Paladin tips

[Walfan]

Yo,

I'm still a bit inexperienced in the art of tanking, and after lurking a bit here I'm wondering about some things :

How should I stance dance as a paladin ?
On current content I've only been switching to Sword Oath when I'm not going to take much damage if any (for example, burst phases on Ravana EX and the Pillars of Heaven follow-up until he starts throwing shockwaves). I feel like I take too much damage otherwise as MT in Sword Oath, and I have to use RoH far more often if I don't want to lose hate to the WAR OT.

How do I use my cooldowns effectively ?
I've seen that a lot when reading about STR accessories but I'm not quite sure I'm doing it right. I usually cycle through them if there isn't huge damage spikes, and keep them for tankbusters otherwise. I also use them if the party is taking a lot of damage, a healer is down/incapacitated, or if I have to take a few adds.

What about Cover ?
I can't really find a lot of use for it, I've only been using it on healers when adds are popping so they won't take damage before the latter actually turn on me with the lag, and on "adds you can't tank" mechanics.

Is the STR debuff from RoH really important ?
5% seems really low so is it worth it to keep the RoH-GB-RA-RoH cycle up on fights with no tankbusters/high tank damage or should I maximize my dps as long as I can keep hate ?

Should I use off-GCD abilities as soon as I can or wait for when I'm actually on GCD because of the animation windup ?
Both methods waste seconds in different places and I'm not sure which is optimal.

EDIT, something I forgot : Best way to keep my TP up ?
I heard Shield Swipe is good for that but that it is a dps loss. However do I lose out on more damage if I use it or if I run out of TP ? Keeping in mind that using it will also force me to refresh GB earlier or lose a few seconds on it. It'll completely break the ROH-GB-RA-ROH cycle too.
Throwing a Clemency from time to time seems like a good way to save some points as well.

Thanks !

[Edewen]

Stance dancing: You have the idea, you want to use it when it is time to dps. During those casts where extra damage is taken is the time to do it. You don't really want to dance outside of those situations.
Cooldowns: This comes from knowing the fights in detail. Knowing when to save them, and how many you need to save is important. From your description you have the idea. just practice makes perfect.
COver: Not too many super uses here. If you are well organized with your healer, you can use your healer as a threat totem for adds to group things before you start flashing/cos.
Str debuff: Yes. A world of yes. Anything you can do to reduce the damage you or anyone else takes is a good thing. The less damage you take, the more damage your healers can do. Remember, it is not MY dps, it is OUR dps.
OGC abilities. These you want to weave in between while on gcd wherever possible. Of course between some abilities would be easier. Like after a fast blade is easier than after a roh.

Str accessories are fun. But remember, you are a tank. Your job is to survive and hold threat. Fending may be less dps for you, but it can help the healers dps more, especially if you abuse stonestin/clemency. Str accessories are something you work towards based on your healers capabilities in each fight. And that includes thier ability to dps, as if very well may be more ideal for group dps, to stick with fending because if one of your healers gets to dps most of the time, it will do morre than you having extra str.

[Walfan]

Thanks for the answer !

Str debuff: Yes. A world of yes. Anything you can do to reduce the damage you or anyone else takes is a good thing. The less damage you take, the more damage your healers can do. Remember, it is not MY dps, it is OUR dps.

Don't healers have a pretty bad accuracy issue right now ? Isn't it as such preferable, if you have to choose between the two, to prioritize a shift towards more tank damage ?

Str accessories are fun. But remember, you are a tank. Your job is to survive and hold threat. Fending may be less dps for you, but it can help the healers dps more, especially if you abuse stonestin/clemency. Str accessories are something you work towards based on your healers capabilities in each fight. And that includes thier ability to dps, as if very well may be more ideal for group dps, to stick with fending because if one of your healers gets to dps most of the time, it will do morre than you having extra str.

Don't worry, I'm testing the waters right know and I use different sets depending on the situation. I've run almost only VIT until recently and I'm now looking to maximize my role's contibution to the party.
To be perfectly honest I'd rather just work toward being a walking fortress but SE doesn't see it that way.

[Brian_]

Cover is useful when you are OTing and should see regular use because of the existence of tank swaps in a lot of content.

For example, you can pop a few defensive CDs and then cover the current MT to negate their damage intake temporarily.