After playing only dps for years I decided to try out a new role, and so I decided to tank. I had tanked in the past while leveling or doing heroic dungeons so as to get shorter queues and didn’t have much troubles but since the fights are pretty dulled down there I wanted to try the real thing.
Not wanting to waste anyone’s key I joined a mythic 0 freehold run so has to get one for myself on a 403 vengeance dh. It went pretty smoothly, I didn’t die (some people did, hard to say if it was my fault or not because of the my lack of experience) and I discovered one of the hardest part of being a tank : people follow you, and I didn’t remember the best skips but there was no timer so it was fine. We finish the dungeon and all is fine but as I leave the group one of the dps says in /say that I am the worst tank ever. He did die during the run and maybe it was my fault but I really can’t tell so I might aswell move on.
I got a +3 key for Atal Dazar and so I went and formed a group, as it was my key it wasn’t a big deal if we didn’t do it on time, and I did that dungeon several times a dps so I actually knew the skipping paths. So we get to Rezzan and immediatly one of the dps dies, I am a bit surpised as I still have aggro and they are no adds, then another one and then a third one as I start to get flak in the group chat. Still confused as I didn’t loose aggro I finally realize what’s going on, they were getting caught by the big T-rex. Now I don’t know the mechanics very well and didn’t see anything in the adventurer’s guide saying otherwise but I assumed I couldn’t prevent the big dino to go after you and the dps just had to run away which I pointed out in the chat.
That was another bad idea. One of the dps starts to flame me even more in the group chat but we eventually finish the boss. We keep going and finish the dungeon, and also on time. The very angry dps wasn’t done as he kept whispering me, I tried to understand what was the problem and he said that he got caught because he was feared since I didn’t position the boss right. I will admit I completly messed up the fear mechanic so my bad I guess but still, rude. After that I had some shopping to do and I logged off.
Thinking back on my tanking experience I wonder if I should carry on or just go back to dps ? Although I certainly did noobish mistakes on those runs in the end we were successful and to get that much flak for just a normal mythic and a +3 makes me dreadful of what awaits me at more challenging content.
Nobody starts tanking with full knowledge. You need to learn to do it well. This includes things like positioning bosses, dealing with affixes, etc. You can learn a lot from guides and videos, but the best way is practice.
It’s very different looking at a fight from a DPS or healer point of view, than from the tank’s. So the best way to learn is by doing it.
Keep doing it, and /ignore complainers freely. There will be many. The tank and/or the healer is always to blame. If the complaints aren’t constructive, /ignore away. But if they are, listen and learn. There are thankfully a lot of helpful people out there who’ll point out mistakes, but the moment you say you’re a tank-in-learning, they’ll happily help and explain things.
Tips for tanking in wow: do it in a guild or community.
Pugs aren’t worth the vitriol.
Being a tank is a learning process. You get a feel for it over time. It takes actual tries to learn this though, no amount if swotting up and youtubing will help. Doing this learning in a chill community is best as you won’t get flak for it.
It’s just unfortunate that tanks lead, so when we mess up, it’s obvious and people don’t hold back. It’s very unusual that people get verbally called out on doing crappy dps and it’s generally seen as elitist to do such. Go figure.
I used to be a slow, overly careful tank. Did many runs, getting much better now. Tanks have to learn routes and skips as well so our role is a bit more demanding than others, because the route plays a huge part in key timing. This is the part of the tank that took me time to build confidence on.
Tsrget your weakest dungeons on purpose and learn them. When you get to a point where you know them all, you’re good. You’ll still have weak ones though. For example I hate motherlode and siege, but that’s probably because I’ve done them least across my chats. Conversely Underrot and dazar alor I can do from muscle memory almost.
This is why I do not read chat, when I tank. They can follow me or not. I will not die, they will. Up to them. If they dislike my routes, they can leave. Maybe this is a bit arrogant approach, but the amount of tank ‘experts’ I meet is too darn high.
Zen Horde for horde as well. I’m in it and its pretty amazing.
If your char is horde and you drop by feel free to whisp or message me as I’m always happy to help others get on the tanking wagon. I don’t know every tank but I play DK, warrior and Monk currently at the 10-12 range (haven’t really cared to try and push higher but I may try on this guy as DK is the tank I’m loving most so far)
Being a tank in low difficulty content (starting at level 15 dungeon finder up to +10 keystone pugs) means becoming a literal tard wrangler.
You listed several examples already - DPS dying to little compys that randomly jump or not running away from the boss or even blaming you for them not LoSing the fear.
Other than that, I would just point out that DH isn’t the best newbie tank.
If you’re serious about tanking and want to learn it, I would go paladin - they have multiple panic buttons, great self sustain and are easy to pick up while still performing great at higher difficulties or raids.
Check out scared of dungeons, the people there are awesome. I have chars there too and you won’t go wrong if you try to learn tanking in their company.
I’m mainly horde these days but on the off chance you join, if you catch jinjo online that’s my brewmaster, again happy to assist if I’m about.
FWIW, there’s also the Boost Buddies (Free Boosting with Boost Buddies), always welcoming new people of all skill & gear levels. Learn while gearing! We have some amazing tanks, and a whole bunch of friendly people who are happy to help you get better at tanking.
Good DPS will adapt to less than ideal positioning, and LoS the fear anyway. Positioning the boss in a less than ideal way was your fault. Them getting feared wasn’t - it was theirs.
I dunno man. If they were getting caught by pursuit routinely, that suggests it may be as much their fault. Rezan has a big ramp up on it, so even with fear, he takes a while to get onto you.
The only place you can tank Rezan that creates big Los issues is the stairs or to the left of the stairs. Everywhere else there is somewhere within fair distance people can hide behind tbh. Obviously it helps to tank him nearby!
If I see the tank not positioning by the books, I’m not gonna sit and eat the fear or anything in that matter, I’ll simply take it in account.
Also, if you’re not using it already, I’d recommend a nameplate AddOn - I’m using Kui nameplates for example.
If you switch to tank spec, the nameplates will change colors depending on your aggro so you will always know what to swap.
One thing as tank you have to learn is to not take your own mistakes into heart. It is after all just a game. Yes we all mess up at times. And its fine too.
That fear thing - sure you positioned it wrong, does not excuse for dps getting feared either.
This. DPS and healers need to take responsibility for their own safety because sometimes a tank messes up or is compromised.
Good example, the krolusk riders in ToS. Sometimes a tank my be rotating around to aggro other mobs like the snakes, or pulling them back out of dust clouds. In an ideal world the tank faces the pack away from the party so the breath doesn’t hit the group.
If the tank is moving the pack, the krolusk may cast breath towards the group. In this situation dps need to take initiative and move out the way, rather than take the hit and blame the tank.
The only thing the tank is directly responsible for saving the group from is auto attacks and targeted abilities which hit the highest threat target. Aoes, or other abilities the tank can make easier for the group but the responsibility to ensure they take no damage at the end of the day is theirs.
I’m in a similar boat as you, actually. Came back to the game some months ago after a really long break and wanted to give tanking an honest try. It’s always been my dream role but back when I raided with a somewhat “serious” progression guild throughout Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King, I was told that girls make terrible tanks and are rarely competitive as damage dealers so I was relegated to healer role.
It was a terribly stupid statement but as WoW was my first real MMO and I was young, I believed it and it eventually drove me from the game.
When I first ran Atal’Dazar, I positioned Rezan incorrectly as well which resulted in people running over mounds and a lot of adds being summoned - half of which I couldn’t grab aggro on before they spread out and vigorously humped the other party members. Been called some not very nice things and two players left right after that.
I felt like an absolute failure and figured my old guildies must have been right. Really enjoyed the playstyle however and didn’t want to just give up on it so I went in again and again.
A good way to practice while on your own is challenging yourself during world quests. Pull as many enemies as you can and then do your best to not only stay alive but use cooldowns sparingly (instead of “blowing your load” right at the start) and to positions mobs more strategically while also interrupting as many dangerous spells as you can. Trying to solo those commanders in Naz’jatar is also fun if you’re not overgeared.
Do not let other people deter you from what you like and sour you on the game.
Unlike most, I disagree that being a good damage dealer is easy. They have to do all the song and dance that the tanks and healers do and while the tank has to focus on positioning and defense management and the healer has to focus on team mates and mana management, the damage dealers have to focus on interrupts and rotation management to pump out those sexy big numbers that prevent bosses from enraging. If you’re doing good as a DPS, you can do good as a tank or healer too. Same fights, just from different perspectives.
