So I want to get into tanking, since I started wow a few months ago I’ve only played DPS. I tried being a DH tank but my build was wrong and I didn’t have a clue how to tank in wow.
So I want to reroll a proper tank and learn how to tank starting in lower lvl dungeons. The tank will mainly be used for Raids, Dungeons and Mythic with some BG later on.
My problem is which tank spec would be good for a newbie to learn that doesn’t want to run around like a bear (druid) or a monk class.
I’d prefer a plate/mail spec for extra defence while I’m learning the tank spec.
I’d recommend to start with paladin. Started my tank adventure with paladin as well back in BFA and I love this spec these days still. Easy to grab the aggro, can heal yourself. The rotation is not difficult either.
Tbh wearing plate doesn’t make you tankier than the leather tanks.
My PoV:
The easiest tank to start would be probably the Druid, he has a low skill cap for starters and is straight forward, not too many CDs to deal with and good self healing options if you messed up.
Almost the same goes for DH although his active mitigation is a bit more complex.
If you want to go down the plate route I’d say warrior is your choice. He has very good mobility, AoE and defense of course. His self healing is much more limited than paladin and DK but it’s no problem if you can deal with his active mitigation.
Paladin and DK are less reliant on the healer if things go bad, but as a new player you might struggle with their limited AoE abilities and mobility compared to the other tanks.
As much as I love DK, I would not recommend it unless you want to dive into his mechanics. There’s a common saying: “healers can’t save DKs, if they die it’s their fault” and that’s mostly true.
So I’d recommend warrior or paladin out of the plate section depending on wether you feel more comfortable with more AoE and mobility or self sustain and utility.
In my opinion depends on what you like and how’s your playstyle.
I, for example, mainly play Blood Death Knight and I find Prot Paladin one of the most difficult tanks to play after the ‘DRW playstyle’ that got introduced in season 4 Shadowlands.
I think, though I’m not well informed, the best tank this season could be Prot Warrior so you might want to give it a shot.
I could recommend Blood Death Knight but honestly you should try different tanks and find the playstyle you like; for me all depends on playstyle rather than META, for you might be different.
I thought about druid but I don’t wanna collect cosmetics and just be in bear form for 95% of the time I play.
Thank you for the advice so far. I honestly don’t care what the meta is as I tend to stay away from the meta in every game I play because I play for fun than following what everyone else says is the best for the job in hand.
Meta is nothing to avoid, since it doesn’t affect your learning in any way. If we are talking about meta we are talking about maybe the 10% top players.
In this case it’s not only about one class but entire groups, that work well together.
If your tank is meta, it’s just that. Can change next season and you are at the bottom.
Having fun and being comfortable with your spec is the most important part.
Maybe it would be a good idea to say what you expect your class to be and what is your biggest fear/weakness. You said you messed up your DH build but what exactly was your problem with your build? Or was it your gear?
Gear and basic lack of knowledge on how to tank in general, also a badly planned talent tree. For me DH feels more a DPS spec than a tank class.
As for my expectations a tank should be able to take damage,hold aggro or at least pull it back if the DPS’s get overwhelmed and be able to survive. Those are just the basics of a tank for me. Also for me a tank is a group focused class so should be able to benefit the entire group via some form healing or damage boosting buffs.
My fear/weaknesses would be lack of dungeon knowledge,how much or little to pull. Again iv only play a few months so dungeon knowledge is extremely lacking since I just used to wait for tank to pull them dash in and do my standard button rotation until things died then repeat. Also not being able to survive through longer fights against bosses.
I have tried reading/watching videos on how to tank but everyone has differing opinions and differing levels of exp doing the tank spec as it is mainly focused on 1 area of the game and not a wider selection. As doing larger pulls of trash might work better in raids but when your doing M+ it requires a different mentality due to party size.
So I think I’m asking what’s a good around tank spec/class to learn that isn’t just focused on 1 part of the game but that isn’t a druid as I like to see the transmog armour/weapons iv collected and change to depending on my mood.
Atm I’m leveling both a pally and a blood DK. I’m finding the pally a bit easier to understand and survive with than the DK.
In terms of dungeon knowledge, it’s just the right time to dive into it. Nobody has a clue atm.
As tank you’ll have to know the focus targets to know if you can pull big and what needs to die, so you can keep going.
Last weekend I just wrote down all my notes and have their nameplates marked depending on what I need to focus on now.
In normals and HCs healers are carrying you. I dislike that, but it’s a fact that they will heal every bit of damage you get unless it’s chaos or you pull too much.
The pala is definitely more straight forward than the DK, but having a good DK tank needs barely anything from the healer, so he is free to do some stuff or can ignore you and pamper the DPS.
The paladin has more utility to protect the group though. His 2 interrupts are a blessing in random groups.
I try to be neutral… But as a BDK main I can just say BDK is the best xD
In terms of survivability all 3 plate tanks are good if you can play them, but I think paladin punishes less if you make a mistake, while DK is straight dead if you fail.
Those guides are mostly about progress groups that you might not fit in as new player. Every tank can do everything. If we are talking about performance they are pretty balanced… At least most of them. Idk the state of the monk.
In terms of Aggro you’ll have more problems with your damage dealers than your class itself. They attack random enemies, pull trash packs, attacking early during pulls… You will always struggle with it. That’s just the tank pendant to the healers struggle of “standing in fire”
I think that’s why starting to level both is going to be a good fit for me then. As I can gain exp as a tank with pally and not get punished as much if/when I do mess up compared to the DK due to the healing it has etc. I think once I get more comfortable with the tanking role il move onto the DK.
That’s why I wanted to start getting into the tanking role since it’s a new expac so mistakes and such this early won’t be as punishing compared to when I tried tanking.
The guides and such probably do not benefit me as much right now.
As for DD I understand that and I made those mistakes very early on as one myself. So il be looking out for that to start with.
Thank you again for taking the time and giving me advice it’s more than welcomed.