Infraction for ponchokill: 1. All posters are to make an effort to communicate clearly.

• Neux · 02/05/09, 11:06 AM

Post: Tanking talent build
User: ponchokill
Infraction: 1. All posters are to make an effort to communicate clearly.
Points: 1

Administrative Note:

Message to User:

The formatting of this post is terrible. Use the search function as this has been brought up previously.

Original Post:

Ok so I have drawn up a few talent builds for tanking trying figure what is the best balance between survivability and threat generation. I am going to assume that I am the only feral druid in the raid for these specs in which case the application of mangle and Infected Wounds (IW) is up to me.

(Also I have read several places that the attack speed decrease applied by IW does work on end game bosses. This seems way too good to be true so I have always been skeptical of it, but I do assume that it does apply for the specs below and therefore is a must if I am the only feral in the raid. Is the affect of IW 100% confirmed for all bosses? Feel free to weigh in)

So to start there are a few talents that seem to need to be chosen from:

From Restoration Tree:
5 points to Master Shapeshifter (MSS) (Increased Threat - gives 5 percent increase to damage in bear form)

From Feral Combat Tree:
1-5 points in Rend and Tear (R&T) (Increased Threat - gives 4/8/12/16/20% increase to Maul if target is bleeding)

1-3 Improved Mangle (IM) (Increased Threat - reduces CD of mangle in bear form by .5/1/1.5 seconds)

1-3 Predatory Instincts (PI) (increased Survivability - reduces damage taken by area of effect attacks by 10/20/30%)

1-3 Infected Wounds (IW) (Increased Survivability - ultimately reduces boss attack speed by 20% - is a must have right?)

1-2 Improved Leader of the Pack (ILotP) (Increased Survivability - Heals you and all party members for 4 percent of their health every time they crit [not more than once every 6 seconds] - Useful in 10 mans although I do not have any figures saying how useful. Should we waste 2 TPs in this instead of putting them in R&T/IM/or MSS???? Can't decide how much this is actually worth??

Not Mentioned In the Below Specs:
1-3 Primal Tenacity (PT) (Increased Survivability - reduces fear time and damage taken while stunned by 10/20/30% - Only needed for KT and some trash pulls so IMO should not be on this list unless you are working specifically on downing KT)

Shredding Attacks (SA) and Feral Aggression (FA) - in my opinion they are not ever worth the points for a MT.

ILotP Option A - 10 man oriented (Due to ILotP) with ILotP, PI, IM, 5/5R&T, and NO MSS
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

ILotP Option B - 10 man oriented (Due to ILotP) with ILotP, PI, 3/5R&T, MSS and NO IM
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

ILotP Option C - 10 man oriented (Due to ILotP) with ILotP, PI, IM, MSS and No R&T
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

So out of these 3 options it comes down to 3 questions and one assumption.
--The assumption is PI is needed for survivability (Could be wrong).
--The 3 choices are (MSS and 3/5 R&T) vs. (MSS and IM) vs. (5/5 R&T and IM) anyone have the math one what does the most overall damage/threat???

As for specs without ILotP it comes down to a similar question however, slightly different.

25 Man Option A - IM, 2/5 R&T, MSS
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

25 Man Option B - 5/5 R&T, MSS and NO IM
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

25 man Option C - IM, 5/5 R&T NO MSS - NOTICE THERE ARE STILL 2 TPs TO BURN (can be put in KotJ or SA).
Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

IT seems to me that for 25 mans with optimum survivability and treat generation. Option A is the most damaging spec, Option B would be second, and Option C third. I have no math to back this up so please weigh in. The essence of this whole post is what does more damage (or which combination of) R&T/IM/MSS.

Hope this stimulates some conversation.