Guide: Death Knight Tanking 101

[piken]

http://eu.wowarmory.com/character-ta...n=Final+Breath

May seem a little different to anything posted, but I'l give a break-down on certain points and why:

2/3 Scent of Blood - At a certain stage when tanking in Ulduar, I noticed that I was forced to chose between a recently proc'd RS or DC, and that my RP was always floating at ~40. Ofc RS>DC, but I thought at a cost of 2 points, I could float at ~60 RP, and afford both. As such, I've never looked back on the decision.

3/3 Improved Rune Tap - The talent is so worth the points. Considering how much ToGC Gormokk Impale's tick for, and I as it ticks after he dies before the Jormugar come, I pop it to ensure that I'm topped off before p2.

1/1 Hysteria - Usually I use it on a Feral DPS when it comes to a burn or when Hero is popped. Jaraxxus Portals; Twin Valkyr Shield; XT Heart; etc.

3/3 Sudden Doom - A lush 3 point talent considering that your pretty much building up your rotation to spam HS. Nice added TPS.

I've ran with this spec since 1 month after Uld. Patch. Has never let me down. Raid buffed I'm pulled close 9.8k TPS consisent, with 14k bursts. HP stands at 53.8k raid buffed, with 41 Exp, ~6% hit, and 57% avoidance. I may not be entirely pro as others believe themselves to be, but I'm a capable tank. Never had complaints so ^^.

Not too bad, try swapping out 3/3 sudden doom for 3/3 subversion. The 9% crit on DS and HS will give you even more single target threat (an slight multi due to hs) then sudden death does. As for 3/3 morbidity and 1/2 epidemic, try out 2/2 epidemic and 2/3 morbidity, you wont ever see an aoe threat decrease because 5 sec on the cd is not much, and the extra time on the disease will allow you to loosen your rotation up some.

[Alkore]

Not too bad, try swapping out 3/3 sudden doom for 3/3 subversion. The 9% crit on DS and HS will give you even more single target threat (an slight multi due to hs) then sudden death does. As for 3/3 morbidity and 1/2 epidemic, try out 2/2 epidemic and 2/3 morbidity, you wont ever see an aoe threat decrease because 5 sec on the cd is not much, and the extra time on the disease will allow you to loosen your rotation up some.

I'll try out the subversion I'd say. However, I dont ever find myself under pressure regarding time on my Disease CDs. And in AoE situations, I like having DnD available in serious "Oh S**t!" situations. Obviously, it's not the most life saving of abilities, but that plus BB, then BT + BB, and adds are back on me. Plus the 5% extra DC damage is quite a lot considering. But don't think that I'm not taking your advice on board. I'll try out Subversion for sure.

[Arachnan]

Regarding the idea that Necrosis is bad, you are discounting that your top threat generation as a Blood Tank comes from Rune Strike and Auto Attack. Necrosis gives a bonus to both of them. It is a massive increase in threat.

Correct me if I'm wrong (never specced for it) but doesn't Necrosis only proc from auto-attacks and not Rune Strikes? If so, it's kinda obsolete isn't it. Seeing you SHOULD be using Rune Strike all the time when it's up, which with decent avoidance, is alot. I spose it depends on how Blizzard sees a Rune Strike. It is on the same auto-attack swing timer, so it might be counted towards Necrosis.. or it might not, seeing it states Auto Attack and not weapon swing. I'm sure some poster below me has used it and can clarify

Anyhows, nice guide, and I'm sure it will help out newly started DK tanks.
Good job writing it, even if the more end-game tanks spec differently. *pats*

[Shippo1]

personally, ive never seen a good dk tank. some are sufficient for heroics, but never good. id say delete your dk "tank" and reroll a warrior, the only true tank!

[eint]

Correct me if I'm wrong (never specced for it) but doesn't Necrosis only proc from auto-attacks and not Rune Strikes? If so, it's kinda obsolete isn't it. Seeing you SHOULD be using Rune Strike all the time when it's up, which with decent avoidance, is alot. I spose it depends on how Blizzard sees a Rune Strike. It is on the same auto-attack swing timer, so it might be counted towards Necrosis.. or it might not, seeing it states Auto Attack and not weapon swing. I'm sure some poster below me has used it and can clarify

Anyhows, nice guide, and I'm sure it will help out newly started DK tanks.
Good job writing it, even if the more end-game tanks spec differently. *pats*

It has been shown via combat parses that Necrosis does improve Rune Strike damage.

[Managarm_4]

im actually curious of something....lets say for example....in the 10 man raid u r at, your other offtank isnt a warr for thunderclap, wouldnt u prefer grabbing Improved Icy Touch?

edit-for the blood tank spec u posted

[Alkore]

It has been shown via combat parses that Necrosis does improve Rune Strike damage.

I'd like to see a Parse proving this.

[Crona]

Nuff said

oh yeah..A real Blood Tank specc:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#jcEGV...xhxZ0gh:idGMmV

i feel sorry for the people you play with, i truly do the meaning of blood tank is not just randomly assign the talent points in the talent tree.

[Yuron]

If only dakhdoun where still around..

Anyway, thanks for the guide I guess, I dont need one EJ will suffice but I guess some people will find it helpfull

[xeroxide]

I see you personally like Rune Tap. So besides the fact that you don't like my talent specs even though I clearly stated that they are my personal preference. I fail to see what sort of beef you have with anything else.

Really intrigued by the Rune Tap since thats 4 points for an ability that is only providing benefit on use, while many other abilities provide constant passive improvements. Please do tell.

firstly i'd like to say good work on the guide, its nice and beefy with info.
while i can't totally agree with your blood spec talents either i can see the benefits of both, to each his own.

i picked up rune tap in a similar situation to piken, but back in ulduar... due to lack of healer hit, fusion punch dispells were sometimes missed, so to soften it, i juggled between AMS and runetap to soften the blows of many of them. imo, saved many a wipe. I guess i just love having it around now and don't miss anything i gave up for it.

one question about your guide tho eint, you didn't mention glyph of disease. i personally think it's a must for blood tank. having pestilence refresh disease (1 blood or death rune) instead of reappying seems way too awsome for me to miss.

[tialol]

i feel sorry for the people you play with, i truly do the meaning of blood tank is not just randomly assign the talent points in the talent tree.

Good arguing on your bullshit, gz

[danoob]

I start every pull by dropping DnD and DG the caster to me. This is important because

a. It tells the dps who to attack (the one I DG)
b. It lays down AoE threat to keep the rest off the healer.

By the time the first one is dead I have spread my diseases and can start moving on to the next pack. When DnD or DG are on cooldown I usually start with IT>PS>Pest which should give enough threat to keep them off the healer, which is really all your job is as a tank. Pulling faster and holding less aggro is better than pulling slower and holding more aggro IMO.

[Crona]

Good arguing on your bullshit, gz

oooh boy, yeah you're right suggesting people not to take death rune mastery is really wise advice, no really!
seriously go do your homework if you want to sound smart. And when someone says something about it don't call it bullshit but look it up rather. I am not sure what failknight you copied this of but dude.. seriously.

oh and regarding the tanking guide, it's all been done for you; http://www.ensidia.com/home/guides/t...-death-knight/

[Desirie]

I got Dualspec a couple of days ago on my DK. Of course I specced frost since I'm still leveling, with the AOE threat in instances. I haven't died yet but I've loss aggro a couple of times to Righteous Fury and taunt on some hunters pet.

When I first enter the pack I use IT then Pestilence, then I use Howling Blast followed by BB. That usually keeps all of the mobs on me, but if some paladin uses Righteous fury (by accident) or some hunters pet taunt I lose aggro on one mob and panics, what can I do?

My spec: http://eu.wowarmory.com/talent-calc....00000000000000

[tialol]

oooh boy, yeah you're right suggesting people not to take death rune mastery is really wise advice, no really!
seriously go do your homework if you want to sound smart. And when someone says something about it don't call it bullshit but look it up rather. I am not sure what failknight you copied this of but dude.. seriously.

oh and regarding the tanking guide, it's all been done for you; http://www.ensidia.com/home/guides/t...-death-knight/

bcaue DRM isn't worth 3 points bcause DS > 2 HS;

1. Heal of DS
2. Aggro shouldnt be a Problem at all

so? What talks for DRM? Nothing. And don't Link your fail ensidia shit. Go Read EJ if you have avsolutely NO idea! Thanks Bye

[Psynergy]

New to forums and would first say good starter guide but there are several things you could have redone, also specs aren't too bad but could have been a lot better.

I blood tank and have been for quite sometime and love it, was actually considering trying out 3/3 subversion over 3/3 doom.
My experiences are limited to 10m ToGC and sadly only first boss of 25m ToGC, that is only because my guild rather have me dps even tho I am MS tank. -_-

http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...san&n=Kkangpae
(Hopefully armory updates to tanking gear)

All n all a good guide, but definitely might wanna do some more research on specs.

[Presented]

Hi, I think you're missing one thing about DK tanking if you choose to do it as frost (Due to less squishiness for starting off)
You can actually single button tank as frost on a dk. It requires two macros (One for single target, one for AoE)
Single target:
/castsequence [mod] Death and Decay; reset=combat Icy Touch, Plague Strike, Blood Strike, Blood Strike, Obliterate, Obliterate
/cast [nomod] Rune Strike

AoE:
/castsequence [mod] Death and Decay; reset=combat Howling Blast, Blood Boil, Plague Strike, Pestilence
/cast [nomod] Rune Strike

Both of these macros work extremely well, just specify to the group that you will need a couple of seconds to build some aggro.
Hit shift/alt/ctrl (binding dependant) as well as the button for the macro to use DnD, other then that, its just spamming one button, using frost strike to dump RP.

Hope this makes some DK's jobs to start tanking easier.