Is tanking not for new players?

I’m new to the game. Just subbed yesterday after doing the trial to 20 with a dps toon. I’m really interested in making a tank, but after doing a little searching it almost seems like new players are skill locked out of tanking due to veteran player attitude. Is this true? Or just a minority? Just want to try something new since in almost every mmo I play dps. Don’t want to deal with jerks though. Any feedback/advice is greatly appreciated.

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Just give it a try and don’t base it on reactions here on the general forums.

Just be sure to slowly increase your challenge. Don’t do a few dungeons in normal and now magically assume you can do Mythic + 5 runs with no issue.

Note also that the better learning now happens actually in like M2 and M3 runs, because most players grossly overgear normal and heroic, so you won’t actually feel the mechanics because mobs will just be erased lol.

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Thank you very much for the encouragement and the advice! So much info in just one reply I appreciate it! Rolled a dwarf/pally as that seems interesting to me. Have a lot of learning to do for sure, but if I can find just a few people in game as helpful as you I’m sure I’ll be fine.

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give it a try with druids (they are the easiest tanks to learn in my opinion)
I use to main DPS (hunter or warrior)…
now tank over rules dps for me. weird but hey I get into groups so much faster, that’s another plus being a tank. :slight_smile:
Like beexee said druids would be the easiest for new players.

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Well I did already roll a pally, but I suppose I could shelf him for when I’m more comfortable. Easing into tanking with a druid may help with the anxiety. I appreciate the feedback. :slightly_smiling_face:

Dwarf paladins can be fun!
Make sure, at level 50, to do their heritage armor quest!.

A little not on Prot Paladins, especially while leveling, always be ready to use Word of Glory (WoG) to either self heal or off heal your party mates.

Standing in Consecration (big yellow aoe poop) provides you with damage reduction!

The best way to learn is by practicing. Really this applies to everything.
I’d glance over some guides, even though they are for 60’s, but given that you will be gradually getting new abilities, you will have some understanding on what they are and when they should be used.

Oh. and 1 more thing. Though at level 60, you really should be using Holy Shield talent on the first row, for leveling, go Spinny Hammer talent. Just gives you a lot of Holy Power.

Scaling in dungeons can be REALLY WEIRD. Like, if you’re low level tank with a high level healer, it may be hard for him to heal you, so your self heals will be insane.

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Definitely try it out!

I suggest a druid since you’ll have a spam-able ranged attack (moonfire) and a spam-able aoe (swipe) to start with. You sort of can’t go wrong with any tank but I think druid is probably the easiest to pick up at low level since you start out with a more complete set of tools.

You’ll probably want to choose a specific dungeon at first rather than a random dungeon. This is so you can read through the guide and look over the map so you’ll know where to go and what to expect from each boss. You can do the same dungeon over and over, which will let you focus on learning how to tank rather than trying to learn the dungeon itself again and again for new dungeons.

When you’re using the Group Finder you’re going to encounter a lot of people who just want to level as fast as possible and will want to skip certain parts or have you pull 5 groups at once. Some of these people can be jerks, but don’t let them get you down, most people are very understanding, especially at low levels.

You may also consider running your chosen dungeon at least once on a dps character and watching how someone else tanks it,

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That’s a great idea! Made my druid last night. I’ll probably lock my exp at a certain level so I can do what you suggested and spam the same dungeons until i’m more comfortable. Then I can practice w/o leveling too fast.

As you can see, my original post to you got me banned for 3 months from forums and had to appeal.
lmao

Post, however, was not restored.

Hope you’re having fun with your newly created tank though

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I am thank you! Also banned? what the heck? I’m glad you got it sorted out. And thank you again for all the info and support!

Yeah, my post was flagged by a troll. There was an addon name with a bad name and I called druid thick bum boy, remember? But in a funny way. So I got 3 month suspension for “Inappropriate language that community found offensive” or something like that.

That’s dumb lol tanking is going okay so far just learning how to position bosses and stuff. Got knocked out of map in freehold and Harlen reset so that was lame but no wipes, deaths, or issues other than that.

*this is my tank :smiley:

General rule of them as a tank, always face mobs away from the group.
Never face your back to the mobs.
If there is plenty of space, can always back track a little.
If you see healer’s mana is 50%+, and only 1-2 mobs alive, you can cleave next pack as well.

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Every tank class operates a bit differently. Best advice I can give is to try them all out and see which one works best for you and your playstyle.

Also, I would try to get with a guild that is new player friendly and either learn to tank by running with them, or if you have IRL friends that play WoW then group with them.

Sadly, there’s a reason the WoW community has such a bad reputation outside of the game (hell, sometimes WITHIN it too). Too many people with empty lives outside of this game seem to forget that there are still new players from time to time.

God forbid something extends a run for them by a minute or two. If they realize a new player is in their group, half of them damn near have an aneurism.

I know it’s easier said than done but try to have a short memory and a titanium skin if you try to learn this solo. If the abuse is particularly bad, make it a point to right click their name in chat and report it. I’ll bet money half the people claiming Blizzard won’t do anything to them are likely the ones doing that crap in the first place.

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Tanks get instant queues (at least when I played) so who cares if a toxic group kicks you for being new. Normal dungeons are designed for new players in mind. I would look up a guide on the class you pick before queuing up though so the runs go better. The basic idea is to constantly damage the mobs to keep them on you (always start with something that hits all the mobs) while using your defensive abilities to stay alive.

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Also a newbie interested in tanking. Does the tank’s damage cause enough threat to keep mobs on them? I noticed a specific taunt button on my baby Death Knight and wasn’t sure if that was like an emergency button or something you need to keep threat. Thank you, very new :slight_smile:

To get a single mob to attack you taunt works great. Best used if something is attacking someone else in the group. If you have a group of mobs you’ll want to use death & decay along with other multi-target abilities to keep them all focused on you. You can death grip to drag a caster or something that is running away to you. Interrupting casters will also (typically) get them to attack you.

Practice in proving grounds first. The early level dungeons aren’t too bad with mob density because you don’t have a lot of abilities. When you get in a group, just remember that you set the pace.

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The rules of thumb for running early dungeons are:

  1. If the tank dies, it’s the healers fault.
  2. If the healer dies, it’s the tanks fault.
  3. If the dps die, it’s their own damn fault.

Strong DPS or Healers can pull threat off the tank and onto themselves. DPS should know better but healers may sometimes have no choice.
Be ready to pull threat off the healer first, and off the dps only if you can maintain threat against your current targets.

Without a healer, everyone dies. DPS and a healer can often take down a boss without a tank in an early dungeon. DPS and a tank, without a healer, usually will just die. A good dps will sacrifice himself to save a healer. The healer can rez him.

Help your DPS if you can by positioning the fight so the enemies backs are towards the dps.

Also expect your dps to not act dumb. If one pulls aggro and runs away from you while dragging a mob, let him go. He should be running towards you so you can pick up that mob and add it to your current group of targets.

Similarly, dps who stand in stuff that hurts, waste healer resources. A healer with a surplus of resources can heal them, but at some point, those resources will be needed by the tank and the rest of the group, and it will be more beneficial to the group to just let a repeat offender die.

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Thank you for this! I’ve played mostly DPS and Heals, and have started wanting to make a new toon & learn Tanking. As DPS, I learned early on to run to my tank if I pull aggro, but I hadn’t thought about that situation specifically from the tank’s side.

Seeing what you wrote there will help me remember when (not if-) the time comes.

I was in your seat back in Wotlk when I started. I wanted to tank but every time I did a dungeon, for the first time people were trying to rush me around. So, what I did was I’d run a dungeon once or twice as DPS. Then tank it. To this day, people will still try to rush me or drag me a different way. Sometimes they give me helpful advice, other times its them just being them.

When it comes down to it though. TANKING IS FOR ANYONE THAT WANTS TO DO IT.
And if you get people trying to rush you, then that’s on them. Let them pull and die. If they don’t die, cool…less you gotta do. Don’t let them discourage you though.

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