Gruul, HS Tanking

[Tanks-PL]

Hi,

Last night I was supposed to be the hurtful strike tank. I had two hunters MDing onto me at every opportunity, and still could not stay number two on the list. So, the warrior that was supposed to be #3 became the defacto HS tank.

I did AS, AW at every cooldown, JoR at every cooldown, and reseal, Consecrate, still did not stay close to the top of the list. Also, had mana issues as I did not need heals.

So, at growth 16 (final growth for him) we had couple of people get killed before he got to me. (Yeah, I know, we usually kill him at growth 14 or so).

Next week, we will start with me leading off, so should be better. Regardless though what can I do to improve my threat?

With Superior Wizard Oil I am running about 285 spell power. I still have a number of weeks to get Merciless Gladiator's gavel, and the last time it dropped, a mage had DKP priority (had not won anything before) to get the Magus blade.

I have thought of the following so far:

-- Use spellpower food instead of stamina food.
-- Will be exalted for ring upgrade at Kara this week, so will put SP enchant on the final ring.

Any other suggestions would be great. My armory link is below.

http://www.wowarmory.com/character-shee ... =Tanksadin

Thanks in advance.

[Izreii]

I do this all the time (the warrior has a bit more HP then me and a better shield)

Anyway... make sure your standing under him so you consecration ticks actually hit him, that was a big one for me...

have at least 350 spell dmg buffed (consumables and such)

Then try not to pull agg (especially with MD's)

my normal rotation is :
Judge SoCru
SoR
--give the warrior a sec cause he's slow--
AW
Consecration
AS
judge
re-seal

Then just judge when it up and consecrate... throw AS if you have the mana otherwise it's a waste

except after a ground slam i have never lost a hurtful strike...

Also if you having mana issue, stand in a cave in (only at up to 6 growths though) - this will hurt you and the healers will heal you... but PLEASE let them know you are doing it, otherwise the extra dmg may kill you as they won't have you top'd off for a hurtful.

[Jarkeld]

TBH, OT Gruul is one of those positions that says 'other tanks can do this better than we can', we can still do it, just not as well. You need high aggro and have to have lots and lots of hp+armour to take single large hits. Blocking isn't going to do anything for you, since HS can't crush, so switch on a Libram of Zeal and make sure it's always up. Try and ask to have a group that helps you, IE shadow priest/ pew pew shaman to help with threat. When I OT him I end up chain chugging unstable mana potions to help.

[YoYoMa]

I have found that trying to be the HS tank on Gruul is very difficult. I have tanked him without much issue but the problem is that in order to effectively stay 2nd on aggro you need to spam all your stuff. But you aren't going to be getting the consistant healing for the mana regen since you are only taking periodic damage. So unless you are chugging those mana pots like they are candy, you might have issues.

It sounds like you are doing everything right. Have the hunters MD to you every time it's up. May want to swap over to SoV just so it can tick away while you are in knockback mode.

I would probably go with some more spell power too. You can use that blades edge spell power flask that is free as well. Adds some stam and spell power.

All in all though, we leave that job to the warriors, it's just easier for them.

[kvark]

no clue how he did it - but the best gruul kill our guild have had, was when our other pallie tank HS tanked. Considering he only have continuum blade to wave with, he did a seriously good job.

[Warrender]

no clue how he did it - but the best gruul kill our guild have had, was when our other pallie tank HS tanked. Considering he only have continuum blade to wave with, he did a seriously good job.

I'm guessing a large number of mana pots were consumed. But if you have Honored rep with Ogri'la, you can bulk purchase quite a few for the low, low price of some Apexis Shards.

[genever]

Heyho,

first post for me but i am getting exactly into the same situation.
I read somewhere here, that OT Gruul or being in the Tank-Rotation on Voidreaver is absolutely possible for a Paladin.
However I am not sure how.

Today, we fun helped some guy of our guild who is crazy for quests and well, did Maws from the old AQ40 opening.
I just went along to test how i am doing, off-tanking, trying to stay up in aggro.
And i failed miserably. (wasnt needed anyway though)
I started judging SotC, then had libram of seal in, and 42spelldmg oil on my weapon as well as the Xi'Ri's gift trinket fired before then hitting AW and putting the first dot of SoV (so the dot gets all the xtra damage from the trinket (boosted with AW).. it was up, ticked like 360-370 or so with 5 stacks, i spammed consecration, judged at cooldowns.. and AS' every time i could. (no basilisk buff-food as one couldnt eat food there in the ocean ^^) But nothing.
I was faaar down like 9th or so, no idea why.
It was surely just for testing, i think noone payed attention to it but me, but like this, i cannot possibly try to get into the Voidreaver rotation or OT Gruul, so ... what to do better, what to do different?

By the way, i love this forum and read up a lot of stuff here already (like using spelldmg trinkets + AW before putting 1st stack of SoV etc.. ^^)

[Tanks-PL]

...It was surely just for testing, i think noone payed attention to it but me, but like this, i cannot possibly try to get into the Voidreaver rotation or OT Gruul, so ... what to do better, what to do different?

...

As far as VR is concerned, I no longer have issues there if I start the rotation.

Seeing that I am a BE, SoV is not an option for me. Today I dropped Reckoning, and picked up Imp. SoCr, and Guardian's Favor (for NB tanking). Let's see how much of a difference that is going to make.

[YoYoMa]

Few questions:

1) What is your unbuffed spell damage at?
2) Dumb question but I assume you have RF active?
3) Are you spamming concecration right under him? Sounds like there were some issues if you weren't pretty much on top of him.
4) Do you have hunters MD to you?

As for Void Reaver I usually start as the MT since warriors can keep up their rage from the poundings whereas that does nothing for me other than get me some mana back. So start with you as the tank on VR and you should be good.

[Afraithe]

I stack about 500 spelldamage for the Gruul fight, and I have to hold back not to go past the MT, no misdirect needed on me. We usually kill him around 11-12th growth.

[genever]

Few questions:

1) What is your unbuffed spell damage at?
2) Dumb question but I assume you have RF active?
3) Are you spamming concecration right under him? Sounds like there were some issues if you weren't pretty much on top of him.
4) Do you have hunters MD to you?

As for Void Reaver I usually start as the MT since warriors can keep up their rage from the poundings whereas that does nothing for me other than get me some mana back. So start with you as the tank on VR and you should be good.

1) 298 Spelldmg unbuffed. So in that fight +42, +trinket, +AW for the SoV Stacks
2) Yep, it was.
3) As there were no adds anywhere and i got ticks, yes. Consec. hitted him.
4) No, but I read it aint necessary either. What's the magical number to be well off without MDs?

[genever]

I stack about 500 spelldamage for the Gruul fight, and I have to hold back not to go past the MT, no misdirect needed on me. We usually kill him around 11-12th growth.

What kind of Equip do you use there? As your current armory equip only has 178 spelldmg and it's kinda hard to imagine how you get up to 500 ^^

[Afraithe]

I have my Mitigation gear on.

My threat set differs, but for Gruul, you don't need to worry about crushings, HS can not crush or crit.

T4 Gloves: 47 SD (27+20)
T4 Head: 27 SD
T4 Legs: 36 SD
T4 Chest: 27 SD
T5 Shoulders: 22 SD
Bracers of Dignity: 19 SD
Belt of the Guardian: 21 SD
Boots of the Protector: 27 SD
Sergeants Heavy Cape: 26 SD
Ashyen's Gift: 23 SD
Seal of the Exorcist: 28 SD
Wizards Oil: 42 SD
Weapon (varies): 199 SD (159+40)

Come to about 500

And stamina trinkets, so I still have 12.8 unbuffed HP. I could use the Mazthoril Honor Shield as well, but I loose a lot of Stamina on that.

[Kayoto]

I've never had a problem with being the HS tank on Gruul, running only with about +300 spell damage buffed (using STAM food). Usually only have to down one or two mana pots during the entire course of the fight (stand in Cave-Ins early if you have to). Also, a Shadow Priest helps immensely for keeping your mana supply up early on in the fight, and I've certainly never had any trouble keeping second on threat. A lot of the time, I have to hold back a lot in order not to pass our (very well geared) Warrior MT on threat.

Other than making sure you're close enough for consecration to hit him and making sure you have Righteous Fury up, I don't know what to tell ya.

[Tresjynn]

My threat set differs, but for Gruul, you don't need to worry about crushings, HS can not crush or crit.

Well, assuming your MT never dies...