New to tanking, level 15 spec and rotation?

[lespaul5895]

I hit 15 on my warrior and would like to start tanking some instances. I played a Paladin and a Warrior in WoW and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also know that Rift isn't that game, I'd still like to try it.

The spec I came up with was:
http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=0cAEh.Vko.xrz.k

I've read some things about rotation so I have kinda taken it from the Ciderhelm tanking guide as:

Dot Pull (2.1.2 Build Specific Macro)
#show Soul Sickness
suppressmacrofailures
cast Plague Bringer
cast Soul Sickness
cast Necrotic Wounds

Note: While this is listed as a ranged pull macro, you should use it every time Soul Sickness comes off cooldown on long single-target encounters to re-apply Soul Sickness and Necrotic Wounds.

AOE & Dot Application (2.1.2 Build Specific Macro)
#show Blood Fever
suppressmacrofailures
cast Aggressive Block
cast Plague Bringer
cast Blood Fever
cast Retaliation

My main problem is I'm not seeing many attacks that would work well on single target fights. Am I missing something or is this it?

[nemecis]

those attacks do the same thing to ST as AoE - they are ST until you spec for Plage Bringer afterall.

[titansgrip]

Reaver and Warlord together are redundant. Also drop Call to Battle and place that point in more dodge.

I would suggest dropping Reaver and getting used to Warlord. You'll be using WL a lot until 1.6 tanking changes. Learning the proper use of Battlefield Awareness now will reduce the mistaken assumptions you will have later in how threat operates for WLs.

As can be seen by numerous ignorant posts on the forums concerning Battlefield Awareness.

http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=0chEg.g0R.xx <-- Level 20
http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=0c...z.xE000z.Ec0Mc <- by level 48-49 you should be in this spec.

These will be your macros till level 50:

Single Target
#show Aggressive Block
suppressmacrofailures
cast Retaliation
cast Disarming Counterblow
cast Aggressive Block
cast Pacifying Strike

AOE
#show Ragestorm
suppressmacrofailures
cast Retaliation
cast Disarming Counterblow
cast Ragestorm
cast Sweeping Strike

Use Spotter's Order often when within 10meters of mobs. Its the only finisher you need to use. 1, 2 or 3 point use doesn't matter to threat. If you used it at 1 point or 3 its the same threat. Use with discretion.

Use other skills and macros as you see fit depending on availability.

[Killerkonnat]

http://ciderhelm.com/?p=359

All you need until experts. Used that for tanking dungeons and a riftblade/reaver for solo grinding.
That guide hasn't been updated for 1.5, but I checked through it and none of the changes in 1.5 affected the build.
Spotter's order generates huge threat with battlefield awareness, (buff) combined with reaver dots you won't have any problems with aoe threat. Pull caster mobs to you with sergeant's order. (They literally jump next to you, which looks a bit funny sometimes) Judgement for an emergency taunt. (2 mobs suddenly turn around and start running towards your healer? Judgement > spotter's order, problem fixed.)
Master of the Abyss for emergency self-healing in mob packs. (It heals per target hit, crap healing if you're fighting a single mob.) and touch of life from paladin for an emergency heal.
Just remember to use the taunt from warlord (sergeant's order) instead of the other class' ones. They all share the same cooldown and sergeant's order generates aoe threat. (Note: it generates threat around you, not your target.)

I usually start pulls with either dot macro + spotter's order or by pulling the mob group's caster/ranged to me with sergeant's order, depending on the situation. Try to finish fights with 3 attack point, so you can throw spotter's order right when the mobs reach you for instant mega aggro.


Remember to use your empowering strike. You can't put it into your macro (Well, you could, but not nearly optimal) because it doesn't have a cooldown. I kept forgetting it when I first started with this build. It adds an armor buff for 15 seconds.

Also, you should add Aggressive Block into the start of the aoe builder macro, so the buff always stays on. I have no idea why he only put it in the single target macro. Putting it in both macros ensures you'll always have the buff on, because you'll always be spamming either the single target or aoe builder macro.

Edit: Too Long; Didn't Read version > Check the link. Remember to use empowering strike to keep the buff on. Use the warlord taunt, not paladin or reaver taunt. Add aggressive block to the beginning of the aoe builder macro. Switch builds when you start doing expert dungeons, good ones can be found on the same site.