Being an effective OT

[Drumble]

Warriors are the most heavily gear dependant class I know.  Doesn't matter what buttons you mash, if you dont have the defense/armor/health -- you're dead, and then the raid is dead.Here's the tanking theory: consistant damage is healable --- burst damage kills First thing to gear up is your DEFENSE stat.  You need 490 defense -- the reason being, any level 73 (boss) mob has the ability to critically hit you with less.  Once you have 490 -- you are uncrittable.  If you're getting hit for 3k smacks every 2 seconds -- it's healable.  Throw in a crit - 5k and BOOM healers scramble panic you almost died.Once you have 490 defense, you can walk into any 5-man and enjoy the exuberance your healers have towards you.  Wow! they'll say.  You rock! they'll say.  It feels good.  (Actually it's 485 defense since boss mobs in 5-man instances are level 72)  All you really have to work on in those scenarios is threat and controlling the pull.  You're taking consistant damage with little effort, you barely have to hit shield block -- unless it's a heavy hitting situation, or maybe there are multiple mobs beating on you.  Threat threat threat in these scenarios.  Easy peasey lemon squeezee.However, any mob that is 3 levels higher than you (raid bosses) throw an extra knuckleball in the form of Crushing Blows.  These are essentially "crits" regardless of your defense.  So in addition to threat on the raid bosses -- you need to be shield blocking EVERY TIME it's up to avoid the burst damage of a crushing blow.  Read the warrior sticky thread in the WoW forums for more details on this or visiti www.tankspot.com -- it's the author's web site.Ok -- so you have your gear set, your defenses are up to 490 -- you're shield blocking every time it's up, thunderclapping to slow boss swings, demo shouting to lessen boss attack power.  What can you do then to be a more effective OT?Sadly -- gear gear gear.  Gear rules the day.  Once you have 490 defense -- you should do everything possible to increase your health/armor.  Both of them have a linear effect on your survivability.  That is to say -- an extra 1000 armor when you have 5k is worth as much when you have 15k armor.  It all equals X more hits from a boss.  Extra time to get that heal in.Note that this is geared towards being an effective OT -- there is something of a tradeoff when you are MT when threat on boss mobs becomes important for your raid (where you dont want DPS to have to throttle behind you).  I opted for 2% threat on gloves over the 12 stamina -- but I've invested heavily in stamina in other parts.Gear suggestions to follow in another post ...

[Drumble]

There are a number of easily attained +defense things in the game, between quests / instances / craftables.Here are a few I'd suggest, I might make it back to provide links and accurate names - but you can easily look these up too!:Dabri's Enigma - +32 defense - quest in NetherstormCloak of Eternity - Craftible +23 defense, +36 stamina      - 6 primal earth, 6 imbued netherweaveGrom'tor's Charge - axe - 11 defense + 30 stamina -- quest in Shadowmoon ValleyNetherwing Protector's Shield -- +15 defense +block value -- quest in Shadowmoon ValleyFelsteel Helm / Leggings / Gauntlets -- craftable EXCELLENT starting defense gearFleshbeasts' Greaves -- Mana Tombs quest .. Shatari Vindicator's Waistguard / Sha'tari Wrought Armguards -- Tempest Keep questsMark of the Ravenguard -- +17 defense +40 stamina -- Sethekk Halls questAdamantite Figurine -- +32 defense trinket -- Shadow Labs drop - I think Blackheart the InciterProtector's Mark of the Redemption -- Shadowmoon questJade-Skull Breastplate -- drop from Mechanar fire elemental boss"gun" of the champion -- check the AH for guns that can bolster your defense too

[Drumble]

Pre-kara tanking gear guide, good info and links:http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/threa ... 8850&sid=1

[Blave]

Off tanking as a Druid is much the same ... except one BIG thing, no shield. Without a shield you cannot avoid crushing blows. So, you must have exceptionally high armor and hit points. Also, defense is vital, but not as important as armor and stamina ... as a Druid you are going to take crits and crushing blows, you just need to mitigate them as best as possible.

General rule for Druid tanking: Armor > Stamina > Agility > AP > Hit Rating.

Here is a really good item site for Druids:
http://www.gurgleblaster.net/emmerald/B ... /Head.html

[Dionia]

Thanks guys, my feral druid tank loves the tips