(Written by Sudhee) (Write for us!)
“DK’s can tank in all 3 specs.” Tired of hearing that without knowing why? Well, read on…
- Starter DK tanking gear for heroics.
- Tanking stats.
- Blood tanking spec.
- Frost 2h tanking spec.
- Frost DW tanking spec.
- Unholy tanking spec.
Starter DK tanking gear for heroics:
Tempered Titansteel Helm (BOE – epic) – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41387
Crusader’s Square Pauldrons (BOE – rare) – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37115
Tempered Saronite Breastplate(BOE- rare) – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40672
Tempered Saronite Bracers (BOE – rare) – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41116
Waistguard of the Risen Knight (BOE – rare) – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37801
Daunting Legplates (BOE – rare) – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41345
Daunting handguards (BOE – rare) – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41357
Tempered Saronite Boots (BOE – rare) – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40671
Durable Nerubhide Cape (BOE – epic) – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43565
Ring of Earthen Might (BOE – rare) – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43250
Titanium Earthguard Ring (BOE – epic) – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=42643
Torta’s Oversized Choker (BOE – rare) – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37794
Titansteel Destroyer (BOE – epic) – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41257
Essence of Gossamer (BOP – rare) – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37220
The Black Heart (BOP – epic) – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=47216
There are no sigils before level 80, so you need to do heroics to get a decent sigil.
Enchants to get:
Stoneskin Gargoyle – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41257
Enchant Chest – Greater Defense – http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=47766
Enchant Cloak – Titanweave – http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=44591
Austere Earthsiege Diamond – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41380
3x Thick Autumn’s Glow – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40015
I have purposefully left out the head and shoulder enchants, as they need faction reputation, but, you can get:
Arcanum of the Stalwart Protector (Head enchant) – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40015
Greater Inscription of the Pinnacle (Shoulder enchant) – http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44136
One trip to the Auction House, and you will be able to buy everything but the trinkets. With all the BOE armor, enchants and gems, you will hit exactly 537 defense rating, which is what you need to tank heroics, and 10 man Naxxramas, but anything beyond that, will be troublesome.
Tanking stats:
Till you get 540 defense, its defense > stamina > parry/dodge > strength/agility
After you get 540 defense, its stamina > parry/dodge > strength/agility
540 is the defense cap where you can no longer be crit, so it is unnecessary to go over that, and your time would be better spent going for stamina.
Strength is used for Attack Power as well as Parry rating, because Forceful Deflection gives you parry rating equal to 25% of your total strength. So it helps generate threat as well as help you tank.
Agility is used for Crit and Dodge, but since you have very little crit as a tank, it is almost negligible, and in most cases it is better to go for strength.
Blood Tanking spec:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#j0EGVh0Icbofsox0xZ0gh0xz:iGd
At a glance: Blood mainly deals with single target threat generation and health regeneration with Death Strike.
Rotation: Keep up Icy Touch and Plague Strike up on all targets at all times, use Heart Strike before Death Strike, so you can benefit from the Death Strike glyph.
The main tanking talents you need to get for this spec are Blade Barrier, Veteran of the Third War, Improved Death Strike, Vampiric Blood and Will of the Necropolis, Toughness and Anticipation.
The main threat generating talents in this spec are, Bladed Armor, Scent of Blood, Dark Conviction, Bloody Strikes, Bloody Vengeance, Abomination’s Might, Sudden Doom, Heart Strike, Morbidity, and Necrosis.
After getting these talents, you can play around with the spec, to see what suits you best.
The spec given above is designed to generate massive amounts of threat rather than survivability, but it is an excellent spec to tank heroics.
Frost 2H Tanking spec:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#jcxZhxxxAbIoc0buzAo0th:sadVMm
At a glance: Frost is geared towards tanking melee, because of the haste debuffs you can put on your targets, and the talents that increase the chance for melee attacks to miss you.
Rotation: Keep up Icy Touch and Plague Strike on all targets at, all times, and rotate with Howling blast (whenever it’s up), Obliterate (for threat generation) and Blood Strike (to keep up the Blade Barrier talent).
The main tanking talents to get for this spec are Blade Barrier, Toughness, Icy Talons, Frigid Dreadplate, Annihilation, Improved Frost Presence, Unbreakable Armor, and Anticipation.
The main threat generating talents in this spec are Killing Machine, Deathchill, Frost Strike, Howling Blast, and Morbidity.
After getting these talents, you can play around with the spec, to see what suits you best.
The given spec is based on getting snap aggro on a number of mobs, and survivability, more than single target threat generation.
Frost DW Tanking spec:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#jcxhZhxe0NbI0c0fuzAo0xb:adsVMm
This spec will be more viable after patch 3.2.2, when they let Threat of Thassarian affect Rune Strike.
At a glance: Frost is geared towards tanking melee, because of the haste debuffs you can put on your targets, and the talents that increase the chance for melee attacks to miss you.
Rotation: Keep up Icy Touch and Plague Strike on all targets at, all times, and rotate with Howling blast (whenever it’s up), Obliterate (for threat generation) and Blood Strike (to keep up the Blade Barrier talent).
The main tanking talents to get for this spec are Blade Barrier, Toughness, Annihilation, Icy Talons, Nerves of Cold Steel, Threat of Thassarian, Frigid Dreadplate, Improved Frost Presence, Unbreakable Armor, and Anticipation.
The main threat generating talents in this spec are Killing Machine, Deathchill, Frost Strike, Scent of Blood, Howling Blast, and Morbidity.
After getting these talents, you can play around with the spec, to see what suits you best.
The given spec is based on getting snap aggro on a number of mobs, and survivability, more than single target threat generation.
Unholy Tanking spec:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#jcxhMZ0xZbxhIx0zg0hx0uIq:rMomVM
At a glance: The Unholy tree is based around dealing magic damage, this spec is very potent when you have around 50% avoidance, because that makes your Bone Shield last longer.
Rotation: Keep up Icy Touch, and Plague Strike on all targets at all times, then rotate between Blood Strikes and Scourge Strikes as you see fit.
The main Tanking talents to get for this spec are, Blade Barrier, Toughness, Anticipation, Bone Shield, and Rage of Rivendare.
The main threat generating talents in this tree are, Subversion (after 3.2.2, when it affects Scourge Strike), Scent of Blood, Dark Conviction, Vicious Strikes, Morbidity, Outbreak, Necrosis, Ravenous Dead, Impurity, Desolation, Ebon Plaguebringer, and Wandering Plague.
After getting these talents, you can play around with the spec, to see what suits you best.
As you may have noticed, there are a lot more threat generating talents than there are tanking talents in this tree, and a lot of those talents do AOE damage, so it is very suitable for AOE tanking, as well as excellent single target threat generation as well, second only to Blood.
To conclude, I hope you have learned something useful about Death Knight tanks, hope you enjoy tanking!
