Blood struggling with time walking dungeons..

[Deleted]

I have no real trouble tanking it on my lv. 99 DK as long as I take one pull at a time. Double pull can be a wipe if both CDs aren't up. Double bogstrok packs or double eredar mean you die no matter what, hope the rest of the party can finish them off and rez you, the damage is quite insane there, but it's just TW being TW.

Make sure the disease is always up, it gives you lifesteal. Pop vamp blood every time you start dropping, the CD is short. Use all your double runes on marrowrend, those charges pop fast in TW.

And most important tip for a struggling/leveling/undergeared tank: remember you basically have a pally stun now. Stunning one of the damaging mobs for a few seconds can make all the difference, I pretty much use it on CD on any pull bigger than 3.

[Philondra]

I've searched around for answers but I can't seem to figure it out. I'm getting absolutely wrecked by trash in time walking dungeons unless I have bone shield charges up. Problem is, I start some trash pulls with zero and the mobs are taking away the charges faster than I can stack them up. I've honestly been inadvertently checking to make sure I'm in Blood presence even though that doesn't exist anymore because I feel super squishy.

I would love some input if anyone has struggled in the same way and figured it out. I'm at a loss at the moment and I'm afraid this is something that won't get fixed until 110 or the artifact weapon. I'll be really disappointed if I can't tank time walking dungeons for a month until legion

As an example, one group of bog creatures (crab looking things) right before the final boss in the slave pens required EVERY SINGLE ONE of my cool downs to get through. Help?

Timewalking dungeons are definitely harder than Mythics at the moment, so there's nothing to be ashamed about if you're struggling more than you did pre-patch. I have no gems and no enchants on my character, yet I'm able to get along just fine, so it's certainly doable. So instead of offering you gearing advice, I'd instead like to give some playstyle thoughts. Maybe you're already doing some of this stuff and maybe not--just consider it food for thought.

1. Start off each dungeon with the following: Death and Decay at the very edge of the pack to grab aggro, make them run through the slow field (with Tremble Before Me), and pop Dancing Rune Weapon as you run towards them. Marrowrends with Dancing Rune Weapon active will grant you 6 charges instead of 3, so spending 4 runes on 2 Marrowrends will bring you to 10 charges right off the bat. You'll have one rune left for a Heart Strike, giving you enough Runic Power for about 1.5 Death Strikes. You'll have started the dungeon off on the right foot.

2. When you go from one pack to another, do your best to ensure that Bone Shield charges don't fall off. This can get a little tricky after bosses, but I generally find that if I save 2 runes for a Marrowrend right as the pack is about to die, I can keep up Bone Shield charges from start to finish--with the exception of Black Morass, where nothing hits hard enough to be worried about anyway, and certain areas of Arcatraz, where for the most part the huge gaps between pulls are filled by those corpses that explode into non-threatening worms that you can replenish charges on. This goes hand in hand with number 1 above: you've started the dungeon off with capped Bone Shield charges, so the only Marrowrends you will need to use will be for maintaining charges rather than building yourself up from zero. This might seem very small, but it is critical in helping you not fall behind in a five man.

3. Be careful about dropping Death and Decay in the middle of a pull. You ALWAYS want to be able to have it available for the start of a new pack. There are two reasons for this: a. You want to be able to generate Runic Power quickly, and Death and Decay facilitates that, and b. If you're not confident about a pull, you can kite them around a little bit if it looks like you're about to struggle. There's nothing wrong with admitting that you need to kite--your job is to hold aggro and survive, and kiting is one tool you have in your kit.

4. Don't burn all your Runic Power at the end of a pull. The most dangerous time in a five man--be it timewalking, mythic, or otherwise--is the beginning of the pull, when all the mobs are present. If you have some Runic Power saved up from the previous pull, you have a head start on keeping yourself alive in the next one.

5. In timewalking dungeons, the hard part is the trash, not the bosses. Therefore, your personal cooldowns should be used on trash, not on bosses. With Red Thirst, Vampiric Blood will be up every 2-4 pulls, depending on the speed of your group. Dancing Rune Weapon will be available less often, but it's even stronger than Vampiric Blood on pulls with high numbers of mobs. Most dungeons have pulls where you can use Anti-Magic Shell. Note that even the hardest of trash will not 100-0 you in one global; you will generally be hit for ~30% of your life every couple seconds until some of the mobs have fallen. As such, don't use your cooldowns *on the pull*--wait until you have taken the first batch of hits and are sitting at around ~70% so that you can get the most use out of them.

6. Ask for interrupts on casters, and also interrupt casters yourself. You are the only tank that can interrupt from 15 yards away, so use that to your advantage if there's a caster that's not cooperating with pulls and Death Grip is on cooldown.

7. This is more general tanking advice than anything specific to Blood, but in timewalking dungeons it's crucial that you know the dungeon well. Which mobs can fear unsuspecting DPS into another pack? Where is the hunter's Barrage 100% going to pull the next pack, and how can I position this current pull to prevent it? How can I use line of sight to gather the mobs up properly? In WoD heroics, these things basically don't matter, but in timewalking, you have to think about them.

[Saverem]

Pulling 3+ packs in Shattered Halls all day. SHIELDS UP!

Same with my Warrior. GUARANTEE that ability will be toned down though. Right now it's like giving yourself a 2X stronger PW:S every 15 seconds or so.

[qqemokitty]

I tried tanking as blood for the first time ever... literally EVER... as a TW dungeon. I did pretty well and didn't have any trouble with spiking damage intake. The problem I did experience was constant stuns and disorients and I have no idea how to deal with that. It was mana tombs and I seriously spent every single trash pulled stunned and disoriented for 50% of the pull, so people were face tanking quite a bit. =( I actually had fun though which is weird, and my experience is encouraging me to try tanking again with a little more research and UI setup.

[redfella]

The problem I did experience was constant stuns and disorients and I have no idea how to deal with that.

Nobody does. Luckily the constant CC spam is a theme of Burning Crusade and later dungeons have less or even no hard cc.

[meian]

I tried tanking as blood for the first time ever... literally EVER... as a TW dungeon. I did pretty well and didn't have any trouble with spiking damage intake. The problem I did experience was constant stuns and disorients and I have no idea how to deal with that. It was mana tombs and I seriously spent every single trash pulled stunned and disoriented for 50% of the pull, so people were face tanking quite a bit. =( I actually had fun though which is weird, and my experience is encouraging me to try tanking again with a little more research and UI setup.

The main thing is just keep Bone Shield stacks up. You get destroyed without them. Should always have more than 5. That said, your healer has to actually heal you a little bit now. Not much, but a little. The last TW I did I was over 60% of the damage and healing for whatever that's worth. >.>

[bloodmoth13]

Pulling 3+ packs in Shattered Halls all day. SHIELDS UP!

yeah i was shocked how much it absorbs, so many points i was pulling way too much with stupid dps and shit, hp goes from 100-30% in 1 sec, hit ignore pain, feel nothing for the next minute lol

[Flaks]

yeah i was shocked how much it absorbs, so many points i was pulling way too much with stupid dps and shit, hp goes from 100-30% in 1 sec, hit ignore pain, feel nothing for the next minute lol

I don't know what kind of stats you guys have because my ilvl 696 warrior needs to pop major CDs with a 60 rage ignore pain to survive accidentally pulling an extra pack.

Blood definitely feels squished than warriors right now in TW though that might be cause my dk is level 88. I enjoy both regardless and have finished TW dungeons just fine.

[Tojara]

Lots of damage, can't always pull entire rooms anymore like I use to, but it's still not bad.

Unfortunately unless you have a decent amount of CC or really high AoE damage in your group, you do need healers to actually heal you, which is something I'm completely not use too. I died on the last boss in the Nexus several times because our paint chip eating holy priest didn't know what dispel was and had 10+ stacks the entire time.

It's not bad if you have boneshield stacks going into pulls, or some left over runic power. But it can be brutal entering a pack fresh without any of those things up as you will spike quite hard. Once you get going it's okay though. I miss death strike being on runes instead of RP for that very reason.

[Philondra]

Unfortunately unless you have a decent amount of CC or really high AoE damage in your group, you do need healers to actually heal you, which is something I'm completely not use too. I died on the last boss in the Nexus several times because our paint chip eating holy priest didn't know what dispel was and had 10+ stacks the entire time.

Unfortunately, I have to tell you that if you died on the last boss of Nexus because of debuff stacks, that's your fault, not the healer's--movement clears the stacks.

Edit: Unless I misread you and it was the priest with the stacks.

[Cerus]

I haven't noticed any difference in TW dungeons on my guardian Druid but I also use a TW set that stacks sockets and any legendary I can use. Even with the old set bonuses no longer active it's not hard. They aren't and have never been faceroll.

And folks really need to stop mentioning their ilvl. It is irrelevant how high your ilvl is.

One good tip is to use the void tendrils. The DPS they put out is killer.

[Tojara]

Unfortunately, I have to tell you that if you died on the last boss of Nexus because of debuff stacks, that's your fault, not the healer's--movement clears the stacks.

Edit: Unless I misread you and it was the priest with the stacks.

The priest had 9-10 stacks the entire time.

[Evilways]

Its mainly because blood, out of all of the classes after the rework, depends on the artifact weapon. A 45 second Death Pact and other abilities that make Heart strike and others heal you. The whole thing is needed to round out the class. Look at the other tanks and their artifacts. I don't think you'll find one that is intrinsically so gimped after the rework than the blood death knight. There is light at the end of the tunnel though, come legion, you will feel whole again.

[Deleted]

Eu armory bugged it seems, so cant link my dk. As it is a alt I. Don't remember the names of my talents..
If it work later then it is mennal@shadowsong (EU)

I got almost no trouble with time walking as blood. Yes there are a few spikes, but it is (was for me at least) possible to react to them, and stay alive. Like using your ranged apply disease on pulls so you got the small tics of 2mobs when they get to you. Also don't waste your runic power in the end of a pack, save it for the next one. Try to have as little downtime between packs so your bones don't disappear as well. Not only does they give you mitigation, but also haste rating = faster rune regen, which means more RP and thereby more self healing.

[Sellest]

except Arcatraz I had no troubles with tanking as blood and I believe Arcatraz was more healer's issue than mine so /shrug

[Surfd]

Blitzed out my 5 cata timewalking late monday night, didnt have any problems at all as a blood tank. Specced Heartbreaker, Rapid Decomp, Ossuary, Red Thirst, Tightening Grasp, Foul Bulwark, and Purgatory (though i should prob have gone Bonestorm).

Gear is pretty much 80% Tanaan stuff upgraded to 695, most pieces statted for haste + mastery, with 2 piece Hellfire LFR set, and maybe one or two pieces here and there over 700 from lucky Garrison Chests. I also rock MoP legendary tank cloak and Shadowmourne in timewalking dungeons.

Other then noticing a decent lack of "godmode" self heals / absorb shields compared to before the patch, I didnt find myself terribly squishy. Usually just drop DnD under stuff (slow from RDecomp is amazing), BB once most of the trash is in range, slam 2 marrowstrikes into the first target that you can hit, stand inside DnD for extra RP, and then just BB whenever you can, prioritize marrow strike over HS while below 5 stacks, and you should be golden.

Dont be afraid to use Vamp Blood either. You get it back pretty quick due to Red Thirst.

- - - Updated - - -

Yeah, the TW dungeons I joined with warrior or druid tanks had them at pretty solid health all the time. Blood DK, as OP mentioned had heath bars go like a ping pong game. I thought it was just more experienced players vs players trying a new role.

Well, DKs health is supposed to pingpong a bit, as unlike other tanks, pretty much our only "active" mitigation is Death Strike for self heals / Absorb bubble. Most other tanks should only be popping their self heals if they don't need to spend the resources on something more important. For dks, we dont HAVE anything more important, we only have DS, so our health will dip low, then pop back up when we get a DS or two in.

Only issue is that currently our Heals / Bubble is very weak compared to pre patch, so the dips are more pronounced and the bounce back is less effective.

- - - Updated - - -

I tried tanking as blood for the first time ever... literally EVER... as a TW dungeon. I did pretty well and didn't have any trouble with spiking damage intake. The problem I did experience was constant stuns and disorients and I have no idea how to deal with that. It was mana tombs and I seriously spent every single trash pulled stunned and disoriented for 50% of the pull, so people were face tanking quite a bit. =( I actually had fun though which is weird, and my experience is encouraging me to try tanking again with a little more research and UI setup.

Meh, mana tombs isnt really your fault. The mobs there are REALLY annoying for tanks, and have been that way since it was released in TBC. Back then, knowing which ones to focus down first was a major point of interest when running the dungeon, and yea, the stuns / disorients were always a bitch. You arent really expected to deal with it much, as no tank has enough stun break cooldowns to make it through those packs unaffected.

[Deleted]

Its mainly because blood, out of all of the classes after the rework, depends on the artifact weapon. A 45 second Death Pact and other abilities that make Heart strike and others heal you. The whole thing is needed to round out the class. Look at the other tanks and their artifacts. I don't think you'll find one that is intrinsically so gimped after the rework than the blood death knight. There is light at the end of the tunnel though, come legion, you will feel whole again.

And most importantly! Increased bone shield generation from the traits! Moar heartstrike spam moar dups.

[Felfaadaern Darkterror]

I'm spec'd into Bonestorm and find it helps with trash packs. Heals and damages at the same time. I did use more CDs than I'd need for WoD heroics or even mythics, but we can outgear those. Can't outgear TW unless you take time to twink with gems and such.

[Cerus]

Yeah, the TW dungeons I joined with warrior or druid tanks had them at pretty solid health all the time. Blood DK, as OP mentioned had heath bars go like a ping pong game. I thought it was just more experienced players vs players trying a new role.

Don't get me wrong. My HP ping ponged quite a bit but I also just mass pulled groups and used CDs effectively.

Side note: Was the first time I switched to guardian post patch. We're already back to pushing 1M freaking tank HP again....

[bloodmoth13]

I don't know what kind of stats you guys have because my ilvl 696 warrior needs to pop major CDs with a 60 rage ignore pain to survive accidentally pulling an extra pack.

Blood definitely feels squished than warriors right now in TW though that might be cause my dk is level 88. I enjoy both regardless and have finished TW dungeons just fine.

im 91 geared like crap doing timewalking dungeons, not sure how difficult it would be otherwise but ignore pain has saved my ass more times than i can count, the difference between using it often or not is incredibly significant, though i do use shield wall when pulling more than 1 pack, but watching my entire HP bar glow white is ridiculous.

http://www.wowdb.com/talent-calculator#5aH

this is the build i have been using if that matters at all, i suspect that never surrender is what makes me invincible.

Not sure what its like at max level, but for timewalking dungeons where its godlike, especially considering trash nearly kills me in a few seconds without it