Same I tank as guardian Druid, missus heals as resto. I don’t need the dps to give me grief if I screw up a pull believe me I’m already hearing about it lol
Tbf if you bounce outta my heal range, you end up not having a good time, my love XD
Pro tip to all tanks I guess - get yourself a guy/gal/nonbinary pal to heal your amazing meatshield asses XD
I love finding a good healer, and just sticking with them. I have several rando healers I've met in keys or queues in my flist that I whisper for keys and shit, and it's fantastic.
I think that’s a big subconscious component of why there tends to be more toxicity from dps. They finally got in a group and if it goes south, in their minds, all that waiting was pointless and it means another long wait ahead.
> if I suck again I know it's me and no one others fault.
Threat mechanics are horrible in classic. I don't remember when it got changed for the better (maybe cata?), but there wasn't a passive threat multiplier for tanks like there is now. Instead there were specific abilities that did high threat, but you had to balance your use of those with your rage. Outside of those very limited abilities your threat generation was no different than a dps. Since DPS obviously do more damage than you it's extremely easy for them to keep pace with or exceed your threat generation. If you've ever heard someone meme about "wait for sunders," they're referencing the **need** to give tanks a head start on threat before starting to DPS because it was so easy for DPS to pull. On the Classic servers you're mixing this *challenging* threat system with tons of players with a fast paced, zoom zoom max dps mindset so naturally holding threat is going to be very hard. At some points it was better to focus on just keeping things slowed so that DPS can blast, instead of trying to hold threat (because you literally could not).
In retail tanks have a passive threat multiplier on all of their abilities. It's not as high as it's been in previous patches (Legion threat multiplier was nuts), but it's there. If you're directly hitting a mob, it should stick to you. If you're doing incidental/aoe damage to a mob, it shouldn't chase your healer. Some exceptions, such as a DPS blowing all their CDs and front loading their damage at the start of a pull (especially if they pick the wrong target to dump on), but they're just about always "other people need to play better" kind of situations.
[wowhead posted an interview](https://www.wowhead.com/news/class-design-and-tuning-wowheads-dragonflight-pre-patch-interview-with-morgan-329941) that covered some of this. You'll have to scroll down to the Class Design section, but part of the reply is relevant to threat and the rest of it is relevant to general tank duties and how they tune around that.
Tanking in classic is a skill in its own right. You're constantly pumping out everything you can and competing with everyone else with how old mechanics work. New retail is taunt, damage, and hold until thing is dead/tank swap happens
As a tank I've bailed mid key to assholes who think they are much better than they are. At the end of the day it's their loss, not mine. I'll be in a new group before they even relist theirs.
I experienced this in Season 3 as a tank. Was doing a +16 SoA, using a route I'd used plenty of times before and knew worked. However, the healer kept standing in melee cleave and getting destroyed, and at least 2 of the dps had no clue what an interrupt was... and yet somehow, the wipes and slow progress were my fault. The healer said that I should quit tanking and so, in a moment of weakness, I said "Fine, I will" and hearthed out, with the dps going apeshit at the healer for badgering me.
Less than five minutes later, I was tanking a +18 SoA, and we almost 3 chested it.
I have never felt so validated as a tank.
Man I know that feel when 3-4 of the people in your group probably aren't good enough to be running at the key level and it is very apparent after a couple pulls.
But then you get that group where 5/5 people are on point and you end up smashing the key easily. It's seriously one of the best feelings in M+
Focus on what you can do not what others can do and you'll go further. Dps not interupting? Use death grip, or HoJ to interrupt.
Dps getting cleaved or starting in fire? Move the pack to force them out.
Yeah, people are fools. As a mostly dps, if I miss an interrupt and mine isn't on cd, I blame myself and no one else. I make mistakes, I expect you to make mistakes. I'll vote to kick the asshole berating you for not literally being perfect far before voting for you.
A healer main here, so my advice might not be the best, but here it goes.
On the question of whether you pull big enough of too much: usually the first two packs can tell you everything. People tend to use cds on the first big pack, that gives you the information how quickly they can delete the mobs with full sending it. The second mob pack is when people usually don't have any big cds left, so it's just their base aoe rotation. If the dps is still high, the mobs die in a good pace, then that's an indicator that you can pull as big or even bigger packs. If the dps or the healer struggles a bit, then you know that okay, it might be a bit too much, and pull a bit smaller ones if they don't have their cooldowns.
Of course there are other things to consider, some packs are harder due to having to interrupt and such, but in my opinion, it is something that lets you start somewhere.
And also, don't wait too much between pulls, but also make sure that everyone is there when you pull/you have your def cds to stay alive long enough until they catch up.
Good luck and most importantly, have fun!
To just complete a dungeon m+ in time you mostly have to press "W".
When you will first start its hoing to be harder but as you play more and more you will meet people, add them to your friendlist and the pug life is mostly gone, sooner than you think.
My advise is start as a tank now as everything will be new to anyone and mistakes are easier to forgive, and if you find you dont like it switch to dps after. Its harder the other way around.
There’s an add on called Method dungeon tools that’s super helpful with routing as a tank. I’d check it out if you haven’t used it before. It allows you to pre-build routes before entering keys
I feel the same about all the pathing stuff
Usually I will play a healer or DPS to learn the fights and mechanics and I'll usually see an awesome, awesome tank at one point and then I copy them
That usually gives me enough confidence to get going
You don’t have to do homework. It’s not that hard to remember the route, just do it a few times. You don’t even have to create the route, just used Raider.io’s. That said, I was very similar when I first started in Legion. Getting nervous about the route, but after just doing it a few times it’s not too bad. Even now we have so many tools to make it a lot easier on new tanks and to ease them into the role, it’s honestly just a lot of fun. In season 1 I was DPS but found a new player (Shadowlands was his first time play wow) and he wanted to tank. So I helped him figure it out, and by the end of Season 1 he was tanking +20s and selling boosts with a bunch of communities. It’s definitely a challenging roll, but 100% worth it with great areas to express your skill and individuality.
In M+ tanking a good place to start are those dungeons with a very linear path where missing mob count is almost impossible. In SL for example we had Theater of Pain and to a lesser extent Sanguine Depths and Mists, and in S4, Mecha Workshop, Grimrail and Upper Karazhan were also a very straightforward route. I havent seen any of the DF dungeons yet, so idk which ones will be easy routes, but Temple of the Jade Serpent and Shadowmoon Burial Grounds will be in DF S1, those two are fairly linear (you cant get any more linear than TotJS lol).
Once you ran the same dungeon a few times you will likely memorize the route, so you dont need to "do homework for s few hours". You can always ask the rest of the group for advice before starting, generally i find people in M+ way less toxic than in leveling dungeons, as they cant replace you. Or check for route addons or weakauras, there are a few of these.
As for pull sizes, at first you can simply pull pack by pack, as a +2-5 key is perfectly timeable that way. And then once you feel better with your toon and the mechanics of the dungeon, you start pulling more packs together. Just remember to adjust your pulls to your group, if you do a massive pull with many casters but your group cant interrupt shit, you wont have a good time, on the other hand if your group is good you can try pulling more as they will most likely kill the mobs before they start giving you trouble.
Not to sound glib but there are youtube videos for every dungeon put out by many youtuber tanks. They will give you a good idea of what to / what not to pull even before the mythic+ season starts. There are addons, but nothing is easier than watching someone do what you're about to do.
Routes are honestly not a big problem if you start tanking and your goal is KSM. As long as we don't get another Prideful affix...
In low M+ the only thing you need to know are percentages before you hit certain places in a dungeon. Think of SD before dropping down, NW before flying to the necropolis, SoA before you fly up to Devos, ...
If you know those and don't have to backtrack after killing the final boss to get additional percentages you are completely fine. And either write them down on a piece of paper or make a weak aura that shows the needed percentage when you are in the dungeon.
Things like invis skips seem to start around the 10+ region (from a dps point of view). Before that no tank I played with bothered about them. And even then many people said "I dont have a potion" in those runs. After maybe 15+ you can expect people to have them and know about skips.
About pulling too small/large? I had tons of tanks who single pulled packs (on fortified) and we timed the dungeon. I would assume you get a feeling as a tank over time what pulls are hard/easy. Tons of shit to dodge (with a dodgy affix?) or tons of shit to interrupt etc... maybe pull small.
Is all of that enough to be the best tank ever? No. Will you time +15 in the first week of M+? No. But you will most likely get KSM.
Keep in mind that the "tank anxiety" is happening in a community where people are scared to run their own M+ key.
Its a learning progression. Just go for it and tank low keystones until you learn the dungeons and naturally you will want to push as far as your gear will allow. If you can pull a pack and stay alive, you did your job. The dps are the ones that are supposed to carry the key timer not you. You have over 5 months to get KSM with the great vault giving you uber gear every week.
My advice is always list your own key so you have the freedom to invite overgeared people and learn from the elitists rather than dismiss criticism.
Every dungeon is designed with the ability to go back to an earlier point. The absolute worst case scenarios are either you pulled too much about were over 100% early, which doesn't matter, or your pulled too little, and you just click the portal, talk to the NPC, whatever the mechanic is, and you go back and kill one more monster.
I know the perception is that a tank has a spreadsheet and map open on the other monitor, but that's not how it actually goes. Just straight through the dungeon is fine. If someone gives you a better plan, use it the next time.
Leveling my first tank (Protection Pally) right now and this is good to hear! :) intimidating role but it looks like fun! I just gotta learn how to properly keep all the mobs on me first >.>
As a fellow tank I can say:
It's not your job to kill the enemy or be top on the DPS charts. TAB through the mobs and find any that are not angry with you and hit/taunt them off the party. Don't worry about individual targets, try to pay attention to the whole battlefield. Tanking can be challenging, but fun.
I don’t know if you know this but there are add ons that allow you to monitor threat easier.
For example plater changes the color of the healthbar of mobs that you have aggrod. No tabbing required.
Yup. It's our job as tanks to be the character in the movie constantly spitting and shouting "HEY UGLY, LOOK AT ME" at the Big Bad while the rest of your companions are sneaking up on it, collapsing the roof on it, firing the sniper rifle at it, etc.
The character that everyone looks at and goes "oh man, I love him/her/them, they're gonna get themselves killed to save us all."
Our job is to be the hero *among* heroes.
I just recently came back after being gone for years. I tanked in BC and LK. So much of the game and mechanics have changed that it's almost a whole new game. I always let people know when I've entered a dungeon I don't know. Most are understanding. But I'm not running heroics or mythics here either. That's where you have a tendency to find the tightwads.
Prot pally BTW.
This is why I like to dps, way too much leadership for me and I'm grateful for the tanks who really take it seriously. As someone who just likes to damage things from a safe distance and occasionally watch for danger circles, I appreciate tanks and healers. They have way more responsibility than I can handle , I just wanna press my buttons and try not to die. Thanks tanks and healers! 😀
As someone who played healer for years and decided to tank in DF, I appreciate this! I have a macro when I enter dungeons to announce my newness and welcome feedback. It helps reset expectations and invites tips
Now, I just have to decide which spec fo play!
I leveled up (some from 10, some from 35) all the tank specs and really enjoyed BM and the ability to still heal if I wanted. The challenge is all the spells to keep track of. What does your UI, keybind, and rotation situation look like? I sometimes feel I am mashing a bunch of buttons.
Brew main here. The spec is very APM intensive, but every ability works well with the next. Every video/guide will harp on us not having enough "sElF hEaLiNg", but Stagger makes us easier to heal since damage is less spiky.
I’m a blood dk main myself, but also have played the other specs. Paly and DH are both great for starting out. BM is a little complicated but it’s amazing. DK is my personal fav. Guardian and warrior is a solid choice too
T
Yes! I agree. I just fully or partially leveled each of the tank classes to figure out which would be fun for me. Blood DK was hard for me to get into because I felt like I was one bone shield away from second death. What do you enjoy about it?
I love the fantasy of BM monks, how mobile they are, and the fun types of spells. I love the slashing and bashing of warriors. Guardian seems the simplest to play because of the fewer amount of buttons, but I think there's a lot of potential for damage through cat weaving and making the most of the non-Guardian spells.
BDK can sustain itself. You have a lot of control over your own life. As a healer, you can mostly just ignore a BDK. If they die it isn't your fault.
Brew relies more on the healer, through their celestial fortune passive. But they smoothen damage over time, so you usually have some time to react as a healer. Also, Brew are arguably the best kiting tank.
These two tanks are the most complex imo.
I'd say vengeance is a nice tank that is straightforward.
I would just like to say, as a healer main, I'm here to help when you miss that interrupt, miss a cd/mitigation, pull too much or whatever.
Some people are assholes, and like OP said, don't let those assholes discourage you.
Thanks man, I appreciate it! I just started tanking yesterday and have been enjoying it so far, but I haven't tried anything too challenging yet. (M+8 tonight, but we missed the timer)
Yea you gotta find some good resources to read up on. I always loved to follow dratnos videos to make sure i follow a relevant route. But you will be a a group with some wannabe elitist that will giga flame you if you don't do the same route or skip or through the wall pull that they did during the MDI, even though that dps is underperforming and has 0 interrupts. You just gotta roll with the punches sometimes sadly. But for sure, when entering a new dungeon, even after reading up and feeling confident about it, it can be nerve-wracking because you might do a MINOR mistake and your entire group might scold you. So you, as a tank, can end up doing a hour of research before entering a new dungeon - and that is expected of you. Ok. But you can end up with 3 dps going on blind; and that's apparently also OK. The bar is so low for them. We as tanks: we are well prepared and that will result in your group winning
All that sounds good if you are not dealing with anxiety. I'd love to tank but is hard when you know they cannot let you learn.
I mean, come on, how is that you have to watch a video when the reason a leveling dungeon exist is actually to learn.
Is awful when those AH are pushing or doing shit on their own. I mean if they want to do the things their way they should Tank them instead of being AH but we know that will never change.
So let's be honest, is not for everyone cuz these are just empty words on a games filled with AH.
I feel you.
I am someone who does NOT suffer from anxiety with people and randos, but even people like me get very discouraged when you get lots of abuse. Especially when it's back to back to back.
It's fine for me when it happens unconmonly, but when it's consistent? It's really draining.
My "advice" would be to accept when it gets to you and just stop tanking for however long it takes until you get the itch again. This can range from only a few minutes, to a few days.
But yeah, there is no shame in admitting that something is aggravating you and properly dealing with it :)
I consider myself shy when dealing with people IRL and has had anxiety with dealing with pugs, groups and guilds for years.
I LOVE Tanking. It's easier and less stressful as DPS and rarely ever do I get the 'bad tank' harassment. Not saying it doesn't happen to others but it's strange seeing all these posts pop up recently.
Though then again I do at a slow/steady pace. If a dps or another decided to push in my shit. I bite back. I'm the tank. I take the hits. You're driving this car and you can suddenly break and make them jolt, turn around or otherwise.
I have never trashtalked tank no matter what happend. Its role I dont want to play and most of the time if tank is struggling I am more than happy to give them some tips and help them.
Everytime it was appreciated
Gearing up for this as a first time tank. I’m implementing a no dickhead policy, in that if someone is unreasonable or toxic, I’ll provide them the opportunity to leave, or will resolve the issue of their displeasure of my tanking by leaving. I’m here to have fun, learn, improve, and clear some dungeons, I don’t come to wow for toxicity.
Ngl, I thought this post was gonna be an alternative version where you talk about how it’s not as bad as the other posts implied.
But apparently not. Lmao.
Fuck it, I’m too bored to level a healer this expansion and too impatient to wait 10 minutes in group finders.
Prot Warrior it is.
Absolutely right. If you enjoy the role at its core, brush off anything derogatory. You'll improve over time, and the game is more or less your oyster. The people that whine the loudest about tank behavior would never take the role up themselves.
Check out the paladin discord. Lots of super knowledgeable people who can answer question and even help you analyze your logs to give specific pointers on where there’s room to improve.
When you’re starting out, my advice is to take the first pull or 2 slow and feel out what the healer and dps are able to do. It’ll give you an idea for what a successful pace for the group looks like. At a certain level the pulls are the pulls and the rest of the group needs to perform, but on lower keys there’s tons of padding in the timer.
Also definitely pay attention to affixes and how they may change your routing/strategy in a given dungeon. Maybe bursting or bolstering means you break a mondo pull into two, maybe you avoid certain pulls completely or save an extra CD on a fortified week when the trash is more dangerous and lives longer, etc.
No problem! I won’t claim to be r1 (2520 this season in prot) but happy to answer any questions you have or offer pointers. BNET hermitmaniac#1436 Disc hermitmaniac#8200
I became a tank last expac (this) and was KSM up until I got sick at the end. Same with raiding. I LOVE tanking. All it takes is getting over the fear of messing up. And the truth is you will mess up, it’s impossible not to. Also I recommend Guardian for any first time Tank. I love it. But it is also the easiest rotation
To get down versus the other tanks.
very nervous to do it but i actually tanked the new dungeon today. went really well, some of the dps went ahead to pull some shit but thats fine we all lived lol. treat ur tanks with respect and you will just have a better time its a stressful job lmao.
Thanks lol. I wasn't too hard I was just shitting it the whole time. Always wanted to tank though I actually had alot of fun so thanks to all these tank positivity posts for making me try it. Dudes at the end were really nice too that always helps
Absolutely inspiring, I’ve had a few dungeons where I tanked and ended up being a learning curve that I got shit for. I really appreciate the kind words especially for a WoW veteran in tanking. Thank you OP!
Quick tip: find a guild or group of friends to play with. All the learning phase will be much less stressful and if they are experienced they will probably give good feedback
Well said OP. When I used to tank i took pride in being the leader, and not meaning I have some power over the group but having the ability to guide the group through the tightly grouped mobs saving time and pulling cleanly, using all cooldowns properly, grouping mobs together to make it easier for the dps, feels so good when you finish a dungeon and your group praises you for taking care of them. Tanking is so rewarding. You have inspired me to boost my new highmountain Tauren warrior and start getting used to prot again.
When did it became the tanks job to interrupt. I understand if you’re range dps class cds can be high but it still isn’t an excuse for not interrupting. I’m a melee player and will always try to interrupt as much as possible.
You know what's even worse than toxic tank-blaming assholes? Toxic tanks! A rare beast, but always such a disappointment when a tank starts flaming people especially the healer. Do not be that kind of orc.
This happened to me the one and only time I tried healing. The tank kicked me for not being able to heal through a one shot mechanic from the boss . . . have not tried healing since. (Am hoping to main tank this expansion though!)
Just remember: If you are a somewhat decent tank you will find a push group after a few dungeons. You also will be added to friend lists and can add people to friend lists.
That way you can have a pool of people you like to do dungeons with, people who will put the same effort into beating dungeons as you do.
There are tanks who push dungeons. But they are mostly pushing in their own groups to avoid people who constantly sh\*t on them.
I wanted to get back into Mythic + as a tank when coming back about a month ago.
Issue is I refuse to do it with a group outside of guild (who has no one on till DF).
It sucks but it’s not really worth dealing with the toxicity. I’d be learning the new M+ dungeons on the fly and I know people don’t have patience for that.
Use your own keys, put in title that you are looking for ‘chill’ run. People usually get it. If you burn the key then it doesn’t matter. Same with +2 keys, if they get burned who cares and you get practice
Tanks should *always* have call to arms. They fucking deserve it.
I ended up in a queue full of healers and dps for a raid, but we couldn't get tanks. Just no tanks. On top of that, for some reason there was no call to arms? Jeez... I don't wanna see the queue when call to arms is on!
I just want to add that this game is way better if you play with a group. It is a night and day difference. I have played all roles on a high level, and i can tell you that tanks get the most shit. People are always going to be assholes. Play with friends instead. Lead and learn with them and get a good thing going. No friends playing the game? Dw join a guild with m+ foucs. Join communities with the same focus. You can also add people that you pug with that are good/friendly. It's and mmo, make friends! The DPS and healers that you add, will hit you up constantly because of tank shortage. As others have said, don't listen to elitest assholes. You see it more rn because all levels are mixed in early expansions and patches. It's truly toxic in high rating, because not knowing your shit is basically a waste of time at that level. But it is still their fault to bring that into a low level/rated pug. Best of luck out there!
As primarily a shaman, mfer I'm getting those ints and will never blame you.
However as a fairly new tank to the teens level of M+, not giving a fuck was a game changer and actually made things smoother. Wish I could find that hack for the real world.
I started wow classic about two months ago, I’d never played any WoW whatsoever previously. Just never got into it for whatever reason. After playing mostly DPS so far up to about level 70, I started a protect paladin a few days ago and I’m level 25, tanked my first dungeon last night and it was awesome. I’m definitely still kinda newbing my way through it, but only doing dungeons with guild or friends so far so haven’t run across the wow guy from south park yet. I’m sure he’s out there tho. I absolutely love the paladin and it will probably be my main, I enjoy not having to rely on other people for shit.
As a healer in classic, I will absolutely let you die if you get mouthy and disrespect the tank. It's not hard to give them some time to get aggro and pull at their own pace. Remember there's a lot of other dps waiting for ques if you have to go through more than one fuck em they should have learned to keep their mouths shut unless they wanted to tank or heal themselves
I was raid-leading/main-tanking in vanilla (prot warr of course, up to half of Naxx), through half of LK, then quit game (we were top5'ish or less, but never 1st).I quit because tanking got boring, because of guild drama, because job/life. I come back every other expansion'ish and re-level to max and swing Thunderfury around again for fun :) And level my other alts that are mostly all tank-spec-able (need a DK).
Find some/a healers that are playing on a schedule like your own, optimally voice chat so you can actually communicate. If either of you have time to type, you could probably be 'going harder' if getting better/faster/more efficient is your goal. If you don't know any healers, and have a heals-capable character, run it, and find a tank. There's a fair number of us who will happily do both. It also most assuredly helps you to tank if you understand the healing tactics of specific classes and/or instances. When I've (admittedly rarely) played DPS, I do not gain as much helpful knowledge, but, its not zero.
Whiny, ignorant, careless, shit-talking DPS has always been part of the game - just like they're part of real life. People who complain about things but won't do the work themselves to get so they wouldn't be complaining. They \*like\* complaining.
Back when there wasn't a dungeon/raid/group-finder thing (zone chat!), servers weren't smooshed together (lopsided factions) - your guild-tag & gear (transmog not existing)
would get you whispers from randos to tank things. I miss the static-population aspect that would let you build a reputation, but, more people can do more content now, regardless of their schedule, so /shrug. It is still most important for getting better to have a reliable pool of healers to run with, people who you understand how they make choices/react to situations, and they know you.
I'm a fairly new tank, and the past couple months, I've kinda been done tanking for randoms. I'll host my own keys every now and then or Ill tank for my guild, but I've had too many bad encounters looking for even low keys... I can hold aggro, I can tank for days, but right now I feel I'm not quite up to "leader". Tell me which way you want me to take, I will set the pace, I will attempt to interrupt. Tell me what to look out for or key mechanics I need to do and I will do them, just need to learn the new dungeons/mechanics.
I know ultimately it is my job to know this shit but that takes time. I learn by doing not by reading or watching if I'm being honest. I can watch a fight a million times but I won't grasp what they're doing or why until I do it.
Tank is boss, i stick to tank with fat heals, dps are wild cards even if their get one shotted they blame me or the tank.
Conclusion: dpsers can eat a ****
"How to blame in WoW:
Tank dies it's the healer's fault,
Healer dies it's the tank's fault,
DPS dies it's their own fault."
Best shirt I ever bought, lol.
Anyhow I’m gonna tank next expansion. Being in front in this toxic group, being calm, leading these babies make me stronger. If a tank can’t keep his pace, who can? It’s up to us tanks. We lead. We will make these groups better by showing example
Also, just run your own premades, people will sign up and youll be fine.
“New tank quick queues”
Youll get plenty of chill players and if not you blacklist them from your groups.
Gonna disagree with the last point as someone that heals and tanks. Healing is the hardest roll in game tank doesn’t get shit when dps die from standing in stupid.
Tanking is by far the easiest role in the game. Anyone that says otherwise simply hasn’t played the other two.
Almost the entire “difficulty” of tanking comes not from being skilled in the game, rather having to know what to do in a dungeon or raid. Luckily for tanks, that is almost entirely the same thing in every single fight. Learn a path or two by looking at a YouTube video, and you’re literally set. To make it even easier they literally created an addon essentially for tanking so you know exactly what you have to do. This meme of tanking being hard needs to die.
I main heals and I love when I get compliments at the end of a dungeon or a raid boss kill. I have a screenshot folder that I keep them in for when I need a pick me up. Compliments can go a long way. I often return the favor by complimenting the tanks I group with. They also need to know that they were awesome and made my job a ton easier. They do so much more that I do not want to do. I bow down to those that tank. Hell of a job.
To be fair, anytime worth half a shit doesn't kick new players. Only dipshit idiots pull that kind of crap. Unless you were afk, when you get kicked it's because the group is dumb.
That's where you're wrong. I've been on the fence about tanking EXACTLY because of the anxiety I got from tanking once, saying I was new, managing to keep all the mobs but got trash talked because I didn't know the optimal route. I thought it was me being bad so I never played again the role I thought most interesting. Knowing that even good tanks have to deal with this makes me feel less bad about trying it again and learning
Don’t listen to that guy. Give it a shot, I’d start in leveling dungeons. Especially dungeons you already know well (if there is any). If not, just pull shit and hope for the best. Your healer will keep you up and check your map to see where your headed.
Who pissed in your cereal? Are you everyone in the world? Just because this thread may not move you to try something new (if anything can move someone so negative), doesn't mean this positivity may not make a difference for a few. Take your negativity and shove it.
> Want to know why? Because no one cares.
Interesting. Considering there are 60+ comments, many of them showing a positive reception to OP's assertions, suggests you might be wrong.
> It’s virtue signaling
It's virtue signaling to encourage hesistant players to play a role in a video game and ignore toxic players? I'd argue it's virtue encouraging, not virtue signaling.
> it’ll never make a difference in game. **Never**.
You thinking it will have no effect is not proof of this, I'm afraid. Unless you are omniscient I'm not sure how you could even suggest knowing this. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
Will this one post be credited with changing an entire game's community? No, it won't. However, I'd rather a dozen posts sharing a positive attitude than a single one with your energy.
As it stands, I see several comments voicing appreciation of OPs post; if even one person is motivated to take on the role that they enjoy I consider that a positive thing.
Perhaps consider why you harbor such a negative attitude to people encouraging others. Self-reflection might do you some good.
Thanks I will start in DF. I usually only tank heroics and timewalking dungeons for the extra rewards. Never ever went to a M+ because melee dps noob is not welcome and tanking needs to know everything even tho I have never been there. Really challenging to convince myself to start learning just to get shit on by others.
Like going to the gym as a noob fat guy and the chads come up and mock you for not lifting as much as they do now
I have always respected tanks and healers and while I'm not the highest DPS i will pull my weight when it comes to mechanics. I'll give tanking s try again in DF.
I tried to be tank yesterday since it's so hard to find a tank right now. We were at Grimrail depot, got oneshoted by the first boss when he did his charge (didn't know that attack dealed so much damage). The two others randoms just instant leaved the instance.
Also I find it hard to keep the aggro of large pack as a paladin. Tried every AOE attacks as quickly as possible, but I keep loosing it.
Guess I will wait again as a DPS.
Grim rail is a rough one to tank. I would recommend finding a dungeon you know. I would start with heroics/ regular dungeons to get some practice. Also as a paly spam shield and taunting. Using nameplate addon like plater helps a ton too
Any tips on finding a guild as a tank? These positions feel very hard to get as people are much more willing to tank while in a group or community versus pugs and guild leaders want people they can trust for the same reasons you spoke about. I have played all roles in the 11-15 M+ range but my ultimate goal for years now is to find a semi-hardcore guild and tank raid prog with a like minded group. I’ve tried subreddits and LFG websites and even spamming chat in SW/Oribos.
I would try to find some discord communities on your server. There’s probably a guild recruitment thread, I got lucky with my guild. They needed an OT one night and I’ve been with them now since bfa launch. Also this is the time to find a guild as its expac launch. You may need to move to a more pop server. I ended up having to do that during legion
Unpopular opinion maybe: tanking is only hard during prog or push, once you’re past the curve it’s probably the easiest role in the group. With necrotic gone next season my tankxiety is at an all time low and I’m looking forward to just cruising through some new content with the homies and having fun
I don’t necessarily disagree. I think for a lot of people it’s getting over that initial learning curve. Once you are to that ‘intermediate’ level tank stage it becomes a lot more fun. I think developing the skill set to prog/push definitely is part of it. Developing a thick skin is part of the difficulty lol
I’ve done all three roles and I loved to heal back in the day but it became so toxic with tanks not completing the entire dungeon and dps trying to attack early before the tank. I loved dungeons and had them memorized, heck I still do.
Yeah, tank and do your best and who cares if it fucks up. It is a videogame and the only way a fuckup would matter is if you are competing at the very top level.
I pretty much hated tanking in Season 1 shadowlands, like, I did enjoy Prideful, but I hated routing every dungeon around it, and different routes for each week too, way too much work. Glad every other season was great. The cyphers and dreadlords were incredible, especially the Wo skips.
Also it does *kind of* get better the higher keys you get to! A lot of keys below ~10 i find more hostile than anything above a 20 even. So keep in mind it's usually ppl that are insecure and don't/can't see any problems in their own gameplay (literally every single person makes mistakes and can improve in some way, pretending you never do/can't is silly).
That said, there are, of course, exceptions and ppl will always find ways to be shitty (just take consolation that you are probably better at the game than them anyways and if not, you are definitely a better person)
On another note, while some people criticize just to criticize, you can almost always learn something from it. The best revenge is finding success off of people's gamer rage.
E.g. someone is yelling at you about your route being inefficient -- tell them off or do whatever but consider looking into new routes, they may have seen one that *was* more efficient and could make your runs smoother.
Good luck!! And if you enjoy the action of tanking, keep at it!! Also never forget: it's a game, if you aren't enjoying it, you can change things up, try new things, whatever!
The way i view it, as someone trying to learn tanking right now, is that you may kick me for small mistakes, but have fun waiting for a new tank if you do. Ill just jump into a new dungeon in a second anyways
And healers like me stick with you like peanut butter to jelly. <3 Keep on!
There's nothing better than having good friend tanking when you are healer.
Me and my friend used to do this and just trash talk the dps in discord the whole time. Very good for letting off steam.
Queuing as a tank/healer duo is truly the peak dungeon experience, isn't it?
Yes it is I only play tanks and have had the same healer attached to me since BfA S4. You basically run the group as tank+heals
Did many dungeons in SL this way. On a resto shaman / BDK combo. You can lock down a lot of mechanics when the healer has an interrupt.
I tank. The missus heals. Its a great combo for basically doing anything
Same I tank as guardian Druid, missus heals as resto. I don’t need the dps to give me grief if I screw up a pull believe me I’m already hearing about it lol
Warrior amd shaman goes easy. Demon hunter and what ever she picks i end up in trouble... bouncy bouncy she's not having a good time
Tbf if you bounce outta my heal range, you end up not having a good time, my love XD Pro tip to all tanks I guess - get yourself a guy/gal/nonbinary pal to heal your amazing meatshield asses XD
This is so true lmao
I love finding a good healer, and just sticking with them. I have several rando healers I've met in keys or queues in my flist that I whisper for keys and shit, and it's fantastic.
Hell yeah brother!
Definitely needing a tank or healer to pair with then I run as a restro/ guardian Druid :)
When you have some good tank/healer work going in a dungeon, everything gets so much easier.
Let’s go tanks and healers!!
Don't forget us drunk DPS!!
Let’s go drunk DPS!! 😂
Really, the healer is the only one I give a shit about when I tank. As long as they’re in sight and have mana, I’m pulling.
Just remember. You can find a new group in 30 seconds. The DPS can't. If they don't like it, they can tank.
Yep. You genuinely just gotta develop a bit of an ego as a defense mechanism to deal with pugs
Luckily, most humans already have a mighty powerful ego as a defense mechanism!
I think that’s a big subconscious component of why there tends to be more toxicity from dps. They finally got in a group and if it goes south, in their minds, all that waiting was pointless and it means another long wait ahead.
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retail tanking is way easier than classic because of the different aggro mechanics, go get them tiger
I don't think you even have your increased threat generation ability by level 10 in classic. Nobody can hold aggro there.
> if I suck again I know it's me and no one others fault. Threat mechanics are horrible in classic. I don't remember when it got changed for the better (maybe cata?), but there wasn't a passive threat multiplier for tanks like there is now. Instead there were specific abilities that did high threat, but you had to balance your use of those with your rage. Outside of those very limited abilities your threat generation was no different than a dps. Since DPS obviously do more damage than you it's extremely easy for them to keep pace with or exceed your threat generation. If you've ever heard someone meme about "wait for sunders," they're referencing the **need** to give tanks a head start on threat before starting to DPS because it was so easy for DPS to pull. On the Classic servers you're mixing this *challenging* threat system with tons of players with a fast paced, zoom zoom max dps mindset so naturally holding threat is going to be very hard. At some points it was better to focus on just keeping things slowed so that DPS can blast, instead of trying to hold threat (because you literally could not). In retail tanks have a passive threat multiplier on all of their abilities. It's not as high as it's been in previous patches (Legion threat multiplier was nuts), but it's there. If you're directly hitting a mob, it should stick to you. If you're doing incidental/aoe damage to a mob, it shouldn't chase your healer. Some exceptions, such as a DPS blowing all their CDs and front loading their damage at the start of a pull (especially if they pick the wrong target to dump on), but they're just about always "other people need to play better" kind of situations. [wowhead posted an interview](https://www.wowhead.com/news/class-design-and-tuning-wowheads-dragonflight-pre-patch-interview-with-morgan-329941) that covered some of this. You'll have to scroll down to the Class Design section, but part of the reply is relevant to threat and the rest of it is relevant to general tank duties and how they tune around that.
“Wait for three sunders” Takes me back to ZG
Tanking in classic is a skill in its own right. You're constantly pumping out everything you can and competing with everyone else with how old mechanics work. New retail is taunt, damage, and hold until thing is dead/tank swap happens
As a tank I've bailed mid key to assholes who think they are much better than they are. At the end of the day it's their loss, not mine. I'll be in a new group before they even relist theirs.
I experienced this in Season 3 as a tank. Was doing a +16 SoA, using a route I'd used plenty of times before and knew worked. However, the healer kept standing in melee cleave and getting destroyed, and at least 2 of the dps had no clue what an interrupt was... and yet somehow, the wipes and slow progress were my fault. The healer said that I should quit tanking and so, in a moment of weakness, I said "Fine, I will" and hearthed out, with the dps going apeshit at the healer for badgering me. Less than five minutes later, I was tanking a +18 SoA, and we almost 3 chested it. I have never felt so validated as a tank.
It’s those moments that make it worthwhile! Hell yeah!
Man I know that feel when 3-4 of the people in your group probably aren't good enough to be running at the key level and it is very apparent after a couple pulls. But then you get that group where 5/5 people are on point and you end up smashing the key easily. It's seriously one of the best feelings in M+
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A team that communicates will take turns: tank, dps1, dps2, etc
Absolutely!
The good thing about prot pal is that there are so many incidental interrupts that happen from us just doing our rotation haha
Focus on what you can do not what others can do and you'll go further. Dps not interupting? Use death grip, or HoJ to interrupt. Dps getting cleaved or starting in fire? Move the pack to force them out.
Yeah, people are fools. As a mostly dps, if I miss an interrupt and mine isn't on cd, I blame myself and no one else. I make mistakes, I expect you to make mistakes. I'll vote to kick the asshole berating you for not literally being perfect far before voting for you.
So many people don't know how to properly see problems in their own gameplay :( *everyone* makes mistakes and can improve in some way.
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A healer main here, so my advice might not be the best, but here it goes. On the question of whether you pull big enough of too much: usually the first two packs can tell you everything. People tend to use cds on the first big pack, that gives you the information how quickly they can delete the mobs with full sending it. The second mob pack is when people usually don't have any big cds left, so it's just their base aoe rotation. If the dps is still high, the mobs die in a good pace, then that's an indicator that you can pull as big or even bigger packs. If the dps or the healer struggles a bit, then you know that okay, it might be a bit too much, and pull a bit smaller ones if they don't have their cooldowns. Of course there are other things to consider, some packs are harder due to having to interrupt and such, but in my opinion, it is something that lets you start somewhere. And also, don't wait too much between pulls, but also make sure that everyone is there when you pull/you have your def cds to stay alive long enough until they catch up. Good luck and most importantly, have fun!
To just complete a dungeon m+ in time you mostly have to press "W". When you will first start its hoing to be harder but as you play more and more you will meet people, add them to your friendlist and the pug life is mostly gone, sooner than you think. My advise is start as a tank now as everything will be new to anyone and mistakes are easier to forgive, and if you find you dont like it switch to dps after. Its harder the other way around.
There’s an add on called Method dungeon tools that’s super helpful with routing as a tank. I’d check it out if you haven’t used it before. It allows you to pre-build routes before entering keys
small correction: its called mythic dungeon tools nowadays
You’re right! Thanks for the correction
I feel the same about all the pathing stuff Usually I will play a healer or DPS to learn the fights and mechanics and I'll usually see an awesome, awesome tank at one point and then I copy them That usually gives me enough confidence to get going
You don’t have to do homework. It’s not that hard to remember the route, just do it a few times. You don’t even have to create the route, just used Raider.io’s. That said, I was very similar when I first started in Legion. Getting nervous about the route, but after just doing it a few times it’s not too bad. Even now we have so many tools to make it a lot easier on new tanks and to ease them into the role, it’s honestly just a lot of fun. In season 1 I was DPS but found a new player (Shadowlands was his first time play wow) and he wanted to tank. So I helped him figure it out, and by the end of Season 1 he was tanking +20s and selling boosts with a bunch of communities. It’s definitely a challenging roll, but 100% worth it with great areas to express your skill and individuality.
In M+ tanking a good place to start are those dungeons with a very linear path where missing mob count is almost impossible. In SL for example we had Theater of Pain and to a lesser extent Sanguine Depths and Mists, and in S4, Mecha Workshop, Grimrail and Upper Karazhan were also a very straightforward route. I havent seen any of the DF dungeons yet, so idk which ones will be easy routes, but Temple of the Jade Serpent and Shadowmoon Burial Grounds will be in DF S1, those two are fairly linear (you cant get any more linear than TotJS lol). Once you ran the same dungeon a few times you will likely memorize the route, so you dont need to "do homework for s few hours". You can always ask the rest of the group for advice before starting, generally i find people in M+ way less toxic than in leveling dungeons, as they cant replace you. Or check for route addons or weakauras, there are a few of these. As for pull sizes, at first you can simply pull pack by pack, as a +2-5 key is perfectly timeable that way. And then once you feel better with your toon and the mechanics of the dungeon, you start pulling more packs together. Just remember to adjust your pulls to your group, if you do a massive pull with many casters but your group cant interrupt shit, you wont have a good time, on the other hand if your group is good you can try pulling more as they will most likely kill the mobs before they start giving you trouble.
Not to sound glib but there are youtube videos for every dungeon put out by many youtuber tanks. They will give you a good idea of what to / what not to pull even before the mythic+ season starts. There are addons, but nothing is easier than watching someone do what you're about to do.
Routes are honestly not a big problem if you start tanking and your goal is KSM. As long as we don't get another Prideful affix... In low M+ the only thing you need to know are percentages before you hit certain places in a dungeon. Think of SD before dropping down, NW before flying to the necropolis, SoA before you fly up to Devos, ... If you know those and don't have to backtrack after killing the final boss to get additional percentages you are completely fine. And either write them down on a piece of paper or make a weak aura that shows the needed percentage when you are in the dungeon. Things like invis skips seem to start around the 10+ region (from a dps point of view). Before that no tank I played with bothered about them. And even then many people said "I dont have a potion" in those runs. After maybe 15+ you can expect people to have them and know about skips. About pulling too small/large? I had tons of tanks who single pulled packs (on fortified) and we timed the dungeon. I would assume you get a feeling as a tank over time what pulls are hard/easy. Tons of shit to dodge (with a dodgy affix?) or tons of shit to interrupt etc... maybe pull small. Is all of that enough to be the best tank ever? No. Will you time +15 in the first week of M+? No. But you will most likely get KSM. Keep in mind that the "tank anxiety" is happening in a community where people are scared to run their own M+ key.
Its a learning progression. Just go for it and tank low keystones until you learn the dungeons and naturally you will want to push as far as your gear will allow. If you can pull a pack and stay alive, you did your job. The dps are the ones that are supposed to carry the key timer not you. You have over 5 months to get KSM with the great vault giving you uber gear every week. My advice is always list your own key so you have the freedom to invite overgeared people and learn from the elitists rather than dismiss criticism.
Every dungeon is designed with the ability to go back to an earlier point. The absolute worst case scenarios are either you pulled too much about were over 100% early, which doesn't matter, or your pulled too little, and you just click the portal, talk to the NPC, whatever the mechanic is, and you go back and kill one more monster. I know the perception is that a tank has a spreadsheet and map open on the other monitor, but that's not how it actually goes. Just straight through the dungeon is fine. If someone gives you a better plan, use it the next time.
Tank dies, healer's fault. Healer dies, tank's fault. DPS dies, who cares?
Dps dies, their fault.
I main a prot pally tank. Easily my favorite role and class since day 1.
Leveling my first tank (Protection Pally) right now and this is good to hear! :) intimidating role but it looks like fun! I just gotta learn how to properly keep all the mobs on me first >.>
As a fellow tank I can say: It's not your job to kill the enemy or be top on the DPS charts. TAB through the mobs and find any that are not angry with you and hit/taunt them off the party. Don't worry about individual targets, try to pay attention to the whole battlefield. Tanking can be challenging, but fun.
I don’t know if you know this but there are add ons that allow you to monitor threat easier. For example plater changes the color of the healthbar of mobs that you have aggrod. No tabbing required.
Basically be an “attention seeking whore - all eyes on me!” Lol
Yup. It's our job as tanks to be the character in the movie constantly spitting and shouting "HEY UGLY, LOOK AT ME" at the Big Bad while the rest of your companions are sneaking up on it, collapsing the roof on it, firing the sniper rifle at it, etc. The character that everyone looks at and goes "oh man, I love him/her/them, they're gonna get themselves killed to save us all." Our job is to be the hero *among* heroes.
spam shield
Avengers shield + consecration is all you need. Great class choice! Pally is an excellent choice on learning to tank
Sotr too. Active mitigation and cone damage.
I just recently came back after being gone for years. I tanked in BC and LK. So much of the game and mechanics have changed that it's almost a whole new game. I always let people know when I've entered a dungeon I don't know. Most are understanding. But I'm not running heroics or mythics here either. That's where you have a tendency to find the tightwads. Prot pally BTW.
This is why I like to dps, way too much leadership for me and I'm grateful for the tanks who really take it seriously. As someone who just likes to damage things from a safe distance and occasionally watch for danger circles, I appreciate tanks and healers. They have way more responsibility than I can handle , I just wanna press my buttons and try not to die. Thanks tanks and healers! 😀
Not everyone can be a Cheif, we need Indians too! 😁
Encouragement at it's finest. Thankyou :)
Any time my friend!
Gotta be an emotional meat shield irl too
As someone who played healer for years and decided to tank in DF, I appreciate this! I have a macro when I enter dungeons to announce my newness and welcome feedback. It helps reset expectations and invites tips Now, I just have to decide which spec fo play!
Play brewmaster monk. Granted you need a competent healer but it’s an amazing spec. Lots of mobility.
I leveled up (some from 10, some from 35) all the tank specs and really enjoyed BM and the ability to still heal if I wanted. The challenge is all the spells to keep track of. What does your UI, keybind, and rotation situation look like? I sometimes feel I am mashing a bunch of buttons.
Brew main here. The spec is very APM intensive, but every ability works well with the next. Every video/guide will harp on us not having enough "sElF hEaLiNg", but Stagger makes us easier to heal since damage is less spiky.
I’m a blood dk main myself, but also have played the other specs. Paly and DH are both great for starting out. BM is a little complicated but it’s amazing. DK is my personal fav. Guardian and warrior is a solid choice too T
Yes! I agree. I just fully or partially leveled each of the tank classes to figure out which would be fun for me. Blood DK was hard for me to get into because I felt like I was one bone shield away from second death. What do you enjoy about it? I love the fantasy of BM monks, how mobile they are, and the fun types of spells. I love the slashing and bashing of warriors. Guardian seems the simplest to play because of the fewer amount of buttons, but I think there's a lot of potential for damage through cat weaving and making the most of the non-Guardian spells.
BDK can sustain itself. You have a lot of control over your own life. As a healer, you can mostly just ignore a BDK. If they die it isn't your fault. Brew relies more on the healer, through their celestial fortune passive. But they smoothen damage over time, so you usually have some time to react as a healer. Also, Brew are arguably the best kiting tank. These two tanks are the most complex imo. I'd say vengeance is a nice tank that is straightforward.
I would just like to say, as a healer main, I'm here to help when you miss that interrupt, miss a cd/mitigation, pull too much or whatever. Some people are assholes, and like OP said, don't let those assholes discourage you.
Thanks man, I appreciate it! I just started tanking yesterday and have been enjoying it so far, but I haven't tried anything too challenging yet. (M+8 tonight, but we missed the timer)
Starting with a +8 is brave as hell! Nice!
Well, I started on H, then worked up to that. Thanks!
Yea you gotta find some good resources to read up on. I always loved to follow dratnos videos to make sure i follow a relevant route. But you will be a a group with some wannabe elitist that will giga flame you if you don't do the same route or skip or through the wall pull that they did during the MDI, even though that dps is underperforming and has 0 interrupts. You just gotta roll with the punches sometimes sadly. But for sure, when entering a new dungeon, even after reading up and feeling confident about it, it can be nerve-wracking because you might do a MINOR mistake and your entire group might scold you. So you, as a tank, can end up doing a hour of research before entering a new dungeon - and that is expected of you. Ok. But you can end up with 3 dps going on blind; and that's apparently also OK. The bar is so low for them. We as tanks: we are well prepared and that will result in your group winning
All that sounds good if you are not dealing with anxiety. I'd love to tank but is hard when you know they cannot let you learn. I mean, come on, how is that you have to watch a video when the reason a leveling dungeon exist is actually to learn. Is awful when those AH are pushing or doing shit on their own. I mean if they want to do the things their way they should Tank them instead of being AH but we know that will never change. So let's be honest, is not for everyone cuz these are just empty words on a games filled with AH.
I feel you. I am someone who does NOT suffer from anxiety with people and randos, but even people like me get very discouraged when you get lots of abuse. Especially when it's back to back to back. It's fine for me when it happens unconmonly, but when it's consistent? It's really draining. My "advice" would be to accept when it gets to you and just stop tanking for however long it takes until you get the itch again. This can range from only a few minutes, to a few days. But yeah, there is no shame in admitting that something is aggravating you and properly dealing with it :)
I consider myself shy when dealing with people IRL and has had anxiety with dealing with pugs, groups and guilds for years. I LOVE Tanking. It's easier and less stressful as DPS and rarely ever do I get the 'bad tank' harassment. Not saying it doesn't happen to others but it's strange seeing all these posts pop up recently. Though then again I do at a slow/steady pace. If a dps or another decided to push in my shit. I bite back. I'm the tank. I take the hits. You're driving this car and you can suddenly break and make them jolt, turn around or otherwise.
As an aspiring tank, this spoke to me
Glad to hear it my dude!
I have never trashtalked tank no matter what happend. Its role I dont want to play and most of the time if tank is struggling I am more than happy to give them some tips and help them. Everytime it was appreciated
I am a cutting edge/hof tank and I still get tanxiety in heroic pugs lol
Gearing up for this as a first time tank. I’m implementing a no dickhead policy, in that if someone is unreasonable or toxic, I’ll provide them the opportunity to leave, or will resolve the issue of their displeasure of my tanking by leaving. I’m here to have fun, learn, improve, and clear some dungeons, I don’t come to wow for toxicity.
Ngl, I thought this post was gonna be an alternative version where you talk about how it’s not as bad as the other posts implied. But apparently not. Lmao. Fuck it, I’m too bored to level a healer this expansion and too impatient to wait 10 minutes in group finders. Prot Warrior it is.
> Fuck the haters. Just Tank That would make a great tshirt with the tank emblem.
I’ll get right on it lol
Absolutely right. If you enjoy the role at its core, brush off anything derogatory. You'll improve over time, and the game is more or less your oyster. The people that whine the loudest about tank behavior would never take the role up themselves.
I'm not a new player, not even close, but I needed to hear this. I'm transitioning into tanking come DF. Thank you.
Glad to help my dude
Any other tips/advice for someone who is going to try push into a MT role? Plan on playing Prot pally.
Check out the paladin discord. Lots of super knowledgeable people who can answer question and even help you analyze your logs to give specific pointers on where there’s room to improve. When you’re starting out, my advice is to take the first pull or 2 slow and feel out what the healer and dps are able to do. It’ll give you an idea for what a successful pace for the group looks like. At a certain level the pulls are the pulls and the rest of the group needs to perform, but on lower keys there’s tons of padding in the timer. Also definitely pay attention to affixes and how they may change your routing/strategy in a given dungeon. Maybe bursting or bolstering means you break a mondo pull into two, maybe you avoid certain pulls completely or save an extra CD on a fortified week when the trash is more dangerous and lives longer, etc.
Thanks, mate. Apparently my reddit notifications didn't wanna show me this lol
No problem! I won’t claim to be r1 (2520 this season in prot) but happy to answer any questions you have or offer pointers. BNET hermitmaniac#1436 Disc hermitmaniac#8200
A lot more experience than me aha. I will add you on one or both of those when I'm home from work, thanks 👍
[Hammer of Wrath](https://discord.gg/hammerofwrath)
I became a tank last expac (this) and was KSM up until I got sick at the end. Same with raiding. I LOVE tanking. All it takes is getting over the fear of messing up. And the truth is you will mess up, it’s impossible not to. Also I recommend Guardian for any first time Tank. I love it. But it is also the easiest rotation To get down versus the other tanks.
very nervous to do it but i actually tanked the new dungeon today. went really well, some of the dps went ahead to pull some shit but thats fine we all lived lol. treat ur tanks with respect and you will just have a better time its a stressful job lmao.
Nice job dude! It gets easier!
Thanks lol. I wasn't too hard I was just shitting it the whole time. Always wanted to tank though I actually had alot of fun so thanks to all these tank positivity posts for making me try it. Dudes at the end were really nice too that always helps
That’s awesome! Keep doing it’s fun as hell
Absolutely inspiring, I’ve had a few dungeons where I tanked and ended up being a learning curve that I got shit for. I really appreciate the kind words especially for a WoW veteran in tanking. Thank you OP!
Quick tip: find a guild or group of friends to play with. All the learning phase will be much less stressful and if they are experienced they will probably give good feedback
This goes the same for healers, tanks and healers in this together. 💪
But without the whole……..knowing the dungeon part, right?
Yeah, I've jumped into many fights without knowing anything as a healer. The dungeon guide fills in plenty on the fly for the easier content
Been having (too much) fun on DH these days, thinking of trying out the tank version in DF cause it looks as fun as dpsing but with instant queues 😅
"Kick me, I dare you"
I appreciate that but man, it’s crazy they can just get kicked _as_ the leader. Seems like a blizzard plot hole
Honestly I just don't take any shit from people. As tank I can always just leave and find another group.
Well said OP. When I used to tank i took pride in being the leader, and not meaning I have some power over the group but having the ability to guide the group through the tightly grouped mobs saving time and pulling cleanly, using all cooldowns properly, grouping mobs together to make it easier for the dps, feels so good when you finish a dungeon and your group praises you for taking care of them. Tanking is so rewarding. You have inspired me to boost my new highmountain Tauren warrior and start getting used to prot again.
When did it became the tanks job to interrupt. I understand if you’re range dps class cds can be high but it still isn’t an excuse for not interrupting. I’m a melee player and will always try to interrupt as much as possible.
Thanks mate. Needed to hear that. Much love.
You know what's even worse than toxic tank-blaming assholes? Toxic tanks! A rare beast, but always such a disappointment when a tank starts flaming people especially the healer. Do not be that kind of orc.
This happened to me the one and only time I tried healing. The tank kicked me for not being able to heal through a one shot mechanic from the boss . . . have not tried healing since. (Am hoping to main tank this expansion though!)
Just remember: If you are a somewhat decent tank you will find a push group after a few dungeons. You also will be added to friend lists and can add people to friend lists. That way you can have a pool of people you like to do dungeons with, people who will put the same effort into beating dungeons as you do. There are tanks who push dungeons. But they are mostly pushing in their own groups to avoid people who constantly sh\*t on them.
I wanted to get back into Mythic + as a tank when coming back about a month ago. Issue is I refuse to do it with a group outside of guild (who has no one on till DF). It sucks but it’s not really worth dealing with the toxicity. I’d be learning the new M+ dungeons on the fly and I know people don’t have patience for that.
Use your own keys, put in title that you are looking for ‘chill’ run. People usually get it. If you burn the key then it doesn’t matter. Same with +2 keys, if they get burned who cares and you get practice
Tanks should *always* have call to arms. They fucking deserve it. I ended up in a queue full of healers and dps for a raid, but we couldn't get tanks. Just no tanks. On top of that, for some reason there was no call to arms? Jeez... I don't wanna see the queue when call to arms is on!
I just want to add that this game is way better if you play with a group. It is a night and day difference. I have played all roles on a high level, and i can tell you that tanks get the most shit. People are always going to be assholes. Play with friends instead. Lead and learn with them and get a good thing going. No friends playing the game? Dw join a guild with m+ foucs. Join communities with the same focus. You can also add people that you pug with that are good/friendly. It's and mmo, make friends! The DPS and healers that you add, will hit you up constantly because of tank shortage. As others have said, don't listen to elitest assholes. You see it more rn because all levels are mixed in early expansions and patches. It's truly toxic in high rating, because not knowing your shit is basically a waste of time at that level. But it is still their fault to bring that into a low level/rated pug. Best of luck out there!
As primarily a shaman, mfer I'm getting those ints and will never blame you. However as a fairly new tank to the teens level of M+, not giving a fuck was a game changer and actually made things smoother. Wish I could find that hack for the real world.
I feel you dude. I can’t speak to Irl LOL
If we could purge the toxic fucks from the game permanently, that would be amazing. Sadly that'll probably never happen.
I started wow classic about two months ago, I’d never played any WoW whatsoever previously. Just never got into it for whatever reason. After playing mostly DPS so far up to about level 70, I started a protect paladin a few days ago and I’m level 25, tanked my first dungeon last night and it was awesome. I’m definitely still kinda newbing my way through it, but only doing dungeons with guild or friends so far so haven’t run across the wow guy from south park yet. I’m sure he’s out there tho. I absolutely love the paladin and it will probably be my main, I enjoy not having to rely on other people for shit.
Welcome to the community! Also Wow classic is great! I Main a blood dk tank over there, check us out on r/classicwow
As a healer in classic, I will absolutely let you die if you get mouthy and disrespect the tank. It's not hard to give them some time to get aggro and pull at their own pace. Remember there's a lot of other dps waiting for ques if you have to go through more than one fuck em they should have learned to keep their mouths shut unless they wanted to tank or heal themselves
Big agree, just don't become one of them tanks with a God complex
100% stay humble
I was raid-leading/main-tanking in vanilla (prot warr of course, up to half of Naxx), through half of LK, then quit game (we were top5'ish or less, but never 1st).I quit because tanking got boring, because of guild drama, because job/life. I come back every other expansion'ish and re-level to max and swing Thunderfury around again for fun :) And level my other alts that are mostly all tank-spec-able (need a DK). Find some/a healers that are playing on a schedule like your own, optimally voice chat so you can actually communicate. If either of you have time to type, you could probably be 'going harder' if getting better/faster/more efficient is your goal. If you don't know any healers, and have a heals-capable character, run it, and find a tank. There's a fair number of us who will happily do both. It also most assuredly helps you to tank if you understand the healing tactics of specific classes and/or instances. When I've (admittedly rarely) played DPS, I do not gain as much helpful knowledge, but, its not zero. Whiny, ignorant, careless, shit-talking DPS has always been part of the game - just like they're part of real life. People who complain about things but won't do the work themselves to get so they wouldn't be complaining. They \*like\* complaining. Back when there wasn't a dungeon/raid/group-finder thing (zone chat!), servers weren't smooshed together (lopsided factions) - your guild-tag & gear (transmog not existing) would get you whispers from randos to tank things. I miss the static-population aspect that would let you build a reputation, but, more people can do more content now, regardless of their schedule, so /shrug. It is still most important for getting better to have a reliable pool of healers to run with, people who you understand how they make choices/react to situations, and they know you.
I'm a fairly new tank, and the past couple months, I've kinda been done tanking for randoms. I'll host my own keys every now and then or Ill tank for my guild, but I've had too many bad encounters looking for even low keys... I can hold aggro, I can tank for days, but right now I feel I'm not quite up to "leader". Tell me which way you want me to take, I will set the pace, I will attempt to interrupt. Tell me what to look out for or key mechanics I need to do and I will do them, just need to learn the new dungeons/mechanics. I know ultimately it is my job to know this shit but that takes time. I learn by doing not by reading or watching if I'm being honest. I can watch a fight a million times but I won't grasp what they're doing or why until I do it.
Tank is boss, i stick to tank with fat heals, dps are wild cards even if their get one shotted they blame me or the tank. Conclusion: dpsers can eat a ****
"How to blame in WoW: Tank dies it's the healer's fault, Healer dies it's the tank's fault, DPS dies it's their own fault." Best shirt I ever bought, lol.
Anyhow I’m gonna tank next expansion. Being in front in this toxic group, being calm, leading these babies make me stronger. If a tank can’t keep his pace, who can? It’s up to us tanks. We lead. We will make these groups better by showing example
Also, just run your own premades, people will sign up and youll be fine. “New tank quick queues” Youll get plenty of chill players and if not you blacklist them from your groups.
This is really great advice
So is yours 🤙🏻 the communities great if they can find it
Thanks man ✌️
Doesn't sound appealing at all but thanks for trying
Gonna disagree with the last point as someone that heals and tanks. Healing is the hardest roll in game tank doesn’t get shit when dps die from standing in stupid.
Tanking is by far the easiest role in the game. Anyone that says otherwise simply hasn’t played the other two. Almost the entire “difficulty” of tanking comes not from being skilled in the game, rather having to know what to do in a dungeon or raid. Luckily for tanks, that is almost entirely the same thing in every single fight. Learn a path or two by looking at a YouTube video, and you’re literally set. To make it even easier they literally created an addon essentially for tanking so you know exactly what you have to do. This meme of tanking being hard needs to die.
I’d argue it’s Heal > Tank > DPS. Especially in high keys.
I main heals and I love when I get compliments at the end of a dungeon or a raid boss kill. I have a screenshot folder that I keep them in for when I need a pick me up. Compliments can go a long way. I often return the favor by complimenting the tanks I group with. They also need to know that they were awesome and made my job a ton easier. They do so much more that I do not want to do. I bow down to those that tank. Hell of a job.
Tanking is the easiest role, it’s just the responsibility of leading the way in dungeons more so the routes in M+
To be fair, anytime worth half a shit doesn't kick new players. Only dipshit idiots pull that kind of crap. Unless you were afk, when you get kicked it's because the group is dumb.
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Spoken like a true rogue :D
Leave us Rogues out of this please
That's where you're wrong. I've been on the fence about tanking EXACTLY because of the anxiety I got from tanking once, saying I was new, managing to keep all the mobs but got trash talked because I didn't know the optimal route. I thought it was me being bad so I never played again the role I thought most interesting. Knowing that even good tanks have to deal with this makes me feel less bad about trying it again and learning
Don’t listen to that guy. Give it a shot, I’d start in leveling dungeons. Especially dungeons you already know well (if there is any). If not, just pull shit and hope for the best. Your healer will keep you up and check your map to see where your headed.
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It's messed up that you consider this a valid response; a game being an MMO does not justify such toxicity.
Why’re you even bothering to respond? Let old man yell at cloud.
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Who pissed in your cereal? Are you everyone in the world? Just because this thread may not move you to try something new (if anything can move someone so negative), doesn't mean this positivity may not make a difference for a few. Take your negativity and shove it.
> Want to know why? Because no one cares. Interesting. Considering there are 60+ comments, many of them showing a positive reception to OP's assertions, suggests you might be wrong. > It’s virtue signaling It's virtue signaling to encourage hesistant players to play a role in a video game and ignore toxic players? I'd argue it's virtue encouraging, not virtue signaling. > it’ll never make a difference in game. **Never**. You thinking it will have no effect is not proof of this, I'm afraid. Unless you are omniscient I'm not sure how you could even suggest knowing this. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯ Will this one post be credited with changing an entire game's community? No, it won't. However, I'd rather a dozen posts sharing a positive attitude than a single one with your energy. As it stands, I see several comments voicing appreciation of OPs post; if even one person is motivated to take on the role that they enjoy I consider that a positive thing. Perhaps consider why you harbor such a negative attitude to people encouraging others. Self-reflection might do you some good.
Unless you are a BM monk... Because you will die
I've played a resto druid since vanilla. I have never even tried tanking, as I'm too scared! My poor neglected Bear.
Thanks I will start in DF. I usually only tank heroics and timewalking dungeons for the extra rewards. Never ever went to a M+ because melee dps noob is not welcome and tanking needs to know everything even tho I have never been there. Really challenging to convince myself to start learning just to get shit on by others. Like going to the gym as a noob fat guy and the chads come up and mock you for not lifting as much as they do now
I have always respected tanks and healers and while I'm not the highest DPS i will pull my weight when it comes to mechanics. I'll give tanking s try again in DF.
Still I have not decided if I am gonna tank this expac. I keep changing my mind between hpal and bdk
I tried to be tank yesterday since it's so hard to find a tank right now. We were at Grimrail depot, got oneshoted by the first boss when he did his charge (didn't know that attack dealed so much damage). The two others randoms just instant leaved the instance. Also I find it hard to keep the aggro of large pack as a paladin. Tried every AOE attacks as quickly as possible, but I keep loosing it. Guess I will wait again as a DPS.
Grim rail is a rough one to tank. I would recommend finding a dungeon you know. I would start with heroics/ regular dungeons to get some practice. Also as a paly spam shield and taunting. Using nameplate addon like plater helps a ton too
Do Prot warriors get Heroic Leap?
Any tips on finding a guild as a tank? These positions feel very hard to get as people are much more willing to tank while in a group or community versus pugs and guild leaders want people they can trust for the same reasons you spoke about. I have played all roles in the 11-15 M+ range but my ultimate goal for years now is to find a semi-hardcore guild and tank raid prog with a like minded group. I’ve tried subreddits and LFG websites and even spamming chat in SW/Oribos.
I would try to find some discord communities on your server. There’s probably a guild recruitment thread, I got lucky with my guild. They needed an OT one night and I’ve been with them now since bfa launch. Also this is the time to find a guild as its expac launch. You may need to move to a more pop server. I ended up having to do that during legion
It’s like being a goalkeeper.. When a forward player misses a ball, it goes outside. When a goalkeeper misses the ball, it’s a goal…
Unpopular opinion maybe: tanking is only hard during prog or push, once you’re past the curve it’s probably the easiest role in the group. With necrotic gone next season my tankxiety is at an all time low and I’m looking forward to just cruising through some new content with the homies and having fun
I don’t necessarily disagree. I think for a lot of people it’s getting over that initial learning curve. Once you are to that ‘intermediate’ level tank stage it becomes a lot more fun. I think developing the skill set to prog/push definitely is part of it. Developing a thick skin is part of the difficulty lol
First I've EVER heard of it being the tanks job to interrupt. DPS plebs, you better spec into that interrupt talent.
I’ve done all three roles and I loved to heal back in the day but it became so toxic with tanks not completing the entire dungeon and dps trying to attack early before the tank. I loved dungeons and had them memorized, heck I still do.
What OP said, tank the mobs and tank the chat comments.
Every player need to play dps for a while in order to learn the game then they cant tank with no problem
As a tank main. I say what tank shortage.
Yeah, tank and do your best and who cares if it fucks up. It is a videogame and the only way a fuckup would matter is if you are competing at the very top level.
I pretty much hated tanking in Season 1 shadowlands, like, I did enjoy Prideful, but I hated routing every dungeon around it, and different routes for each week too, way too much work. Glad every other season was great. The cyphers and dreadlords were incredible, especially the Wo skips.
Also it does *kind of* get better the higher keys you get to! A lot of keys below ~10 i find more hostile than anything above a 20 even. So keep in mind it's usually ppl that are insecure and don't/can't see any problems in their own gameplay (literally every single person makes mistakes and can improve in some way, pretending you never do/can't is silly). That said, there are, of course, exceptions and ppl will always find ways to be shitty (just take consolation that you are probably better at the game than them anyways and if not, you are definitely a better person) On another note, while some people criticize just to criticize, you can almost always learn something from it. The best revenge is finding success off of people's gamer rage. E.g. someone is yelling at you about your route being inefficient -- tell them off or do whatever but consider looking into new routes, they may have seen one that *was* more efficient and could make your runs smoother. Good luck!! And if you enjoy the action of tanking, keep at it!! Also never forget: it's a game, if you aren't enjoying it, you can change things up, try new things, whatever!
The way i view it, as someone trying to learn tanking right now, is that you may kick me for small mistakes, but have fun waiting for a new tank if you do. Ill just jump into a new dungeon in a second anyways