My Paladin levelling is coming along nicely (5 levels in 5 days) and I currently stand at 20% through level 78. (I'll move her to Vashj'nir at 79 I think.)

(Side note: said Paladin is a miner + jewel crafter... we'll come back to this.)

But I've been looking at the Blood Elf racials and they're not exactly the best for tanking:

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* Arcane Torrent : Activate to silence all enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds. In addition, you gain 15 Energy, 15 Runic Power or 6% Mana. 2 min. cooldown. * Arcane Affinity : 10 point skill bonus to Enchanting (note, this also raises the cap by 10 at each level of enchanting). * Magic Resistance : Reduces the chance you will be hit by spells by 2%. Changed to Arcane Resistance (1% per level) in latest Beta build

Here's the Tauren racials:

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* War Stomp : Activate to stun opponents - Stuns up to 5 enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds. 2 minute cooldown. * Endurance : Base health increased by 5%. * Cultivation : Adds a 15 point skill bonus to Herbalism as well as increases the speed you can gather herbs. (Note, this also raises the cap by 15 at each level of herbalism). Faster gathering speed added in Cataclysm. * Nature Resistance : Reduces the chance you will be hit by Nature spells by 2%. Changed to Nature Resistance (1% per level) in latest Beta build

So Arcane Torrent has a nice silence effect but most mobs in instances are immune to silences. And those that aren't immune will also be vulnerable to the Taurens War Stomp. So it's basically the same thing but doesn't last as long. (The Mana restore part isn't really needed for Paladin tanking but I'll have most of it restored via Judgements.)

Arcane Affinity enchanting bonus (Blood Elf) and Herbalism bonus (Tauren) can be ignore because the Paladin isn't an enchanter or Herbalist. (Is that even a word?)

The resistance to Arcane spells (Blood Elf) + Nature spells (Tauren) can be mostly ignored too as the mob spells are quite varied so far.

So it comes down to the health bonus Tauren get (a 0.5-1% increase when we hit Cata heroics I reckon) and the fact that because Tauren's are huge... their armour looks bigger and better.


The Paladin gets several small bonuses from being a miner + jewelcrafter (special gems etc) but they're not until very end-game.


So, any thoughts on Paladin tanking racials?

I think for min-maxers then Tauren, but realistically in a small group like ours a <1% increase in HP, I reckon arcane torrent is more useful and like you said, you can make it up with your uber gems.

Another silence (Even on a 2 min CD) is always useful as the few heroics i've done (And mostly failed) there is a shitton of stuff that needs to be interrupted and if it isn't, you just die. 150k sonic blasts ftl.

Yeah I agree.

Bisi's health is currently at 150k so 1% of that is 1500.

Which, oddly enough, is the number of pennies required for the race change ;-)

So for now, the Paladin can stay a sexy Blood-Elf. (Our lone Blood Elf?) And add to the variety of the group, like the black guy in horror movies that always dies first.