CC Doesn't Always Mean Continuous Consecration
Greetings I was hoping you might be able to shed some insight onto where I may have gone wrong or what I need to do to be success full in heroics, and lead my guild into Kara.
Here is my gear:
(armory link)
499 Def.
12k Armor
10k Health
57% Avoidance (w/o Holy Shield up)
Seemed that I was meeting all the minimum requirements to head into KZ. However last night did a Heroic Slave Pens run, and found it almost impossible for me to take 3 mobs at a time. With a lack of CC running 2 shammy's in the group, we had ALOT of wipes, an almost 2 hour run to the end.
I never felt so under geared, but I just don't see where I can up in gear without running heroics. Is there something I have missed along the way?
Thanks for your time,
Zertlek of Khaz'goroth
Those are about the stats that I started Heroics with. I can tell you, I couldn't handle 3 guys beating on me back them either. Not only do the mobs in Heroic Slave Pens hit relatively hard for a new tank, but they also have debuffs which lower your armor. That can be deadly at your gear level.
But you made it through the instance. That's something you should really feel good about. Here's how my first Heroic Slave Pens run went.
The one piece of advice I'll give you looking at your Warcrafter. Gems. Gem for Stamina. When you are starting out there is no other gem in the game other than Solid Star of Elune. Forget the socket bonuses. Don't gem for Defense, or Avoidance (AGI). Gem for Stamina.
The second point I'll make is that the Keepers of Time offer the Timewarden's Leggings. I find them superior to the Felsteel Leggings in every regard.
When you are starting to do Heroics, you are going to need Crowd Control, I don't care what your class. Some of the late pulls in Heroic Slave Pens involve mobs that Fear you, or mobs that Mind Control. You want those suckers Mind Control.
When you come back in a month or so and are more geared you can just AoE everything in site, but until then get friendly with Mages, Warlocks, Hunters, and other Crowd Control classes.
Comments
But... it's also about the group. DPS is CC as far as I'm concerned. the faster a mob drops, the less damage it does to you and the less strain on the healer(s). As a Tank, you need to asses your group and choose your battles carefully. What can your healer handle, how much damage can your DPS output, how much damage can you take? Once you get an idea of this, you can make your choices to go CC heavy or CC lite.
There is no shame in using CC as a pally tank. It's all about getting the job done.
Timewarden's Leggings is by far one of the best pieces you can get at the beginning, throw +12 stam gems in it and rock on. I used them until I upgraded to the Inscribed Legplates of the Aldor. HP is a MASSIVE help anywhere you go. It translates into more time for the heal to land.
You may want to save it for stopping a heal / dangerous spell cast, but I find its most useful just to use on a hard hitting mob a couple of seconds into the fight.
First couple of times I ran Heroic Slave Pens pug healers thought I was insane tanking all 3 bogstroks. But by using stun at the ideal time (and having strong dps) the first bogstrok hardly hit me.
Keep in mind as Tankerboots said, dps is CC - the longer the mobs will be hitting on you = longer healer is being strained, and therefore the worse your gear will seem to the healer.