Tedahmeister's Guide to Tanking (2 of 4)

[tedahmeister5]

Aggro - Here are the following methods:

1 - increase swing hate (weapon ratio, agro mod [ spell or worn])
2 - increase number of swings per minute (worn Ferocity, AAs [flurry, ferocity, punishing blade, haste/overhaste])
3 - increase proc hate (Dexterity [if low], choice of proc, Combat Effects, Weapon Affinity, agro mod, proccing shield)
4 - increase spell hate (clicky agro spells [wish shoulders, PoR BP, etc], agro mod)
5 - "worn proc hate" (offensive: Panther, Time/VT clicky, Bard DoN proc song; defensive: Sloth, Lassitude, Skin of the Reptile)
6 - Miscellany (1st on agro list, chain/stack agro disciplines, taunting, bash, crippling hit)
Notes: Taunt is NOT used every time it becomes available – it is used when you are trying to “put” yourself at the top of the list taunt wise… if you follow it up with some other proc’ing mech such as Vish Shoulders, or Right click your group/raid BP to lock agro this is the most efficient use of Taunt.

HitPoints

HP are great and you need them but you also need to generate them in the most dynamic way possible. This means you want to look at the most balanced way you can increase your “Herioc” stats along with the Combat Effects (CE), Avoidance, Shielding. The first order of business in kinda backwards for a tank regarding completing your AAXP.

First you want to work on your defensive AA, then your offensive.

The must haves, such as AOE Taunt, etc should be factored in and if you are building a tank to just load up on AAXP level 71 is the sweet spot. In the later guides I will get into more detail on how a well rounded tank does three things, 1 – Avoids getting hit (Dodge/Parry/Riposte – you need to reduce it by using shield or 2h weapon), 2- Reduces getting hit for large damage (damage mitigation) AC plays a big part here , 3- Effectively use disciplines, epic weapons, and special discs to maximize the amount of HP

Armor Class – (AC)

Some people say that AC rules all.. it’s true … but you also need HP to allow yourself extreme damage spikes on any encounter. Early in the game there was a HARD cap… if you were at 3200 ac you were golden… anything over that was wasted.. now it’s a soft cap. The major breaks are 4200, 4500, 4900, 5200, 5550, and 5800 AC… 4200 being the entry point for coming in and semi-tanking the current raid content we have in Firestormers. 5800 on the high end with other factors allows Gwarf/Jans to almost one tank – Lord Bretcht. As you strengthen as a tank you will notice that damage becomes more mitigated in relation to the hardness of the mob. (I will go into detail how this occurs mathematically as I get deeper into the math of the exponential smoothing).

Communication:

Knowing where to be, having all of your clickies refreshed for a raid event, knowing the raid event, where you are on the tank list, logging into Ventrilo if that is an option for you. It takes good communication for a Warrior to function optimally in a raid environment. Don’t go AFK unless you state so in warrior channel, raid, or group. Due to the heavy damage output of the end game content there is need for major focus on quick tank switching, and crisp communication between the tank set/raid.

Mathematical Terms Used in Damage Formulas:

Here is the base formula of what happens when you get hit:

H = DB *(1.00-S) + (N*DI)

This means H = the HIT of a mob on you

DB = The damage base – the lowest possible value you can be hit by the mob

S – Your current shielding (max is 35%)

N= Damage Interval number (DI *N)

DI= Damage Interval – there are basically 20 values between the DB (damage base) and the HIGH value – NOTE: The max number for the N value is 20.

The “random computation” of the N number is factored against your AC and class mitigation (warriors have 5% Mit by default).

Damage Mitigation:

Obviously you just have to get better AC and you will take less damage, but it's not the only possibility you have. You can purchase the mitigation line of AA (CS +10%, PE +2%, LI +5%, DI 2.5%) ~20% total dps reduction
This leads to the next mathematical computation which is the meat and potatoes for the warrior maximizing damage mitigation:

DM=DB+x*DI

DM= Damage max for the hit

DB=Damage Base

X =(same as N in the example above … it’s the Random number generated between 1 and 20)

DI = Damage interval
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Here is the first tablature that will give you an idea of the AC

NOTE: 135 ac shield in all tests, ADI=Average DI #, Spike=Double DI17+ Round
1213 displayed ac (731 defense 22 avoidance 460 item) = 9.44 ADI/4.748 spike%, 1285 hits
1302 displayed ac (731 defense 22 avoidance 549 item) = 9.73 ADI/2.962 spike%, 4486 hits
1399 displayed ac (731 defense 39 avoidance 629 item) = 7.02 ADI/2.002 spike%, 1585 hits
1504 displayed ac (731 defense 22 avoidance 751 item) = 7.20 ADI/1.369 spike%, 1719 hits
1608 displayed ac (731 defense 22 avoidance 855 item) = 6.88 ADI/1.098 spike%, 2729 hits
1709 displayed ac (731 defense 22 avoidance 956 item) = 6.56 ADI/0.901 spike%, 3222 hits
1805 displayed ac (731 defense 33 avoidance 1041 item) = 6.61 ADI/0.835 spike%, 12300 hits
1903 displayed ac (731 defense 22 avoidance 1150 item) = 6.33 ADI/0.632 spike%, 4303 hits
2002 displayed ac (731 defense 28 avoidance 1243 item) = 6.36 ADI/0.676 spike%, 3712 hits
2102 displayed ac (731 defense 22 avoidance 1349 item) = 6.13 ADI/0.572 spike%, 9640 hits
2203 displayed ac (731 defense 22 avoidance 1450 item) = 5.82 ADI/0.437 spike%, 4569 hits
2304 displayed ac (731 defense 22 avoidance 1551 item) = 5.67 ADI/0.315 spike%, 3136 hits
2400 displayed ac (731 defense 22 avoidance 1647 item) = 5.73 ADI/0.392 spike%, 2429 hits
2501 displayed ac (731 defense 22 avoidance 1748 item) = 5.69 ADI/0.325 spike%, 1901 hits
2600 displayed ac (731 defense 22 avoidance 1847 item) = 5.44 ADI/0.320 spike%, 3061 hits
2703 displayed ac (731 defense 22 avoidance 1950 item) = 5.50 ADI/0.319 spike%, 2971 hits
2798 displayed ac (731 defense 28 avoidance 2039 item) = 4.63 ADI/0.246 spike%, 3403 hits
2900 displayed ac (731 defense 28 avoidance 2141 item) = 5.30 ADI/0.193 spike%, 2691 hits
3002 displayed ac (731 defense 39 avoidance 2232 item) = 5.11 ADI/0.157 spike%, 8997 hits
3101 displayed ac (731 defense 55 avoidance 2315 item) = 5.07 ADI/0.177 spike%, 3067 hits
3207 displayed ac (731 defense 50 avoidance 2426 item) = 5.08 ADI/0.117 spike%, 3111 hits
3309 displayed ac (731 defense 61 avoidance 2517 item) = 4.72 ADI/0.038 spike%, 2821 hits
3402 displayed ac (731 defense 72 avoidance 2599 item) = 4.91 ADI/0.072 spike%, 2778 hits
3499 displayed ac (731 defense 88 avoidance 2680 item) = 4.83 ADI/0.135 spike%, 2830 hits
3611 displayed ac (731 defense 105 avoidance 2775 item) = 4.73 ADI/0.096 spike%, 13784 hits
3698 displayed ac (731 defense 105 avoidance 2862 item) = 4.73 ADI/0.065 spike%, 4672 hits
3783 displayed ac (731 defense 105 avoidance 2947 item) = 4.69 ADI/0.056 spike%, 3324 hits

Notice the lowering of the ADI – which is the damage interval between a very long sequence of hits – I’ll continue to go deeper in the next 3 of 4. (Also notice the drop in ADI at 3200 as mentioned above)

Best regards,