Prot pally aggro trouble

[Hazelnut 0]

I have been trying to figure out what is wrong with an aggro issue I am having on my Prot pally. I have trouble keeping aggro, and sometimes seem to have no aggro at all, when a dps in the dungeon I am tanking has really high raid gear. I have no problem any other time with tanking. How can I help correct this? I would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you (lightofdawn from dragonblight)

[Horcored 17]

Well, for starters, make sure u have rightious fury active. The make sure ur hit capped, and atlast soft capped for expertise. After this u generally follow ur rotation, Procced avengers shield < Judgement < Crusader/Hammer < Avengers shield < Concecration < Holy Wrath and ofc, use Shield of the righteous as needed or at 5stack to prevent wasting incoming holy power.

I am playing prot pala myself and i've never had anywhere close to an issue in holding aggro, even against hc raiders and i am only at around 500 ilvl myself.

The most crucial thing when it comes to aggro is that its easy to lose aggro if ur missing attacks, so capping hit and soft capping exp will help alot, and ofc when gear allows it, go for 15% exp, which is the hard cap.

Also, i recommend u to use haste controll build, which means u should stack 7,5% hit, 15% exp(if gear allows it) then haste and any stat leftover should be mastery, but i doubt u'll get that on all ur pieces as u should aim for 4set tier 15.

[Tarazet 144]

If you're in blues or T14 LFR gear and someone rolls in with full T15 normal/heroic gear, your threat multiplier from RF just might not be enough to keep them from pulling threat. This is especially true if it's a spec with a high critical strike chance (Fury Warrior, Fire Mage, Moonkin).

[gruikp 0]

Single target boss, start with holy avenger+avenging wrath this will help doing sufficent aggro at the begining of the fight.

For multiple trash mob, consecration, hammer of the righteous, avoid using holy wrath (less efficient the more mob you have), spec for holy prism and use it on yourself (/cast [target=Lightofdawn] holy prism) which has a good range.

Unless you're close to die, don't use sacred shield, it will to boost your vengeance.

[Tarazet 144]

Single target boss, start with holy avenger+avenging wrath this will help doing sufficent aggro at the begining of the fight.

For multiple trash mob, consecration, hammer of the righteous, avoid using holy wrath (less efficient the more mob you have), spec for holy prism and use it on yourself (/cast [target=Lightofdawn] holy prism) which has a good range.

Unless you're close to die, don't use sacred shield, it will to boost your vengeance.

I disagree on pretty much all counts. As long as you pull with a taunt, you don't need to open with HA and should in fact save it as a defensive cooldown. In most encounters you should use it about 15-30 seconds after pull.

In an AoE situation, the priority is Hammer > Judgment > Consecration > Avenger's Shield > Holy Wrath. HW may be last in the priority list, but you will still use it. Holy Prism is fairly weak unless the mobs are spread out. You should usually be using Light's Hammer for stacked up packs.

Also, absorbs don't interfere with Vengeance. Paladins should keep Sacred Shield up at all times and refresh it with high Vengeance/Haste.

Edited July 23, 2013 by Tarazet

[Tengenstein 11]

I don't see a problem with HA+AW on the pull, nothing wrong with having a defensive CD up whilst your vengeance (SoI self heal) is stacking and your sacred shield is winding up. Pulling with a taunt just seems bad practice if you're having aggro issues and may need to taunt again in rapid succession, which risks stuff going taunt immune, I'd rather hit it as hard as i can going in, and still have a taunt up my sleeve.

[gruikp 0]

I disagree on pretty much all counts. As long as you pull with a taunt, you don't need to open with HA and should in fact save it as a defensive cooldown. In most encounters you should use it about 15-30 seconds after pull.

In an AoE situation, the priority is Hammer > Judgment > Consecration > Avenger's Shield > Holy Wrath. HW may be last in the priority list, but you will still use it. Holy Prism is fairly weak unless the mobs are spread out. You should usually be using Light's Hammer for stacked up packs.

 

Pulling with a taunt also sounds terrible to me. In case someone else is taunting the boss, or any fire mage chaining pyro procs..., you will just have to wait.

Remember the OP is not running through heroic ToT, he is running dungeons. HA is not meant to be a defensive cooldown only and most of the time on ToT pulling with HA will enable you to use it once again when the boss is hitting hard.  

 

I never meant to put priority on the multitarget aggro cycle, however you only gave the classic priority list found in any guide which focus on holy power generation (~mitigation). In terms of aggro, judgement won't generate any aggro (nearly) on the others mobs. Hammer, AS and consecration will generate decent aggro,

Running dungeon with PUGs mean aggro-ing various packs, the aggro range of the hammer is limited, the range of the consecration is fine, the prism is awesome to pick up incoming trashes. (even in Tot horridon, tortos bats).

It surely generate far more aggro than the judgement. I agree that Light hammer is far better because it remains on the ground, but 1min cooldown is a big drawback when the prism has only 20sec CD.