It's not hard. After levelling my Warrior to 80 to tank it took me all of about 2 weeks for it to become as mindless and second nature as tanking on my Paladin. The only difference is you trade watching for stuff to cleanse with watching for sword and board procs, and you will need to tab around more on AoE if you have good DPSers.
Once you get really familiar with the basics and you can start putting more of the Warriors tools into play it becomes very fun to play as, but not at all difficult.
Glyphing Vigilance will help with threat, too. Might be necessary with that kind of DPS rolling with you. It never gets less complicated, but you do get used to it after a while.
Major respect for Warrior tanks now. Does it get better or is it always this instense?
No, that's pretty much how it is, although the buttons you push change depending on what you're fighting +100 other variables. But you're always pushing something. And it's always fun You'll get used to it in no time. Wait until you spell reflect a spell flinger! You'll never wanna go back.
Decomposey on
Before following any advice, opinions, or thoughts I may have expressed in the above post, be warned: I found Keven Costners "Waterworld" to be a very entertaining film.
0
SmasherStarting to get dizzyRegistered Userregular
Major respect for Warrior tanks now. Does it get better or is it always this instense?
No, that's pretty much how it is, although the buttons you push change depending on what you're fighting +100 other variables. But you're always pushing something. And it's always fun You'll get used to it in no time. Wait until you spell reflect a spell flinger! You'll never wanna go back.
Those are probably my favorite unit in the game. I like pulling two packs so I have to manage the spell reflect + threat + interrupt (assuming they don't both start casting at the same time, in which case one reflect nukes them both). I'm actually a bit sad when dps interrupts those for me.
Major respect for Warrior tanks now. Does it get better or is it always this instense?
No, that's pretty much how it is, although the buttons you push change depending on what you're fighting +100 other variables. But you're always pushing something. And it's always fun You'll get used to it in no time. Wait until you spell reflect a spell flinger! You'll never wanna go back.
Those are probably my favorite unit in the game. I like pulling two packs so I have to manage the spell reflect + threat + interrupt (assuming they don't both start casting at the same time, in which case one reflect nukes them both). I'm actually a bit sad when dps interrupts those for me.
I am to. I see the cast bar vanish and I'm all: Awwwwwww
Decomposey on
Before following any advice, opinions, or thoughts I may have expressed in the above post, be warned: I found Keven Costners "Waterworld" to be a very entertaining film.
I do find it funny that when tanking on my level 44 Alliance warrior (well, at several points while leveling that far too), I kept getting asked who my main was and why I didn't have heirlooms :P
(I have a level 80 Horde warrior I used exclusively for tanking).
Don't open with SW, open with TC then SW. Glyph cleave for good times.
Yea, only SW when you have enough rage to fill those 5 seconds of not getting hit with attacks. IF you SW too early you will be rage starved and DPS will pull off of you..
How are you handling Heroic Strike/Cleave? I have my Heroic Stike bound to mouse wheel down and Cleave to mouse wheel up. In single target fights I constantly scroll down, in AE fights I constantly scroll up. I only have white attacks when I have no rage.
Other Fun stuff to reflect
-Phantom Blast from FoS Boss (20k damage! woo!)
-Polymorph
-Typhoon
- The Frost liches in ICC Blood wing cast an AE knockback on their target that you can spell reflect and will send them flying across the room and it is hilarious.
It makes me sad that while I can singlehandedly ensure that I never take damage from Phantom Blast (alternating shield bash and spell reflect), the reflects don't count towards the achievement :?
If I'm running a random and get Old Kingdom, I look forward to the trash packs with the Spell Flingers. I've even asked DPS not to interrupt them, because they'll practically one-shot themselves if I can reflect Shadow Blast. Sadly, Spell Reflect funtimes are the only good thing I can think of regarding Old Kingdom. :?
On an unrelated note, I think I had my finest moment ever as a Warrior in Arathi Basin this weekend. Fighting at the Lumber Mill, it became clear to my Paladin target that his group was going to lose, so he bubbled and jumped off the cliff. Shattering Throw hit him before he hit the ground. Made my day!
Don't open with SW, open with TC then SW. Glyph cleave for good times.
Yea, only SW when you have enough rage to fill those 5 seconds of not getting hit with attacks. IF you SW too early you will be rage starved and DPS will pull off of you..
How are you handling Heroic Strike/Cleave? I have my Heroic Stike bound to mouse wheel down and Cleave to mouse wheel up. In single target fights I constantly scroll down, in AE fights I constantly scroll up. I only have white attacks when I have no rage.
Other Fun stuff to reflect
-Phantom Blast from FoS Boss (20k damage! woo!)
-Polymorph
-Typhoon
- The Frost liches in ICC Blood wing cast an AE knockback on their target that you can spell reflect and will send them flying across the room and it is hilarious.
My pacing is:
- Charge
- Immediate TC
- I can either wait a beat, or I can immediately SW, depending on if I need rage
- Try to keep from shield slamming at this point if I can (might need the threat through)
- Time Shield Block for right when Shockwave wears off
- Shield Slam (this when you have SB up is a big threat gain)
- Save Cleave/HS for 80+ rage
- Priority is Shield Slam, Revenge, then Devastate.
- Priority is Shield Slam, Revenge, then Devastate.
Maybe it's gear level dependent, but isn't Revenge higher damage/threat than Shield Slam? Even when I have shield block active I feel like Revenge hits harder, and this would be especially true if it's hitting two targets.
I tend to prioritize Revenge over Shield Slam, unless I'm in a low range situation in which case SnB procs > Revenge.
Edit: I guess Shield Slam is higher base threat, not sure how it works out overall.
- Priority is Shield Slam, Revenge, then Devastate.
Maybe it's gear level dependent, but isn't Revenge higher damage/threat than Shield Slam? Even when I have shield block active I feel like Revenge hits harder, and this would be especially true if it's hitting two targets.
I tend to prioritize Revenge over Shield Slam, unless I'm in a low range situation in which case SnB procs > Revenge.
Edit: I guess Shield Slam is higher base threat, not sure how it works out overall.
I think the idea is that because of Sword 'n Board, it's better to hit Shield Slam first, then you got a chance that Revenge will refresh it.
On the other hand, I usually hit Revenge first too, because it's on a timer and I'd rather hit it as soon as I can, whereas Shield Slam ain't going anywhere.
I also have this really bad and stupid habit where, after getting everything in front of me and Shockwaving everything... I'll go ahead and hit Shield Block. I know it's completely stupid and all I'm doing is wasting about 4 seconds of block time. I've no idea where I picked this stupid bit of muscle memory up.
The Wolfman on
"The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
- Priority is Shield Slam, Revenge, then Devastate.
Maybe it's gear level dependent, but isn't Revenge higher damage/threat than Shield Slam? Even when I have shield block active I feel like Revenge hits harder, and this would be especially true if it's hitting two targets.
I tend to prioritize Revenge over Shield Slam, unless I'm in a low range situation in which case SnB procs > Revenge.
Edit: I guess Shield Slam is higher base threat, not sure how it works out overall.
The Wolfman has it right--I like keeping SS on cooldown as much as possible to get the most benefit out of SNB. If I Revenge then Shield Slam, I can only rely on Devastates for SNB. If I SS first, there's a chance for Revenge to proc it the next time. I've actually had sequences of SS, Revenge, SNB, SS, Devastate, SNB, SS before, and it's awesome.
I don't know if it's been talked about in this thread, but I finally got around to installing Tidy Plates/Threat Plates. It's been phenomenal for AE tanking since I installed it - Being able to visually see if you're starting to lose aggro on any of the mobs in the pack just by looking at the nameplates is great.
SmasherStarting to get dizzyRegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
Yeah, it's been great for me. It's a bit of a pain when you've got huge groups and wanna select one particular guy based on his location, but alt-v takes care of that easily enough.
On an unrelated note, I think I had my finest moment ever as a Warrior in Arathi Basin this weekend. Fighting at the Lumber Mill, it became clear to my Paladin target that his group was going to lose, so he bubbled and jumped off the cliff. Shattering Throw hit him before he hit the ground. Made my day!
It doesn't matter when levelling, BT is based on AP and you wont have WW for ages and even then it isn't preferable to BT when soloing in spite of it's better damage because the BT healing is super useful.
Major respect for Warrior tanks now. Does it get better or is it always this instense?
No, that's pretty much how it is, although the buttons you push change depending on what you're fighting +100 other variables. But you're always pushing something. And it's always fun You'll get used to it in no time. Wait until you spell reflect a spell flinger! You'll never wanna go back.
Major respect for Warrior tanks now. Does it get better or is it always this instense?
No, that's pretty much how it is, although the buttons you push change depending on what you're fighting +100 other variables. But you're always pushing something. And it's always fun You'll get used to it in no time. Wait until you spell reflect a spell flinger! You'll never wanna go back.
Also, lich slap is a spell. Charge them after.
Fun times are had.
I squealed like a little girl when I finally pulled that off. The cast time on it is so quick, you usually don't get a chance to reflect it. But when you do, fun times had by all.
And it looks like the talent trees have been tweaked again. Every time they do, a Prot spec gets easier and easier to make. Blood Craze is now at the top of the Fury tree. Awesome!
The Wolfman on
"The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
Major respect for Warrior tanks now. Does it get better or is it always this instense?
No, that's pretty much how it is, although the buttons you push change depending on what you're fighting +100 other variables. But you're always pushing something. And it's always fun You'll get used to it in no time. Wait until you spell reflect a spell flinger! You'll never wanna go back.
Also, lich slap is a spell. Charge them after.
Fun times are had.
I squealed like a little girl when I finally pulled that off. The cast time on it is so quick, you usually don't get a chance to reflect it. But when you do, fun times had by all.
And it looks like the talent trees have been tweaked again. Every time they do, a Prot spec gets easier and easier to make. Blood Craze is now at the top of the Fury tree. Awesome!
It makes me wish that a playable class had the spell. Lumber Mill on Arathi Basin?
Man Prot looks even better in the new beta build now that Blood Craze is tier 1, I can take the two T1 survivability talents from Arms and Fury as well as everything I want in Protection and still have two points free.
Hooray! Can't decide between Cruelty or Blitz, though. I guess if Blitz doesn't cause problems positioning mobs and we don't need the extra threat from Cruelty it'll be a no brainer.
edit: also turns out Slam can now be cast when moving, yay.
Is there a reason why so many of you open with TC instead of Shockwave?
Or use TC ever for that matter?
TC has a short cooldown, so by using it first you can do TC, SW, x, x, TC instead of SW, TC, x, x, x, TC where the x's are non-AOE attacks (you'll be Cleaving all the time through both rotations). So you can get more AOE into the opening period, where you're most likely to lose mobs, by using TC first.
Not using TC at all will just result in all your DPS dying, which is usually a bad thing but some of them do deserve it.
Most packs aren't so nice that all of them are directly in front of you at the start. It usually takes a few seconds and/or a little bit of moving to get them set up. Better to hit everybody with TC over hitting half with Shockwave.
The Wolfman on
"The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
I'd be willing to try it, but considering the tendency for pug DPS to open up the absolute second I charge, waiting a breath to reposition for SW will peel someone off. And we're really not rage starved at this point.
You'd be better off using TC then waiting to reposition for SW rather than it missing someone. If the DPS do pull while you've moving backwards (in the GCD between the initial TC and SW) the mob will end up running further into your SW cone anyway.
People use TC because it hits everything, is non-directional, and is on a shorter cooldown. You also continue to get rage after TCing.
If you open with shockwave, a few things can happen
1) You miss 1+ mobs because they weren't positioned right yet, so you wasted an opportunity
2) Mobs start eating the overeager dps while you wait for the mobs to get in position
3) You hit every mob, and get rage solely from autoattacks until it wears off.
The TC debuff = less rage argument I've never heard before, but in an AE situation it's really a non issue. TC is one of the most important tools we have in AE (i.e, 4+ mobs, and this happens plenty in Wrath heroics) situations. I've never seen anyone but you advocate not using it.
We also tried Thunder Clap with a Consecrate-like talent, but I'm not sure we like that either. At the moment we are thinking of nerfing any of the really passive AEs, including Swipe, Death and Decay, Damage Shield and Consecrate. All of those abilities (well, maybe not Damage Shield) would still be usable, but they would be more situational.
The bottom line is that we think all tanks need to be able to trivially handle the massive adds or straggling adds situations easily, or none of them should be able to.
God, I am sick as shit of them making everything "situational." That means I now have like 5-10 abilities which are completely worthless except whenever this contrived situation comes up.
notmetalenough on
Samael the Radiant Faced-- Official Naming, Going Nuclear, Click on the Quest, Make She Run and Guild Measurements Officer - Clawshrimp & Co, Draenor-US
God, I am sick as shit of them making everything "situational." That means I now have like 5-10 abilities which are completely worthless except whenever this contrived situation comes up.
Yeah, hitting 123123123123 all the time and never having to think about when to use things is way better.
There might be disconnects between what you, Blizzard, and I think of as situational.
Edit: Personally I find it fun when you have abilities that go unused a lot of the time, but can be really cool when you get an opportunity to use them. Things like Enslave Demon, Mind Control, elemental Totems, etc. I think removing them just waters down the classes, and that's not really fun for anyone.
God, I am sick as shit of them making everything "situational." That means I now have like 5-10 abilities which are completely worthless except whenever this contrived situation comes up.
What's the alternative? In a game where anything not optimal is worthless it's hard not to have these kind of abilities.
Posts
Once you get really familiar with the basics and you can start putting more of the Warriors tools into play it becomes very fun to play as, but not at all difficult.
No, that's pretty much how it is, although the buttons you push change depending on what you're fighting +100 other variables. But you're always pushing something. And it's always fun
Those are probably my favorite unit in the game. I like pulling two packs so I have to manage the spell reflect + threat + interrupt (assuming they don't both start casting at the same time, in which case one reflect nukes them both). I'm actually a bit sad when dps interrupts those for me.
I am to. I see the cast bar vanish and I'm all: Awwwwwww
(I have a level 80 Horde warrior I used exclusively for tanking).
Yea, only SW when you have enough rage to fill those 5 seconds of not getting hit with attacks. IF you SW too early you will be rage starved and DPS will pull off of you..
How are you handling Heroic Strike/Cleave? I have my Heroic Stike bound to mouse wheel down and Cleave to mouse wheel up. In single target fights I constantly scroll down, in AE fights I constantly scroll up. I only have white attacks when I have no rage.
Other Fun stuff to reflect
-Phantom Blast from FoS Boss (20k damage! woo!)
-Polymorph
-Typhoon
- The Frost liches in ICC Blood wing cast an AE knockback on their target that you can spell reflect and will send them flying across the room and it is hilarious.
It makes me sad that while I can singlehandedly ensure that I never take damage from Phantom Blast (alternating shield bash and spell reflect), the reflects don't count towards the achievement :?
On an unrelated note, I think I had my finest moment ever as a Warrior in Arathi Basin this weekend. Fighting at the Lumber Mill, it became clear to my Paladin target that his group was going to lose, so he bubbled and jumped off the cliff. Shattering Throw hit him before he hit the ground. Made my day!
My pacing is:
- Charge
- Immediate TC
- I can either wait a beat, or I can immediately SW, depending on if I need rage
- Try to keep from shield slamming at this point if I can (might need the threat through)
- Time Shield Block for right when Shockwave wears off
- Shield Slam (this when you have SB up is a big threat gain)
- Save Cleave/HS for 80+ rage
- Priority is Shield Slam, Revenge, then Devastate.
Maybe it's gear level dependent, but isn't Revenge higher damage/threat than Shield Slam? Even when I have shield block active I feel like Revenge hits harder, and this would be especially true if it's hitting two targets.
I tend to prioritize Revenge over Shield Slam, unless I'm in a low range situation in which case SnB procs > Revenge.
Edit: I guess Shield Slam is higher base threat, not sure how it works out overall.
I think the idea is that because of Sword 'n Board, it's better to hit Shield Slam first, then you got a chance that Revenge will refresh it.
On the other hand, I usually hit Revenge first too, because it's on a timer and I'd rather hit it as soon as I can, whereas Shield Slam ain't going anywhere.
I also have this really bad and stupid habit where, after getting everything in front of me and Shockwaving everything... I'll go ahead and hit Shield Block. I know it's completely stupid and all I'm doing is wasting about 4 seconds of block time. I've no idea where I picked this stupid bit of muscle memory up.
The Wolfman has it right--I like keeping SS on cooldown as much as possible to get the most benefit out of SNB. If I Revenge then Shield Slam, I can only rely on Devastates for SNB. If I SS first, there's a chance for Revenge to proc it the next time. I've actually had sequences of SS, Revenge, SNB, SS, Devastate, SNB, SS before, and it's awesome.
That is badass
e: actually, I'm not sure what the rule of thumb is for weapon speed in fury
Also, lich slap is a spell. Charge them after.
Fun times are had.
I squealed like a little girl when I finally pulled that off. The cast time on it is so quick, you usually don't get a chance to reflect it. But when you do, fun times had by all.
And it looks like the talent trees have been tweaked again. Every time they do, a Prot spec gets easier and easier to make. Blood Craze is now at the top of the Fury tree. Awesome!
It makes me wish that a playable class had the spell. Lumber Mill on Arathi Basin?
Hooray! Can't decide between Cruelty or Blitz, though. I guess if Blitz doesn't cause problems positioning mobs and we don't need the extra threat from Cruelty it'll be a no brainer.
edit: also turns out Slam can now be cast when moving, yay.
Or use TC ever for that matter?
Not using TC at all will just result in all your DPS dying, which is usually a bad thing but some of them do deserve it.
Almost all the packs in WotLK are tiny, so shockwave>tab devastates/revenge should pin anything to you.
The trash packs that aren't small are why you take paladins to raids. (hurdur two buttons dur)
If you open with shockwave, a few things can happen
1) You miss 1+ mobs because they weren't positioned right yet, so you wasted an opportunity
2) Mobs start eating the overeager dps while you wait for the mobs to get in position
3) You hit every mob, and get rage solely from autoattacks until it wears off.
The TC debuff = less rage argument I've never heard before, but in an AE situation it's really a non issue. TC is one of the most important tools we have in AE (i.e, 4+ mobs, and this happens plenty in Wrath heroics) situations. I've never seen anyone but you advocate not using it.
Yeah, hitting 123123123123 all the time and never having to think about when to use things is way better.
There might be disconnects between what you, Blizzard, and I think of as situational.
Edit: Personally I find it fun when you have abilities that go unused a lot of the time, but can be really cool when you get an opportunity to use them. Things like Enslave Demon, Mind Control, elemental Totems, etc. I think removing them just waters down the classes, and that's not really fun for anyone.