1) Judgements of the Just – I actually do not consider that one a must have. Perhaps it may be due to having run for so long with two feral druid tanks and not having the debuff in the first place, but when you really get down to it there should not be any debuff in the game that is looked at as “must-have.” I’ll have to explore the math behind it and see exactly how much of a difference it makes, but in practice I don’t see it being enough of an issue to worry about.

2) Divinity – Anything you can do to help your healers is never a waste Divine Sacrifice may or may not be a good choice. If you have that many people taking significant damage where it would make a huge difference in making it through the encounter then using Divine Shield is probably going to redirect more damage to you than your healers are prepared to handle. I’ll take points in Divinity instead any day.

3) Spiritual Attunement – Well, this is geared toward the newer Paladin tanks In all seriousness, I find it immensely helpful, especially having DPS greatly outgear me (well, not so much anymore, but they did) and I needed to do everything I could to make sure I held threat. I’ll leave SA talented either way though, since no mana = really bad times, and I’d rather ensure I don’t run out of mana no matter what than to find myself in a situation where I’m hoping I have enough to keep threat on a target. I do tweak my builds a lot though, so it wouldn’t be surprising for me to end up dropping one point later on if I find another talent more useful.

4) Improved Judgements – I agree (I actually take two points in improved judgements) but I also do not consider it a necessity. While it would mean not pulling off a flawless execution of the 969 rotation, it also would not be the end of the world if someone didn’t take it (unless they were really having threat issues, but even then simply pausing slightly between each ability would allow the rotation to be maintained, and with latency issues lately I know I wouldn’t notice a difference).

In looking at glyphs I still would recommend the set in the post over other options. Some of them are more a matter of preference, certainly, but I like having the extra target hit by using the Hammer of the Righteous glyph, and with the Glyph of Vengeance I can stack more Stamina or Defense instead of using enchants or gems for expertise.

I definitely consider the Glyph of Divine Plea a standard glyph, though I’m sure someone could do fine without it.

1) Judgements of the Just — Must have spell for any tanking class unless you are expecting another tanking class to keep up this debuff for you (and I never suggest you rely on other raiders to provide your own basic buffs)

2) Divinity — Especially partial divinity is just a waste. Unless you are solely a main tank, I would definitely consider D. Sac as a much more lucrative alternative to your raid team.

3) Spiritual Attunement — For a new paladin tank, I may suggest 2/2, but for a seasoned tank, 1/2 is more than sufficient in all instances (if you’re outgearing the content that badly, stop spam dropping consecrate and/or take off your pants )

4) Improved Judgements — 1 point in improved judgements is required to properly execute a 969 rotation. Many tanks take 2/2 in order to benefit from increased judgement goodness when soloing or add-tanking; however, that is purely a jpersonal preference.

I also highly encourage paladins interested in tanking to start at http://maintankadin.failsafedesign.com/index.php. There is a host of beginner’s and advanced guides looking at talents, spells, and gear that would keep anyone more than entertained
.-= Windsoar´s last blog ..Attracting Bees: Keeping Your Raid Team =-.