Blue Beorning

Blue Beorning Tank Build

By Araphorn – Updated for Yondershire, U33

Table of Contents

Introduction

Welcome, here you will find a good build for Beorning Tank. This spec isn’t your best tank amongst other options, but it isn’t the worst either. I would rate Beorning Tank to be the 3rd best tank, behind Guard and Captain.

Beorning is a great tank when it comes to offering utility, that is assuming your group doesn’t already have a Beorning healer, and if it does, then its not recommended to take a Beorning tank, unless you have no other option available.

Beorning tank brings great debuffs for the group (especially for the Melee DPS), it has solid Physical Mitigation (around 75%+ with Minstrel), and has great aggro control.

There is not a lot of ‘Form’ switching while tanking, and is generally advised you stay in Bear Form while tanking, at least around 90% of the time.

Stat Goals

These goals are kept with Essence & Gear planning in mind, as to which Essences are to be prioritized over others. These goals can also be used when picking Virtues.

Tactical Mitigation > Physical Mitigation > Vitality

After Mits are capped or near capped, then Vitality essences can be used. Generally, only Tactical Mitigation essences will be needed, as Physical Mitigation gets capped with just cap-level Gear and Virtues. At the beginning of expansion, Essence slots are really limited, this gets easier as better items become available later down the line.

* Before planning Essences, slot the right Virtues (more on that down below). This way you can plan your setup better, and utilize Essences perfectly, and you can dump the remaining Essence slots in Vitality, Finesse, or other Stat of your choice after meeting Stat goals mentioned above.

Gear

With new Raid released, new gear for Tanking Beornings is published in the tables down below. Blue Beorns will use 4-piece of the new Blue set and 3-piece of the new Yellow set for additional healing output. There are 2 published Builds, one for Endgame and one for Starters.

End-game Build

Armour Pieces

Gear Slot Set Piece Location
Helm Hiddenhoard Raid
Chest Hiddenhoard Raid
Shoulders Hiddenhoard Raid
Gloves Hiddenhoard Raid
Legs Hiddenhoard Raid
Boots Hiddenhoard Raid
Cloak Hiddenhoard Raid
Off-hand Hiddenhoard Raid
Class Item Hiddenhoard Raid

Jewelry Pieces

Gear Slot Set Piece Location
Earring 1 Hiddenhoard Raid
Earring 2 Hiddenhoard Raid
Necklace Hiddenhoard Raid
Pocket Hiddenhoard Raid
Bracelet 1 Storvagun Winter Festival
Bracelet 2 Storvagun Winter Festival
Ring 1 Hiddenhoard Raid
Ring 2 Hiddenhoard Raid

Starter Build

The 140 Level Gear from this Build can be acquired by playing the 3 and 6 man instances, higher difficulty will award better loot. Having this gear will allow to progress level capped Raids. As for Essences, you can use the ones you get from Questing or Crafting (whichever Tier is fine), and try to follow the Stat Goals above and Slot the ones which are needed by your Class.

Armour Pieces

Gear Slot Set Piece Location
Helm Gundabad 6-Man Instance
Chest Gundabad 6-Man Instance
Shoulders Gundabad 3-Man Instance
Gloves Gundabad 3-Man Instance
Legs Gundabad 3-Man Instance
Boots Gundabad 3-Man Instance
Cloak Gundabad 6-Man Instance
Off-hand Embers Box
Barter
Class Item Embers Box
Barter

Jewelry Pieces

Gear Slot Set Piece Location
Earring 1 Gundabad 6-Man Instance
Earring 2 Gundabad 6-Man Instance
Necklace Gundabad 6-Man Instance
Pocket Gundabad 6-Man Instance
Bracelet 1 Storvagun Winter Festival
Bracelet 2 Storvagun Winter Festival
Bracelets Alternative Mountain-hold Barter.
Use these if no
Storvagun Bracelets
Ring 1 Gundabad 6-Man Instance
Ring 2 Gundabad 6-Man Instance

Essences

Essence Name Essence Note
Tactical
Mitigation
Use these to reach
Tactical Mitgation
cap, or near cap.
Vitality Use these to
fill Slots safter
Mits are capped.
Finesse Use some of
these if there’s room.
Tank Mitigation
Trigger 1
Use 1 of these
if there’s room.
Tank Mitigation
Trigger 2
Use 1 of these
if there’s room.

*Note: Finesse and Trigger Essences for Tanks are optional/situational. Use only if you have room for them, although the Tank Trigger essences can be quite nice for harder group content.

Trait Trees

There are two different ways to build a Beorning Tank tree. One way is for when there is no Beorning healer in group and one is when there is a Beorning healer present in group. This is because, if there is a Beorning healer present, then there is no need to trait for Bees from Yellow Line and you can just build for Composure from Red Line. But, if there is not a Beorning healer present, then it’s important to trait for Bees from Yellow line.

This is my first tree, I use this if there is no Beorning healer in group:

Blue Tree for tanking.

This is my most perfect setup. I have the fellowship-wide Rush, which is great, I have the 30% Shake Free Morale Bubble, I have maxed out Bees (with Armour Crush) and some healing potential via maxed out Nature’s Mend. If I find myself in a good position and my group mates not so, I switch into Man Form and toss them a few heals with Nature’s Mend and Hearten.

Next is my Tree when there is a Beorning in group, so I can trait differently to get Composure from Red Line:

Blue-Red Tree

This tree includes same traits from Blue as from the previous one, but I’m traited for Composure here instead, which has a decent self-heal capacity.

35 Trait Point Build for Legendary Servers

35 Points Build

60 Trait Point Build for Beginners

60 Points Build

Virtues

These are the virtues I use to reach the Stat Goals. I use these 5 virtues on all my tanks as I find these exact ones to be the best for tanks.

Virtues for Tanking.

Here are the Virtues which go along with the Stat Goals:

  1. Loyalty (Great for Vitality)
  2. Fidelity (Great for Vitality + Tactical Mit)
  3. Charity (Gives great amount of Resistance, decent Vitality and Physical Mit)
  4. Tolerance (Gives great amount of Tactical Mit, decent Physical Mit and Resistance)
  5. Innocence (Gives great amount of Physical Mit, decent Tactical Mit Mit and Resistance)
    • If you are over Physical Mitigation cap, swap Innocence with Honour

If you don’t have these virtues, here are some alternatives:

  • Honour (Gives decent Tactical Mit, Morale and Critical Defence)
  • Fortitude (Gives decent Morale, Resistance and Critical Defence)
  • Compassion (Gives great Physical Mit, decent Tactical Mit and Armour Value)

Legendary Items

These are the LIs and their Traceries for Tanking Beornings. It’s better to Dual Wield as a tanking Beorning, for extra Stats.

*Note: Please use Word of Craft Traceries as per Stat Goals.

1-hander Axe

Type Sockets
Heraldic Tracery Heraldry of the Ox
Word of Power Base Morale Multiplier
Word of Power Incoming Heal Bonus
Word of Mastery Bear Form Damage
Word of Mastery Bee Swarm Critical Defense Debuff
Word of Mastery Counter Dodge & Counterattack Damage
Word of Mastery Relentless Maul Damage
Word of Mastery Roar Damage
Word of Mastery Wrath Refund Chance
Word of Craft Grand Willpower
Word of Craft Grand Willpower

Beorning Carving (Class Item)

Type Sockets
Heraldic Tracery Heraldry of the Ox
Word of Power Area Effect Target Count
Word of Power Incoming Damage Reduction
(Physical)
Word of Power Incoming Damage Reduction
(Tactical)
Word of Mastery Hearten Heal Strength
Word of Mastery Recuperate Heal Pulses
Word of Mastery Rush Evasion Bonus & Duration
Word of Mastery Thickened Hide Duration &
Tactical Damage Reduction
Word of Mastery Thunderous Roar Cooldown
Word of Mastery Vigilant Roar Incoming Healing
Word of Craft Grand Armour
Word of Craft Grand Armour

Rotation

Here is what I do on Beorning Tank.

For AoE aggro control:

  1. To begin with, always start the fight with max Wrath. You can use Biting Edge, Hearten and Ferocious Roar to fill up your Wrath pre-fight.
  2. Go in Bear Form and round/gather up all trash mobs in one place (to your group’s best capability). When you start running, use Vigilant Roar on the first mob you see, then start rounding them up. This makes you reflect threat when mobs hit your Bear. You can also use Claw Swipes and Thrash on mobs while you are gathering them up.
  3. When they are all gathered up, use Vigilant Roar once again if up on the nearest mob and hit Claw Swipe.
  4. Wait a few seconds and let your DPS players hit mobs, take a morale pot if you are going down, or if you are going down way too fast, use Thickened Hide (swap LI if you have the legacy).
  5. Now that you have allowed your DPS guys to do some damage (usually not more than 3-4s), now it is time for Relentless Maul. That skill will pick every mobs attention. Make sure you hit that skill in a central arc so it picks everyone.
  6. After Relentless Maul is down, then it is just Thrash – Claw Swipes. You can put Bees and Armour Crush on high morale targets.
  7. You also have a 3rd taunt, called Thunderous Roar, I usually save this one unless I really need it, if I messed something up for example, so if my taunt missed on something, then only I use Thunderous Roar.
  8. If you are running low on Wrath, quickly switch to Man Form, use Biting Edge – Hearten – Ferocious Roar. After that switch back into Bear Form, you don’t want to be in Man Form for long while tanking.
  9. Always try to keep Thrash on cooldown, its your best Wrath generating skill while tanking.

For Single-target aggro control:

  1. To begin with, always start the fight with max Wrath. You can use Biting Edge, Hearten and Ferocious Roar to fill up your Wrath pre-fight.
  2. Start the boss with Vigilant Roar taunt.
  3. Then apply your debuffs right away, Bees first (don’t forget to swap to unimbued weapon if you have, for the debuff duration). Then use your Armour Crush.
  4. After those 2 debuffs are on, you will lose aggro soon if you have a good DPS player in group, so either do Relentless Maul or Thunderous Roar.
  5. After your second taunt is done, boss is generally yours till it dies, but its good practice to keep taunt on cooldown. Besides, Beorning taunt offer a good reflect and incoming healing as an added bonus, so always keep Vigilant Roar on cooldown.
  6. Now that you have established aggro, just keep your Bees and Armour Crush debuff on cooldown and manage your wrath.
  7. From time to time you might lose all your Wrath, so try to keep Thrash on cooldown and switch into Man Form and use Biting Edge – Hearten – Ferocious Roar and switch back to Bear Form.

Consumables

There are the consumables I use on Beorning:

Updated as of U33.

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