#0 - April 26, 2007, 3:59 p.m.
Very recently I ran a few SM runs, Cath/Arm/Lib. We ran cath and decided to move into arm, but our two existing "tanks" (dual wield warrior & a feral druid) made their apologies and left before the arm run. We refilled the group with:
40 Warlock (demo spec)
41 rogue
38(?) rogue
39 pali (retri spec, I think)
32 priest (shadow, I think)
Now, although the pali could probably tank a single target, we'd still have to be careful so I popped my trusty voidie out to offtank. We very quickly realised that Ormrath (voidie) was bloody awesome at the tank job. In fact, he very quickly became MT and even on bad pulls (approx 8 unsapped mobs at a time) Ormrath was happily dancing with 6 of them at once. We managed to run the whole instance without a single wipe and Herod (even with "Blades of Light") with Ormrath tanking was an absolute breeze. The main healer gained aggro twice throughout the entire effort if IRC, in any case, those problems were quickly rectified.
So this has got me thinking. If a group were to fall short of a decent tank of any kind, feral druid, warrior, prot paladin etc would you ever consider allowing a Warlock to tank instead? By extension, would you allow a hunter pet to tank? IMO, it would be easier to do with a VW than with a hunter pet, even if it were a bear. Which instances would this be doable in? Would you experiment with the idea?
Bear these questions in mind, this was done with a very rag-tag group, but with a high average level, but with sub-par healing available (not discrediting the priest, he was great for his level). The main disadvantage I found was that maintaining my own DPS had to take a back seat to the tanking effort, combined with the numerous debuffs: Curse of Weakness for the warriors and Curse of Tongues for the mages/locks/palis (again, removing the possibility for Curse of Agony) that had to be cast at the start of a fight.
In addition, I found that a VW's tanking ability, supplemented with a warlock's 'defensive' debuffs is surprisingly effective, with a natural armour of 46.xx% (from memory) and Curse of Weakness reducing melee attack power by 82 for 2 minutes(more effective than a warrior's 70 AP, 30 second duration, AOE-10 yard range).
So, definately doable in some instances. I'm thinking of doing this quite often, as I've never had so much running an instance. My next target instance is Zul'Farrak and I'm enjoying the idea of tanking many of the more challenging parts (when I'm a lot higher level ofc).
So, along with the questions already asked, would this be a good idea? Should I keep up with the effort as I travel to Mara, ST, DM etc? What level do you reckon I should try it at? Would you recommend any specific gear/talent set up?
Hmm, post went longer than anticipated. Oh well, I look forward to your replies.
