Last night I was priveleged to be with my guild for yet another downing of Gruul the Dragonkiller. I get swapped into raids when people need to leave since I rarely make start times, but I'm okay with this. I do what I can.
Long story short, we got him after several attempts (we seem to only marshall ourselves after several wipes to a big bad and then go, 'Okay, this is our last shot for tonight' which true to tradition, worked again last night).
I was the lucky Druid to score the Leggings of the Fallen Defender. Afterward, a quick trip to the Scryer terrace and the Greaves of Malorne were mine! Finally, if and when I upgrade to T5, I won't lose my T4 2-piece bonus!
But wait...is all as rosy as it could be?
As anyone who knows me can attest, I'm a Stamina whore. For a very long time, I stacked Stamina and little else in an effort to exploit the strengths of my class as a tank. I couldn't do anything about Crushing Blows, so I decided to stack Armor and Health. Many Bears prefer AGI and the dodge and crit it brings, but I've always looked at that more as a luxury for the mostly or all-epic Bear. I still wear quite a bit of Blue.
As a result, I wore my Heavy Clefthoof Leggings for a long time, and every gem socket I have is packed with a Solid Star of Elune.
This gave me roughly insane health totals, especially when raid buffed. I was a happy and contented Bear.
But when I got a new cloak with Defense on it and realized I could get rid of a different piece of gear with Defense on it, I picked my legs and got myself a Forestwalker Kilt. The gods of the random number generator smiled on me and I got it on my first trip to Heroic Mana Tombs. I was ecstatic. Not only did I get a pair of legs that only minimally dropped my armor and Stamina (these things have 3 sockets on them, after all) but they added threat and mitigation through STR and AGI. Hell, I even got a small INT boost for my feral mana pool.
In all, very nice.
I was wearing these up until last night, when I got the Greaves. After kitting them with a Nethercleft Armor Kit (still need a Nether for that), I'll be losing even more Stamina (21 points to be exact, as I've Netherclefted the Kilt), but I'll be gaining significantly in Armor (around 900 in Dire Bear, putting me just shy of 30k), and a small amount of AP, dodge, and crit.
It is an upgrade given that the Stam I'm giving up isn't even a single trash mob hit, but sometimes that sliver of health is what gives your healers time to catch up, that proves the difference between surival and wipe.
But...and there's always a but...the added survivability from Armor and AGI are also impressive. I'm too lazy to do the math, so instead, I'll be keeping my Kilt (and indeed I have yet to dispose of my HCH pants) for Stamina fights, fights where perhaps I don't have the best resist gear, but where my armor and dodge are less valuable.
Once again, the upgrade involves more of a consideration of playstyle and situation than in the past game, perhaps adjusting that playstyle to fit the gear. But it is also in part, a significant source of the fun in that there are so many factors to consider.
Plus, I'm out of my skirt...for now.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
False Idols
Once upon a time, there was a set of classes that could neither use nor equip weapons in their ranged slot. No wands, no guns, bows or crossbows, no throwing knives or axes or anything of the sort was to be found on these characters.
Thematically it seemed appropriate that a Paladin would not carry a gun, that a Druid would not draw a wand, and a Shaman would not string a bow...right?
Well, no, it never made any sense at all.
At the time, all three classes were fairly marginalized and shoehorned into end-game healing and cleansing and buffing. They got cast-off gear and their class sets were all specifically healing sets.
Prior to the advent of the Burning Crusade, however, the change was made to allow these classes to equip certain items in the ranged slot. This became known as the relic slot for them and allowed them to equip Librams, Idols, and Totems.
There was much rejoicing, even if the best Resto Idol was from the Dungeon 2 quest chain and the stats on them were singular. Oddest of all was the fact that so few of them existed.
Time progressed and more relics were introduced to cover the roles, thus removing any concern for this previously unused slot.
Originally the Idol of Brutality provided a reduced Rage cost for bear tanks. Not long after, itemization changes were made and Burning Crusade launched and the Idol found itself in its current state. Speculation and, I believe, CM comments stated that it was to ensure that there were idols worth upgrading to over the next 10 levels.
Unfortunately, nothing has surfaced that really replaces the idol.
I am a Bear tank and I have had this idol since I was 60. I still use this idol. Certainly the Idol of the Wild is an option but the biggest reason to talk about it at all is to discuss what's wrong with hybrid itemization.
Each of the Idols available to Druids give a single bonus to 1 or at most 2 abilities. The Paladin Librams and Shaman Totems are similar.
On the surface this may not seem to be a big deal, but consider what other classes can gain from these slots, even if they never attack with the weapon in question.
It is generally held that the Idol of Brutality is the best general tanking idol available due primarily to the Swipe bonus (swipe threat was nerfed hard not long ago).
Looking just at guns, I found the following items requiring level 70 and having Stamina on them. This list does not include ranged weapons 'of the Champion' or in other flavors.
Jumping out at me are two options. First is the Gyro-Balanced Khorium Destroyer, a weapon with 27 Stamina and a Yellow socket with a Stamina socketing bonus. Almost better is The Boomstick, a weapon with 21 Stamina and 13 Defense! Now, one is expensive and craftable and the other is a Heroic drop that only unlocks with a Druid that has done or is doing the epic flight form quest, but the fact remains that these are options Druid tanks do not have.
Ranged sockets serve as stat blocks and secondary attribute boosters to every class but 3, who make do with boosts to individual abilities more often than not, abilities that are often not necessarily the best choice.
When the Idols sported +50 to Rejuv or -3 Rage pre-Burning Crusade, they were amazing and justified the focused itemization. Now, however, Druid tanks are still hitting raid instances sporting a L60 blue Idol, or worse a quested green one.
It seems a little thing to people not playing the class, but it is a facet that will stare you in the face every time you watch something amazing drop that could go in a ranged slot, you open your character sheet and look at +10 damage to your Swipe and wonder to yourself why you can't at least equip a Windspear Longbow in Monkey, Beast or Champion flavors...anything to fill in the gaps we continue to see in itemization.
I'm still looking for the new tanking idol the nerfs to the Idol of Brutality should have facilitated.
Thematically it seemed appropriate that a Paladin would not carry a gun, that a Druid would not draw a wand, and a Shaman would not string a bow...right?
Well, no, it never made any sense at all.
At the time, all three classes were fairly marginalized and shoehorned into end-game healing and cleansing and buffing. They got cast-off gear and their class sets were all specifically healing sets.
Prior to the advent of the Burning Crusade, however, the change was made to allow these classes to equip certain items in the ranged slot. This became known as the relic slot for them and allowed them to equip Librams, Idols, and Totems.
There was much rejoicing, even if the best Resto Idol was from the Dungeon 2 quest chain and the stats on them were singular. Oddest of all was the fact that so few of them existed.
Time progressed and more relics were introduced to cover the roles, thus removing any concern for this previously unused slot.
Originally the Idol of Brutality provided a reduced Rage cost for bear tanks. Not long after, itemization changes were made and Burning Crusade launched and the Idol found itself in its current state. Speculation and, I believe, CM comments stated that it was to ensure that there were idols worth upgrading to over the next 10 levels.
Unfortunately, nothing has surfaced that really replaces the idol.
I am a Bear tank and I have had this idol since I was 60. I still use this idol. Certainly the Idol of the Wild is an option but the biggest reason to talk about it at all is to discuss what's wrong with hybrid itemization.
Each of the Idols available to Druids give a single bonus to 1 or at most 2 abilities. The Paladin Librams and Shaman Totems are similar.
On the surface this may not seem to be a big deal, but consider what other classes can gain from these slots, even if they never attack with the weapon in question.
It is generally held that the Idol of Brutality is the best general tanking idol available due primarily to the Swipe bonus (swipe threat was nerfed hard not long ago).
Looking just at guns, I found the following items requiring level 70 and having Stamina on them. This list does not include ranged weapons 'of the Champion' or in other flavors.
Jumping out at me are two options. First is the Gyro-Balanced Khorium Destroyer, a weapon with 27 Stamina and a Yellow socket with a Stamina socketing bonus. Almost better is The Boomstick, a weapon with 21 Stamina and 13 Defense! Now, one is expensive and craftable and the other is a Heroic drop that only unlocks with a Druid that has done or is doing the epic flight form quest, but the fact remains that these are options Druid tanks do not have.
Ranged sockets serve as stat blocks and secondary attribute boosters to every class but 3, who make do with boosts to individual abilities more often than not, abilities that are often not necessarily the best choice.
When the Idols sported +50 to Rejuv or -3 Rage pre-Burning Crusade, they were amazing and justified the focused itemization. Now, however, Druid tanks are still hitting raid instances sporting a L60 blue Idol, or worse a quested green one.
It seems a little thing to people not playing the class, but it is a facet that will stare you in the face every time you watch something amazing drop that could go in a ranged slot, you open your character sheet and look at +10 damage to your Swipe and wonder to yourself why you can't at least equip a Windspear Longbow in Monkey, Beast or Champion flavors...anything to fill in the gaps we continue to see in itemization.
I'm still looking for the new tanking idol the nerfs to the Idol of Brutality should have facilitated.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Gruul vs. Bear
So like Moroes, I've been off-tanking this guy since we started the instance, but unlike Moroes, I got to be there for our 2nd kill.
Because I don't get on in time for most start-times, I am typically swapped in for people that leave for sleep, get too frustrated to continue, and so on. So I tend to miss Maulgar most nights and the quicker this goes, the less likely it'll be that I'll see Gruul again in the future. Therefore, I try to be available to come when I am on.
Last night was one of those times.
My job on Gruul has always been to eat the Hurtful Strikes. Hurtful Strikes target #2 on the aggro table (who is also in range) and start at over 12k unmitigated damage. Every so often, Gruul grows and gets stronger. As he does, his Hurtful Strikes get nastier and nastier, and starting around Growth 2 or 3, he's one-shotting anyone not in Plate or Bear form.
This makes it critical to pace the MT and stay in range when you're eating the strikes. You can imagine my horror when on the second attempt I was present for, my WoW client crashed.
Our Main Tank is also our Guild Master (Devilcs) and he's an awe-inspiringly good tank. He does things that reassure you that Warriors well-played are in no danger of replacement by Bears. He cares about his gear and his role and it shows. The only problem is that I can easily outstrip his aggro if I'm not careful.
My job is to stay #2 and in melee range. It's not a hard job, really. What's hard sometimes is keeping behind him while also maintaining a comfortable lead on the more enthusiastic dps. Still, more than once, he asked for a Misdirect to get a comfortable lead back, all while I had reverted to auto-attacking and keeping my Lacerate stack up.
So we wiped once and ran back. I think I wasn't in range quite fast enough and a couple dpsers dropped, people panicked and shatters started the cascade to doom.
On the second try though, we were amazing. People avoided Shatters, we battle rezzed the fallen quickly, and Devil and I kept our aggro way over the rest of the raid. Then it happened: WoW crashed.
Everything stopped moving, the client started to ding repeatedly at me, and suddenly Devil said over Vent (I was still in Vent - where I listen but don't talk due to where I play), "Where's Currant? I can't see her on the aggro list."
Everyone started to mention it and they started to look for my character while I frantically tried to shut down the crashed instance of WoW to restart it. They found me still under Gruul and online but off the aggro list.
I killed it and fired the game back up and logged in as fast as I could. When I got back in, no one had died and I was still second on the aggro list! I rushed back to building threat, knowing that Devil had a lead I'd never overcome, and we nailed Gruul only losing 3 people by the end.
My character never left the game and kept her spot as second on the aggro list as far as I can tell because when I got back in, I almost immediately ate another Strike.
Score one for the Bear.
Because I don't get on in time for most start-times, I am typically swapped in for people that leave for sleep, get too frustrated to continue, and so on. So I tend to miss Maulgar most nights and the quicker this goes, the less likely it'll be that I'll see Gruul again in the future. Therefore, I try to be available to come when I am on.
Last night was one of those times.
My job on Gruul has always been to eat the Hurtful Strikes. Hurtful Strikes target #2 on the aggro table (who is also in range) and start at over 12k unmitigated damage. Every so often, Gruul grows and gets stronger. As he does, his Hurtful Strikes get nastier and nastier, and starting around Growth 2 or 3, he's one-shotting anyone not in Plate or Bear form.
This makes it critical to pace the MT and stay in range when you're eating the strikes. You can imagine my horror when on the second attempt I was present for, my WoW client crashed.
Our Main Tank is also our Guild Master (Devilcs) and he's an awe-inspiringly good tank. He does things that reassure you that Warriors well-played are in no danger of replacement by Bears. He cares about his gear and his role and it shows. The only problem is that I can easily outstrip his aggro if I'm not careful.
My job is to stay #2 and in melee range. It's not a hard job, really. What's hard sometimes is keeping behind him while also maintaining a comfortable lead on the more enthusiastic dps. Still, more than once, he asked for a Misdirect to get a comfortable lead back, all while I had reverted to auto-attacking and keeping my Lacerate stack up.
So we wiped once and ran back. I think I wasn't in range quite fast enough and a couple dpsers dropped, people panicked and shatters started the cascade to doom.
On the second try though, we were amazing. People avoided Shatters, we battle rezzed the fallen quickly, and Devil and I kept our aggro way over the rest of the raid. Then it happened: WoW crashed.
Everything stopped moving, the client started to ding repeatedly at me, and suddenly Devil said over Vent (I was still in Vent - where I listen but don't talk due to where I play), "Where's Currant? I can't see her on the aggro list."
Everyone started to mention it and they started to look for my character while I frantically tried to shut down the crashed instance of WoW to restart it. They found me still under Gruul and online but off the aggro list.
I killed it and fired the game back up and logged in as fast as I could. When I got back in, no one had died and I was still second on the aggro list! I rushed back to building threat, knowing that Devil had a lead I'd never overcome, and we nailed Gruul only losing 3 people by the end.
My character never left the game and kept her spot as second on the aggro list as far as I can tell because when I got back in, I almost immediately ate another Strike.
Score one for the Bear.
Monday, September 10, 2007
What to Know...
I am currently my guild's premier Druid tank (though I may be losing this distinction soon due to my lousy playing schedule). As such, I ought to have a lot to say about tanking and how to do it...but I don't know that I'm really qualified to teach people to tank.
That said, I am often asked how I tank, what advice I can give other people when they tank, and so on. Well, for what it's worth, here you go:
LOOK BEHIND YOU, BEAR!
The number one thing to keep in mind with a tank - any tank, not just a Druid tank - is situational awareness. More than anything else, the player of a tank must be in a state of zen-like unity with her or his surroundings.
Though this seems like common sense, you'd be surprised how many tanks have what amounts to tunnel vision. They grab a single target and lock it down. Unfortunately, the rest of the spawn is running amok during this time.
Don't be afraid to rotate your camera to watch the battlefield. Patrols are common in instances and can often wander into the spot you've chosen to fight in if you're unlucky or careless and it's imperative that they get picked up either by you or by your CC options.
IF YOU LOVE SOMEONE, SET THEM FREE
One of the hardest things to realize when you're tanking is that sometimes, you need to let a mob go. This is less of an option in a Heroic, to be sure, but sometimes, you need to just watch a mob peel off and let your dps handle it. Counterintuitive? You bet, but it's critical to effective tanking.
The biggest hurdle to this tactic is trust. You have to be able to trust that the rest of the team is as interested in keeping up the squishies as you are, and that they'll re-apply CC or burn the loose mob fast. Sometimes, keeping the mobs you have is all you can do while your dps is burning them down and only one of them has to hit the loose one.
Sometimes you can't, though, and it's crucial to know when you can and can't. I'd rather break a sheep than let a mob run amok with the squishies, but if you can exercise the self-control needed and have the trust necessary, let a few of them go.
I most often exercise this option with caster mobs, even in Heroics, especially with a good Rogue around. The Rogues I run with are excellent at grabbing a caster mob and burning them down all while stunning, kicking and gouging the crap out of them to keep them from doing much of anything in return. I find I can usually ignore 1-2 casters completely while my Rogue friends demolish them.
Find dps like this. Love them. Feed them the blood of your enemies.
GOOD GRIEF THAT'S A LOT OF BAD GUYS!
Crowd Control and Kill Order.
One of the jobs you'll often have as the tank is marking targets. This can be EXTREMELY intimidating if you don't know the instance and the mobs in question, but it's crucial that you know how to do it.
Without getting specific, it's hard to say what's best but there are some general guidelines you can follow to make things easier on the rest of the group.
BANISH
This is usable not only on Elementals, but on demons. Banish removes the target from combat completely for 30 seconds. While situational, it can be incredibly effective in the Shadow Labyrinth schoolroom or in Botanica.
The best part of Banish is that it doesn't heal the target like Polymorph does.
You can't screw this one up.
ENSLAVE DEMON
Even more situational than Banish, Enslave Demon can be used only on...you guessed it...farmers in Elwynn Forest! Oh...wait.
Enslave Demon is a bit like having another pet but lasts up to 5 minutes. Sometimes I go into a second pull with an enslaved demon in the group. It's re-applicable, but not reliably. I recommend killing it between pulls more often than trying to get maximum mileage. Most Warlocks I run into these days have pitiful Stamina pools and don't often survive the loving ministrations of their erstwhile companions.
This is another one safe from Tanking mishaps.
FREEZING TRAP
The most frequently seen Hunter trap is the Freezing Trap and it'll be the one you mark for. Thematically, the blue block raid icon works almost universally for this.
The most important thing to keep in mind with this trap is that it is more difficult for a Hunter to use this trap on a ranged mob. Casters and Hunter mobs are notoriously difficult for a Hunter to coax into this trap. What that means is that short of a short ranged silencing shot or counterspell you shouldn't generally be assigning a ranged mob to the Hunter for CC.
This CC is re-applicable which means you can leave the CC'd mob alone while you focus on the others, provided it isn't resisted and the Hunter is aware enough to re-apply it. Watch for resists.
Most importantly with respect to Freezing Trap is that you will sometimes find yourself chasing a loose mob only to have it stop moving in a block of ice. Do whatever you can to avoid tagging it because that's the number one way you'll break Freezing Trap. Though it is re-applicable it is not as quickly re-applicable as some other forms of CC.
HIBERNATE
Your CC. While beasts are not common in most instances, they do exist and you shouldn't write yourself out of the CC responsibilities. As a sleep effect, Hibernate will break on damage and the aggro from the CC effect is questionable.
While Hibernate is technically re-applicable, you'll be tanking so unless you have a Druid healer or Boomkin, it is effectively a weak Sap for beasts though usable at range.
If someone else is doing this for you, keep an eye out for the target because it's easy to miss with only little green Z's coming off their heads.
MIND CONTROL
This one is tricky. Sometimes your Priest will be your only healer, and other times, the Priest won't be overly comfortable with the practice. While re-applicable, it can take your only healer out of the equation, though if it doesn't it is very effective.
Often, the Priests I run with will grab a Melee mob to dps with, or a caster mob to burn off all their mana and maybe heal for us.
Note that the longer a Priest does this the harder it'll be to peel the mob off them when it breaks. Other than not re-acquiring the mob quickly, you can't hurt Mind Control.
POLYMORPH
Perhaps the greatest CC option in the game. Usable on Beasts and Humanoids (oh, and Critters, but who cares beyond the humor value of turning a sheep into...a sheep), it covers a LOT of ground.
Polymorph in all three flavors (Sheep, Pig, Turtle) is usable at range, is reapplicable, and lasts a long time. Additionally, Mages can Frost Nova for distance then pause to reapply and go back to blasting.
There are two major concerns when using Polymorph.
First is that when it breaks, any patrols that are nearby may be brought to the fight by the angry mob. For this reason, smart Mages often wait for the mob to close a little rather than pulling with the spell (which also gains them other unwanted attentions).
The other problem is breaking the sheep. This is your bag, and that of anyone in melee or using AoE. Broken sheep is the surest way to annoy a Mage aside from asking for Water with a Warrior. Many mages adopt a You-Break-It-You-Tank-It approach, but those with more experience under their belts understand that things happen and sheep WILL be broken from time to time.
Reapplicable CC is why I made my earlier admonishment to let mobs go sometimes, too. I most often break sheep trying to grab a loose mob that a Mage is already working on.
SAP
Your Rogue CC. VERY effective, doesn't break stealth in any spec now, but only applicable out of combat.
The biggest thing to consider when marking for Sap is to pick something the Rogue can actually get to. Marking something on the inside of a spawn will only annoy the Rogue. They tend to Sap whatever they want when you do that.
Additionally, there are some mobs that cannot be approached for Sap due to the ability to see through Stealth. As Sap is not re-applicable, the Sap target should be prioritized over re-applicable CC victims.
As the Sap target will often be a way off, you have little fear of breaking this one. Just be sure you give the Rogue time to apply it before you pull.
SEDUCTION
Yet another Warlock spell, and one that's frequenly overlooked. It is perhaps the swapping out of pets that makes so many Warlocks resist this one, but it is often crucial. It's very short duration so the target should be prioritized immediately after single-use CC, however, and seems to break a lot. Happily, the target usually seems more concerned with the Succubus than the Warlock.
It is only usable on Humanoids. Still, use it when you have it just watch it like your life depended on it.
SHACKLE
Polymorph for Undead targets. Your Priest should be doing this for undead mobs the same way you should be using Hibernate on animals. If your Priest is healing though, don't expect it to be re-applied and treat it as such. Multiple applications in addition to healing aggro can make the targets of this spell VERY hard to peel off. Keep Growl handy and watch for the golden chains.
One misplaced Swipe and your Priest could be eating a Cleave.
FEARS
Fear is an often mis-used ability. Priests, Warriors, Warlocks, Hunters and Paladins all have usable Fears that vary by target and targetability.
Priest Fear is multi-target and indiscriminate. Warrior Fear hits multiple targets but leaves their target unaffected. Hunter Fear works only on animals and Paladin fear works only on Undead.
Warlock Fear...now this is fun. The same reason we all hate Warlocks in PvP is why we should love them in PvE. More than once I've watched a Warlock fear a mob and dot them to death, effectively locking down and soloing the mob. I kept trying to grab it only to have it run away and finally it just dropped dead. I didn't know what to think until the Warlock explained it to me.
Back when 60 was the cap, I remember using my Paladin's Turn Undead to frighten away an undead add during the Alexei Barov fight. It made an otherwise very difficult fight very easy.
STUNS
Cheap Shot, Kidney Shot, Hammer of Justice, Blackout...all these things are cheap but sometimes effective mitigation and crowd control. Don't be afraid to use them.
The point with all this is that knowledge is your greatest asset while tanking. Knowledge of your surroundings, knowledge of other classes, knowledge of your enemies...all are critical. Tanks need to be smart and aware in marked contrast to the popular image of tanks being stupid meatshields with no finesse. Just because it's your job to get hit, doesn't mean you have no call to understand more than just how crits and crushes work and how to juggle Stamina with Dodge.
Generally, CC that isn't reapplicable should be top priority after finishing with loose mobs. You should also consider CC that seems to be breaking often or early and tend to those if you have time, sometimes before going after the Saps or your own Hibernates.
Burn casters before melee if you can, they're squishy and the expenditure of party resources has the highest payoff in doing so. Melee targets are the least of your worries as a Druid tank.
Be aware and your teams will love you. In a future post I'll cover gearing, grouping, and more.
That said, I am often asked how I tank, what advice I can give other people when they tank, and so on. Well, for what it's worth, here you go:
LOOK BEHIND YOU, BEAR!
The number one thing to keep in mind with a tank - any tank, not just a Druid tank - is situational awareness. More than anything else, the player of a tank must be in a state of zen-like unity with her or his surroundings.
Though this seems like common sense, you'd be surprised how many tanks have what amounts to tunnel vision. They grab a single target and lock it down. Unfortunately, the rest of the spawn is running amok during this time.
Don't be afraid to rotate your camera to watch the battlefield. Patrols are common in instances and can often wander into the spot you've chosen to fight in if you're unlucky or careless and it's imperative that they get picked up either by you or by your CC options.
IF YOU LOVE SOMEONE, SET THEM FREE
One of the hardest things to realize when you're tanking is that sometimes, you need to let a mob go. This is less of an option in a Heroic, to be sure, but sometimes, you need to just watch a mob peel off and let your dps handle it. Counterintuitive? You bet, but it's critical to effective tanking.
The biggest hurdle to this tactic is trust. You have to be able to trust that the rest of the team is as interested in keeping up the squishies as you are, and that they'll re-apply CC or burn the loose mob fast. Sometimes, keeping the mobs you have is all you can do while your dps is burning them down and only one of them has to hit the loose one.
Sometimes you can't, though, and it's crucial to know when you can and can't. I'd rather break a sheep than let a mob run amok with the squishies, but if you can exercise the self-control needed and have the trust necessary, let a few of them go.
I most often exercise this option with caster mobs, even in Heroics, especially with a good Rogue around. The Rogues I run with are excellent at grabbing a caster mob and burning them down all while stunning, kicking and gouging the crap out of them to keep them from doing much of anything in return. I find I can usually ignore 1-2 casters completely while my Rogue friends demolish them.
Find dps like this. Love them. Feed them the blood of your enemies.
GOOD GRIEF THAT'S A LOT OF BAD GUYS!
Crowd Control and Kill Order.
One of the jobs you'll often have as the tank is marking targets. This can be EXTREMELY intimidating if you don't know the instance and the mobs in question, but it's crucial that you know how to do it.
Without getting specific, it's hard to say what's best but there are some general guidelines you can follow to make things easier on the rest of the group.
BANISH
This is usable not only on Elementals, but on demons. Banish removes the target from combat completely for 30 seconds. While situational, it can be incredibly effective in the Shadow Labyrinth schoolroom or in Botanica.
The best part of Banish is that it doesn't heal the target like Polymorph does.
You can't screw this one up.
ENSLAVE DEMON
Even more situational than Banish, Enslave Demon can be used only on...you guessed it...farmers in Elwynn Forest! Oh...wait.
Enslave Demon is a bit like having another pet but lasts up to 5 minutes. Sometimes I go into a second pull with an enslaved demon in the group. It's re-applicable, but not reliably. I recommend killing it between pulls more often than trying to get maximum mileage. Most Warlocks I run into these days have pitiful Stamina pools and don't often survive the loving ministrations of their erstwhile companions.
This is another one safe from Tanking mishaps.
FREEZING TRAP
The most frequently seen Hunter trap is the Freezing Trap and it'll be the one you mark for. Thematically, the blue block raid icon works almost universally for this.
The most important thing to keep in mind with this trap is that it is more difficult for a Hunter to use this trap on a ranged mob. Casters and Hunter mobs are notoriously difficult for a Hunter to coax into this trap. What that means is that short of a short ranged silencing shot or counterspell you shouldn't generally be assigning a ranged mob to the Hunter for CC.
This CC is re-applicable which means you can leave the CC'd mob alone while you focus on the others, provided it isn't resisted and the Hunter is aware enough to re-apply it. Watch for resists.
Most importantly with respect to Freezing Trap is that you will sometimes find yourself chasing a loose mob only to have it stop moving in a block of ice. Do whatever you can to avoid tagging it because that's the number one way you'll break Freezing Trap. Though it is re-applicable it is not as quickly re-applicable as some other forms of CC.
HIBERNATE
Your CC. While beasts are not common in most instances, they do exist and you shouldn't write yourself out of the CC responsibilities. As a sleep effect, Hibernate will break on damage and the aggro from the CC effect is questionable.
While Hibernate is technically re-applicable, you'll be tanking so unless you have a Druid healer or Boomkin, it is effectively a weak Sap for beasts though usable at range.
If someone else is doing this for you, keep an eye out for the target because it's easy to miss with only little green Z's coming off their heads.
MIND CONTROL
This one is tricky. Sometimes your Priest will be your only healer, and other times, the Priest won't be overly comfortable with the practice. While re-applicable, it can take your only healer out of the equation, though if it doesn't it is very effective.
Often, the Priests I run with will grab a Melee mob to dps with, or a caster mob to burn off all their mana and maybe heal for us.
Note that the longer a Priest does this the harder it'll be to peel the mob off them when it breaks. Other than not re-acquiring the mob quickly, you can't hurt Mind Control.
POLYMORPH
Perhaps the greatest CC option in the game. Usable on Beasts and Humanoids (oh, and Critters, but who cares beyond the humor value of turning a sheep into...a sheep), it covers a LOT of ground.
Polymorph in all three flavors (Sheep, Pig, Turtle) is usable at range, is reapplicable, and lasts a long time. Additionally, Mages can Frost Nova for distance then pause to reapply and go back to blasting.
There are two major concerns when using Polymorph.
First is that when it breaks, any patrols that are nearby may be brought to the fight by the angry mob. For this reason, smart Mages often wait for the mob to close a little rather than pulling with the spell (which also gains them other unwanted attentions).
The other problem is breaking the sheep. This is your bag, and that of anyone in melee or using AoE. Broken sheep is the surest way to annoy a Mage aside from asking for Water with a Warrior. Many mages adopt a You-Break-It-You-Tank-It approach, but those with more experience under their belts understand that things happen and sheep WILL be broken from time to time.
Reapplicable CC is why I made my earlier admonishment to let mobs go sometimes, too. I most often break sheep trying to grab a loose mob that a Mage is already working on.
SAP
Your Rogue CC. VERY effective, doesn't break stealth in any spec now, but only applicable out of combat.
The biggest thing to consider when marking for Sap is to pick something the Rogue can actually get to. Marking something on the inside of a spawn will only annoy the Rogue. They tend to Sap whatever they want when you do that.
Additionally, there are some mobs that cannot be approached for Sap due to the ability to see through Stealth. As Sap is not re-applicable, the Sap target should be prioritized over re-applicable CC victims.
As the Sap target will often be a way off, you have little fear of breaking this one. Just be sure you give the Rogue time to apply it before you pull.
SEDUCTION
Yet another Warlock spell, and one that's frequenly overlooked. It is perhaps the swapping out of pets that makes so many Warlocks resist this one, but it is often crucial. It's very short duration so the target should be prioritized immediately after single-use CC, however, and seems to break a lot. Happily, the target usually seems more concerned with the Succubus than the Warlock.
It is only usable on Humanoids. Still, use it when you have it just watch it like your life depended on it.
SHACKLE
Polymorph for Undead targets. Your Priest should be doing this for undead mobs the same way you should be using Hibernate on animals. If your Priest is healing though, don't expect it to be re-applied and treat it as such. Multiple applications in addition to healing aggro can make the targets of this spell VERY hard to peel off. Keep Growl handy and watch for the golden chains.
One misplaced Swipe and your Priest could be eating a Cleave.
FEARS
Fear is an often mis-used ability. Priests, Warriors, Warlocks, Hunters and Paladins all have usable Fears that vary by target and targetability.
Priest Fear is multi-target and indiscriminate. Warrior Fear hits multiple targets but leaves their target unaffected. Hunter Fear works only on animals and Paladin fear works only on Undead.
Warlock Fear...now this is fun. The same reason we all hate Warlocks in PvP is why we should love them in PvE. More than once I've watched a Warlock fear a mob and dot them to death, effectively locking down and soloing the mob. I kept trying to grab it only to have it run away and finally it just dropped dead. I didn't know what to think until the Warlock explained it to me.
Back when 60 was the cap, I remember using my Paladin's Turn Undead to frighten away an undead add during the Alexei Barov fight. It made an otherwise very difficult fight very easy.
STUNS
Cheap Shot, Kidney Shot, Hammer of Justice, Blackout...all these things are cheap but sometimes effective mitigation and crowd control. Don't be afraid to use them.
The point with all this is that knowledge is your greatest asset while tanking. Knowledge of your surroundings, knowledge of other classes, knowledge of your enemies...all are critical. Tanks need to be smart and aware in marked contrast to the popular image of tanks being stupid meatshields with no finesse. Just because it's your job to get hit, doesn't mean you have no call to understand more than just how crits and crushes work and how to juggle Stamina with Dodge.
Generally, CC that isn't reapplicable should be top priority after finishing with loose mobs. You should also consider CC that seems to be breaking often or early and tend to those if you have time, sometimes before going after the Saps or your own Hibernates.
Burn casters before melee if you can, they're squishy and the expenditure of party resources has the highest payoff in doing so. Melee targets are the least of your worries as a Druid tank.
Be aware and your teams will love you. In a future post I'll cover gearing, grouping, and more.
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