Scared to start Tanking

Community General Discussion
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Been doing the Mage life for years. This is even the first time I’ve made an alt, which is my Aug Evoker.

This is also the first time where I even thought on making a tank, so I made a bear druid. I did timewalking, and am now level 70. I’m prepped to do low keys, and my current ilvl on the bear is good for LFR/normal.

Although… I’m scared. Never tanked in any other setting but timewalking, where you just basically turn your brain off and become a locomotive. Now, current content with the dungeons and the raid? Different story.

Any tips and tricks? Must-have addons? I’ve never tanked in a raid environment before, and I wouldn’t want anyone thinking that because I’m a tank, I know exactly what to do at all times, 100% of the time.

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Avoid Tungsten-tipped artillery shooting from across the battlefield.

Goodluck Soldier :saluting_face:

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here is a post I made a while back… not intended to be all encompassing but should get your started

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Quazii wow on youtube is a great resource for tank information.

Plater, GFTO, Deadly Boss Mobs

Quazii has a plater profile you can import so that it shows which mobs cleave, which ones to interrupt etc

Tips:

Dont let people bully you. You’re going to run into players who think they know better, players who think you’re terrible, players who make your run miserable. Ignore them and move on.

You’re going to make a lot of mistakes, and that’s okay. It’s part of learning. Doesn’t mean you’re terrible, doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Just means you need time to learn like anyone else.

Giving a heads up of “Hey I’m learning tanking, so if there’s anything I need to know please let me know”. Most groups are fairly accommodating and if they aren’t, then don’t bother with them.

Don’t be afraid to come back and ask questions on the forum. I’m struggling with X boss, anyone know any strategies? Ask other players for help, is there something I can do differently next time?

Although the forums are doom and gloom a lot of the time, there are a lot of nice wow players out there.

Find a few nice people on the forums to add to your friends list and run a couple of dungeons with them to get your feet wet and boost your confidence.

I don’t really have much experience with the raids this season, but I have keystone hero if you want to try and few mythic plus dungeons I can help give you some tips and stuff for the dungeons.

Mizari #11664

add me if you want, Im usually on late though after the kiddos go to bed

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Yeah… Pugging is one reason I too am nervous to tank.

Pugs seem to be quite hostile but I guess the only way to start is to start and learn learn learn.

Id suggest looking on wowhead for the tank you’re gonna play.
They give a list of addons and macros as well as gear guides and builds.

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I don’t tank much but I think a good nameplate addon that shows when you have threat or when you’re losing threat is important. I use threatplates.

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If you don’t know the keys and the routes people use, learn them on a DPS. Trying to figure that out on a tank will end badly.

In general the goal is consistent pull size held as still as possible. Obviously you’ll have to move some but only when necessary.

In general try to face the pull / boss away from the group.

Don’t tank at the top of stairs.

And the rest is mostly dungeon specific. Knowing how much percent you’ll need etc.

Raid is mostly learning the tells for when to taunt swap and when to use your defensive CD’s. You could get Deadly Boss Mods but I’ve come to the conclusion that unless you’re willing to put a lot of effort into tailoring your set up it hurts more than it helps.

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the true d*cks are a small percentage of the player base but they are definitely out there. do your best to ignore them.

in addition to the article I linked earlier, I would say always go at your pace.

dps wanna pew pew. they get frustrated.

that is their problem.

it seems this season that timing a key isn’t enough. people want ++ and +++ ALL THE TIME.

as you start, just go your own pace. if you were running as dps in keys on your mage, you will likely know the general routes. but now you have to manage %. there are only a couple of dungeons where you might end up short. but you can always get the boss then run back for the last %. it isn’t a big deal.

maybe to get started, pick you favorite dungeon and spam it from +2 to +5. get a feel for your toon and abilities.

in my opinion, keys get don’t get noticeably harder until the 11-12 area. before then, DPS more less muscles its way through most of the hard stuff.

to get started, get comfortable with the routes and tanking in general. get your gear improved. the unfortunate truth is that people want their tanks to be overgeared. but that gearing is also your helper.

have fun. got at your own pace.

and if you run into any M+ keyholders who are truly d*cks, you can always drop the group.

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For m+ dungeons tanking is straightforward… with dbm. Least for bosses. For mobs just follow the paths you are comfortable with.

For raids you gotta look up how many stacks of tank-buster there should be before swapping.

That’s pretty much then only things that matter.

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The only things you need to worry about is knowing the fights/routes and pulling big whenever possible

Everything else is easy peasy

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Next patch you can do it with AI companions. You can wait and practice with them.

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Raids, just gotta know where to move and when to taunt. For m+ it’s a bit more tricky because your partners will assume you know the optimal route, and after a while you will. Just takes notes, literal notes on paper, if that can help you. Like for Waycrest Manor, I know I can go to the basement when I get to 89% forces.