Rotations vs. Priorities

I touched on the subject of tanking rotations in my previous post. Since then, I've done some more reading and thinking on the subject, and I think that Blizzard is trying to push a change in mindset on more classes than just Feral Druids.

An example is the Shadow Priest. They've never had a strict "rotation", per se - theorycrafters generally describe the spells Shadow Priests should cast in terms of priorities, a list of debuffs listed in order of which should be kept up first.

With the recent changes to Enhancement Shamans (the addition of Lava Lash and Maelstrom Weapon), I understand that they operate more on a basis of priorities as well. Discussion in my guild's Shaman forum has turned up the following priority system, to be applied on every global cooldown:

1) If Stormstrike is available, use it.
2) If Maelstrom Weapon is available, use it.
3) If a Shock is available, use it.
4) If Lava Lash is available, use it.

Let's try applying that system to Feral Druids tanking a boss.

1) If Mangle is available, use it.
2) If Lacerate is not stacked to 5, use it.
3) If the Lacerate stack will expire soon, use it.
4) If Faerie Fire will expire soon, use it.
5) If Demoralizing Roar will expire soon, use it.
6) Swipe.
* Use Maul as needed to consume Rage.

You can skip steps 4 and 5 if another raid member is keeping those debuffs up. And since Maul isn't on the GCD, it doesn't really fit the priority system - just use it when it's available and you have the Rage.

This is more complex than the "Mangle, Lacerate x3, repeat" that more or less summed up Druid tanking until now, but I think it is also more interesting. A priority system requires the player to keep his or her brain in the On position, constantly aware of cooldowns and buff/debuff timers. I'm certainly enjoying it :)