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If someone else who regularly tanks this content has better ideas for where each cooldown can be applied, by all means, speak up! I'm very open to improving my own play as well. Note that I'm in no way claiming that prolific cooldowns are necessary in the current HMs, but it's a good habit to get into and studying cooldown application times is a good way to get "in shape" for the nightmare modes when they do drop.



Nefra



Best cooldown: Deflection

Worst cooldown: Adrenal

Resilience/Shroud every other DoT application, generally starting with the first one. Communicate with your healers. Break your channel (if necessary) to cleanse faster.

every other DoT application, generally starting with the first one. Communicate with your healers. Break your channel (if necessary) to cleanse faster. Deflection whenever your HP drops to 20% or below. Ideally, you won't have to do this…

whenever your HP drops to 20% or below. Ideally, you won't have to do this… Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber, Deflection or Exotech Adrenal (in that order of priority) after any DoT application that you cannot cleanse. Your healers will be slightly more taxed whenever you aren't cleansing, since they need to spend an extra GCD on you. BR/Overcharge is better than Deflection here because it affects the DoT and it provides a very effective heal.

Draxus



Best cooldown: Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber

Worst cooldown: Resilience/Shroud

Resilience/Shroud off the tech DoT whenever you get it. Or, if you don't trust your DPS, save it for a Mass Affliction. This cooldown is also useful for ignoring the guardian's Slam attack if, for whatever reason, you simply cannot move out of it.

off the tech DoT whenever you get it. Or, if you don't trust your DPS, save it for a Mass Affliction. This cooldown is also useful for ignoring the guardian's Slam attack if, for whatever reason, you simply cannot move out of it. Resilience/Shroud during the "Strong Swipe" cast (or immediately before) to avoid the debuff. You should tank swap here anyway, just because it's more pro, but this allows you to cheese the mechanic a bit. Very useful in emergencies (e.g. off-tank dead and having to tank both Dismantlers)

during the "Strong Swipe" cast (or immediately before) to avoid the debuff. You should tank swap here anyway, just because it's more pro, but this allows you to cheese the mechanic a bit. Very useful in emergencies (e.g. off-tank dead and having to tank both Dismantlers) Deflection whenever your health gets below 30% and you're tanking Draxus. Doesn't help much on any of the trash, so don't burn it there. The exception to this rule is explained below.

whenever your health gets below 30% and you're tanking Draxus. Doesn't help much on any of the trash, so don't burn it there. The exception to this rule is explained below. Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber immediately after the first agro dump in the third Draxus phase (double Corrupters in the back). This phase is the highest damage phase in the fight, and chances are you have a few lightning adds on you at the same time. BR/Overcharge will do a much better job here than Deflection. Use in the same position in the very final phase, to mitigate risk. These phases also tend to be the longest (assuming you don't delay anything), and so it doesn't hurt to use Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber early and resort to Deflection or Adrenal later if you're still on the boss and need propping up.

Random protip #1: you can get 100% uptime on Phase Walk in this fight by always refreshing immediately before Draxus appears.

Random protip #2: Force Cloak before every appearance of the boss except the second one (with one corrupter on each side) and grab agro with your AoE taunt.



Grob'thok



Best cooldown: Deflection

Worst cooldown: Adrenal

Resilience/Shroud whenever he does his conal scream. It does a fairly high amount of damage, and there's no reason not to eliminate it. You won't be able to shroud each one, but generally close to every-other (depending on procs).

whenever he does his conal scream. It does a fairly high amount of damage, and there's no reason not to eliminate it. You won't be able to shroud each one, but generally close to every-other (depending on procs). Deflection or Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber whenever your health gets really low (around 15% is a good emergency point). Either cooldown works, though Deflection is slightly better unless a scream is coming and your Resilience/Shroud is on cooldown.

or whenever your health gets really low (around 15% is a good emergency point). Either cooldown works, though Deflection is slightly better unless a scream is coming and your Resilience/Shroud is on cooldown. Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber if something goes horribly wrong and your healers have to deal with a long-duration Pipe Smash while you're at low health.

Note that this is probably the second easiest boss in the game to enrage tank (behind Soa). Pipe Smash hurts REALLY bad during enrage, but you don't even need to use a cooldown for his normal hits. We solo healed through about 45 seconds of enrage when we facepulled with weaker gear without a couple DPS and lost a healer early on to adds.



Corrupter Zero



Best cooldown: Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber

Worst cooldown: Adrenal

Resilience/Shroud on Chest Laser. You can also save this for cleansing off the bleed that he applies in melee mode. It is also useful in the rare case where your DPS don't interrupt the ranged elite and you somehow have agro (avoiding the knockdown).

on Chest Laser. You can also save this for cleansing off the bleed that he applies in melee mode. It is also useful in the rare case where your DPS don't interrupt the ranged elite and you somehow have agro (avoiding the knockdown). Resilience/Shroud at the start of the fight (opening the add pull). For whatever reason, most of that spike of damage appears to be Tech, despite looking for all the world like it's Ranged.

at the start of the fight (opening the add pull). For whatever reason, most of that spike of damage appears to be Tech, despite looking for all the world like it's Ranged. Deflection if you have the ranged strongs and you need to swap back to the boss early.

if you have the ranged strongs and you need to swap back to the boss early. Deflection during the laser phase after you AoE taunt the adds.

during the laser phase after you AoE taunt the adds. Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber whenever you're on the boss and your HP gets below 30% (and you're not about to swap).

whenever you're on the boss and your HP gets below 30% (and you're not about to swap). Resilience/Force Shroud if you're really bad at getting out of the laser and you need to negate the first one.

Random protip #1: you can stealth after the initial add pull and right before the boss drops for 4 free stacks of SP/DP.

Random protip #2: combat stealth after the last laser so you have 4 stacks as you grab the boss.



Brontes



Best cooldown: Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber

Worst cooldown: Resilience/Force Shroud



Note, this is an odd fight were Resilience/Force Shroud is the worst cooldown in terms of damage mitigation, but probably the best cooldown from a utility standpoint. *shrug*

Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber when your meter-gazing DPS push the second Fixate too early and you still have a dozen or so seconds on your debuff from the first Hand. Deflection is a statistically better cooldown here, but the chance of failure is too high to be worth the risk, and BR/Overcharge reduces the damage to well within healable margins, at least in 8 man.

when your meter-gazing DPS push the second Fixate too early and you still have a dozen or so seconds on your debuff from the first Hand. Deflection is a better cooldown here, but the chance of failure is too high to be worth the risk, and BR/Overcharge reduces the damage to well within healable margins, at least in 8 man. Resilience/Force Shroud whenever you have to take an orb in a hurry. This makes shadow/assassin tanks perfect for stealing orbs from DPS going into the droid phase, since you can taunt + resilience/shroud + explode, all the while praying to the RNG gods that your 5% number isn't up.

whenever you have to take an orb in a hurry. This makes shadow/assassin tanks perfect for stealing orbs from DPS going into the droid phase, since you can taunt + resilience/shroud + explode, all the while praying to the RNG gods that your 5% number isn't up. Resilience/Force Shroud during the Kephess laser blast if you have a LOT more confidence in your DPS than your healers. You can also resil/shroud through Arcing Assault, as it does more damage, but the healers usually have better margins after Kephess dies. Note that if you do this, you won't be able to use this cooldown to take an orb in the droid phase, which is bad .

during the Kephess laser blast if you have a LOT more confidence in your DPS than your healers. You can also resil/shroud through Arcing Assault, as it does more damage, but the healers usually have better margins after Kephess dies. Note that if you do this, you won't be able to use this cooldown to take an orb in the droid phase, which is . Deflection during the droid phase once you have a few on you. Deflection doesn't work on anything in the finger phase, which is long enough for Deflection to come back up in time for the soft enrage.

during the droid phase once you have a few on you. Deflection doesn't work on anything in the finger phase, which is long enough for Deflection to come back up in time for the soft enrage. Exotech Adrenal after the third or fourth slam in the finger phase.

after the third or fourth slam in the finger phase. Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber after the fifth or sixth slam during the finger phase. Slam hits progressively harder as the phase goes on, so don't blow your best cooldown too early.

after the fifth or sixth slam during the finger phase. Slam hits progressively harder as the phase goes on, so don't blow your best cooldown too early. Resilience/Force Shroud immediately prior to a Slam if your health is too low to take the hit or you absolutely need to not get knocked back at that precise moment.

immediately prior to a Slam if your health is too low to take the hit or you need to not get knocked back at that precise moment. Resilience/Force Shroud if you make a mistake (or lag) and miss an orb. Resil/Shroud + Taunt + Force Pull on the orb and you won't have to worry about it anymore.

if you make a mistake (or lag) and miss an orb. Resil/Shroud + Taunt + Force Pull on the orb and you won't have to worry about it anymore. Resilience/Force Shroud during the soft enrage if you think you'll get stunned in a purple circle.

during the soft enrage if you think you'll get stunned in a purple circle. Deflection during the soft enrage after you kill the first hand (but before the second), just as you take the boss. Give your healers a break.

during the soft enrage after you kill the first hand (but before the second), just as you take the boss. Give your healers a break. Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber during the soft enrage after you kill the third hand and you're getting up over 5 stacks.

Random protip: combat stealth before taking Brontes during the Kephess phase, and before taking the Hand during the finger phase.



Bestia



Best cooldown: Deflection

Worst cooldown: Resilience/Force Shroud

Deflection whenever you have two or (god help you) more adds.

whenever you have two or (god help you) more adds. Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber if the above and Deflection is on CD.

if the above and Deflection is on CD. Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber if you have the boss and more than 4 stacks (shame on your cotank).

if you have the boss and more than 4 stacks (shame on your cotank). Exotech Adrenal if you still have the boss and you're over 8 stacks (is he afk?!)

if you still have the boss and you're over 8 stacks (is he afk?!) Resilience/Force Shroud just before the final tick of Dread Strike (Bestia's Ravage attack) to avoid getting stacks.

just before the final tick of Dread Strike (Bestia's Ravage attack) to avoid getting stacks. Resilience/Force Shroud if you have a Dread Seed (right before it explodes).

if you have a Dread Seed (right before it explodes). Resilience/Force Shroud if you need to run through a red circle during a swap.

if you need to run through a red circle during a swap. Deflection during the final push on the boss if things look a bit dire in terms of healing.

Tyrans



Best cooldown: Resilience/Force Shroud

Worst cooldown: Adrenal

Resilience/Force Shroud every Thundering Blast that you can. This is priority 1! Break your channel to do it.

every Thundering Blast that you can. This is priority 1! Break your channel to do it. Resilience/Force Shroud if you have to move through a poorly-placed Inferno (try not to need this)

if you have to move through a poorly-placed Inferno (try not to need this) Deflection if your HP drops below 25%.

if your HP drops below 25%. Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber if Thundering Blast is casting and you're below 40% HP.

if Thundering Blast is casting and you're below 40% HP. Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber if you have the boss and you feel the healers need a breather.

Random protip: don't use Phase Walk



Calphayus



Best cooldown: Deflection

Worst cooldown: Resilience/Force Shroud

Deflection when you take the boss following a phase transition back to the present (healer load screens are a pain)

when you take the boss following a phase transition back to the present (healer load screens are a pain) Deflection whenever you have the boss and your HP drops below 40%.

whenever you have the boss and your HP drops below 40%. Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber whenever the above and Deflection is on CD.

whenever the above and Deflection is on CD. Resilience/Force Shroud if you have the debuff and one of your ranged DPS is trolling you by inching the circle forward.

Random protip: combat stealth + taunt after every phase (zoning into the present) to open with stacks.



Raptus



Best cooldown: Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber

Worst cooldown: Force Cloak



So stupid that stealth removes your curse…

Deflection whenever you have the boss and your cotank gets lost. Rising Slash is a melee attack, and if you defend it, you don't get knocked up. Getting knocked up while your cotank is on vacation in bridge-land is bad.

whenever you have the boss and your cotank gets lost. Rising Slash is a melee attack, and if you defend it, you don't get knocked up. Getting knocked up while your cotank is on vacation in bridge-land is bad. Resilience/Force Shroud on Force Execution.

on Force Execution. Resilience/Force Shroud if you are unavoidably caught in Deadly Slash (sometimes happens after a Rising Slash)

if you are unavoidably caught in Deadly Slash (sometimes happens after a Rising Slash) Resilience/Force Shroud before Driving Thrust if your HP is below 30% and you're very confident in your healer's ability to prop you up before the impending Force Execution (5 seconds later).

before Driving Thrust if your HP is below 30% and you're confident in your healer's ability to prop you up before the impending Force Execution (5 seconds later). Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber whenever you take the boss following a challenge phase, but especially following the second one.

whenever you take the boss following a challenge phase, but following the second one. Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber whenever your HP dips below 30%. Use it if your HP is below 50% if you think that Driving Thrust might be coming soon (it's on a timer).

whenever your HP dips below 30%. Use it if your HP is below 50% if you think that Driving Thrust might be coming soon (it's on a timer). Exotech Adrenal if your HP is low and Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber is on cooldown.

Random protip: two-tank the challenge phase like a real man and you won't need to waste a cooldown on something that is not a boss.



Dread Masters



Best cooldown: Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber (arguably)

Worst cooldown: Resilience/Force Shroud



Another fight where Resilience/Force Shroud is great for utility purposes and fairly weak otherwise.

Resilience/Force Shroud whenever you have Death Mark.

whenever you have Death Mark. Resilience/Force Shroud in your opener against Bestia to avoid the first knockback and maximize threat.

in your opener against Bestia to avoid the first knockback and maximize threat. Resilience/Force Shroud if Tyrans yanks you while you're tanking Bestia. Her knockback comes immediately after this! Note that if you do this, you won't be able to cleanse the next Death Mark (notify your healers).

if Tyrans yanks you while you're tanking Bestia. Her knockback comes after this! Note that if you do this, you won't be able to cleanse the next Death Mark (notify your healers). Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber if you're tanking Bestia and your HP drops below 30%, or if you feel the healers need a break (often during Death Mark).

if you're tanking Bestia and your HP drops below 30%, or if you feel the healers need a break (often during Death Mark). Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber if you're tanking Calphayus and your HP drops below 30% and you know Crystal Projection is coming soon.

if you're tanking Calphayus and your HP drops below 30% and you know Crystal Projection is coming soon. Deflection if you're tanking Calphayus and your HP drops below 30% and Crystal Projection just happened.

if you're tanking Calphayus and your HP drops below 30% and Crystal Projection just happened. Deflection if you're tanking Styrak or Brontes and your HP drops below 20%.

if you're tanking Styrak or Brontes and your HP drops below 20%. Resilience/Force Shroud to mislead your DPS by standing directly in the path of Brontes's spinning circle of lightning.

to mislead your DPS by standing directly in the path of Brontes's spinning circle of lightning. Resilience/Force Shroud as soon as possible in the soft enrage.

as soon as possible in the soft enrage. Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber in the soft enrage once Resilience/Force Shroud is no longer active.

Random protip #1: don't blow a cooldown in the first or third phases if you're just about to swap, especially if you're swapping to Calphayus.

Random protip #2: don't get too excited about DPS and forget about Phase Walk during the soft enrage.



General Rule



Figure out if a boss is primarily melee/ranged damage or if there is more emphasis on Force/Tech. If the latter, even if it's still heavily melee/ranged, then Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber will be your "go to" emergency cooldown (hit reflexively when below a safe health level). If a boss is almost exclusively melee/ranged (such as Calphayus or Nefra), then you want to use Deflection in that role. Resilience/Force Shroud and (to a much lesser degree) Deflection tend to be better utility cooldowns, while Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber is one of the best "don't kill me" cooldowns in the game.



Parsec is probably the greatest gift to tanks since the endurance stat when you're trying to figure stuff out during progression. Run your parser, even if you aren't group parsing (my guild doesn't), and identify which attacks do what damage and attack type, which ones hit the hardest, how often, etc. Knowledge is strength, strength is power, power shall break your chains…uh, something like that.



Don't be afraid to blow Resilience/Force Shroud on something just to see if it works. It's a very short cooldown when you're main tanking due to the proc, so there's very little penalty for experimentation.



Enjoy! Thus follows my suggested cooldown use on current content. There's a lot of stuff in here that I think is pretty much common sense, but I'm listing it anyway just for completeness. People have requested guides like this in the past, and since no one else has stepped forward…If someone else who regularly tanks this content has better ideas for where each cooldown can be applied, by all means, speak up! I'm very open to improving my own play as well. Note that I'm in no way claiming that prolific cooldowns arein the current HMs, but it's a good habit to get into and studying cooldown application times is a good way to get "in shape" for the nightmare modes when they do drop.Best cooldown: DeflectionWorst cooldown: AdrenalBest cooldown: Battle Readiness/Overcharge SaberWorst cooldown: Resilience/ShroudRandom protip #1: you can get 100% uptime on Phase Walk in this fight by always refreshing immediately before Draxus appears.Random protip #2: Force Cloak before every appearance of the bossthe second one (with one corrupter on each side) and grab agro with your AoE taunt.Best cooldown: DeflectionWorst cooldown: AdrenalNote that this is probably the second easiest boss in the game to enrage tank (behind Soa). Pipe Smash hurts REALLY bad during enrage, but you don't even need to use a cooldown for his normal hits. We solo healed through about 45 seconds of enrage when we facepulled with weaker gear without a couple DPS and lost a healer early on to adds.Best cooldown: Battle Readiness/Overcharge SaberWorst cooldown: AdrenalRandom protip #1: you can stealth after the initial add pull and right before the boss drops for 4 free stacks of SP/DP.Random protip #2: combat stealth after the last laser so you have 4 stacks as you grab the boss.Best cooldown: Battle Readiness/Overcharge SaberWorst cooldown: Resilience/Force ShroudNote, this is an odd fight were Resilience/Force Shroud is the worst cooldown in terms of damage mitigation, but probably the best cooldown from a utility standpoint. *shrug*Random protip: combat stealth before taking Brontes during the Kephess phase, and before taking the Hand during the finger phase.Best cooldown: DeflectionWorst cooldown: Resilience/Force ShroudBest cooldown: Resilience/Force ShroudWorst cooldown: AdrenalRandom protip: don't use Phase WalkBest cooldown: DeflectionWorst cooldown: Resilience/Force ShroudRandom protip: combat stealth + taunt after every phase (zoning into the present) to open with stacks.Best cooldown: Battle Readiness/Overcharge SaberWorst cooldown: Force CloakSo stupid that stealth removes your curse…Random protip: two-tank the challenge phase like a real man and you won't need to waste a cooldown on something that is not a boss.Best cooldown: Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber (arguably)Worst cooldown: Resilience/Force ShroudAnother fight where Resilience/Force Shroud is great for utility purposes and fairly weak otherwise.Random protip #1: don't blow a cooldown in the first or third phases if you're just about to swap, especially if you're swappingCalphayus.Random protip #2: don't get too excited about DPS and forget about Phase Walk during the soft enrage.Figure out if a boss is primarily melee/ranged damage or if there is more emphasis on Force/Tech. If the latter, even if it's still heavily melee/ranged, then Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber will be your "go to" emergency cooldown (hit reflexively when below a safe health level). If a boss is almost exclusively melee/ranged (such as Calphayus or Nefra), then you want to use Deflection in that role. Resilience/Force Shroud and (to a much lesser degree) Deflection tend to be better utility cooldowns, while Battle Readiness/Overcharge Saber is one of the best "don't kill me" cooldowns in the game.Parsec is probably the greatest gift to tanks since the endurance stat when you're trying to figure stuff out during progression. Run your parser, even if you aren't group parsing (my guild doesn't), and identify which attacks do what damage and attack type, which ones hit the hardest, how often, etc. Knowledge is strength, strength is power, power shall break your chains…uh, something like that.Don't be afraid to blow Resilience/Force Shroud on something just to see if it works. It's a very short cooldown when you're main tanking due to the proc, so there's very little penalty for experimentation.Enjoy! Computer Programmer. Theory Crafter. Dilettante on The Ebon Hawk.

Tam (shadow tank) Tov-ren (commando healer) Aveo (retired sentinel) Nimri (ruffian scoundrel)

Averith (marksman sniper) Alish (lightning sorcerer) Aresham (vengeance jugg) Effek (pyro pt)



December 13, 2011 to January 30, 2017