This spec is designed for RIFT 1.11.
The spec: 51 Riftstalker / 8 Ranger / 7 Bard
The is our highest health pool spec until Storm Legion arrives in less than a month. The spec and abilities have not changed too much, a few abilities are gone with a few new abilities added as well. If you have used this spec before, you will be more than familiar with it still. If you have not, it is still at least a very easy spec to understand and fast to get use to and setup.
You can use this tank spec in any of the current content without any problems. The only problem that might occur will be losing threat to either a cleric or warrior tank in your raid.
#show Phantom Blow
cast Phantom Blow
cast Planar Strike
You can generate more AOE threat by using the buff Planar Splash (new ability) and spamming this macro. Planar Splash makes Phantom Blow and Planar Strike hit up to 10 enemies but also reducing there damage by 20%.
You also have Instigate to grab threat off someone or to make sure you have threat right away depending on the pull or how you pull it. This has a 8 second cooldown and 20 meter range.
#show Shadow Blitz
cast Shadow Assault
cast Shadow Blitz
cast Shadow Stalk
You only need to teleport at least around every 10 seconds to maintain threat and keep up your buffs. Though this will depend on what and where you are tanking, be it a raid or just a simple dungeon.
Also with the addition to 1.11, we now have a new ability called Planar Rejuvenation that heals you for 10% of your maximum health over 20 seconds after plane shifting.
Rift Disturbance
Planar Splash
Planar Attraction
Do not macro these together. These are your additional AOE threat abilities you have other than plane shifting. Make sure you do not always have Planar Splash up either unless you absolutely need it.
If you want to macro Rift Disturbance with your spam macro, go ahead, though I highly recommend keeping it out.
Planar Attraction still has a 1 minute cooldown so use it wisely, it teleports up to 5 enemies to you and forces them to attack you for 3 seconds. If you have lost any AOE threat, this cooldown can be helpful most of the time.
Shadow Shift
Memory Capture > Flashback
These abilities will not be used as much as others will but they are very useful in different situations. I personally rarely use Shadow Shift and only will if I absolutely need to, mostly in dungeons. If you do not know already, we lost Shadow Warp in 1.11, I would have rather lost Shadow Shift instead.
You might find yourself using Memory Capture with Flashback more in 1.11 and going forward though.
Guarded Steel
Wrath of the Planes
You will want to keep Guarded Steel up at all times, this increases your armor by 10% for 30 seconds, which you should pretty much have 100% uptime on. Rogues also saw a large armor increase as of 1.11 too and going forward into Storm Legion.
With 1.11 we have a new finisher called Wrath of the Planes, which deals damage up to 10 enemies and reduces their hit chance by 5% for 15 seconds on each enemy hit. This also generates additional threat.
If you did not already know, we lost Annihilate when 1.11 arrived. But it was not like it was ever useful for rogue tanking, but instead for hybrid specs for DPS.
Planar Disruption
This has an 8 second cooldown, so use it wisely.
Defer Death
Scatter the Shadows
Planar Refuge
Physical Wellness
These are the greatest cooldown a rogue tank of course has. Defer Death can save your raid in a lot of ways, and when properly used. The same goes with Planar Refuge and sometimes Scatter the Shadows depending on the fight, what you are using it for and if the damage can be ignored with it. Not everything can be such an example as on Maklamos the Scryer, you cannot ignore Crystalline Desolation with this.
Physical Wellness, an increase of 1500 HP to your raid for 20 seconds, will be more useful for those fights where your raid is not as geared, when heals are going to be needed for a lot of damage about to be taken very soon and what not else. You will not always use this and this will be dependent on the fight, if you are in Hammerknell Fortress you could use this on Inquisitor Garau or in Infernal Dawn on Ituziel just when a lot of AOE damage comes out at 33% to help your healers a little. But of course, this was all written before nerfs to these bosses and more so used as examples for future fights.
Guardian Phase
Planebound Resilience
Fanfare of Vigor
You will not always need to cast Fanfare of Vigor yourself if you have a bard to cover this in raids and or another greater endurance buff from another class.
Motif of Bravery
Cadence with Coda of Wrath
Cleanse Soul
You can use Motif of Bravery in dungeons and maybe 10 mans to increase the raid members Attack Power and Spell Power by 62 and Critical Hit chance by 5%. You do not have to manage this if you do not care, and there will be times someone else will put the same type of buff up anyways depending on their calling and spec.
Cadence and/or using Coda of Wrath will give you a small amount of increased DPS if you need it in a dungeon. You could also just spam your threat macro and use Coda of Wrath as a finisher too sometimes.
Cleanse Soul comes from the first PVP tree at the top. You may or may not have this, but this is an overpowered ability to have in raid or elsewhere. There are a lot of debuffs it does not work on but there are still some where it does and makes it great to use with.
