Question:
What is a great World of Warcraft tanking guide for noobs?
James
2010-06-29 06:45:04 UTC
First off, I'm not looking to start tanking with any of my level 80 characters. I've got a level 28 paladin and a level 13 warrior that I'd like to start tanking with (although, I'll wait until level 15 to start tanking with the warrior). I'd like some basic rules that are more specific than, keep threat and aggro. Please remember, I've never tanked before. I need to know how to keep the paladins and warlocks from attracting attention. And I'd like some simple steps to avoid a wipe.

When the healer wants to be a hero, how will I know? How should I attract attention from him or her? How do I keep all the fricking buttons straight?

Any help would be appreciated, and feel free to list sources. Thanks!
Four answers:
2010-06-29 07:50:16 UTC
I don`t know of any site like that, unfortunately.



The main thing is to stay in Defensive stance (the pally version is Righteous Fury). You generate way more threat that way.. Make sure to use Sunder Armor on your target, once you have a few stacks on your main target put a sunder or two on the rest (so that AOE doesn`t pull them off). Thunderclap is lovely for keeping AOE aggro.



Be careful how many mobs you pull as a warrior; your aoe abilities generate less threat then a pallies. For paladin the main tanking spell at your level is Consecrate. Actually, it is the main spell at all levels, there are just more of them at higher levels.



If you do happen to lose a mob to someone else, use Taunt (Righteous Defense for pally) to get it back on to you. You tell who has aggro by watching your party members health bars. If someones health is going down, you need to take a look to see if it is because a mob is hitting them, or if it is because there is AoE damage. There are lots of addons and interface options that assist with this to some degree, but I don`t want to confuse you with a ton of stuff when you are just starting off.

Take a look at the glyphs that improve your main abilities, like the one for Sunder Armor and, when you get it, the glyph for Devastate.



You have to remember that it is the parties job to help you keep aggro. Many groups (especially DPS) don`t get this, particularly at low levels, but it is nearly impossible to keep aggro off of someone who pulls. You get a huge amount of threat by being the one that pulls, and if a dps or healer pulls for you, you need to warn them about doing it.. And if they don`t listen, let them have it. Trust me, it makes your life much easier AND it teaches them not to pull it unless they can take it by themselves.



It gets easier at higher levels, when you have more tricks and abilities to help you keep aggro... Hope something there helped, and have fun!
Fission Chips
2010-06-29 10:57:32 UTC
http://elitistjerks.com/f76/t37172-protection_paladin_field_manual_wow_3_0_wotlk/



elitist jerks is really where its at. considering the level that you're at, it's going to be difficult for you to understand the nuances of the game. check out that website and learn to play your character before worrying about the healer being the hero. use a threat meter mod that you can get from curse gaming:

http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/omen-threat-meter.aspx

download that into your interface in wow and unpack it before you try to use it. it's dead easy and will tell you who has more threat than you and when you need to blow a taunt or other cooldown to keep the mob looking your way.

and if i may suggest tanking with your paladin? im raiding in heroic ICC now and our best tanks are paladins (ok one of our main tanks is a warrior but that's just one warrior that's as good as he is) the game has changed a lot for warrior tanks and it's much harder. a paladin tank is an aoe (area of effect) tank which means he can hold several mobs attention at one time.

thats not to say you CAN"T tank with your warrior!! you can check this page as well for help on warrior tanking:

http://elitistjerks.com/f81/t45411-finalizing_prot_warrior_design/



also i dont agree. EJ is there to help you no matter what level you're at and the fact that it's geared towards level 80s should show you what path you need to take in speccing, gemming, gearing and playing your tank

http://elitistjerks.com/f81/t36784-warrior_simple_questions_simple_answers/

see you in azeroth! and good skill :)
Nik
2010-06-29 10:23:27 UTC
MissWoWGeek has some great information for you for general tanking advice.



If you're looking for a more detailed guide on low-level paladin tanking specifically (I couldn't find one for low-level warrior tanking), WoW.com has one: http://www.wow.com/2009/12/05/the-light-and-how-to-swing-it-the-low-level-tank-part-1/
2010-06-29 06:47:14 UTC
Try elitists jerks, Don't be afraid by the name. XD


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
Loading...