What Consumables to Use While Tanking [severely outdated]

[majiben]

NOTE: This is out of date with patch 4.0.1. Please remember some of these consumables have changed and the advice on them is not always accurate.

FLASKS
Flask of StonebloodMajiben's Pick
Flask of Fortification(TBC)
Flask of Endless Rage
Lesser Flask of Toughness
Flask of Chromatic Wonder(TBC)
Lesser Flask of Resistance

Majiben says:With 3.1 Flask of Stoneblood's effects were doubled making it the clear winner. Flask of Endless Rage is for farm content or if we get a challenging threat fight in the future. Lesser Flask of Toughness is only for tanks who are still crittable for some reason. Flask of Chromatic Wonder and Lesser Flask of Resistance are both good choices for resistance fights. I suggest the use of Flask of Chromatic Wonder for mixed fights like S+drakes where there is still use for the agility and strength. Though don't shrug off Lesser Flask of Resistance for pure magic fights or if it gets you to the next level of minimal resistance.

ELIXIRS
Battle
Elixir of Mighty StrengthMajiben's Pick
Elixir of Mighty AgilityMajiben's Pick
Guru's ElixirMajiben's Pick
Wrath Elixir
Elixir of Accuraccy
Elixir of Expertise
Elixir of Lightning Speed
Elixir of Deadly Strikes

Majiben says: The strongest two in this bunch are Elixir of Mighty Strength and Guru's Elixir. Both provide more threat and BV but one gives a little stamina and agility. Guru's Elixir is an especially good choice given it's newfound cheapness. Elixir of Mighty agility is only for those that feel the need to push as much avoidance as possible. The remaining ones are only for threat and can work but are not recommended.

Guardian
Elixir of ProtectionMajiben's Pick
Elixir of DefenseMajiben's Pick
Elixir of Mighty Fortitude

Majiben says: Elixir of Protection is an EH/mitigation consumable. Elixir of defense is an excellent elixir to push avoidance with or to reach the Block Cap. Elixir of Mighty Fortitude is the weakest elixir of the bunch but is acceptable.

FOOD
Fine Dining.
All these take Dalaran cooking token making them rarer and more expensive.

Best of the Best
Fish Feast(Group Platter)
Blacked DragonfinMajiben's Pick
Dragonfin FilletMajiben's Pick
Mega Mammoth Meal/Poached Northern Sculpin
Snapper Delight

Majiben says: The Dragonfin Fillet is the best threat food and provides a moderate amount of BV (33 fully buffed). The Fish Feast provides slightly less threat and no mitigation. Snapper Delight can provide varying amounts of threat depending on your gear and level of hit and often comes in second for threat on bosses. Keep in mind that the hit cap on trash is much lower and the hit is often wasted on them. The Mega Mammoth Meal and Poached Northern Sculpin Provide even less threat. The Blackened Dragonfin is for people interested in taking as much avoidance and armor as possible.

Costs a bit much for the benifit.
Firecracker Salmon/Tender Shoveltusk Steak
Imperial Manta Steak/Very Burnt Worg
Rhinolicous Wyrmsteak
Spiced Wyrm Burger/Spicy Blue Nettlefish

Majiben says: These all provide a subpar threat boost. I recommend avoiding them but if you find some cheap or for free they can work. Many of the Best foods from the cheap eats are actually as good or better.

You're Charging How Much? I'm not paying that much!
Cuttlesteak
Hearty Rhino
Mighty Rhino Steak/Spicy Fried Herring

Majiben says: Stay away from these. They have nothing but the 40 stamina that interests us and cost far too much to use over the cheap eat foods.

The Cheap Eats.
Inexpensive and plentiful these are food of choice for heroics, farm raids or just when you don't have the cash to burn 5g per wipe on food.

Best food Majiben's Pick
Mammoth Meal
Dalaran Clam Chowder
Baked Manta Ray
Grilled Sculpin
Poached Nettlefish
Smoked Salmon
Great Feast(Group Platter)

Majiben says: These foods either have a superior threat/avoidance stat and 30 stamina or have a subpar threat stat and 40 stamina. All good choices for money conscientious tanks. Dalaran Clam Chowder and the Great feast provide the most threat of this bunch.

Okay food
Magic EaterMajiben's Pick
Slippery Eel
Roasted Worg/Shoveltusk Soup
Shoveltusk Steak
Wyrm Delight

Majiben says: These food have 30 stamina and a subpar threat stat on them. A good choice as a throw away food you eat to save your good food for later. The Magic Eater in particular is a very good choice as a cheap eat because it gives 30 stamina plus a random stat (AP, haste, crit, SP, MP5). It might take more than one to get a buff because there is a small chance being transformed by it instead of buffed; very cheap to get from anglers in Dalaran. The Slippery Eel is an exception to the rule as it gives 30 dodge rating but no stamina. Not my favorite but it is also very cheap to fish up.

Better than nothing, barely
Steaming Chicken Soup Majiben's Pick
Rhino Dogs/Pickled Fangtooth
Fisherman's feast/Spicy Crawdad (TBC)

Majiben says: These foods have Stamina and nothing else we care about. The Steaming Chicken Soup is an excellent choice for a thrifty tank. Yes it's low on stamina but it's cheap (32s) and has an unlimited supply sold by the Argent Crusade Inn keepers


Other Consumables
Ironshield Potion(TBC)
Indestructible Potion
Nightmare Seed(TBC)
Runic Healing Potion
Powerful Rejuvenation Potion

Majiben says: The old TBC Ironshield Potion and Nightmare Seeds are still quite potent. Nightmares Seeds have no Wotlk equivalent (No longer drops in game making nightmare seeds very rare indeed). A Indestructable Potion is a sizable boost to EH when used by a T10 tank and even more powerful to a tank still gearing up. Can be prepotted before entering combat to have 4 minutes of coverage on a fight. Both the Runic Healing Potion and Powerful Rejuvenation Potion provide a quick brust of HP if your healers need a chance to catch up.

[HinataDestiny]

Excellent Guide!

[theothersteve7]

What about weapon enchants? I thought they still had sharpening stones.

[Anubisknight]

What about weapon enchants? I thought they still had sharpening stones.

They don't work at lvl80 (or is it post WotLK?).

[Ashmadai]

Nice guide. I would throw in Indestructible Pots as something I use on just about every boss. Every little bit helps. =)

And yeah, oils/stones and what not don't work on items from Northrend.

[Slamdorff]

I would sticky sticky

[mirkodeluxe]

What about weapon enchants? I thought they still had sharpening stones.

They don't work at lvl80 (or is it post WotLK?).

They dont work on weapons higher than level70 I think.
Certainly didnt work on my ragemane's flipper mace.. and that I got at 74.

[theothersteve7]

Ah okay. I wasn't sure; I had been getting mixed reports.

Indestructible pots are good, what other potions are worth keeping stocked up? Tanks need plenty of panic buttons it seems.

[Markoh]

http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43652 is another option, and it's pretty cheap.

[majiben]

Updated

[ruuden]

Spelling Bee says: Flask of "Thoughness" should be toughness. Spelled wrong in both link and explaination

Bookmarked this topic, excellent guide

[Arcand]

[Thank you for the contribution! Majiben has earned the achievement: Sticky Post.]

[rad]

Don't forget Dragonfin Fillet
40 str/40 stam, best option in my opinion.

[majiben]

It's my top choice for fine dining.

[Falibard]

So which do you prefer? Nightmare Seed or New Healthstone?

I suppose that really depends on the situation but most of us are using Nightmare Seeds as "oh shit" buttons, but at current damage levels do you think +2000 health for X seconds is better than an instant 5k-ish heal? (Critting over 10k?)

I haven't used Nightmare Seeds since WotLK, but I'm assuming they still share the same cooldown.