Post by Overhaul
Head
: 37 stamina, 20 defense rating. Argent Crusade: Revered
: 16 defense rating, 17 doge rating. Keepers of Time: Revered
The Argent Crusade arcanum is what you'll be wanting to use on pretty much every tanking helm you ever get. If you're not revered with the Argent Crusade, that should be one of your top priorities. The arcanum from Keepers of Time is a TBC item; the only reason to ever use it is if you need a helm enchant and you aren't yet Revered with the Argent Crusade.
Shoulder
: 20 dodge rating, 15 defense rating. Sons of Hodir: Exalted
: 15 dodge rating, 10 defense rating. Sons of Hodir: Honored
: 15 dodge rating, 10 defense rating. The Aldor: Exalted
: 13 dodge rating. The Aldor: Honored
: 10 dodge rating, 15 defense rating. The Scryers: Exalted
: 13 defense rating. The Scryers: Honored
: 52 dodge rating, 15 defense rating. Requires Inscription (400)
The Sons of Hodir have a monopoly on the shoulder-enchant market in WotLK, so getting to at least honored with them (through a quest chain that starts at K3 in Storm Peaks) is a good idea (unless you picked Inscription as a profession, obviously). In the meantime if you're in a pinch you can use old TBC shoulder enchants to tide you over. In particular, the Aldor/Scryer exalted enchants have the same item value as the SoH honored enchant, and the Scryer one may actually be slightly better if you need the extra defense to become crit-immune.
Cloak
: 16 defense rating
: 22 agility
: 225 armor
: 16 agility
: 12 defense rating
The raw efficiency of Major Agility is mitigated somewhat by the fact that agility is not an optimal tanking stat, but it's still the best enchant to get if you're interested in pure avoidance. Mighty Armor is good if you're going for mitigation, and Titanweave is obviously the best enchant to get if you're still looking for defense.
Note that the high-end enchants are pretty expensive (Titanweave requires two Titanium Bars, for example) so if you're tanking on a budget the weaker enchants will give you more value for your gold piece -- especially if you're still using a blue cloak, for example.
Chest
: 20 resilience
: 275 health
: 10 to all (primary) stats
: 22 defense rating
: 18 stamina
: 8 to all (primary) stats
Greater Defense is the most itemization-efficient, and definitely the way to go if you still need/want defense, or if you can use the enchant to switch defense gems to something else. The super and mighty health enchants are only worth ~15 and ~10 stamina, since they don't get any effect from BoK or stamina talents; generally the stat enchants are going to be better than these if you don't want the defense. Resilience should only be used if you absolutely need it to reach the crit cap (such as with resistance gear). The armor kit comes out to 227 hp on average with talents and BoK; not as good as the health enchant, but not far off and a great deal cheaper.
Wrists
: 40 stamina
: 12 defense rating
: 90 stamina (req. 400 leatherworking)
Major Stamina is the most efficient option here by a significant margin. The only reason to go with the defense enchant is if you absolutely need it to reach the crit cap and you have no other options.
(Blacksmiths have an option to add a prismatic gem slot to their bracers. This does not count as an enchant.)
Hands
: 10 parry rating, +2% threat
: 20 agility
: 20 hit rating
: 20 expertise rating
: 18 stamina
: 15 strength
: 800 armor (req. 400 engineering)
: 1035-1265 fire damage, 1 min cooldown (req. 400 engineering)
All of the WotLK enchants are viable choices here, depending on what you want/need. Personally I'd recommend skipping Armsman until you get to the point where threat is actually a concern. The Major Strength enchant is from TBC, and should only be used if you're hell-bent on maximizing block value and dps. The armor kit is less efficient than the other options but if you really really want stamina, there it is.
If you're an engineer, the armor modification is excellent. At normal armor levels for a prot paladin, it'll reduce incoming physical damage by roughly 1.5-2% before blocking. The hand-mounted rockets are a fun toy, but between Hand of Reckoning and Exorcism, they're not likely to be necessary.
zeida: A note about the pyro rocket modification: They have an extremely wide firing arc (nearly 180 degrees) and a 45 yard range. Although the new single target taunt obviously offers superior damage and threat, and doesn't consume an enchantment slot, it will not possess this range or arc of the glove enhancement. I must confess I do use these, because I like to chain pull trash and they cut downtime substantially, but from a pure tanking standpoint, they are indeed hard to defend in terms of utility and worthiness.
Waist
: Extra prismatic gem socket
The one and only good thing to put on your belt. Doesn't affect the belt socket bonuses in any way, so fill it with whatever you need most.
Legs
: +55 stamina, +22 agility
: +45 stamina, +15 agility
(Leatherworkers get a cheap leg armor patch with the same stats as the epic armor kit, but they can only use it on their own armor.)
The blue armor kit is a good deal cheaper than the epic kit, so plan accordingly if you're expecting upgrades soon.
Feet
: 22 stamina
: 15 stamina, +8% run speed
The run speed improvement on Tuskarr's Vitality does not stack with the 15% increased run speed from the Pursuit of Justice talent. Take this into account when planning your build and your enchants.
There's also an engineer-only boot gadget, Nitro Boosts, which increases your run speed for 5 seconds on use, with a 5-minute cooldown. At first glance, this looks like a nice answer to one of the weak spots of paladin tanks: the inability to close distances quickly (e.g., Intervene, Feral Charge, Death Grip). However, the rather unfortunate drawback is that the boosters have a chance to backfire and launch you straight up in the air. When this happens, mobs that you're tanking will lose aggro on you and run off to beat up other people, and you'll die from falling damage when you come back down unless you have Divine Shield ready, or your cloak has the parachute gadget. While this can obviously be an entertaining effect, your 25-man raid won't be particularly pleased if they wipe on a difficult fight because your boots malfunctioned. So use these only if you're really sure they won't get you into trouble.
zeida: The nitro boost boots modification may in fact malfunction and knock the user high into the air, dropping aggro, but should this occur, he will not fall to the ground and die instantly; instead he receives the Parachute buff (just as he would being dismounted flying over Wintergrasp or Dalaran) and will fall slowly to the ground. I do not know whether this breaks on damage or not.
They have an additional possible malfunction not mentioned - they will sometimes be fully ineffective and do absolutely nothing.
I personally do have the nitros on my tanking boots as a PoJ specced paladin, simply because I believe having the capacity to quickly cover great distance (even unreliably) is far more potentially decisive than 22 stamina. Obviously, using these things when I am actively tanking a major mob would be irresponsible except in dire circumstances; nonetheless I like having the option available to me."
Finger
: +24 stamina (req. 400 enchanting)
This is the "perk" for being an enchanter: you get 48 extra stamina from enchanting your rings in a slot where non-enchanters get nothing.
Weapon
: +25 hit rating, +25 crit rating
: +26 agility
: +28 hit rating, 50% reduction in duration for disarm effects.
: +20 strength
The Titanium Weapon Chain is very nice for hit-capping, and until patch 3.08 it's probably the best overall value even if you have Pursuit of Justice (they don't stack). Accuracy has almost as much hit rating and a lot of crit, so it's a solid enchant but extremely expensive right now. Exceptional Agility is the only option if you want avoidance. Potency is included because it's the only +strength enchant, so it's the only way to increase block value if that's what you're really after.
(The planned Titanguard enchant for +50 stamina to a weapon has been removed and won't appear in the game.)
Shield
: 20 defense rating
: 18 stamina
: 40 block value
Defense or block value is generally the way to go here; Major stamina is a TBC enchant and should only be used if you really really really want stamina and you can't get it anywhere else.
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