DK tanking question, how does it compare to the WotLK days?

[select20]

How is DK tanking now? I stopped playing two months or so after Cata released. My glory days where my hunter in BC, and my DK tank through WotLK. With the way the new talent system works, how is DK tanking compared to WotLK days? This is really a question directed more towards the DK tanks that have been there since the beginning of DK'dom.

Any input is appreciated. I know it's a broad question but I was laying in bed this morning thinking about the "good 'ole Days" when I was main tanking for my guild through all the content that came with the LK expac.

Is it fun? Changed much? Worth coming back to a progression guild? etc.

Thanks.

[Deleted]

It changed a whole lot compared to the days of WoTLK. Can't even compare the two tbh. I love the new style of DK tanking, it's pure awesomeness.
A lot harder than WoTLK, but yea, it's awesome.

I suggest you read some kind of guide, because you can't describe in a single forum post what's diffent. There's active mitigation, cooldowns, different rune systems etc.
Noxxic Guide, good for starter information I guess
Elitist Jerks DK Tank Thread

[Deleted]

I am not the best person to answer this, only leveling a blood DK in Cata but for what it's worth, I think the current DK tanking model is a thing of beauty. I can see why in MoP Blizzard tried to remake all the other tanks in its image (active mitigation) - it's a very fun playstyle, lots of tools, lots of freedom and potentially very powerful.

I am not sure how much it changed during Cata: I get the impression it was favorably tweaked so that by the end of that expansion, it was pretty much the top dog tank. I feel the spec is virtually unchanged in MoP despite the overall of talents. The other tanks have been brought more inline with it, with active mitigation and all tanks arguably given rather more interesting roles in the boss fights.

It's definitely worth trying again: if you have a Level 85 DK, buy some of the 372 ilevel vendor gear and try to tank Jade Temple. It's quite a friendly starter instance (the brewery is more demanding) and you'll quickly get a feel for what DK tanking is like now.

[JaoStar]

Biggest difference is back then any spec could tank now only blood can tank. I used to play frost tank back then and blood now so its different than what I'm used to. I've played just about ever tank spec ... a little less with paladin and thus far it's my second favorite with brewmaster coming in first.

[oplawlz]

No more frost dw tanking ;_;
The class is still fun, but the game has changed a lot . . . whether those changes are good or bad is a matter of preference.

[select20]

Yeah, I was one of the Die-Hard Frost tanks. Loved that spec, but I got accustomed to Blood as we all did. I think I'll download MoP again to give it a try. Raiding in BC on my hunter and MT's all the raids in WotLK were my glory MMO days. I don't think I'll ever like a class in any MMO as much as I loved my DK back then. I miss him.... does that make me wierd? lol.

Thanks for the input folks.

[Darsithis]

You've already decided, but I wanted to get in, too. It's very different. Gone are the multiple specs and the required and schizophrenic talent tree choices regardless of the spec you wanted. It's actually got a set rotation and a deeper working when it comes to effectively and intelligently using death strike that make it superior, to me, than wrath days.

[Sinzaram]

The main thing i think, Death Strike and self healing is so key these days.
Back in wrath death strike healed for 5% hp per dot on the target. Big woop if you used it or didn't, you went blood for the better EH, not really the healing.

Today Death strike ether heals for 7% of hp, or 20% of the damage you took in the last 5 seconds, whichever number is larger.
This means DK tanks are designed to take damage and heal back 20% of it.

Also today we have the mastery stat, which does something different for every spec in the game.
For blood mastery stat gives and improves Blood Shield, which makes a percentage of your Death strike heal become a physical bubble that absorbs damage. With more mastery stat the percentage increases, so speaking for myself i currently have 140% mastery, so a 150,000 heal becomes a 360,000 bubble.

So the more damage you take, the more you heal back and the more you bubble yourself for.

This is the main unique thing that deathknight tanks have, we have the most control over our own lives.

[Regen]

The main thing i think, Death Strike and self healing is so key these days.
Back in wrath death strike healed for 5% hp per dot on the target. Big woop if you used it or didn't, you went blood for the better EH, not really the healing.

Today Death strike ether heals for 7% of hp, or 20% of the damage you took in the last 5 seconds, whichever number is larger.
This means DK tanks are designed to take damage and heal back 20% of it.

Also today we have the mastery stat, which does something different for every spec in the game.
For blood mastery stat gives and improves Blood Shield, which makes a percentage of your Death strike heal become a physical bubble that absorbs damage. With more mastery stat the percentage increases, so speaking for myself i currently have 140% mastery, so a 150,000 heal becomes a 360,000 bubble.

So the more damage you take, the more you heal back and the more you bubble yourself for.

This is the main unique thing that deathknight tanks have, we have the most control over our own lives.

I think you need to reevaluate how percentages work...? If 140% of 150,000 comes back as a shield it would be 210,000. 100% would be the same number, then an extra 40% of it. Not "an extra 140% which would be your number maybe kinda.

[Enu]

it has been 2 expansions , obviously tanking is going to change alot , DKs were also changed a-lot from WOTLK to Cata , they are way harder to play then they once were

[Schizoide]

It's completely different from WOTLK. Back then DK tanks used DPS rotations with a lot of cooldowns. There was no blood shield. It didn't feel like real tanking, because aside from the cooldowns you weren't actually in a "tank spec"-- although it was fun, particularly as frost. Now blood is a fully rounded active tank spec and with the changes in late MoP beta to a 1s GCD, adding back crimson scourge, is (IMO) the most interactive and just plain fun tank spec in WoW.

[Kronik85]

Biggest problem tanking in WotLK was an over reliance on DnD to generate AoE threat when people wanted you to chain pull an entire instance whilst the DPS simultaneously tried to nuke it all down. Current Blood tanking is infinitely more intuitive than it ever was in Wrath....it's just an awesome awesome spec now. Biggest changes are;

-DS is your main nuke alongside it being your main survival tool
-HS spam is naff now, just don't bother.....it's not that HS is bad these days it just pales in comparison to DS on single target.
-BB is now awesome, AoE tanking with this alone will have you holding threat np's.
-No Hysteria so no utility.
-DRW is still a DPS CD despite pretending to be an avoidance CD.
-Mastery is king, don't bother stacking EH alone.
-Outbreak + Roiling Blood makes getting your diseases on the target and keeping them rolling is much much easier.
-Tank specs are amazing for solo content now.

Think this should get you up to date for the most part.

[blackblade]

How is DK tanking now? I stopped playing two months or so after Cata released. My glory days where my hunter in BC, and my DK tank through WotLK. With the way the new talent system works, how is DK tanking compared to WotLK days? This is really a question directed more towards the DK tanks that have been there since the beginning of DK'dom.

Any input is appreciated. I know it's a broad question but I was laying in bed this morning thinking about the "good 'ole Days" when I was main tanking for my guild through all the content that came with the LK expac.

Is it fun? Changed much? Worth coming back to a progression guild? etc.

Thanks.

Most of the tools are still around in some form.

The only complaint I had was that the runes are still slower than they were in WLK, overall, still a great spec if you played blood at all in WLK. And D&D has a bit of a longer CD now (but BB is worth using)

The only hard part is finding a guild who needs a tank.

[Regen]

Biggest problem tanking in WotLK was an over reliance on DnD to generate AoE threat when people wanted you to chain pull an entire instance whilst the DPS simultaneously tried to nuke it all down. Current Blood tanking is infinitely more intuitive than it ever was in Wrath....it's just an awesome awesome spec now. Biggest changes are;

-DS is your main nuke alongside it being your main survival tool
-HS spam is naff now, just don't bother.....it's not that HS is bad these days it just pales in comparison to DS on single target.-BB is now awesome, AoE tanking with this alone will have you holding threat np's.
-No Hysteria so no utility.
-DRW is still a DPS CD despite pretending to be an avoidance CD.
-Mastery is king, don't bother stacking EH alone.
-Outbreak + Roiling Blood makes getting your diseases on the target and keeping them rolling is much much easier.
-Tank specs are amazing for solo content now.

Think this should get you up to date for the most part.

HS is still used to burn Blood Runes on single target, though. At some point Blood Boil will surpass Heart Strike single target, and it DEFINITELY does on AoE, but HS "spamming" is still needed to burn those 2 Blood Runes, with DS using 2 Death or 1U/1F.

[Playintrafic]

No more frost dw tanking ;_;
The class is still fun, but the game has changed a lot . . . whether those changes are good or bad is a matter of preference.

No one ever DW tanked, well aside from the retarded ones. Usually they used tank weapons to dw tank which was even worse.

[Kronik85]

HS is still used to burn Blood Runes on single target, though. At some point Blood Boil will surpass Heart Strike single target, and it DEFINITELY does on AoE, but HS "spamming" is still needed to burn those 2 Blood Runes, with DS using 2 Death or 1U/1F.

Sorry I must of missed the part where I said don't spend your Blood runes....oh wait....I didn't say that at all!

There was a time in WotLK if you wanted to DPS as Blood you would go DS>DS>HS>HS>DC>DC>HS>HS>HS>HS>HS>HS, which is what I was referencing.

[Regen]

Sorry I must of missed the part where I said don't spend your Blood runes....oh wait....I didn't say that at all!

There was a time in WotLK if you wanted to DPS as Blood you would go DS>DS>HS>HS>DC>DC>HS>HS>HS>HS>HS>HS, which is what I was referencing.

You did say "just don't bother.....it's not that HS is bad these days it just pales in comparison to DS on single target"....you do need to bother, and you need not tell people to not bother with it. That's all I was saying.

[Moinaldo]

No one ever DW tanked, well aside from the retarded ones. Usually they used tank weapons to dw tank which was even worse.

Hahaha I love to read posts like this one.

[Kronik85]

You did say "just don't bother.....it's not that HS is bad these days it just pales in comparison to DS on single target"....you do need to bother, and you need not tell people to not bother with it. That's all I was saying.

Touche. If I promise to do that will you start reading things in context since no one would advocate not spending runes?

[Regen]

Touche. If I promise to do that will you start reading things in context since no one would advocate not spending runes?

I suppose. But to a guy that hasn't played in two years, I personally would break it down farther but to each his own, I guess. In that respect, it sounded almost like "ignore HS, DS is better these days" but I guess that's just dependent on viewpoint.