Tanks for Nothing

Well it’s happened.

I tanked a Heroic Instance.

In fact, I’ve tanked at least five by now.  I’m slowly getting the hang of it, but I wanted to talk about some tips, tricks and strategies I’ve found along the way.

First off, this is my spec.  I really have to go and buy some glyphs, but I was saving my money for my sweet Wyrmrest Accord Red Drake flying mount (which I have now and can only be purchased with Exalted reputation!).  I’m still working towards the Defense cap, which is 540 Defense for a Death Knight. Just some regemming/gear upgrades will fix that.

If you clicked my spec, you’ll see I’m a frost tank, mostly because that seems to be the best AOE tanking choice out there.  I’ve been having a blast learning my new powers and when to use what, and it’s been an interesting experience.  Here is some stuff I”ve learned along the way.

1. Do not pull with Death Grip. Seriously.  Yes, it forces the mob to attack you, but it doesn’t genereate enough threat to keep him there, especially since every mob in instances have at least two other friends to tag along.  Instead, save the DG in case a mob b-lines it for your healer.  Then you can “scorpion” his ass over to you and impress everyone!

2. When pulling, I use a combination of Death and Decay (an AOE high threat power) with Dark Command to keep threat up. Dark Command is a warrior-like taunt.  You should most definitely lay your diseases down and spread them around, which will keep all three fighting you.  If you can see you’re losing threat on one of the other mobs (not your main focus), tab over and Dark Command him, or toss out a multiple mob attack, like Howling Blast or Blood Boil.

3. Talk to your group. This is kind of obvious, but as a DPS major (with a tanking minor) I’m used to just letting the tank take lead and murdering whatever I can quickly and efficiently. As a tank, I realized, yes, I need to talk to everyone and keep everyone going. You’re the defacto leader now!  People might get frustrated if you wipe but keep a sense of humor, thank the healer, and continue.

4. Keep a weather eye on your buffs.  I’m not just talking about your own ones, but your procs too.  I have an talent ability called “Killing Machine” which will give me a critical hit for any of my frost abillities if I use it within 30 seconds of proc. This is a great way to keep threat up while doing your damage, but those 30 seconds could go by without you even looking up at your bar.  I’m looking into some addons that will give me notification of said proccing, and you should to!

5. Go for the caster first.  Every goddamn time. Explain this to your group. Mark the caster. Take them down.

6. Know which mobs will wipe threat.  I’ve run into two mobs in two different instances (Skirmishers in Azjol-Nerub and Gorlocs, including Eck  in Zul’Drak) where the mobs will suddenly jump to the next person on the threat table. This is why you should keep Dark Command and Death’s Grip at the ready.  Throwing down another Death and Decay won’t give you the immediate threat regain you require for these kinds of mobs, so just know what abillities you’ll need when.

7. READ BOSS STRATEGIES. I almost always keep wowwiki up on my monitor when I tank instances, just to have the bosses down pat.  For the most part, if you’ve done them before, you’ll know what to do, but sometimes you’ll have to explain the boss to others and already knowing what to expect will do wonders.  Watch videos on youtube!  I found this FANTASTIC channel by Cinderhelm of Tankspot that puts up boss fights all the time, complete with strategies.  Granted these videos are geared towards raiders venturing into Ulduar (see: not me), but hearing how the pros do it does instill confidence.

8. Don’t be afraid to throw down your defensive abillities.  I’ll be honest, coming from straight DPS, I only worried about damage.  If my ability didn’t help me kill the mob, then I almost always didn’t use it (unless it was an “OH SHIT” moment).  Abilities like Unbreakable Armor, Icebound Fortitude, etc, these are things you need to have hotkeyed.  Bosses will suddenly throw down hard hitting attacks, 1-hit wonders, and you need to be ready to take it. This goes for Empower Rune Weapon and Blood tap – you need to have your runes refreshed if you’re running out of abilities. Don’t be afraid to use these.

9. Take your time and talk to the healer.  I’ve seen way too many tanks running from mob to mob, not worrying about the rest of the group.  It’s immensely frustrating on the healer, who might need a minute to regain mana. If it’s a timed run, let everyone know ahead of time so you can keep a weather eye on mobs.  If not, there’s never really a rush and if there is, let your group know!  Most instances don’t take THAT long to complete now, and with a well-tuned group, it’ll take even less time.

10. Have fun. No fucking duh.

That’s all I’ve got for now.  I’m still learning to tank, but it’s been a lot of fun leading the group through instances.  Frustrating at times, but still fun.

Oh and a quick note to you DK DPS guys out there. I like to think that you’re automatically an offtank. If you see that one mob running off while the tank is attempting to keep aggro, death grip him back to the tank! I’ve done it more than once and it’s been helpful – just throw it out that you’re doing it.

Good luck!