WoW Forums: A tank’s defense and mitigation guide

For the benefit of World of Warcraft‘s tanks (Warriors, Pallies, and Druids), player Zoe posted an interesting defense and mitigation thread over at the WoW Europe official forums. Tanks are the ever-essential party member that intentionally use themselves as shields to buy enough time for the party’s primary damage dealers (Mages, Rogues, Shammies, and Locks) to nuke/kill whatever threat you encounter on your next Gruul hunt.

Unlike in most MMORPGs, however, a tank in Blizzard‘s WoW isn’t just about stepping in and soaking up punishment like a masochist. One of the other figures to look out for is your aggro level, which needs to keep stoked so that the threat keeps their focus on you, and not on your more soft-skinned party members.

With that in mind, Zoe’s guide starts off with a basic explanation of why the Warrior, Druid, and Paladin job classes are particularly suited to tanking, before further expounding with some serious number-crunching to calculate damage mitigation, critical chances, and the like. Further on, the guide also features important details that each of the three tanks have, such as the Warrior’s ability to stave off crushing blows (mobs only) and critical hits via their Shield Block ability.

For the guys not exactly up for math work, the guide concludes with a list of ideal equipment tanks may want to look over to better increase their survival rate. Just keep in mind this is just one of the many opinions of a WoW player on what good defense is, and you’re all set.

For the benefit of World of Warcraft‘s tanks (Warriors, Pallies, and Druids), player Zoe posted an interesting defense and mitigation thread over at the WoW Europe official forums. Tanks are the ever-essential party member that intentionally use themselves as shields to buy enough time for the party’s primary damage dealers (Mages, Rogues, Shammies, and Locks) to nuke/kill whatever threat you encounter on your next Gruul hunt.

Unlike in most MMORPGs, however, a tank in Blizzard‘s WoW isn’t just about stepping in and soaking up punishment like a masochist. One of the other figures to look out for is your aggro level, which needs to keep stoked so that the threat keeps their focus on you, and not on your more soft-skinned party members.

With that in mind, Zoe’s guide starts off with a basic explanation of why the Warrior, Druid, and Paladin job classes are particularly suited to tanking, before further expounding with some serious number-crunching to calculate damage mitigation, critical chances, and the like. Further on, the guide also features important details that each of the three tanks have, such as the Warrior’s ability to stave off crushing blows (mobs only) and critical hits via their Shield Block ability.

For the guys not exactly up for math work, the guide concludes with a list of ideal equipment tanks may want to look over to better increase their survival rate. Just keep in mind this is just one of the many opinions of a WoW player on what good defense is, and you’re all set.