The CC/stun revelation.

Old news to anyone who has any real tanking experience, but might be worth reading if you are starting Kara and Heroics.

I tanked Mech Saturday and had a great run. Only died twice, and both times were due to DPS making mistakes. Needless to say I felt pretty good going into Mech yesterday.

Mech demolished me. I'm talking, get your tankadin butt to the weapon vender at cosmowrench, cuz' all your stuff is nearly broken. Rather discouraging, especially since I have basically all the gear I can get at the moment. 10.9k unbuffed ain't half bad- but if felt insufficient and I ended the night discouraged. (It didn't help that the rogue ninjaed the sun eater off of the last boss.)

After a good night's sleep, I thought back on my previously successful run and figured out what was different.

CC and stuns.

You might be saying "duh" right now, but hear me out. Fighting one mob vs. two doubles the amount of damage you are taking. You die twice as fast. If you have three mobs on... Such a simple concept, but it never really hit home until today.

My first run I usually only had one guy on me at a time, two at most. Due to poor and lazy CC, the second run I at times had 4, and often 3. No wonder the healer couldn't keep up!

Stuns (and silence) was the other factor. Our mage and shadowpriest constantly applied silences and counterspells to the destroyers and astromancer, and the netherbinders were stunned frequently. The result was me taking a surviveable amount of damage. Thinking back on last night, I basically only died on four-mob pulls and against the destroyers (when no one interrupted charged fist. ) The problem wasn't my gear or HP as much as not using tools outside my own character.

I guess in concise summary, if you are dying despite having good gear- use CC and stuns! They make a world of difference. I think the first 70 levels of life make us think we can just shield and consecrate and live to tell the tale, but when you start heroics you might have to set that mindset aside. I'm looking forward to tackling Mech again tonight with a fresh perspective!

-Kitsuna

(I'll save Vanifae the trouble, and post his/her response for him/her!)

You learned to use CC. Good job. Have a cookie or something.

Edit: As soon as I posted, I realized this really belongs in basic training.
_________________

I think I have been a champion of CC for a long time, we may not always need it, but it makes everything about ten times easier.

Charged Fist is a kick in the balls.
_________________
Visit my crappy blog... Nerf This...

Gah, I always forget to add in Heroic.

I can AoE tank normal Mechanar till the cows come home. It is only HEROIC mech that gave me problems. Imagine AoE tanking 4 heroic mobs with no kara gear- it wasn't pretty!

-Kitsuna
_________________

Well, stuns are great, but I can't number the times that I've had to forgo consencrate just because the mob was stun NEXT to the sheep. And to top things on that, alot of times I lose agro after the rogue is finshed stun locking the mob.

I finnaly lost my temper once...
"/rw STOP STUNNING THE MOB ON THE PULL" seemed to solve the problem, when asking nicely over the course of 3 instances and groups didn't.

OoOoO!! my favorite is when the you lay out a nicly thrown shield from max distance, it hits everything in the pull... And guess what.... the sheep STILL ends up at your feet.

And while I'm on tanking frustrations 101, I love when someone comments "I love palidan tanks, I can shield them and it doesn't matter" from a priest.

PS: I never caved into "super AOE Tanker" in instances. I've always used what CC I had at hand, and some that I didn't.

Heroic Mech?

I normally AoE tank the chain event pulls and tell the Mages/Hunters to CC at will (if they're smart and quick, I can move the rest of the group away from their CC).

Well placed Blinds or Scattershots help too. Not to mention Earthbind totem and a little kiting (or Grounding to eat magic casts on you).

But yeah, stuns really help. Use Hammer of Justice every cooldown, and have your Rogues and DPS Warriors use their stuns as much as they want on the condition that the mobs are already on you. We don't get rage starved on pulls like Warriors, so the Rogues can open with Cheap Shot as often as they wish.

Stuns and Fears are my favorite "CC" because you can still beat the crap out of the mobs when they're not hurting you.
_________________
Armory // On-Hiatus

Only those who will risk going too far can ssibly find out how far one can go.
If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?

Since we are on the topic of Charged Fists in heroic Mech, what kind of gearing is needed to be able to outgear that ability? My guild lacks warriors and rogues that are able to interupt that ability and I'm trying to figure out a way to get past it.
_________________
Armory - http://armory.worldofwarcraft.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Proudmoore&n=Glam

"Taking one for the team - Pally Style!"

I've seen CS mentioned here as a way to counter Charged Fist, but whenever I'm there with a mage, they tell me that they're immune. My racial silence also doesn't work, so I'm guessing that they're immune to arcane.
_________________

www.kleaandron.com

Yeah, don't forget crowd control just because you're a Tankadin.

We can't AoE everything. Even regular instances can humble you, if not careful with fearing mobs, etc.
_________________
Long Live Sylvanas!!!