[Bindi]

Hi. I'm currently working up a little prot warrior. I know a bit about level 80 tanking but I've never actually had a tank above about level 50 before. (I've loved my tanks, I'm just now getting over an inability to play any toon once that toon gets to a level to start seeing dk's.) I tanked a few old world instances on this toon, but I blew through OL way too fast to tank anything but Ramparts. So now I find myself in NR and I'm kind of lost. It didn't really occur to me that there would be such a change in mind-set between tanking ST and tanking UK. Does anyone have any advice for this level? I'm pretty sure I don't want to offer to tank things as soon as they show up on my lfg (even though my main ran everything as soon as she could and as often as she could) but what's the safe level for tanking the lower-end NR instances like UK or Nex? Is there a rule-of-thumb for how much defense I should be wearing to go into x instance at x level? Anything else I should be aware of? Thanks very much for any advice you can give me.

[MellvarTank]

Just stack as much defense gear as you can get a hold of and you should be alright. I recommend tanking some of the Outlands instances to get used to holding aggro. The thing about the Northerend instances is that if you screw up, the party wipes. Read up on the bosses so you know what to expect, make sure you can hold aggro.

As for the safe level to tank the instances? That depends on how much gear you have and how much gear the healer has. If you have a really good healer you can tank it at lowest level, if not, tank it at the top of the levels for that instance. (Like if UK is 68-70, tank it at 70.) I didn't have spectacular gear when I went into Northerend and managed just fine, so keep getting that defense gear and you will be good to go. I would also recommend you make friends with a blacksmith, as they can get you some good tank gear to level through.

[Gutfang]

I'd second the blacksmith advice. The cobalt set that blacksmiths can make fairly early on is decent enough.

I'd defintely also second going into the instances as close to instance level as possible; as being near the top end (or above it) may not help develop the skills you'll need for raiding content--in which you'll always be several levels below the mobs and bosses.

I don't know if end-game raiding is your goal, but it's good to get the practice now if it is.