Welcome to Shadowfang Keep. This instance is not a very good dungeon to start tanking heroics in, in my opinion. This is a more advanced dungeon that has some great rewards in it and offers some great tanking practice. All tanks should have mob plates up for this fight because there are so many line of sight issues you can run into if you don't see the mobs or patrols before going around corners, up stairs or into rooms. Hit your 'V' key to turn them on before you start the dungeon.
When you enter the dungeon for the first time, if you never did it at level, you will see a quest giver directly in front of you. Unfortunately it gives low level rewards that you won't want to use so unless you are a completionist, there is nothing in it for you.
The first few pulls in here are pretty brutal compared to the rest you will face. There is some disease damage that goes around but mainly these mobs just hit tanks really hard. You can risk CCing by having a hunter pull with a trap but be ready to pick all the adds up before they obliterate them. I tend to run face first into this group, pop cooldowns and do my best to AoE tank them till they are dead. There are a few wandering geist adds that patrol very close to the staircase and it is possible to pull them without the rest of the group. With your cooldowns available you shouldn't need to worry about them in the aoe pull because they don't add much to the fight other than annoyances.
Next pull.
Next pull.
Follow the staircase and you will find your next big, painful pull. I suggest using cooldowns on this one as well. It is very similar to the first group you faced, they hit hard, so be ready. Again, a wandering pat may join in on the fun but it's not a problem, just be ready for it 'in case'.
Next pull.
Pull back any of the patrolling adds that have not been killed. Once they are dead, pull the first double set of adds in the next room back to your location and burn them down. They don't hit very hard so you shouldn't need any major cooldowns here.
Next pull.
I suggest pulling the back two adds just to protect your group from any accidental pulls during the boss fight. In this screenshot you can see the boss down below. Don't pull him on accident no matter what you do. Once your adds are down, you are ready to fight the first boss of this dungeon, Baron Ashbury.
Once you kill the boss, worgen will jump down and unlock the next section of dungeon for you.
Next pulls.
Welcome to the courtyard and new mobs to learn. Your first pull here will be the mindless horror. Watch the patrols running around the room and when they are far away, pull the horror back through the door you are standing in and burn it down. These mobs fear so be prepared for that.
Wait for the patrolling geists to get close to the stairs and pull them up to kill them as well. This is an AoE tanking job and doesn't require any CDs.
Haunted Servitors are next. They cast a life draining beam that needs to be interrupted. They are a bit difficult to manuever because they are casters so be prepared to line of sight pull them if you need to.
Once you have cleared those mobs, jump down to the side of the stairs with your group to make pulling and tanking the rest of the courtyard easier. Pull each add one at a time and make sure to pull the horrors back so they don't fear you into bigger pulls.
Once you have cleared the courtyard, make your way to the ramp on the right and wait for the patrolling geists to get within pull range. AoE tank them down.
There is one more servitor that should be patrolling up and down the ramp. When it comes into range, pull it (get help with ranged silences if you need it) to keep it from adding unexpectedly later on.
Welcome to the Shadowfang Keep kitchens. Tank: It's what's for dinner.
Your first pull here is going to be tricky. There is a single patrol that will walk into this room so make sure they are not in the room as you pull it. It's a lot of casters and annoying channelers and you need to pull them back to get them grouped into a nice little cluser to control them. A hunter can pull here as well by trapping one of the mobs. Priests can also shackle one.
I do a full AoE pull in the screenshots with all mobs to me at once, but just starting out I would suggest if you have the CC, CC at least one of the mobs inside the room and pick the adds off the CCer as they funnel out the doorway. Watch closely for the life draining spells and be sure to interrupt them when you can. Move immediately if you see yourself or a melee dps standing in one of the black vortex circles on the floor. You will have a few mobs like this further in so get used to these abilities. You will most likely want to use some cooldowns here, this pull is pretty rough to tank.
After that pull the single pat to clear the room.
The next room as four cooks. They apply a stacking debuff on the tank so they need to be burned down pretty fast. If you have the CC available, CC one (or more) and pull the others to you. I suggest you pop a major cooldown during this pull, especially if the debuff stacks too high and you are taking insane amounts of damage.
Beyond the kitchen through the door is the dining room. It's got one major pack of mobs and one lone patrol.
Pull the patrol by itself and line of sight it back into the kitchen and burn it down. Watch for the life drain it casts and interrupt it.
After the single pull, it's time for the group pull. This is another line of sight pull into the kitchen and again, if you have any sort of CC, I would pull with the CC and pick up the mobs and bring them into the kitchen. These mobs have the life drains and the black void zones on the floor so be aware of this. The pack also can put out a lot of damage very quickly so be ready with some defensive cooldown abilities.
Once the pack is dead, the dining room is clear and you are ready for the second boss in the dungeon: Baron Silverlane.
Kill him to clear the room and another worgen will jump down making threats to the rest of the instance.
Go up the stairs. You can go up either set of stairs but I go up the left ones because your next pull is going to be up the stairs to the left and keeping your party to the right helps with those 'oops!' pulls where someone just got too close.
Next pull.
Once on the next level you will be faced with your last 'servitor' type pull. This pull also has new guardsman type mobs that can put a mortal strike on you and lock you or others out of a school of magic for 2 seconds so watch out for that. I would focus fire this one first and CC the non-soldier ghosts as they are casters. The non-soldier ghosts have abilities you have seen before, life drain beams and void zones on the ground.
There is a large melee skeleton patrol that can add if your team decides to AoE down the whole pack, so if that is your choice, be prepared to pick up it up. My team in this shot did just that. The skeleton hits extermely hard, all melee damage, so make sure you save some cooldowns if you try this method. If you decide to CC pull the group, burn each one down then pull the skeleton to your left to clear the hallway and open the next path.
At the end of the hallway the room with the next boss is in it. Mob packs are at the front and back of the room.
The first pull introduces you to the Tormented Officer, the last soldier-type ghost you will face in mob packs. This mob does not hit very hard but can curse party members with a curse that reduces their abilities or stats. In my experience, if you don't have a decurser, it ends up being more of an annoyance than a party-wiping ability. Kill the soldiers first as they still have the mortal strike and silencing abilities. Your healer and all ranged should stay at least at the foot of the steps on this pull and preferably as far back as possible. If you are going to CC one mob, CC the officer and burn him down last. If you have a hunter in the party they can misdirect pull the mobs around the corner to you to save you from having to run into the room and run back out around the corner, if you don't have one line of sight pull this one back yourself and burn them down.
Do the same thing with the pull in the back of the room, line of sight pulling them back to keep your party members out of the boss' room for now. Watch for the same abilities the last group had, burn them down and you've cleared the mobs in the room.
Run into the room and to the right to give yourself and your party time to recoup and talk stratagy about the next boss (if you need to).
The third boss in this dungeon is Commander Springvale. Read up on him as he is a difficult boss to tank but very good movement and add control practice. Kill him and once again worgen will flood the room to secure the area.
Move to the exit and follow the stairs around to the next area. A single patrol will be waiting on the walkway.
On the next pull, wait for the patrolling guardsman to leave the landing and pull the two stationary mobs. If you want to CC one, CC the officer.
Next pull.
At the top of the entry ramp you will see your first of two pulls in this room. The skeletons are casters that can hit hard, but are relatively easy to kill. If you decide to CC pull this group, CC the skeleton and keep it CCed until you kill the other mobs. The ghoul-type mobs aren't overly dangerous but when they die, they put a ground effect down that needs to be moved out of so be prepared for this.
Pull the mobs and burn them down. If you don't have CC, kill the skeleton first and then the ghouls.
Don't forget to move out of the ground effect damage the ghouls lay down, it is a very large area. It's more damaging to your melee dpsers than you, but give the healer a break and move out asap.
The pull to the right is the same, so take care of the skeleton caster first unless you have the CC.
Watch for the ground effect cloud again and once it clears follow the path to the next doorway. Do not rush through the doorway because there are no patrolling mobs here. What looks like an innocent walkway can actually be a very dangerous trap if you aren't prepared. The gargoyles on the sides of the path are not just for decoration. They will come to life when you get too close!
Be prepared to pull all four at the same time to yourself and burn them down. It can be trying if a healer or dps run in before you and you have to pick them up, so make sure you lead the pack here. Save your AoE threat for then they are all close enough and you can hit them all with it. They don't hit particularly hard but have your dpsers focus fire each one down. The main threat in this group is the ability to fear. They will fear a couple party members or pets and if you have the pull far forward on the walkway you can accidentally pull a group of patrolling geists, so be careful.
Pull the patrolling geists. These mobs do not hit extremely hard but they can jump around and be genuinely annoying to tank. They are non-elites so they burn down quickly.
One more set of gargoyles is all you will have to deal with in this instance. They are farther apart than the last set so are a bit harder to tank, but the abilities are the same.
Occasionally the spitebone guardian patrol might get too close and can add into the AoE pull, so be prepared for that. It hits
If you have not already killed it, pull the skeleton patrol and burn him down. Continue up the stairs and follow the path around to your next pull.
This pull is like the first one with two elite ravagers that need to be controlled above everything else. Use your cooldowns here because they hit hard, just like the first group. Pull them where they are and AoE tank them down, be careful if you are using CC on the ravagers.
At the top of the stairs is a room with your next boss: Lord Walden. He's mainly a movement fight, but much easier than the other bosses you have fought in this dungeon.
Kill Lord Walden and worgen will again unlock a doorway for you to go through. Follow the stairs and go across the platform above Lord Walden's room and through the next door.
Through the walkway is a patrolling pack of geists. They don't hit hard but more often than not someone will run into them and facepull them so be ready to pick them up and burn them down.
At the top of the staircase you will find melee and caster skeleton mobs. If you don't have any good CC to control the caster, line of sight pull the entire pull down to the side of the doorway so you can tank the group with plenty of room. If you have the CC, CC the caster and let the melee mobs come to you. They do hit hard so be prepared for that.
Pull the second group where it is, CCing the caster if you can. Kill the pack to clear the room and cause a worgen to assist you in opening the door to the final chamber.
The final chamber has a lone mob to pull before the boss. Pull it up the stairs and back into the room you cleared to keep anyone from accidentally pulling the boss.
The mob is easy to kill and puts a small poison debuff on players that is best cleansed but is not hard to heal through. No cooldowns should be needed on this guy.
Have your group enter the final chamber and group up at the bottom to recoup and discuss strategy for the boss, Lord Godfrey. He is very much a movement fight and requires a lot of attention on every party member's part. Read up on him and know what to expect so you can kill him easily and claim your Shadowfang Keep victory!
Grats on the dungeon clear.
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