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The druid forum's looking a bit quiet so I thought I'd try and liven things up by posting a guide to tanking/off-tanking in Kara. This is based purely on my own experience, so if anyone has anything to add, please do! It would be nice to create a guide that is tailored to UNITY's typical raid make-up and tactics (for example we're often short of warlocks).
Oh, and if there are any stupid mistakes in here, er, my dog must've messed with it before I posted. Yeah, for sure. Stupid dog.
Feral Druids in Karazhan
This is a short guide for any new UNITY feral druids who are tanking their way through Kara, dealing with general druid roles and a few of the headline bosses. Like any tanking/melee spec, there isn't a huge amount of advice to give — and I'm no pro — but what little there is can be quite useful.
Disclaimer: this works for me and I've tanked everything in Kara, but it's still just one druid's playstyle and might not be a good fit with your own!
Druid Role
In Karazhan you're either tanking or off-tanking/DPS'ing. It's rare to see a pure DPS druid in raids these days and even if you wanted to stay in cat form the entire time, you're denying the raid many other valuable services by doing so. It's your call, but your raid leader will probably have the final say.
Bear tanks are perfectly able to tank the entire instance as long as they have the usual minimum requirements (check out the Karazhan pages on the UNITY site). Also by being good DPS'ers as well, they have lots more to offer besides tanking. Shade of Aran, for example, a fight which is effectively aggro-neutral, gives bear tanks a good opportunity to switch to their DPS gear and chop away at Aran in a way that a warrior cannot (or at least not as well).
This fact also means that an off-tank is almost the perfect role for a druid in a 10-man. Many pulls and bosses require only one tank and by switching to the DPS position, a druid brings tangible utility to a raid during these encounters. It's your responsibility to be aware which mobs you can do this on, and which ones need an off-tank at all times… for example the Skeletal Ushers prior to the Opera House often freeze the highest-aggro player — i.e. the tank — and go for the next person on their aggro table. That will usually be a healer if the off-tank hasn't done his job.
For these reasons it is *vital* that druids maintain at least two sets of kit, one tanking set (high armour and Stamina) and one DPS kit (high Agility and Strength). Most long-standing druids will be used to maintaining *at least* 2 sets (and probably a PvP, healing, and caster set as well), but a tanking and DPS set, coupled with an equipment-swapping mod like ItemRack, should be adequate for a feral in Karazhan. Feral druids should feel perfectly justified in rolling for DPS leather inside Karazhan as our role encompasses both tanking and melee damage, but healing leather will always be prioritised to healers, so expect to be asked to pass for more needy players. (Even taking only what other people don't want, you'll still find that you can build a decent reserve healing set quite quickly once you start doing regular heroics and Karazhan runs.)
Lastly, just because you're feral, don't forget all the other tricks you have up your sleeve. Off-tank druids should always have a finger over the Battle-Res button in boss fights; check with your raid leader about who should be ressed first (usually the healer but not necessarily). Recent changes mean you will auto-unshift to caster when you hit this or any other caster-form ability, so Battle-Res is now only a click away and is one of the most powerful wipe-prevention tools in your arsenal.
Also put abilities like Tranquility and Lifebloom within easy reach… yes, your mana pool sucks, but even an unbuffed Tranquility can give over-stressed healers a chance to draw breath. For the sake of all that is furry, though, don't run out of mana to the extent that you can't shift back to bear when you need to (yes, I speak from painful experience). And finally remember Innervate… loved by casters throughout the world. Look for mana-starved priests and pallies and use lulls in the fight to drop an Innervate on them. Even main tanks can do this in some fights.
Personally, although I love main tanking, I find the off-tank role more satisfying, as it seems to be the perfect niche for the various abilities of the druid. Having said that it's very satisfying to tank the big headline Karazhan bosses and bring them down!
Trash Tanking in Kara
I use Starfire for pulling mobs as it guarantees significant threat before the pull even starts. If you're off tanking, consider Moonfire or Wrath, but remember that Moonfire DoT's the target which *might* cause CC'ers some problems, and if you're using a spell with a cast time watch for the main tank cancelling his cast so that you can do the same. Either way, as off tank you should quickly peel your target from the group before it has a chance to engage the main tank and put stress on the healers.
The most important thing when pulling in caster form is being back in bear form before the mob engages you. This is obvious, but no less important for it. Watch for mobs that might charge and stun you while in caster form, leaving you a sitting duck in the face of massive melee damage (Barkskin as a last resort if this happens). Even if you survive, one of the healers is likely to pull aggro in the course of keeping you on your feet, and a raid wipe could easily follow. If in doubt, stay in bear form and pull with Faerie Fire (Feral); you'll gain a little bit of threat and should have plenty of time to build some more before healing aggro becomes a problem.
When pulling with a Starfire, drop back to bear as soon as the spell has fired, and queue a Maul. This means that as soon as the mob gets within melee range, you'll be hitting him with one of youtr big melee slaps and he'll be pretty much glued to you while you start the normal tanking melee rotation. (Of course, you'll need points in Furor to do this, but if you're tanking in Kara without Furor, you've probably got more problems than I can solve with this article!)
The bear tank attack rotation is pretty simple, especially in Kara where multi-mob tanking is rare. For bleed-immune mobs (which in Kara means most of them) our bread and butter tool — Lacerate — does no bleed damage but still deals its fixed threat value, so as long as you're not rage-starved, it's a perfectly good tool. However, it's not as good as the definitive bear aggro tool, Mangle, so you should save your rage for Mangle where necessary.
You should be hitting your Mangle button every time you have enough rage to throw one out; in Kara, rage is barely ever a problem, which means once every 6 seconds, you should be using it. Try to avoid using Maul as part of your normal rotation, because it effectively replaces one of your white attacks (which have good threat multipliers anyway) with a yellow attack, thereby actually reducing your effectiveness. If that rage bar is full, though, you can basically button mash Mangle, Lacerate, and Maul, and even Swipe without too much trouble. Use that rage when you have it.
Kara also has lots of so-called 'AOE pulls' where several less-powerful mobs attack the raid at once (the ballroom just before Moroes is a good example). In these situations the casters are going to be unleashing massive amounts of damage to all of the mobs simultaneously, and aggro management becomes a nightmare. The best you can do is fire off a Demoralizing Roar on as many of the mobs as you can when they first engage, hit Enrage, and tab-rotate Swipe for all you're worth. You'll start to get rage starved but there's nothing you can do about that. Eventually, the DPS'ers are going to have to have taken the mobs down or the whole raid is in trouble. If things get really dicey, you have a long cool-down AOE taunt in the shape of Challenging Roar; don't be afraid to use it.
During AOE pulls, you should still be situationally aware. Don't get 'Swipe Happy' and forget that there are still clothies out there pulling aggro. Watch for one or two of the mobs splitting from the pack and engaging healers: immediately Growl or Mangle them and get them back on you. Just doing that once or twice can make the difference between a smooth, death-free pull and a bloodbath. Remember, you're still a tank, and it's your job to keep the healers out of danger.
Finally, all of the usual tanking tricks still apply. Line of sight casters to get them to engage you, use Bash anytime you can to interrupt spell-casting, use Feral Charge liberally to move around the battlefield and immobilise mobs, and so-on. Kara tanking isn't all that different from tanking instances or heroics (and in fact in many ways is simpler: compare the work involved in a Shattered Halls heroic to any Kara run); the main difference is that you have to concentrate for much longer periods, and you'll likely have a few responsibilities on the bosses that you have to get absolutely right, namely positioning and aggro management. Essentially though, your job is still to keep the mobs off the vulnerable characters, and there will be plenty of pulls where you'll have to work hard to make sure that happens.
Boss Tanking in Kara
Bosses in Kara are a strange beast. On some of them, you're so dependent on the rest of the raid that there's very little you have to do — or *can* do — except keep aggro. On single targets this is trivial unless they have aggro dumps, where your only worry is to snap them back into aggro with you before they hit a clothie (Taunt + Mangle are your key abilities here). Some bosses, however, require a lot more management, where fast aggro and boss positioning are absolutely vital to success (Prince, Nightbane).
Attumen the Huntsman
Bleed-Immune: Yes
Taunt-Immune: Yes
The Huntsman is a very simple fight for the two tanks involved. Essentially, the off-tank engages Midnight to start the fight. When Attumen appears, the main tank immediately aggros him (he is Taunt immune so you will likely need to either Moonfire him, or switch to bear at the last moment and FFF/Maul) and pulls him aside. Getting hold of Attumen fast is crucial if you don't want a healer to be 1-shotted. The fight continues like this until Attumen mounts his steed, at which point the main tank once more picks him up — easy now because he should have plenty of rage — and tanks him in the stable until defeated, with his back to the raid. Attumen will occasionally charge out into the raid but like the horses before him, he will return so don't chase him around.
Moroes
Bleed-Immune: Yes
Taunt-Immune: Yes
This is a simple fight for the main tank, slightly more complex for the off-tank. The rest of the raid will have responsibility for managing Moroes' adds, either through crowd control or through focused DPS; as main tank, your job is to get hold of Moroes and keep him at all costs, as well as support the raid with Battle-Res and Innervate. I normally tank just to the left of the stairs leading to his platform; not too far from the group to cause healers any range problems, but far enough to keep clear of the crowd-control that night be going on. If by any chance an add is shackled or trapped near the spot you're tanking Moroes, just pull him out of the way so that the battleground is kept nice and clear for the CC'ers.
Moroes will occasionally Gouge the main tank and switch to the next highest threat on his aggro table. This means that the off-tank has the somewhat more difficult task of keeping himself second on Moroes' threat list. With a threat meter like or Omen or KTM, this is a trivial task, but one that can nevertheless be made very hard by over-eager DPS'ers. Once the Gouge has expired, the main tank should be permitted to pick the boss up again; do not, at any cost, start fighting the main tank for aggro. Off-tanks might also want to be aware of danger arising from adds breaking free of their CC early. Keep an eye on the healers and be prepared to charge and Taunt an add which is causing mayhem, as it can save the raid from a wipe.. but also make sure that you give CC'ers enough time to re-capture the mob else you'll charge straight into a fresh shackle or trap and suddenly become very unpopular. Still, stuff like this does inevitably happen to a good tank, so don't let it get you down… it proves you're awake. Battle-Res and Innervate should be used by the off-tank only when you're absolutely positive Moroes isn't about to Gouge the main tank.
For the main tank, Garotte is the only situation where those secondary tools become usable. Even then, Battle-Res is extremely risky if you have to get in range of someone who has died some distance away. Innervate, however, can be used during a Garotte-vanish quite easily. Be aware that Moroes can vanish anywhere from a couple of seconds to, in my experience, 8 or 9 seconds. It can be fatal to the raid if you're caught in caster form when he re-engages you, so don't let that happen.
Maiden of Virtue
Bleed-Immune: No
Taunt-Immune: Yes
This is one of those fights where the main tank is almost totally reliant on the rest of the raid, and the off-tank can just switch to all-out DPS. The off-tank must judge whether he wants to keep his tanking gear on for this role in case an unlucky string of hits and slow healing (for whatever reason) causes the main tank to go down. If the off-tank can then pick Maiden up before she does significant damage, the raid can still bring her down quite easily. Most raids should be able to down Maiden relatively easily anyway so this usually isn't necessary.
The only important thing for the main tank is to position Maiden in the center of her platform so that her Holy Ground AOE encompasses no more than the top step in any direction. Get ready to cast Frenzied Regeneration during Repentance if things get desperate; it's definitely made the difference for me on more than one occasion.
The Curator
Bleed-Immune: Yes
Taunt-Immune: No (Astral Flare: Yes)
Again, a relatively simple job for the main tank, and the off-tank should switch to DPS gear and help take down the Flares. Position the Curator one full carpet-diamond ahead of the group (facing is unimportant) and allow the rest of the raid to handle the Flares. I have tanked Curator in DPS kit once, but only because the healers were very well equipped. During the final Enrage phase, when the raid will tend to just nuke the boss until he's down, the main tank should swap to a DPS weapon if he happens to have a separate one.
Shade of Aran
Bleed-Immune: No
Taunt-Immune: No
Aran is effectively un-tankable due to his random aggro abilities, so in this fight even the main tank should switch to DPS kit to maximise the raid's damage output. Aran is one of the few bleed-vulnerable bosses in the instance, so make use of the Mangle+Shred+Rip combination for maximum damage. This is one of those fights where a druid prepared to maximise his utility via Battle-Res, Innervate, and even emergency healing via Lifebloom or Tranquility can make a huge difference. When you're DPS'ing though, ensure that you obey any instructions to throttle back on the damage if the raid leader detects a chance that the Elemental and the Evocation phases are going to collide. That means *no bleeds* when Aran is around 50% until after the Evocation has occured.
Fireball/Frostbolt/Arcane Missiles: You should equip your Violet Badge (if you have it) to minimise the damage you receive from Aran's Arcane Missiles. Unfortunately Maim does not seem to interrupt his spells, which I find exceptionally annoying, as it would make druid DPS'ers more valuable to the group in this phase, however if you want to stay in bear form and use Feral Charge, that will do the trick as an interrupt.
Arcane Explosion: Use Dash to get to the outside wall if you're caught short in the build-up to this spell, but even slowed there's usually plenty of time to get out of range.
Flame Wreath: Alert! Alert! Shape-shifting will trigger the Flame Wreath! Don't make the mistake of a thousand other druids in thinking that shape-shifting "isn't movement and therefore won't trigger it". Remember that you *can* move around as long as you don't cross any of the wreaths, but the safest bet is to make sure you're in melee range of Aran when it goes off… asuming you haven't got any more responsibilities at the time. Most raids don't realise you can move as long as you don't touch any of the wreaths, so to avoid much shouting and gnashing of teeth on Team Speak, it might be best just to stay put!
Water Elementals: Most raids will have a warlock making the elementals very easy to deal with, but you may be called upon to DPS or even tank them. They have low health, and so can be burned down quite fast, but watch for flame wreath and accept there's very little you can do to handle more than one of these guys if Aran casts it.
Polymorph/Pyroblast: I believe that druids used to be immune to this if shapeshifted when it went off… but not any more. Once polymorph is signalled, be prepared to pop that potion or Healthstone as soon as the subsequent Pyroblast goes off. Tranquility can also be invaluable here, as most of the raid will be on drastically reduced health by the time Aran starts his next cast, and druid healing can be the difference between a dead, sad clothie and a living, smiley-happy one.
Prince Malchezaar
Bleed-Immune: No
Taunt-Immune: No
This is another fight where the off-tank can switch to pure DPS and assume a melee's responsibilities (aggro vs. damage vs. positioning). The main tank has two responsibilities: positioning himself with his back to a wall so that Prince's knockback doesn't cause devastation, and maneuvering Prince should an infernal land within AOE distance of where the fight is happening. The raid will usually have a 'caller' other then the tank to announce unlucky infernal splash-downs and suggest where the melee should move. Other than that, this is one of those fights where the quality of a tank is defined by the quality of the people healing him.
Druid tanks, with their massive health and armor, are ideal against Prince's Sunder Armour and very high DPS during the second phase, but an unlucky streak of crits and parries can take down even the best equipped Kara-level bears. In these situations you should, first, pray, and second, be prepared with all of the +Dodge trinkets at your disposal, as well as Frenzied Regeneration as a last resort. Bears without Moroes Pocket Watch and/or the Badge of Tenacity will find themselves regularly in trouble, so you should consider at least one of those to be the absolute minimum needed to justify main tanking Malchezaar, and preferably both (the Badge can be purchased for 1000-1500g at the AH or is grindable in Blade's Edge, while the Pocket Watch should drop for you on the long road through Kara to get to Prince unless you're quite unlucky).
Nightbane
Bleed-Immune: No
Taunt-Immune: Yes
This is easily one of the most challenging fights, where concentration for long periods of time, pitch-perfect positioning, and faultless snap aggro are vital to success. Consider yourself to have graduated in bear tanking if you successfully main tank Nightbane. :)
There are several phases to this fight, each one occuring three times. Phase 1, just after Nightbane lands, is a relatively simple tank and spank, however, aggro and positioning here are vital. First, make sure you have mastered your snap aggro tools in bear form; don't try and aggro Nightbane in caster (lol) else you're mincemeat. Positioning-wise, you must tank the dragon with his tail to the wall and his head out over the railings so that his frontal Cleave and Breath hit you, and only you. If you fight Nightbane at a diagonal, both his head and tail can Cleave into the raid doing massive damage to the melee characters. This can actually be quite hard unless you're used to rotating your camera position away from the fight, so get accustomed to doing that. You'll need a clear, unobstructed view of the terrace to maneuver Nightbane correctly. Be very careful to just inch along the wall when adjusting his facing; one wrong move can spell disaster.
Another concern in this phase is Bellowing Roar, a fear effect. Primal Tenacity gives druids a +15% fear resistance which might save you from at least one of his fears (and is an absolute minimum requirement for tanking this dragon), but this is a far cry from the various ways a Warrior has to render himself immune to fear, so you're likely going to be relying on Fear Ward and other effects on top of your resistance. If you do get feared, you will no longer lose aggro (a new feature following a recent patch), which means Nightbane will trot after you like a homesick puppy as you're running away; this can be very bad news because he's suddenly out of position amongst a lot of very upset-looking raiders. Once the fear has faded (it's short), the main tank must maneuver Nightbane back to his tanking position in such a way that he doesn't unleash his AOE's on the rest of the raid. How you do this depends on where you end up, but get his head pointing back over the railing as fast as possible. Ultimately, this is much more important than sliding him back to optimal tanking spot at the pinnacle of the terrace.
Finally during this phase, there is the Charred Earth effect, which AOE's anyone standing on it with huge damage. Whether to move Nightbane if you get caught on this effect is a judgement call; I actually prefer to just let the melee to move out of the effect, and soak up the extra damage myself; this puts a little extra pressure on the healers, but the damage is armor-mitigated (a significant advantage for heavily-armored druid tanks) and it eliminates the massive risks associated with trying to move Nightbane from the tanking position, which can sometimes be subject to an uncomfortable bit of luck.
At various fixed points Nightbane will take flight and you will lose aggro. Normally, one of your raid members will have been marked and everyone, including the main tank, should cluster around that person and wait for Nightbane's AOE and skeleton-spawning abilities. Here, you're relying on mass DPS to get them down as quickly as possible, but you should be doing your best to de-aggro the casters at the same time using Growl and Mangle, as usual.
Eventually Nightbane will cruise back down to the terrace. Before this happens, you should tab-select him in order to spot the giant red circle sliding along the ground under his position. This should give you all the information you need to get into position to quickly aggro him when he lands. Get him into position as quickly as possible, and repeat for the win.
Final Words
Karazhan is a ton of fun for a feral druid. You can do huge amounts of good in multiple roles, and our headline tanking abilities work perfectly in the 10-man environment. It's a shame that the tanking rewards on offer aren't more significant (the odd necklace and cloak, a staff and trinket… no leather tanking items at all, which is very disappointing), but it's a fact that druid itemisation has always been ropey. We get our most significant tanking items from reputation vendors (Earthwarden), crafters (Clefthoof, which you'll have pretty much during your entire stay at Hotel Karazhan), and Badge rewards (where you can finally start upgrading that leather as long as you can fund 100's of badges necessary to do so) instead. On top of that there's plenty of DPS leather to go around, and one of the advantages of the class is that we're justified in rolling on two distinct types of item.
Overall, know your role, and enjoy yourself. Your class has everything it needs for success in Karazhan… make sure you use it all!
