What prot warrior abilities risk breaking CC? (How to pull in Cata?)

[theodisius]

I'm going to start levelling up my L81 prot warrior alt but confess I am unfamiliar with how my abilities will interact with CCd mobs (e.g. polymorphed one). On my tankadin main, it seems I can still use most abilities except Holy Wrath and consecration. But what about prot warriors? I suspect that if I use TC and SW near a CCd mob, they will break CC, is that right? And the same with cleave and improved revenge? Things like the tankadin's Avenger's Shield skip polymorphed targets, I am wondering if prot warriors have any smart AOE moves like that?

I am a little nervous how to adapt to warrior tanking in this new era of CC. I got used to charging into mobs in wotlk but know from my pally that I will need CC in Cata. How do people manage Cata pulls with prot warriors? On my pally main, I fire my shield, let the CCers do their work and wait for the unCCd mobs come to me. But on my warrior, I would like to still use charge if possible. Thanks for any advice.

[Demoneyes82]

I gotta say that Imp revenge was the killer for me... I completely forgot that it added a 2nd target and was constantly wondering why I kept breaking CC... Yeah... it was Imp revenge! As a warrior, if it hits multiple targets, it will break CC now!

Generally I pull with heroic throw as the CCers launch traps, and poly at the same time, then charge as the remaining mobs pull away from the group... I always heroic throw a caster as I always have gag order.

I'm not positive about it but i was having issuses from the additional stuns from blitz. On one hand it's great for the extra rage but the stuns seemed to be breaking CC randomly (I think it was the issue at least...) and it was hard to position things.

Shockwave is wonderful because you can control the cone so nicely that even if you are near CC you can generally fire it off w/o hitting them.

[Reev]

Instead of firing a shield then letting the CC do their work like on a pally, let the CCers do their work first, hit commanding/battle shout (gets initial aggro on you), let the mobs run to you, then do your TC>Cleave>Shockwave>Rend>TC>etc. If there are any un-CC'd casters, use your heroic throw. In this way, you never come close enough to the CC'd targets to break them accidentally. Basically, all your abilities on a warrior will break CC. There are no smart cast abilities.

[Starbuck]

All those abilities break cc (unless something was changed in cata which I missed)
I used to tank in BC where cc was mandatory, but very challenging as a warrior. I learned to use other tactics like line of sight pulls, careful planning, marking of targets and not using charge for example.
I'd agree to let cc do their job first and pick up aggro from there. Shout, leap, thunderclap and so on. The sweet thing about warrior is our mobility, now even better with the leap thing. I have a macro that uses charge on mobs and intervene on friendlies. So whoever I target I can rush there with one button.

*$

[Arte]

Well, i mostly make sure i face myself away from the cc'ed mobs, so u can use revenge,shockwave, etc, But pulling them away from the cc mobs in case its possible, is the best way.

[Fayre]

Positioning is absolutely key for a warrior. Almost every ability you have can break CC. Learn the radius of abilities and how far you can be out from a mob to safely use cleave, etc. Wherever possible, use your interrupts and whatnot to move the mobs away from the 'sheep'.

[Shrymp]

I always try to CC as many casters as possible, then pull everyone else back.

If I have to be near a CC'd mob I face away to use Shockwave, or I tab-target for threat.

Unless it's a Hex (one TC won't break the hex) or the Lock elemental CC (banish? Bind?) then they are totally immune.

[Reev]

Warning: Cleave is larger than you think. It seems to chain to the next mob from the previous mob, not from you, so if you think you're out of range, but the mob you're cleaving is reasonably close to the CC mob, you'll probably cleave the CC mob too, even if you're 8 yards away or so.

[nserafini]

Say it's a pack of 5

Mark 2 for CC - Have sheep and fear ( let's say )

Throw + Taunt + Charge ( and back out ) threats the other 3 for you asap

Backpedal them out of AoE range... Remember, it's not just your AoE range, but the whole party ....

Then cleave, clap and wave to your hearts delight

[Brage]

Gonna back Reev up on his statement and advice you to "prepare for cleave".
In some dungeons that skill can travel miles!

Another skill worth practicing with is Thunderclap. Allthough you do get a thunder animation when using it, the radius can be a tad bigger than you'd expect.

Lastly; Shockwave. It's a frontal cone and you do get a dust/gravel animation when using it, but it hits quite a bit further away than the animation shows.


Trying these skills out on the test dummies a few times, just to get an estimate on how far away they can hit might not be a bad idea.

[theodisius]

Thanks for the excellent advice. Warrior tanking sounds SO much more complex and demanding than paladin tanking, but also more interesting because of that.

I did my first normal last night - Blackrock Caverns. It was a little frustrating with a "gogogo" party because I was rusty with both my character and with how the instance played on normal, but it was largely unproblematic. However, we seldom used CC. I know heroic will be different.

One thing I missed was something like righteous defence for when things go to heck - e.g. someone aggros a second pack by mistake and you want to save the healer etc. On paper, Challenging Shout should help, but I have been disappointed with the results in practice - maybe its because mobs are typically too spread out? (I read now that the shout has only a 10 yard radius). I guess I should get used to intervening, then using challenging shout. Also, I forgot to use vigilance, which would have helped me taunt faster.

[Reev]

I you're using vigilance for a 5 man, things have already gone horribly wrong. If someone else pulls a second pack by mistake, I'd say just charge to them, thunderclap/shockwave the group, taunt any that weren't hit by your TC/SW, and heroic throw any casters.

[Takethecake]

If your not running with gag order and you have a DK in the group, don't be afraid to ask them to deathgrip the mob. In Bastion I often ask one of our DK dps to deathgrip pull skull back away from all the mobs while they get cc'd just so we don't risk breaking them.

I personally love CC... nothing better then rolling up to a 10 pack of mobs in a raid and only 1 mob comes out swinging.

[Brainstew]

Sorry to ressurect an old thread but I'm new to warrior tanking and I'm having trouble with mobs that are ranged but not caster =\

what do I do on this sort of pack when I only have 1 reliable CC (you know how pugs are) and all the pugs are screaming at you to just go? At least a caster I can spell reflect etc to keep aggro but with a ranged hunter style mob i'm at a bit of a loss.

Cheers.

[Kojiyama]

Well, it's worth considering that a lot of the ranged-style mobs in heroics actually just randomly target people anyway. Therefore tanking them is not actually all that important. If they are the type focuses on their primary target, I usually try to charge then use single-target ability to pull them back. They will generally follow you as long as you don't move too quickly.

[Fetzie]

Some of the mobs with random targetting can be fairly devastating (no pun intended). The archers in HoO can remove a decent amount off someones health bar if they get their charged shot off. If you are trying to tackle such a mob interrupt the cast while standing in melee range. If you strafe/backpeddle you can move the mob without it resorting to ranged attacks, it will attempt to use melee swings. So I would charge it, and slowly move it where you want it. interrupt any casted ranged attacks, they will be aimed at party members. Disarm will also usually remove any ranged dps capability.

[Brainstew]

I cannot believe I didn't think of this, especially as I used to tank with a bear that had no silencing abilities.

Cheers everyone!

BTW the particular mobs in question were the archers in lost city can't remember their name though...

[sifuedition]

Also, disarm is great for a lot of these. The hunter type mobs in Halls of Reflection I would always charge, disarm, intercept back and they make their way to me.

P.S. I like to do this as soon as I shockwave the group I'm tanking.

[Reev]

The archers in Lost City cannot be disarmed. Was trying to do that last night.

[Muffin Man]

That's a shame, that was such a great trick back in the day.

At least heroic throw or charge - shield bash still works on caster mobs.