Instancing: Crowd Control

I have been doing some instance with my guildies recently. We went to Shattered Halls and Steamvaults and I think I never wiped in a 5 men instance so much as we did in those runs. I have done Steamvaults a few times before and even with the worst pug I was able to progress more smoothly than with my guild group. No, the problem is not that they (we) suck, but the problem was group composition and almost non existent crowd control. Instead of filling the party with a balance of classes that could provide Crowd Control utility we insisted in trying anyways and the repair bill went up. Brutally.

Crowd Control (CC) is more than ever a very important aspect of every instance. It has always been important, but now with places that require 6-7 mobs pulls and possibly Heroic instances you really need to make CC not an art, but a science. So, I would like to analyze what kind of CC tools are there.

In this examination, I am not considering short term stuns and incapacitating attack as they are not really reliable in order to accomplish what CC is suppose to do: reducing the effectiveness of the opponent force by keeping one or more of them out of combat for a significant amount of time. Now, what significant means depends on how fast your group is in taking advantage of the reduced strength of the opponents, but for the sake of the discussion let's say that anything that last less than 10 seconds it is not a reliable form of CC.

Also, a separate discussion could be done for types of CC based on fear effects, as the option of using this forms of CC is subject to the possible risks of aggroing additional mobs.

Finally, off-tanking (OT) cannot really be considered CC in this discussion as in reality even if can be used to keep opponents busy and hence out of combat, it requires the full use of at least one party member - or a pet - and most likely healing resources and therefore it does not provide a significant competitive advantage.

So let's see what each class has to offer.

Mage

Polymorph. Transforms the enemy into a sheep - or some other nice farm animals such as pigs, cows and… turtles - , forcing it to wander around for up to 50 sec. While wandering, the sheep cannot attack or cast spells but will regenerate very quickly. Any damage will transform the target back into its normal form. Only one target can be polymorphed at a time. Only works on Beasts, Humanoids and Critters. In my opinion, this is by far the most efficient and effective CC tool in the market. Longest duration, can be done and redone in and out of combat, and it is effective on both humanoids and beasts, which are possibly the most common type of mobs around. Simply put, the Ferrari of the CC. This is also one of the reason why I think a mage should always be in a balanced instance group: not for dps, but for CC utility.

Rogue

Sap. Incapacitates the target for up to 45 sec. Must be stealthed. Only works on Humanoids that are not in combat. Any damage caused will revive the target. Only 1 target may be sapped at a time. Now this one it is really effective with the talent Improved Sap, which allows the rogue to return to stealth mode after hitting the mob. In combination with Polymorph, this can really shine in giving you a distinctive advantage, providing a long and reliable CC effect. Unfortunately it only works on Humanoids and can only be used before the pull, with out of combat mobs.

Rogues can also use Blind as a very temporary CC tool. It is usually used in PVP and to be honest I have never seen this one used extensively for instance runs, but it can be done. This ability blinds the target, causing it to wander disoriented for up to 10 sec. Any damage caused will remove the effect.

Hunter

Freezing Trap. Place a frost trap that freezes the first enemy that approaches, preventing all action for up to 20 sec. Any damage caused will break the ice. Trap will exist for 60 sec. Only one trap can be active at a time. Now, I like this one a lot. It works on any type of mobs, plus with recent changes it can be done and redone during combat. The only problem is that the cooldown is 30 seconds and the duration is 20 seconds. I think there are talents in the Survival path thought that can increase the duration of the trap and decreasing the cooldown, making this a potentially very effective tool for permanent CC.

Some hunters can also use Wyvern Sting. This is a survival talent-only ability. A stinging shot that puts the target to sleep for 12 sec. Any damage will cancel the effect. When the target wakes up, the Sting causes 942 Nature damage over 12 sec. Only one Sting per Hunter can be active on the target at a time. To be honest I have never seen this one in an instance. Maybe because not many hunters specialize in Survival, but still this is potentially quite useful, especially if combined with the trap. With this and the trap, a hunter alone could keep 2 mobs out of combat for over 10 seconds.

Druid

Hibernate. Forces the enemy target to sleep for up to 40 sec. Any damage will awaken the target. Only one target can be forced to hibernate at a time. Only works on Beasts and Dragonkin. Please note that this is the only type of CC that works on Dragonkin. Also, it can be used in and/or out of combat. Very effective but often forgotten.

Druids could also use Entangling Roots. This is used mostly in solo and PVP, it roots the target in place and causes 351 Nature damage over 27 sec. Damage caused may interrupt the effect. Unfortunately this is only useable outdoors, and this is a big issue as all the instances are indoor - or considered as such. I remember I have seen something about some changes coming up in a future patch by which instances with outdoor will actually being considered outdoor for the purpose of this, but I am not really sure about it.

Warlock

Banish. Banishes the enemy target, preventing all action but making it invulnerable for up to 30 sec. Only one target can be banished at a time. Only works on Demons and Elementals. This one is very situational as it only works on very specific mobs, but when it can be used it is very effective as can be done and redone in and out of combat. This for example makes the fight against the first boss in Steamvaults a piece of cake.

Seduction. This is an ability of the Succubus, one of the lock's pet. It seduces the target, preventing all actions for up to 15 sec. Any damage caused will remove the effect. Only works against Humanoids. To be honest, I have not seen locks using Succubus in instances for a very long time. Probably there is better return, even from a CC point of you, to have a VW off tanking. Locks please comment on this.

Warlocks can also Enslave Demon, but I understand this is possibly a very situational CC tool.

Priest

Mind Control. This one is a lot of fun. It controls a humanoid mind up to level 62, but increases the time between attacks by 25%. Lasts up to 60 sec. Despite what the description says, the priest can control mobs higher than 62, so this is actually a very viable CC tool in many BC instances.

Shackle Undead. Shackles the target undead enemy for up to 50 sec. The shackled unit is unable to move, attack or cast spells. Any damage caused will release the target. Only one target can be shackled at a time. This is very powerful if you are in an undead place. It has a long duration and thus giving effective room for action. I remember having our priest using this all the time in Scholo and Strat.

As we can see many classes can provide some kind of CC utility to the party and the composition of the team should be optimized with this is mind if you want to be effective in instances. In two words, one should not only think about tanking, healing and dpsing, but also about crowdcontrolling.