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Cyverion
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re: DK Endgame Tanking

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This thread is not going to include a whole lot of basic DK info and there is a lot of fundamental knowledge that is intentionally omitted. There are countless sources in which to find that information. This thread is designed to discuss my favorite topic: endgame raiding. There will be some basic stuff in here (which will be removed if this post gets too bloated), but please direct introductory inquiries elsewhere.

Helpful information links.

Many of these links come from the studious, knowledgeable individuals at Tankspot.com. Thanks for all of the work you guys do for the knowledge-thirsty DK tank community.

DK abilities and their threat values
Avoidance Diminishing Returns
Gear Listing, by Slot - Overall pretty accurate.

Cookie-Cutter Tanking Builds and Associated Tanking Rotations

*Build Disclaimer* This class is great in that we have a wealth of valuable talents in each tree. I am very aware that there are several viable variations of any build linked here, and that some are better that others relative to the encounter. The heading of this section describes the builds here appropriately as cookie-cutter. Feel free to modify them to suite your needs. However these builds are what I consider to be the best builds representing the respective trees. Your mileage may vary.

Important: No rotation is perfect and usable in all situations. Good DK tanking requires dynamic rotations and quick responses to changes in encounters. However, in an unrealistically static encounter where all attacks land, there are intelligent rotations. Additionally, these builds do not include RP dumps. It is assumed that you are Rune Striking whenever possible and not allowing yourself to reach maximum RP by using your tree's RP dump.

Glyph of Icebound Fortitude is not listed as a recommended Glyph for any build. Feel free to substitute it as you see fit.

Blood

Blood is still under scrutiny, as it is the newest tree to become a viable tanking option. Still considered the worst tree for tanking. Maybe that will change someday.

Blood Strengths
Single-Target Threat - roughly comparable to Frost ST threat (see weaknesses)
Effective Health - capable of the highest effective health of any deep-tree build
Expertise - capable of the most reasonably-attained expertise via talents
Nice Raid Buffs - Blood Aura, Abom's Might, Hysteria

Blood Weaknesses
Dependency on debuffs for threat - Sunder/Expose armor. Less of an issue on 25-man raids than 5/10-man
AOE Threat - Very inferior to the other trees
Proactive damage mitigation - No Bone Shield, UA, etc.

Blood Builds (includes recommended glyphs)

Standard (+3DS) - This build is excellent for tanking 3-drake Sarth, and doesn't require regular respecs to do it.
Single Target Rotation - IT-PS-OB-HS-HS OB-HS-HS-HS-HS RPDUMP = RS/Deathcoil
Multi Target Rotation - DnD-IT-PS-Pest then TAB-HS/Pest/BloodBoil RPDUMP = RS/Deathcoil



Frost

Frost Strengths
Arguably best in ST threat (at worst tied with blood)
Damage reduction - Frigid Deathplate, UA, GoG, Lichborne, yum.
AoE Threat. Capable of out-AoE'ing Unholy with a string of KM/HB procs. Less reliable, more exciting.

Frost Weaknesses
No real raid utility. If not specd into IIT, you don't buff your raid.



Frost Builds (includes recommended glyphs)

Standard
Single Target Rotation - IT-BS-OB-(Blood Tap if no Death Rune)OB RPDUMP = RS/FS
Alt-Single Target Rotation - IT-PS-BS-BS-OB OB-OB-OB RPDUMP = RS/FS
Multi Target Rotation - DnD-IT-PS-Pest then TAB-HB/Pest/BloodBoil RPDUMP = RS/FS

Improved Icy Talons
Single Target Rotation - IT-PS-BS-BS-OB OB-OB-OB RPDUMP = RS/FS
Multi Target Rotation - DnD-IT-PS-Pest then TAB-HB/Pest/BloodBoil RPDUMP = RS/FS





Unholy

Provides more utility and raid buffs than Frost, and more AOE threat than Blood. Some consider this the strongest all around tanking tree.

Unholy Strengths
Best reliable AoE Threat - Unholy Blight/Wandering Plague/Impurity
Damage reduction - Bone Shield and (situationally) Anti-Magic Zone..
Raid Buffs - Unholy Aura and Ebon Plaguebringer are fantastic.

Unholy Weaknesses
Low(er) ST threat - Still enough, but certainly the lowest of the 3 trees.
EP doesn't stack - Either your threat or your Unholy DPS DK's damage will be adversely affected by the fact that both of you cannot keep the debuff on 100% of the time.



Unholy Builds (includes recommended glyphs)

Standard
Single Target Rotation - IT-PS-BS-BS-SS SS-SS-SS RPDUMP = RS/UnholyBlight/Deathcoil
Multi Target Rotation - DnD-IT-PS-Pest-UnholyBlight then TAB-OSS/Pest/BloodBoil RPDUMP = RS/Deathcoil

3DS Build
Single Target Rotation - IT-PS-BS-BS-IT-PS RPDUMP = RS/Deathcoil


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