tanking bosses as a warlock?

dogwatch · June 12, 2008, 11:17 AM

The other night I tanked a Fel Rever near Honor Hold using my VW. Sat there and health funneled him while the hunter in my party blasted away.
We got him down very very fast and the VW took hardly any damage. I've seen video of warlocks soloing Fel Revers so I'm not suprised by this.

It's been a couple months since I got out my VW for anything, with almost 10000 armor this guy can really handle serious damage.

In my experience the Voidy doesn't typically have enough agro to hold multiple targets while I heal and blast away at max range. However he can hold agro very well on a single elite boss.

I'm anxious to test him out on other bosses inside of instances to see what he can handle. If there is a boss where I am not going to be bothered too much by the adds. I'm confident with my health funnel that he could take down some big game. With a second healer I'm betting he can take down something big. Has anyone tested this out?

Vaell · June 12, 2008, 11:26 AM

Not technically VW tanking but you post is titled 'tanking bosses as a warlock' so:

The 72 elite bosses in Black Morass are doable with a good healer and around 400+ resilience. I had Tangnak out for the MD 10% additional damage reduction, and just slapped CoW and SiLi on while spamming Searing Pain.

I've seen a Lock tank Durn the Hungerer solo, using VW. He just used SiLi and health funnel to keep his VW up. Took a long time mind you, since you really can't do much damage without stealing aggro.

dogwatch · June 12, 2008, 11:40 AM

BTW I saw the video on tanking Hydros but thats a kite fight.

I'm talking specifically VoidWalker boss tanking. Keepnig him alive with health funnels and a backup healer while I dot and SiL and lifetap to recover mana. There is a couple of bosses in Kara which come in mind where i think it may work.

levinho · June 12, 2008, 12:04 PM

VW isn't really meant to tank bosses. 10K armor and no real mitigation aren't good enough to handle bosses in raid instances and would only cause grief to your fellow players in heroics. A real tank is going to have +/- 20k armor and +/- 60-80% mitigation depending on the fight. BTW a fel reaver may be elite but that doesn't make him a boss.

I did durn and all the nagrand elites by enslaving one of the fel guards at the forge camps. So, I guess i can understand the thrill of a challenge. However, lock tanks are usually better for resist fights and it isn't the pet tanking.

breena · June 17, 2008, 04:23 PM

i saw a T6 lock with a mage and hunter making a pathetic attmpt at killing Durn the Hungerer with her felguard tanking....a couple of hits and the felgaurd was dead...they would have all wiped if we didnt help.

The only thing i use my vw for these days is when i'm doing collection dailies so that the the VW takes the aggro off me while i get the item before anyone else does :p other wise the VW cant hold the aggro after one SB the mob comes at me so there is no point reallly.

dogwatch · June 17, 2008, 05:33 PM

Just to clarify matters. I am talking specifically the void walker going after 1 target and being healed with Health Funnel.

If he can do a Fel Rever with total ease it leads me to believe he could handle other big elites also.

hoho · June 18, 2008, 01:59 AM

We nearly killed durn the hungerer with two locks and voids tanking, elemental shaman healing them and a mage who kept on dying as he didn't have a clue about threat/agro. Without the mage we took him down to ~10% before healer ran oom and our voids died. If the mage wouldn't have died we could have easily killed him.

As for the three Nagrand hunting quests where you had to kill the elites, I did all of them solo with my voidie, just had a few dots on mob and health funneled the entire time. Usually I ran out of HP from health funneling as I couldn't keep enough dots on mob without aggroing it. Took a long time but hey, I didn't have to find people to help me

Vaell · June 18, 2008, 05:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vaell

I've seen a Lock tank Durn the Hungerer solo, using VW. He just used SiLi and health funnel to keep his VW up. Took a long time mind you, since you really can't do much damage without stealing aggro.

Found it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMeVD...eature=related

breena · June 18, 2008, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dogwatch

Just to clarify matters. I am talking specifically the void walker going after 1 target and being healed with Health Funnel.

If he can do a Fel Rever with total ease it leads me to believe he could handle other big elites also.

lol with no dps? wow you must be a patient person :D

Thralock · June 18, 2008, 08:02 PM

How does the VW do in offtanking heroics? I've never really experimented but note that the FG can struggle.

June 12, 2008, 11:17 AM	#1 (permalink)
dogwatch Member Character Info Phearcat 70 Human Warlock Crushridge US PvP Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 6/45/10	tanking bosses as a warlock? The other night I tanked a Fel Rever near Honor Hold using my VW. Sat there and health funneled him while the hunter in my party blasted away. We got him down very very fast and the VW took hardly any damage. I've seen video of warlocks soloing Fel Revers so I'm not suprised by this. It's been a couple months since I got out my VW for anything, with almost 10000 armor this guy can really handle serious damage. In my experience the Voidy doesn't typically have enough agro to hold multiple targets while I heal and blast away at max range. However he can hold agro very well on a single elite boss. I'm anxious to test him out on other bosses inside of instances to see what he can handle. If there is a boss where I am not going to be bothered too much by the adds. I'm confident with my health funnel that he could take down some big game. With a second healer I'm betting he can take down something big. Has anyone tested this out?

June 12, 2008, 11:26 AM	#2 (permalink)
Vaell Moderator Character Info Vaell 70 Blood Elf Warlock Scarshield Legion Euro RP PvP Guild: Void Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 00/14/47	Re: tanking bosses as a warlock? Not technically VW tanking but you post is titled 'tanking bosses as a warlock' so: The 72 elite bosses in Black Morass are doable with a good healer and around 400+ resilience. I had Tangnak out for the MD 10% additional damage reduction, and just slapped CoW and SiLi on while spamming Searing Pain. I've seen a Lock tank Durn the Hungerer solo, using VW. He just used SiLi and health funnel to keep his VW up. Took a long time mind you, since you really can't do much damage without stealing aggro. Last edited by Vaell; June 12, 2008 at 11:31 AM.

June 12, 2008, 11:40 AM	#3 (permalink)
dogwatch Member Character Info Phearcat 70 Human Warlock Crushridge US PvP Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 6/45/10	Re: tanking bosses as a warlock? BTW I saw the video on tanking Hydros but thats a kite fight. I'm talking specifically VoidWalker boss tanking. Keepnig him alive with health funnels and a backup healer while I dot and SiL and lifetap to recover mana. There is a couple of bosses in Kara which come in mind where i think it may work.

June 12, 2008, 12:04 PM	#4 (permalink)
levinho Member Character Info Ceausescu 70 Blood Elf Warlock mug'thol US PvP Guild: Defiant Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 0/21/40	Re: tanking bosses as a warlock? VW isn't really meant to tank bosses. 10K armor and no real mitigation aren't good enough to handle bosses in raid instances and would only cause grief to your fellow players in heroics. A real tank is going to have +/- 20k armor and +/- 60-80% mitigation depending on the fight. BTW a fel reaver may be elite but that doesn't make him a boss. I did durn and all the nagrand elites by enslaving one of the fel guards at the forge camps. So, I guess i can understand the thrill of a challenge. However, lock tanks are usually better for resist fights and it isn't the pet tanking.

June 17, 2008, 04:23 PM	#5 (permalink)
breena Lurker Character Info Breena 70 Blood Elf Warlock Tichindruis US PvP Guild: NeverMore Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 0/21/40	Re: tanking bosses as a warlock? i saw a T6 lock with a mage and hunter making a pathetic attmpt at killing Durn the Hungerer with her felguard tanking....a couple of hits and the felgaurd was dead...they would have all wiped if we didnt help. The only thing i use my vw for these days is when i'm doing collection dailies so that the the VW takes the aggro off me while i get the item before anyone else does :p other wise the VW cant hold the aggro after one SB the mob comes at me so there is no point reallly.

June 17, 2008, 05:33 PM	#6 (permalink)
dogwatch Member Character Info Phearcat 70 Human Warlock Crushridge US PvP Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 6/45/10	Re: tanking bosses as a warlock? Just to clarify matters. I am talking specifically the void walker going after 1 target and being healed with Health Funnel. If he can do a Fel Rever with total ease it leads me to believe he could handle other big elites also.

June 18, 2008, 01:59 AM	#7 (permalink)
hoho Member Character Info Hohounknown 70 Troll Priest Al'Akir Euro PvP Guild: No Danger Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 13/0/48	Re: tanking bosses as a warlock? We nearly killed durn the hungerer with two locks and voids tanking, elemental shaman healing them and a mage who kept on dying as he didn't have a clue about threat/agro. Without the mage we took him down to ~10% before healer ran oom and our voids died. If the mage wouldn't have died we could have easily killed him. As for the three Nagrand hunting quests where you had to kill the elites, I did all of them solo with my voidie, just had a few dots on mob and health funneled the entire time. Usually I ran out of HP from health funneling as I couldn't keep enough dots on mob without aggroing it. Took a long time but hey, I didn't have to find people to help me

June 18, 2008, 08:02 PM	#10 (permalink)
Thralock Member Character Info Thrale 70 Undead Warlock Blackrock US PvP Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 0/21/40	Re: tanking bosses as a warlock? How does the VW do in offtanking heroics? I've never really experimented but note that the FG can struggle.