Blood DKs and tanking, o.0

[Skippyninja]

I needs help, ya'll!

What stats am I aiming for? What types of weapons should I be using? What's a good threat rotation for AoE? What's a good threat rotation for single target? Are there cookies?

[cabby]

Well I don't tank, but I believe that Stamina should be very high on your priority. The rest you'll need answers from others.

[Cartman]

Chaos posted some general class information in this forum. The DK section begins here:
http://www.zygorguides.com/forum/sho...ll=1#post45446

[nin88]

Open with icy touch then use pelsilence(whatever it's called) and use blood boil and if they don't AOE the whole fite ur good! And once ur 60 and get ur DnD open with that and do the above!

And u want stam and since they all have strgh with it that's nice
and dodge when u can(dk's once where dodge tanks so I been told) and all the other tank stats r good

[Werderx]

heh... For these types of specialty questions, you would be better off reading through specialty forums on a site that is dedicated to such topics.

Good references would be:
http://pwnwear.com/forum/tank-basics-f2.html
http://pwnwear.com/forum/death-knigh...uide-t711.html
http://elitistjerks.com/f72/t110102-...e_tanking_4_x/

In short:
in WotLK you Stacked Stamina, but that's not the case in Cata. Avoidance and Mastery are important to have now.

Dodge and Parry have the same diminishing returns now, so you want these to be as close to each other as you can so that you get the most out of your gear.

Mastery is your #1 stat.

As a DK tank, it is extremely important that you assist the healer by rotating your CDs and self healing when possible. I average between 3k and 4k Heals Per Second on myself... if that gives you any idea where you want that to be.

Other than Runestrike, Heartstrike is your biggest Threat builder. You want to balance your survivability with threat... this balance is totally up to you to find.

If you have another DK in the group, putting your diseases up isn't necessary if they can reliably keep theirs up.


For an idea on how to reforge: (pulled from pwnwear.com)
You do not need to be hit capped to tank, although having the softcap of 26 expertise is recommended. It is not entirely mandatory either if you can hold threat. Having more Hit and Expertise does however mean that less Abilities miss, more specifically Death Strike which delayed by 1 second can be an issue sometimes. Reforging is optional.

If Aiming towards Hit Cap and Expertise Soft-Caps:
Reforge Avoidance on Mastery Gear to Hit/Expertise.
Reforge Avoidance on Non-Mastery Gear to Mastery.
Excess Hit? See below.
Excess Hit but need more Expertise? Reforge excess Hit to Expertise.
Excess Expertise? See below.
Excess Expertise but need more Hit? Reforge excess Expertise to Hit.
Excess Expertise and Hit? Reforge to Mastery.
Excess Mastery? No such thing.

If aiming for highest possible Survivability:
Reforge Avoidance on Non-Mastery Gear to Mastery.
Reforge possible Hit/Expertise on Non-Mastery Gear to Mastery.
Reforge possible Hit/Expertise on Mastery Gear to Avoidance.

[imasav]

Stamina first and foremost, then go for hit, then expertise, then mastery. That's how I play it. As for getting threat:

Diseases -> DnD if up -> Pestilence -> Blood boil x2 -> Rune Strike if it procs

[Werderx]

Stamina first and foremost, then go for hit, then expertise, then mastery. That's how I play it. As for getting threat:

Diseases -> DnD if up -> Pestilence -> Blood boil x2 -> Rune Strike if it procs

You are wasting potential EH and Avoidance by soft capping your hit.

Just saying.

[dulak]

Check out the Elitist Jerks website. They'll set you right up bro. Just google them and it should be the top one.

[Skippyninja]

heh... For these types of specialty questions, you would be better off reading through specialty forums on a site that is dedicated to such topics.

Good references would be:
http://pwnwear.com/forum/tank-basics-f2.html
http://pwnwear.com/forum/death-knigh...uide-t711.html
http://elitistjerks.com/f72/t110102-...e_tanking_4_x/

In short:
in WotLK you Stacked Stamina, but that's not the case in Cata. Avoidance and Mastery are important to have now.

Dodge and Parry have the same diminishing returns now, so you want these to be as close to each other as you can so that you get the most out of your gear.

Mastery is your #1 stat.

As a DK tank, it is extremely important that you assist the healer by rotating your CDs and self healing when possible. I average between 3k and 4k Heals Per Second on myself... if that gives you any idea where you want that to be.

Other than Runestrike, Heartstrike is your biggest Threat builder. You want to balance your survivability with threat... this balance is totally up to you to find.

If you have another DK in the group, putting your diseases up isn't necessary if they can reliably keep theirs up.


For an idea on how to reforge: (pulled from pwnwear.com)
You do not need to be hit capped to tank, although having the softcap of 26 expertise is recommended. It is not entirely mandatory either if you can hold threat. Having more Hit and Expertise does however mean that less Abilities miss, more specifically Death Strike which delayed by 1 second can be an issue sometimes. Reforging is optional.

If Aiming towards Hit Cap and Expertise Soft-Caps:
Reforge Avoidance on Mastery Gear to Hit/Expertise.
Reforge Avoidance on Non-Mastery Gear to Mastery.
Excess Hit? See below.
Excess Hit but need more Expertise? Reforge excess Hit to Expertise.
Excess Expertise? See below.
Excess Expertise but need more Hit? Reforge excess Expertise to Hit.
Excess Expertise and Hit? Reforge to Mastery.
Excess Mastery? No such thing.

If aiming for highest possible Survivability:
Reforge Avoidance on Non-Mastery Gear to Mastery.
Reforge possible Hit/Expertise on Non-Mastery Gear to Mastery.
Reforge possible Hit/Expertise on Mastery Gear to Avoidance.

Loves it!