Bear tanks and you, a discussion

WoW Classic WoW Classic General Discussion
1

Hi, I’m a bear tank. I enjoy tanking dungeons and have completed all of them as a solo tank including UBRS. This includes in PUG groups and friend groups.

Just like any class, there are certain advantages and disadvantages.

Bear Tank Advantages

  1. Innervate. This can keep the party rolling.
  2. Remove curse/poison.
  3. Heals.
  4. Battle Rez
  5. Great single target threat
  6. Faerie fire.

Being able to heal keeps the dungeon running smoothly as does innervate. I can pop out after a pull and heal myself or other party members so the priest can focus on mana regen. This also works well with warlocks who can tap post pull and I can heal them.

One of the struggles as a bear tank is AOE threat. This is especially true with packs of mobs that have more than 4.

The meta leveling and in dungeons is AOE. Fury tanks are ideally suited for this. Bears cannot compete with the amount of AOE threat a fury tank can output.

This means as dps, some adjustments should be made.

General Tips

  1. Do not pull. This should be obvious, but it happens all the time in pugs. Tanks rely on building rage and the first hits from mobs is needed to build it so the tanks can continue to build threat.

Example: Mage pulls a fatty in Strat live with frost bolt spam. I have little rage and have to taunt as he goes straight for the mage. The fatty does his knockback that drops aggro. I have no rage to charge/gain threat nor do I have my taunt back up. Mage dies.

  1. Focus the marked/main target. If you are not on the target that is marked, you have a solid chance of pulling aggro. This causes all sorts of issues. Mana issues for the healer and taunt issues for the tank. Plus, you may die.

Example: Fighting three mobs. One is marked and I have solid aggro on it and decent aggro via swipe on the two extra. DPS is on non-marked target. DPS gets aggro. I switch to taunt. Healer switches to heal. Marked target loses aggro and goes on another DPS who didn’t realize tank had to get aggro on secondary target.

  1. Kite mobs back to tank. Some mobs have drop aggro mechanics. The assassins in UBRS are an example. They will gouge and drop aggro. It is much easier to establish aggro and keep aggro on secondary targets if you bring them to me.

This typically isn’t a huge problem, but more of something to be aware of.

Now specific class issues:

Rogues

  1. DO NOT OPEN WITH STUN. As mentioned above, bears need rage to establish solid aggro. If you open with stun, the mob does zero damage and no rage is gained by the getting hit mechanic. This can result in you getting aggro and the tank having to burn taunt.

Mages

  1. Bears are not fury warriors. And this is not the ZF farm you are used too. Bears, and I assume prot warriors, can’t hold unlimited aggro on large groups. Focus the main target while the bear establishes aggro on the extras.

Example: Pulling a pack of 5. Mage immediately starts using blizzard. Secondary mobs make a beeline for the mage. I switch to taunt one and stun the other. Meanwhile the marked target goes on the next DPS. I have no rage and no taunt up. Healer struggles. Tank struggles. All dps struggles.

Overall, most dungeons are smooth and can be completed quickly. The above issues are easy to work around if you know what is in play.

Thanks for listening! And as usual, we are all learning, so feel free to post any input!

14 Likes
2

I love druid tanks, most of them hold better aggro. I almost never Feint WITH blessing of might. While some instances, the paladin insists on wasting Salvation on me. LOVE druid tanks.

2 Likes
3

with improved thorns and nagelring.
I dont have a problem holding 5 packs of mobs if the AOE DPS gives me 3-4 swipes.

doing LBRS last night i was able to hold the spiders during AOE. thanks to tab swipping. improved thorns and nagel ring.
and a smidgen of patience from the DPS.

4

Surely there comes a point where just having the mage blizzard kite them is preferable. Don’t those spiders stack a debuff on the tank? I seem to remember our tank asking me to blizzard kite them for some reason like that.

It’s also very easy to blizzard kite those spiders because you can jump off the ledge while they run around the long way.

5

All I saw was “Beer tanks.”

3 Likes
6

I’d be interested to know what gear is being used that has enough hit to make Fury or Fury Prot viable at ZF levels.

Note, this is not meant as a criticism of the point being made.

7

I’d argue this is false after Improved Thorns. Rejuvinate yourself pre-fight and running in with thorns generates a load of aggro

8

Bear tanks are amazing, and get all the pets and belly rubs after a job well done.

3 Likes
9

I hoenstly prefer a bear tank in anything but a Main Tank. Bears surpass warriors in every aspect during dungeons for sure, and bring leader of the pack and brez to boot. I’m really glad a a lot of the illusions of vanilla have been shattered by clasic being released and people being able to see past rose tinted goggles.

10

I <3 bear tanks. I really need to join a guild with some bear tanks. Maybe I’ll actually get to roll on some loots.

11

Bear tanks are epic TBH

1 Like
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Guess I made the right choice when I decided to roll a druid for tanking last night. Great write up, OP.

1 Like
13

I think this is a great post, one that if all dps put to practice will insure a smooth run.

If I were to mention one difference that I find as a glass cannon to great success.

Cheap shot/blow up skull before it gets to me, this allows tank to focus on one less mob, and saves taunt/stun for emergencies.

Lots of 60 dungeons, havent had a skull touch me yet.