Circle of Tanks

So I was tagged for this one....(thanks Askevar!) This should be fun.



Circle of Tanks?
What is the name, class, and spec of your primary tank?
Kalyara, Frost DK, 15/51/05

What is your primary tanking environment? (i.e. raids, pvp, 5 mans)
10 man raids, heroics

What is your favorite tanking spell for your class and why?
Wow, this is a hard question. Honestly, I love all my DK tanking abilities. My all time favorites would have to be Unbreakable Armor, Death and Decay, Obliterate and Bloodboil. Why? Well obviously Death and Decay allows me to get aggro on multiple mobs at one time and in an AoE friendly game, that's important. Unbreakable Armor because with my already high Dodge/Parry percent and that added armor I feel the ultimate power when I watch my health meter NOT move. Obliterate because even as a tank...I can generate some decent damage every now and then. Bloodboil..because it's fun! =)

What tanking spell do you use least for your class and why?
Tanking spell...hmmm. Not sure I have a specific tanking spell that I use the least. I love my Army of the Dead but sadly only get to use it and my ghoul (glyphed for of course) in last ditch efforts.

What do you feel is the biggest strength of your tanking class and why?
We do not need rage or mana!! Enough said. No down time for a DK tank!

What do you feel is the biggest weakness of your tanking class and why?
This one is a hard question for me. I haven't played any other tanking class personally. I have very little to compare it to. In my opinion, from what I do know of other tank classes, DKs are pretty well balanced in the AoE and single target fields. We do decent damage and generate decent threat from it. We also have respectable Dodge/Perry numbers even if we can't get the Block value. I'd say we have few weaknesses that I have come across.

In a raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best tanking assignment for you?
I think this depends on the other tanks in the group. Sadly, DKs make decent OTs because we can AoE tank. I hate this. I hate people assuming we have to be OT because we can AoE tank when the warrior/druid can't. But we do also make great one target tanks. I have ran VoA and other raids with a warrior/druid who held the adds easily while I MT the one target boss. So, we can go either way...as long as people don't "assume" we have to be the OT because we can AoE tank.

What tanking class do you enjoy tanking with most and why?

I am going to pick a DK of course. Since playing my boyfriends Paladin once or twice in a heroic doesn't really count as tanking experience, DK tanking is all I know.

What tanking class do you enjoy tanking with least and why?

If I had to "guess"...I don't like the idea of having to play a warrior or a druid tank. Mainly because the idea of having to get rage before I pull sounds like a pain to me.

What is your worst habit as a tank?
Forgetting my cooldowns. Yeah I'm really bad at that. I rely on Eto (my personal pocket healer) alot when it comes to saving my ass. My second worse habit...the yank ability. It drives people crazy. I'm pretty yank happy.

What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while tanking?
Face pulling...dps pulling..."oh I can tank it". I get very angry if we have dps in the group that decide to pull for me. I also get aggravated when other DKs decide to yank something. You know what. I'm tanking, loose your yank button unless you're pulling off the healers/casters. I might also get aggravated with trigger happy DPS. *sigh* I have a lot of tanking pet peeves.

Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other tanks?
Yes. We're not as simple as Paladins but I think we're all pretty equal in the end. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. That's what makes each of us an asset.

What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a tank?
Omen. I leave and breath Omen and grid. I want to know if I'm loosing threat before it happens. I also rely on Eto a lot to let me know if someone has aggro since he stares at grid most of the fight, he knows as soon as some else gets the aggro indicator on their name.

What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your class?
Death Knights are a "give me" class. They assume all DKs are worthless noobs. That makes me sad. I agree to some degree that getting a freebie level 55 toon gave us a lot of level 80s that have no idea how to raid/instance etc. But some of us really spent the time to learn the class and how to play it well. I hate when people assume everyone in a certain class is the same. Kind of like the "Huntards"...you can't group everyone together...we're not all the same.

What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new tanks of your class to learn?
I think DKs have a disadvantage on this front. You start at level 55 and do not have as much time to get use to your spec as other classes. For this reason I think it's very important for a tank DK to start and level with the spec they intent to use at 80. Learn it and live it. It's the only way you can really understand it in 25 short levels.

Effective Health or Avoidance and why?
I like to balance between the two. But in the end I love health!

What tanking class do you feel you understand least?
Druids. I have played DKs, have a boyfriend that played a Paladin through BC and was guild leader for a warrior tank that needed a lot of help. So I've read a lot on warrior tanking. Druids...they just confuse me.

Do you strive primarily for balance between your tanking stats, or do you stack some much higher than others, and why?
Defense, defense, defense. After that I try to balance them out. I love Dodge more then parry, not sure why. In the end I tend to lean towards stamina a lot for gems. I figure if I am defensed capped and I have a decent avoidance rate then leave the rest up to my stamina. Give the healers a little extra room when I do get hit to heal me back up.