So I’m a newbie overall (4 months) and an absolute newbie tank with just 1 dungeon under my belt. Which went atrotiously, but the other players were very understanding as I warned them up front that I was rather incompetent as a tank.
Hoping for some help with targeting. I’ve always struggled in targeting in dungeons. I usually main a mage and my dps is seriously hurt sometimes due to struggling to find a target in the mobs. Now I’m trying to tank, it’s a much bigger issue. Any tips on making it easier?
I’ve got enemy name plates on. Friendlies nameplates are off. Tab targeting just never seemed to work as a mage (and I’m assuming is not a good idea as a tank).
Any other ideas or is it just something you learn to do faster as you play more?
Also: Provoke: Does this only provoke the target you have selected, or will it provoke others around as well? I’m trying to work out how to pull multiple units in but if they’re a bit distanced (as they are in low level dungeons), I seem to have to run up to them.
If it doesn’t work on multiple targets, is it just best to keep an eye on provoke and take an extra second to click off my current target to provoke a new one in when cooldown is off?
First to go over a lot of this need to know what lvl is the monk.
This one is fixed with addons. You can make it where they wont overlap and instead stack on top of each over. Makes things easier.
I like this addon for health bars on enemy. https://www.curseforge.com/wow/addons/kuinameplates
You can also change the color of health on the bar to change whether they were targeting you or not.
That way you know if you need to taunt them off someone.
No mobs have a “taunt” diminishing return, do it too much and they become immune.
Btw taunt is just what tank classes and their off specs all have one, it instantly forces your target to focus you instead of what they were.
But again need to know the lvl, back in a few hours when I have to go back to work.
I started the monk cause I was bored, and wow is she fun. Completely unexpected. I’ve always wanted to give tanking a go so figured I’d level her up through dungeons and alt her in SL but want to at least get the basics in my head which I can then build on.
The one piece of feedback someone gave me when I did my first dungeon was “you can pull more” and “use taunt more” … wasn’t sure about the pulling more. There aren’t really any mobs in these lower level dungeons (at least the ones I did - I haven’t done most of the low level dungeons yet).
I’ll have a look at that mod you linked. I did download omen threat meter and tidy plates (which does the stacking) which were suggested by icyveins. One of them (tidy plates I think) hasn’t been updated since January though. I’ll run a dungeon with them and then one with the add on you listed. See what I think.
Hence why I was mainly asking very very basic questions.
I suck at targeting at any level. Unfortunately it doesn’t magically get better as my stats get better (Oh I wish it did!). But you’ve helped with that with the suggestion on stacking name plates. Hopefully that will help.
And I figured how you use the taunt feature was a basic thing. Maybe I’m wrong on that, but it seemed fairly basic. Or at least like their would be best practice for each level.
Every other tank is built to just take and mitigate dmg, our style of tanking is to avoid dmg.
The problem is you dont get any of those abilties until the 70-80 range, were the other tanks got theirs a lot earlier.
Large over sight on when they made the change in legion, a common thing oversights in the monk class.
Meaning you are as durable as the dps spec at that point, except it has karma and actual aoe dmg.
One thing you can do is get the Ox statue talent in the lv60 talent row when you get there. Then use a macro to taunt it and it will AOE taunt all the mobs. Also, lv90 Rushing Jade Wind talent helps alot with getting aggro.
I believe at lv20 you get Ironskin Brew, which helps alot with mitigating damage. But I think while leveling in dungeons, most of your attention will be rounding up mobs and keeping aggro, just using Keg Smash and Breath of Fire (and Chi Burst talent if you have it), while taunting stragglers that attack your party.
For targeting, it might help to differentiate between “Target Nearest”, “Target Next”, and “Target Last” in your key bindings. I prefer “Target Nearest” and pressing it again will cycle to next nearest, so it’s predictable. Still, since Brewmaster has alot of AOE moves, you usually don’t need to target every mob.
Perfect! Also, use backwards roll to give healer an extra second to heal (away from more mobs) if you’re taking too much incoming damage. A little kiting goes a long way early on and is a good habit for harder content, eg Necrotic affix.
You should be able to roll back and Vivify before getting hit again too, if you really need to add support for your healer.
Custom nameplates are ok. If you’re uncomfortable using add-ons (I am), there is a setting in the base interface to switch from overlapping to stacking nameplates. Also, there is a larger nameplates option. These are usually good to try out first.
I get that you want to spam dungeons until level 78. But I strongly must warn you that you’re going to feel like a paper tank starting around level 30.
I personally would advise that you go as MW or WW while pushing through leveling quests until 78.
Also, don’t forget the peak of serenity daily buffs; every day you get another hour of leveling buff as a monk.
Personally I think Brew is totally okay for tank dungeons while leveling. It’s just that the healer will actually need to heal you, which is okay. Actually it could be a good thing, so they don’t get bored! Only problem could be if the healer is also brand new and unable to heal well.
Just keep in mind if you level Brew outside of dungeons, you’re not invincible. Alot of self-sustaining tank players are stressed out by brewmaster, since it’s a different tank style. Brews usually semi-kite instead of standing there self-healing.
Something I picked up when watching you tube was that it’s a good idea to tab between targets between talents? So if I’ve got 3 in my mob, keg smash one - tab - blackout strike two - tab - tiger palm three - tab …whatever talent one - tab etc etc.
Is that what you mean?
I did more mean when they run away from me or if someone else pulls before me and a target gets close to the ranged dps. Then it gets too busy and I struggle to click on them.
Well I don’t like the one I had already downloaded so I might try that next.
If it isn’t to my liking I’ll try Antillus’s suggestion. Thanks!
I did not know about this. I have now found it. Thanks for mentioning it!
Monk tanks become objectively harder to heal around level 30. Saying that healers need to heal more is nonsense, the spam required is much more than than is reasonable, and inexperienced healers won’t be able to keep up. Even experienced healers will find themselves going oom which shouldn’t be at those levels.
Why? It’s because you’re wearing leather with no significant damage modifiers like the bears or warrior/paladin shields. Yes you have iron skin brew, but that’s all you have and even maintaining that 100% (which you should anyway) is not enough. We used to have more damage mitigation abilities in xpacs past that allowed easier lower level tanking, but Bliz whittled them down.
You don’t have to take my word on it. But I’m telling you the pain will be real. I’ll be here to say I told you so.
Not disputing. I was just wondering why it was, since it seemed weird for a tank spec. I’ve played a monk for all of 3 days. I’m not quite at the point of telling a lvl 120 monk that they don’t know what they’re talking about.
