The Warlocks Den - WoW Warlock Discussions

Warlock Tanking in 3.1

Welcome

The purpose of this thread is to discuss the limits and potential of warlocks to tank using currently available talents and gear. We will be using and applying theory and number crunching to currently existing spell mechanics - there are other threads for what-ifs and wishlists.

Community Effort

Lets take the theories we put forth in this thread and test them - lets push our limits. As discussion commences I will update this top post with the latest information.

Tanking? Warlocks Can't Tank!!

Wrong? Some say its impossible - improbable, certainly. This is not a thread for those people - lets have fun with this idea and explore the possibility. How long could we tank? Can we generate enough threat? What are the limits of our tanking ability - BC instances, BC heroics? - Wrath of the Lich King heroics? Raids? Lets assume we can tank to some degree and try to make the best tank possible given current mechanics.

Where does this idea come from?

The warlock has an odd assortment of abilities - as a cloth wearing caster our goal in PvE isusually to do as much damage as possible while attracting as little attention to ourselves as we can. Yet, we have strange relics of spells like Searing Pain, designed to generate extra threat. Demon Armor adds to our armor value and ability to soak up heals. Even newer abilities, like Metamorphosis and the accompaning Challenging Howl, hint at being able to become a tank - even for a short time.

What is blizzard thinking?

Lets take these as pieces of a greater puzzle - Blizzard taunts us with tank-like abilities - lets take the bait and see what we can come up with.

Warlocks can approach the idea of tanking a variety of ways that can be broken down into two categories - the pet tanks, or the warlock tanks.

Pet as Tank
While providing less of a danger to the warlock themselves, our demonic pets have recently had their ability to hold aggro and tank a boss (Obsidian Sanctum, anyone?) reduced dramatically.

UberVoid
Please submit potential talent specs, and description of its use . viability, and rotation, below.

UberFG
Please submit potential talent specs, and description of its use . viability, and rotation, below.

Other
Please submit potential talent specs, and description of its use . viability, and rotation, below.

Warlock as Tank
A relatively new idea for warlocks, these talent trees use the demon in a support role while the warlock takes on the tanking duties themselves. This is quite a challenge, as our lack of armor usually leads to a swift death. The best tank spec in this category may end up being a combination of a few of the ideas listed below.

Meta / Searing Pain
Focuses on using searing pain to generate threat and meta/sacrifice to reduce damage taken. Requires testing.

Rotation: Pull with corruption and Curse of Agony. Use Metamorphosis, Challenging Howl, Shadow Cleave, and Immolate Aura as often as possible to deal damage and generate AoE threat. Spam Searing Pain on the main target to generate threat. When metamorphosis runs out use the Void Walker Sacrifice ability to absorb damage.

Key Talents and Glyphs: Metamorphosis and subsequently Nemesis and Glyph of Metamorphosis become very important. Molten Skin and Soul Link reduces damage taken while Improved Health Stone / Glyph of Health Stone gives you some fast health in a pinch. Molten Core helps to improve searing pain damage as well as Improved Searing Pain and glyph of Searing Pain.

Drawbacks: Metamorphosis has a cooldown and is only up for 30 to 36 seconds. a VW sacrifice can only absorb so much damage before it drops - leaving a cloth wearing caster with a lot of aggro at the mercy of he mobs.

Drain Tanking
Affliction drain tanking

Please submit potential talent specs, and description of its use . viability, and rotation, below.

Uncatchable Aggressor
Use of searing pain and dots to pull aggro while using summoning portal and fear spells to keep the mobs as far away as possible.

Please submit potential talent specs, and description of its use . viability, and rotation, below.

Other
Please submit potential talent specs, and description of its use . viability, and rotation, below.

What stats are important to a warlock tank? Should spell power still be valued as highly, or should more focus be put on stamina, armor, defense, and resilience?

Spell Power

Stamina
Stamina provides 10 health for each point (except from the first 20 points of Stamina that provide 1 health for each point instead). It also increases health points of a player's pet for classes with pets.

The talent Demonic Embrace provides a +2%/+4%/+6%/+8%/+10% bonus to stamina per talent, max 5.

Armor

Resilience
Resilience is a character attribute that reduces the chance to receive critical strikes or spell critical strikes, reduces the effect of mana drain spells, reduces the damage taken from critical strikes and spell critical strikes, and reduces the damage taken from damage over time effects.

The Resilience cap in Wrath of the Lich King for a level 80 character is 460. Demonic Resilience decreases the chance for the warlock to be critically hit by 3%; this modifies the desired cap down to 214.

Dodge

Defense
Defense is a skill that helps prevent physical damage by reducing the chance to be hit or critically hit. Additionally, it also increases block, dodge and parry.

Defense cap in Wrath of the Lich King for a level 80 character is 540. Demonic Resilience decreases the chance for the warlock to be critically hit by 3%.

Others
What other stats would be important?

Pet Scaling
Pets receive the following bonuses from our stats:

• 1 stamina gives 0.3 to your minion.
• 1 resistance gives 0.4 to your minion.
• 1 armor gives 0.35 armor to your minion.
• 1 spell power gives 0.15 spell power and 0.57 attack power to your minion.
• 1 intellect gives 0.3 to your minion.

Pet Stats
A breakdown of tanking pet stats at level 80 to be posted here.

Equipment
Hit wowhead and do some filtering. What is the best tank equipment available for a warlock? We can use swords - does this create unique opportunities for us? What trinkets should we consider?

Glyphs
Discussion of glyphs and their usage relative to each of the tanking specs outlined above.

Professions
What profession-provided bonuses work the best for the warlock tank?

Gems
How should our gear be gemmed? Do other stats no take importance over spellpower?

Enchants
How should our gear be enchanted? Do other stats no take importance over spellpower?

Which would work the best to give us the much needed edge while trying to tank?

Likely to come after the specs have been tested - contribute yours! General warlock macros do not belong here - this is for macros to aid in tanking only.

Changes to the above information will be notated here, along with the date of the change and credit to the appropriate party for their ideas.

7.24.2009 - Thread started, initial updates, research, and formatting changes.

Names of contributors will be added here.

• Some text, such as stat descriptions, taken from WoWWiki entries.
• Links to talents provided by WoWhead.