I've put together a spreadsheet using the 6/9 rotation for comparing TPS on weapons. Those interested can always find the latest version here: Maintankadin :: View topic - (Build 8820) WotLK TPS Weapons Spreadsheet

EDIT: The list in this post is outdated. See above.

You're right, I forgot about that one. I'll put a few more in as well. Misses are modeled, but Syphon is the same TPS single-target and slightly higher on 2-3. Lacking in the stam department though.

For those who are already planning on crossing over into more warrior-style gear in the crossover from 3.0 release to WotLK release...with a shift in weapon desirability, what enchants for weapons appear to be the top? Potency for 20 STR is available, as is Deathfrost, Mongoose, and so on. Or, is there still a need for +40 Spellpower even on a more melee-style weapon?

40 spell power is still going to be preferable to Potency/Mongoose as far as threat goes even if you use a fast Warrior-tank weapon or a slow Rogue-MH weapon, since Holy Shield and Retribution Aura do not scale with AP, and most of our abilities either scale equally or gain more from SP.

SP is also affected by BoK plus Sacred Duty and Combat Expertise through Touched by the Light.

With numbers as they are, equally itemized SP is worth about 43% of STR (source). So Potency is 24/.431 ~= 56 SP, clearly ahead. If I punch it into the spreadsheet above which has more accurate figures, it's closer to 62 SP.

The balance may shift if SoV changes, which seems likely since it's currently the only ability that scales twice as well with AP over SP rather than the other way around.

Well technically all spell power is not affected by those (unless you are only getting SP from Stamina) and even so, the multiplier would be 1.1*1.1*1.06*0.3 = 0.38478, where as strength gets: 1.1*1.15 = 1.265 and is multiplied by 2 when converting to AP, so 2.53 multiplier to STR in terms of AP compared to a 0.38478 multiplier to STA in terms of SP. And STR also converts to BV at a 0.6375 multiplier, which affects Shield of Righteousness.

This is why I think it's probably a mistake to analyze threat mechanics too deeply before the developers do their "second pass" look at paladins. Doesn't it seem like a pretty safe bet that Holy Shield will be scaling with block value somehow before WotLK goes live?

All we can really do at this point is try to cover all the bases. Presumably if you're tanking already you have a SP-based tanking weapon, so you're covered on that point. Pick up the slowest/heaviest 1-h melee weapon you can get your hands on so you're ready if HotR turns out to be the dominant factor. And if you're not already LC exalted you might want to lock that down, just in case the [Gavel of Unearthed Secrets] really does turn out to be super-awesome.

EDIT: Incidentally: Psiven can you run that weapon through your spreadheet? It's fairly low ilevel, but it's got a unique combination of spellpower and a very slow speed; I'd be really curious to see how it pans out with the current mechanics.

EDIT AGAIN: Looking at the charts you posted in the maintankadin thread, I notice that the Titansteel Guardian is way out in front threatwise. Obviously it's a higher ilevel than everything else, but I'm noticing that it also is a rare slow-swing spellpower weapon, so that makes me even more curious to see where the [Gavel of Unearthed Secrets] comes in.

ANOTHER EDIT AGAIN (last one, I swear): Regarding "things I'd like to know", your formula for consecration is correct.

Also, you mention that your spreadsheet can't handle a non-6/9 rotation right now, which affects modeling of pre-75 threat. However, I think even a non-ShR build is still going to be most efficient as a 6/9 due to GCD meshing:

Judge Hammer _____ _____ _____ Hammer Judge _____ _____ Hammer _____ _____ Judge Hammer... etc.

My understanding is that Ret DPS rotations on live get forced into a 6/9 for the same reasons due to the 6-second CD on crusader strike. So, you should be able to model a level 70 threat rotation simply by removing ShR.

Yeah, testing stuff out is great, but I wouldn't be too rigorous, as we can certainly expect tweaks to get made. For example, Thorgred's post's coefficients for str and/or spellpower on some spells (SoVeng, Cons) don't line up with the numbers I'm seeing anymore.

On a related subject, when we do get around to finding those coefficients, let's not forget the formulae for Seal of Wisdom and Light, as they do scale now For now, Wisdom/Light per point of spellpower look to get around 60/75% (respectively) of the benefit given per point of strength. And let's see, spellpower per-point consumes 86% of the item budget consumed by strength per-point, is that right?

I don't mind being rigorous about updating tweaks, so no worries there. I intend to update with every beta build to get accurate figures.

Cathela: The Gavel is just worse than the worst on the sheet in SP gear, and .3 TPS under Vengeful in the theoretical T6-using-STR gear. Good catch, it's certainly a cheap alternative to the other low-end weapons.

A correction on the enchant, you're right I was assuming ShoR there. However I ran the numbers without ShoR for all weapons:
Potency adds 29.2 TPS (STDEV .51)
40 Spell Power adds 18.7 TPS (STDEV .03)
Potency > 40SP by 10.5 TPS (STDEV .49)

Upon closer inspection my spreadsheet wasn't actually adding strength's block value to anything because of a bad reference. Hence why the earlier number of 20 STR ~= 62 SP seems to hold up here.

This is because Paladins will have only one tanking skill that scales with weapon damage (prot Warriors have 3 and use them more often), and auto-attack threat is insignificant. The only way to change the balance without overpowering HotR would be to add a copy of Heroic Strike or Devastate/Revenge, which is probably not happening in WotLK.