Skill Usage Details
Vampiric Blow
This skill, when cast by itself, is normally a charge skill (similar to TS). However, when cast after an overcharged TS, it is instantly cast as if it had been fully charged. Simply tap the skill after TS and it will chain. Note that the amount of overcharge ticks does not matter, as long as you have taken even 1 tick of self-damage, the skills will chain.
Vampiric Blow also has an alternative use—to enable casting Evasive Smash. An often overlooked feature of this skill is that it can still be charged manually. This makes it excellent fodder for Evasive Smash to avoid wasting TS cooldowns.
Flatten
This skill is slow without chaining, and should always be cast after certain skills to speed it up. There are multiple ways to chain into FL. These chains, from most common to least, are as follows:
(only chains from the second cast of Punishing Strike)
Any of these chains are valid; however, Raze is by far the most practical for Zanks. Chaining from Punishing is a good habit to have for bosses that like to surprise you with attacks you suddenly need to iframe. As an example:
The boss performed an attack/mechanic that you only reacted to after hitting the key for Raze, but this does not mean you have to skip a cast of FL, as you can make it up with an alternate chain.
Lethal Strike
LS cast by itself is already reasonably fast. However, it can be faster after TS, Vampiric Blow, and Leaping Strike. One of the most common set of skills to cast is:
However Vampiric Blow has a much longer cd than both TS and LS, so you will also end up casting this chain without Vampiric Blow, as so:
Chaining LS from Leaping Strike is not done as a part of the Zank rotation, however it isn’t uncommon as a strategy for moving long distances in a hurry, moving the player ~16m. It also comes with the benefit of cutting short the end of the Leaping Strike animation, which takes notably longer to block cancel.
In general, LS does not require chaining, but you will most commonly use it in a chain.
Raze
This skill is listed as “chaining” from Combo Attack, TS, Cyclone, Axe Counter, and Punishing Strike. Two of these skills are never used by Zanks (Combo Attack and Cyclone), but even from the skills we do use, it’s hard to notice any difference in Raze speed when it is chained. The main benefit of chaining into raze is canceling the end animation of the skills it chains from, forgoing the need to block cancel them. TS into Raze and PS into Raze are both very common chains.Raze can be used to cancel many skills that Block can feel awkward when block cancelling — Dash, Triumphant Shout, and Bloodlust.
(only chains from the second cast of Punishing Strike)
Thunder Strike
Thunderstrike, upon starting to charge the skill, gives the user a buff that reduces incoming damage of the next single hit by 50%. This does not work on boss attacks that deal flat damage or damage based on the max hp of the player. This damage reduction (DR) is extremely powerful when used correctly, however due to the 1 hit limit, it requires some finesse.
The DR is largely not important for low tier dungeons, slightly helpful if you are starting out and not overgeared yet at best. But for high and extreme tier dungeons, utilizing DR is integral to Zank’s playstyle for a majority of dungeons. This DR, however, has an inherent problem, that being that TS has a cooldown. Words cannot fully encompass the complexity that is balancing an optimized rotation with proper utilization of one of your most powerful survival options. This section will hopefully give you a brief understanding of the intricacies.
When fighting any boss, it is important to understand the attack patterns and mechanics. This goes for any class and role, but the emphasis on this knowledge falls more so on the tank, and far more on Zank specifically. Zank is the only tank in the game that only has 1 iframe without conditions (Evasive Roll). The two other iframes are much more conditional; Evasive Smash can only be used to interrupt a skill that is actively charging, and Unbreakable has a long CD. Thus, it is of extreme importance for Zanks to only use iframes if it is the only option.
This gives us three options to avoid using up our precious iframes—blocking, face tanking, or moving out of the way. Blocking is covered in a previous section and includes frontal block. Not all attacks are blockable or should be blocked, however. For these attacks, oftentimes the best option will be using the DR from TS to minimize damage taken, unless the attack comes with an effect (stun, knockdown, etc). The third option is much trickier and harder to utilize on many bosses, simply moving out of the way of the attack. Zank has the luxury of freedom of movement while charging, making it extremely mobile. Understanding when and what can be avoided this way requires an extreme level of boss attack pattern and mechanical knowledge. Attempting to move out of an attack at a bad time can lead to the boss moving erratically, causing the party much distress. To utilize this option effectively, boss patterns must be well understood to ensure it is possible to make it back into position before the next attack sequence begins.
And finally, the heart of the issue: what if TS is on cooldown? The answer lies in understanding boss attacks/mechanics. To optimize as a Zank, we must keep attacking as much as possible, but we cannot blindly run through the rotation and only react when the boss does a dangerous attack. This would lead to us using our limited iframes, possibly ending up in a situation where we have no iframes when the boss does a mechanic where the only option is to iframe. Let’s use Bahaar for an example.
Bahaar has an attack, typically referred to as “4 hit combo” or something similar. He starts with a swing on the tank, does a swipe that covers most of the arena, another bigger swing, then a spin that covers the entire arena. The first two hits are blockable, the second two are not. The third hit is very heavy, and the last hit is almost always a one shot unless the healer shields (not guaranteed), and will knockdown if it doesn’t kill you. Iframing twice in a row would both be a waste of iframes and a loss of damage, so the best solution to this attack is to block the first two hits (including frontal block), using TS during the third strike, and iframing the fourth. This solution is still the best even if you have to make TS sit off cooldown for the first two strikes, just to avoid using any extra iframes.
That is just one example, even within Bahaar there is a lot of nuance to proper TS timing, not just for maximizing damage, but also maximizing survival, often at the same time. For every boss in the game, there’s a book’s worth of knowledge on just when to use TS to allow for better damage and survivability.
On a final note about TS, there is also over-overcharging. This is when you start charging TS, and holding it longer than 4 ticks of overcharge to tank an attack. This is done more as an emergency option, typically when the boss starts an attack you need to use DR for, but starts it after you start charging TS. This is a loss in damage, but sometimes necessary if the boss AI decides it wants to take a nap and throws off your rhythm.
Fiery Rage
It's important to keep the flurry of blows buff up from fiery rage at all times. You should not wait for the buff to wear off before casting it again, since the speed buff will speed up recasting it. Its best to cast it whenever the boss has any downtime so you aren't ever in the middle of an attack string or blocking when it expires.