[Rho]

Tanking Tips

Because of the Burning Crusade things aren’t just Sunder, Sunder, Sunder anymore.

• Shield Slam
• Revenge
• Sunder
• Devastate
• Heroic Strike
• Cleave
• Thunderclap

The above list represents your high threat moves. They will not all be used in every situation, but throughout the course of an instance you’ll likely have a strong reason to use each one of them. What follows is how to handle a number of generic situations. They’ll act as a good refresher for seasoned tanks as well as a good starting point for new tanks, but keep in mind that this game is intended to be stimulating and as such you often have to do unconventional things for particular fights.

A note on all of the following: Revenge should be used instead of Sunder and Devastate whenever it is available.

Single Target - Low to Medium Health Rotation

1. Shield Slam
2. Sunder
3. Sunder
4. Start back at #1

The single target - low to medium health situation (most trash mobs) is all about doing quick, burst threat and as a result it looks pretty simple. These situations often leave you rage starved for most of the fight so if given the choice between sundering and waiting a second or two for Shield Slam to become available again, just wait. That being said Revenge being 2 rage (if you’ve speced properly into Focused Rage) should be done whenever available. Heroic Strike should be used sparingly at best in these situations with excess rage going towards Shield Block to keep Revenge popping up and the healers happy. Should you desire to sneak in Demoralizing Shout, Battle Shout, Thunderclap, etc then that should replace the Sunder portion of the rotation.

Single Target - High Health Rotation

1. Shield Slam
2. Thunderclap > Demoralizing Shout > Battle/Commanding Shout
3. Sunder
4. Start back at #1 until all of #2 is finished.
5. Get to 5 Sunders (one of the few times that Sunder > Revenge)
6. Shield Slam
7. Devastate
8. Devastate
9. Start back at #6 replacing #7 with Thunderclap or a Shout as is necessary to keep them up

Neither of the following are on the Global Cooldown so they should not affect the above rotation.

• Shield Block whenever available
• Heroic Strike whenever above 50 rage

The single target - high health situation (most boss fights) is all about getting to your maximum sustainable threat level. Your priority initially is to give yourself a buffer against healing aggro by Shield Slamming then getting all necessary Debuffs on the mob so that you are taking as little damage as possible (it’s going to be a long fight). Once you are in a healthy situation its time to get to 5 sunders ASAP. The armor reduction will ensure that you get the most possible threat out of your Shield Slams, Revenges and Devastates as well as helping the DPS kill the mob quicker. Most high health mobs will give you a substantial amount of rage allowing you to use Heroic Strike aggressively and often.

Multiple Targets - Low to Medium Health Rotation

1. Thunderclap
2. Shield Slam - primary target
3. Thunderclap
4. Sunder - secondary target
5. Start back at #3 until each additional target has a Sunder on it

The multiple target - low to medium health situation (common in 5 mans, some trash mobs) is all about keeping a decent amount of threat on your primary dps target while keeping the additional mobs from aggroing on your healer. If additional mobs are aggroing on anyone other than the healer, then its time to stop the run and have a chat with your dpsers about what their job is. If the mobs are extremely low on health or don’t hit particularly hard then you don’t even need to worry about holding aggro on the primary target. If you find yourself creeping above 50 rage then add some Cleaves in along with your rotation.

Multiple Targets - High Health Rotation

1. Thunderclap
2. Shield Slam - primary target
3. Demoralizing Shout
4. Commanding Shout
5. Thunderclap
6. Sunder - secondary target
7. Get to 5 Sunders - primary target (one of the few times that Sunder > Revenge)
8. Thunderclap
9. Shield Slam
10. Devastate
11. Start back at #8 replacing Thunderclap with Demoralizing Shout/Commanding Shout as is necessary to keep them up

Neither of the following are on the Global Cooldown so they should not affect the above rotation.

• Shield Block whenever available
• Cleave whenever above 50 rage

The multiple target - high health situation is almost always only two targets and should be approached like a boss fight. While you want to get your debuffs on the targets quickly, you should also be Cleaving the mobs as much as rage permits because the heals on you are going to be that much bigger. (meaning the healer is going to pull aggro much sooner than usual) Be sure your DPS is aware that they should be waiting a little longer than normal since your priority initially is to not get killed as well as to establish higher than normal threat levels on the secondary mob.

Summary

• Shield Slam for Short Fights
• Get to 5 Sunders for Long Fights
• Thunderclap is great for Multiple Target threat
• Heroic Strike and Cleave are Rage Dumps and only to be used in High Rage situations
• You can’t generate threat if you are dead.
• You will die if your healer dies.