For Friday's regular 10 man Naxx, the MT couldn't make it, the OT couldn't make it, and the MT from another group who got asked to come in couldn't make it.

So we tapped our DK to tank and I volunteered to respec as bear and lead the raid. The DK doesn't have a microphone but is an amazing tank. I haven't tanked since Kara, outside a few Nexus, VH and UK runs. My bear gear is a little lacking, but I still manage 45k health raid buffed, which isn't bad.

We one-shot everything in the Spider Wing. I tank the Grand Widow and Maexxna because the DK is better at dealing with adds. We one-shot Noth, skip the dance and move to the Military Wing. The Instructor gives us a bit of grief but we get him down and move to Gothik.

And there everything goes to pieces.

I put myself on Live side. Should be easier, right? I just can't keep the mobs away from my group. I use Challenging Roar to get myself out of trouble once, but then more mobs come and we get overrun. We have the 4/6 split that worked before. In my group is a SP, Shammie healer, Hunter and me. At one point I had my back to the doors, was facing my group and swiping madly trying to keep the mobs on me.

Has anyone done this fight as a bear? Advice would be most welcome.

I've MT'd both sides, but usually tank live side.

Assuming you have have the Feral Instinct talent and Glyph of Maul, you should be able to have your group stack in a corner with you just in front (or even on top of you will work) and Maul and Swipe spam should be sufficient.

What weapon are you using? How is your threat generation? If you're raid buffing to 45k health you must be stacking stam in nearly every gem and enchant slot, which could seriously gimp your threat and damage output.

Finally, was your dps being agressive? If they aren't letting you hit the mobs once or twice before they do then they will die and deserve it and it is not your fault. Remind them that Swipe works great but it's not passive like Consecrate or DnD so they have to let you hit them.

I have my guys to bring mobs to the Swipe and stop attacking if they get excited and pull something and I'll have them back on me in 2 Swipes or so.

Assuming you have have the Feral Instinct talent and Glyph of Maul, you should be able to have your group stack in a corner with you just in front (or even on top of you will work) and Maul and Swipe spam should be sufficient.

Yes to both, the Glyph of Maul is the single most important glyph a bear can have. The group wanted me to tank away from them because of the Shadow Marks. It would have been much easier on top of them, but they were concerned the damage would mount up too quickly.

What weapon are you using? How is your threat generation? If you're raid buffing to 45k health you must be stacking stam in nearly every gem and enchant slot, which could seriously gimp your threat and damage output.


Yes, I was stacking stamina on everything. I was a bit worried about DPS so I used Inevitable Defeat (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40406) enchanted with Massacre. My dps over the raid was about 1400. I don't think I had any real issues with threat, the problem was the mobs running past me as I tried to tank a group away from the raid.

I think if I did it again I would do as you suggest, tank on top of them, with the shammie chain healing. It would be trivial to pick up the mobs. I might also add one more to our side. At one point we had 2-3 Horsemen, a couple of Knights and a bunch of others all beating on us.

Yep, sounds like you were doing fine but were kinda forced into a wonky strat. No way for you to win as a bear with that strat.

I bear tank Naxx, and I always do the dead side. We also split 4/6, but put our top DPS, Warr Tank, a healer, and durable lower DPS (read: potential to hold a mob or two when needed)

The live side dies much much faster than the dead side in our groups, and that is why we stack 6 on dead side.

It sounds like your DPS was more the problem than anything (not your DPS, but the DPS in the raid) Live side should be clearing mob furiously until the deadside starts getting overwhelmed, then slow up a bit.

A good Fury Warr or Blood DK works wonders on both sides to help the tank out when needed. Unless you are a Pally or DK, you simply can't pickup all the ads yourself(at least not dead side). AoE tanking as a bear is all about positioning and timing, unfortunatley that fight is not friendly to either.

We have our DPS go nut on the ghost things and have the tanks only worry about the Riders/Warrior things. I don't normally even attempt to pickup the ghosts as they are usually dead before I can get a hold of one.