Prot pally or Prot warrior?

[Mestog-ravencrest]

Hi.
I was wondering, in your opninion, which one of these classes would be better for a beginner tank?
Thanks

[Magiola-darksorrow]

I’d personally say (I play them both) Paladin. Warrior is pretty great damage and mitigation wise… but having some unconditional (apart from a CD) self-heals can be really nice to have as a beginning tank. And well, the shields are ofc a nice bonus ^^.

Secondly, your resource-management is almost non-existent. Can’t really go oom, which is nice

[Ropeisha-khadgar]

Paladin, hands down, for many reasons.

If you level a Paladin and for any reason want to do something else, you have access to all three roles (Tank, Healer, DPS), whereas Warriors can only be Tank or DPS.

Paladin has impressive self-sustain - so much so that they are not at the sole mercy of the Healer like a Warrior typically is (seeing as War has limited sustain and is absorb-centric). Paladin also has little to no micro-management, and a simple playstyle that replaces self-complexity with party-utility (ie. ability to think of others rather than yourself).

I have more fun and a smoother time on my Paladin than my Warrior because a) I have more reason to monitor the team and can contribute in various ways outside of just ‘tanking’ and b) being a self-sustained tank that passively gains damage the more you have on you means that it is very smooth and easy to both level-up and play at max. It’s also an exceptional class/spec for soloing world and dungeon content.

Prot Paladin is also quite toxic to face in PvP – you’re not going to kill a whole lot of people playing as a PPal, but it’ll take some serious co-ordination (or overwhelming numbers) for you to have any problem surviving, and if you’re not being a disgusting force of distruption then you’ll be assisting or saving people as if you were a baby Holy Paladin. It’s not uncommon for me to travel one end of the map to another with 2-5 players chasing me around like I’m a carrot on a stick, gagging for a kill - and them just not being able to do it thanks to how our kit works.

I’ve always had a soft-spot for multi-task classes that can punch above their own weight. Warrior beats Paladin in terms of raw damage and mobility (which has almost always been the case, even before the latest tweaks that have pushed Prot Warrior into the No.1 trash killer), but Prot Paladin is no slouch in the right circumstances, making up for lesser damage by having a healthy toolkit for themselves and the team, and can punch out solid numbers when in a position to make above-average pulls.

There’s nothing nicer than, say, doing a solid aggro job as Tank, but also being the one pulling off clutch heals and utility along the way. Typical example being this week in M+ with Bursting & Quaking. You always encounter people who, for example, torrent the ShadowFiends in Kings Rest and apply a 7-stack of bursting onto the whole team. A Warrior will have to pop CD’s to regain health and pray they get some healing - a Paladin can bubble themselves, LoH a team-mate to full health, HoP another, and use Flash Heals on another - likely saving at least three-four people in a few button presses. Failing that, spell-warding or BoP, sacrifice, freedom, stuns, and various other buttons can save someone from all manner of trouble, all while you’re holding the aggro with a simple but effective rotation like a boss.

At the end of the day, it’ll always boil down to personal preference. Warriors are undoubtedly the flavour right now in terms of damage, but this may change. I love playing both of them for different reasons, but as said, when I truly want a nice and relaxing time where I can be more of a support-tank than just a meatshield, I log my Paladin straight away. Warrior is the one I deviate to when I want more a more aggressive playstyle.