Originally Posted by Ciderhelm of Eventide

After getting right into the swings of things with Naxxramas in 2.0, there are some very basic obvservations that may need to be re-iterated. Neither myself nor our 3 other Protection Spec tanks had any difficulty controlling aggro on trash and boss mobs; this post is in response to other 40-man raiding tanks who are having difficulties.

Always open with a Shield Slam (and get Shield Mastery!)
Always engage with a Shield Slam, not a Sunder Armor. The first hit is going to use your entire reserve of rage from a Bloodrage, so make it count. Getting Shield Mastery will increase your Shield Slam damage by 30% -- no small increase.


Get Devastate, regardless of your Weapon
One of my tanks uses a Widow's Remorse, another a Spineshatter (sadly). Devastate is an improvement in threat over Sunder Armor with either weapon -- yes, even that fast Widow's Remorse. Be sure you use Devastate only once 5 Sunder Armors have been applied!


Do not apply your own Sunders
This is something we picked up starting last night. We normally run with 8 Warriors in every raid, and now every one of them is expected to put up 1 Sunder Armor at the beginning of the fight -- with the exception of the Warrior actually tanking. This allows your tank to do a Shield Slam, Revenge, then begin immediately with Devastates. Obviously use common sense and apply your own Sunders if you don't have backup Warriors.

Threat priority remains intact
Shield Slam is your most important threat ability. Revenge comes next. Devastate next. Heroic Strike last. This hasn't changed, so don't be stupid and spam Devastate thinking it will be a godsend -- it isn't meant to be.

Don't ignore your talents and don't ignore Imp Sunder Armor
Being a tank has never been about strict mitigation; holding aggro against an ever-better-geared (and talented, not) raid is just as important. Keep this in mind when getting your spec.

Take a look at my spec:
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/...33002103501351

Notice some glaring oversights? No Deflection, no Improved Defensive Stance, no Last Stand? And I put points into Improved Sunder Armor instead of these?

No, I'm not crazy. I know my tanking damage intake. There is no fight in Naxxramas which threatens me health-wise atm, because I have an incredible crew of healers. Also, in AQ40 and Naxxramas, spell damage incoming on a tank is limited in scope -- even Sapphiron doesn't require an ounce of Frost Resist on the Main Tank.

What I do have is more important. I know building threat is harder this patch, not because we were weakened but because other classes were strengthened enormously. My Heroic Strikes cost 9 rage, as do my Sunder Armors; Shield Slam costs 17, Revenge only 2, and Devastate 12. Right now, even with Heroic Strike spam, I can only barely dump my rage in most fights.

Rage efficiency -- that is, having cheap abilities to use when you are low on rage on trash or off-tanking -- is a critical part of your class. You will find aggro much easier to control when you take rage out of the picture by dramatically increasing the efficiency of all of your abilities.

Improved Sunder Armor can be more rage efficient than Devastate depending on your situation. For instance, once I have aggro locked on Noth the Plaguebringer, I use Sunder Armor at that point instead of Devastate so I can reserve rage for his next blink. Thaddius' adds at the beginning are much the same way, as are finishing Gothik's adds, as are Four Horsemen.


Don't have Attack Power, Shield Block Value, or Crit?
Let's say you've gone out of your way to drop Strength on your gear in favor of Agility; let's say you are more focused on Dodge rating than your Stamina/Strength ratio given from most tanking gear. Let's say you were one of the people professing that Ahn'Qiraj gear with avoidance was better than Naxxramas gear with Shield Block Value. Fine. And if you are holding aggro just fine, that's even better.

But if you are having aggro problems, the solution is simple. Do what every class is already doing for their damage and mana -- grab some consumables. Elixir of the Mongoose and Elixir of Giants are a damn good start. This will help your Devastate output significantly. Blasted Lands buffs don't hurt. Elemental Sharpening Stones sure as heck don't hurt. You have options. If you happen to have that Dreadnaught Belt and Shoulders that you've been opting out, put them back on -- each Block Value point is now 30% more threat effective with Shield Mastery.


Still having problems?
Common sense dictates the final step if you can't resolve threat isn't to come post here with yet-another-rant, but to ask your DPS'ers to hold off a few seconds on each encounter until you have aggro built.

Just linking because I know WoW forums are likely to dissapear...lol