Adding on Add Ons

It has been awhile since Svenn has talked about tanking. The last topic he dug into was that of running Healbot as a tank. This prompted some good discussions in the guild as well as quite a few Google queries. So, to expand upon that topic, Svenn will share some other must have and some nice to have Add-ons for tanking.

Deadly Boss Mods (DBM): This add-on is indispensable for all raiders, and tanks are no exception. It tracks the cool-downs on boss abilities, shouts raid warnings as things happen, and in general makes life so much more manageable when raiding. MUST HAVE

Omen: This add-on tracks aggro levels, which is good for DPS so they don’t pull the boss by accident, but it is also useful for tanks. As a tank your name should always be on the top of the aggro list, but there are other factors to be concerned with as well. Omen also tracks Threat per Second (TpS) which will give you a better understanding on how fast you build aggro, and as such how long you need to wait before telling the DPS they can open up (not long if you’re a Pally :). Additionally, it will let you know which DPS or healers you need to keep an eye on. The person throwing the most damage is not necessarily the one you need to worry about. There are various threat reduction talents, as well as enchants (Wisdom for example) and Meta-Gems that can further reduce threat. A DPSer with none of these is likely to be a bigger threat for pulling aggro than the 10k DPSer with all of them. MUST HAVE

Recount: This add-on tracks more than just DPS. It is invaluable for analyzing raid performance as a whole, but has some specific applications for tanks as well. For example; should you die, you can pull up the number of deaths options- click on your name and get a log recounting the final few seconds of your life to include damage in and healing received. This enables you to better determine what went wrong and devise strategies for overcoming it in the future. There are so many other options built into recount, Svenn recommends you download it and scroll through all the selection screens, making sure to click on your name, as this will in most cases bring up a window with more detailed breakdowns. MUST HAVE/NICE TO HAVE

Tank Totals: This add-on consolidates your tanking stats into a useful easy to read format. Svenn originally downloaded it in order to calculate total avoidance, but it does much more than that. It calculates effective health (based on actual health pool + damage mitigation from armor, etc. Svenn was surprised to learn that 40k health translate into him being able to eat a 60k hit unblocked or 70+k hit blocked). It can also be configured to shout raid warnings when an ability like Argent Defender is procced, or a special “tank” ability like Shield Wall or Last Stand is activated (HoS, Lay on Hands, Divine Sacrifice, etc. for us Pally types). NICE TO HAVE

Auctioneer: This add-on tracks prices at the AH along with a whole host of other options. While it has nothing to do directly with tanking, it does help when buying consumables for the next raid :) NICE TO HAVE

It is important to note: there are some risks associated with running add-ons. Never download add-ons from an unknown source. Svenn gets all his add-ons through Curse.com. He has never had a problem to date, and they have their own client which can also be downloaded to help manage your add-ons and inform you when there has been an update released for one of your current add-ons. Have some add-ons that you run that didn’t make the list? –Leave a comment.