Restos Bad at Tank Healing?

On one of my recent posts, I received a comment from Pixielated. They asked,

...I'd like to get your opinion on something if you don't mind. I was recently “informed” that resto druids are “Dead Last” in effectiveness of tank healing. I realize our raid heals are kick ass, but to have someone tell me we suck as tank healers struck a nerve. I’m curious as to what your thoughts are!

Here's the thing: Restoration Druids do not "suck as tank healers." However, we are lacking as compared to other classes in some ways. Any healing class can tank heal, it's just that Discipline Priests and Paladins are the best at it.

Why aren't Restoration Druids just as good?

Well, first of all, we lack OSHI- cooldowns. Nature's Swiftness and Healing Touch/Nourish are effective, per se, but they are not as sustainable as Hand of Sacrifice, Guardian Spirit (Holy Priest only, which are arguably less effective at tank healing as per Juz's comment), or Pain Suppression. You have no prolonged cooldowns, nothing that either improves your effectiveness for a while (such as a Paladin popping Avenging Wrath) or the tank's survivability.

We have no mitigation skills, such as Sacred Shield or Power Word: Shield. Every hit that hits the tank has no extra mitigation besides what our HoTs can tick back up, after the blow has landed. We also cannot heal two tanks at once as effectively as a Paladin can.

Does this mean we are not good tank healers? No. I was on tank healing duty for a Lich King 25 man when we had no Paladin healers, and no wipes came about because of tank death. Restoration Druids are not the best option for tanking, and it is probably a toss up between Shamans, Holy Priests and Druids on who is the less effective one, but by no means are we bad or incapable.

So, how do you tank heal?

The best way to tank heal is to stack all your HoTs. That includes Lifebloom. Now, you have to be a bit more careful about it as Tank healing can be a bit of a mana drain. Manage your Lifebloom stack, refreshing it on OoC procs and allowing it to bloom when the tank could use a chunk of health. Monitor your HoTs and keep them stacked, then Nourish in-between. If there are two tanks, focus on the one you're assigned to and give a couple helper-HoTs to the other when your tank isn't being punched in the face.

So, in summary: yes, you can tank heal. All things being equal, Resto Druids should not be first-choice tank healers, but they are competent and will not fail at the job (mechanically; personally is another issue entirely).

Haelz iz 4 Fite?

Is there anything you've ever wanted to do in WoW, but no one would ever give you a chance?

For me, it's been tanking. I've always kind of wanted to tank as a bear. It looks so awesome, but no one ever gave me a chance. The three times I can remember tanking are as follows:

I was spec'd feral and running Sunken Temple. I wasn't the tank; a paladin was. However, this was before all the nifty treats paladins received for tanking, and it was difficult for him to hold aggro. My first reaction for when the mob ran to the healer was to shift to bear and taunt it off. This caused me to receive the most surprising temper tantrum from the paladin, who was intensely pissed off I would even dare offtank (as this meant he was not doing his job as main tank) and I, therefore, stopped. Thankfully the priest never died.

My only two others were with friends who couldn't be convinced that I needed them to not mess around because I had no idea what I was doing. But they didn't listen and it stressed me out to no end, so I set up my bear bars for resto PvP and haven't looked back.

Now, with dual specs coming out, I'm preparing a feral set. I want to try tanking again, and I've made friends agree to not go overboard and let me get a feel for it. I'm excited; it should be something new and fun. Resto will always be my main spec, and something I love, but there's a lot to be said for being able to try new things without completely screwing up your action bars or feeling like it's a waste of money.

Has anyone else been looking forward to dual specs (or even something else) to give them the chance at doing something they've always been locked out of?

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: Operation Dead Night (No. 2)

Okay so it's been a liiiitle longer than I intended since I did my last Death Knight tanking-related post, and there are plenty of reasons [read: excuses] for that.

The first of which is that I was trying to get home for the holidays, a nigh-black ops endeavor that quite nearly resulted in complete mission failure. (For those of you who care, which is likely a paltry two of of you, I did eventually make it back to CONUS, or the US, for a couple days, and it was refreshing, to say the least.)

On a less personal note, I was also deciding the future of the remaining 10 or so people that devotedly follow me in-game for reasons I cannot possibly fathom, given the dismal destruction my military service wrought on the last guild I lead. We have since merged into another guild, which gives me some breathing room, although it might be a temporary arrangement, since it is on a trial basis.

But, all my meaningless, dry, disinterested ranting aside, it's time for the second brief on DK tanking, and the itemization and accessories that go with it.

What's In Fashion
Defense Is This Season's Block Value

The main issue DK tanks encounter when choosing their gear sets is for most the ever-elusive defense rating. Although I suppose green or red is nearly as important for some. Fashion choice aside, with the elimination of crushing blows, the focus falls even more firmly on the "defense cap". At 80 this "cap" (my repeated use of quotations is due to this cap having nothing to do with a ceiling of any kind, which raises my eyebrow as to why it's called that at all) is a steep 540, or ~6% critical strike reduction. The main issue being that without the ever popular "sword-and-bored", or some new fangled nonsense (Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle), and with the decided lack of tanking 2handers in the the game, less itemization points can go towards avoidance.

Good thing for you that all my points I've been mulling over for the last few weeks in order to help you out will all be moot come next patch, due to the new Rune I just linked and the possibility of two new blacksmithing tank 2hander patterns.

Dual wielding DKs, widely regarded as the leper colony of WoW (having taken the long-held place of the lolret), have a slightly easier time with the defense cap due to the prevalence of 1handed tanking weapons, but are still hampered by the need for 2.2 or slower weapons to minimize the all powerful parrygib.

In other, related news, Scarele over at Dancing Rune Weapon has compiled you a rather extensive pre-raiding tank gear list, which was something I was intending to do. Beaten to the punch again. Epic, epic fail.

So I suppose I'll switch straight to the next topic of my post.

Accessorizing
Each Of You Is Unique!

With the rise of the new profession, Inscription, on the....well, the rise....man I need to find some new material...."itemization" has taken on a whole new meaning. Now you can [quote]customize[/unquote] your character to a degree never before possible! And thus arises (ha, Sann: 1, thesaurus: 0!) the age-old question....how I mine for fish?

Glyph of Pestilence [Minor]
As pestilence is the bread-and-butter of your AoE rotation (specifically the bread, with blood boil as the butter, although this analogy is making me sick to my stomach), this glyph is incredibly useful.

Glyph of Dark Command [Major]
With the rather absurd amount of miss rate Blizz seems to have attached to ALL the taunts, this glyph isn't exactly a must-have, but it certainly helps when you have that overzealous retadin (sorry, my bad dawg).

Glyph of Bone Shield [Major]
Upside: you get five for the price of four! Downside: N/A. Sounds like a win/win to me.

Glyph of Icebound Fortitude [Major]
Something for nothing has always seemed like a good thing to me, and since you should be rotating IBF as much as inhumanly possibly, having it cost absolutely no runic power is definitely...a good thing.

Glyph of Death and Decay [Major]
As it stands now, this glyph is very useful, both for interrupting spellcasting in large groups and giving you a few precious "okay guys, stop hitting me" seconds. Expect a complete overhaul come next patch.

Glyph of Death Grip [Major]
Situational at best, this short stun can give you a chance to get a few heals or generate some aggro...although the mob is forced to attack you already. Like I said, situational.

Glyph of Frost Strike [Major]
Blah blah blah, situational, blah blah blah, frost.

I was hoping to delay this post until the next patch lumbered its way onto our computers, but it appears that we'll sooner wait for the arrival of the next ice age than the sweeping changes for the bugs and broken classes that are decimating arena play right now. With deep, deep bitterness in my heart, this is Sannhet, signing off the 2nd installment of....oh, bloody hell, you know the drill.

Guest Post: 4 Taenkz: A completely unbiased guide to tanks in WotLK

Note: Sorry to Myze and other readers; Blogger had a hiccup and accidentally posted this in the future. I managed to remove it and re-queue it, so that may be why you've seen it twice. So sorry!

When Burning Crusade came out, Blizzard had a nice relationship with Warriors. They would go on dates, cuddle, and occasionally finish each other's sentences. Things seemed to be going well between them until Blizzard said that they wanted an open relationship, and wanted to experiment with others.

Now, naturally, this made Warriors upset, until Blizzard told them "we still need only you for the Illidan position." Well that made Warriors feel better until one night they came home early from work and found Blizzard in the Illidan position with a Paladin. "But I'll only do it if they're packing Divine Protection!" came the protests from Blizzard.

But the message was clear; Blizzard may have had intentions of monogamy with Warriors at first, but after wild parties and binges, it's doors have opened to new horizons. Debauchery at it's finest. Blizzard is now trying to seduce the clergy (Paladins,) experiment with Bestiality (Druids,) and now they are even messing with Domination (Death Knights.)

With all these tanks, how do you know which is best for your raid? Simple, it's Druids. But for the sake of argument, let's look at what the other classes have to offer, and why they aren't as cool as Druids.

Warriors are the typical, clean-cut, let's-always-do-missionary kind of class. Which is probably why Blizzard got fed up and took on more partners. They have all the core abilities you would look for in a tank, and not much else. They are fairly average in mitigation, threat, and ending the list of classes alphabetically. They are also fairly spoiled, what with Blizzard lying to their face for the past two expansions about how "cool" they are, and how they've "never had it like that before." Warriors tend to be overconfident because of this. They think they're the bomb. Well, they are _a_ bomb. Warriors are good for when you don't have a Druid. Or a Pally.

Death Knights are rather new, so I'm not too well versed on their techniques. But from their reputation, they thrive on pain. Your pain. Tired of being Arthas' personal pool boy, they have reasserted themselves as the Dom of the relationship. Just be thankful they can't use whips.

Paladins are the sensible ones. Or the overcareful ones. They always have Protection on Hand. They work well in large groups, or in more intimate settings. They are always there for you, even if they have no clue what they're really doing. You see, when Blizzard told Paladins that they were wanted, they freaked out and had about twelve midlife crises, always changing what they were doing and how they were doing it. I honestly thought it was just a phase, but it's been going on so long...

Druids are the cream of the crop. Well, I guess I shouldn't use the word "cream" given my current running metaphor. But studies have shown that Druids are faster, smarter, stronger, and more well-endowed than their tanking brethren. They are studlier or foxier, wherever appropriate. And this is why Blizzard loves them so. Blizzard said, "We'll give you more health and mitigation than any other!" And so it was done. And next patch, we get even more mitigation! Unless you use stupid armor trinkets. Short story, if you need something tanked, call a Druid. They always hit the spot. And it's not the same spot lemonade hits on a hot day.

It's the g-spot.

Myze
Leader of the Pack

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: Operation Dead Night

Hello, my name is Sannhet.

You may or may not know me, but I've been featured on this blog multiple times under different posts and different aliases. I'd go back and post them all here but y'know, I don't like to toot my own horn or anything.

I'd much rather you toot my horn. Cha-ching.

Anyway. While my writing skills, and indeed, my WoW knowledge repertoire, are not quite up to Ms. Bell's standards, I volunteered to at least help fill in for her while she deals with the school and the substantially greater problem of not having WotLK. That being said, don't judge the lady by my entries, as she's not a man, and that could cause some confusion later on.

Today, I'll be focusing on the first installment of a three part series I'm going to designate "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: Operation Dead Night". You might know this by reading the title, but of course, I'm operating under the assumption that you are all illiterate. Which makes perfect sense considering this is a blog. This particular series of entries will be dedicated to, and indeed, revolving much like the universe around myself, around Death Knight tanking. I'll start with the basics, what every wanna-be DK tank needs to know about the basic spec, rotation, and so on, and move on to itemization, glyphs, and specific specs. There will be a pop quiz later this week.

Death Knight Tanking Step #1
Spec-No-Jutsu

For tanking, every single DK specs the exact same way....or should, at any rate. Now now, don't get your panties in a knot, I said for tanking. The trees further define their role and how they go about it, but in the end, there are only four core must-have talents, and they are:

Improved Thundercla--er, Icy Touch

This very simple talent allows for an additional 6% reduction of melee and ranged attack speed, added on to the spells base of 14%. In other words, with a single frost rune, you take the enemies beat-the-hell out of you rate and subtract 20% from it. Handy. The extra damage doesn't hurt your threat either.

Look Ma, No Blood!

This talent will allow you 10% extra parry for doing something you do anyway, and will give you something to brag about later when you see the other DKs dying. In another nifty measure, which the few of you who have played a DK past 67 will realize, it gives you more procs on Runestrike....10% more chance, to be exact. Twice the awesome, half the calories!

Hah! You Missed Me!
and
These Landlubbers Are Tougher Than I Thought!

These two shouldn't need to be explained, but for the sake of the "Mastarogue"s and "Mastapally"s out there, I'll just say, one gives you dodge. This helps you dodge. The other gives you armor. Which....is good.


Death Knight Tanking Step #2
We Prefer "Circular Movement"

Rotations vary between DKs, depending on spec, since they therefore have different skills with which to accomplish their tanking goals, but basic similarities do exist.

To start with, while you may be tempted to make every pull with Death Grip (hereafter referred to as 'GET OVER HERE!'), it isn't allowing you to function at your maximum potential. Instead, when possible, pull with Icy Touch.

This has several benefits that may not be readily apparent to the casual viewer, the first of which is simply saving your 'GET OVER HERE!' for later use, say when the healer gets aggro off that giant-troll-undead-demon and you can't pry yourself from the succubus that looks more and more enticing after twelve hours of farming mats and 23 cans of Mountain Dew. In this particular situation, 3 seconds of "hey, hey, look at me, lookatme!" will make your healer very happy. 35 seconds on cooldown may not seem like much, but neither does $5, until you need it and don't have it.

The second benefit is that by the time you've blasted that mob with an infectious disease (ew....) and he manages to meander his way over to you, you'll be well on your way to getting that Frost Rune back, allowing you to unleash more of that sexy tank loving that so resembles an abusive relationship.

After the pull, 'tis merely a matter of applying your next disease via Plague Strike and burning your Blood Runes as quickly as possible to allow Blade Barrier to do its beautiful, beautiful work, with whatever blows your hair back the most, be it Blood Strike, Heart Strike, or otherwise.

Judicious usage of Rune Strike and your respective Rune Power dump is all that's needed after that. Rinse and repeat, and consult your physician if you have an erection lasting longer than four hours.

Death Knight Tanking Step #3
I'm A Loser, After All

AoE threat is more complicated for a Dead Night than it is for any other tanking class. While Pallies (kek) can drop a Consecration and toss on Holy Shield, not to mention Captain America, Thor, being awesome....where was I? Oh, right. Droods have Swipe and *skill removed due to popular demand*, and Warriors have The Gift That Keeps on Giving, the newly minted Shockwave, and the Glyph of Awesomeness.

Death Knights have Death and Decay...and er....Death and Decay. But fear not, faithful listeners! MC Grand Master Funk Daddy Sannhet has the beat you need. Competitive AoE threat gen as a DK is possible, and while not exactly easymode, it isn't far from simple either.

After your first Icy Touch (hopefully applied during the pull itself, if you've been reading), drop Death and Decay, and follow it up with Plague Strike. If you're Frost and Rime procs, now is the time for Howling Blast. When your Runes begin regenerating, follow up with Pestilence and soon thereafter, Blood Boil. As in the discussion on rotation, continue as needed, doing your best to keep your Blood Runes down and Blade Barrier up. If your DPS is focusing as they should, at this point you should be pleasantly ahead on the next target. And if they're not, there's always plenty of DPS in LFG and sharks in the Atlantic that love fresh meat. Simple and effective.



And that's today's installment of "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: Operation Dead Night". See you next time, and leave the vibrators at home. Remember, only you can prevent forest fires.

This is Sannhet, signing off.

TL;DR Version:
What, am I writing for my health? Go back and read it, ya knuckledragger!

*EDIT: It was pointed out that I linked Demoralizing Roar instead of Challenging Roar for the droods. But re-reading and seeing as Challenging Roar doesn't really offer anything in the way of threat per se anyway, it really doesn't apply, regardless. Anyway, thanks for pointing it out, I don't know what I was thinking about when I wrote it but I'm sure it'll come back to me.*