How to tank Bolstering?

I am not used to tanking high keys. I am trying to pull double packs more to time 15s. Now it is Bolstering week, and I am terrified that double packs will wipe us. Is it a big deal? How do you tank it? Is it DPS’s responsibility to handle the health bars evenly? Thanks! -S

Outside some specific areas, you can pull pretty normally. A lot of mobs don’t trigger bolster. Bolster isn’t applied to bosses either. It is primarily the dps responsibility, but you need to be aware that as things begin to die, you may need to run. It only lasts 20s now so you can eventually get back in if it gets bad.

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If you’re grabbing meta classes like destro and survival, make sure you grab something that can funnel well and hope they know what they are doing. It’s really not too bad, if you see mobs (specifically ones that were dangerous already) start to get around 5 stacks, start kiting, you can get back in when the stacks drop. I hate bolstering on tyrannical weeks, but fort bolstering is actually kind of fun because it doesn’t necessarily slow down the run any but adds a little more flavor to your key. Tyr bolstering can die in a fire.

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2 grps are fine, get interrupts, watch stacks and generally 15 trash dies super fast anyhow, unless u have a grp of undergeared people. Treat it normal at that key level, just pay attn to how many stacks u get and a dps can slow or root, you’ll be fine.

Most dungeons you can pull like you would normally. It is generally on the dps to evenly burn the mobs down. Don’t chain pull unless all the mobs will be dead before they are in bolster range of the new pack. One big thing that a lot of tanks mess up on bolster weeks is when there are mobs with much more health that do a lot of aoe damage. Shards of Halkius in halls is a good example. You do not want him getting bolstering stacks when he does his thrash. In pugs this is a big run killer. But overall it’s a pretty easy affix.

Be cognizant of pulls where one target has more health then others. you want to pull by health group. Bolstering buffing a group above 50% health tends to be a time loss. The big things to keep in mind about bolstering is it makes damage for the whole pull a bit more scary when usually the end of the pull is also the end of damage taken, and damage comp matters a bit more since having a good single target damage dealer becomes a bit more important for bolstering.

Bolstering is more of a DPS IQ check than a tank assignment. Should be able to pull like normal, or even more than some fortified weeks theoretically.

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Oh god on my alt hunter did a 16 hoa, first pull, pulled whole left side like normal, it didn’t end well lmao. We did kill like 90% of it at least but healer just could not keep us up, still 2 chested but tank slowed up pulls a little bit after that, was still a fun pull though lol

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Did they fix this?

Not sure what you mean, it hasn’t applied to bosses for a while now.

This is my first bolstering week since I came back to the game :joy: I stopped playing back in 9.0, so I didn’t realize it didn’t bolster bosses.

You can time any key 15-20 by “pressing W” if the runs are clean. Unfortunately the massive pulls and fancy skips used in top end keys do more harm then good in lower keys with less experienced or uninformed players. I recommend pulling dungeons straightforward and efficiently regardless of affix combination if you are trying to time 15’s.

As far as your question about bolstering specifically, as said above it is generally considered a DPS responsibility. As a tank without comms you can help the cause by marking a high target with a skull and not chain pulling late to cause unnecessary bolsters. Also be aware of which mobs are not kiteable, as you will get hunted down and murdered by a bolstered matriarch in DOS, or your entire team can get decimated by a bolstered giant stomp in gambit. You will learn as you go, but don’t be afraid to ask questions. Each dungeon has its little tricks and it may seem like a lot of information, but it eventually gets ingrained in you with repetition. Then you can come here and complain about the noobs not listening to the damn tank!!

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I would like to inquire as to the best strat this week in Halls. I’ve had multiple tanks pull the entire left side in 18+ keys, and the shard inevitably gets 4 or more stacks of bolster and the thrash wipes the group. Is this something that the heals just needs to deal with and heal through, or is the group doing it wrong by not killing shard first, or is tank doing it wrong with the whole left side on Bolster week?

Are you pulling in the grounds keepers as well? That’s the no fly zone on that pull. The grounds keepers have half the health of the obliterators and 1/3 the health of the shard. Tanks should be pulling that left one away from his starting spot.

No, they get the two casters just before it, the caster and darkblade at the top of the stairs, and the collector. Inevitably the shard is last to die. I even had one try to bring the hunter pat in as well.

Believe it or not, a slightly bolstered shard even on an 18 is very livable with the current gear/ilevel. What kills most groups is the obliterators free casting the tank, a melee getting thrusted, or lack of decurse. If you lose a DPS early to one of these mechanics it can extend the fight making it feel much more difficult then it needs to be. Also, depending on the composition of the group I wouldn’t recommend pulling multiple obliterators together if you can avoid it. You can keep the shard pulls small and make up for it by pulling big around that. As long as the run is smooth and there are no full wipes it should be relatively easy to time.
Also, instruct people not to use any defensives for the first two thrashes as you will have lust rolling and the healing CDs. Save the defensives for the late bolstered thrashes, communicate stops for casts, and have the tank try their best not to move around too much to keep the deadly thrusts predictable. It also helps to mark the tank and point that out before the key goes in. (This applies to all dungeons as well)

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To add to this, the thrash cd is 20s. If you can plan the bolster stacks, they will drop after the first tick. That can be rough, so if you have this issue you want the shard no higher than 3 during any thrash.

During bolstering, it is crucial to know what mobs hit the hardest.

You also want to call out “primary” target. Sure, people will still AoE, but it will get some bigger down a little quicker.

Like, NW upstairs chunky stiches bois.

And you just kite. Start kiting at 3 stacks. Unless you’re monk. Which you are not :slight_smile:

I played a healer my fair share, and DH/Paladins are not really doing that well with 6-9 stacks of bolstering, meanwhile bears are fine due to insane armor stacking and BrMs due to stagger.

DPS are mostly brainless sheep until you get into 20/22’s where people actually know whats up. You need to call those things out and hope not to get reported for social contract cuz everyone is a bloody snowflake these days.

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Oh yes I forgot, we always brought the two darkblades along just inside the door. So no matter what, we always hit at least 1 thrash when the shard had 4ish stacks ticking on it.