The Brewmaster Tanking Guide [5.4]

[Skagasm]

DW is actually very slightly less EB (but earned at a more steady rate) than 2H. This is because 2H gets +40% attack speed which overcomes DWs apparent advantage (DW: 3 per 2.6 vs 2h: 3 per 3.6). After the +40% 2H is 3 charges per 2.57 sec.

Clarification: When I say "3 per 2.6" I don't mean it literally unless you have 100% crit, but both numbers scale the same with Crit so it's just a quick way to explain it.

[Vasilisa]

Bear in mind that it's going to go live in 5.4 at this rate, with entirely new boss designs. Blizzard have also acknowledged that the current issues with Paladins (the HoP/Divine Shield clearing stacks of debuffs thing) are not intended, so chances are very high that we're not going to see Paladins go crazy OP or anything.

Also see my prior statement on the matter. If you're playing as intended, your DPS won't get nerfed in the slightest.

I guess I overreacted a bit. Sleepless night ftl >_> I guess we shall see how it will look on ptr closer to 5.4. It's too early to come to conclusions, sorry.

On other topic: we are going for tortos hc tonight with me kiting bats. Got macro for lightening on humming crystal, specced momentum & charging ox wave and a disco with shields that increase speed. Would you have any specific tips for this fight?

EDIT: one more question- do dps kill the kited bats or I have to run with truckload of them on my back for the whole encounter?

[Deleted]

transcendance on dark animus (anima rings) got nerfed

v edit: from what i read, you get 1 stack of the debuff if you use it (same for heroic leap, life grip, etc.)

[Deleted]

transcendance on dark animus (anima rings) got nerfed

Please be more vague ...

[Kisho]

EDIT: one more question- do dps kill the kited bats or I have to run with truckload of them on my back for the whole encounter?

I can't answer the rest (I haven't actually cleared normal mode yet, lol; long story), but I do know that the point of the kiting tactic is so the bats don't need to be killed. So no, there'll be no DPS on them; you'll just be kiting them endlessly.

[Kiqjaq]

I can't answer the rest (I haven't actually cleared normal mode yet, lol; long story), but I do know that the point of the kiting tactic is so the bats don't need to be killed. So no, there'll be no DPS on them; you'll just be kiting them endlessly.

This strategy provides for the most entertaining wipes ever. :>

[Chuupag]

DW is actually very slightly less EB (but earned at a more steady rate) than 2H. This is because 2H gets +40% attack speed which overcomes DWs apparent advantage (DW: 3 per 2.6 vs 2h: 3 per 3.6). After the +40% 2H is 3 charges per 2.57 sec.

Clarification: When I say "3 per 2.6" I don't mean it literally unless you have 100% crit, but both numbers scale the same with Crit so it's just a quick way to explain it.

The difference is so tiny as to be negligible. I did the math here, but I'll quote the important part for simplicity.

The formulas for EB for various speeds/styles of weapon are given below:

C=crit chance, X=haste in the form 1.XX, T=time frame in seconds, raid melee haste buff is assumed.

2.6 DW: 3C(T/(2.36/X))
3.3 2H: 2.75C(T/(2.14/X))
3.6 2H: 3C(T/2.34/X))

Let's throw some numbers in here. I'll use some average numbers at 12% haste, 25% crit, and 60 seconds. Your numbers may vary, but the relative differences won't affect these calculations.

2.6 DW: 21.33
3.3 2H: 21.60
3.6 2H: 21.53

The total difference is less than 1 charge every 3 minutes.

[Archdrood]

This strategy provides for the most entertaining wipes ever. :>

Most boring fight for me, a BrM, this tier. Run in circles, mashing 1 button for 7min. I understand fights require some kiting here and there, but at most for 15 sec or so to move an add. Also the only fight I CAN'T rank for, bc I do no dmg >.< That irks me! It's a missing boss under my top20 H ranked fights. Even now as we most likely outgear the basic mechanics of the fight, there's no way the RL is going to change strats and AOE burn bats down, bc what we have works.
I will say it's a tough fight to learn as a BrM, at first. Also if you are fresh to tanking or have little to no kiting experience, it will be grueling too.

[Crevan]

transcendance on dark animus (anima rings) got nerfed

v edit: from what i read, you get 1 stack of the debuff if you use it (same for heroic leap, life grip, etc.)

Life grip was never a good idea for mechanics like that anyway. As far as I remember, since the very beginning the target would interact normally with anything that it's gripped through.

[Brucemighty]

So this guide says that Agility>Critical strike. So doesn't that mean I should put agility gems to prismatic sockets? Or as tank, should I go for more crit=more brew for dodge rate?

[The Madgod]

So this guide says that Agility>Critical strike. So doesn't that mean I should put agility gems to prismatic sockets? Or as tank, should I go for more crit=more brew for dodge rate?

Read the gem section. It explains all you need to know.

[Purpleisbetter]

i'll reup my question, seems it went under the radar:

VP trinkets 530 or a normal bad-juju (522) ?
I'm over hitcap, if that matters (DW, anyway).

[SurrealNight]

Maybe i felt it was better for our raidsetup since we ran with 1 disci and 1 mistweaver. But i will try ist again net week with crit again. Or maybe our heal just sucks?

Well of course use what is better for your raid group and whatever gets you kills but if you have decent gear Mastery isn't a must have, especially with us all jumping up from 3k worth of item upgrades. I think healers really underestimate how hard Horridon hits during the last phase, especially when Dire Call goes out and they have to top off the rest of the raid.

Soon as our healers admitted they weren't paying enough attention to tanks during that phase both of us stopped dying (we had a few deaths at only 1 stack so I really feel it was healers issue). Dropped Ji-Kun after only a few attempts last night as well and honestly we can survive 2 stacks of Talon Rake without CD's. I know this cause I derp'd the timing on a few of my 2nd stacks and it never killed me =P I feel bad for our Bear that has to make sure and roll a solid CD for each stack and I can completely screw up and pull out 5+ stacks without having to ask for externals...

---------- Post added 2013-05-23 at 11:01 AM ----------

If you're playing as intended, your DPS won't be nerfed at all.

That blue post kind of made me laugh cause looking back I actually spend as much time trying to stand in "fire" than I do avoiding it.

---------- Post added 2013-05-23 at 11:02 AM ----------

i'll reup my question, seems it went under the radar:

VP trinkets 530 or a normal bad-juju (522) ?
I'm over hitcap, if that matters (DW, anyway).

Bad-Juju since only 500 vp will make it 530 anyways. The VP trinket is solid but it jacks up our hit caps so bad (at 9.50% myself) that I wish Juju would drop for us...

[Purpleisbetter]

Well of course use what is better for your raid group and whatever gets you kills but if you have decent gear Mastery isn't a must have, especially with us all jumping up from 3k worth of item upgrades. I think healers really underestimate how hard Horridon hits during the last phase, especially when Dire Call goes out and they have to top off the rest of the raid.

Soon as our healers admitted they weren't paying enough attention to tanks during that phase both of us stopped dying (we had a few deaths at only 1 stack so I really feel it was healers issue). Dropped Ji-Kun after only a few attempts last night as well and honestly we can survive 2 stacks of Talon Rake without CD's. I know this cause I derp'd the timing on a few of my 2nd stacks and it never killed me =P I feel bad for our Bear that has to make sure and roll a solid CD for each stack and I can completely screw up and pull out 5+ stacks without having to ask for externals...

---------- Post added 2013-05-23 at 11:01 AM ----------


That blue post kind of made me laugh cause looking back I actually spend as much time trying to stand in "fire" than I do avoiding it.

---------- Post added 2013-05-23 at 11:02 AM ----------


Bad-Juju since only 500 vp will make it 530 anyways. The VP trinket is solid but it jacks up our hit caps so bad (at 9.50% myself) that I wish Juju would drop for us...

I've burn out 3k valor worth on item upgrades, can't upgrade the Juju 'till wednesday, guess i'm gonna use it anyway, right?

[Ahsakura]

We got Lei Shen 10n to about 500k health before me and the Shaman died. I want to murder people. 3 hours of stupid wipes because my guild can't get it together for one pull...and then that...


*sigh*

Most boring fight for me, a BrM, this tier. Run in circles, mashing 1 button for 7min. I understand fights require some kiting here and there, but at most for 15 sec or so to move an add. Also the only fight I CAN'T rank for, bc I do no dmg >.< That irks me! It's a missing boss under my top20 H ranked fights. Even now as we most likely outgear the basic mechanics of the fight, there's no way the RL is going to change strats and AOE burn bats down, bc what we have works.

I will say it's a tough fight to learn as a BrM, at first. Also if you are fresh to tanking or have little to no kiting experience, it will be grueling too.

I came into raiding this tier on that fight and it sucked (10n) but we also AoE down the bats ASAP in our group. I'd imagine that once we start doing Heroic content that won't be an option though. That being said, I do agree that this fight is boring for us. Kiting of AoE'ing the adds, nothing about a turtle stuck in a wall is very exciting to me.

[SurrealNight]

I've burn out 3k valor worth on item upgrades, can't upgrade the Juju 'till wednesday, guess i'm gonna use it anyway, right?

The 530 VP is still better even if you are above the hit cap but you can swap it after you boost Bad Juju.

---------- Post added 2013-05-23 at 12:12 PM ----------

We got Lei Shen 10n to about 500k health before me and the Shaman died. I want to murder people. 3 hours of stupid wipes because my guild can't get it together for one pull...and then that...

We had a really strange epiphany on that fight. We started by clearing Static Shock first and kept wiping, then soon as we started killing Bouncing Bolt instead we one shot it soon as we switched. This is 25m N but my point is don't assume that the most common approach is the best for your raid group. We were doing what most groups seemed to do and was blind to the fact that we weren't clearing the mechanic that our group personally was derping on the worst.

[Ampere]

transcendance on dark animus (anima rings) got nerfed

v edit: from what i read, you get 1 stack of the debuff if you use it (same for heroic leap, life grip, etc.)

That would explain why I got a stack Tuesday night (on normal). Bummer... not sure why they would make that change this late into ToT. Guess we will have to get a ranged or melee to get the orbs.

[Rockets]

DW is actually very slightly less EB (but earned at a more steady rate) than 2H. This is because 2H gets +40% attack speed which overcomes DWs apparent advantage (DW: 3 per 2.6 vs 2h: 3 per 3.6). After the +40% 2H is 3 charges per 2.57 sec.

Clarification: When I say "3 per 2.6" I don't mean it literally unless you have 100% crit, but both numbers scale the same with Crit so it's just a quick way to explain it.

As I recall, that's only true if you have 0 haste. Once you add even a little bit of haste, DW pulls ahead. But yeah, the difference is still miniscule either way.

[Trendy-Ideology]

So here's where I'm at.


Our group is struggling to get any forward progression momentum going after our transition to 25m. We've got between 5-10 underperforming players, most of them DPS, most of them new people, about half of the 5-10 are egregiously underperforming. Previously we had 2 10m groups, with maybe 3ish underperforming total, spread between the 2 groups, and relatively easy to make up for, and none of them were egregiously underperforming and most were capable of "stepping it up" - They were also much easier to single out and deal with in a 10m setting.

We spent 2 hours on Horridon heroic tuesday, and 3+ hours on it last night. We've gotten to enrage with most of the raid alive, but we're getting like ZERO uptime on the boss.

I'll try to explain everything in an order that makes sense.


Our overall DPS is crap.
I'm trying to compensate with an increased focus on doing damage, my shuffle uptime is suffering as a result. Breath of fire does a LOT of damage to those adds, and can daze them, and frankly we just plain need the DPS more than we need my shuffle to be up more.
I'm taking a lot of damage. Bears are actually sorta dangerous since it's 25heroic.
I'm in 10m gearing ideology atm, fullon crit, zero mastery.
I could put on more mastery and stam, but I'd be losing damage. How much will stam and mastery really help? Is it worth losing damage?

I'm fairly certain that of all our problems I'm not the reason we can't kill it. But I'd still like to hear suggestions on what I could potentially be doing on this fight to make it work.

[Bryce]

Can anyone confirm if Stoneform still removes Impale stacks on H Iron Qon? I'd like to know before moving to a dwarf monk for that fight.