First Pally tank run(s)

[antacus]

so, my RAF pally project made level 61 in under 2d 6hr following the guide. But while leveling I was thinking. I do not want to be a noob level 80 tank and get booted out of runs all the time. I was trying to queue for LFG right after I hit 61 but everything was locked, bummer. I then took a couple day break from the pally to drop mining and level tailoring on my mage (ran out of mats at 427). I logged the pally last night and magically all the LFG instances are no longer locked? Maybe the server took time to catch up with my power leveling? *shrug*

Anyway, I queued for my 1st tank run and hit ramparts after a 2-3 minute wait. Well, lets just say my first run as a pally tank did not go smoothly. I had done some reading, re-glyphed, re-speced, changed my action bars to match the 6969 rotation order as best I could since at level 61 you don't have everything that falls into the rotation. I now know what happens when you get kicked from a group That was a first for me.

My second run went a lot better. I again got ramparts and warned people I was a noob tank, left out the part about this was only my 2nd attempt as a tank. This group was a LOT more friendly and was a good mix of toons. They suffered through my lack of skill and gave pointers. I think I did a lot better round two, we only wiped once but that was when one of the dudes tossed a bomb and insta-killed me and the DK at the same time leaving the mage/priest/rogue all alone.

I still need to learn how to watch threat better, loaded that tiny plates: threat module last night after I quit so will see if that helps. I also need to learn how to pull aggro off a mage who just is out of control on threat. And, what in the world do I do when OOM?

It was fun and I think that having a cloth mage tear up the world balanced with a pally tank will keep my interest for a while. Get bored with one and the other is a 180 polar opposite play style. No way my mage can stand toe-to-toe like the pally did last night.

[rokku]

Nice one as a noob tank myself, I feel your pain!

[illowain]

Pali tanking at 60 is a bit of a pain, make sure you have Blessing of Sanc up all the time, your 30% Block Buff up all the time.

Other then that, do not be afraid of switching to Seal Of Wisdom (except on boss fights), it is a lifesaver at the lower levels, and it should not effect your aggro... too much.

I like to use healbot as well, and set it up to Righteous Defense on a left click of a party member. (there may be a macro that will do this as well)

Other then that, good luck!

[antacus]

I gather that as a tank I focus on the heavy hitters of the group. Last night I saw several times where the DK took on one and at first I kept running over to snag aggro back which usually ended up having me chase things all over == messy. The when those little fireball imps would shoot the group by the time I gained aggro they were dead. Towards the end I said screw it and let the DK have 1:1 fun and focused on the summoners instead of the imps. That seemed to work, or at least it did for that group.

[rokku]

This is what I've learned: If someone takes on a mob which you haven't targetted, then yes you'll need to taunt them back or let them handle it. If your party is engaging the mobs just as you're reaching them, ask them to hold back a beat to ensure you have aggro established.

IMO, really all you should worry about - at the minimum - is the more worrying of the mobs, and that your healer is safe. If anyone else gains aggro, and doesn't know to run to you to have your aggro peel it off them, then that's their fault.

I have a lot of bad habits when I DPS, which I've started correcting since I've dabbled with tanking

[cabby]

One thing you can try that's similar to HealBot/Vuhdo is an addon called TauntMaster. It uses a small unit frame like the healing ones do but it's much simpler to set up and is designed to worry more about agro and your taunting abilities instead of healing abilities.

[mzanker]

I would also add that, as the tank, you set the pace - so if you're OOM just say so and stop and drink before the next pull. If you're unfortunate enough to have a GOGOGOGO!!!1111! DPS and they get impatient and start pulling, let them tank what they've pulled

Also, read the official WoW tank forum - lots of advice and also lots of posts from people in the same position as you, so you won't feel that you're alone. I know that reading the priest forum gave me a real confidence boost in certain situations once I saw that it "wasn't just me"

Finally remember:

It's the tank's job to keep the healer alive
It's the healer's job to keep the tank alive
It's DPS' job to keep themselves alive and make sure they're not pulling aggro from you

[rokku]

Indeed

I'm currently levelling a tank and a healer, and both are teaching me how to play the other better; as a healer, I see what I hate about tanks (and dps), and as a tank I see that healers need mana or I'll be tanking dirt

[deleon]

My two main toons are a fury warrior and a retribution pally (both dps). On my warrior I do have problems with aggro -- I get it and can't get rid of it. Especially with new tanks. I always go into a fight, a couple of seconds after the tank, but with the tank targeted so when I begin my attacks, it'll hit whatever he's hitting.

On my warrior, when I hit whirlwind or cleave, if the tank hasn't been using some sort of AoE aggro, just using the "he's a friend of mine so I'll help him" method, then I'll get aggro from the other MOBs and the healer may have to work on keeping me alive. Similar issue on my paladin is when I hit consecrate in my rotation.

On the flip side of this, I've also seen the healer get mauled by some of the adds because he was healing the tank and didn't get all the aggro he should have. Some AoE damage dealers are better than others at getting and holding aggro but tankspot and EJ both have good forums giving guidance and suggestions.

[Skippyninja]

Tanking tips

- Ask that the DPS target what you are targeting. Mark with a skull raid icon if needed.

- Make sure that you use Righteous Fury in conjunction with Consecration.

- When you get Divine Plea, you'll never go oom again.

[antacus]

If you're unfortunate enough to have a GOGOGOGO!!!1111! DPS and they get impatient and start pulling, let them tank what they've pulled

LOL. I just saw some spam on the chat channels about the !!!111!!! and how the extra 1's mixed in with the !!! made the point more firm :P

One thing you can try that's similar to HealBot/Vuhdo is an addon called TauntMaster.

I'll have to try that one. I had HealBot back when I was still playing my druid but removed it since it was too busy for my needs. Something like that but smaller would be good.

This is what I've learned: If someone takes on a mob which you haven't targetted, then yes you'll need to taunt them back or let them handle it.

What I have seen so far is the DK lasso/pull a guy off me over to himself and go toe to toe. I gave up when that happens. If they do that then have at it. I am not going to chase down mobs that are yanked away.

So I had time last night to work the pally a bit more. I changed my keys around to match more of the 6969... rotation, for the spells I have. Wow, remapping keys makes things hard at first and my next PUG had a very rough start. I did much better, moved faster and we cleared an instance pretty quickly. I did OOM 3x but simply drank a mana pot so the group could keep going. I used the healer as my main gauge for speed. If he had mana I kept going, if he was under 50% I slowed the pulls.

Another thing I noticed is that as a tank you better know the instances. A lot of these lower level, pre-80, instances I never did before and I don't know the layout or little got-ya's. Guess I need to find a good mod for instances and maps of them.

All in all I still like the pally tank and getting better on style. As rokku said boy is it a change from what I normally play. At this point I think DPS is just a mindless class you simply hit your rotations in order. There is no thought beyond "stay blow the tank's threat on omen." I have a whole new respect for all the *good* tanks I have PUGed with in the past

[deleon]

Another thing I noticed is that as a tank you better know the instances. A lot of these lower level, pre-80, instances I never did before and I don't know the layout or little got-ya's. Guess I need to find a good mod for instances and maps of them.

I think the in-game maps were updated to show the instance layout -- it helps some. You might try going to youtube and searching for the instance names. There's a number of videos out there -- some of them even in English, some with some weird music playing in the background, and some with very heavy profanity. I know the level 80 instances like the back of my hand and some of the BC ones because I did them so much but there are others that I haven't been to in so long that I get lost just looking for the entrances.

But, as DPS I didn't need to know where I was going, I just followed the person with the shield.

[cabby]

At this point I think DPS is just a mindless class you simply hit your rotations in order. There is no thought beyond "stay blow the tank's threat on omen."

I actually don't bother with Omen. I often top the dps charts with my hunter in the dungeons and seldom grab agro because I know how to control my agro without some stupid little bar telling me I'm gonna get hit. If more dps players knew how to do this it would make the job of the tank and healer so much easier. I'm often disgusted when on my priest at how often I have to heal a mage or hunter because they just didn't bother to wait an extra couple of seconds to allow the tank to do his job.

[mzanker]

Heh, tell me about it. Just been healing Nexus and a mage did this on *every* pull. Whispered him to wait a couple of seconds and he just ignored me. Then, when we got to Keristrasza, he just stood there and wouldn't move at all - whispered him again and he said no, it will affect his DPS, so I just let him die. His DPS was average anyway

Found this the other day - anybody frustrated with pugs should take a look

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgnMpOU1LNQ

[antacus]

I am not sure how you can not use omen. Not all tanks in randoms are good. My mage can pull aggro sooooo easy off the average PUG tank I come across in 5-mans that if I don't go slow I am dead, or have a healer upset at me. I can invis or cast the multiply thing to lower threat levels but those are long cool downs so I have to watch how often I use them. Ice block is nice but still, if I pulled a mob off the tank chances are he won't get it back any time soon. I think that my mage simply needs to raid, where you have better tanks, instead of PUG where you have tanks in training 60% of the time.

Don't get me wrong, a good tank means there is no way in the world I can pull aggro. You just can't trust the avg PUG tank at first. I also don't mean to slam tanks in training, I am one after all, these are just the facts