I’m at level 49 atm, and this assertion is largely misguided. There are numerous dungeons that have a wide level range, SFK and Ulda are pretty notable examples off the top of my head. For SFK specifically, there’s virtually zero reason to use a sword and board if you’re the correct level for it (e.g. around 23) early on, since the early mobs are level 20 tops. You’re effectively losing damage, and thus making the run needlessly longer. 99% of leveling dungeons involve people just going ham from the start, so getting threat early is a pretty big deal. There are certain spots where damage is simply too much to reasonably heal through, which is where S&B comes into play. A good player knows when to use a 2H or S&B.
Lots of us do use shields when needed, especially at higher levels. Dps not waiting is apart of the problem. I can 2h tank and hold better aggro than with a 1h. Warriors in these leveling dungs are solid if they can just hold aggro and keep mobs grouped. Their aoe threat isn’t great and not many people are leveling prot bc it’s painfully slow when questing. Also there are PLENTY of priest and pallys who slap on int gear and call themselves healers, even tho they are dps spec. Stop coming at tanks like they are slowing the group down when most dps don’t wait and many healers are actually dps too.
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Rage generated is based on damage taken and damage done, because the tank will take a little more damage, and do significantly more damage the tank will generate significantly more rage which means it’s significantly easier to hold aggro.
The reason you see 2h tanks take a lot more damage often isn’t even because of the 2h, but because a lot of them will improperly camp berserker stance (10% increased damage taken) instead of defensive stance (10% reduced damage taken) which makes more of a difference than having a shield vs 2h does.
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hilarious cuz me and my group did melee cleave up to lvl 50 without needing a shield. funny
get better?
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Nope.
Two-handers generate more rage. Rage allows the warrior to use more abilities, thus dealing more damage, thus generating more threat.
Taking more damage also means generating more rage, and so on.
I tanked with a 2h all the way to 60.
It’s not hard. Slap on a shield for bosses and you’re good.
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We tanked zg in vanilla with arms warriors. If you have so much as an Arcanite reaper you’re good to tank any normal dungeon. Other raids, mitigation matters. Dungeons, just dps hard before you die. It’s just faster and easier.
And yes, arms warriors 2h tanked in vanilla. This isn’t a new trend in classic.
Its not about damage mitigation, it’s about threat. Loss of shield bash threat makes it harder to hold aggro.
*slam
Time for ret paladin tanks haha
I think you mean Shield Slam, and no, it doesn’t.
At least not when compared to a 2h tank in a dungeon. Maybe in raids where you’re taking enough damage with a shield to be able to have rage to spam Shield Slam on cooldown.
and missing with a slow two hander and being rage starved is better?
What if the mobs disarm? no shield slam. Two handed tanking is dumb.
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Missing with a slow two hander is better than missing with a 1h, yes.
It’s going to take several swings from a 1h to equal a single swing from a 2h.
Taunt?
Battle Shout spam to hold aggro?
Not really.
It came about because we learned how to play better. What’s dumb is thinking that tanking with a shield is necessary or optimal in low level dungeons.
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You’re going to be rage starved a lot more often with S&B. And you’re probably not gonna have Shield Slam while leveling.
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They may have existed, but they were not common. I’ve never seen or heard of one back in my vanilla days. Not once. That’s not common.
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I 2h tank if the DPS is too stupid to wait for me to get aggro before AoEing.
You can only fight AoE with Cleaves and a 2hander hits harder.
They were common, and increasingly so as the patches rolled on, especially re: Corpsemaker farming and, eventually, Whirlwind weapons throughout Scarlet Monastery. Whether your personal anecdotes reflect this are irrelevant.
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What about monks :^)
oops, you pulled too many mobs! Oh noes you have a two hander and your healer cannot keep up. Two hander tanks are dumb. You better outlevel the dungeon and pull perfectly.
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And Ravager just proc’ed 
Ask the warrior to use a shield. If he declines, then simply leave the group. Let him figure out why.
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