Unchained, when do I use it?

[Krocodile]

Oh, I would also like to add this: When you are standing in front of a boss before the pull and you are waiting for the healer or DPS to get ready and you are sitting in 5 stacks of wrath and watching them tick away, if you have just a few seconds left, popping unchained is a great way to use up those stacks and not let them go to waste, so when you rush at the boss you a have a really decent way to front end your damage and establish loads of threat right from the get go.

[Isala]

I tend to use unchained with Berserk, as follows. Use your 123 combos to get to 4 stacks Wrath. Berserk for 5, Internal Release, Inner Beast. Infuriate > Unchained. 123 to 4 stacks, Vengeance for 5, Inner Beast, and at that point, you're pacified, and out of Unchained.

[Krissey]

I tend to use unchained with Berserk, as follows. Use your 123 combos to get to 4 stacks Wrath. Berserk for 5, Internal Release, Inner Beast. Infuriate > Unchained. 123 to 4 stacks, Vengeance for 5, Inner Beast, and at that point, you're pacified, and out of Unchained.

I've been doing this and it puts me so far ahead of other tanks that even if they try to rip aggro off me they simply cannot due to the immense aggro generated in a burst at the beginning. That said, these are simply the (Hard) Primals for the Relic quest, Hydra and Chimera... so no tank swaps needed.

[SpookyGhost]

pre-50: whenever it's up and you've got 5 stacks

50 and beyond: single target = Infuriate -> Tomahawk/Overpower -> Unchained -> HS -> Brutal Swing -> Maim -> IR + Berserk -> Storm's Eye -> HS -> SS -> BB -> Fracture -> HS -> IB -> Brutal Swing -> Maim -> Storm's Eye (MT only, can replace IB with Fell Cleave and enter Deliverance before Fracture if IB isn't needed)

multi-target = Unchained + Bloodbath -> OP -> IR + Berserk -> OP spam

[Krissey]

pre-50: whenever it's up and you've got 5 stacks

50 and beyond: single target = Infuriate -> Tomahawk/Overpower -> Unchained -> HS -> Brutal Swing -> Maim -> IR + Berserk -> Storm's Eye -> HS -> SS -> BB -> Fracture -> HS -> IB -> Brutal Swing -> Maim -> Storm's Eye (MT only, can replace IB with Fell Cleave and enter Deliverance before Fracture if IB isn't needed)

multi-target = Unchained + Bloodbath -> OP -> IR + Berserk -> OP spam

So I understand as an off-tank you basically probably don't need to put up Storm's Eye (The damage debuff one), and can stick to the Storm's Path to help out Ninja, and BB for the most potency combo, throw in Fell Cleave etc when DPSing.

However as the main tank, in order to help my NIN friends, how do I keep up Storm's Eye and Storm's Path and use Butcher's Block without letting any of them fall off?

[Sylve]

So I understand as an off-tank you basically probably don't need to put up Storm's Eye (The damage debuff one), and can stick to the Storm's Path to help out Ninja, and BB for the most potency combo, throw in Fell Cleave etc when DPSing.

However as the main tank, in order to help my NIN friends, how do I keep up Storm's Eye and Storm's Path and use Butcher's Block without letting any of them fall off?

So long as I'm paying attention;
HS->Maim->Path
HS->SS->BB
HS->Maim->Eye
Rinse, repeat. Should catch the Path right after it falls off and the same with Eye when you get back to it.
20 second durations and roughly 7.5 seconds between each combo set, the whole thing takes about 22 seconds from start to finish. So the debuffs are both up almost all the time with about a second or 2 at teh most downtime.
Its not perfect, but it worked well enough for me through 2.x.

[SpookyGhost]

The way I do it is I make a choice. After my opener, I very rarely need to actually use Butcher's Block - the threat you gain from popping all your offensive buffs with Maim and Eye up pretty much seals your hate against everyone. Eventually I might have to BB, in which case I'll usually just let Path fall off for those few GCDs and then go back to SE -> SP -> repeat.

If damage is more valuable than the mitigation (aka any content where my healer's aren't stressed for healing), I'll drop SP entirely and just SE -> BB -> repeat. But usually this is just 4man dungeons and stuff, I value SP pretty heavily for any 8man stuff.

This also sorta assumes you've got a decent enough weapon to keep hate against the DPS. The worse your weapon, the more times you'll have to BB. You also might not be able to get away with opening with Eye if your weapon isn't up to par, as you're generating enmity solely through damage and offensive buffs - no enmity multipliers involved. If that's the case, you should open with BB -> Eye -> BB. Unfortunately that's the worst of the two options, but it's not something you can fix unless you get a better weapon.

[Krissey]

Unfortunately that's the worst of the two options, but it's not something you can fix unless you get a better weapon.

I bought an illvl 115 Axe from a vendor in Ishgarde when I dinged 50 immediately, just in case you are refering to my ilvl 90 Bravura. I am doing the relic quest for fun, because it is the iconic Warrior weapon from the artwork and I want to take it to maximum glowy/spell effects without changing it into the double bladed axe where it loses the recognizable iconic form. So I think I'll be stopping at Nexus, which will probably be better than the vendor axe of equal ilvl i bought.

[SpookyGhost]

I bought an illvl 115 Axe from a vendor in Ishgarde when I dinged 50 immediately, just in case you are refering to my ilvl 90 Bravura. I am doing the relic quest for fun, because it is the iconic Warrior weapon from the artwork and I want to take it to maximum glowy/spell effects without changing it into the double bladed axe where it loses the recognizable iconic form. So I think I'll be stopping at Nexus, which will probably be better than the vendor axe of equal ilvl i bought.

I was just speaking in general, there's a lot of tanks out there undergeared trying to pull off DPS shenanigans and it's not really helping them out. P:

The Bravura is a really nice axe, though - especially at the later glowy stages, so keep at it. It is a bit tiny, but that might just be because of my equally tiny lalafell body.

[Marxam]

Oh, I would also like to add this: When you are standing in front of a boss before the pull and you are waiting for the healer or DPS to get ready and you are sitting in 5 stacks of wrath and watching them tick away, if you have just a few seconds left, popping unchained is a great way to use up those stacks and not let them go to waste, so when you rush at the boss you a have a really decent way to front end your damage and establish loads of threat right from the get go.

A good point but what I do now is Steel Cyclone then switch to Deliverance + Berserk. However I only used Unchained now when I'm the dedicated mt or solo tanking hard content. You're better off switching to Deliverance and just doing Fell Cleaves. Of course this only applies to HW content.