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TBC
Where to get gear to start tanking in Outland?
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Post by
rnbw
I started a new DK which I want to level as a tank. With the new random dungeon thing I think I will be able to do a lot more instances than was previously possibly. Although I have several tank characters already I never really leveled one.
So my question, where do I get gear to start tanking in Outland? Is the base DK armor good enough for this (I reckon it's not, because it has no defensive stats), should I run a lot of classic instances before going to Outland, or should I buy green "of the Champion" and "of Defense" items from the AH?
Post by
Astygia
Same place you get gear to do anything else anywhere else. Quest rewards, auction house, instance drops. Truth is there's no real defense cap per se for TBC instances anymore, defense as a skill has changed a lot since then. Your best bet is to stack the hell out of stamina and take whatever defensive items you can find on the way.
Post by
Vaeldan
you're set till lvl 65-68 instances, using the blues you earn from the death knight start zone. after that you should be using gear from the other instances. If you can't tank in that gear, you need to go read up on how to tank.
Post by
rnbw
you're set till lvl 65-68 instances, using the blues you earn from the death knight start zone. after that you should be using gear from the other instances. If you can't tank in that gear, you need to go read up on how to tank.
Ah okay, thanks for your replies. I was under the strong impression that you actually need tank gear (ie gear with mainly lots of stamina, defense and additional stats like dodge). The DK starting gear only has offensive stats (strength, crit and hit) so I figured that was too bad to tank with.
I will try tanking with it and see how it goes. xD
Post by
Thror
The DK starting gear is very sufficient for tanking the outland instances. Talents should concern you more. The most limitting thing for beginner DK tanks are the skills they dont have. Every other tank gets a Taunt at level 10-16. A DK has to wait till 65. Thats just retarded. Tanking dungeons at levels 60-64 is horrible. Tanking dungeons at levels 58-59 is even worse, because you do not have DnD.
Post by
Vaeldan
You would have been correct were it not the fact that those stats were not present until the realease of burning crusade, which means the first 7-8 instances didn't require them because no one had them yet. You will want to sub out your current gear for such gear as soon as possible to make the instances easier, and toe get a head start on understanding northrend gear.
Post by
woohaa
yeah honestly i wouldn't start tanking till you hit 60 which is when you get DnD. DnD in itself makes you able to hold agro over your dps at low lvls easily. until you get that you'll find yourself losing agro constantly
Post by
rnbw
Thanks for the additional information. I think pre-TBC defense existed as well (as did dodge, parry and the whole shebang), but that's besides the point. I'm doing some Hellfire quests now and see the plate rewards there have more armor and stamina than the DK starting set, so I will use those as my tanking equipment.
I looked at all of the talents and indeed I think that will make have a bigger impact than the gear. I just made a DPS blood spec for leveling before I realised I wanted to tank, so at 60 I will respec. I know this must have been asked a million times already, but what is a nice build to mix leveling and tanking in instances for 60-70 (I looked around a bit, but could only really find specs for level 80).
And finally yes I agree that it is stupid that DKs only get taunt at 65. Every other tanking capable class start getting their basic tanking abilities at 10 (like defensive stance and bear form) and is a nice, capable tank at 15 (including taunt, although of course Paladins did not have a "normal" taunt for a long while). So it would stand to reason the DK taunt ability would be a base or maybe level 60 skill.
Post by
173035
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Post by
Thror
Uh, it is definitely not easiest to tank as blood. Frost is the easy build of DKs.
The rotation for everything goes like this:
Death and Decay -> Howling Blast -> Blood Boil -> Coffee break
If the things still live after the first rotation, your following rotation is:
-> Toilet break.
Then the trash should be down. You will not lose aggro. Thats how easy Frost is.
Post by
173035
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Post by
146010
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Post by
rnbw
I do not want to be really useless when soloing (like a protection Warrior and Paladin basically are) so I think I will look into blood tanking first. If that fails horribly I could always respec to frost.
If you want to be the best tank you can be (which is always good - the better your gear, the easier you make it on your healer), look to grab any of the socketed plate pieces from the instances as you progress. With those, you can throw some cheap Northrend quality gems (either defence or stamina, both are equally good) and gain massive boosts to your survivability.
There's a belt, chest and boots in Ramparts, leggings and shoulders in Underbog, helm in crypts. Don't be overly bothered if the item in question has some intellect on it, because once you've gemmed it, it's gonna blow anything else you can get out of the water. This gear should easily last you until 70, when you can grab the crafted cobalt set and be good to go with Northrend tanking.
That's an excellent point! I forgot all about the Northrend gems. :-D (this is actually a 'trick' which I have applied to my DPS characters as well).
Post by
474779
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146010
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345326
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Post by
pezz
I do not want to be really useless when soloing (like a protection Warrior and Paladin basically are) so I think I will look into blood tanking first. If that fails horribly I could always respec to frost.
Whaaa...?
Also, I'm leveling as frost with a pure tank spec and just about all Cobalt tanking gear and leveling is still super easy. It might be slightly faster to solo in a pure DPS spec but I still kill things plenty fast, and usually top the DPS meters when I tank instances, so my damage is obviously not completely terrible.
But this isn't a defense of a frost tank build over a blood build for leveling with some instances. This is a defense of a frost tank build being on roughly equal footing with blood. Do whichever one you like, but trust me, you won't handicap yourself in any way if you go frost.
Post by
351068
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Post by
rnbw
Sorry about that comment about protection Paladins, I guess you guys have some very strong feelings about that. I know about protection Paladin AoE grinding (I have a Paladin myself and tried it some time) but I just personally do not enjoy it at all. As far as I know it is only situation and only good foe AoE grinding (so no normal questing or whatever, which I prefer... try to take down a couple of casters with protection hehe).
Anyhow, as I mentioned, my experience with
questing
on a protection Warrior or Paladin is really tedious and slow, so if I would get the same experience with a "protection" DK (ie. a DK with talents only optimized for tanking), I would not be so happy. Hence for example I would prefer a tank blood spec which is still good for soloing (read: taking down casters for quests quickly enough :P) than a full tank frost spec. ^^
I think all my questions have been answered... I think it is now up to me to just try it out and see how it goes. :P
Post by
474779
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