[Solid Snake]

hi guys,

ive always wanted a tank and ill be hitting 70 with my NE warrior in a couple of weeks where i will be respeccing PROT with a full intention of running Kara all the way through T6 content.

anyway im new to tanking and ive been reading everything i can find and its all very good but i do have a few questions. i know theyre kinda noobish so plz bear with me.

1) during raids does the tank usually charge in or does someone like a hunter pull?

2) and if i do charge into a mob do i go directly into defensive stance and start my ability rotation on ONE MOB (if its a group) OR would i charge in and go through each mob one by one and hitting each one with shield slam so that i can draw EVERYONE'S aggro and when im done i can go back to the first mob (think skull) and then start on him with:
Shield slam -> Revenge -> Devastate -> Devastate -> repeat

3) do i go directly into the above mentioned rotation of SS - R -D -D or do i drop 5 devastates FIRST to start off and then start the 4 ability rotation?

4) Should i always renewing thunderclap when its slowing down effect wares off?

5) should i keep renewing demoralizing shout as i wears off?

6) should i keep shield block up at ALL TIMES? meaning ill activate it once and then as soon as its cooldown is complete do i activate it again OR is it to be used sparingly and in certain ocasions?

7) since devastate includes the sunder armor effect is sunder armor considered obsolete? will i EVER use this or should i go with devestate every time?

8) basically my idea of tanking is this (let me know if its wrong or what i need to change)

a) charge in
b) blood rage
c) thunderclap
d) switch to battlestance
e) demoralizing shout
f) go through mob one by one hitting each on with shield slam
g) activate shield block
h) then go back to skull and start 4 ability rotation on skull untill he's dead
i) proceed through the rest of the mob
j) if i lose aggro on mob taunt it then hit it with 4 ability rotation to increase threat and aggro
k) Keep an eye on the effects of thunderclap and demoralizing shout. when they wear off reapply and keep applied throughout the fight
l) keep shield block up at all times. activate at beginning of fight and then as the cooldown finishes reactivate so that its either on cooldown or activated AT ALL TIMES.


OK guys that all i can think of for now. I have and will keep reading all of the great resources here. thanks for the help.

THANK YOU!

PS: i realize tanking isnt so cut and dry and that sometimes i will have to deviate from the norm, I just want to have a system in place while starting off.

[crassy]

Read the guides here on the forum, there are a lot of improvements you can make. Read up on multi-mob tanking (TC now and then should be enough to keep aggro off the healer), pulling (I almost never charge) etc.

[CyCy]

Ah I suggest reading the basic guides posted here first. And i also suggest respeccing now. You truly need to learn how to manage your threat output and lead parties thru. I suggest goin back to BRD even and practicing AoE tanking w/o cc.

You are not gonna be able to just ding 70 and be able to tank heroics if your not working on your core skills and gear now. I am only 64 and worried about having enough time til 70 to prepare.

READ THE GUIDES!

[Mooshkin]

Welcome to tanking! I am a recent prot warrior respecc, lvl 67, and pretty new to Wow too (/played = 14 days).

I agree with the above posters.

I respecced when I hit the early Outland instances (Ramps / BF / SP), and still run them for the experience. I'm over-levelled now, which gives me greater margin for error while I improve. Better to cut your teeth - and make your noob mistakes - on regular 5 mans, I think. By the time you're in Kara the expectations will be higher, as will the skill level.
Learning to tank is not just about what you can do, but also the capabilities of the other classes. Between not knowing the instances (first time in), not sufficiently appreciating how group composition (eg presence/absence of CC/rogues/casters/offtanks) affects strategy, and not having my own responsibilities committed to muscle memory meant for a couple nasty, failed attempts. No doubt I'm on the /ignore list of some of the less noob-tolerant players I pugg'ed with.

Just forewarn your mates, develop a tough skin, and have fun!

To your questions:

Charge v pull: Pull if there is a risk of aggro'ing in other mob groups. Otherwise charge, and move the mobs back to an area safe from other groups / pats.

Multimobs: Generally, your combat sequence makes sense, except:
(i) You should be in Defensive Stance, not Battle.
(ii) Better/easier/faster to apply Devs on the non-Skull mobs rather than SS (cooldown, rage cost).

Keeping up shield block is battle-specific.

Do keep your shouts up if you have the rage.

Unlike Dev, Sunder can be used to build threat on CC'd mobs, without breaking control. But except for this special case, use Dev.

[protonly]

Some "answers" to your questions...

Generally you gun pull/huntard pull everything. It is just safer that way. Stick to the rotaion as close as possible as rage and the fight permits. I'm always swapping rev and dev around depending on when revenge is up. tclap and demo shout are most effective, I feel, on bosses so for boss fights it is worth it to keep them up. Now battle/commanding shout are worth keeping up all the time I think. Shield Block is situational...I use it on bosses and rarely use it on trash. Dont bother with sunder (but the talent is good to have since it helps devistate) unless you aren't in defensive stance (when OT'ing in bat/zerk u can help keep 5 sunders up).

Also be prepared for gear being a really big limitation in what you can and can't do. Tanking is the most, by far, gear dependent job in the game.

The best thing yuo can do, I think, is tank everything on regular and then a few heroics before thinking about raid tanking. Raid Tanking is another world entirely. And when you do start Raid Tanking, make sure there is a warrior tank around (either as the MT or an experienced warrior tank playing an alt of theirs) where you can ask "what do i do" for abuot every situation. I tanked Kara as a prot pally then healbotted it for over a year and just now am tanking it on a warrior alt and every pull I learn something new about warrior raid tanking. This forum is great but it really helps having an in-game resource.

[Krashtork]

Respecc now and run dungeons until 70. That's what i did. You'll learn a LOT.

[kolben]

Pulling - Most of the time it is going to make more sense to simply pull with your ranged weapon. I have not seen a mob pack that needed the extended range of a hunter until SSC/TK, in that case it is very useful to have a hunter Misdirect Pull onto whatever tank has the first mob to die.

Shield Block/Thunderclap/Demoralizing Shout - Yes, shoot for 100% uptime on all three on bosses. Don't bother with Shield Block on trash.

Rotations - Lately I spam Devastate to x5 applications of Sunder armor as I'm picking up the mob/boss and I'll toss in a Demo Shout/Thunderclap. Then I start working the rotation, although I may throw in a shield slam the first time it lights up. The point is to never miss a Shield Slam or Revenge once you get 5 sunders up.

Experience - You need to go get lots of experience. Nothing you read on this forum or any other will substitute for that. It's a good foundation of knowledge, but experience is something you have to go get for yourself.