Bear Rotation:

This article is going to be all about holding aggro as a bear. There really isn’t a rotation as much as a priority. Some people will probably say I’m wrong, but then again, I’ve main tanked pretty much every encounter in the game, and have done so for the last three years. Another thing to remember, is there are two different situations that you’ll be up against. First is trash / multiple mobs, and second is boss / single target.

PLEASE NOTE: When Cata comes out, our rotation will change quite a bit.

Trash / Multiple Mobs:

Trash. Nothing is more annoying, but it’s gotta be taken out (Get it? ). Now, there are two ways trash comes in; Patrols, and stationary groups. Both are usually pulled the same way, but patrols sometimes sneak up on you. When they do, you can’t start the way I like to, with a Faerie Fire.

Stationary:

1. Faerie Fire your main target.
2. Get up to the group, position yourself so that you’re facing majority of your enemies, and won’t break CC.
3. Swipe
4. If you have an Idol that increases agility, or AP with Mangle, use mangle now.
5. If you’re not rage starved, spam Maul (should be glyphed so you hit 2 targets) along with spamming Swipe. (Please note that while you’re Mauling, you might want to tab to other mobs so that you build major threat on those as well.)

For mobs with quite a bit of health, when you start your your Maul spam, Lacerate the mobs you’re holding one time each.  This will increase the amount you’re Mauling for due to Rend and Tear.  Also, if you catch a patrol while you’re still tanking a previous group, you should probably skip step 1, and move right to Swipe spam.  We skip step 1 because of healer / dps aggro if the patrol is off to the side and aren’t effected by your Swipe / Maul.

Single Target / Bosses:

1. Pull with Faerie Fire.
2. While still getting in position, Mangle (Mangle is your instant snap aggro move, this will also give you the added Agility / AP if you have those types of Idols.)
3. Lacerate once (This makes Maul hit harder due to Rend and Tear.)
4. If the fight has no fear effects, activate Berserk, and continue spamming Mangle, along with Maul.
5. Once Berserk expires (or the fight includes fears), start Lacerating while Mauling.  Mangle when it’s off cooldown.

Once you achieve 5 stacks of Lacerate, you get into a juggling act.  First off, don’t ever let Lacerate fall.  Second, Mangle every time that it’s up.  If Lacerate is far from expiring, and Mangle is on cooldown, Swipe.  While doing all of these, remember to Maul.

Tips:

There are a few things that I see tanks often doing that just makes things turn south.  All of them are easily solved, just have to keep calm, and think about what you’re doing.

First off, positioning is a pretty big thing for us, it used to be even bigger before they made Swipe a 360° move.  None the less, you need get as many mobs with your initial Swipe, and the following Swipes as well.

Glyph of Maul.  I have no idea how I can stress this glyph any more, but this glyph is huge.  Being able to Maul two targets is HUGE for threat generation on multiple mobs.

Never pull using anything anything other than Faerie Fire or Feral Charge along with Swipe spam.  I have no idea how many tanks pull with Taunt, which is a huge waste, along with not creating any real threat. (Faerie Fire now does quite a bit of damage and threat, along with making your following attacks hit harder due to lowering the target’s armor by 5%).

While we’re on the topic of Taunting, don’t EVER Taunt unless you’ve lost threat on that target.  Taunting any other time is a complete loss.  Taunting builds NO threat, and when your dps actually DOES pull, guess what, you just put your Taunt on cooldown, and the person that pulled will probably die, which means you’re not protecting your party.

Rend and Tear.  This talent helps quite a bit with threat.  Maul is your big threat generate along with Mangle.  While you can’t always spam Mangle, you keep Maul going.  So if you do have talent points in Rend and Tear (you should anyway) remember to Lacerate atleast once before starting up your Mauls.

If you encounter a fight that you seem to be losing threat, especially at the very start, pop Berserk right after you Faerie Fire, and apply one Lacerate.  Then spam Maul and Mangle untill Lacerate has to be reapplied.  Once Berserk has expired, continue with the normal rotation.