I must respectfully disagree with Havoclegion's implication that this shield is better for a tankadin than the Sunward Crest. Particularly if the Tankadin is in blues and trying to gear up to the point of being able to handle Raid bosses.
This shield gives the wielder +18 Dodge Rating. The Sunward crest gives the wielder +18 Block Rating.
18 Dodge Rating increases your combined avoidance (the chance for a miss, dodge, parry, or block when attacked) by 0.95%.
18 Block Rating increases your combined avoidance by 2.28%.
For a paladin tank to reliably negate Crushing Blows, his combined missed+dodge+parry+block chance must total at least 102.4% with only Holy Shield up. The 2.28% contribution to Block chance from the Sunward Crest goes a LOT farther toward making the paladin Uncrushable than the 0.95% contribution to Dodge chance from the Dawnforged Defender.
Yes, the extra +spelldamage bonus from the Sunward Crest isn't strictly NECESSARY if the DPSers in the raid are reasonably careful about their Threat. However, the more +spelldamage a paladin tank has, the more breathing room he gives his DPSers and the more quickly they can whittle down a mob without pulling aggro. Furthermore, while the Dawnforged Defender's Hit Rating bonus means fewer missed Seal of Righteousness procs, the Sunward Crest's Spell Hit bonus means fewer Resisted Judgements of Righteousness. (It also means less of a chance to miss with important situational Judgements, such as Judgement of Justice on a mob that will otherwise run away.)
Now, for a raid-tier-geared paladin who's already at or past the Uncrushable threshold and has more threat generation than he can shake a stick at, the Dawnforged Defender's extra Block Value can mean a lot less damage taken from a fast-hitting boss. However, a paladin geared that well usually has access to shields that are better than this one to begin with!
This shield gives the wielder +18 Dodge Rating. The Sunward crest gives the wielder +18 Block Rating.
18 Dodge Rating increases your combined avoidance (the chance for a miss, dodge, parry, or block when attacked) by 0.95%.
18 Block Rating increases your combined avoidance by 2.28%.
For a paladin tank to reliably negate Crushing Blows, his combined missed+dodge+parry+block chance must total at least 102.4% with only Holy Shield up. The 2.28% contribution to Block chance from the Sunward Crest goes a LOT farther toward making the paladin Uncrushable than the 0.95% contribution to Dodge chance from the Dawnforged Defender.
Yes, the extra +spelldamage bonus from the Sunward Crest isn't strictly NECESSARY if the DPSers in the raid are reasonably careful about their Threat. However, the more +spelldamage a paladin tank has, the more breathing room he gives his DPSers and the more quickly they can whittle down a mob without pulling aggro. Furthermore, while the Dawnforged Defender's Hit Rating bonus means fewer missed Seal of Righteousness procs, the Sunward Crest's Spell Hit bonus means fewer Resisted Judgements of Righteousness. (It also means less of a chance to miss with important situational Judgements, such as Judgement of Justice on a mob that will otherwise run away.)
Now, for a raid-tier-geared paladin who's already at or past the Uncrushable threshold and has more threat generation than he can shake a stick at, the Dawnforged Defender's extra Block Value can mean a lot less damage taken from a fast-hitting boss. However, a paladin geared that well usually has access to shields that are better than this one to begin with!
the small thing u forget to put in here is that a pally tank get aggro from getting hit. sooooo if Dawnforged beef up your dodge u make it less offor them to land a blow on you vs Sunward makes it so u can take a hit. yeah with it i take less dmg with the other shield then u know when u aoe tanking the spell and block wins. that and hit rating is nothing to a tank who get aggro from people pounding on them.