Tank Talk continues this week with one requisite "Why does my ingame life have to suck so hard?" story in deference to a point made by commenters on our first column. We will then take a look at the most fundamental decision you will encounter as a raiding tank -- and one you are likely to make, and then re-make, on just about every boss encounter in the game.
There is a Druid on my server who messages me almost daily asking me to come tank his heroics. What annoys me is not being asked to tank per se, but that he, too, is a feral Druid. His gear isn't as good as mine simply because he hasn't raided past Magtheridon, but he's sitting on at least three of the better pieces of Tier 4, crafted epics, and several of the badge pieces that I'm still using to tank Tier 6. At a matter of fact, with the advent of two different badge vendors and badge drops from 10-man and 25-man bosses, his stats are significantly better than the ones I had tanking most of Tier 5. This guy literally has the gear to do just about anything in the game short of the more advanced content in Black Temple and Sunwell Plateau, and I used to point to him with no small measure of Druidic pride as proof of what a little elbow grease could accomplish.
But he still wants me to come tank for him.
I started getting irritated with the constant begging at one point and asked him, "How can you possibly have any difficulty getting groups? Everybody in LFG is looking for a tank, and your gear is excellent."
At his computer, I'm sure he was shrugging. "You do it faster than I do."
"I really don't. Just get some good DPS and you'll be fine."
And then the truth came out: "Well, I don't really like tanking. I'd rather DPS."
Tank Talk is WoW Insider's new raid-tanking column, promising you an exciting and educational look at the world of getting the stuffing thrashed out of you in a 10- or 25-man raid. The column will be rotated amongst Matthew Rossi (Warrior/Paladin), Adam Holisky (Warrior), Michael Gray (Paladin), and myself (Druid). Our aim is to use this column to debate and discuss class differences, raid-tanking strategies, tips, tricks, and news concerning all things meatshieldish. At least, that's what the others said they were doing. I intend to use it mostly as a soapbox to complain. Absolute power tends to......something something.
Welcome to Tank Talk. I am your bear Druid hostess for this week, with a topic that occurred to me while reading a recent article here on the site. Eliah Hecht wrote that his guild is facing a not-uncommon tank shortage and that he has considered the possibility of leveling a tanking class to 70 before Wrath, or tanking on a Death Knight afterwards. A number of people on my server and in my guild have talked about doing the same thing, or switching mains once Wrath hits. With so many people playing Death Knights, I think it's very possible that more people will discover they enjoy -- or at least, don't mind -- tanking, and may seek to do so in a raid environment without necessarily knowing what they've really signed up for.
From those of us who have tanked raid content in vanilla WoW or BC, here are the 10 questions you'll want to ask yourself if you're considering the possibility of tanking serious raid content:
Don't get me wrong here, Karazhan's generally a pretty fun dungeon, aside from the odd incredibly annoying trash mob, but when you've run it time and time again, it's always nice to find a twist or a new way of doing stuff to spice things up again. The Senatus Redux guild of the Kul Tiras EU run have done just that, clearing most of Karazhan with a group 10 paladins, most of them in no better than T4 gear or lower, on a run done on March 1st. They managed to get down all the bosses but Prince Malchezaar and Nightbane - and they have pretty good reason to believe that they could have had the Prince, having him to 15% on their last attempt of the night.
This shot of Karazhan's Prince Malchezaar, sent in by reader Gabe, strikes a little close to home for me, personally. If you've never visited Karazhan and encountered the Prince, let me explain: throughout the fight infernals fall from the sky. When they land, they stand in one place send out damaging pulses of hellfire in a circle around them. As the fight progresses, your raid will find positioning more and more difficult until you reach the point this image shows us: infernals are everywhere and, without a safe place to stand, your raid has perished. Prince Malchezaar, having eliminated everyone else in your group, is now coming after you. Gabe explains the moment for us, "I've run to the door screaming for someone to let me out, (he's too tall to fit) but no one answers."
Have any memorable raid wipes of your own to share? Send them to us at Around Azeroth! All you have to do is e-mail aroundazeroth@gmail.com with a copy of your screenshot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could find your pictures and story featured next!
The first poll on the official WoW forums was mentioned on WoW Insider when it was posted a few weeks ago, but since then a few more polls have been created. While one of them is obviously just for fun, the other two are more interesting.
Admittedly, I'm pretty much a noob to the arena. Like many other players, I mostly just get my ten matches a week to scrape up enough points for some welfare epics. Probably due to this fact, I dislike the Blade's Edge arena. The ramps, pillars, ropes and bridge create a lot of variables during an already hectic fight which can lead to panic, confusion and ultimately an inglorious defeat. Even more inglorious than normal, that is. Also, this arena in particular makes it more difficult for stealthy types (my 2v2 team is composed of a rogue and druid) to get the drop on their foes because the narrow catwalk makes a convenient place for an opposing team to make a stand with their AoE and stealth detection. What are your thoughts on the poll? Do they match the results?
Who knew a piece of cloth on your back could be so badass?
Name: Ruby Drape of the Mysticant Type: Epic Cloak Armor: 105 Abilities:
+22 Stamina, +21 Intellect
Improves spell hit rating by 18 (hot for a cloak)
+30 spell damage and healing, which is even hotter, especially for an item from Karazhan. There are better caster cloaks in the game, but they're all from higher level raids, so get this one and you'll be set for a while.
How to Get It: As Kirk might say, KarazhAAAAAAAANNN!!! Prince Malchezaar, one of the last bosses in Medivh's tower, drops this baby. In fact, getting there is only half the battle-- because this cloak is so great, you'll probably have a harder time winning the roll to get this than you will actually defeating the Prince. It's around a 10% drop, which ain't bad, but every Mage, Shaman, Warlock, and maybe a Moonkin or two are going to be after this cloak, so it's really more luck than anything.
But the good news is that once you get it, you're pretty much set-- there are sidegrades coming up, but there's really nothing that matches up to it until you hit Kael'thas.
Getting Rid of It: Disenchants into a Void Crystal, and sells to vendors for 3g 71s 96c.
Name: The Decapitator Type: Epic Main Hand Axe Damage / Speed: 167-312 / 2.60 (92.1 DPS) Abilities:
+27 critical strike rating
Here's the fun part: on use, you can throw it at a target up to 40 feet away for 513-567 damage. Oh, and the throw can crit as well (at about 5%, most players say), so while you can't really use it to spike your DPS in PvE (most bosses are immune to it, apparently), it's very helpful in PvP. Got a runner with just a little health left? Toss this guy and watch the numbers fly and the dude die. Then go eat some pie.
3 minute cooldown on the use, which is kind of lame. Also happens to share a cooldown with trinkets that increase your attack power, which is kind of a bummer, but not a gamebreaker.
How to Get It: Drops from the Prince in Karazhan at around 11.5%, so chances are your guild may have Voided one already. But if you're a Fury Warrior or a Shaman with an axe fetish who really likes the sound of throwing this thing around in PvP, you can probably convince them to give it to you.
Getting Rid of It: Bored of tossing axes around already? Disenchants into a Void Crystal, and sells to a vendor for 12g44s56c.
Watch your back, Shade of Aran! You're On Notice! This week's Word is "Ninja," but we've lots of all kinds of drama, downed, and recruiting news in today's Guildwatch, your weekly look at guild happenings around the realms.
Remember, if you've got tips for us, the address is wowguildwatch@gmail.com. Click the link below to read all the truthiness we could find this week.
Guild drama is always pretty bad, but almost nothing is worse then guild drama that hits right where it hurts: at the top. When your guildleader gets a little out of shape, takes an extended break, /gdisbands, or even flips factions on you, you know it's going to be rough going ahead for your fellow guildies.
Lots of stuff like that today-- here's this week's Guildwatch, right after the jump. To get your guild here (or let us know about something going down on your server) drop us a line at wowguildwatch@gmail.com and hook us up with drama, downed, or recruiting news. Follow your favorite raidleader past the link below to check the column.
I'm not exactly sure why that guy's got a green triangle raid target over his head-- wait a minute. Is that Moroes?? Did he sneak up to the Prince with this unsuspecting guild? Look out guys! That garrote'll getcha every time!
On a completely unrelated note, it's time once again for this week's Guildwatch-- your weekly dose of drama, downed notices, and recruiting pleas. If you've got something to share for next week, send your tips and info to wowguildwatch@gmail.com, and click the link below to read this week's GW. But watch out for sneaky raid bosses impersonating fellow guildies!
The first poll on the official WoW forums was 
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