Does your guild still struggle with threat? Do warlocks constantly pull Broodlord Lashlayer into the ranged group? Is your tank an iron juggernaut that hits like a wet noodle? Well, there's a solution for these issues that you might have heard of: dual-wield fury tanking.
Why Dual-Wield Fury Tank?
Basically, a warrior that foregoes the shield for an offhand weapon will generate a ton more threat, as he's hitting more often and getting hit a lot harder. This, however, makes the healers' work a lot harder, so it could cause a host of other problems. Luckily, having experienced this shift in my guild, I've learned a few tricks that can make healing these berserkers a lot easier for your team.Before getting into it, though, remember to follow my blog by adding yourself to my mailing list below, so you know when I write more guides and other content like this. There's a lot more coming as we blaze through AQ and Naxx, and I'm sure you'll want to stay informed. But anyway, without further ado, let's get right into the tips...
Tip #1 - Healing Team and Assignments
First off is the absolute most important thing to keep in mind as your guild works toward having a dual-wield fury tank - the healing team and their assignments. In the current iteration of Classic, we're seeing an increase in the "less healers is more" mindset. And while this can have its benefits in terms of overall dps, it can be detrimental to raid survivability. So, what can be done?First off, you need to ensure you've got balance in your healing team - around 5 priests, 5 paladins/shamans, and 2-3 druids. Your healers need to be transparent about their specs, +healing, preferred healing styles, and gear. Then, once your team knows who's got what, you have to start setting up healing assignments.
Recently, it seems that there are lots of healers relying on addons such as HealCommsClassic to basically remove the need for healing assignments. And while these addons are wonderful for helping healers avoid wasting mana on overhealing, they can cause confusion about who is healing whom. As such, it's important to have healing assignments arranged for fights, and even trash packs, where your guild plans to use a DW Fury tank.
About two months ago, I took on the job of doing healing assignments for my guild - Exodus on Mankrik-US. And through careful consideration and lots of discussion with guild leadership, we found that having 7-8 of our healers focused on spamming the tank during boss fights, with only 3-4 other healers focusing on raid heals, was the ideal way in which to make sure the MT was always topped off - no matter how many hits he was taking. If you are doing these assignments, make sure to set up a few priests and shamans (if Horde) to keep the 25% armor buff up on the tank at all times, as it can make or break him. Your highest +healing druid should constantly keep HoTs up on the tank as well, and you should assign one priest with high +healing and improved renew to keep that HoT up on the tank at all times as well. Finally, make sure you have at least one priest (preferably not the renew priest) to keep an eye on Power Word: Shield - as this bubble can be used in an emergency to save your tank, or to reduce incoming damage like Firemaw's Shadowflame ability. Personally, I keep this job for myself, as I'm deep-discipline, baby!
Tip #2 - Use Fast Heals
Now that you've got a healing team assembled and assignments sorted, it's time for the actual healing. DW Fury tanks take a lot more damage than their shield-bearing counterparts, and generally have a bit less health as well. As such, it's important that they are constantly getting healed up to full. In order to do this, those who are assigned to tank heals MUST NEVER stop healing. That means using the fastest heals you have available as often as you can.First and foremost, know if you have a specific job as a healer - the renew priest, the HoT druid, etc. Then, find a rank of the fastest heal that you can spam constantly for a good 90 seconds straight without going out of mana. For me, it's Flash Heal Rank 2, but you can also alternate to a higher rank for emergency situations if needed (FH R7 for me). Druids are at a bit of a loss here, as they only have Healing Touch, but priests, paladins, and shamans can all work together to make sure the tank is constantly getting a heal of 500 every 0.2 seconds or so.
Ideally, mana shouldn't be much of an issue, as the tank should be able to generate so much threat that DPS can go ham on the boss. However, if mana does become a problem, you should make sure to have pots, innervate assignments, and more at the ready. Even Superior Mana Potions can make a difference!
Tip #3 - Target of Target (and Mouseover Macros)
Alright, the third tip is a bit of a simple one, but important nonetheless. Sometimes when a tank is running DW Fury, he'll just get completely roflstomped. And while this hopefully won't happen too often, it's important to be able to continue healing the next target(s) as fast as possible. For that reason, it's important to make sure you target the boss and keep Target of Target enabled so that you can quickly swap to the new tank (or warlock, whichever is 2nd on threat).It's also very helpful, in this situation, to make sure you're using mouseover macros like the one I mentioned in my previous "Healy Priest Tips and Tricks" guide:
/cast [@mouseover,exists]Flash Heal(Rank 2)
If you keep your mouse cursor hovering over the enemy's target like I do, you can keep spamming whoever is taking the damage at all times. Keep in mind that for fights like Vaelestrasz (where the target changes occasionally) spamming heals on the Target of Target might result in some random healing of a rogue or mage, but it's still better than risking a loss of your 2nd tank immediately after the first. So...yeah.
Tip #4 - Communication!
Finally, my last tip is one that should be very clear to anyone raiding in an MMORPG like WoW Classic: Communicate! Talk with your tanks about when you think they NEED to have a shield, or when they might be able to swap to their offhand weapon. Odds are if you speak with them, you'll get a good idea about when they take the most damage, when threat isn't a huge issue, and more.Currently, Blackwing Lair is the most challenging raiding content available in Classic. And while typical dragon fights like Firemaw and Nefarian can be DW tanked fairly easily, others like Chromaggus are definitely more suited for the Sword-and-Board tanks. In any case, and especially going forward, discuss your tanking and healing strategies together as a guild to decide on the best approach for you. Communication will take you very far.
Final Thoughts
Thanks for taking the time to read this guide, and good luck healing your fury tank. In my opinion, dual-wield tanking is one of the most interesting new methods of fighting these old bosses that I've seen in my many years of playing this game. It adds a new level of complexity to the encounter, while also making it finish much faster, if done correctly. And really, that's what the new meta seems to be all about. In any case, I hope you found this guide useful or interesting. If you liked it, or have any feedback for me, let me know by leaving a comment down below. If you'd like to see more content like this in the future, add yourself to my mailing list as well, or subscribe to my YouTube channel if you prefer video content instead. In any case, thanks for reading, have an awesome day, and catch you next time!
Take it easy!
