All sarcasm aside, and for those unaware, “Wrathnoob” is not all inclusive to players starting the game during Wrath of the Lich King as it is generally perceived. However, some of us from the old days either did not raid or need to use Crowd Control often or just was not playing a class that utilized them. Myself being a hunter and Freezing Trap being such a short CC, targets were more often sapped and/or sheeped. So this is not a guide directed at anyone that had stared playing in Wrath specifically so please do not get offended by the title.
******Some abilities and charts are taken from Wowwiki.com. I am not lazy. If the information is already out there from an open free source I am not going to type it all out again in the essence of making writing this as painless as possible for me. So please understand that there are others out there that deserve credit for compiling and making charts and so forth that I am using and I appreciate the time they had already taken to do so.******
Index
I. Crowd Control Abilities
II. Positioning Tactics
III. Threat Generation
IV. Tanking
V. Healing
VI. DPS
I. Crowd Control Abilities
*****Some exerts from Wowwiki.com*****
Types of CC include Charm, Daze, Fear, Root, Sleep, Slow, Snare, Incapacitate, Disorient and Stun.
The following Primary Crowd Control Abilities can be re-applied an unlimited number of times, and take a mob effectively out of combat as long as the CCer wants to:
• Mage - Polymorph (beasts, critters and humanoids only)
• Hunter - Freezing Trap (most types of mob, requires good skill to chain trap), Wyvern Sting (talent ability)
• Warlock - Fear (with Glyph of Fear), Banish (demons/elementals), Enslave Demon (demons only), Seduction (Pet ability, Humanoids only)
• Priest - Shackle Undead (undead only)
• Druid - Hibernate (beasts and dragonkin only), Entangling Roots (Usable indoor since Patch 3.0.2)
• Paladin - Repentance (humanoids, undead, dragonkin, giants and demons only)
• Shaman - Hex (humanoids and beasts only)
These Secondary CC Abilities can control a mob for some time, but either break easily, need frequent reapplication or have other restrictions which make their continued use impractical, and therefore cannot be generally used to take a mob out of combat indefinitely:
• Death Knight - Chains of Ice
• Druid - Cyclone, Soothe Animal, and some stuns
• Hunter - Pet's stun and various root/slow/stun shots
• Mage - Frost Nova and other frost spells
• Paladin - Turn Evil (undead and demons only), some stuns
• Priest - Mind Control (humanoids only), Psychic Scream, Mind Soothe
• Rogue - Sap (humanoids only rank 1-3, Humanoids, Beasts, Demons and Dragonkin rank 4, cannot be applied in combat), Blind
• Warlock - Fear
• Warrior - various stuns
I will not go into explanations of each ability, as that would defeat the purpose of you looking them up in your spell book and becoming acquainted with them intimately.
II. Positioning Tactics
I am not going to pretend to know every nuance of every class, however there are some general rules or things to consider when positioning.
Does the boss or trash Cleave, have an AOE frontal ability that hits anyone in a degree or arch in front of them? If so you don’t want to be there.
Do you lose any damage from being in front of the target? Aka, a boss cannot parry your attacks if your behind it. If you are one of those classes, move to the side (or rear if it does not have a tail swipe).
What are the bosses abilities? Will he turn and charge knocking you off a ledge? Will he turn and AOE your position so fast you won’t be able to dodge it in time?
You can probably already determine there is probably and infinite amount of these kinds of questions. I am not going to list them as this guide would get boring very fast. Use your cognitive skills and see what else you can think of. That is what makes you a better player in the end, discovering new and exciting ways that help you face bosses with your set of skills no matter what level of play you are at.
Some abilities that help positioning are:
• Death Knight – Unholy Presence/Improved Unholy Presence (faster run speed)
• Druid –Dash
• Hunter – Disengage
• Mage - Blink
• Paladin – Bubble and run for pete sake , unless you’re the tank!
• Priest – Dispersion
• Rogue - Sprint
• Warlock - Demonic Circle
• Warrior – Charge, Intercept, Intervene
• Shaman – Ghost Wolf
There are also speed increasing gems and enchants, as well as engineering gizmo’s that will get you from point A to point B faster and give you more up-time to do damage to the boss. (OR TO GET OUT OF THE FIRE)
III. Threat Generation
There is not too much to say about this topic other than listing the abilites and some habits to follow to allow the tank to generate threat before you start beating the tar out of the boss or some trash mobs. Rogues have Tricks of the Trade and Hunters have Misdirection to off load their intial threat to tanks. Use them please. Many classes also have abilites and talents that stop, reset or help manage/lessen your threat. There are Meta gems, Enchants, and Glyphs that help tanks obtain more threat and DPS and Healers reduce threat.
Taken from Wowwiki.com: This outlines the various abilites, talents and other passive abilities that are available to all classes and what they do or how much threat they remove or grant to tanks, dps and healers.
Hunter
Misdirection Next 3 attacks increase target's threat instead
Mage
Arcane Subtlety (2pt Talent) .80/.60x for offensive Arcane spells
Burning Soul (2pt Talent) .95/.90x for offensive Fire spells
Frost Channeling (3pt Talent) .96/.93/.90x for offensive Frost spells
Paladin
Righteous Fury 2.534 (all Holy-school abilities)
1.43 (all non-Holy actions)
Imp. Righteous Fury (3pt Talent) No longer affects Righteous Fury threat.
Blessing of Salvation Removed from game.
Passive Reduction (Healing) 0.5 (all healing done)
(on top of baseline healing modifier)
Fanaticism (3pt Talent) .90/.80/.70 (all actions)
(disabled when Righteous Fury is active)
Priest
Shadow Affinity (3pt Talent) .92/.84/.75 for Shadow spells
Silent Resolve (3pt Talent) .93/.86/.80 for Holy and Discipline spells
Rogue
Passive Reduction 0.71
Tricks of the Trade All attacks increase target's threat instead
Shaman
Elemental Precision (3pt Talent) .90/.80/.70x for Fire, Frost and Nature spells
Healing Grace (3pt Talent) .95/.90/.85x for healing spells
Spirit Weapons (1pt Talent) .70 (all attacks)
Tranquil Air Totem Removed from game.
Warlock
Destructive Reach (2pt Talent) .90/.80 for Destruction spells
Imp. Drain Soul (2pt Talent) .90/.80 for Affliction spells
Master Demonologist (5pt Talent) Imp effect no longer modifies threat.
Warrior
Defensive Stance 2.0735
Defiance (3pt Talent) Removed from game.
Tactical Mastery (3pt Talent) 1.21/1.42/1.63 (Bloodthirst and Mortal Strike)
(only if used in Defensive Stance)
Berserker Stance 0.8
Imp. Berserker Stance (5pt Talent) extra .98/.96/.94/.92/.90 in Berserker Stance
Vigilance (talent) target: extra 0.9
Threat Modifying Abilities
Ability Threat Bonus/Reduction
Power Gain (Mana) Base threat is 0.5x Mana gained (only certain effects)
Power Gain (Rage) Base threat is 5x Rage gained (only certain effects)
Death Knight
Rune Strike x1.75 damage
Death and Decay x1.9 damage
Icy Touch x7 damage
Druid
Cower -3474 (rank 6)
Demoralizing Roar +62 - divided amongst targets
Faerie Fire +674
Growl Sets threat equal to NPC's primary target
Lacerate +515 innate; 0.5x threat on initial and periodic damage
Mangle (Bear) Causes normal threat (1x damage done)
Maul +422 (rank 10)
Swipe (Bear) Base threat is 1.5x damage
Hunter
Disengage No longer reduces threat.
Distracting Shot 110, and functions as a temporary taunt, like Challenging Shout.
Feign Death Removed from threat lists of all enemies (resistible)
Cower (pet) -360 (rank 6) to pet
Growl (pet) +1234 base (rank 9) to pet, scales with pet attack power and level
Intimidation +580 to pet
Furious Howl +?? to pet
Scorpid Poison +5 to pet
Screech +?? to pet
Thunderstomp +?? to pet
Mage
Polymorph +??
Counterspell +500 (300 with 2/2 Arcane Subtlety)
Invisibility Reduces threat vs. all enemies by 33% every 1 second for 3s
Removed from all threat lists upon becoming invisible
Paladin
Righteous Defense Sets threat equal to friendly target being attacked
Affects up to three NPC's attacking the friendly target
Hand of Reckoning Sets threat equal to highest threat among all players.
Divine Intervention Removed from threat lists of all enemies
Hand of Salvation Reduces target's threat by 2% every 1 second for 10s
Priest
Binding Heal -??
Fade -1500 (rank 7) for all enemies (temporarily)
Holy Nova This ability causes no threat.
Mind Control +??
Mind Flay +??
Power Word: Shield +?? (rank 12)
Rogue
Feint -1050 (rank 6)
Vanish Removed from threat lists of all enemies.
Warlock
Searing Pain Base threat is 2.0x damage done
Siphon Life This effect causes no threat.
Soulshatter Reduces threat by 50% for all enemies within 50 yards (resistible)
Anguish +632 (rank 3) to pet
Soothing Kiss -165 (rank 4) to pet
Suffering +885 (rank 6) to pet
Torment +632 (rank 7) to pet
I know, its hard to believe there are bad tanks out there, right? Well as a DPS let me tell you that there are. No matter how much I hear about a bad DPS or healer from a tanks experience there are just as many bad tanking experiences I have heard of from the other side of the fence.
There is a long drawn-out debate about effective health pools or avoidance stacking. In my humble, alt tanking and healing experience there should not be one or the other that is being stacked. There is a healthy mixture somewhere in the middle, and while for one class it may be more HP, for another it will be more avoidance. The only person who knows this is you. You need to decide how you play and how your healers play to make an informed decision as to how far from the middle of those two you need to go. If your healers are running out of mana do to too much damage, obviously get more avoidance. If you have so much avoidance that even when one of those hard hits kills your minimal HP then get more HP. Wow I think I just solved the debate, lol, just kidding. I am sure there is a lot more math involved that I would never comprehend or even attempt.
Rotating cool downs were a major part of raid tanking in ICC and other past content. It is even more so now in Cataclysm as now they are needed in 5-mans. You need to discuss with healers when CD’s are used and vise versa. They need to make sure you are aware when they, lets say, Pain Suppression you. This can be easily done through add-ons or simply adding macros to your spells.
Example...
#showtooltip Pain Suppression
/cast Pain Suppression(insert rank)
/yell Tank, You have Pain Suppression!!!! Hold your Cool Downs!!!!
That /yell or whisper can be inserted into any macro. Just reverse the role if you're tanking. Use /yell Healer, I used Shield Wall!!! Conserve your Mana!!! You can be more creative and use what ever you think might get a laugh, we play to have fun anyway.
Pulling is an art. There are many ways to start a pull and tanks have to be open to suggestions. I personally would rather Freezing Trap pull and line-of-site the mobs to the tank. Generally, this is the only way you're not going to break my trap with all the AOE going out on multi-mob pulls. Sheep and other non-ground targeted CC can be much easier to apply as the tank pulls if he/she is so inclined to pull first. And of course there is always the Sap first if conditions are present to allow it.
V. Healing
It's definitely a whole new ball game. In Wrath you could literally spam most heals and be ok. Now, in Cataclysm, mana conservation has become more of an issue. You have to think on your feet as to what heal to use and what it will cost you in mana to do so. Will it be effective enough to keep the tank alive and be mana efficient. Should I throw a Pain Suppression now or does the tank have something up.
One nuance of Paladin healing I have noticed is they like it when you stand in front of them. They have a new conal heal called Light of Dawn. So anyone within 30 yards in front of them gets the heal. It’s very effective for group healing or just toping off some random splash damage from your DPS, provided they are in front you. So, move around to your DPS and let them now from the start to stay in front of you unless it just a situational that’s impossible due to fire or rumbling gravel under your feet .
Druids cant really Rejuvenation and Wild Growth spam anymore. They have to learn to play a little differently to conserve mana as well. Life Bloom can only be on a single target. Thorns is more or less something to grant threat to the tank as a damage dealer to anything attacking it. Tree of Life form is on a cool down. As you can see its going to take a bit to get used to. There is a learning curve that we all must endure.
Other classes have their new abilities and nuances as well so its going to be trial and error. In the end you will see what spells eat at your mana and what spells are the effective ones.
How to manage your cool downs with tanks was covered in the tanking part of this guide so make sure you have read that and communicate. Communication is a huge part of being a better player. Try and get your group to use in game VOIP. It can be a life saver even if people can only listen.
VI. DPS
Well, here is a topic that can go on and on and on and on and on and on. While I do not claim to know the ins and outs of every DPS spec, rotation, talent builds or glyphs, I can say I have been around the block enough to know what it is to be a DPSer. Also, the ins and outs of what is expected of an end game raider.
There is a wealth of knowledge to be had by just typing in a few words on any of the major search engines. From best DPS hunter spec, best stats to stack and rotations to use. Many videos or strategies are out for most all boss fights minus some new content (but those will eventually hit the web). Let your keyboard do the walking. Research is your friend and if you want to be better at your class then it will inevitably have to be done.
I want to keep this as concise as possible while getting points across. So lets start with the basic things that will get you re-invited to Heroics or Raids.
Damage – its what we do! To make your damage increase you have to know how and when to use certain abilities. When to use trinkets and other cool downs is a substantial leap to increase your output. Lets take my favorite class, a hunter and see what he has to offer. Survival, since its top spec at then moment has several things to watch for while going through a rotation. While I use the word rotation, it is really a prioritization of your shots that you use and not a dedicated rotation. On boss fights you normally want to pop a trinket at the beginning as it will be up in two minutes to use again usually when Kill Shot is ready to be used. I normally use Rapid Fire to establish a large threat lead for the tank up front coupled with Misdirection. This is situational. If you know there is a point in the fight where you do extra damage or you will get Heroism, then by all means save it for that moment. You may also hold trinkets if you know they will not be up in time for the Heroism later in the fight. You may also force Lock and Load procs with your trap for those extra damage/Heroism moments.
Mages have Icy Veins, Paladins have Avenging Wrath from drinking Red Bull(lol), and so on and so forth for other classes that have damage/haste increasing abilities that can be timed with these abilities of other classes or boss damage increasing debuffs. There are add-ons for different classes to manage or watch for these modifiers to be present. There are shot timers, proc watchers, buff and debuff watchers that all usually make sounds or light up your screen. Some even show the icons for you and give you a button to press to use the ability. So much can be automated to make you able to concentrate on staying out of the fire or move from AOE abilities or just plain make you more aware of other situations going on around you.
Threat – its what we don’t want to have on a mob, generally. Sometime we need it to pull or kite something away to CC or its just our job to keep it away due to some boss mechanic. Such as Beauty’s adds in Blackrock Caverns. We will have a Death Knight use Howling Blast and just run them to the beginning of the instance while we kill her. When no DK is present and we have enough CC then we can just CC them indefinitely. Back on topic, to minimize threat use your classes available talents and abilities to minimize it. Misdirection, Feign Death, Tricks of the Trade, Vanish, Invisibility and many of the other resources are at your disposal. I covered this a bit earlier in threat generation so I will not dive into it more than this.
Situational Awareness – While this pertains to any class and role in any situation, I want to stress this for us as to avoid any excess damage that we can as to minimize the stress on the healers to heal us and tanks to have to pull adds from us. Watch your surroundings. Don’t back up into another group of mobs. Move from the FIRE! Get in front of that Paladin casting so he can cast Light of dawn on everyone. Line-of-sight that mob that just broke out of CC. Get and use a Deadly Boss Mod type of addon to monitor encounter abilites and other events that can be timed. If you know when an AOE is going to happen you have that much more of an advantage to prepare for it. I hate Defile by the way (heroic Defile that is).
In Summary, use your head and know that there are 4, 9 or 24 other players counting on you to do your homework in that Heroic or Raid. I read a great saying sometime ago:
“Yes, it is your $14.99, but it’s the party’s $59.96, the raids $134.91(10man) or $359.76(25man)” Do your job in being as best as you can for them.
Thank you for taking the time to read.
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