So I thought I would give tanking a shot, it was a bad idea

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)

3 Likes

I am ally unfortunately but thanks for the offer.

Ah. Here, then, for anyone seeking a community Horde-side

1 Like

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.

1 Like

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.

1 Like

To be fair I am pretty sure it was my fault for the fear part, I doubt all three dps messed up :grin:

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.

3 Likes

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!

2 Likes

What Tinkspring said.

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.

4 Likes

Ah I see, well at least I will know where to put the big dino next time :grin:

2 Likes

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.

4 Likes

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.

1 Like

Don’t stop tanking if you enjoy it!

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.

Good luck out there!

8 Likes

Wow… That’s like so stupid, glad you persevered.

1 Like

They do… that’ll be a change; one of the reason I dont tank in WoW now.

Any tank can keep aggro and stay alive but the hallmark of a good tank is knowing what to do.

You could learn before you do stuff. Crazy, I know.

Carry on… only way to get better… no one is born the expert and if they are not able to understand it, well it is not your problem. Just let them know that you are new to this role, i think some of the anger is coming from what they expect… that is why saying you are new will get rid of this feeling in them.

Professionals are not born, they’re made.

Only people who’ve never tanked think that tanking is an easy task. Tank is a person who has to know:
-all boss and mob’s abilities

  • all mechanics
  • positioning of dps and healer

As for m+, people usually give U the lead. Tank is the person responsible for the whole route, exact % and possible skips.

As for Rezan, he targets dps and chase them. So they need to run from him till the chase is gone. But sometimes he’s bugged. Though you see the time is over, he can still eat you and kill.

If you want to become a tank, than watch twitch tank’s POVs, some youtube guides and train yourself in terms of learning every boss ability and adds’ skills. Noboy told you, it was easy. You need to practice much and learn a lot. But the result is worth it, trust me. Don’t try to get into +10 immediately. Start with some easy keys: normal mythics=>+3-6 keys=>+7-10=>10-14=>15+

Good luck

3 Likes

well while you might have positioned the boss terrible and everyone got feared, it is definitely not the problem that one of those bozos got caught.
The fear ends already before he starts chasing someone.

btw key below +10 is just torture. People are wanna be pros and think they are not doing anything wrong but just play terrible.
Obviously if you tank a +3 and never even tanked AD and it is only the second dungeon you ever tanked on mythic without knowing and studying it already as a dps, you are definitely part of the terrible experience in low keys.

I play tank, dps and heal, but I always start by doing all keys of new expac on +0 first to learn mechanics.
Skips you will learn later or you could even ask your group where to go. But if you don’t know mechanics as either role, than it has nothing to do with tanking

tanking has never been easier. I only started tanking because instant invites. Everything including a +10 is easy as long as you have run the dungeons several times.
Skips and % is not even really important in the +0-10 because you can time it regardless

To be fair we finished it on time so could have gone worse :grin:

1 Like