WOW: DK Tanking guide

1. Forceful Deflection: This is a passive ability that increases you parry rating by 25% of your total strength  which means that strength not only increases your attack power and therefore your DPS, but also improves your parrying and so increases you damage mitigation too.

2. Death Grip: Ranged taunt, pulls target in melee range and forces them to attack you for 3s. 35s(25 talented) cooldown. Costs nothing to cast and generates 10 runic power. Good for pulling ranged mobs to you so they don't aggro pats.

3. Blood Boil: AOE damage that only works on diseased targets in a 30 yard radius causing all diseases to erupt but doesn't consume the diseases. 15s(11 talented) cooldown. Costs 1 Blood rune and generates 10 runic power.

4. Pestilence: Spreads diseases on current target to all targets within 10 yards, dealing shadow damage. No cooldown, costs 1 Blood rune, generates 10 runic power.

5. Plague Strike: Instant strike that deals 30% weapon damage and inflicts the target with Blood Plague, a diseases doing X shadow dmg over 12s(18 talented). Costs 1 Unholy rune. The disease can be spread via Pestilence. Plague Strike also removes one heal over time effect from the target and generates 10 Runic Power.

6. Icy Touch: A ranged attack dealing frost damage. 20 yard range and costs 1 Frost rune. Generates 10 runic power and infects the target with Frost Fever, a disease that does X frost damage over 12 sec (18 sec talented) and doesn't break snares (freeze/polymorph etc). Frost Fever also reduces the targets melee and ranged attack speed by 14% (20% talented) and can be spread using pestilence.

7. Death & Decay: An AOE ability with a 30 yard range and a 30s cooldown (15s talented). Corrupts the ground targeted by the DK causing X shadow damage every second for 10 seconds. Causes a high amount of threat on multiple mobs but costs 1 Blood 1 Frost and 1 Unholy rune. Generates 20 runic power.

8. Death Strike: The basic healing attack. Deals 60%weapon damage plus X and heals the DK for 50% of the damage caused for every disease on the target (ie, 600 damage on target with Blood Plague gives 300 health, Blood Plague and Frost Fever gives 600 health, no diseases give no health therefore a waste of rune without a disease on the target). Costs 1 Frost rune, 1 Unholy rune and generates 15 runic power.

9. Icebound Fortitude: Reduces all damage taken by 50% and makes you immune to stun effects for 12s (18s talented). Costs 20 runic power, 1min cooldown. (Note: there is a glyph that can remove the RP cost entirely.)

10. Horn of Winter: Increases you and your party/raids strength and agility by x for 2 mins. Costs 20 runic power but the increased parry and attack power is well worth 20 rp every 2 mins.

11. Frost Presence: Increases armor rating gained from items by 60%, total health by 10%, and reduce all magic damage by 5%. Increases threat generated by all abilities. No- brainer, defensive stance for DK's, you will want to be in this stance for tanking.

12. Empower Rune Weapon: Used for emergencies or for a really quick burst of damage. Instantly clears the cooldown on all your runes and gives you 25 runic power. 5 min cooldown.

13. Blood Tap: Instant, costs 6% base health and reactivates a Blood rune as a Death rune. 1 min cooldown. Used in emergencies or when your rotation is a rune short but the health cost should always be considered. Since DKs are considered the best equipped to tank casters these are the basic abilities to use against the spellcasters.

14. Mind Freeze: A melee range spell interrupt preventing spells from that school of magic being cast for 4s. It can be used during the global cooldown. 10s cooldown and costs 20 runic power (zero cost talented)

15. Strangulate: A 30 yard range (50 yd with glyph) silencing effect which last 5s causes X shadow damage at the end of the duration. Costs 1 Blood rune and has a 2 min cooldown.