The Art of Tanking

Generating threat as a tank does not depend upon your damage output; your DPS will be doing far, far more damage than you are, and yet you have to retain the mob’s attention regardless. The solution is passive threat modifiers. A Rogue with Blessing of Salvation will generate .49 points of threat for every point of damage he deals; conversely, a Warrior in Defensive Stance with Defiance will generate 1.495 points of threat for every point of damage he deals. Even if you’re doing a third of the damage the Rogue is (and without any bonus-threat abilities), you’d be generating as much threat as he is. See the main threat article and threat values for more details on high-threat abilities.

Damage Reduction
Of course, once you have the mob’s attention you need to continue living or all that threat will be worthless. Tanks focus on improving their mitigation, which includes stats like armor and shield block value, and their avoidance, which includes events like dodge and parry. Additionally, all tanks will want to reach a minimum of 5.6% crit reduction through defense and talents to prevent mobs from landing critical hits on them.

Tanks also have abilities that can be used to reduce their incoming damage; Warriors can use Shield Block to force the next one or two attacks to be blocked, thus reducing their damage, and Paladins can use Holy Shield to do the same for their next eight blocks. Druids can cast Barkskin before entering combat to reduce their damage intake as well.

Additionally, certain fights may require the stacking of resistance gear in order to mitigate or avoid some harmful spells.