Jun 18

So Tasmyn, my druid, was feral when she hit 70. I tanked and DPSed some instances, and decided to give resto a try, as she had some resto gear laying around. It’s nice too. I enjoy both specs, but I really enjoy the soloability and versatility that comes with the feral spec (unlike, say, a prot warrior).

However, her gear isn’t the greatest. She’s still grinding away to Earthwarden, currently using Braxxis’ Staff of Slumber. She’s got the feral T4 helm, and a full Heavy Clefthoof set. She’s at approximately 23,000 armor, about 12,500 health, uncrittable, around 22% dodge and about the same amount of crit. (I’d link an armory page, but she’s currently in her resto gear and switches more often that I change my underwear. Okay, maybe not that often. But still.)

I am having serious issues tanking. Against a boss or other single mob (or a well crowd-controlled pull), I’m alright. But when there’s a few more, especially 3+, I’m having problems.

Maybe it’s my process? Depending on the pull, I’ll Starfire cross (or “X”, the second kill target), shift to Bear Form and FFF skull (the primary kill target). I’ll hit Enrage as they’re coming toward me, and queue up a Maul. When they arrive I’ll get a Mangle off on skull and then a Demoralizing Roar to get a bit of aggro on any of the other mobs. At this point I’ve tried a couple of things; sometimes I’ll get a Lacerate or two on the primary target (seeing as the DPS is going balls-to-the-walls on it) and then get a Lacerate on cross. Or I’ll get a Lacerate in and Swipe a couple times. Or I’ll Lacerate cross first and the Swipe. No matter what I try the same thing happens.

Before long, I loose aggro on a mob. If I’m concentrating on skull one of the other mobs will usually head to the healer (or some AoEing mage or Seed of Corruptioning Warlock, but that’s their problem–isn’t it?), or if I take a moment to get a Swipe and/or Lacerate in on one or two of the other mobs, my primary target makes a break for the DPS.

So my question is, is this something I’m doing or not doing? Or just the fact that my AP is a little low (due to still using Braxxis’ Staff)? Or is it the fact that DPS isn’t waiting long enough, or using too many AoE attacks? In regular 5-mans, it’s usually not too bad, the DPS can take a hit or two. But in Heroics, one shot is about all it takes. Also, in places like, for example, toward the end of Steamvaults, where there are those 5-mob or so pulls, I really, really have trouble.

I’ve done a lot of reading on tanking in Bear Form, visited a lot of blogs and read a lot of forum posts, so it’s not like this is something that just started and I haven’t done any research. Any experienced bears out there that could lend me a hand? (Or possible call me a n00b and tell me to L2P, that’s okay too.)

Related posts:

1. 2 More Reasons Feral Druids should be Excited about Wrath
2. Moving Forward
3. I Love Being a Feral Druid
4. Levelin’ Like a Madman
5. Two Pugs Enter: Stupidity vs. Ignorance