AIGHT. im doing it. Tell me how to tank

Tank main for 3 seasons of DF. Here are my findings;

  • There is big magnifying glass on your position; you and the healer set the pace of the dungeon and what is fast and slow can vary by the capabilities of each group.

  • Have thick skin; like healers often were blamed for nothing because someone isn’t happy with how we’re leading. There is always some love for constructive criticism tho.

  • Have the healers resources on your screen. At the very least their mana bar (can set this up in interface).

I have a very diverse group of friends in regards to skill/effort - I’d say a measure of patience helps too!

perhaps it is an old school rule, but I still think that it promotes an awareness that is necessary for group success.

but I would argue that it is still necessary in actual current game play.

in content with large mob counts, our aoe abilities are almost always capped or have significantly diminishing returns.

and when dealing with lots of mobs, there is lots of damage requiring lots of healing. this means that healer threat becomes significant during these times.

the healer, of course, needs to run aggroed mobs to the tank, but the tank should also be aware that the healer is under attack.

I often say “I save my taunt button for the healer”.

with current addons, though, it can be pretty straightforward to protect the healer and everyone. Plater tells you when you have aggro and when you don’t. in many ways, aoe aggro control can be as simple as making sure all of the name plates are the correct color :slight_smile:

but I stand with my comment about mindset that the two basic tank rules inculcate:

-keep yourself alive
-keep the healer alive.

1 Like

M0 is rotating cds, not now and then lol.

Bear druid is the easiest, and it isn’t close.

Quazii on YT actually has amazing tank guides. Starting for people that have never tanked.

DH Tank is super fun, DK is boring but good. You just dps, and tell everyone else to wait 3 seconds. Ez.

I’ll take the bait.

Be considerate of others.

Bear
Warrior
VDH
Blood DK
Prot Pal
Brewmaster Monk

That is my list of tanks from easiest to hardest. Bear is above and beyond the easiest and most forgiving. I personally like VDH and prot pally the most. Prot pally has an easy rotation but I’ve seen a lot of prot pallies never use their utility like Blessings and Lay on Hands, or even brez. If you can do that, then prot pally is easy too.

Run to last boss and push all your buttons.

Good luck.

Get a good nameplate addon to indicate which mobs you dont have agro on.
Learn your defensives and openers.
Allow the healer to enjoy the run by pulling what your capable of tanking yourself.

Run into a group and punch keyboard.
Use defensive cooldowns when you know damage is coming/after it happens.
If die, blame healer.

Prot Pally is pretty Bonkers atm.

Mount up, run through 17 packs, complain when the healer dies… you’ll get it.

Prot Warrior.

Easy to play, tankiest of the tanks, so many freakin stuns and the mountain thane bolts of lightning shooting out our butts when we AoE is fun stuff.

ALso playing with elemental shamen in our group is great too…it’s just nothing but lightning and thunder :slight_smile:

1 Like

I ran a follower dungeon as a DPS and got a chance to see how the AI runs and it was funny. the Tank was pulling then running waaaaay back. The druid at least I think it was a druid was ahead fighting a completely different group. The hunter was jumping and running in circles and I have no idea where the healer was even at but they showed up after everything was dead.

Walk around like you own the place. Also, yell at an occasional random DPS just to make sure everyone knows who’s in charge.

1 Like

Lol, you will be kicked out a lot till you get the hang of it, so expect a lot of hate, and learn the class and skills like I mean it learn, and understand the dungeon and how to pull what to pull, mass pull…etc… been taking since WoD and I still mess up sometimes good luck

oh and I hate dps

Also always always blame the healer if you die ( for new tanks) , and the dps if they did not kill mob fast enough.

Sadly I die always last one which sometimes makes healer look bad maybe idk

Edit:

Tank is fun if you make it fun, if you are being forced to tank just to save time or whatever, dont do it…

Tanking is like taking care of four whiny, unruly adults who think they can do whatever they want. You’re holding their hands, guiding them down the right path while telling them what needs to be done, and yet you’ll still run into a few who say, “You’re not my mom,” and do whatever they feel like. It’s like the worst job in the world, and without a paycheck!

Solid plan!

Blood DK definitely isnt the easiest tank. It has sooooo many CDs!

I think the biggest thing about tanking is grabbing aggro and surviving. The default specs you see posted on wowhead/icyveins may not actually be your best. And go at your own pace. Don’t let groups decide how you pull. Use your big tank CDs for larger pulls.

Make all the mobs angry at you and don’t die. Watch some Taktycs videos. Focus target your healer to help keep them alive and track mana. Find a class you enjoy and sport fabulous transmogs! Can not emphasize the transmog part enough!!