Dear WoW Community,
I have learned the subtle nuance of tanking with a warrior through my noble adventures in the World of Warcraft. You may sometime feel like you are, as a war tank, a delicate flower who doesn't like being hit too much or he dies quite quickly. Oftentimes frustrated War tanks will ask, "Why did I die, when the pally was able to survive much longer?" The response may be long, and often complicated. This guide will help to point out what the war is good at when tanking, and how to take advantage of this so as to avoid what the war is not good at when tanking so he doesn't die. Now, to begin the guide:
Section 1. Most Useful skills
Devastate- Commonly used to generate threat, decrease enemy armor, and deal damage. Armor effect does not stack with other armor reducing effects like fairie fire.
Shield Block- Use whenever it is up to give the War the highest physical damage mitigation in WoW rivaling the druid's.
Shield Slam- Highest damage attack, causes the most threat.
Cleave- AoE damage to 3 targets.
Charge- Charge and stun an enemy up to 25 yards away.
Heroic Leap- Leap up to 40 yards in any direction.
Revenge- Almost as much damage as shield slam and procs from commonly occurring blocks.
Taunt- Forces single enemy within 30 yards to attack caster.
Shockwave- 4 second AoE stun with 17 second CD (with glyph).
Concussive Blow- 5 second single target stun with 30 second CD.
Rend- Bleed DoT.
Thunder Clap- AoE damage and slowing effect, may be talented to spread rend to all effected targets.
Section 2. Tanking Mechanics
Physical Damage
Armor mitigates damage before it even shows up in the war's combat log. This means that any % of damage from armor will decrease damage taken by the greatest amount compared to any other type of mitigation because it comes into effect first.
After armor is accounted for, the damage taken will show up in your combat log. If you took 100 damage, and your armor was 60%, your combat log shows ÔÇÿErudax's melee swing hits %n for 40 damage'
This remaining damage after armor is what your block is applied to, independently of any absorb. For example, in the above case where Erudax hit %n for 100 damage with 60% armor mitigation, with a 30% block and a 5 damage absorb, the log will show ÔÇÿErudax's melee swing hits %n for 23 (12 blocked) (5 absorbed).
Elemental Damage
The equation for elemental damage definitely has some sort of probability factor included, unlike physical damage. For example, if you have 24.92% shadow resist, you may resist 30% of the damage stated to be dealt in your combat log. Furthermore, armor and block have no effect on elemental damage. We do know that absorb and resist take effect independently of one another. We also note that if all damage is absorbed, there is no block or resist, regardless of the type of damage.
Implications
The war is able to use a high armor and a very high block chance to reduce even the strongest of melee attacks to 10-22k per hit even on the most powerful bosses. This will make the warrior the strongest tank, rivaling the druid, for physical damage, not accounting for class abilities but only for gear. As a warrior, take advantage of this. Stack a massive amount of mastery so that you block all attacks by 60%.
This is how your mitigation stats function during combat:
You need 102.4% to push white hits from bosses off the table
With shield block this requires:
5% default enemy miss chance
11% dodge
11% parry
25% block from shield block
50.4% block from gear
Without shield block:
5% enemy miss chance
15% dodge
15% parry
67.4% block from gear
Stats In order of priority
1. Enemy miss chance
2. Dodge/parry
3. Critical Block
4. Block
5. Hit
6. Crit
The ÔÇÿdie' is filled in order of priority. For example, if you have a 5% miss chance, 1-5 on a D100 (or D102.4) are filled with miss. You table crit, and now hit, by pushing them off of the die, by filling up all 102.4 sides of the die with stats of a higher priority such as a combination of dodge, parry, enemy miss, and shield block. For each point of block that is pushed off the table (greater than 100% total mitigation), a point of critical block is awarded. It is possible to critically block, dodge, parry, or have the enemy miss on nearly every single attack like my frostwing horde war that is ilvl 360.
Section 3. Crowd Control
It is your responsibility to interrupt the mobs, as tank. Like in TotT, when those nagas are destroying your group, don't get mad at the healer for failing to splash heal through chain lightning. You have so many interrupts at your disposal as a warrior. You have an AoE stun with shockwave. You have a single target stun with Concussive blow. You have an interrupt (now after the patch) with pummel. You have a silence if you talent heroic throw, 2 points, id highly recommend this. Glyph intimidating shout so that you can area fear without making mobs run all over the room. Lastly, you can heroic leap away, and charge back in as a last ditch stun which can hit a mob almost anywhere in the room no matter where they spawn, or get feared to, etc. This can be very valuable in a fight like Erudax in GB, when he spawns mobs on the opposite side of the room that need to be stunned and burned or they hatch the eggs which wipes the entire group (assuming you don't get thrown into the lava first).
Section 4. Generating Threat
This is the hardest part of gearing your war. You will need 26 expertise and the 2 set bonus from your tier in order to get that adhesive stick with shield slam that we come to expect from a cataclysm tank. Don't feel bad if you can't hold threat off someone (probably a mage) with good gear and a sweet dps rotation. You have to cap your expertise if you want to have any hope of holding the threat with raw damage. In such situations, you must rely on your abilities. This means use the taunt, use the stuns (especially a glyphed shockwave), and use the sweet 8 second AoE taunt although it has a long cd and isn't perfect. Also, Hold the Line talent increases crit chance by 10% following parry, so with a high parry the war can get a nice boost to threat.
This brings us to one way in which the war is superior to the pally. The war can drop his mitigation CDs, which have 5 and 3 minute CDs, of Shield Wall and Enraged Regeneration (I use Enraged Regeneration with Last Stand for a little extra boost). This gives the war temporarily mitigation of spell and physical by +40%, and regenerates like 40% of a boosted max health bar which is like an incredibly powerful HoT. This pretty much makes you invincible for 10 seconds. However, unlike the pally bubble, you can still deal just as much damage while you are so protected and generate threat while dealing damage. A pally on the other hand, finds that he must rely on his spammable taunt, quickly falls off the threat table, and is no longer able to deal damage for want of real damage induced threat which can put the raid behind on those pesky enrage timers like Heroic Halfus. More on pally spell damage in my next guide.
Section 5. The War's Archenemy Nemesis - The Pally
So why, you might ask, do so many guilds prefer their bubble popping pallys to the raw defensive power of the war? The answer is the pallys' many mitigation abilities. They can use all sorts of moves which put them above, temporarily, what the war can mitigate with no use of abilities. And since the war suffers the curse of long cooldowns, he often depends on his gear alone. In such a case, even the best war will get into a situation as follows: take 1 physical hit which after critical block hits for 18k, 1 elemental hit which hits him for like 44k, and directly after another physical attack hits for 18k, and the war is down 80k health before the healer can cast bubble. In such a case the pally can throw up a mitigation move which takes the damage down to say, 60k, a much more manageable amount, or heal him-self with a flash heal. The war can counter this with his superior mobility. If he is keeping track of his health bar and anticipates the enemy spell, than during this phase he can heroic leap backwards (being careful not to move out of range of the healer) and kite the mob. He can always charge back in if you don't want to move the mob too much. This prevents the war from taking physical damage for one or two melee swings and allows the healer the time to heal him back up even though the war didn't have any defensive cool downs to spare. This is why some healers claim the war to be ÔÇÿspiky' in taking damage. It is not because of his lack of block, but because of his lack of spell damage mitigation abilities.
Section 6. Some Raid Strategies
Tactic One: Off Tank
The war has the strongest cool downs in the game. 40% mitigation, 40% health regen, they are really big CDs. If the war stays at the top position of threat along with another tank, than the MT can tank for the majority of the time, while the War can establish threat during the periods of the highest damage and blow his massive CDs, then allow the MT to take over again while the war's CDs recover.
Tactic Two: Pre-Heal
If you have very geared healers, they can stack enough HoTs, cast enough instants, and anticipate enemy elemental abilities well enough to top off the war during those one or two critical periods that it takes for his CDs to come up and his mitigation to become legendary once more.
Section 7. Talents
Must Take:
Toughness - Armor
Shield Mastery - Block
Hold the Line - Damage/threat and Block
Warbringer - Mobility
Bastion of Defense - Crit mitigation and damage/threat
Devastate - Sunder armor ability
Improved Revenge - Damage/threat with Revenge
Heavy Repercussions - Damage/threat with Shield Slam
Sword and Board - Damage/threat with Devastate
Shockwave - CC and damage/threat
Field Dressing (arms) - Amplifies healing received
Cruelty (fury) - Damage/threat with Shield Slam
Could Take (depending on battle):
Blood and Thunder - AoE damage/threat
Shield Specialization - Generate rage on block. A must have for 5 mans and battles where you don't take a lot of damage.
Gag Order - CC
Concussion Blow - CC
Last Stand - Increases max health, provides temporary health, and increases healing from enraged regeneration. Short CD.
Thunderstruck - AoE damage/threat with shockwave
Vigilance - Off Tank or 2 Tanks move refreshes taunt CD when others take damage
War Academy - Damage/threat with devastate
Incite - Damage/threat with heroic strike
Piercing Howl - Snare. With the warriors increased mobility, can make him invincible against most mobs, but not against bosses. I consider this to be a Party Trick.
Do Not Take:
Battle Trance - Almost no fury
Blood Craze - Almost no healing
Section 8. Glyphs
There are a variety of glyphs available to the war in order to enhance his unique skill set. The following are a few of the most useful ones for tanking:
PRIME GLYPH
Devastate
Shield Slam
Revenge
MAJOR GLYPH
Cleaving
Piercing Howl
Resonating Power
Shockwave
Spell Reflection
Thunder Clap
Heroic Throw
Long Charge
Rapid Charge
Sunder Armor
MINOR GLYPH
Battle
Berserker Rage
Command
Demoralizing Shout
Intimidating Shout
Section 9. Gem Stat Priority
The war benefits from a variety of stats. It is often beneficial to take your set bonus. Here is the rank of priority, and the best gems for each slot:
1. Stamina
2. Mastery
3. Expertise
4. Parry
5. Dodge
6. Hit
7. Strength
Red: Precise (expertise), Flashing (parry)
Orange: Keen (expertise/mastery), Fine (parry/mastery), Resolute (expertise/dodge),
Yellow: Fractured (mastery), Subtle (dodge)
Green: Puissant (mastery/stamina)
Blue: Solid (stamina)
Purple: Guardian's (stamina/expertise), Defender's (stamina/parry), Accurate (expertise/hit)
Section 10. Gear Guide
Many epics can be gained through rep farm, commendation farm, crafting and trade. Others must be acquired from raid bosses. Good luck!
Head
Daybreaker Helm (359/372) - Valiona and Theralion, BoT
Bio-optic Kill Shades (359) - Engineering Craftable
Helm of Setesh (346) - Setesh, HoO
Neck
Stoneheart Necklace (378) - Justice
Ironstar Amulet (359/372) - Atramedes, BWD
Elementium Guardian (346) - Jewelcrafter Craftable
Shoulder
Tier Shoulder (359/372) - Cho'Gal, BoT
Pauldrons of Edward the Odd (359) - BoE World Drop
Earthshape Pauldrons (346) - Drahga Shadowburner, GB
Cloak
Wrap of the Great Turtle (359) - Hyjal Rep
Zom's Electrostatic Cloak (359) - BoE World Drop
Billowing Cape (346) - Asaad, VP
Twilight Dragonscale Cloak (346) - Leatherworking Craftable
Chest
Chestguard of the Molten Giant (378) - Justice
Tier Chest (372) - halfus, BoT
Battleplate of the Apocalypse (359/372) - Cho'Gal, BoT
Earthen Chestguard (359) - Justice
Hardened Elementium Hauberk (359) - Blacksmith Craftable
Beauty's Plate (346) - Beauty, BRC
Bracer
Bracer of Regal Force (378) - Justice
Bracer of Impossible Strength (359/372) - Halfus, BoT
Sandguard Bracers (359) - Ramkahen Rep
Shackles of Undeath (346) - Lord Godfrey, SFK
Glove
Handguards of the Molten Giant (378) - Justice
Tier Gloves (372) - Magmaw, BWD
Gravitational Pull (359/372) - Ascendant Council
Earthen Handgaurds (359) - Justice
Fingers of Light (346) - Rajh, HoO
Belt
Hardened Elementium Girdle (359) - Blacksmith Craftable
Sanddune Belt (346) - Lockmaw and Augh, Tol'Vir
Legs
Legguards of the Molten Giant (378) - Justice
Tier Legs (372) - Meloriak, BWD
Leggaurds of the Unseeing (359/372) - Atramedes, BWD
Earthen Legguards (359) - Justice
Triton Legplates (346) - Ozumat, TotT
Boots
Massacre Treads (359/372) - Chimaeron, BWD
Molten Tantrum Boots (359/372) - Magmaw, BWD
Boots of Sullen Rock (359) - Dragonmaw Clan Rep
Ring
Bile-O-Tron Nut (359/372) - Chimaeron, BWD
Red Rock Band (346) - Ramkahen Rep
Ring
Ring of the Battle Anthem (359) - Justice
Ring of Three Lights (346) - Siamat, Tol'Vir
Phosphorescent Ring (346) - Corborus, SC
Trinket
Vial of Stolen Memories (359/372) - Valiona and Theralion, BoT
Lifebound Alchemist Stone (359) - Alchemist Craftable
Leaden Despair (346) - High Priestess Azil, SC
Trinket
Symbiotic Worm (359/372) - Magmaw, BWD
Mirror of Broken Images (359) - Tol Barad Commendation
Porcelain Crab (346) - Erunak Stonespeaker & Mindbender Gur'Sha, TotT
Wep
Mace of Acrid Death (359/372) - Meloriak, BWD
Soul Blade (359) - BoE, BoT
Axe of the Eclipse (346) - Altairus, VP
Elementium Fang (346) - High Priestess Azil, SC
Shield
Blockade's Lost Shield (359) - BoE World Drop
Elementium Earthguard (359) - Blacksmith Craftable
Shield of the Iron Maiden (346) - Rom'Ogg Bonecrusher, BRC
Ranged
Deflecting Star (378) - Justice
Thundercall (346) - Asaad, VP
SOON TO COME:
The War's Beastly Half-Brother, the Druid
The War's Dark Companion, the DK
Please feel free to contribute comments for edits. Send me a message over the forums or leave a post on this thread.
Please do not copy any part of this guide for commercial use. If you copy for non-commercial use please give the author credit.
