Prot Paladin who wishes to kill the big scary bloke in the big castle thing.

[Jbo]

Hello fellow wow addicts,

I would really appreciate some idea on where to go now gear-wise. See here for my armory link.

As you can see right now, I'm running two iLvl 200 trinks, a iLvl200 shield and iLvl200 boots.

--CHEST--
I have 85 and counting frosts and originally had the plan to spend them on the t10 chest (as you can see from my gemming, my t9 chest still has blue gems at the moment, when I replace it I'll use epic gems).

I am reading about the other frost chest I can buy however, and am not sure which to go with; I do want the t10 bonus.

--BOOTS--
I am saving ~6k for Boots of Kingly Upheaval to replace my 200 boots, however I am running FoS heroic to attempt to get Black Spire Sabatons. I figure that if I buy the crafted boots, I won't need an upgrade for a long time.

--SHIELD--
I'm having trouble running normal HoR for Splintered Door of the Citadel as no one runs normal (Maybe one every hour?). Any help/ideas here?

--TRINKETS/RINGS--
I've also saved up a few triumphs... Do I go and replace some trinkets/rings?

I know iLvl isn't everything and its itemization that counts but I'm just a tad confused and after a lot of research I am still stuck.

Any help would be awesomely appreciated!

Thank you

[Miraii]

Hi... Here's a list of items that I have gathered/currently gathering for myself...
From the gear I see you have posted so far I'm guessing you are not yet raiding in ICC... Unfortunately you have quite limited options as to upgrades just running through heroic instances.
There are some gear you could get from Naxx/Ulduar/ToC but I wouldn't recommend putting the time required for it now that we have the 15% Health Increase/Healing Increase/Damage Increase in ICC.
Might be tough going ICC right away but going a few weeks in the first wing should get your group some nice gear fairly quickly + it makes the Frost Badge farming faster.

--CHEST--
Lightsworn Chestguard T10 chest is a good option but a temporary one at that... The Cataclysmic Chestguard is a lot better. More Strength/Stamina, an additional socket, higher armor value. The only reason I went with T10 when I did was due to the 4 set bonus... Which isn't that much of a deal in ICC due to the dodge debuff.

--BOOTS--
Black Spire Sabatons is an ok option untill you reach the point where you can craft/buy the Boots of Kingly Upheaval

--SHIELD--
Neverending Winter Drops from the Gunship Battle encounter in normal ICC 10 man version.
It's, if not the easiest, one of the easier encounters in ICC.
If that's not an option at the moment then Barricade of Eternity from Malygos in Eye of Eternity might be a good, temporary option.
Bulwark of the Royal Guard is another good shield due to the socket and drops from Anub'Arak in ToC 10man NORMAL MODE.

--TRINKETS/RINGS--
When it comes to rings there are a few options. You can get the Titanium Earthguard Ring which can be made from a jewelcrafter. You can get Clutch of Fortification which is buyable for 35 Emblem of Triumph. Or Ashen Band of Courage which you get by doing a quest in ICC... This is quite easy actually but might take some time at first. You farm reputation by killing the trash mobs up to the first boss... Run outside, Reset and enter again untill you reach FRIENDLY. This ring can later be upgraded when you are HONORED, REVERED and EXALTED.
You are gonna get this ring at some point so it's pretty much this ring + one of the others.
Abomination's Bloody Ring should also be quite easily obtained as it also drops from the Gunship Battle encounter, Same as the Neverending Winter shield.

When it comes to trinkets there are two, easily obtained trinkets you can go for right away.
First one is The Black Heart which drops from ToC 5man NORMAL MODE from the end boss.
The other one is bought with Frost Emblems Corroded Skeleton Key


I hope this helps a little bit

[sifuedition]

A number of things to look at here.

First, IMO don't go for the chest first. You would be better served to get the belt or the cloak first I believe.

Will you be doing 25 man ICC or 10 man hard mode regularly? If not, the non-tier pieces are better. The paladin tier 10 set bonuses are meh. You can get the two piece bonus with the helm and shoulders and the non-tier in the other pieces and it will be much stronger than the tier. If you can upgrade your tier to the 264 or 277, then you need to consider that option. Otherwise, I would recommend Kraken Gloves, Cata Chestguard and Pillars of Might for those three spots. The belt and cloak are pretty obvious. The Corroded Skeleton key is quite nice too as a replacement for that Essence of Gossamer.

There are still things you can do with your current gear and with triumph emblems as well.

Get the Glyph of Indom. This is a great trinket and will really help your survivability on any physical fight.
Your meta should be the stamina + % increased armor value meta.
Try to get to the point you can change your shoulder enchant to the PvP 30 stam/resil enchant. This will let you go to 536 defense for raids.
Don't worry about socket bonuses. Use one red to activate the meta, which can be an agility+stam, expertise+stam or dodge+stam. The agil+stam is the one I would recommend but the expertise+stam is not bad. All other sockets should be 30 stam. There are a LOT of threads here that explain why. This is not being extreme or thoughtless or bad. This is making you the strongest tank you can be. All the threat and avoidance you need will be on the gear already. Armor and stamina are the most important stats for a tank and you can't gem armor.

Armsman is not the best glove enchant. The stam or armor enchants are better.
Blade Ward is not very good as a weapon enchant. Mongoose or Blood Draining are better.
Chest should be 275 health.
Cloak is ok but the armor enchant is better.
22 stam is better on the boots.
Unless you actually buy the Cata Chestguard very soon, you should get epic gems in the chest. Unfortunately, tanks are not allowed to be cheap as they get hit hardest and their survivability is the first key to successfully downing bosses.

[Jbo]

Thank you for your suggestions; they really do help.

I probably should have stated that I'm in a casual raiding guild with a bunch of guys and gals that are actually very well geared and are trying to help people like me get some more gear.

Currently, as of a few days ago, I'm raiding ICC10 normal each Wednesday and Monday, so frosts should start coming in a little faster.

I'll shove a bunch of blue gems in, change my meta gem, buy my frost cape first, replace the essence of gossamer, and save my frosts/hope for drops and I should be on my way.

I'm aware there can't be many upgrades from heroics anymore; as we all do, I've farmed the hell out of them :P Twinking up 3 different toons with BoAs wasn't fun :P

Okay I'll read a bit more about effective health and start stacking that.

Thanks for all your help, and of course, any other suggestions are very welcome.