Generating "The Threat"

[Ghost]

At Xav:

I know this is a bit off topic but ill ask this 1st up, i <3 ur UI and a list ur set up would b awsome, mines rly messy atm (rly need to clean it up )

Currently i use item rack and i pretty much have a threat set for trash that consists of capped hit and FULL capped expertise with the other slots filled in with max Block Value gear. Most trash i can hit over 1400TPS, havent tried it on any bosses yet.

For general tanking / farm stuff i just wear most of my BT/Hyjal gear coz of the great hit coupled with some pretty great stats.

But on fights when/if healers are strained i sub out alot of gear for gear extremely high on avoidance/mitigation. In my full dodge gear my TPS pushes 900, but thats keeping shield block up constantly.

[Hypatia]

If I am pressing with mouse I do not have any problems to move and do nice tps.
No ideea why some are saying that you can not have success pressing abilities with mouse.
I mean assuming that all are same is not quite true - everyone should try and see what style is best for him.

People say that you can't succeed with a mouse-clicking style because of fights like Anub'rekhan in Naxxramas. Personally, I think that the movement requirements on Fathom-Lord Karathress are enough to make mouse movement a skill you absolutely need (although unlike Anub'rekhan, I can easily imagine someone doing Karathress with the keyboard.)

The problem with the Anub'rekhan fight is that you have to be in a position to move away from the boss instantly, and move in a semi-circle while remaining ahead of the boss. Otherwise, you don't outrange the aura, which is bad bad news. And typically, people use Aspect of the Pack to get speed on that, which means getting hit is also really super bad.

On Karathress, the turn-and-run aspect isn't quite as urgent. But still, using mouse movement means you can strafe-kite Naj'entus while continuing to use occasional shield block and aggro moves while you do it. I think this one is doable with the keyboard, with some preparation and practice, but I think it's probably a heck of a lot easier for people who use the mouse to move.


Oh, and ==Xav means "What Xav said".

[HankTehTank]

Hi, Xav thanks for posting this great guide - as a n00b tank I find it very informative. I have a n00b question. A lot of times in non-boss fights the tank runs into a crowd and is responsible for holding aggro on multiple mobs correct? How does the ss/rev/dev/dev rotation fit in here? Can someone give me some best practice hints of initiating combat against multiple mobs? I have become pretty adept at using the keyboad for targetting/attacking and the mouse strictly for moving so it's more a matter of what than how that I'm asking about... e.g. do I tab target one guy ss/rev/dev/dev him and then move onto the next guy? rinse/repeat?

Thanks a lot!!

[7echno7im]

I was wondering if people could list their keybindings and maybe explain why they have it that way. I am looking to rebuild and rebind my keyboard. thanks.

[Xav]

For multi mob tanking, when it's 3+, make sure you're always using Thunder Clap on every cooldown. When it's on cooldown, just throw devastates/revenges/shield slams on the surrounding mobs, and on the main "focus target" if there is one, use your biggest threat moves on that. My preferred method is to thunder clap all the mobs, and use my revenge cooldowns on the extra mobs, and focus devastates/shield slams on the main target. Might also have to devastate the extra mobs because revenge has a cooldown.

I've also got a thread with my UI in it (although it is outdated, it may still work) in the UI section of this website. "Xav's UI"

[Xav]

Updated with item links/new items, and a brief mention of expertise levels needed for 5 mans/25 mans and such.

[7echno7im]

can you list your mappings for 1-0 or even 1-= if you have it mapped that way?

Thanks

[Xav]

F1 - Battle stance
F2 - Defensive Stance
F3 - Berserker Stance
1 - Taunt
2 - Devastate
3 - Heroic
4 - Shield Slam
5 - Shield Block
6 - Revenge
` (Tilde) - Berserker Rage
Shift 1 - AOE Taunt
Shift 2 - Inspect (lol)
Shift 3 - Demoralizing Shout
Shift 4 - Battle Shout
Shift 5 - Mount
Ctrl 4 - Commanding Shout
G - Bandage
Shift+G - Last Stand
Ctrl+G - Shield Wall (rarely use hotkey due to GCD restriction)
Ctrl+F - Conc blow
Z - Shield Bash
R - Also Demoralizing Shout if tanking, otherwise Piercing Howl if PvP specced
F - Thunder Clap, otherwise Hamstring
H - Target Self (for bandages, or for turning off attack without reaching for escape)
Shift+H - Intimidating Shout
J - Racial (Perception)
T - Attack
Shift+T - Intervene

When in Berserker Stance, 1 changes to Intercept, other basic 1-6 keys change too for offensive abilities
When in Battle Stance, 1 changes to Charge

[Sparkarn]

Really nice guide, really puts things into perspective, I'll be following this guide now. As expertise rating got introduced recently and I have just now begin to realise the importance of it, I'll be stacking it along with my hit rating from now on.

[Canadianpimp]

Just wanted to give my thanks to Xav for writing this. The analysis of GCDs and ability usage from WWS really helped me evaluate my performance.

[Dragaan]

I have something pertaining to the guide that I'd like to throw in. I have heard from a lot of tanks (myself included), who don't really like the "standard" way to keybind abilities. It may be my inexperience with computer games as a whole, but I just dont like using the left side to move/bind. I have always used the arrow keys on the lower-right side of the keyboard to move. When I decided to start keybinding all my tanking abilities, I bound them to the 6 keys that are just above those arrow keys. This gives you 2 rows of 3 keys each. My main/spam abilities are on the lower keys (which my fingers would normal hover over), and "oh shit" abilities or longer-cooldown abilities I have bound to the upper keys. I also bound "tab target" and a few other key abilities/items to the 7,4,1 keys on the right number pad. I find this setup really easy to use and I really have never had any problems. The only "downside" to this setup I guess is that you still have to mouseclick abilities while moving or positioning a boss (once I'm done moving, I can get right back onto my keybindings in a split-second). In the majority of most ppl's situations, this isnt a huge deal. Figured this might help some ppl if they are thinking of an alternative way to bind their abilities.

edit: I also use right ctrl for my vent push-to-talk key and 0 on the right num pad to jump.

[Newezo]

I want to learn how is the better form to generate aggro at 2-4 trash mobs?

[adamb10]

So I was tanking BT trash today and I tried to include a heroic strike inplace of the regular melee swing and saw my TPS boost to 1100-1300 from 800. Was this just a coincidence or is that permanent?

[aodin]

This is my first time posting here. I am finding some really good info...thanks. Anyways, my questions is about heroic strike. I noticed in your key spamming that you start off with 3 of them instead of devestate. Am I reading this wrong? I realize HS has poor rage to threat ratio so that is why I ask. I also like your whole user interface. Was just wondering what the name is so I can look it up.

[anachron]

i got a question:

we all know that TPS is gear/rotation/luck/latency dependant.

But... is it also computer performance dependant?

I was wondering this cause, with my standard tanking set (3xT6, etc. armory:The World of Warcraft Armory) i don't see a very strong TPS generation (600-1200 TPS, average about 800-900) in MH/BT.

My comp. is an AMD64 3200+ with a Radeon X1950 (AGP slot) 2Gb Ram.

[Destruyen]

I have 4 pieces of Tier 4 (Helm, Shoulders, Gloves, and Pants) and my rotation is the same except I switch Revenge and SS around. My rotation is Revenge/SS/Devastate/Devastate. I don't know if I'm right in doing this or if it even matters...

[hbombs]

I have 4 pieces of Tier 4 (Helm, Shoulders, Gloves, and Pants) and my rotation is the same except I switch Revenge and SS around. My rotation is Revenge/SS/Devastate/Devastate. I don't know if I'm right in doing this or if it even matters...

You may have so much avoidance (t4) that you dont really have the rage many times for the proper rotation. Once you get into t5 and the itemization is geared more towards threat I hope you will switch to the regular SS/Rev/Dev/Dev

[Krashtork]

I think what he's getting at is with the 10% dmg increase from t4 set 4 bonus he is overall scaling his TPS by boosting Shield Slam power by 10%.

I think you're doing it right Des

[Destruyen]

hbombs- i have plenty of rage for the rotation, plus heroic strike spams. yeh my avoidance is high (78-79%) but i haven't sacrificed my EH for it. since i'm a progression tank (ssc, tk, za) i don't have rage issues on bosses. for trash pulls i make a few gear changes so rage won't be a problem.

krash- thanks.

[Kazeyonoma]

avoidance is only miss/dodge/parry, so i doubt you have 78-79% avoidance. you in fact have 78-79% combined avoidance and block. Just clarification.