Blood Tank Spec in 3.1

[rockstaa]

Ok so not sure if anyone has thought of a 3.1 Blood spec at all. Anyone think a spec like this could be viable? AoE threat would probably be lacking, but so wont frost in 3.1 But single target or even Duo Target wouldnt be a problem with HS being basically a good cleave. Well here is the spec, any ideas thoughts anything will help.

This probably would be for 10 man Ulduar at first, my DK tank isnt the best geared ill also link his armory. Im a sort of Blood tank spec atm to try and learn the spec just in case it would be ok. Ive been a frost tank up til today and pretty spoiled by Howling Blast to be perfectly honest. Want something new and exciting so. here it goes.

http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...0&version=9733

So a few key pointers i was thinking. Blade Barrier although nerfed is still needed. I did not pick up bloodworms and Runetap b/c to be honest i figure healers should be healing me ( might be helpful but not sure ). I honestly didnt know what else to do with it. i know im going to need lots of the DPS like talents for threat.

Well like i said any advice would help a ton.

[rockstaa]

forgot the armory sorry its late lol

http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...blight&n=Olion

[Hazaleema(bacon)]

I would make a few changes. Like take the 3 points from Sudden Doom and put it into improve icy touch. I know some says it’s not a mandatory skill because of warriors/protadins/other DKs but you never know and it’s a must at all times. Secondly I would move the point in Mark of Blood to Hysteria. It’s a HUGE tps buff and minor damage that will be easily healed. I hear on PTR blood boils as blood spec are holding threat just fine so there shouldn’t be a problem there.

http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...4&version=9733

[Fendel]

I disagree with both specs. With the Runic Power Mastery so easy to obtain for just two points I would mark it as a must -- especially with how the Death Strike glyph is working [even with the % cap]. With Blood Boil being in place of Pest [how it should of been first off] I do not see Blood suffering from AoE threat to the noticing eye; at least it's a bump from spamming Pestilence. I honestly do not think even for a second someone knows what they're doing if they're -not- putting three points into Sudden Doom; Not to mention the ability now casts freely without a GCD/extra click -- get real. Second of all -- With blood single target you do not need that Hysteria to obtain threat for a boss and if it is the only thing that keeps you from holding threat -- you are doing something *wrong*. So, with that said -- take Mark of Blood because it is a survival talent.

Here is what I'll be rolling and probably the -most- efficient Blood Tanking build.

http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...5&version=9733

Also -- Until the patch lands and I can really mess with everything, the "Glyph of Disease" could potentially out-weigh one of the other major glyphs but it's hard to say at the moment.

[Hazaleema(bacon)]

I don’t find sudden doom that impressive for a blood TANK but in my eyes hysteria is a must. I simply tried to build around his spec not your -most- efficient blood tanking build. I see the logic in yours but there is no reason to say "I have no idea what im talking about". I research on mmo-champ all the time but that’s beside the -point-. You clearly missed my point with hysteria, it is an opener obviously you have never used it. So far I have trigger happy DPS and Hysteria allows me to burst so much Beginning threat that my mages can do as they please. MoB is a foolish talent to me; the only time it’s been even used when I was running blood was against patchwerk. I don’t know of any super fast hitting bosses yet in Ulduar maybe I missed one? I don’t see the point in RP mastery either, you should be dumping your RP after a rotation and how you would ever get to 130 is mind blowing as you should have Rune Strike macro running on all your strikes. Blood is about effective health but you will of course still be dodging and parrying still ???. Also the added armor pen from Blood Gorged is a really good talent to have, in my eyes, Armor Pen is getting a buff in 3.1. So, I believe that talent to be worth it. I have not gone on the PTR and tanked Ulduar but when I started 10 man naxx we didn’t have a protadin and I could generate RP just fine without him so without BoSan you shouldn't be running dry. It comes down to taste if you ask me. I could see moving 3 points from spell deflection into SoB because of the -RNGishness- of spell deflection but SoB is also RNG...all comes down to taste if you ask me.
GL and I hope you find a spec you like for 3.1 rockstaa

If your against RNG like SoB and spell deflection Id suggest this, Sudden Doom is impressive I suppose in 3.1 but another RNG aspect but i picked it up for ya.

http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...0&version=9733

I dont dispute your build Fendel but I just see flaws like you see flaws in mine i suppose, that's what makes blood tanking great

[Fendel]

Sudden Doom is fantastic for blood tanking -- It's a no RP cost insta-crit awesome threat boom. Not to mention even in AoE packs you're getting double the fun out of it and more changes you'll see it proc and I do see it proc pretty damn often -- even sometimes when you get that full occasional six Heart Strikes in an AoE pack and it's hard to click DC enough to get the rotation going.

And actually, I have Hysteria in my build right now. I sometimes use it on myself, but if there's a Fury Warrior/Feral Druid you can bet your ass it goes on one them. I find casting Hysteria on myself way more 'situational' than Mark of Blood.

Examples how Mark of Blood may save your ass:

Maxenna (sp?) -- When enraged due to webbing
Fearallina (sp? -- Full of fail today with boss names I've seen dozen of times) -- Berserking for timed runs/Her AoE
Loatheb -- When healing is available
Kel'thuzad's guardians when the stacks are getting high
Patchwerk enrage
Gluth after decimate
Razuvious' Students -- 4% of their health helps a lot
Gothik when he's doing those very fast shadow bolts
Sarth 3D whether it be you're on Sarth or the Drakes

the list can go on...

And yeah, of course Rune Strike is literally macro'd to all of my main abilities. Depending on the fights, I may not just "dump" because how the D-Strike is working and when I do the math I'll see when I want to DC-Dump. And again, some bosses are casters where Rune Strike isn't going to be shining so going back to Sudden Doom, those constant DC crits are going to make up for the loss of our baby, Rune Strike.

Blood Gorged as a tank...yes and no. I view it as a 'crutch' so to say -- It's nice but no where need a tanking-must-have.

And dude you WANT Scent of Blood, that will fuel your RP bar and with a 15% chance on the parry, dodge, etc every 10 seconds you're very likely to see it up when it can be.

I agree, Blood tanking is awesome.

[Hazaleema(bacon)]

Sudden Doom is not 100% crit chance any more, but I don't doubt the free death coil is good for tanking. SoB I can only speculate about it; I know when 3.1 is live I wont be using it however if for some reason I am RP starved I will look to it as solution to the problem. I just wish they would pop this patch out and hopefully no more big changes to DK tanking, haha. ;D

[rockstaa]

Thanks for all of the insight on the build. I honestly thought i was going to get flamed and people basically telling me, Just go Frost idiot. LOL

I think blood boil will be good for aoe threat but im loving the fact that if im holding two mobs HS is such a beast at doing so. Im gonna keep messing with the spec but thanks for all the insight.

[Granpa]

I think some of you forget how effective blood boil is now that bloody strikes increases it's damage and combined with DRW. I tanked several instances and a couple Naxx runs using a blood tank spec on a PTR and never lost aggro in any of the runs. For multiple mobs my typical starter was as follows:

D&D > IT > PS > BB > BB > DS > DRW > BB > BB > BB .. I was using Pestilence before at first but then I found it unnecessary. I was doing so much damage to all the mobs that I never even came close to losing aggro. For boss fights, and single-target fights, I used the standard HS rotation, always starting with D&D though, ALWAYS. This is the spec I use, it's a heavy survivability spec:


http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...5&version=9733

[Imadkguy]

Blood is not that great of a tank spec, a lot of people think that because there is a health regen in the tree its a tank spec. NOT AT ALL. The two primary tank specs are frost and unholy. Frost because many points in the talent tree can go to increasing your armor and other things that would help you a lot when tanking, Unbreakable Armor is fantastic for tanking imo. Secondly, unholy is good because of Bone Shield and many other things.

[Dukamok]

Fendel: While I agree with almost all of your points, note that the instant, no-button DC's now with Sudden Doom aren't auto-crits anymore, a change that's been around since they redid it, probably to make up for not having to cast it now.

I agree with Mark over Hysteria, however in most of my tanking builds I find myself picking up both anyway. Also, I usually don't use Hysteria on myself either, yeah the damage might be trivial, but it's still extra damage, and that DPS buff could much better go to someone who could take full advantage of it like a warrior.

Imadk: People who are against blood for tanking always will be, but it's not nearly as gimp compared to the others as everyone is raving. Just go ahead and try it before hopping on a bandwagon and tearing it apart with little to no real evidence behind your claims. "Many points in the talent tree can go into things like improving your armor"... LOL, there is one of those, Toughness, and it's in Tier 1 for god's sake, EVERY DK tank takes it, it's not a REASON to go frost lmao.


http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...0&version=9733
I usually use something like this, though a handful of the points are completely personal preference. I always spec Morbidity for the speeding up of trash, and those "oh shit" moments on fights with adds where it's amazing to have another quick one to throw down so soon after the next. The difference between 15 and 30 seconds will surprise you. Also, the 4 in Rune Tap and Imp Rune Tap are 95% unrelated to tanking and simply preference for soloing (or with a group with no heals) old content. However, much like Mark of Blood, I find that used in conjunction with VB it can really help and/or save your ass on some intensive fights, self healing for over 10k instantly when popped together. Those 4 points (and the 3 in Morb if you don't like it) could be put to better use in Scent of Blood or Blood-gorged if you want the damage buff, or even Butchery if you prefer that.