Paladin OT Guide

This guide is designed to help Paladins that find themselves in an "Off Tanking" or "OT" position.

The trick is snap aggro control and keeping mobs from running all over the place but, if a player steals aggro from the "Main Tank" or "MT" and is halfway across the zone and the mob positioning is compromised let the player die and the mob will return to the fray. Don't chase mobs as positioning is a fundamental when raiding. The OT should pick up the mob on it's way back to the proper position.

Offensive stance will help in snap aggro generation.

Get the avoidance buff from a Monk/Bruiser type if you can.

Try not to target it until it sets where you want it.

What makes a good OT?
1) Being able to pick up adds lightning quick. Knowing the names of adds, having macros, and knowing when to use them or tab / f8. Not letting the dps die. Being able to handle pure chaos. Don't neglect your healing power.

2) Sometimes there is a better amends target than warlock, it all depends on the encounter. Dirge is a must, though there some some encounters where a Troub is better. Cleric and shaman a must.

3) 448 STA/AGI/INT is the best AA setup for Pally OT, period. Final abilities in Wraths and Hero are a must. 4 or 5 points in Call to Duty depending on whether you have Greaves of Righteousness. Adorn STR anywhere you can. Avoidance + DPS> all. I rarely OT without Signet of Light from Darkness, it is one of the most uber pieces of gear a Paladin can have.

Submitted by: Veras [Guild: Defiant / Server: Runnyeye]

I would say that being a great OT is much more difficult than being a great MT. The keys to being a great OT are not dependent on group but rather the individual pally. You need /target macros. And a lot of them. You need arrows. And you need to know the best position to stand during the course of every fight every second.

There are several group makeups that make sense. All of them will work. Warlock's are nice for swarms of adds, but I personally prefer having 2 healers, dirge, swashy, and a Illuisonist. With a reallly good 2h (axe from avatar of war) I find the best is to amends the swashy and get Double Attack and haste from the Illuisionist. This method will give me about 2-3k dps and I can leave the warlock in a group that will increase his own dps. Of course, there's only very small percentage of paladins or guilds that could pull this off because you'll need really high raid wide DPS to OT for an extensive time without a shield. For the general population, I would recommend the higest dps person to amends, and make sure you get a avoidance buff from one of your fighters in the raid.

Submitted by: Wozamil[Guild: Defiance Server: Permafrost]

I'm not sure you can classify anything as a must. Generally two healers, in group or not, is required for some harder mobs. When I OT I neglect healing pretty much completely as my job is aggro not being a halfass healer. In fact, I'm 99% of the time in offensive stance.

Group makeup for the OT group depends on the difficulty of the encounter. Generally the OT group for heroic adds only needs one healer. . I usually have amends on a warlock or zerker and don't need a hate buff, although it does help. Basically the tougher it gets the more shaman/cleric/dirge looks good. You'll find that out when you wipe, though.

Regarding AAs there's a post not even 1 week old where AAs are extensively discussed. Did you even look at that?

Edit : BTW the common assumption that wizards & warlocks are the best amends targets is not necessarily true. I've had rogues, rangers, and zerkers transfer amazing amounts of hate over. Sometimes I'd get aggro without even doing anything. Pick whomever is consistent and doesn't get himself killed or stifled, and who fits the AE or single target dps mold as required.

Submitted by: Timmey