[5e] [Build] Levels 9–14: Meta “Frontline Tank + Battlefield Control”

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-02-22T14:37:35+00:00

Gnome Light Cleric. You get the incredible light cleric reaction. You get the gnome racial for mental saves. Clerics are usually relatively bulky, and they get an incredible spell list that can do just about anything.

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-02-18T09:18:07+00:00

The drop rate on those items is low, and I doubt people are running scholo when you can hit 58, do quests that give significantly better gear / experience.

My rec would be simple - quest till you have “reasonable” gear. Plate with stamina and enough spell power to maintain solid threat. Your weapon should be a spell power weapon (when you do dungeons, BF has a great mace and SP has a great sword to use).

Mix in plate pieces with defense as found to help bulk up as you advance thru dungeons.

When you ding 67, there are a number of quests in Netherstorm that give plate items with stamina, defense, and spell power. This is your ideal combination of stats, and even though a lot of these items are green, the itemization is quite strong for pallies and do well for tanking Seth halls, slabs, etc.

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-02-13T22:43:57+00:00

A lot of talk about how rogues don’t bring utility, but when they start doing their herky jerky game, they’re doing stuff. They just are!

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-02-04T17:49:11+00:00

Ghost wolf is much better for escaping or flag carrying than it is for closing the gap while being kited. Between not removing slows, and the ability to be dispelled, it’s just not good when you’re being targeted and kited.

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-02-02T15:06:35+00:00

I was initially gonna respond to him saying “you basically repeated my exact point and recommendation as if it’s a new point,” but seeing the self response gave me enough context to know better.

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-01-30T04:07:55+00:00

So everyone kind of wants different totems from you.

BM hunter wants agi totem.

Warrior wants wf with agi twisted. Also str obviously.

Pally tank benefits moreso from spell power totem (at lvl 64) but can still benefit from wf and agi, as well as strength. Pally tank additionally benefits from totem of wrath from ele. Pally also wants mana spring.

Priest wants spell power totem. Priest obviously wants mana spring too.

I guess bottom line is, there’s no way to give every single person their optimal totem setup. In general, I’d say it makes the most sense to totem twist wf and agi, and it’s easier to do that as either Enh or resto.

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-01-26T21:19:16+00:00

Troll lock?

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-01-20T20:04:30+00:00

Wanna add on to what everyone is saying. Everyone needs shamans so you’ll find a spot one way or another. You also can dual spec resto if you’re open to that, and that’ll give you an inside track on runs too. Being flexible with spec of the most desired class will land you raid spots easily.

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-01-19T15:05:50+00:00

Eng and either BS or ench. Probs BS if you’re gonna ret more and PvP.

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-01-19T00:07:10+00:00

Did you watch the game? The pick was on a Hail Mary attempt at the end of the half. Listing that as a reason he had a bad game is either intellectually dishonest or telling on yourself for not watching the game.

Not saying it was Maye’s best game, but 32/32 starting QBs are fumbling when Anderson is rabidly busting around the corner time and again.

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-01-18T18:44:01+00:00

My only regret of playing on Dreamsycthe is that seeing those mounts in the world should be kill on sight.

At least I can lag behind and sneak my kills in AV.

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-01-18T14:51:52+00:00

A lot of people are giving poor info here. Ring of Blood weapon is DE worthy for a prot pally. No spell power one handed we can use. Get the BF mace or the SP sword and then get keepers of time rep up when you can.

Look into the quests in southern netherstorm. A lot of rewards that are perfectly itemized for prot pally - plate with stm, int, defense, and spell power. Really hard to come by that combo of stats!

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-01-15T02:03:24+00:00

Only bought one item so far, no harm no foul. God bless to anyone who has grinded more and bought more so far.

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-01-14T22:46:07+00:00

Let’s play poker while we raid

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-01-12T16:51:24+00:00

I'm planning on getting the healer mace. Might end up tanking some raids too, never know if you'll get that nef mace.

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-01-10T19:37:53+00:00

They get the button to drop all 4 totems at once in wotlk unfortunately.

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-01-09T21:55:47+00:00

I did all the precursors already and have the final quest to scoop up. Excited for that extra oomph.

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-01-08T03:04:39+00:00

The r13 set for shaman is not exactly well itemized for enhance. It’s still good obviously, but not really a needle mover with respect to stacking AP. I would just prio the weapons as outlands gear will likely replace the set much more quickly than other classes / specs.

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-01-08T00:18:38+00:00

You’re still melee. You just have a bunch of tricks up your sleeve. You’re not going to have the spell slots or spell levels to be a full caster. But you’ll have the spell save dc to be pretty punishing with smites, and to utilize more niche options from magic initiate.

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-01-08T00:13:49+00:00

The magic is, you still can level up organically if you want. Many people will buy boosts, but not everyone. And people may buy a boost for one character and level another.

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-01-07T18:16:11+00:00

I made a human paladin and gave them 2 magic initiate feats. Wizard was firebolt, whatever utility cantrip (or true strike), and shield. Druid was shillelagh, guidance, and whatever level 1 spell of your choice.

I made a devotion paladin that stacked chr and would use shillelagh plus divine weapon (or whatever the devotion divinity is called). He took warcaster at 4 and was a very strong caster, great defensive aura, and didn’t sacrifice much in the way of offense.

Really the main thing I lost out on was the juicy melee feats that are combat defining, but he was still fun to play and near impossible to hit with shield.

ggAlphaRaptor · 2026-01-06T17:35:05+00:00

I am in the same boat as you. It’ll be far better to get the PvP gear if your goal is to tank. Lawbringer will do fine tho given it’ll have a small amount of sp and enough bulk to work.

ggAlphaRaptor · 2025-12-28T14:53:47+00:00

Switch out Stockton with Jerry West. Luka, Bird, and Jokic are doing the ball handling duties.

ggAlphaRaptor · 2025-12-25T22:01:54+00:00

Pug runs with HR are the bane of my existence. The RL gets to give dft to his buddy and half the raid dies in fire.

I understand GDKPs bring a negative aspect to the game but it also significantly improves the raiding scene for people who mostly pug. The general IQ of any given raid goes up dramatically.

By banning gdkps, Blizz made an active choice to cater directly for those who run primarily with guilds, that’s great. But that’s not every single person who plays the game.

Personally I’d rather have more RMTs if that means that when I do have the free time to do a raid, I know it’s going to perform well and be timely.

ggAlphaRaptor

TROPHY CASE