DK and Main tank

[spegmek]

hi all, i'm a 80 dk, and i'd like to start hero and then raids as tank;

my current stats are 535 defense, almost 23k hp, and 25k armor, with a 14% dodge and 18% parry without blade barrier.

i'm frost specced 10/51/10

i'm quite sure i still need to upgrade my gear for raids, but it's fine for heroics?

today i went for 1st time in nexus hero and we cleared it..... but to be honest it has been too much painfull (4 wipes on different bosses).

the shammy we had as healer is very well geared and skilled, he told me that compaired to all other tanks (druid-pally-warriors) i'm taking too much dmg.

should i boost parry and dodge to 17% each atleast before going back to hero? or it has been just a bad luck?

and heroic geared i'm able to do the main tank role well in naxxramas and other raids, or we just take too much dmg, so our role is just Off tank?

thanks for asnwering

[Holyblood]

Definitely before Raids 540 defense 40%+ mitigation, and 27k hp. For heroics it doesn't really matter, I started tanking with 21k HP and 490 defense just find good groups and remember to use Cool-downs, IBF/Lichborne/Unbreakable Armor should have at least one available every pull. Try a build like this, anything works really but 5/5/5 is the only requirement.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=jcEZGxxthcbohRVosx0g

[Comprise]

i would focus on hitting 540 defense, around 40% avoidance unbuffed (before blood runes) and around a 26-27K HP Pool before thinking about mt'ing naxx, your healers will thank you for it.

your HP atm isnt the best and should be boosted up as much as possible before hitting heroics again.

Maybe a link to your armory will enable us to help you more?

Invizion pretty much summed it up, though I'll think you'll be fine with about 35-7% total Avoidance for them Heroics.

As your def capped for Heroics, try to get another item with something like 25 defense rating more then your current, or just get to 540 your own way, while still not Killing your Avoidance and HP Pool.

I'd say you can do most HC's, maybe with the exception of those "Harder" ones.

If it helps, I did my first HC (VH) with 515 Defense, 22k HP and 34% avoidance. Go get 'em, I say.

[Gamehenge]

also make sure you're using your cd's in a smart rotation. If you burn your cd's all at once or wait to use them in "oh shit" moments you're going to be a big pain in the ass on your healers.

You should have ibf glyphed as any spec and as frost my rotation went:

IBF->UBA->LB Then you'll have a 7 second gap till ibf is back up. Then go IBF->10second gap->UBA, this will mean you have only 12 seconds more till ibf is back. I like to break up the time not spent with a cd going as if you used UBA right after IBF on this second rotation you would be left with 22 seconds of no cd's going till ibf is back. You do one more rotation like this and after that you can do the one you start with since LB will be back by the time it's spot in the rotation comes up.

Against bosses that have an enrage at the end of the fight i like to save LB for it. Most raid boss fights are over 3 minutes so you can use it in your first rotation, maybe even start off with lb instead of IBF if you're worried about the having it back up before the enrage.

Also don't get too disheartened, we're getting a nice passive mitigation boost when the next patch comes out, but even without it with smart cd usage you will be fine to tank.

Also as the above poster said link your armory, i'm assuming you took anticipation so i'm curious how your dodge is only at 14% it seems rather low.

[frankster]

Your defence, stamina and armour should be fine for at least the easier heroics.

[rrb]

Careful with your wording Invizion cause avoidance also includes the dodge/miss/crit chance reduction you get from Defense skill so his already at 40% before talents.

I'm suprised cause you very low dodge cause dodge is such an easy stat to obtain and majority of DK stats will have a higher dodge percentage then parry. Also, were you blowing your cooldowns more often? Cause we get some nasty spikes when our abilities are on cooldown. You need to chain IBF with Unbreakable Armour and whatever you can blow after that (Lichborne, save if Boss has enrage).

Your only problem now that I can see is your HP, it's pretty low. Are you using quest items or do you have full level 80 gear? Cause I don't know how you obtained 535 Defense unless all your sockets are filled with defense rating gems. Cause I was at 24k hp, 540 defense with 18% dodge/parry with heroic/rep tank gear.

[Guren]

Dw(with glyphs) : http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...h=151219010504
Playstyle : _a lot_ of cd chaining, dw tanks tend to take more dmg. Spamm Icy Touch all the time aswell as rune strike, this ofcourse requires u to avoid enough dmg to have rune strike up as much as possible.

Why skip frost strike? - Frost strikes dmg scales with weapon damage, so I've found it to be more worth just spamming rune strike and death coil for rp dump. though always have in mind u should always have rp for rune strike or/and IF.

just put in rune strike there in one of the major glyphs since you'll be using it a lot more than with the 2 hander.

2h(with glyphs) : http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...h=111219010504

Playstyle : 2h tanking isn't rly my area of expertise, but I would say pretty much same playstyle with frost strike as your rp dump instead of rune strike and death coil, since your attack speed won't be as high as when dw tanking.

Ofcourse you can move around some talents to get that extra 4% dmg with 2 h or/and annihilation, but as I said, I see the point with picking up a 2hander but I just loose too much def and avoidance to think it would be worth it at this point. Got the mats for upcoming bs weps though !

glyphs of IF here since you'll be using rune strike a lot less than while dw'ing and might run out of rp for it.

Gl and hf, hopefully I helped somehow.

[spegmek]

also make sure you're using your cd's in a smart rotation. If you burn your cd's all at once or wait to use them in "oh shit" moments you're going to be a big pain in the ass on your healers.

You should have ibf glyphed as any spec and as frost my rotation went:

IBF->UBA->LB Then you'll have a 7 second gap till ibf is back up.

first of all cheers guys for all your replies considering my gear and heroics.

about this quote ye, prolly i'm using our cd in a bad rotation, i'll try what u suggested thanks a lot

but with appropiate gear we can mt in naxx and raids?

[Ovenblast]

well .. my DK is doing gr8 tanking ..

stats are as follows :

26.4k HP .. 24.2k Armor .. 19.82% dodge .. 19.61% parry (w/o blade barrier) .. 540 Defense

so far .. i can tank all Hc's .. i OT'd VoA 25 man and The Obsidian Sanctum 25 man ..

MT'd VoA + The Obsidian Sanctum 10 man ..

key to tanking adds is having a D&D glyph .. it works really imba .. even if you ninja pull extra pack(s) .. the fear effect is a bliss and help ALOT imo ..

key to tanking boss(es) .. is to use tanking CD's in accordance .. trinket .. Icebound Fort. .. Unbreakable Armor .. Lichborne .. taking into consideration that Icebound Fort and Unbreakable should refresh if you use all other CD's wisely .. then the trinket refreshes after another rotation .. then lichborne and so on

i start with Icy Touch on bosses .. D&D .. Blood Strike .. Plague Strike .. and it all goes well

[milkshake619]

actually, while your still undergeared, i started raiding and tanking heroics with gear similar to yours.

you should be able to successfully offtank os10, vault 10, as well as tank heroics with 21k hp, 530 def, and about 16% dodge/parry unbuffed. you should find a good healer when you run like this, but provided you don't lose aggro, you should be fine.

you are however definitely undergeared for naxx, or 25man raids. having 540 def is a must, as well as at least 24k hp unbuffed.

as far as DW tanking.... be advised of the following. yes, this allows you to stack more def stats and HP at entry level. but, this SEVERELY dampens your threat generation from strikes and diseases since you now suffer from a hit penalty. which means you have to work harder and take more time to get your diseases out, to get your threat train going, and also to keep it going. and no, spamming D/D when it's up is not sufficient to keep aggro. and if you were to try to overcome that hit penatly by getting hit gear, you'd forfeit those tanking stats you gained. so personally, i'd forl over the gold and get yourself a titansteel 2h mace, enchant it with swordshatter, and call it a day and focus on your armor.

the following spec is what i use for tanking currently. (maintank for all 10 man raids and os/vault 25's, and ot for naxx25)
http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...h=091019030504

[Gamehenge]

first of all cheers guys for all your replies considering my gear and heroics.

about this quote ye, prolly i'm using our cd in a bad rotation, i'll try what u suggested thanks a lot

but with appropiate gear we can mt in naxx and raids?

Yah i've mted all of the nax 10 man fights ( i don't like 25 mans which is why i don't do them outside of pugging VoA). Mting raids you have to be more on your game though as not using your cd's smartly will get you killed quickly so you have to adapt your rotations for some fights, especially ones with enrage components like grand widow and maxxena. Post your armory though so we can take a look at your gear and give suggestions on what pieces you should grab upgrades on, cause you're dodge seems way too low if you have anticipation. I was sitting around 17% dodge or so once i had a mediocre set of tanking gear that let me start on heroics.

[Nikkaszal]

I've MT'd everything except Malygos.

And yes, when I first started tanking Heroics I was squishy as a beetle.

Just make sure ALL YOUR GEAR IS GEMMED AND CHANTED. You cannot be cheap then wonder why you're getting stomped, as a tank. Make effort.