Confidence while tanking

Hurmeli — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:10:43 GMT

I used to tank very cautiously when I started in Outland. Instances were new, I was unsure and didn't know what the mobs were like. I used to ask the other players how they usually handled each fight and I marked everything up, used CC but in general got the party through unscathed.

Now I like fast paced instance runs and 90% of the time things go very smoothly and fast. Unless I'm packing a undergeared healer, I don't usually bother with crowd control. This is of course somewhat up to dps as well. Dps with good gear and who know what they are doing make things easier. I don't usually bother with mana breaks either unless my healer goes low on mana. Most classes that use mana have some way of conserving and recovering it and if they happily burn their mana on every fight it's their problem. On average I'd say I take about zero to three mana breaks during an heroic instance run.

The pre Lich King patch changed my play style somewhat. I used to quickly mark up skull and x before pulls, but these days I don't often bother with that either unless there's big benefit in killing order. Most good dps know what to kill first anyway. Shockwave and increased Thunderclap damage have made aoe tanking rather easy. I'll just charge in unless it's complitely suicidal, Thunderclap & Shockwave the mobs and start building my threat. Assuming the pull was four to five mobs, I can charge the next group when there's only one or two mobs left and start the cycle a new, letting dps finish the last group. All this requires is a healer who knows how to keep up with the pace. This way almost the whole run is continuous fighting with short runs between. A whole lot more interesting than just sitting around while doing nothing. I always assume that healer and dps are ready unless they say otherwise. Unless I see text next to name I will pull.

When I'm a dps myself I kinda cringe when the a tank in good gear stops before each pull, marks everything up, then asks for rogue to go sap and mage to sheep on pull. Not only it slows things down, but rage decay will make certain that every fight starts with zero rage (sans charge/bloodrage) and what ever momentum was gained in last fight is lost. It also lets dps keep their balance which could be dangerous. If you keep the forward momentum and keep thinking step or two ahead you can usually outperform dps (burst)threat wise as they are always somewhat controlled by your actions. If you start to hesitate, all it takes is a single crit on wrong target to pull the mob off you. As a tank you should take the lead and dictate the groups rythm. Take control of the situation and don't let dps dictate your actions, this usually gives you the two or three extra seconds you need to build aggro on safe levels.

There are exceptions to everything. I'm T4 / badge geared myself and so are most of the people I run heroics with. With green geared dps or healer, mana breaks will become a necessity and so may using crowd control. Even then I try to keep the pace. I tell rogues to go in first, use sprint if you must but if the mobs aren't sapped when I'm in range, I will pull anyway. This usually causes people to be proactive. If the rogues already know they will sap, why do they have to wait for the marks? Why not at least go right to the mobs if marks are used? Sap will then happen immediately rather than waiting 5-6 seconds until the rogue sneaks his way to the mob. If I charge I really love mages who wait for that first thunderclap before sheeping. If I pull I love mages who sheep the mobs where they are rather than let them walk to me before sheeping. With the ranged taunt, secondary CC like blind is less necessary, but if a mob goes for ranged dps or healer it should be rogues first action to immediately blind it, paladin to stun it, etc.

Disclaimer,
while running with guildmates I throw even what little caution I have to the wind and go for the fun. Wipes happen a lot more than they should which shows miscalculation can be costly. Shadowlabs can still screw you over royally if you do a charge instead of a pull at wrong place, no matter how much fun charging in is. Right now I'm bordering on overconfidence, but I trust Wotlk will teach me some habits once I get to 80. x)

But still, chain pulling for the win!

TankSpot - Blogs - Extrasensory Tank Sense by Hurmeli

Confidence while tanking