DRK and Tank Swapping

Hello my second Threat and i have got a Question again :)

Yesterday, I tanked Sophia and after every Tankbuster me and my OT had to swap
but it was a bit hard to get the enmity from a WAR the problem is that I dont know what better is

First Provoke then Grit and enmity combo - With this way i had some problems because Grit is a GCD and until I can make a enmity skill he took another AA and died sometimes

First Provoke and enmity combo without Grit and turn it later on?

Do I have to know the Tankbuster so I'm prepared to turn my Grit on?

So I am just asking if there is a easy way to Tank swap as a DRK

Greeting Kenny

Predict the tankbuster. Better have Grit 5 seconds earlier on. GCD 1 and 2 of your aggro combo then provoke and GCD 3 of your aggro combo.

Provoke gives you only +1 enmity than the MT so you have to gain more aggro after this. Better is when your Co-Tank stops attacking for some seconds. Thats what I do when someone swaps with me.

Yeah, learn when the tank busters are going to occur and turn grit on before you provoke, I usually follow provoke up with a comboed power slash. But because grit is on the GCD and the mp cost you really just need to plan for it.

as an aggresive tank i always voke without grit with no problem at all, thing is, you use hard slash, voke, spinning slash, dark arts, power slash.
if you lose aggro is because your co tank is either in berserk or using his enmity combo which shouldnt be the case

When you see Sophia do Cintamani (the 3 consecutive AOEs) (white aura), that is your indicator to prepare for a tank swap. She will do Hand of Wisdom (Tank buster) (green aura) next.

Turn on your GRIT when she is doing Cintamani, there is more than sufficient time for your GCD to be ready for you to change to tank stance. This way, you are ALREADY in tank stance before you provoke.

Another thing you do during Cintamani is to PRIME your enmity combo (hard slash -> power slash). Do the 1st 2 hits during Cintamani, and when the green aura comes out, PROVOKE followed by POWER SLASH and an unleash. There is absolutely no way you won't be able to grab aggro off the OT/MT.

I play a WAR main and I will pause attack for a half to a second or just stop attacking during the brief pause after popping cooldowns to allow easy tank swap transition.

Most of the time, tank swaps are messed up from tanks who only think of DPS / trigger happy people who just only think of attacking and nothing else or tanks who don't understand enmity generation of tank swap mechanics.

It'll always be a green swirly aura predict that in the fight, get used to it then: Grit > Hard Slash > Provoke > Spinning Slash > Power Slash. You'll always have perfect tank swaps doing this unless your co tank is doing a Butchers Block/ Rage of Halone then you need to tell em to just pop CDs and auto attack. Another thing is Soph is rooted to the ground for 3-5 secs after that so you and your co tank can kite for a sec so you won't die to the auto attack after.

I know the feeling. Leveled my Warrior up just before the patch hit and loved it so stuck with it. It's now my main and Sophia Ex was my first experience of tank swapping. If I was one of those warriors I'm sorry as some of my last hits on the boss were skull sunder or butcher's block in defiance instead of Inner Beast and pausing, this might have been one of your experiences. (Yes I know but I've learnt my lesson now and promise to do better. :) )

I will rarely turn Grit on for Sophia's Tank swap. What I do is:

Sophia's Green Aura: Provoke > Hard Slash > Spinning Slash > Dark Arts > Power Slash

If that isn't enough to lock hate, I'll follow it up with an Unleash or Dark Arts > Abyssal Drain.

That's usually more than enough. I do however, turn on Grit before her Tank Buster aimed at me, then quickly turn it off again.

If your MT refuses to stop attacks for 1 second after they survive the hit, putting grit up the moment u see the green aura will not get you enough time to get into your threat combo before an auto attack can kill them (most of the time the boss waits a second or 2 before she auto attacks, but sometimes its instant, and 2 GCDs will still leave the MT dead from an auto attack.)
In all seriousness though, besides CDs, healers using virus and the such makes a huge difference, one time i was revived, no grit up yet, and no CDs available, I only took like half my HP in dmg from their mitigation being added to me.

(also DA powerslash is a terrible way to use the MP, its better used for C&S as the MP will generate more threat this way, AND do more dmg.)

If my off the GCDs just came up, and im about to tank swap, i save them for after my provoke, so i can stack on as much dmg as possible.
I put up grit when i see the yellow aura, and for the few times she doesnt do the yellow aura 1st, all you can do is get used to when its about to happen.
(She tends to tank buster a few GCDs after the 1st time she does it, and then stops doing it for a bit, so essentially who ever is hit with her tank bust 1st, after adds, is going to "MT" most of the fight.)
Also, start with unleash if you need threat instantly after grit, but didnt have enough time to rev up your enmity combo. (better use of your MP than DA powerslash like some people suggest)
If you have 3 or so off the GCDs ready to use, you can just start your enmity combo, as your off the GCDs will hold hate till your enmity kicks in from power slash.

Lastly, if you're the "MT" due to being the target of tank busters 1st, you're going to have a much harder time stance dancing, due to not having enough MP or time with blood weapon, she's going to require you to provoke her back again usually before you get its full effect, along with dodge mechanics preventing u from hitting her. (Unless you're comfortable staying out of grit, but if your under geared compared to a very well geared OT, you'll have issues if they dont stop attacking)

I play my tanks as if I'm always the main tank. That said, I would go into tank stance a little early to prevent stuff like that from happening.