The Value of Combat Logs

Published by Alinden under Druid, Tank, World of Warcraft on November 21, 2007

Have you ever wondered why your tank just died? Or how about how your DPS is looking in relation to the others in your group?

It sounds to me like it’s time to look at your combat logs.

WoW Web Stats offer a great service for analysing the log files generated during your travels. There are more details on how it works here, along with information on how to set up your client to save the combat log entries. Read the rest of this entry »

The Tank/Healer Synergy

Published by Alinden under Druid, Tank, World of Warcraft on November 21, 2007

When grouping, whether it’s 5-mans or raiding, there is a certain synergy between the tanks and healers. The group’s capabilities rest in the total package rather than purely the tank or the healer. Certain gaps can be filled from either role, such as good mitigation/avoidance making up for a lack of HoTs, but in the end, a good tank and a not-so-good healer, or vice-versa, will find their limits much earlier than a combination of a good tank and a good healer.

The Druid Tank Pot Macro – An Issue?

Published by Alinden under Druid, Tank, World of Warcraft on November 19, 2007

This is a subject that came up during a recent visit to drop Gruul. Close to the end of the fight our hurtful strike tank clicked the “Oh-shit” button to trigger the druid tank pot macro. The macro looks like this:

/cancelform
/use Super Healing Potion
/use Master Healthstone
/cast Dire Bear Form

Unfortunately, following the activation of the macro the tank was left in caster form and quickly died to a (roughly) 20K hurtful strike. This prompted the question of what caused the failure to return to Dire Bear Form? Read the rest of this entry »

Zul’Aman – Druid Tanking Gear

Published by Alinden under Druid, Tank, World of Warcraft on November 17, 2007

Typical of Blizzard, there are no specific leather tanking items available as drops in Zul’Aman, however, there are a number of interesting items available through [Badge of Justice] rewards. Let’s have a look at what’s available:

[Vestments of Hibernation]

Here’s an interesting item. This chest looks really good in the armour, strength and agility department but it’s the stamina that lets this piece down. Anyone contemplating moving from the [Breastplate of Malorne] or [Merciless Gladiator's Dragonhide Tunic] will have to consider the ramifications of not being able to gem for stamina if required. Personally I’ve found sockets to be invaluable when considering the potential of tanking gear, as it enables you to tweak stamina, dodge, defense and threat generation where required. For those new druid tanks who are pre-Karazhan geared and aren’t looking to tackle the arena’s to get some Merciless Gladiator’s Dragonhide items, this badge reward will look very good indeed. Read the rest of this entry »

Utgarde Keep – Not Just Eye Candy?

Published by Alinden under World of Warcraft on November 16, 2007

Sometimes it’s nice to look at some eye candy, generally as a diversion from more the mundane things that we may have on the boil at the time. Blizzard have combined some eye candy with an interesting insight into the design and development process for the upcoming WotLK Utgarde Keep instance. Given that Utgarde Keep is a level 70-72 instance, most of us will probably experience it fairly early after the release of WotLK, but also after we reach 80 and try it on heroic mode.