BBB's tips for a new tank
by Allison Robert 
May 4th 2009 at 9:05AM
Starting to tank is scary. During BC I leveled from 40 through 69 as a Balance Druid, and then discovered that a tank couldn't be pugged for love or money once you hit the later portion of Outland on my realm. I'd picked up some feral gear along the way and decided to give tanking a shot, but then spent my first afternoon in the trenches being a nervous wreck after losing aggro to impatient DPS, aggroing extra mobs by charging into pulls instead of LOSing them, and taking a ridiculous amount of damage. The feeling of being constantly judged by your group members isn't a pleasant sensation, but more maddening was the knowledge that certain things beyond your control -- mob stuns, lazy or trigger-happy DPS, an inattentive healer, or something as simple as a missed Mangle -- could make you look worse than you actually were.That's why I like a recent blog post by our own Big Bear Butt on "Tips for the New Tank," which addresses not only that but also a number of pitfalls to which new tanks are prone. I particularly agree with his assertion that you should never start a boss event assuming that everyone in the group is on the same page, because someone who's not sure what they're doing can and often will cause issues for you without realizing it. It's a great guide for a new tank that gives a nod to the "feeling judged" syndrome mentioned here, and with so many players returning to their tanking trees or trying Death Knights in Wrath, I recommend it for anyone interested in the job.
Filed under: Druid, Paladin, Warrior, Analysis / Opinion, Tips, Guides, Death Knight
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
kingkong May 4th 2009 9:11AM
i couldn't agree more on the first paragraph!
Candina@WH May 4th 2009 9:26AM
Is dual spec hurting or helping?
With most players that can play dual roles spec'ing dual roles, is the quality of healing and tanking going down?
I know that my own performance is ... spotty. It is harder to get in the groove on healing after DPSing a few instances. The reflex reactions aren't there.
Has anyone else experienced this?
Eq May 4th 2009 9:33AM
I dps and tank on my druid, switching is never a problem, only thing it is a pain to set up all the icons properly for both dualspecs
Bob Dewane May 4th 2009 9:36AM
I, too, worried about my tanking performance slipping once I dual spec'd into DPS (which I didn't really want to do but YOU try getting into Vault when only 2/10 or 2/25 players are tanks =P).
In an effort to combat this, I try to make sure I tank SOMETHING every other time I'm on. I do all my dailys in DPS gear as I'm still trying to learn timing and rotations. I try to do Vault as a tank, but I'll go as DPS vs. not going at all. I'm trying to do instances that I know like the back of my hand as DPS to sort of "wade slowly into the pool" vs. jumping into the deep end and going for Loken's uber axe in H HOL. Also when I do tank, I will try to notice what any melee DPS in the group are doing. Where are they positioned? Do they need to move at all during the fight and, if so, where are they moving to? How long are they waiting after I pull to join in so they don't pull aggro? I'll also whisper melee DPS in my group with specific questions if I have them and most are really cool about it.
The bottom line is that I think this practice is keeping my tank skills sharp and really helping me learn my role as melee DPS.
EderX May 4th 2009 9:40AM
I think the issue of dual specs has hurt tanking and healing pugs for the short term. Since a lot of dps are now switching over in order to secure groups (or try something new), you get a lot of wrongly-geared and inexperienced tanks/healers which make things annoying at the very least.
In the long term, I think its a good thing. The people who switch and like it, will make the effort to gear up and learn, and those who are awful will probably go back to dpsing.
And yes, that first paragraph couldn't be truer, tanks and healers are constantly scrutinized for pretty much every move they make. (/me dodges the incoming flame wall)
Vargos May 4th 2009 9:51AM
I list my priest as DPS in LFG even though my second spec is Disc. If the group is desperate for a healer, I offer up my services - but I'm definitely more comfortable in the DPS role. Flexibility over quality in this case. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.
My Warrior is strictly tanking now. I've found that long stints as DPS severly diminish my tank sharpness. And let's face it, if a tank makes a mistake he's judged like an umpire at a little league game - hated by all the parents .... no win situation.
Madulm May 4th 2009 9:52AM
Yeah, I have been the primary healer for so many instances that I can't DPS one without constantly looking at everone's health bars, even though there's nothing I can do about them... or about the fact that I instictively hit my healing hotkeys on the wrong toon...
Aedilhild May 4th 2009 11:01AM
Completely, Candina. Dual-spec is a privilege, not a right.
My ret-pal could moonlight as a healer — could, but shouldn't, because I've never brought a healer up through weeks and weeks of group quests and instances at increasing degrees of difficulty. Spot-healing here and there, even in heroic instances, just doesn't cut it.
As for tanking: zoom out, watch your group like a mother hen, husband your cooldowns, maintain aggro, maintain aggro, maintain aggro. A tank without stubborn regard for fellow players ain't worth a damn.
Omestes May 4th 2009 4:59PM
@Aedilhild
I disagree, dual spec is awesome, if (and only if) you warn your group before hand that tanking or healing is new, and that your learning. Eventually, with practice and some guidance from "real" tanks/healers of your class, you'll be good at it.
Right now I have a dual space ret/protadin, and dualspeced my Shaman who has never been anything other then enhancement to resto. The pally has less problems, since it just is entering Outland, and thus has pug tanked as ret before. I still warn groups that I'm new at this, and if I mess up tell me where and how.
The Shaman is more difficult, even if I've managed to get lucky on healing mail. I caused a couple VOA wipes, etc... I offer to bow out when I notice that I'm not helping too much. I decided to ask some of the top shamie healers in the top guilds on our server for advice. I also spent some time doing crappy DPS, by focusing on what our healing shamies were doing.
I still suck, but I managed to keep our OT alive on the new VOA boss, and the DPS on the charged mob. Which is a very small achievement, but shows that people can learn.
Eisengel May 4th 2009 5:57PM
I have a Priest dual-specced Disc and I had my first actual healing stint since Wailing Caverns back in the day. I healed heroic Old Kingdom and it went pretty well. The only actual non-boss mechanic (Insanity ftl) and non-bug (bugged Jedoga adds) wipe was when the tank tanked a pack of those @#@! elementals down the stairs and the ranged DPS was up above the top step... which meant I had to run back and forth to heal either the tank and melee, or the ranged since the LOS split my heals. At one point the ranged took a flamestrike, and the tank got banged up while I was running back to heal the ranged, then I took a flamestrike, and it went South from there.
I think dual-specs can be an overall plus, if for no other reason than some players will experience roles outside of their normal tracks and can use that to help them in their other roles. I learned a lot about healing and tanking while sitting back and DPSing. I DPSed as Shadow all through BC and balanced my threat on the 120% razor's edge. I learned a lot about tanking, since I had to know how the tank was generating threat so that I wouldn't pass them and pull aggro. I was doing over 1k DPS in ZA before the nerf without pulling through, back when number like that meant something. :^) These days when I tank on my DK or Druid, those threat lessons come in useful. I also work as emergency heals when I'm DPSing on my Spriest. I've kept more than one group up when the healer got aced in BC and in WotLK, which keeps me somewhat sharp for Disc healing. The only thing is I don't yet have the reaction time I should have when healing on Disc. I have to think about which spell to use and then find it on my bar... so I sometimes lag a bit between when I should throw my heal and when it goes off, however that'll tighten up with practice.
rahmen May 4th 2009 9:35AM
i generally leave dps to quests and farming. tanking is my love and i rarely dps instances. maybe this is why i don't feel too much strain "switching" back to tanking. i just feel like dps is easy..now maybe that has something to do with playing a pally ;-)
Thyago May 4th 2009 10:03AM
I have a 72 Paladin and a 71 DK, and never tanked anything.
It IS scary, specially when you began playing in a guild so tremenduously strict as mine.
Aye, traumatized =D
Oh well, the only thing I TRIED to tank was Deadmines. But then, one of these guys that begin an Alt and don't care for the ones who just started playing said "Oh, shut up, this is only Deadmines" when I complained that he was rushing into fight before the tank...
zappo May 4th 2009 12:04PM
I made it a point on an alt to tank all the low level instances I could and probably one of the worst ones was in fact deadmines. It really was a lost cause doing that one. Stockades was also a total mess but still controllable and rather fun at times with the priest yelling "wait for sunders!!!" and this warlock who kept sending his pet into the OPPOSITE side we were attacking (so his pet would die and it would train on us.. and he wouldn't stop doing it). Once you're VC the worst is basically behind you until BRD. I stopped doing instances at strathlome/sholomace however, when the death knights made PuGs completely unbearable, so I guess there's a point when you just can't take it anymore. But if that happens just take a break and do something else for a while.
But think of these as an exercise. You think once you get into the high level instances that you're not going to have these problems? Think again. In fact I'd say the lower level ones tend to be HARDER because you don't have all the tools available to you at level 80. There is a severe shortage of people who tank in lower level instances, so usually people are just happy to have one. It's good practice and a nice way to meet new people, just don't let it get to you when it goes bad. That's also a big part of tanking.
Shaibachan May 4th 2009 10:08AM
One thing he has wrong (unless mechanics changed recently and I missed it) tanks should never bubble.
Its a massive aggro dump that will result in your party wiping before you come out of bubble.
Jinjinn May 4th 2009 10:20AM
Nope, bubbles no longer hinder rage generation. Feel free to bubble as much as needed. For Discipline priests bubbling is our bread and butter. In fact, when our bubbles collapse they grant rage, mana, runic power, or energy.
Waryor May 4th 2009 10:40AM
I believe Shaibachan is referring to the Paladin self-bubble that gives immunity for 10 seconds or whatever. Unless I missed a major change, that is indeed an aggro wipe that will usually result in a very quick group wipe. Tanks should never be using this ability.
As far the the shield-bubbles that come as a result as a heal, Jinjinn is correct: They no longer hinder rage/mana generation.
TL:DR
Pali self-bubble -> bad
Healer bubble -> good
el ranchero May 4th 2009 10:53AM
Waryor's right about paladin bubbles as a general "oh crap" button (as in, "don't use it"), though to be fair Divine Shield does still have situational utility if you're careful about regaining aggro. It's great for dispelling most debuffs (especially King Ymiron's cower while he's running to the boats) and some fear effects. Divine Protection, aka pally shield wall, is what they should be using as a "bubble."
Shaibachan May 4th 2009 11:00AM
Yeah, the Pally bubble's are what I was referring to.
Those are bad JuJu. And while I understand the dispelling debuffs (use it all the time when not tanking) I'm not sure how usefull it would be as a tank. I guess if everyone else is out being feared it might work, as you'll have time to regain some aggro, but not sure it would work that well.
Hal May 4th 2009 12:02PM
My general thoughts:
1) If you're going to pug, make sure everyone knows that you're still learning the ropes. It might take longer to form a group, but you'll find people willing to work with you.
2) Read at least one guide to gearing/enchanting/gemming your tank gear. Not just because it's worth it to figure out what you need or what the best things are, but sometimes you can find place-holder gear from sources you wouldn't have considered (quests, sparsely run dungeons, etc).
3) Be prepared for criticism and grief. When things go wrong, and they inevitably do, fingers are going to point at either you or the healer. Learn to roll with it. If you screwed up, figure out how to fix the problem. If it was someone else, try to calmly suggest ways to prevent the problem (i.e. "Maybe you should wait for me to get aggro before you start blasting that add.")
4) Be prepared for ninjas. With dual-specs out now, there's more people rolling on gear for their "off" spec. Always specify ahead of time what the loot rules are. In general, if you're tanking, you should get priority on the tank gear. (If you came as a DPS, make sure the tank doesn't want something before you hit "Need," or you will make some people very unhappy).
Stages May 4th 2009 12:06PM
Thanks for the tip on the article.
About halfway thru our last guild run of heroic UK, our tank got fired (he's normally the best kitty ever). Between a rogue who was tricks of the trade happy (targeting the dps death knight) and an under geared, inexperienced healer, it was an interesting night.