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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsHybrid Theory: What can I do? part 2
by Alex Ziebart 
Mar 8th 2008 at 10:30AM
Hybrid Theory comes to you yet again from blogger and columnist Alex Ziebart. You're in for thrills, chills, and quite possibly some useful information, but I doubt it.
...Right. Anyway! I'll be detailing the strong points of the tanking and healing specs of our beloved hybrids, and the utility you provide. Should you be looking for a new raid group anytime soon, these will be the things you'll want to keep in mind when asked what you can offer a raid. Having good gear and knowing how to play is also a plus, but this is a start.
Never fear you QQasuals(just kidding!) out there, next week I'll take a step back from the raiding scene and cover some of the new toys in Patch 2.4 and what they mean to you. However, it isn't next week yet, so read on!
Just like last week, I'll cycle through each of you one by one.
Feral Druids: You're right next to the Protection Warriors as far as tanking viability. There's a few encounters that will tear you up(like Illidan himself), but for the most part, you're sitting pretty. I covered a lot of your utility, such as Feral Faerie Fire, in last week's column, but here's what you'll be good for specifically as a tank.
- Excellent Off-Tank - Having the highest base damage between the two rage users, this means you're the most capable of generating threat when not taking damage, and thus most capable of generating threat when not being hit in the face. You'll be very valuable in encounters that require multiple tanks on one target, such as Gruul, Void Reaver and Gurtogg.
- High Armor and Health - Against bosses that hit insanely hard in physical combat, such as High King Maulgar, you're the best candidate out of the tanking classes to take those hits. While crushing blows can be an issue for feral druids, your health, mitigation and high dodge rates do you well.
- Strong Multi-Mob Threat - Your multi-mob threat isn't as strong as a Protection Paladin's threat, but it's a good substitute if a raid lacks one of those. Swipe like there is no tomorrow.
Balance Druids: Moonkin are not tanks. I don't care what your YouTube video says. Go be useful and Moonfire spam something.
Protection Paladin: Of the three tanking classes, you are unfortunately the least desirable. It's going to take some work to convince a raid to take you, but not impossible. Most of your utility isn't exclusive to Protection Paladins, so that makes it even harder. Regardless, here we go!
- Strongest Multi-Mob Threat - AOE Tanking is awesome. When it comes to handling multiple mobs, you're the best. This is most useful in Mount Hyjal, where many of the trash waves are made trivial with a paladin tank. However, most encounters which seem like they're built for Protection Paladins(like Morogrim) are actually more easily tanked by Holy Paladins, so who knows?
- Blessing of Kings - While technically Holy Paladins can reach this, it is a Protection talent. Blessing of Kings gives raid members a flat 10%. Sounds good to me.
- Righteous Defense - Again, Holy Paladins have this, but that doesn't make it less useful on a Protection Paladin. Righteous Defense is a ranged taunt, and though it can be awkward to use without the proper macros, is one of the easiest ways to nab a mob that has peeled off toward a caster or a healer. It's also a good tool to quickly pick up add spawns that appeared on the other side of a room.
Restoration Shaman: Every raid wants at least one of you, if not two. Despite that, you guys seem very, very rare. Which should make searching for a raid even easier, really.
- Earth Shield - Set it and forget it. For ten charges, anyway. Excellent damage buffer on a main tank, and also has alternative applications thanks to the 30% spell pushback resistance it carries. There's no shame in putting Earth Shield on an AOEing mage or warlock, though it should probably be on the tanks most of the time.
- Chain Heal - Pewpew lasers! Chain Heal is awesome, and two of them is even more awesome. This spell makes you, arguably, the best in the game at healing the potatoes of a raid, while most everyone else keeps the meat(tanks) up and running.
- Totems - Restoration Shaman get Mana Tide Totem, which is pretty sweet all alone. Plus you have the usual loadout of Windfury or Wrath of Air, Healing Stream or Mana Spring, you know the deal.
- Ancestral Fortitude - While difficult to keep up on a tank reliably, especially on encounters in which you need to do heavy raid healing, an extra 25% armor on your tanks is greatly appreciated. Holy Priests have a similar talent, but we're not discussing them right now, are we?
Restoration Druids: No, I don't mean Dreamstate. Nobody ever means Dreamstate when they ask for a Resto Druid. Trust me.
- HoTs - Your Healing over Time spells, your HoTs, are your biggest priority. Lifebloom is your primary healing spell, and it is quite amazing. Learn how to use it and practice rolling it on multiple tanks at once, because you're going to be doing a lot of it. Lifebloom = Good.
- Innervate - Mana, yum!
- Tree Form - While not able to be used in every encounter, having the Treeform aura in your tank group is a pretty hefty boost. Restoration Druids really should have no mana problems, so you can afford to be outside of the Healers + Shadow Priest group.
Holy Paladins: The Burning Crusade has not been kind to you. You're basically doing the exact same thing in a raid now as you were three years ago in Molten Core. Luckily, you're still good at that thing, but... yeah. Sorry. You're really good to have along, it's just going to be a boring ride for ya.
- Powerful Single Target Heals - All Paladins really have is single target, direct heals. Luckily, you're one of the best at it. Thanks to the Spell Crit stacking that good Holy Paladins should do alongside their +Healing, you're a power house when it comes to single target heals. The combination of Holy Paladin and Resto Druid does wonders, thanks to the big direct heals from one and the strong heals over time from the other.
- Blessings - Wisdom, Might, yadda yadda. Holy Paladins will generally have Improved Blessing of Wisdom and possibly even Blessing of Kings, which is what your advantage would be over other Paladin talent specs when it comes to these.
- Judgements - Do not underestimate the Judgements of Wisdom and Light. Over the course of a boss battle, Judging Wisdom will regenerate thousands and thousands of points of mana for your raid. It may be difficult to watch all of the time and keep it active, but it's worth it. If you just want to set it and forget it, convince your raid leader to recruit a Retribution Paladin for Crusader Strike!
- Divine Shield - Pretty simple. The ability to go invincible for awhile can be a huge advantage when something goes awry.
- Mm, beefy! - Paladins are generally high armor, high stamina. Being a healer in plate is pretty nice when a mob gets loose. You can keep popping off those heals while the priest next to you keeps popping into angel form.
That's really about it, there's your selling points. Like I said last week, though, there are absolutely no alternatives to being a good player. Just because you know you have these tools doesn't mean you know how to use them. Go out, play the game, learn your strengths. If you need to spend a little extra time in 5-man dungeons of Karazhan to brush up on these abilities, do it. The experience will be worth it. And again, as I said last week, remember that you are a hybrid. This may be as simple as knowing when you need to shift gears mid-combat to pull your raid out of a jam, or as annoying as carrying 2+ sets of gear with you at all times. It's a part of your class, and something you should take in stride.
There you go folks, that's it for my Raiding 101 bit. Boring, I know, but hopefully it was useful to somebody out there. Next week, as I said, I plan on covering some of the new toys in patch 2.4, and that should prove to be quite a bit more exciting. Maybe, if you're nice, I'll make fun of Moonkin again. Otherwise? I'll pick a new victim. I'm looking at you, Enhancement Shammies.
Filed under: Druid, Paladin, Shaman, Analysis / Opinion, Hybrid Theory
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 5)
Frank A Carrion Mar 8th 2008 1:11PM
you didn't mention druids ability to gain threat without getting hit, which is their main benefit, as opposed to warriors or pallys that need to be getting hit to generate threat. multi-mob threat is just as hard for druids as warriors to... then an uncalled for stab at moonkins for no real reason, and into pally tank trashing, really, wow, thats a helluva 'I don't know anything about running raids, but I'm writing an article about it anyway' post, lol. Flame on.
PyroAmos Mar 8th 2008 1:15PM
Oh and anyone who has druid tanked knows, with the armor you have in bear, crushing blows arn't a problem, they usually hit for less than a normal blow on a warrior or pally. the drawback of druids is their lack of consistent avoidance, with only dodge, no block or parry, so tired of people saying crushing blows are a drawback to druid tanks, cause they don't know anything about druid tanking.
bezulba Mar 8th 2008 1:38PM
i'm a feral and i say that crushing blows are a drawback to feral tanking. You say it yourself, we don't have reliable avoidance except high armor, so when you're getting hit 4 times in a row with CB you will still die. Morogrim has a nasty habit of doing this often. 3-4 CB in a row that aren't dogged, even with 50% dodge) and they do hit less then on a warrior but it's still a 2-3k difference from a normal hit
BigFire Mar 8th 2008 1:16PM
Of all of the boss encounter in BC, there's a grand total of 1 fight, Essence of Desire that's designed around warrior's shield reflect to reflect Deaden. It's kind of difficult for Druid to tank Illidan due to Sheer not able to miss (which means the only way to avoid it is to dodge, parry or block, Druid can only dodge). Likewise, Druid is handicapped by not being able to use shield to nullify 1/3 of Kael's pyroblast. Other than the 3 encounter I listed, all 3 tanks can tank all of the other bosses.
hellshire Mar 8th 2008 1:28PM
What about Hydross? Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think there's a resist set that's geared around the stats Prot Pallies need to hold aggro.
Of course, this is running under the assumption that Prot Pallies have a fair amount of +spell damage on their gear and don't just wear warrior tanking gear. Again, please correct me if I'm wrong.
Manatank Mar 8th 2008 1:54PM
Prot paladins get most of their threat from their main hand weapon, so putting on some resist gear is not a deal breaker.
A Man In Black Mar 8th 2008 4:17PM
There isn't a resist set built around the stats that warriors use to hold aggro, either. (Def, stam, and resist aren't aggro stats.) Pallies and warriors both benefit and suffer equally from using Iceguard/Wildguard and the various JC pieces that go with them.
JessPachWay Mar 8th 2008 1:52PM
Can the next column be on how to disagree gracefully?
BigFire Mar 8th 2008 1:55PM
Regarding Paladin tanking Hydross... Here's a movie where the guild uses 2 Paladin to tank everything, Hydross, his adds, everything. http://www.eveofserenity.us/downloads/Hydross%20Complete.wmv
Bod Mar 8th 2008 3:04PM
We had a prot pally MT Vashj after our warrior MT got T5. He did fine. There are lots of different ways to succeed in the game, and people who want to min/max everything might as well just have a robot play their toon.
Charlie Mar 8th 2008 4:21PM
just wanted to comment on the picture.
the boomkin in our guild has tanked Prince Malchezar.
just fyi
CursedSeishi Mar 8th 2008 4:51PM
Honestly, I feel like the person who wrote this hasn't seen a decent prot pally tank. I even doubt he's seen the talents in the prot tree right now.
First off, both tier one talents are vital, improved Dev boosts armor bonus of the aura, while redoubt helps to increase block rate when struck (especially effective in multi-mob tanking)
Second tier id recommend Toughness, which adds an additional 10% to your armor.
The entire third tier is recommended. BoK boosts all stats by 10%, which is an obvious reason for any specced pally to take it. Imp. Righteous fury allows you to generate nearly double the amount of aggro, and reduces damage taken by 6% when active. The last two increase your defense skill and damage absorbed when blocking, obvious reasons there.
The 4th tier is iffy, and can be skipped I believe.
in the 5th tier is a decent blessing for prot pallies, though can be skipped, while reckoning is recommended, and helps to generate more threat while multitanking, though still functional while tanking a single enemy.
6th tier is another fully recommended one, holy shield helps generate even more threat, and imp. holy shield increases how long it lasts and the damage it does, while Ardent Defender is helpfull when the healer is OOM, as it reduces damage taken when low on health (30% reduction at 35% health or less)
7th gives you Combat Expertise, recommended mainly for the solid 10% stam boost, as well as the expertice.
And finally the cream of the crop for Prot pallies, Avenger's Shield, which is a great (and only way for Prot.pallies) to pull mutliple mobs and already build some aggro on them.
Now, I'm a ret paladin, so any Prot-specced ones feel free to correct any mistakes and such, but at least I'm willing to admit that ive never played your spec. The author only diminished the advantage prot pallies have, specially in the fact they can gain aggro right off the bat, while warriors and druids need rage to start building up. In general thats about 5secs of limited dps, and against some bosses, those 5secs are valuable.
Prot warriors are great too, and I understand the various advantages they have in tanking, but it still doesnt mean that they are the only tank anyone should use. Besides, I've had quite a few guilds askin if I could tank raids for them, so I have no clue where he got the idea Prot Paladins arent wanted :P
Alex Ziebart Mar 8th 2008 5:11PM
I didn't say they weren't wanted, I said they were the least wanted out of the three tank classes. As I said, my raid has a Prot Paladin and I tank on my own Prot Paladin.
They are viable, nobody is going to kick them to the curb. But between the three tank classes/specs, they are the least powerful, overall.
You are right on the burst threat, though. I've been pulling with Avenger's Shield without really thinking about it for some time now, so I never saw it as an 'advantage' so much as just something I had been doing.
CursedSeishi Mar 8th 2008 5:34PM
Ahh, sorry. I've always been a little defensive about the paladin class, whether its tanking or healing (which I myself do not like), or DPS and PvP. I guess after using a skill for so long you stop thinking of it as what its advantageous for, and more of as something you just do.
I just felt that a few key talents and aspects here and there were missed out on when reviewing them as a tank, and based what i said in that Prot Paladins seem to be big in my server.
CursedSeishi Mar 8th 2008 5:04PM
Also, another thing that gives prot paladins the edge is the passive skill Spiritual Attunement, which converts a % of healing done to them into their mana pool. This helps them keep up mana while tanking because as long as they are doing their job, they are getting healed, so as long as they are doing the job they dont need to worry about mana.
had to add this tiny fact since it was another thing he refused to add :P
Rebecca Mar 8th 2008 6:33PM
Woah woah woah! Protection Paladin are the least desirable of the three? What? I'm really dissapointed. This is supposed to be a column about HYBRID THEORY, and as such, I was expecting you to know something about Paladin Tanking before you talked about it.
I don't mean to be rude, but the three 'strengths' you highlight are the kinds of 'reasons' people who don't understand paladin tanks use to stick us in an AOE tanking role. Yes, we have Blessing of Kings, and so does every second Holy Paladin. Yes, we have Righteous Defense, and so does every Ret and Holy Paladin. Yes, we have the strongest AOE threat gen. And so does---
You're describing a Holy Paladin or Shocakadin OT situation, NOT A Protection Paladin.
What does a Protection Paladin Bring to a raid that Warriors and Druids don't?
Better scaling Health against Warriors: We generate an extra 16% health off of our stamina points, which is much better than Warriors in end game gear, even Tauren warriors. Not as good as druids, no, but our gear usually comes with more stam to begin with. In every end game raid I have MT'd, I have had about 500-2k more health than my Feral Druid OT and 1-2k more than the warrior.
Better Shield Block: Our Block has 8 charges, which makes us four times more viable against a fast hitting boss (Prince, Illidan...) than Warriors in similar gear.
Ardent Defender: It's not quite last Stand Worthy, but if you can get up to 21k health when buffed, as soon as you drop down between 7 and 8k health all incoming damage is reduced by 35%. That's a SWEET passive defense. And when you couple it with the new tanking trinket that has a passive chance to increase dodge when below 35% health, that makes Paladins insanely hard to kill below 35%. A passive Last Stand, as it were.
Instant threat/Threat Boosting: Any fight in which we are allowed to pull -- Avenger's Shield, Exorcism, ranged trinkets -- we can instantly generate up to 3-4k threat with that single pull, (even more when spelldamage buffed) and then start dumping an extra 1-2k threat as soon as the boss starts hitting us. No, we don't have quite as much long term threat gen as warriors (although we've gotten better at it), with our Avenging Wrath ability we can boost our threat several times a boss fight. I can easily out distance anyone as long as I have enough spelldamage. It's not devastate. But it's really good, especially if the boss is a Demon or Undead.
Blessing of Sanctuary: We wont be using this unless there are at least 2-3 paladin already in the raid to give out Kings, Salv, and Wisdom/Might, but this nice little Buff is great in a 25-person tanking where you might have 3-4 Paladin. It's a nice little threat Buff, and any damage reduction, even such a crappy one, counts a little bit towards helping increase our longevity. It's like dumping an extra 1-5% into spelldamage reduction, or an extra 80 points into Block Value. It might be the one inch we need to keep us alive.
Blessing of Protection/Divine Shield (personal use): The great multi-use blessing! Oh, did that Enh Shaman crit himself up into range of pulling aggro? BoP! Instant Threat Dump. Doesn't work perfectly, but it's great for situational use. As a tank, I use it on Moroes to cancel garrotes, and if the OT (if I have one, as someone else said, I have AOE tanked all of Kara.) is #2 on threat I can bubble myself and then cancel bubble to remove a garrote on me, or if I'm alone, I can bubble during vanish and instantly debubble.
Bubble/Taunt!: It's tricky, and it's not satisfactory, but in some situations where a boss IS tauntable I can bubble to keep myself alive and taunt him. And I can start a lot of fights bubbled, giving the raid time to get into position before I drop Bubble.
So, no, we're not the best single-target tanks around just based on how our makeup compares to Warriors. But we are equally useful as Bear Tanks and in some situations (Fast Hitting Bosses, Undead and Demon Bosses) we're BETTER than warriors. Some of the world first kills of Illidn were Paladin tanks -- Lore, for instance. This is why I suggested a Prot Paladin-aimed Tanking column. We're not glorified OTs and AOE Tanks. For one thing, we suck at OTing when fully Prot. We are Main Tanks. We are stomping our boots on Illidan and glaring up towards the Undead-infested Northrend Main Tanks.
And we're good at it.
Manatank Mar 8th 2008 9:21PM
Rebecca, You are pretty much right on the money. Alex Ziebart clearly has very little understanding of tanking or prot paladins, and the comments in this thread are some of the most virulent I've seen on this site in a long time. His words were received by many people to be completely wrong. I hope he sees all this and offers some kind of retraction, but based on his own comments in this thread he seems to be sticking to his ridiculous assertion that paladins are the least worthy of the three tanking classes.
It would be one thing if he offered some kind of rational for druids being superior tanks, but he seems to be making blanket assertions as though his point of view was the common wisdom. Alex, I hope reading through this comment thread you realize that not only is your assertion not the common wisdom, but there are quite a few people who think you have no idea what you are talking about. I'm not saying paladins are always better than druids, but I am saying that they are better at certain things. As has been mentioned elsewhere we are also better than warriors at certain things. We aren't some bastardized half-tank coming in third place.
futurebiblehero Mar 8th 2008 7:58PM
Prot Pallies are undesirable? Wow, that's a new one. I'm used to hearing that they're overrated and take less overall skill than Warriors, but undesirable? I think that's my official cue to stop reading these articles.
Alex Ziebart Mar 8th 2008 8:04PM
"Less desirable than ____" is not the same as "undesirable." It's actually a pretty big difference.
It's like saying pizza is less desirable than lasagna, but you're not going to turn away pizza if someone wants to give it to you.
futurebiblehero Mar 8th 2008 8:37PM
Yes, but then the "less desirable" comment is then followed with "It's going to take some work to convince a raid to take you, but not impossible" to further drive home their lack of utility. You'd say the exact same thing about a PvP specced Rogue. With the right connections and a bit of charisma, they too can get in on raiding.
You could have very well said that while a Protection Pally is not going to be the superstar of the raid, they too add utility rather than framing it negatively and even further adding confusion to a class that's already often misunderstood.