Trouble keeping my eyes away from the bars

[Jademalo]

Hey guys.

I've recently been given the chance to be a tank for the Dragon Soul when 4.3 hits by a good friend, and decided to take him up on the offer. However, I quit just after the start of Cata, and my pally is sitting at level 80. I'm hoping to get myself up and ready (With a little bit of "help" =]) for 4.3, so I've just started leveling, learning all of the changes since wrath, and practicing.

However..

I'm having a pretty major problem. I just cant keep the rotation up if i so much as have to glimpse away from my bars - which obviously is pretty bad for a tank. I never had this problem in wrath, so I'm pretty confused as of where its come from. If I am keeping myself transfixed on the bars, I don't have a problem executing everything flawlessly, reacting to procs, everything. However, the moment I glance away, everything falls to pieces.

Really, I'm just looking for some tips, because I don't really know how to tackle this, since it was never an issue throughout wrath. I could hold my rotation, keep an eye on the proceedings, and generally have a very solid hand in the matter.
During wrath I used to main a Hunter, and was pretty high up in the 10 man strict rankings for ICC (top 20.) I feel like I should be able to do this, but as I said - I'm not sure how to approach it.

I think my problem is not being able to keep a track of what spells are on cooldown while looking at the actual world, but I cant really figure out a suitable solution to help me know straight away what I can use, and what I cant. (Mainly the fillers, AS,J,Consc,HW)

Any advice would me massively appreciated, Thank you!

[Nikachelle]

You could always set up Power Auras to alert you when something comes off CD or even just what's available to use, spellwise.

Other than that... it's really just a habitual thing. You've only just come back, so give yourself a break, you'll fall back into it quickly.

[Jademalo]

Thanks!
Completley forgot about Power Auras.
Got that set up, and everything is flowing smoothly =]

Thank you!

[Calleana]

Good shout on Power auras. I also find how your bars are laid out can make things either really easy or really hard.

Personally I have the fillers on number 2-4 and press Q for Crusadors strike/ Shift Q for Hammer of the Righteous. This means I hit 2-Q-3-Q-4-Q-5(ShoR)-Q-2 etc. which means the rotation is fairly easy to follow with my fingers without ever looking at the bars. If your key bindings are in awkward places this will hinder achieving rotation perfection.

[Pallybunny]

As for me the best addon that can easily maintain your rotation is TellMeWhen. I don't have to monitor my mana, cds, procs. It shows me each available spell I can use atm based on the priority from left to right and I simply use the one which on the left. I have two specs: pop raiding spec, and omfg dps spec (also protection one which I use in LFR and heroics, sometimes on Ultraxion to help dps).

My rotation for first one is simpler:
1. Judgement if I'm low on mana (cr'ed of whatever)
2. Shield of the Righteous when I have 3 HoPo and Sacred Duty proc
3. Avenger's Shield if I have Grand Crusader proc and HoPo < 3
4. Crusader Strike
5. Hammer of Wrath (if target is <= 20% on health)
6. Avenger's Shield
7. Judgement

Rotation when I want to push much more dps:
1. Judgement if I'm low on mana
2. Shield of the Righteous when I have 3 HoPo and (Sacred Duty proc or Inquisition is up)
3. Inquisition if I have 3 HoPo
4. Avenger's Shield if I have Grand Crusader proc and HoPo < 3
5. Crusader Strike
6. Hammer of Wrath (if target is <= 20% on health)
7. Avenger's Shield
8. Judgement
9. Consecration
10. Holy Wrath

AoE rotation (which can be mixed with single target when needed):
1. Inquisition if I have 3 HoPo
2. Hammer of the Righteous
3. Consecration
4. Holy Wrath

You don't need any help for AoE rotation cause it's rather simple. But you can easily adjust TellMeWhen to keep your single target rotation for you. This week I've pushed about 22600 dps on Ultraxion (10 man) with my offspec and offspec's rotation.