DK Tanking Basic Guide

I've been promising a DK tank guide for a while. Having had a bit more experience now, I thought I'd start with a look at the basics, I'm going to cover tanking in ICC in another post.

You can tank in any of three talent trees currently, there are changes planned for Cataclysm, which you can see here should you choose to. Please come back though because I'd hate for you to miss a gem of wisdom I might impart.

Here's a quick look at the differences in the trees;


Frost - early Wrath favourite and still a steady choice and my tanking tree of choice
Blood - better AoE tanking and high physical damage
Unholy - flashy, unnerving for some people to watch, but just as respectable (and fun :P) as the other two specs.

To have a look at specs, head over to www.deathknightbuilds.com and you can see them all laid out for you like a talent build buffet with glyphs on the side.

First things first.
My best advice, before you get into that dungeon or raid is to SWITCH TO FROST PRESENCE!! As a DK tanking noob, I frequently forget to do this simple and frankly, mandatory task. I've now got a mantra before raiding, Flasks, Fish, Frost presence.



If you're a new level 80 DK and thinking about tanking for the first time, my advice is to use those Emblems of Triumph to buy up T9 gear. At least a two piece kit will see you in good stead. You can use emblems to grab some i245 pieces too. Of course, in the interim, anything that drops from an Northrend HC and has tanking stats will be a good addition.

Unless you want to wait to grab an ICC 5 man weapon (or even Edge of Ruin* for ToC 5), I'd recommend getting a Titansteel Destroyer crafted. It's only i200 true, but it's a solid mace and is perfectly acceptable for running heroics and older Wrath raids, plus as it's crafted you don't have to grind for it, any BS should be able to whip one up for you. And the cost will be a lot cheaper than you might think. One note here. DKs are better equipped with a DPS weapon, don't ask me why. I've told you before I don't do the maths. It's what I've read across a few sites so that's what I've gone with.




Hmm let's think ... specs, gear ... what's next ... stats!

Def, def, def. Defense is your best friend. People talk about hitting a "def rating" and unlike things like hit rating, there is no real cap on your defense rating, but you do need a minimum level. 535 def rating will cover you for heroics, probably barring the ICC Heroics, 540 is the minimum for tanking in Naxxramus so is probably going to be your target for ICC Heroics. You can never have enough defense. As a DK, you can stick a the rune enchant of Stoneskin Gargoyle on your weapon which helps with defense, but you shouldn't use this rune to reach the def minimum. If you are struggling to hit the minimum def rating, pick up some Thick King's Amber to up it.

Following def rating, you're probably going to want to look at giving your green bar some oompf. Gems, specifically the meaty +30 stamina you get from Solid Majectic Zircon are now your best friend.

After defense and stamina, it's time to look at dodge and parry. For some reason I 've got 18% dodge and 22& parry as the figures to aim for stuck in my head but I can't find anywhere to back it up. I blame the hang over.

You'll not want to forget entirely about hit. Hit generates threat. That's why those pesky DPS can pull threat every now and then. So in between all the aggro your chucking at the mobs/boss, and all the crotch watching you're doing, between all the ducking and diving from the swinging axe, you've still got to land a punch every now and then. A little bit of haste and agility won't hurt so don't worry too much if you pick a smattering of those up. But please. For the love of the pixel gods, DO NOT EVER pick up anything that says "intellect" "spell power" "mana per second". You are not a healer. You are not a caster. You are a bad-ass-plate-wearing-hard-hitting-crotch-watching MoFo. In the words of Achmed, I KILL YOU.

So you want to prioritise

Def rating > Stamina > Dodge > Parry

Ok so I guess you're gonna want to know some kind of enchants to get now too aren't you? Not that you're greedy or anything. I've tried to include a bit of a selection where possible so you can tweak things as needed.

Head Slot -
Arcanum of the Stalwart Protector – Revered with Argent Crusade – 37 Stam and 20 defense rating

Shoulders -
Greater Inscription of the Pinnacle – Exalted with Sons of Hodir – 20 dodge and 15 defense
Or
if you're an inscriptor - Master’s Inscription of the Pinnacle – 52 dodge and 15 defense

Chest -
If you are still lacking on def rating grab – Greater Defense – 22 defense rating

otherwise it's the old faithful – Powerful Stats

Legs -
Frosthide Leg Armor – 55 Stam & 22 Agi
Jormungar Leg Armor – 45 Stam & 15 Agi


Boots
Tuskarr’s Vitality – 15 Stam & Minor Run Speed improvement
Greater Fortitude – 22 Stam

Bracers
Expertise – 15 expertise rating
Major Stamina – +40 Stamina
Fur Lining – 102 Stamina - Leatherworkers only

Gloves
Armsman – 2% threat and 10 parry rating

Expertise – 15 expertise rating

Precision – 20 hit rating
Crusher – 44 attack power

Cloak
Titanweave – 16 defense rating
Major Agility – 22 Agility
Superior Agility – 16 Agility

So I guess that's about it. If you think I've missed something please let me know and I'll stick another post together! Until then brothers and sisters, suffer well!

*Edge of Ruin is also known as that bastard axe. Because for months it didn't drop for me. Then I gets me grubby little mitts on it and two weeks later ICC arrives and this ugly bugger drops for me. Suckering suckertash.

Unholy DK DPS Stats, Gems and Enchants

Edit - Jan 2013 - This post dates back to Feb 2010 - That's almost 3 YEARS OLD. I'll do an up to date version soon but in the mean time go to Icy Veins. 

A few weeks back I wrote a DK DPS blog for the best unholy spec in 3.3. It seems logical to compliment this with a blog about which stats to stack, the best gems to drop in those pretty slots and the enchants to charm your gear into eeking out the best results for you. Now bare in mind this is just a guide, but it's serving me well in ICC 10 (occassionally in 25) so there's no reason it can't do the same for you. If you're lucky enough to be in the hard modes though this won't be for you. I'm not that great. Yet.



Stats
Let's start with the stats. As damage dealers, your key role is to hit stuff, if you ain't hitting it, it's not going down. For. A. Very. Long. Time. Hence, hit rating is one of the highest priorities. For DPS specced DKs, you want to look for 8% to reach your hit cap. That's about 262 rating. Right now, Deme is well over the hit cap and this is something I'll be looking to sort with some dungeon grinding to buy some gems with emblems.

I say that hit rating is one of the highest priorities because it's pretty much on a par with strength. Like warriors our attack power increases 2:1 per strength point and attack power comes in very handy on a fistful of our attacks. You can't over stack strength and we'll come on to how get more of it in the gemming section.

Now, recently, the next stat you decide to stack has slightly switched depending on the content you are running. Enjoying ICC? Stack ArP (that's Armour Penetration - I always forget what it stands for), if you're running older content, go for crit rating here. Then, which ever one you didn't stack first, you can stack next. Let's make that a little clearer.

Running TotC (or older) = Hit > Strength > Crit > ArP
Running ICC = Hit > Strength > ArP > Crit

Following those first 4 stats, it's equal placing for haste and expertise with agility last. Agility isn't a fabulous stat for DKs as a rule so don't worry about it, if you happen to have some, good for you.

GemsOk, confession time. At the time of writing, Deme's gems are pretty sucky. I'm saying this upfront because I've learnt whilst writing this post that I'd been playing around with stuff and I'd made a mess. I'm sorry mum, I promise to head off immediately and spend all those EoTs on new gems. Instead of that new tank set. Essentially I have the wrong meta, and a couple of Ametrine's of the wrong sort.

Basically, for DK DPS, go for Bold Cardinal Ruby or Inscribed Ametrine. These are both strength based gems and the only time you'd think of using another one is if you're not at hit cap. Check out the gems page on WoWWiki for a full listing of all the gems available by colour and stats. Very handy.

Now onto that shameful Meta gem. Now I've read the bits at Elitist Jerks and they recommend the Chaotic Skyflare Diamond or Relentless Earthsiege Diamond. Neither of which Deme is using. More to do with me not reading things on time than anything else. But! Ah ha! She does have the Nightmare Tear in place so that's one thing to tick off, but boy have I messed her up. Now EJ do a great job with all the maths and kudos to you if you can understand it all, but I'm too tired to take it all in so the above is the plan I'll be following with Deme. I'll let you know how I get on.

EnchantsWhat little pieces of magic are going to help you eek out a for more killer points on that vanity dial Recount? You remember grinding all that rep don't you? So you could get all the best enchants?? Well this was why.
Head - Arcanum of Torment - you'll need exalted with Knights of Ebon Hold in Icecrown. These are your brothers and sisters, you should know them! Go see Duchess Mynx in the Shadow Vault.Shoulders - Master's Inscription of the Axe - what's that? Not a Scribe? Oh well sorry you'll have to take Greater Inscription of the Axe then from those Sons of Hodir. Deme has yet to get exalted with them simply because she's never had to.Chest - Powerful Stats - find a friendly enchanter and get him/her to "buff" your chest. Accept no substitutes.Cloak - Greater Speed - remember your stats? Agility was last so grab some haste and make it snappy.Bracers - Greater Assault - 50 AP, simples.Gloves - I can haz more hit cap? Sure you can, whack yourself a Precision enchant if your still looking to hit that magic level. If not, get some Major Strength, another one Deme needs to sort out.Legs - flash those sexy legs at a leatherworker for some Icescale Leg Armour. It's your only option.Boots - Again you add some hit cap here with Icewalker or go for Greater Assault if you've already got your hit sorted.

Remember, every time you upgrade, you need to enchant and gem again. It helps to have a list of all the mats you need for your enchants handy.

Next time, I'll attempt a gear guide, not a BiS, but a "get from dinging 80 to raiding fast" kind of gear guide. Or maybe I won't. We'll see what WoW throws up as ideas.

Suffer Well!

Deme the Doofus.

Further Reading
Elitist Jerks - should be your go to spot, even if you can't understand 1/2 of it, if you get 1 new thing there each time you read, you'll grow as a player. For Unholy DPS, this page is especially great.