Main Tank Strategy: Zul'Aman (oldschool fun)

Yes, yes. Not a lot in Zul'aman for the new-age of raiders, other than a few useless badges, a quest or two, an achievement, and potentially Mojo for the pet collectors (which, as a note, is why our group went here). However, the nice thing about Zul'aman, for me, is that every boss in here was affected by pet taunts (at least the ones that aren't taunt-immune to even PC taunts), making it a really solid area to practice tanking. With level 80s, the place is five-mannable, and yet still is quite a fun run.

You will need at least two tanks for here, even at level 80, so make sure one of your group can tank.

For the most part, the trash pulls are pretty straightforward nowadays. A few things to remember: don't use AoE in the river area with the neutral crocs; they aren't as dangerous as they used to be, but they still hit for a *lot* of damage and they will gang up on you. Likewise, kill off the mind controlling mobs; a MC'ed level 80 will be your biggest threat in this area. When pulling the bears at the bear boss, keep in mind that they have an armor-stripping attack. You should be able to kill them fast enough it won't be an issue, but especially it *can* kill a tank even at 80 if you leave one of the armor-bashers chewing on him for too long.

Now for the part everyone's been waiting for: how a hunter can tank the bosses.

Akil'zon (AKA Eagle Boss): Utterly straightforward. This boss is a single-person tank, so just set your pet on them and keep as much threat as possible. The usual boss tactics for here apply even at level 80: when the stormcloud forms, everyone hug the tank so they don't get zapped (although it's not too terrible with resistance and Avoidance), spread out, and just spank him down.

Nalorakk (AKA Bear Boss): This is one of those bosses that takes two tanks to handle. The easiest way I found was for your pet tank to start MTing with Nalorakk in troll form, and the moment he turned to bear, let the human tank taunt it. When he transforms back to troll, you use your pet's Taunt (which, as I mentioned above, is fully effective), and tank it until it goes bear again. If you get another transformation from bear to troll, use Misdirect and Intimidation, and that should garner you enough threat for a 'burst'. Whatever you do, do *not* try to just tank both halves. The damage from the pair of bear bleeds, combined with the mangle that the troll will stack on you, *can* still be fatal to you at level 80, and at the very least makes healers cry. Also, try and keep your pet near the front of the boss at all times if possible; he will use a sweeping attack that hits two targets, splitting damage between them. While far from instantly fatal at level 80, it's still a considerable blow.

Jan'alai (AKA Dragonhawk Boss): This one was practically made for a pet tank. In the beginning, while you'll want to do some DPS on the boss, the thing you want to focus on are the adds. While at level 80, the adds are less than frightening, the sheer number of them that can hatch can swiftly overwhelm a healer or clothie. So kill one of the hatchers, let the other one do his job, and kill off the adds while your pet tanks the boss. He'll take very little damage, doesn't really need to move from the fire explosions (Avoidance is a wonderful thing, and even better if you specced Great Resistance), and will have plenty of threat by the time you've finished clearing the first wave of dragonhawk adds and are turning to the boss. If the boss does manage to hatch a crapload of eggs, don't bother tanking them; leave your pet tanking, have everyone gather in one place so the adds will collect there (probably on the healer), and AOE. They have fairly low HP so they'll go down quick.

Halazzi (AKA Lynx Boss): Another 'two tank' boss. This one, unlike the bear, doesn't require actual taunts. It can be easily done with Intimidation and Misdirects. Start off with one tank (your pet or the player tank) on the main boss, the same way you would tank n' spank any normal boss. When he splits into troll and lynx forms, have the designated 'lynx tank' pick the cat up. For me, Panzer was the lynx tank while our DK was the troll tank, but it would have worked quite well either way. Remember that you don't need to DPS the cat, so if your pet is having aggro problems, they would probably be best served as 'lynx tank'.

Hex Lord Malacrass (AKA That Utter Bastard And His Entourage): First off, if ever there was an argument for Avoidance + Great Resistance, this fight is it. Forego other abilities for that, even; it will make your healers very, very happy if they don't have to focus on your pet. Secondly, this is the best place for the pet to be MT. The four adds that are with Hex Lord differ, but they can all be CC'ed: the elemental can be banished, the undead can be shackled, the ogre is sheepable, the dragonkin sleepable and trappable, the snake Fear Beast, et cetera. The best thing to do here is to use every bit of CC you have to trap as many of the adds as you can. Put your pet directly on the main boss himself, and let your 'human' tank focus on the lesser adds. They should go down fast, but having adds running around can be fatal in the beams stage. When he prepares to throw those shadow bolts ("Your soul.... GONNA BLEED!"), immediately slap a Mend Pet on your pet, since those ticks will probably handle a lot of the damage coming in, and your healer can focus on anyone whose resistance is failing them. Once the adds are down, it's pretty much just a basic battle.

Zul'jin (AKA The Don Troll): A five-part fight that, even when ZA was an extremely difficult battle, I always found to be easier than the Hex Lord. However, there are a couple stages that you need to worry about.

Phase 1 (Troll): Tank n' spank, though be prepared for whirlwinds. Your pet can probably handle them (Panzer did just fine) though any humans nearby are going to feel the pain. The DOT it leaves behind cannot be removed until the target is healed to 100%, so make sure your melee gets their asses out of there.

Phase 2 (Bear): He will prepare an AOE paralysis that can be dispelled. I *believe* Bestial Wrath kept you from being paralyzed, so you can use those moments to gather some extra threat without DPS outracing you, though it's important to keep Mend Pet ticking at all times just in case the healers should get paralyzed. Also, keep an eye out for damage spikes; he can use the Overpower ability if his attack is dodged to do an extra 5-8K damage on his primary target. These should be small at level 80, but if you're going in at lower levels, you'll feel them.

Phase 3 (Hawk): This is the most annoying part. Don't cast *any* magic or you will get a backlash. Mend Pet is considered a 'cast', so be careful if your pet needs some topping off. Don't bother trying to tank it; your pet will pretty much be a big DOT at this point. Avoid whirlwinds, run around and DPS whenever you get the chance, and pray for getting down to 40%.

Phase 4 (Lynx): Don't let people fool you: the lynx boss can be tanked, and normally. The problem is, he has two attacks which target random players: Claw Rage and Lynx Rush. The healers need to prepare for if he Claw Rages someone much smaller and squishier. He can be fooled with Vanish, FD, Iceblock, et cetera during these times and he will refocus the tank. Lynx Rush, on the other hand, is a quick succession of random attacks on random people. Lynx is truly the spot where the healers used to get to shine, IMO.

Phase 5 (Dragonhawk): Back to simple again. Have your pet tank him, burn him down. Now and again, he will be using a fire whirl and flame breath attack, though these won't do a horrible amount of damage... .unless they build up. The Fire Whirl will stack, increasing fire damage with each stack. So killing fast after the last 20% is of the essence. The only thing to worry about are the pillars of flame he will occasionally drop. If one of these appears on your pet (and he can and will target pets), just do some quick movement to get yourself out of it (a /petpassive and let the enemy chase is just fine) and resume.

And there you have it. A fun tank at 80, and probably still more than a little possible at 70, if you can find a proper 10-man who doesn't mind a hunter tanking this mess.

Sweet. I've been thinking about how easy it would be to tank this now. I've been thinking about trying to get a group to open the gates so I can solo some trash to get the pet.