Every time I try to pug a 13 the dps have 210-226 gear and get out dps’d by me, a 201 prot warrior. Then they don’t even follow mechanics such as not getting hit by the prideful stun. It just seems impossible to do without having a premade group that knows at least how to press w to move out of the stun…
You should really be using raider.io if you aren’t. It’ll make pug life much better.
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this is where IO is your friend.
casuals who dont know much have all reached ilvl 215-220 quite easily by now from weeks of vaults
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Here are my tips:
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Knowing how darn stupidly I was reacting to experiencing storming the first time, I’d say use IO, check if they’ve seen prideful and only take in max one person who hasn’t and explain what not to do/what to do with it before putting in the key.
That’s probably the best compromise between gatekeeping and not gatekeeping 
I dont think i could do that thing. I have only one timed 15 and i havent pugged anything higher than 12 yet, any key higher than that were done with my guild. I just dont trust pugs at that level.
My guildies, some of which run way more 15s than me had told me some horror stories from pugs, people doing 2-2.5k dps overall, even my lowest ilvl toons can do that or more. People jumping into 15s without knowledge that would be required to even run a 5, toxic leavers, etc.
It is a world on its own. So if you really want to get KSM by pugging… be picky with what you invite (or which groups you join, being a tank you have that advantage). And have patience. Lots of it.
While possible, this is still a little too low. 13% is not ideal. I’ve seen worse, but a proper geared 220 tank will have about 23% versa at least.
It is still possible, but it is a lot of extra work on the healer. So the healing that your team would be taking is taken by you, as you aren’t that well geared.
Focus on getting all 12’s first. Don’t try to go higher just yet. Farm up ~5k Valor points, get 1-2 vault pieces and once you start getting 207’s pieces, upgrade them. I wouldn’t upgrade anything lower than that unless it’s like Scarab trinket from DoS.
As someone who is 100% pugger with Tank/Healer/DPS all having KSM - as tank, you play a major role in success. DPS matters, so does the healing, but regardless of how good they are, if you set the wrong pace or do wrong pulls, you are less likely to time.
- Make sure you got appropriate routes. I’d be happy to share mine with you. I think there is a new website where I can upload them.
- Pick proper comps. You’re a warrior. You are buffing physical attackers.
That’s odd. Not gonna lie. That’s really odd.
Keep fighting and you will get it eventually. D
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People are going to mistakes. MDI teams make mistakes and wipe. You’re going to make mistakes.
When playing with a group of people who haven’t played with another, chances for mistakes increases.
“Trust no one” should be your mantra. Anything you can do to remove an element of risk will help you time. Interrupt and stun as much as you can. Also, spending 60 secs before start to just discuss a few pulls can also be helpful. Don’t assume players know what you’re going to do. If LOSing, say so.
Low 10s can be challenging as a lot of mechanics that just tickled players on lower level keys start one shooting them. And many aren’t used to prideful yet.
Another way to also minimize risk when setting up group is prioritize number of timed keys at that level over io. A guy with an 1100 io that has run 150 timed keys is probably going to make less mistakes on a +10 than a 1300 io player who has only timed 10.
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Your whole post was chef’s kiss.
I’d also add make sure you’ve read what you can spell reflect. Spell reflect will let you cheese a lot of mechanics but it’s not user friendly as you need to know when to use it specifically for it to really be powerful.
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Not sure what you mean by “everytime” considering you have only attempted one. Also, these posts are worthless without logs because it’s impossible to know if the fault lies with you or the other people like you want to claim.
I don’t have any problems survivng in 13s.
I do the best with what I can man.
I’m super far from that.
As long as I properly use cd I usually do about a quarter of my healer’s healing.
I can’t really help that as prot.
Can’t get gear if I don’t do keys.
I already try’d 9s but people only want 210+ to them from what I’ve experienced.
Not really even that high, I survive perfectly fine.
That’s so much time and effort, why not just get a good team to do a 13 and get better loot?
Like I said usually topping it.
Can’t help there as prot war.
I use routes recommended by Icy veins using MDT.
Post above
Taking melee is a bit of a disadvantage though since most are behind on dps compared to casters, also more people play casters in general.
Been trying a month and gotten nowhere 
I don’t trust any pugs. I usually try to get all kicks, cc, tell them what to do, etc.
I try to but during my play times most people are from countries that English isn’t their first language so it’s kinda hard to coordinate with them, some don’t even speak english to begin with.
That’s only one you see completed, the others the DPS get frustrated we didn’t time and leave, or we get stuck on a boss and they leave.
Not sure how you want me to post logs, I’m just saying what I experienced and saying it’s pretty difficult.
Apparently.
I also don’t believe you. I found some logs for some of the people in your group and unless you know something other Prot Warriors don’t, I find it unlikely you are doing more than 2-3k DPS, as you seem to claim.
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Can you link? I honestly don’t know how to look up logs.
Umm what? I pull 9k dps on aoe, unless you mean overall? Even then that seems a little low.
Which is irrelevant, congrats. Also, that’s burst, not sustained.
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I was able to pug ksm.
My advice run your own keys, this way you control the comp.
Use raider io to see what dungeons they have done and how many.
How is it irrelevant, you said I did a certain number of DPS and I said you were wrong.
You never said sustained, hints why I asked at the end.
Yea, I usually just que for people’s keys
Because you never clarified what you were specifying so there was no telling what you were referring to.
How was I wrong when I wasn’t wrong?
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I know you don’t want to hear this but the thing you can do that will improve your results the most when pugging…is to work on yourself.
I guarantee you’re making mistakes. How do I know? Because everyone makes mistakes.
If every group you’re in is failing, the most common denominator is you. I have pugged KSM. Two others in this thread pugged KSM. We didn’t see every group fail.
It’s definitely not all your fault, but your actions are the most easily corrected. So when things go wrong think about what you could have done differently. Also, when you’re on a horrible run…stick with it. The practice you get from wiping repeatedly on a boss really helps your skill (even if it’s other screwing up. Learning to herd cats is a great skill for tanks to have).
Also, if you’re frustrated after a bad run. Maybe drop down to an easy key and feel like a God for a run to boost your confidence. The better mood you’re in, the better you do.
A good tank can almost carry a group. You’re in the drivers seat and most of your fate is in your own hands.
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Oh I for sure am.
I think theres more factors to it than it’s all my fault, when I’m out dpsing DPS consistently on AOE and surviving more than them then there’s not much I can do.
I try my best to learn, reminding myself when to pop Shield Wall here, pop Last Stand on this pull, etc. I also watch prot warrior content creators (even though they are nearly extinct at this point).
I stick to most of my keys, the only time I bail is when a DPS/Healer leaves or the DPS don’t listen to me to stop breaking CC or are not kicking and constantly causing wipes from those mistakes.
I agree that you can learn from fighting a boss, but there is only so much you can learn before others need to learn and it seems like most of the pugs I run into just don’t learn for some reason.
I just feel like that’s wasting my time, I have a mindset where I need to be pushing as high as I can to boost my io/ilvl as high as I can so I can do higher keys. Probably not the best mindset to have but it’s just naturally come from being in the pug scene for all of SL and BFA.
Hmm, I’m sure a prot pally could or a guardian could but I feel like prot is reliant on his group much more. We don’t have good self sustain like the other tanks, we don’t have good cc like paladin or bear, we don’t have that great of utility like bear or pally, and our CD aren’t anything too impressive compared to what the other tanks have. Prot used to be the damage tank but now that’s DH/bear.
you’re taking bad melee then
lolwut
time spent improving your io is just as well spent as time spent doing dungeons that reward ilvl upgrades.
pick the low hanging fruit. start with the lowest key and work your way up, getting better scores in those dungeons.
Look at it as an investment in your future chances of getting invited to better groups.
Is it wasting your time? maybe, but it’s necessary for pugging.
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