Bear Guide: 4.1+

[Arielle]

Also Katarn I understand why you are hesitant on the RAW damage numbers I come up with for Rawr. But I do try to use Yawning's boss damage web page to help figure out info. I know right now, the damage numbers I'm using for DS are guessworks, and I'm planning on correcting that once more parses are uploaded.

Yeah, the problem is at least for normal modes the damage ranges from irrelevant (Haggara) to not something worth modelling (Ultraxion). Zon has a stacking damage buff, so no point in looking at him. Morchok and Von I think are the only two worth paying attention to atm, at least out of the first 5.

We'll have to see if the last 3 are any different.

[Hinalover]

Yeah, the problem is at least for normal modes the damage ranges from irrelevant (Haggara) to not something worth modelling (Ultraxion). Zon has a stacking damage buff, so no point in looking at him. Morchok and Von I think are the only two worth paying attention to atm, at least out of the first 5.

We'll have to see if the last 3 are any different.

General Blackhorn has a stacking damage buff (once you hit phase 2; phase 1 damage is moderate) that he gains. One percent per percent that is taken off of him (if he is at 30% health, he is doing 70% more damage). Spine, the Amalgamations have a stacking damage buff (10% per stack up to 9 stacks). The Corruptions on Madness hit moderate to hard, but the big adds in Phase 2 hit like a mother-****ing truck.

[tangedyn]

Here's my experience, as the raid's 2nd tank ilevel ~387 fully agility gemmed.

Morchok - This guy is a joke. I can eat the Stomps as one of the two closest while in cat form. I spend more time in cat form since the debuff doesn't really threaten the MT much
Zon'ozz - I DPSed this
Yaur'saj - Just make sure you use CDs when yellow is up and you'll be fine
Hagara - DPSed this... and had no problem taking over as the MT with cat gear/spec when the MT died twice to Relentless Assault...
Ultraxion - Tank damage really not a concern in this fight with most of the damage raid based. Hour of Twilight isn't a concern with CD usage
Blackhorn - Probably the most physical boss with a stacking self-buff and a stacking debuff, but still not a problem even though we were down to one healer. CDs and Bloodlust at the end helps.
Spine - I offtanked the corrupted bloods bunch and extra Amalgations, and it's pretty fun to see so many Corrupted Bloods chipping away at my Savage Defense bubble which is virtually always up through Thrash/Swipe crits. My main issue is accidentally killing blood from the Swipe/Thrash and buffing the Amalgations
Madness - Being hybrid feral is just so awesome for this fight since there's just so little tanking to be done compared to DPSing. The Corruptions are a joke, you simply have to CD the Impale. The Terrors in P2 are a real worry though if you allow the debuff to stack too high. Obviously CDs are to be used here, but when I look at incoming damage such as this, I'm not sure if extra health really helps. It's really more an issue of making sure the stacks don't get that high

[01:46:24.334] Elementium Terror hits Tangedyn Dodge
[01:46:24.703] Tangedyn afflicted by Tetanus (6) from Elementium Terror
[01:46:24.703] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 41788 (A: 673, R: 6121)
[01:46:25.011] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 87140 (R: 75368)
[01:46:26.010] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 81331 (R: 56526)
[01:46:26.997] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 81331 (R: 56526)
[01:46:28.005] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 17546 (A: 63785, R: 56526)
[01:46:28.395] Elementium Terror hits Tangedyn Dodge
[01:46:28.704] Tangedyn afflicted by Tetanus (7) from Elementium Terror
[01:46:28.704] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 33201 (R: 5982)
[01:46:28.998] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 104375 (R: 72542)
[01:46:29.996] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 101695 (A: 17591, R: 48361)
[01:46:31.003] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 104375 (R: 72542)
[01:46:32.003] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 105843 (A: 13443, R: 48361)
[01:46:32.306] Elementium Terror's Tetanus fades from Tangedyn
[01:46:32.688] Tangedyn dies

[anni23]

i tanked 6/8 and it was pretty smooth heres some experience
hagara:its possible to dodge relentless assault by moving through the channel kind of like the flayer trash in stonecore. mt did this and had no deaths really.
ultraxion:this is a really fun version of baleroc. i was soaking every hour of twilight with cooldown rotation, slay trinket is usefull if your doing this. than i found mt whos a warrior had a safeguard talent offspec so got him to intercept me(30% dmg reduction on next attack) on every hour of twilight and it made life much easier for everyone
blackhorn:i was tanking the slayer and found had to call for a tank switch at around 6 stacks. its kind of annoying sometimes on how the mob jumps down right when a big vortex is happening. i am gonna try target macro when hes up in air and see if its targetable before he actually lands next time. in p2 i let the warrior pick him up so i could blow zerk in kitty and than we tank switched at 2-3 stacks with heavy cooldown rotation as his health gets lower.

i am planning on buying boe vp bracer and boots they look bis at 397 level with crit and mastery as stats.I am not sure what offpiece will be best while targetting for 4pc asap.i am guessing it might actually be the helm because expertise could be more usefull than hit on lw leg on fights like ultraxion or morchok if ur dpsing in cat from front.
also i need to grind for veil of lies as stam trinket option instead of scale of life. warrior tank had like 25% uptime of proc on blackhorn. which means potentially 250-260 more dodge

couple questions on spine. does the ot tank only the extra amalgamations and not the bloods? i saw one video of that where mt tanks the designated amalgamation along with all the bloods so second or third amalgamation doesnt get stacks by mistake.
i saw a guild 1 tank this on 10man and most of the damage the tank took was actually from the amalgamations ( i guess as its stacks go up)
when would u want to do a barrel roll here? this fight seems confusing if u see ptr videos and normal

[Djuntas]

Here's my experience, as the raid's 2nd tank ilevel ~387 fully agility gemmed.


[01:46:24.334] Elementium Terror hits Tangedyn Dodge
[01:46:24.703] Tangedyn afflicted by Tetanus (6) from Elementium Terror
[01:46:24.703] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 41788 (A: 673, R: 6121)
[01:46:25.011] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 87140 (R: 75368)
[01:46:26.010] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 81331 (R: 56526)
[01:46:26.997] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 81331 (R: 56526)
[01:46:28.005] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 17546 (A: 63785, R: 56526)
[01:46:28.395] Elementium Terror hits Tangedyn Dodge
[01:46:28.704] Tangedyn afflicted by Tetanus (7) from Elementium Terror
[01:46:28.704] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 33201 (R: 5982)
[01:46:28.998] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 104375 (R: 72542)
[01:46:29.996] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 101695 (A: 17591, R: 48361)
[01:46:31.003] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 104375 (R: 72542)
[01:46:32.003] Elementium Terror Tetanus Tangedyn 105843 (A: 13443, R: 48361)
[01:46:32.306] Elementium Terror's Tetanus fades from Tangedyn
[01:46:32.688] Tangedyn dies

Wow, thats pretty nasty log

[Danishgirl]

Hey fellow Bears,

4.3 has been live for almost a week (EU) and while that isn't a long time, I was still wondering if anyone is going to update the Bear gear list for 4.3?


The guides are just invaluable and I greatly appreciate the work you guys are doing

[Auroro]

Hey fellow Bears,

4.3 has been live for almost a week (EU) and while that isn't a long time, I was still wondering if anyone is going to update the Bear gear list for 4.3?


The guides are just invaluable and I greatly appreciate the work you guys are doing

Ok, you ask you get the first part of the list.

[Danishgirl]

Cheers

It was close to what I had figured out myself, just wanted to be sure.

[Injek]

Is it ok to take Wrath of Unchaining from DPS?

[Auroro]

Is it ok to take Wrath of Unchaining from DPS?

Yeah, Bear tank find agility trinket useful for them.

Once 5.0 happen we will working with Monk tank and there may be some new gearing choices.

[earthwormjim]

i tanked 6/8 and it was pretty smooth heres some experience
hagara:its possible to dodge relentless assault by moving through the channel kind of like the flayer trash in stonecore. mt did this and had no deaths really.

Updated DBM has an accurate timer for relentless assault. You can start moving .5 seconds before its used and the boss never gets a chance to channel it.

[roflicerbob]

I'm wondering what 390 pvp pieces you guys would deem an uprgrade from pre-raid 378 gear. I'm talking justice and HoT stuff. A few pieces seem like an obvious upgrade, like the mastery pvp helm over the haste/hit pve one. I've been getting grief for wearing that and the pvp belt, over another haste/hit item.

Askmrrobot pretty much says about 70% of the pvp gear trumps the 378 stuff, but I like using that about as much as I like using wikipedia as a source.

[Auroro]

I'm wondering what 390 pvp pieces you guys would deem an uprgrade from pre-raid 378 gear. I'm talking justice and HoT stuff. A few pieces seem like an obvious upgrade, like the mastery pvp helm over the haste/hit pve one. I've been getting grief for wearing that and the pvp belt, over another haste/hit item.

Askmrrobot pretty much says about 70% of the pvp gear trumps the 378 stuff, but I like using that about as much as I like using wikipedia as a source.

THe only time pvp gears are better than pve if it is one tier higher and does not have haste.

THe thing is that some of the pve items in the new dungeons are good. THe trinket from the hour of twilight final boss is good.

[Sairus]

I was playing about with Rawr to see how good our 2 set bonus is for tanking. Best I got was Savage Defence uptime was increased by .5%. I may have some settings wrong but if that's true that seems pretty poor in comparison to the other tanks 2 sets.

[Rioo]

I was playing about with Rawr to see how good our 2 set bonus is for tanking. Best I got was Savage Defence uptime was increased by .5%. I may have some settings wrong but if that's true that seems pretty poor in comparison to the other tanks 2 sets.

Personally I find it pretty okay, not more. It wouldn't be too much to ask for every mangle generating a shield instead of just crits, but I guess that would have made bears a bit unbalanced versus other tanks, whose 2p also suck from what I understand. The warrior bonus is really awful since revenge hits for shit, and 20% of shit is really shitty. For now I find it an added bonus for our 4p. On example Hagara heroic I noticed it helped a bit getting a shield up before her special attack if I didn't have a CD ready for it, and Impale gets partly absorbed by the shield as well, so making it a bit more reliant is always nice.

[Rambear]

Questions:

Rooftops Grips (397) vs. Molten Blood (403)

Belt of Flayed Skins vs. Belt of Hidden Keys (both normal)-> I have the Flayed Skins one, is it worth my early VP changing this?

Choker of the vanquished Lord (384) vs. Cameo of Terrible memories (397).

Basically I guess my question is:

Slightlyy lower ilevel, is it worth sticking with the mastery items, despite losing out on armour, stam and agi?

[Arielle]

Rooftops Grips (397) vs. Molten Blood (403)

Griptoes.

Belt of Flayed Skins vs. Belt of Hidden Keys (both normal)-> I have the Flayed Skins one, is it worth my early VP changing this?

Keys is better, but don't bother switching until it's your last item.

Choker of the vanquished Lord (384) vs. Cameo of Terrible memories (397).

Conquest amulet.

[Auroro]

Keys is better, but don't bother switching until it's your last item.

I guess the sockets and the bonus is good enough even if it has haste.

I am checking the stats weight the number is close: 2.71 with the Flayed Skin as a winner.

Katarn, did you even check the secondary stats? You are scaring me as one of the good bear AGI tank that hate haste.

I agree with everything else but belt.

[rated]

For normal BiS the belt with haste/mastery is better. Heroic BiS the one with crit/expertise is better.

There's so much expertise on our gear this patch. I'm using the haste/mastery belt and I'm already expertise soft capped with out even trying to be capped.

[Arielle]

I agree with everything else but belt.

The value of Expertise tanks after you are softcapped. Since you will be softcapped with the BiS gear (you have no choice), and Mastery's value skyrockets once you get 2t13, Haste+Mastery > Crit+Exp.