Welcome to the guide for Dungeon CC. Today, we will be reading about how to effectively manage and use CC for the best results, I will include tips and some suggestions as well as tables that will hopefully benefit you in your understanding.
What is "CC"
For the most part, CC jut means crowd control, this can include snares, stuns, slows and abilities that, for the most part, remove an enemy from being effectively in combat. For the purpose of this guide i will only focus on 2 main things: Interrupts, and Effective removal from combat.
Why is CC important
CC is important because it allows for the tank to manage his threat more effectively, creates less damage coming in to help out the healer, and allow focus fire to be more beneficial. CC is a must in heroics and should be used on almost every pull you can. Remember, this expansion is all about mitigating group damage the best way possible.
Who can CC?
Every class has at least one form of crowd control, some have multiple and some CC is more effective than others. I will go into greater detail about this later.
Who should mark for CC
While it should be the job of the tank to mark for CC, anyone can speak up and mark. It is better to have someone doing it rather than to assume the tank will. Tanks should be assertive about who has what mark for CC and what they want to use. If you see a timid tank in your group, politely ask if you can mark for CC.
Who should be using CC
Anyone who has a CC should be using it, but please utilize DPS classes CC first, then Tank CC then Healer CC in that order.
So now that we have covered some basic questions let us look at some basic CC.
There are 2 types of CC in the game, Targeted CC and untargetable CC. CC that is targeted is generally much stronger and will be the only CC i will be talking about (with the only exception being freezing trap). Targeted CC is very strong because you can select what mob you are trying to CC and make sure you get the mob assigned to you. This is exceptionally helpful on packs that move before you pull them. In addition to the two types there is CC that will bring the group into combat, and CC that will not. CC that will not bring the group into combat is limited to Sap and Freezing trap (before it activates). Another thing you need to know about CC is the ability to reapply CC. This means that during combat you will have to refresh the CC on the mobs as the fight is going on. Many people, even good players, can benefit from learning how to re-apply CC more effectively. The ability to reapply CC is part of the reason a tank shouldn't be CC'ing if there is a DPS who is able to do so. CC should be re-applied based on the situation, and depending on how comfortable you are with the duration of your CC and heartbeat resist*.
CC "on-the-fly" is also a very important skill to have. It's isn't difficult but it is very valuable. There are a few pulls in the expansion that you will utilize CC this way. This simply means you wait as the mobs are being pulled before you CC. A great example is the pull in Vortex Pinnacle, where 5 mobs are in a grounding field and unable to be affected by spells until they run out.
Some CC is not strong, in fact, there is a lot of weak CC that is in the game, but it is still pretty reliable. Most of the weak CC tends to do with cooldowns and others with how the CC works, and what happens when/if it breaks. For that reason i will list the strength of CC based on each creature type. Sheep is considered by many to be the "best CC in the game" while I would agree that it is very strong, it is no longer the best in the game because it only affects 2 types of mobs, and breaks on any damage done to it. Because not all CC is the same, you will want to setup a kill order based on this information. This will allow stronger CC to remain active as you kill the mobs in order.
Marking mobs before a pull will be crucial to the success of your group. And everyone seems to have adopted Blizzards default-UI markings for obvious reasons. There are 8 markers that are as follows.
From Left to right, top to bottom using common names: Star, Circle, Diamond, Triangle, Moon, square, X, Skull.
Image credits/source: http://www.wowwiki.com/Raid_target_icons
You can go into key bindings and set a key bind to each of the Raid icons above.
Common options tend to include F1-F12 keys. Personally i like using my numpad as you can see. As a tank I would suggest at a minimum to key bind skull, so when you switch targets you can mark skull immediately to help DPS focus down your target.
Now that we have discussed the general things, lets move on to what classes have what CC.
Below you will find a chart detailing what CC is available for each class
Given that all the CC is targetable except for trap, I will explain how trap works and how you need to use it when pulling.
Trap will launch from the hunter to a spot on the ground, once it is there the trap will become set. There is about 1.5 seconds from the time you see the trap launching from the hunter to the time the trap is set and will CC a mob. But because you can’t select a target directly with trap you will need to have the hunter use trap first, then, as soon as you see it flying through the air, start casting your CC. By the time you are done casting, the trap will be set and will be snapping on a mob. This is very important to let the hunter pull whenever there is a trap needed. The only exception is when you are planning on trapping a mob that will have no ranged attacks and you can set the trap in front of him, causing the mob to run over the trap on the way to the tank as he pulls.
The other CC that I need to discuss is entangling roots. Entangling roots is not like other CC’s where the mobs will not be able to attack; instead, it makes the mob unable to move. That is why you should only have a druid rooting a melee mob. And be sure to not stand near the rooted mobs because they will still be able to attack if you are in melee range.
Some examples of marking CC before a pull.
Here we had Circle and Triangle for rooting, Diamond was repentance, and moon was sheep.
Heirarchy of CC
All CC is not equal. To compensate for this we realize that it is important to break the CC of mobs that cannot be reapplied readily. While repentance is strong, and immune to heartbeat resist, it cannot be re-applied should something happen and the mob break, due to the long cooldown. Sap is another CC that will not be able to be re-applied once a group has been pulled. So keep this in mind when deciding what mob should be next to kill. Hex is another ability that is great, however, it will have a long cooldown should it break early, making it not as desirable as something like Polymorph.
Top Long-term CC (5 second or less cooldown)
Good Long-term CC
- Fear (glyphed)
- Hibernate
- Polymorph
- Shackle Undead
- Banish
- Seduction
- Bind Elemental
- Mind Control
Short Term CC
- Sap
- Freezing Trap
- Repentance
- Hex
Least desirable CC
- Entangling Roots
- Wyvern Sting
- Hungering Cold
- Intimidating shout
Remember, communication with your group is key. Make sure you have a system in place that everyone knows their role, and make sure people who have multiple forms of CC are capable of doing both, and know what their two marks are.
*Heartbeat Resist
Heartbeat Resist is the ability for a mob to randomly break free of CC. This chance is lowered based on how much +hit you have, but never 100%. This is why healers would be a last-resort CC, because they have 0 hit rating causing mobs to break free more often.
Tips and trips for various classes
Focus and Focus macros can be your best friend. It helps you find your CC target quickly and get back to your job. Just a simple /focus on your mark will go a long way.
CC Frequently, when you think your CC might be close to breaking, reapply, or in the case of paladins, hunters, and Shamans, CC as soon as you see your cooldown is about up.
Death Knights - Hungering cold is a great ability, if another pack gets pulled on accident you will be able to have 10 seconds to finish whatever mob you are on and get some CC on the new mobs. It also can act as an interrupt on non-bosses.
Druids - You can range all the trash in this game, or LoS them, so if you are forced to root a caster you will still be able to prevent it's damage. Sometimes this method can be tricky. Natures Grasp also allows you to have a second set of roots up at any given time, but remember that it isn't easily recast-able.
Hunter - Because you can only have 1 trap at a time doesn't mean you can not have two things trapped at once. It may be tricky but after the first trap goes off, you are able to place another trap down to get a second enemy in a freezing trap. This may take some time to get used to.
Priest - Mind control pulling is a fun way to do trash and can be very effective. This allows you to sometimes kill an entire mob by having its friends kill it then immediatly mind control another mob.
Mage - In a few situations Ring of frost can be godly. Use it in ideal situations for great control.
Rogue - Should your CC become in danger of running out you can Vanish and reapply sap on the mob before it wakes up
Shaman - Earth Elemental totem can be used in a pinch to off-tank a mob, but beware, this elemental has very bad AI.
Warlock - Your succubus is very strong, and glyphing it makes it better. This expansion you are kings of CC.
Post submission edits: Typo