Tanks Breaking Crowd Control

This is a repost of something I posted a while back on our guild forums. It is important enough to repeat however so here we go...

One thing I have noticed in recent PUGs, Heroic, and even some raids is that some Warriors don't break Crowd Control properly.

The ONLY reason you should ever be breaking crowd control with a ranged weapon is if getting that close will aggro more mobs. Otherwise a Shield Slam will always be your best bet when breaking crowd control. With a decent hit rating for a tank your Shield Slams will rarely if ever miss and it is not uncommon to see 1k+ Shield Slam crits. With the extra threat it generates and the large damage potential it is the best skill you have for breaking crowd control.

Read on for more...



Just make sure to build some rage on up on the previous mob before it dies. And you can easily fire off a Shield Slam -> Shield Block -> Devastate -> Revenge combo to put you sufficiently ahead of the group on the threat meter.

Another thing to note is if you know the mob is going to make a beeline for someone squishy, due to threat issues, you can do a couple things to help save that person from being hit. Taunt before breaking the Crowd Control if the mob is tauntable. If they are still after a squishy and are stunnable hit 'em with a Concussion Blow to give yourself a few more seconds of threat buildup. If by that point you still don't have aggro, then what you have is a case of noobaggro and there is nothing you can do but let the noob die. (Sadly this is me in more cases than not, I blame my uber DPS)

The Warrior Dilemma - Respecs

I constantly find myself respeccing. I raid as a Fury Warrior to maximize my PvE DPS and in doing so I consistently end up in the top 3 for DPS for our Kara raids. When it comes time to do my Arenas I find myself respeccing to Arms (mace spec) so that I can be most effective for my team. If we are short tanks one night I may go respec so that I can Main Tank. I have gear enough to play any of these roles, but yet I am still hindered by my Talent Spec.

On one hand I could stay Fury all of the time, but let's face it, the spec is no longer viable in PvP. In PvE Dual Wield Fury is the way to go for melee DPS no doubt. However we lost both Death Wish and Imp. Intercept from our Fury tree which took away any previous justifications for staying Fury for Arena / PvP. These days the Hybrid Arms / Fury specs are ruling the Arenas / BGs.

On the other hand I find it incredibly difficult to play and Arms spec in PvE and provide consistent high DPS. The major issues I find with this spec in PvE are lack of smooth rage generation vs. life expectancy of the mobs. Meaning when fighting trash mobs I feel like I never have enough rage to use as many Whirlwinds, Slams, or Mortal Strikes as I would like. Mortal Strike however is an incredible skill for Arenas and Battlegrounds, don't queue up without it.

I realize there are other classes out there that are in the same boat, but I still don't think the difference in specs is as dramatic as it is with the Warrior class. All I can say is thank god for daily quests!