DK tanks from a healers view.

User avatar
Stryke

Re: DK tanks from a healers view.

#16 » Post by Stryke » 15 Dec 2010 19:47

Toughy wrote:
Stryke wrote: They also struggle when the dps looks at their dps-meters instead of what they attack. This goes out to all dpsers who wander here: ATTACK THE TANK'S TARGET. I've had enough people nearly dying because they just attack the 1st mob they see. :evil:
If you want your DPSes to attack your target than you make sure you mark the target with a skull before you start the fight. Way before you start the fight, as soon as you see it !

You may want to assign a key like Ctrl+A to it from the Interface, Keyboard settings pane
Sadly they don't even follow the marks unless it's a raid situation.

User avatar
Velasong

Re: DK tanks from a healers view.

#17 » Post by Velasong » 21 Dec 2010 09:29

i wonder if im the only one that attacks the tanks target lol

User avatar
1igh7fis7

Re: DK tanks from a healers view.

#18 » Post by 1igh7fis7 » 30 Jun 2011 21:48

Well, if I am to speak from healer's point of view I must stress on the fact that not every decently geared, averagely skilled player makes a good DK tank.

A friend of mine played Blood DK tank on retail and got instantly laughed at when the "top" tanks browsed his spec, insisting that only Frost or Unholy were "worthy" tanks. However, after running with us few 10's and 25's not only had they changed their mind but also invited us to join their guilds (we were reluctant to do so because on retail if you want to be a hardcore raider you have to give up your leisure time).

First, if you're going to run instances together - use vent, team speak, xfire, skype - whatever program you're using for communication. Following guides might be useful for gathering starting information but theory crafting does not take into consideration personal gameplay and preference.
Second, while running heroics and lower raids with my friend (he rerolled DK when Ulduar was top raid tier) always synchronize cooldowns. The difference between a average DK tank and amazing DK tank is the wise usage of cooldowns.

As a paladin healer I had quite a few cooldowns myself and when I had to cast Divine Plea for some mana regeneration I could ask him to use his Self-heal combo (Vampiric Blood + Mark of Blood + Rune Tap + Death Strike +/- Empower Rune Weapon + 2 more Death Strikes). I never had to worry about him dying while I have the 50% healing reduction from Divine Plea bar few very hectic fights. Also, he used glyph of Rune Tap (which greatly eased my job when dealing with heavy AoE fights).

Conclusion: Death Knights make excellent tanks, but unlike Holy Shield spamming paladins or Shield Block "spamming" (well, it still has a moderately long CD) warriors, a good Death Knight tank must always be aware of his choices of skills in every situation (even offensive skills as Empower rune weapon could be used defensively if timed right). If it's hard to heal a DK check his spec and gear, he'll most likely be Tank gear wearing DPS or Tank specced with DPS gear meaning that he will be below the crit cap.

P.S. Before my friend rolled DK tank, I thought DK's were the worst tanks, because I've always struggled the most healing a DK, they could easily die in matter of seconds even with all of my effort focused on them (keeping the tank alive is the healer's primary responsibility) for example, I remember wiping few times in a row in ToC HC with a 34k HP DK tank just to finish it later with a paladin tank with 25k HP - after buffs . He proved me wrong, in fact it turned out to be the very reverse.
I wish you luck and happy tanking. /cheers

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest