HOW TO: DK tanking Sartharion + 3 Drakes - 25 man

We'll keep this blog short and sweet. Sarth3D, the cream of the raiding achievement crop (pre 3.1).

Before discussing how to tank S3D, let's discuss talent spec and attack rotation.
The Spec (click me!)
Keys to the spec:
Imp. Rune Tap
Spell Deflection
Veteran of the Third War
Lichborne
Anti-Magic Zone
Bone Armor

Essentially, we grab all the defensive cooldowns we can -- most importantly the ones that will affect spell damage. As you can see, we're not picking up any special attacks -- in return this build produces below-average threat, but that's ok because you'll be able to build up threat long-term before the raid finishes off the drakes and begins DPS on sartharion.

The Rotation
No need to write this down as this is as vanilla as a level 58 DK, but it gets the job done. We do have reaping in our build for death runes.
On the pull: Icy Touch, Icy Touch as Sartharion begins his walk to you. Once in melee range, set one Plague Strike, then use up both Blood Strikes, and then finally use your last Plague Strike. We've used all available runes now. After this point, it's a priority system.
Icy Touch gets all frost and Death runes. Plague Strike gets unholy runes only. Blood Strike gets blood runes only. The priority is this: If there's a blood rune available, use Blood Strike first to keep Blade Barrier up and keep those death runes coming. If no blood runes, use Icy Touch for any frost or death runes available. If the only runes available are unholy, use Plague Strike. That's the priority. Icy Touch will out-damage Obliterate without annihilation, so we do not worry about Obliterate. Obliterate without disease is a bad idea just because we want Icy Touch on Sartharion for attack speed reduction.

Sartharion Positioning
To try an explain where to stand, everything is relative to the instance portal.
The best place to tank Sarth is the left corner of the island where the raid typically gathers to buff up. This corner is ideal because it requires the least amount of movement when trying to avoid Lava Waves (Tsunami). The tank should be positioned so there's no need to move when a Lava Wave enters from the left side. The only time you have to move is when a Lava Wave comes from the right side, and all that's required is to move to the edge of the island and let the wave pass by you. Then you move back to your original position.

Wave Coming from Left side:
....................|
....................|
....................|
.....................\
......................|
______X______/ (tank does not move from X)
~~~.......~~~~~ <---- Wave

Wave Coming from Right Side:
.....~~~~~....| <---- Wave
....................|
.....................\
...................X | (tank moves slightly right to avoid oncoming wave)
_____________/

That's all you need to know for positioning.

Handling Cooldowns
This is the most important part of tanking Sarth. Our spec gives us a total of 4 anti-spell damage cooldowns to use. The trick is using them in coordination with our healer cooldowns so the damage we take from breaths is minimized. One thing to note is that we do not want to use any of our defensive cooldowns until the 2nd drake has landed. here's the order:
Second drake lands...
Sarth breath 1, pop Anti-Magic Shell
Sarth breath 2, pop Anti-Magic Zone
Sarth Breath 3, pop IBF+Bone Armor+Lichborne @ same time (popping IBF and BA individually is typically not enough damage reduction to live through a breath)
NOTE: Some of these require runic power, others require a rune. Be sure that you have them available when needed!!!!

At this point, we've expelled all our available cooldowns. It is now time to call on vent that you'll need a cooldown for next breath. We have our healers set an order for giving their cooldown. When a cooldown is called for, the designated healer will switch attention to sartharion and watch for his next breath. When he begins casting breath, the cooldown is activated on the tank which should be enough to save him. Top the tank off quickly after. Every time you have no cooldowns, you'll need to call to your healers to get theirs. Again, this is only when after the 2nd drake lands. Once all drakes are dead, Sarth's damage goes back to normal, and cooldowns might not be needed.

If you are lucky, by the time you have to use IBF+BA, your AMS might be coming off CD. Sarth's breaths are not on timers, so he can do it at any time, but sometimes it could be delayed as much as 30 seconds. If you can squeeze another CD before you need a healer's cooldown, do it. I much rather trust my ability to watch for breath casts than I do someone who's busy healing. It should always be priority to use your more powerful anti-magic cooldowns than it is to rely on a healer to keep you alive.

So for cooldowns, you just want to use them as they come up. You'll get to use AMS, BA, and IBF a few times and you'll eventually get AMZ up 2 or 3 times as well. Otherwise, call to your healers and they will help you out.

Once your raid has finished all 3 drakes, it's a cake walk. We had read that because this spec generates such low threat, that we should hand the tank job over to someone else, but this is false. I can generate enough threat during the fight that a mis-direct on another tank will not peel it off me. As said, it's a long fight, and you've had plenty of dps time on the boss when no one else is hitting him. So, just keep the boss imo. If you are losing aggro to a dps, it just means you weren't tight enough with your rotation. Soon as I get our last WWS back, I'll post it my damage on the boss.

That sums up this guide. Thanks for viewing.

Meta tags: sarth, sartharion, death knight, DK, tank, tanking, S3D, sarth3D, sarth+3, sarth + 3, 3 drakes, 3D, OS, Obsidian Sanctum