2H Tanks, when did this become a thing?

Why is this a thing? Is it a way for mediocre tanks who struggle with threat generation and aggro control to do better? I’ve run a fair amount of dungeons now to come to the conclusion that a sword and board tank is much preferred for me as a healer.

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They existed in vanilla… mostly at lower levels. It’s not new.

I’ll take an “ok” tank over no tank. I have dungeon quests for nice loot. I can either accept a longer run using an “ok” tank versus sitting around for even longer waiting for an “optimal” tank.

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the thought is, if they hold aggro they are better regardless what the healer’s mana says.

they usually die above lvl 25 (gnomer) beyond trash from my experience

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Pre 40’s everything dies so fast, theres really no point.

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Have to understand also…players are more familiar with WoW and will often be much more competent.

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This as well.

This isn’t new, fresh, never-seen-before content. There are literally hundreds of videos on how to play vanilla with off-the-wall specs, classes, less people, etc that many discovered on private servers. These will translate over.

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You have to understand…we play with zoomers who just want to AOE everything down just like retail - even though they complained they hated that - and the only way a warrior can generate decent threat is with dps through a 2H.

Didn’t players complain how boring retail was that CC is not required in retail, but now it’s seldom used.

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Damn it all to high heaven if i can’t score a crit to keep up said AoE! only thing sucks but ey, still better than retail lol

I’ve healed my brother playing 2h tank from deadmines through sm cath. Then we 2manned the first half of uldaman with him being 2h.

He never executes or uses heroic strike. I never pull aggro healing. I use less healing overall since he holds threat better than 1h shield tanks and not having to aoe heal. Runs go faster since mobs die faster.

I will say this. At 40, I feel like the game anticipates him being in full plate instead of mail and leather. His hp gets chunked now even on quest mobs. When he gets full plate we will further test to see how viable 2h tanking is above 40 but up until he gets full plate it is a hard no.

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Did you start your 1/50 runs? Reins of the Swift Stormsaber await you…

I seen alot of them. Most of them are just mindless dps warriors who don’t use taunt or sunder armor. They also don’t read party chat and don’t wait for casters to drink. Charge to 6 elite mobs and group wiped. Then the “tank” complained why the healer wasn’t healing him. Truly amazing.

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I don’t know what the 1/50 runs part means lol.

Its better at lower levels than a shield (like actually better- till mid 40s at least), but its also a trap for bad tanks. Good tanks, you wont even notice hes wearing a 2h and packs will die faster.

2h tanking is amazing, you generate more tps AND do damage like a dedicated dps.

You take a little bit more damage, but any good tank will have a sword and board macro that they switch to when theyre taking heavy damage.

2h tanking has always been a thing. I even 2h tank in BRD except for a good chunk of bosses and certain large packs. Just gotta know the class and watch mana bars more than with a shield

Its not the 2h, its the tank

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Yup. I’ve started letting the tank die when they charge into two groups without looking at my mana or right as I sit down to drink. It gets the point across very effectively.

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For warriors Arms, or 2h fury are the way to level. So its possible that for warriors that dont tank dungeons a ton they may not have a sword and shield good enough for their level. They may also not have used a 1h weapon in several levels and their weapon skill may be very low. So if you want them to tank today, and not wait for them to level their 1h weapon. 2h may be the best option at low levels.

I wouldn’t purposely let them die, that shows poor teamwork on your part. I’d try my best to heal them (I like a challenge) but if I OOM, I make sure they’re aware, even if it’s as soon as they charge. That way, the group knows he ran in before the group was ready.

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Its done at low levels, and max level by highly geared warriors. Here’s why.

Blizzard nerfed warrior rage generation in vanilla a bunch of times to bring high end fury and arms warriors down a bit. They did not adjust for tanking considerations. Thus, sword and board warriors got rekt. At low level they cant get enough rage. At high gearing, they can’t get enough rage.

Wait till you get to 60 and learn about the bare chested pantless 2h tanking done by warriors because our tier gear makes us unable to get enough rage to tank 5 mans lol.

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I will agree with this sentiment. I feel that ZF is now the difficult part of 2h tanking as I take much more damage. I didn’t have these issues while tanking earlier dungeons

You did it once. You need to do it 49 more times…

You forgot our conversation. And I thought we were connecting.

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I’m still struggling to wake up after waiting too late in the evening to take some night time cold medicine.