And i got marks on f5-f12(skull = f5 etc)
O noes buttons on f1-f4 pluss some clickys

Probably forgot some, but thats what i use for the most.

[Dots]

Source: Galushi Its not hard to move and use 1-5 abilities Dots if you can move with both wasd and mouse. for example while running forward can jump and lift finger off W cuz your momentum will keep you going forward. Also holding both mouse buttons is also Forward.

But you can't easily strafe which is important if you are dragging mobs around with you. I usually strafe while holding the right mouse key and still using GCDs. Sure that would be possible with 1-3 as well, but it's a lot harder at least for me. It also depends on which finger you use for what and the size of your hand though.

[Zelgius]

There are maybe 3 or 4 items in the game that are better than what I'm wearing right now and I'm considering doing something similar in terms of dropping avoidance.

[Katrekaz]

My hotkeys are kinda work in progress while i work out where to put shockwave, charge, and berserker rage.
Movement : wasd, hold right mouse button then straif with a and d. Thumb button on mouse to jump. I pretty much move like i'm playing a first person shooter.
` = mark skull
1 = cleave
2 = revenge
3 = thunderclap
4 = concussion blow
5 = taunt
6 = bloodrage
q = shield block
e = devastate
f = shield bash
g = spell reflect
spacebar = shield slam
shift spacebar = 2x block trinkets / shield block / shield slam
second thumb button on mouse = heroic strike
shift + second thumb button on mouse = shockwave
left on mouse wheel = intervene
shift left on mousewheel = charge
right on mousewheel = berserker rage

some keys i just cant use as hotkeys because i'm so used to using them for other stuff, like r = reply, c = char window, b = bags
Also, i dont like using modifer keys with other keyboard keys, it just seems slow and i cant train myself to do it.

[Lyci]

Wasn't able to log on long enough last night to respec. I like alleria because there are lots of people. I hate alleria because there are lots of people.

[manicus]

Source: Ciderhelm Vigilance -- Added Bonus I secretly put Vigilance on a Feral Druid in the party about halfway through the heroic. When I peeled mobs off him, he got frustrated, and started complaining about the size of my Shield Slams. This made me happy.

This made me snicker and is reason enough alone to grab vigilance.

[Rallik]

1 - Taunt
2 -

[Mattdamonlol]

I use A&D as strafe and W&S for forwards/backwards.

Battle Stance
1 - Charge
2 - Devastate
3 - Shield Slam
4 - Execute
5 - Overpower
6 - Thunder Clap
V - Bloodrage
E - Concussion Blow
Shift + F - Victory Rush
R - Spell Reflect
Control + E - Challenging Shout
` - Retaliation

Defensive Stance
1 - Taunt/Charge Macro
2 - Devastate
3 - Shield Slam
4 - Thunderclap
5 - Revenge
6 - Disarm
V - Bloodrage
E - Concussion Blow
Shift + F - Shield Block
R - Spell Reflect
Control + E - Challenging Shout
` - Shield Wall

Berserk Stance
1 - Intercept
2 - Devastate
3 - Shield Slam
4 - Execute
5 - Whirlwind
6 - Zerk Rage
V - Bloodrage
E - Concussion Blow
Shift + F - Victory Rush
R - Spell Reflect
Control + E - Challenging Shout
` - Recklessness

And for spells that are not bound to my stance bar I use:
Q - Hamstring
Shift + Q - Cleave
Shift + W - Heroic Strike
T - Shield Bash
Shift + T - Last Stand
Shift + A - Zerk Rage
G - Throw
H - Ground Mount
Shift + H - Flying Mount

Z - Battle Stance
X - Defensive Stance
C - Zerk Stance

They really do not make much sense but they work for me.

[Mattdamonlol]

Oh, and I forgot!
Sorry for a double post.. but
Shift + 1 - Trinket 1
Shift + 2 - Trinket 2
Shift + 3 - Battle Shout
Shift + 4 - Demo. Shout
Shift + 5 - Commanding Shout
Shift + 6 - Intimidating Shout

[Marrick]

Right now I do a hybrid button + click for my abilities (top 4 in 1-4 and I click the rest). Obviously my standard threat rotation was easy enough, but as soon as I started having to click my "other" abilities I noticed a downturn in my ability to cope. I didn't want to switch to key binds in the middle of progress through TK/SSC as I was worried the learning curve would hurt too much until I got it down. One of my main goals for LK is to get a good key bind setup and learn it leveling to 80. This should be pretty helpful to that end.

One thing: It does seem like shift would be easier to hit while moving than alt. Why did you switch Cider?

Also, I had a 5.8K shield slam crit on a Blood Knight doing my dailies on the Isle. I'm sooo loving some of these changes.