Fresh tank seeking advice

[Mark of Tread]

This weekend I sm going to offically enter into low level tanking for the first time, we're talking RFC and DM low. Now I've done the other roles DPS and Healing before which has its own challenges, but i've always personally felt tanking is the more challenging and taxing of roles in WoW due in a big part to PUGs. Before I throw myself into the lion's den, I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on what I can expect starting out, and also what do you do when your put in charge of a uncooropitive group without just disbanding or kicking players.

[MellvarTank]

what I can expect starting out

Severe frustration followed by periods of binge drinking. You are going to get called names for being new, and people are impatient.

also what do you do when your put in charge of a uncooropitive group without just disbanding or kicking players.

Drop group and get another one later. It's a game, and it's not worth the frustration of having to deal with those people. Some groups are good, some are bad.... I've found a lot are bad actually. Just drop group and pick up another one later. Don't get frustrated and don't lose heart, most people forget that you actually have to learn how to tank.

[Kytana]

What class/race were you planning on playing?

[Mark of Tread]

draenei paladin, i already have exp as a ret and holy so i am the most comfortable in that class

[Mark of Tread]

Severe frustration followed by periods of binge drinking.

Haha well said yeaaa I still have plent of beer left from my healer days

[Itsover]

As a tank you'll be first to get praise and the first to get blamed for everything. You learn how to gauge your healer and youll get a hang of how much you can multi tank. Not a lot of boss moving or anything till you start hitting 10/25 man content stuff. Just throw some hit in as your lvling and youll be fine.

[halcaeon]

You are going to get called names for being new, and people are impatient.

Don't get frustrated and don't lose heart, most people forget that you actually have to learn how to tank.

THIS. Tanking is challenging and often thankless work. The best advice I can give is tank at your own pace. You set the tempo for your group in most cases. Don't be afraid to pull small and tank so that it's comfortable for you.

Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. Wiping because you were pressured into a situation you couldn't handle is no fun.

Learn your class from the tanks who have gone before. Maintankadin, Tankspot and Elitist Jerks have outstanding advice.

Finally learn which of your abilities generate the most threat, and always keep your taunts handy.

Tank hard, have fun, get loot.



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[Mark of Tread]

THIS. Tanking is challenging and often thankless work.

I work cutomer service I am use to it.

Thanks for all the advice though people. It sounds like it will be an uphill battle but worth it.

[optimum45]

Well, I'm an elder Paladin Tank these days. My best advice is as follows:

Practice pulls and holding group aggro early. Gaining those skills and understanding of your own abilities will make it easier than learning it at the end. Tanking is a lot about knowledge. Knowing what to do, knowing what the monsters and bosses can do, and knowing what your people can do. As long as you keep learning, you'll be fine

The learning curve can be rough, especially with the spoiled Lich King kids out there who always expect everything to go perfectly. Just remember that we all have to start somewhere. And if you run across one of those pompous asses out there who wants to lord themself over you because you're new, remind them that you're still in charge of the group, and they can leave (and wait 10-20 minutes for a different tank).

[Slamdew]

This may not be the place for this but here goes.

alot of the 10 man raid usually have a MT and an OT, both have a role of taunting off each other if the boss/situation arises/required for mechanics of the fight. Can some one tell me what I need to do as a prot-pali to taunt from main tank and then allow the main tank to taunt off me to repull agro. I have heard it spoken of but never defined.

Thanx
Slamdew- Mugthol

[Aggathon]

Severe frustration followed by periods of binge drinking.

My guild's name isn't <Probably Drunk> for no reason.

[Shieldie]

This may not be the place for this but here goes.

alot of the 10 man raid usually have a MT and an OT, both have a role of taunting off each other if the boss/situation arises/required for mechanics of the fight. Can some one tell me what I need to do as a prot-pali to taunt from main tank and then allow the main tank to taunt off me to repull agro. I have heard it spoken of but never defined.

Thanx
Slamdew- Mugthol

this is definately the wrong place. but um... just... cast hand of reckoning on the mob you wanna taunt... and when its the other tanks turn... dont cast anything :P

to the OP:
wait til you are level 20 and have consecration, its prettymuch all lowlevel paladins have going for them, without it you will just be judging every 10 seconds, and autoattacking. The good thing is consecration is very OP in earlier levels of the game and you should never have to worry about losing aggro aslong as the mobs are in it, just mark your targets and dont be afraid to explain what you want the rest of the group to do, weither they listen or not is a different story tho...

[Baggor]

One of the biggest things you'll need to learn is situational awareness. Unlike any other class, you need to be aware of everything going on around you, including:

1. Where party members are located
2. Where potential mobs are that may get aggroed, or have been aggroed
3. How you have the various mobs positioned to reduce damage to yourself and to the other party members
4. Current health and mana status of your party
5. Preferred kill order for the mobs (the need for this can vary a lot depending on your healer and level of dps)
6. In lower level instances CC can be more important. This is also true for some of the trash in PoS and HoR

As far as uncooperative groups, there's not a lot you can do. Just don't put up with it. It's too easy to find groups now as a tank using the dungeon tools.

And by far the best piece of advice I've ever received as a tank was "Don't Panic, Relax, and take the extra second to decide what to do". An example of this would be if another player pulls aggro on a mob. Don't panic and rush it. Take the extra second to target the correct mob then do your taunt. If you rush and taunt the wrong target then you need to wait for the CD. In most cases another player won't get one-shot by trash, and that's what healers are for.

[Mark of Tread]

Hey all thanks for keep the thread going, I am alive and still getting ready to enter the tanking world, got sidetracked a little but I am fully back and will let you know how it goes. Thanks for all the great advice! Let's hope I don't suck!

Also for anyone who wants to give me any more tips, or mock me to hell and back here is my RealID e-mail: tread322@twcny.rr.com

[PimpJuice4]

THIS. Tanking is challenging and often thankless work. The best advice I can give is tank at your own pace. You set the tempo for your group in most cases. Don't be afraid to pull small and tank so that it's comfortable for you.

as far as setting your own pace and pulling small.what do you do with the people who get impatient and eather make comments(which ya,my attitude is alot different tanking then it is with dps,i get irritated easier).or start leaving group,because you cant solo a 5 man and its pretty pointless if i que up and everyone leaves half way thru the instance

just something thats kinda gotten on my nervs when i tank.or is this just how it goes when it comes to tanking,because ive always just dpsed but after seeing how fast tank queues are,im probably gonna spec prot when i hit 80 on my warrior(or at least until i get geared up to pull good dps as fury)

[Insahnity]

As a tank you'll be first to get praise and ...

I want to know what alternative reality you reside in where tanks get praise. Either they get blamed if things go wrong, and nothing if things go right, and same goes for healing, whereas DPS gets at least a pat on the back for topping the charts. The only time a tank gets praised if they are the last person standing because the entire raid is dead, and the tank holds on JUST long enough for the boss to die from the DoTs or the tank's meagre DPS is enough to carry through before their HP diminishes. Then there is a great cheer in vent if you manage to hold out and win, and I'm sure as DPS or a healer you have seen this. These moments are few and far in between, and as a healer you don't even get that much.

One of the biggest things you'll need to learn is situational awareness. Unlike any other class, you need to be aware of everything going on around you, including:

1. Where party members are located
2. Where potential mobs are that may get aggroed, or have been aggroed
3. How you have the various mobs positioned to reduce damage to yourself and to the other party members
4. Current health and mana status of your party
5. Preferred kill order for the mobs (the need for this can vary a lot depending on your healer and level of dps)
6. In lower level instances CC can be more important. This is also true for some of the trash in PoS and HoR

As far as uncooperative groups, there's not a lot you can do. Just don't put up with it. It's too easy to find groups now as a tank using the dungeon tools.

And by far the best piece of advice I've ever received as a tank was "Don't Panic, Relax, and take the extra second to decide what to do". An example of this would be if another player pulls aggro on a mob. Don't panic and rush it. Take the extra second to target the correct mob then do your taunt. If you rush and taunt the wrong target then you need to wait for the CD. In most cases another player won't get one-shot by trash, and that's what healers are for.

This is some good advice. Situational awareness is what makes a great raider, but only tanks are forced to learn this in non-cutting edge content.

As for patience, my best advice is to learn tanking with a giuld. You could learn to tank on a pug, but get ready to exercise your thick skin.

Finally, although this site is a little thin on tanking beyond end-game, the foundations do exists here more so than anywhere else. You may have to dig, and even go into old guides like the Evil Empire guides, but it's there. After that it's practice practice practice.

[Unger]

Ill add my 2 cents here.....

My first piece of advice is to not get in over your head. If your guild isnt ready for ICC 25, run a 25 TOC first. Part of running a group is winning them over. You get that when you have success.

Second, especially if you are in a leadership role, KNOW what you are talking about. Tankspot has videos for almost all of the encounters you could be facing. Watch them and then read the ENTIRE thread. Make sure you are as prepared as you can be. People will notice.

Start with that. Good luck

[halcaeon]

as far as setting your own pace and pulling small.what do you do with the people who get impatient and eather make comments(which ya,my attitude is alot different tanking then it is with dps,i get irritated easier).or start leaving group,because you cant solo a 5 man and its pretty pointless if i que up and everyone leaves half way thru the instance

You can't fix rude or impatient people. After teaching a few friends to tank, I've found that the majority of people, especially dps (who have to suffer through terrifically long queue times compared to tanks and healers) will bear with a new or slow tank as long as you're setting a constant pace.

No one wants to to wipe because you pulled three packs, trying to keep your group from quitting. I get irritated with rude people on WoW too, but quite frankly you can always ignore them. Just do your job, get your badges, and gear up. Every pull can be a learning experience.

They should QQ less and DPS moar, imo.

[Timberton]

In the low levels, you wills see:

1. healers are overpowered. In the low levels some healers with BOA gear can keep up stuff like rogues/mages through 2-3-4 elites attacking said rogue. (i know, cuz i done it).

2. Be prepared to loose aggro a lot in the low levels

3. Most people you encounter are leveling low level alts, they WILL pull ahead of you, WILL focus on non focus target, and WILL aoe stuff the first chance they get (stfu...i have a lvl 80 main and thats how i do my heroic level 80 dungeons, HEROIC! not normal dungeons...phhh*proceeds to aoe*)

4. Healers run out of mana (ya, shocker, i know). Do watch healer mana and don't engage next pack if it's below 30%. Chances are you won't make it out alive.

Tough it out till high lvl 40's. That's where the tank gets more importance, and dps behaves a little better.
Oh ya, always have a hotkey assigned to "Skull". Throw it to mark the target with most threat on/to be killed first. It helps