Warlock tanks Patchwerk
by Zach Yonzon 
Mar 17th 2009 at 11:30AM
Forget Grimkrast. He's fired. My ambitions of having my voidwalker tank Sartharion have been dashed to the ground, and frankly, I don't mind so much. Grimkrast was a slacker who refused to hit the gym, anyway. Voidwalker tanking is so last season. Readers Brad, Domien, and Lifedeathsoul sent us something new to aspire for -- Warlock tanking! I've always been a bit upset at the design of Metamorphosis, particularly with the Challenging Howl ability which never quite made sense to me. As a Warlock, it was counterintuitive to try and get hit by the boss when normally that means death.
Sure, Metamorphosis pumps up our armor, and we get that awesome AoE Immolation Aura and that off-the-GCD Shadow Cleave (bet a lot of you didn't know that!), but in general Metamorphosis wasn't meant to make Warlocks tanks. Well, leave it to some Gnomes to prove me wrong. Here's a video of some intrepid pint-sized folk tanking everything from Cyanigosa to... Patchwerk. Don't believe it? Check out the video and see those diminutive aberrations
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Naix Mar 17th 2009 11:37AM
Every gnome I see I punt to first and 10.
Ametrine Mar 17th 2009 11:43AM
Idiotic "first"-clowns like Naix aside, how long do you think it'll be before this gets nerfed like the Void-tanking did?
Naix Mar 17th 2009 11:54AM
What are you talking about?
Tumleren Mar 17th 2009 11:55AM
This is like QQing over WoWInsider making posts on where to farm gold/mats or people on forums making threads on bugs that are making a class OP.
Blizzard will adjust it if they see fit, not just because 1 guy has done it
R-Tug Mar 17th 2009 12:00PM
@Naix
I believe he wrongly assumed you were a "First!" type poster just because your comment contained the word: "first" without bothering to read the "and 10" portion of it. The later transforming the sentence into an allusion that a Gnome is a football.
If not he is just a dick. /shrug
Issac Mar 17th 2009 12:11PM
I'm am sure Ghostcrawler's balding head is fuming right about now.
"NO NO NO! Thats not the way we want you to play the game! NO NO NO!"
Kinka Mar 21st 2009 3:00PM
@Issacc
In all fairness, they have been pretty lax about this sort of thing in Wrath.
No, they don't want pets tanking or trivializing a certain aspect of the encounter. They want it to be players. Aside from that, they seem just fine with it.
For instance, they seemed just fine with mages tanking Instructor Razuvious with spell steal. They only nerfed it when someone managed to solo the Military Wing...and, lets be honest, that needed to go. They are also just fine with people two-manning Loatheb. He still has no enrage timer.
Blizzard seems content in Wrath to let players get creative...more so than they have in the past. They just don't let people go overboard. If the Warlock in demo-form trivialized certain encounters? Yeah, then you can expect a nerf. As it stands though, this play style takes considerable planning and coordination so I predict we will continue to see Warlocks trying their hand as tank for shits and giggles.
Also, if they have a problem with Demo-locks tanking...why the hell did we give it that AoE taunt?
Xonate Mar 17th 2009 1:19PM
@Kinka -
Loatheb does in fact have an enrage timer now. It's pretty high, but it prevents tanks and healers from doing it by themselves. I believe it's around 15 minutes.
Kakistocracy Mar 17th 2009 1:35PM
Kinka, they modified the talent that gave mages enough bonus damage to solo the wing without going oom way before killing much of anything AND made the buff un-stealable. Leaving it at the first change (first by my reference, I believe the other was chronologically hot fixed in first, but who cares about chronological order?) would still permit mage tanks for that sort of fight, but would prevent mages from soloing.
Given that they elected to take additional action to prevent mage tanking, beyond what was needed to address the "problem", I would say that they were not all that permissive, even more so considering that the removal of that mage tank mechanic returns that fight to its prior priest requiring state. So, that they would create a situation they openly oppose (requiring one class, priests, to complete an encounter) rather than permit the unusual result of the use of pretty standard spells, speaks volumes.
sweetballz Mar 17th 2009 2:35PM
Just wait, one of GC's lackeys will find this article and bring it to his office. I give it 1 patch before metamorphosis is ripped to shreds by the crabman.
good luck, your gonna need it. Everyone knows to hide the fun stuff from GC by now.
Domien Mar 17th 2009 11:44AM
As a warlock u can aslo spec into the demo tree going for the Soul link and Master Demonologist tallents.
Soul link will transfer 20% of the dmg u take to ure pet.
And Master Demonologist with the void walker out gives reduces Physical damage taken by 10%.
And u also get Demonic Resilience . This gives reduces the chance you'll be critically hit by melee and spells by 3%.
Add to this a nice gear set heavy on stam and resi and u have a warlock tank.
Rille Mar 17th 2009 11:48AM
Yes, you have to be a gnome, its the only way to properly do this, lol.
Its gnome, or go home!
EmprssChaime Mar 17th 2009 12:21PM
ugh, gnomes. no offense, but they're so weird looking.
ANYWAY, back to the point, as someone with a warlock as their main, I find this to be completely awesome.
that is all I wanted to add.
FenSat Mar 17th 2009 11:58AM
Congrats on potentially getting Metamorphosis nerfed in the future! Just remember, it was a gnome that caused the Eye of Ghostcrawler to focus on you. Hope you have a combo point for your Flame Shield; if not, it's nerf city. Just remember, it was a gnome...when things go wrong, it's almost always a gnome's fault. :-p
shisho2k Mar 17th 2009 1:33PM
Yeah pretty much. ;D
pongo_3931 Mar 17th 2009 12:00PM
The title of this article did not match with the clip. Five minutes in you cut to the chase? Its a seven minute video!
MechChef Mar 17th 2009 12:02PM
Also in before "to the ground."
Malvolius Mar 17th 2009 12:03PM
I doubt this'll get Meta nerfed. Anybody here remember the Panzerkin? There was a Moonkin druid who tanked Prince and Gruul from BC, but I dont recall any nerfs to moonkin survivability coming from that.
Shadowhaxor Mar 17th 2009 12:22PM
Remember that mages used to be able to solo naxx?? Remember how fast that got nerfed??
Malvolius Mar 17th 2009 12:50PM
Neither the panzerkin nor this warlock soloed anything. That's different. They still both required a full raid to challenge themselves by doing things the hard way. This isn't certain talents and abilities interacting in a way the developers didn't intend, either - it's decked out healers and a unique spec and gear.