Is this the Best Blood Tanking SPEC!!! 3.3.3

[Domiku]

This is my current build:
http://eu.wowarmory.com/talent-calc....00000000000000

Just wondering does anyone have anything i can improve on i notice alot of builds have runetap it seams nice but alot of points to spend.

with the spec i am using atm i find my aoe threat is very high and i have zero issues my single target threat is solid and alot of friends who are healers say its nice to heal me with spec.

only reason im asking if i can improve is because alot of people been asking why i dont choose to talent for runetap. and i cant really give a good answer to it.

the spec i should say wasn't one i made myself i was given it from a friend and used since i hit 80 i have raided 7/12 with it so far but the DK is an alt but still isn't bad geared. having runetap would be really nice i can see the benefits of using it as a cooldown but is there a way of getting it without loosing threat, aoe threat and without gimping my solidness.

please dont refer me to ensidias guide dont want a guide wrote by one guy just want answers from loads of people to see what they can tell me from experience's

here is the other spec with runtap:
http://www.wowhead.com/talent#jcEMqI...xhxZ0gh:iGpVmM

[nitecore]

Not huge on tanking myself but i don't understand
*why you are speccing rune tap? it's not bad for soloing things i guess but i dont see any real use for it otherwise
*Scent of blood is also a talent you should look at rp gen = good more rp = more runestrikes /dc's
*glyph of runestrike replace disease. Icy touch does burst threat so the more you use it i'd assume the better your threat will be
*Hysteria is a good tanking talent for burst threat (i know you said your threat is fine)

Any dk that actully tanks in blood feel free to step in and correct me

http://www.wowarmory.com/talent-calc...00000000000000

That is the spec i have for tanking It's mostly for soloing old content but it does fine in raids too i wouldn't use it unless like me you are only tanking from time to time.

[Drakedog]

Rune Tap: is a fine talent to take, its a health pot on a stick with a 30 sec CD

Scent of Blood: is marginal because DC is not a huge amount of your damage in blood

Subversion: kind of a pointless talent for a tank, 9% to crit is ok, but most people really only take it for the treat reduction

Hysteria: is a must, but it is also a mush never use on yourself it does zero good on a tank

Morbidity: is a pretty bad talent, if you really only do heroics, its ok to take, but its almost only good for the CD reduction on D&D,

Sudden Doom: is a good talent to take, because it is free extra damage( even more so if you want to keep the points in morbidity)

Dancing Rune Weapon: take it, take it, take it, it is a very high damage CD and now that threat is transfered, there is no reason in the world not to have this in every blood spec.

Mark of Blood: I really like this talent, most people dont, but i think it is very under appreciated, when I was blood, it fed me back almost 2500 life per hit, thats about what shield wearers block for, the CD is a little long, but if you are doing hard content, survivability matters, and with the IT changes, threat does not

These are just my opinions

[Domiku]

what i meant was my first link was spec i use at current.

the second spec with "runetap" is the spec i am thinking of using because as drakedog rightly raid Dancing runic weapon is nice to have and runetap is an extra oh crap button but you need to blow 4 talent points to have much use from it correct?

so overall:
http://www.wowhead.com/talent#jcEMqI...xhxZ0gh:iGpVmM
That spec is the winner correct?
if not could someone post an overall awesome spec i progress 12/12 in icc 10/25man atm and 10/25 heroic very soon. my DK is an alt but i am often called upon for alt runs. we also do 12/12 progress in alt runs so i need a very solid raiding spec as im normally the MT.

i have searched many many many places for a rock solid blood tanking spec. I want something with 3/3 in DND as I feel this is a must have for aoe threat. every time i come across something saying "this is it this is the best of the best follow my guide and look at my epeen" i always find another 1000specs below it stating the same.

i know a tanks just is only to stay 1tps above the highest dps and keep healers and dps and the other tank alive and take a beating. but it really want a very solid TPS spec, something that's not gonna kill the healers who are healing me. i use my cool downs to best of ability's and i do see a good reason to have runetap so would like spec to have this if people think its worth it.

anyway could someone point me in the right direction / post url or talent tree spec

many tanks.

[Coldkil]

im using this spec
http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...QO8fq51,,11723

it should be ok, it has all what i need for tanking.

[Drakedog]

Well Im one of those dirty frost tanks now ;D and LOVING IT(at least while i still can,/cry)
but this is what i speced into right after the IT changes
http://www.wowhead.com/talent#j0EMqI0IsbofssthxZ0g
if you really want the 3/3 in morbidity, i would take the 2/2 or of epidemic and not sure about the third, maybe 1/5 out of bladed armor, or most likely 1/3 out of imp rune tap

*edit for spelling, and fixed spec*

[Gracin]

I don't prescribe to all the self heals like Bloodworms and Runetap. You shouldn't have to worry about your health other than rotating IBF and VB. And as far as needing the heals while soloing content, all I have to say is rofl. I mean a single talented Death Strike heals for something like 7.5%? Not to mention the damage it does while glyphed.

Down from my soapbox, pretty sure this is the spec I rock. Can't tell you for sure because the entire WoW site is being a pain in my ass.
http://www.wowhead.com/talent#jMEGVh...thxZ0gh:iGdVmM

[Vangor]

im using this spec
http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...QO8fq51,,11723

Shouldn't need 3/3 SoB, especially with Blood tanking. You'll never use all the charges, and if you could you shouldn't become RP starved due to not prioritizing DC. Plus, DRW is actually quite nice to use if you generate/maintain RP before a boss pull. I do this frequently by throwing DnD and HoW (VB if building up RP) with full Morb.

here is the other spec with runtap:
http://www.wowhead.com/talent#jcEMqI...xhxZ0gh:iGpVmM

Never been terribly convinced of the effectiveness of RT as a CD. This is four points which could be used for one in SoB, a couple in Sudden Doom, and shifting a couple from Subversion. Subversion should only be useful between groups of trash in order to get a more recent or earlier HS crit to maintain BV stacks longer, otherwise you're only 3% crit per point to one ability (albeit used 6 times a rotation).

but this is what i speced into right after the IT changes
http://www.wowhead.com/talent#j0ERqf0IsbofssthxZ0g
if you really want the 3/3 in morbidity, i would take the 1/3 out of scent of blood, and the 2/2 or of epidemic

I would never remove points from Epi. The additional tick along with guaranteed final HS bonus damage per 20sec rotation is quite nice. Plus, while SoB is not absolutely necessary, 1/3 is often more important than any points in Morb to help with RP gains for RS, AMS, and IBF. The real problem, though, is no full DRM.

[Drakedog]

The real problem, though, is no full DRM.

that was a mistake punching it it, I always use 3/3 DRM, was probably the 1/3 in Scent of Blood there, Im not a huge fan of it in blood specs, i almost always feel like a DC is a wasted gcd since they hit like wet noodles

[Desirie]

My current tanking spec

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


Major Glyphs: Death Strike, Vampiric Blood and Rune Strike.
Minor Glyphs: Horn of Winter, Raise dead, Pestilence


My character

http://eu.wowarmory.com/character-sh...nor&cn=Sasunoo


(I have three points in Sudden Doom instead of Imp Icy Touch, which will be changed later today.)

[Astray]

Scent of Blood with a 2-Hand-weapon
3 Points = quite sure the effect is wasted over just having 2 points
1 Point = worth it

[highwind01]

try 1/2 epidemic - especially without scent of blood you wont have enough rp to make use of the extended disease time at the end of your second rune set

also try 2/3 morbidity - the main use of this talent in a tank spec is the reduced d&d cooldown and reducing it to 20 secs cd is enough (because it then fits perfectly in every second runeset)


I personally dont like death rune mastery and glyph of rune strike (I dont have any thread issus on single target fights without the two), I use the points in runetap and for glyphs I use icy touch, deathstrike and d&d - but most blood tanks will probably disagree on that

[Galthor]

I have been tanking on my DK since Naxx 10, the first thing I need to say is do not get Rune Tap. Vampiric Blood will be a much larger amount of health returned than Rune Tap. At 50k health unbuffed it heals you for 10k, which is nice but you must spend 4 points for you to get healed this much. Also the glyph of diseases is alright but since the change on Icy Touch its better to just keep using your rotation as it will do more threat than an extra Heart Strike (IT+ PS vs Pest+HS).
Dancing Rune Weapon does not increase your threat so it is therefore useless as a tank.
Hysteria is also a must have but not to use on yourself as it drains 1% health per tick, its better used on a dps (feral druid being the best option.) I never cast it on myself because as you have probably noticed we do not need burst threat.

here is the spec I am currently using
http://www.wowhead.com/talent#jcERVh...xhxZ0gh:dGsVmM

I am not saying it is the best spec, it is just the one I use and if anyone can find a fault in it then let me know.

[Atty]

http://www.wowhead.com/talent#jcE0qI0Icbobssx0xZ0g:id

Here's an ideal build if you absolutely want rune tap. The idea is that you take points out of IIT since all tanks bring that buff. The last 7 points can go pretty much anywhere you want, e.g. morbidity if you tank a lot of heroics, 1-2 points in scent of blood isn't a bad idea either.

[Frostfel]

http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...W,YU93eO,11723

I use this spec for just about everything and it hasnt failed me once. Also if you are blood feel free to pick up DRW since in a recent patch they made its threat transfer to the DK, it is really nice if you need to get some burst threat + help kill a boss faster.

[Zao]

There is no such thing as a "best" spec.
Even the cookie cutter specs usually have 5 points or so floating around. And talents like DRW, RT, SD and MoB cause a lot of discussion.
Most of the time you should take what you're most comfortable with. If you find yourself not using RT: Don't spec it.
Should you like a fun DPS talent which also gives you a short TPS boost: go for DRW.
Those are just examples, but I think you got the point. Even in one treee there's enough to discuss. And we have 2(and a half) trees we can tank with, which even further increases the possible specs.

[TheBigC1245]

http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deat...1,S9UO3-,11723

This is the spec that I use, and for a bit of credibility my guild is currently working on 10 man LK with me as MT, and we got to the 3rd phase last night.

I can't imagine a blood tanking spec without Rune Tap, since that ability has saved my ass so many times. Got some big spike damage coming? No problem, hit RT and DS and you've just helped your healers keep you alive.

As for threat, in a typical boss fight I will never run out of RP, even with Rune Strike macro'd to every attack that I can do, so Scent of Blood is pretty much wasted. Having DRW on the start of every pull and just maintaining a normal blood rotation (meaning using Glyph of Disease and not IT machine gunning) I have absolutely no issues keeping threat over any of our DPS. Even with our rogue using Tricks of the Trade on our mage every CD, and me using Hysteria on the rogue basically every chance I get, I have never had issues holding threat over them.

[andrewjw]

I see alot of these specs w/o Spell reflect but i find it useful on many hardmodes (marrowgar 10hm 0 hunters so we had to run through the fires at some point) also deathwisper =less burst on tanks....... fester gas.... oh and its very helpful on funship........