Hi all, I have been playing a warrior to level up with a friend who is a newbie. It seems much of the warrior info here is out of date.
When I get dual spec at level 30 (I am 25 right now), I am going to spec protection (using Fury now, to level). I would like to read a guide about the basics of tanking instances.
I'm nervous about tanking in an instance because I don't know the layouts and have never done it before. I will also be in quest greens and thus not geared well.
I want to learn before I get up to the 80s, I don't want to be one of those tanks who doesn't know what he is doing. So, could anyone give advice on the basics or point me toward a guide?
Thanks!
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I found a few guides. I guess maybe I am wondering, for a new tank - what do you wish you had known, starting out?
While it's not tanking specific, treat every dps as the worst player in the world, until they prove you otherwise. Expect really stupid stuff from death knights once you hit Outland, mostly only in Ramparts and Blood Furnace, unless they're really bad. Try to give your healer as easy a job as possible by using defensive CD's as much as possible, although don't go overboard and use it when you're only tanking one mob.
Tanking specific stuff, just the usual of keep as much stuff on cooldown as possible, like Thunderclap and Shockwave, when you get it. Also, try to get really quick at taunting. Unless of course there's one dps that just needs to die, in order to hopefully learn his lesson. I thoroughly embrace the "You pull it, you tank it" policy, unless the healer pulls, which is rare.
Most of this was useless, but it's a way for me to vent, 'cause I'm leveling a Paladin atm. Just hit 62.
Tanking specific stuff, just the usual of keep as much stuff on cooldown as possible, like Thunderclap and Shockwave, when you get it. Also, try to get really quick at taunting. Unless of course there's one dps that just needs to die, in order to hopefully learn his lesson. I thoroughly embrace the "You pull it, you tank it" policy, unless the healer pulls, which is rare.
Most of this was useless, but it's a way for me to vent, 'cause I'm leveling a Paladin atm. Just hit 62.
Quote:
I found a few guides. I guess maybe I am wondering, for a new tank - what do you wish you had known, starting out?
Just a few quickies:
(1) If your group is focus firing mobs (more groups seem to be willing these days), you normally don't need to spend all of your time on the skull mob (if you have Omen, once you have threat equal to the mob's total life, you're more than good). It's a great idea to start building some single target threat on the next mob before the first one dies. This way, DPS can keep going at 100% when they switch targets. Similarly, there's no need to burn all your rage at the end of a pull. If threat is good, save some rage for the next pull.
(2) You can't dodge if a mob is behind you. If you turn your back to a mob, or a pack of mobs, you have no avoidance; however, if you strafe around mobs, you can move groups safely without losing your avoidance.
(3) Minimize your movement when you can (for melee DPS).
(4) Good melee will stand behind mobs. Position the mobs so that your DPS aren't at risk of pulling additional groups.
(5) Positioning pulls correctly and watching for pats can prevent at least 50% of 'problems' before they ever happen. Learning mobs abilities and how to use CC when necessary can solve another 40%. The last 10% can be solved by judicious use of /votekick.
Not really tried tanking but i do have a suggestion and that is try Alla,s sister site Tankspot ( see link at bottom of page ) from what i have been reading there i have learnt a lot so it may give you ideas.
Having played Hunter and DK before picking up Warrior (before cata) I had that "dps insight". I had from time to time pulled aggro when not wanting to, and took many dirt naps.
When I rolled my Warrior I looked at Every DPS as being horrible people who had a DPS meter up and no matter what level we were, they all wanted to be #1.
Being the tank, people will (or should) look to you as the Leader of the group. If you don't know your Bosses, don't be scared to ask for help. You can learn 2 ways: The Hard way (not speaking up, wiping, etc.) or the Easier-ish Way (ask for help) and be given info.
Dual Spec is great for the ability to run a dungeon as DPS to learn it and where to go. I did all of my 80 lvls as prot (not sure if I'm ready to tank 80-85 stuff :3 I'm kind of **** when it comes to tanking, I don't mind failing as a DPS..but I feel like a total let down if I fail as a tank).
When I rolled my Warrior I looked at Every DPS as being horrible people who had a DPS meter up and no matter what level we were, they all wanted to be #1.
Being the tank, people will (or should) look to you as the Leader of the group. If you don't know your Bosses, don't be scared to ask for help. You can learn 2 ways: The Hard way (not speaking up, wiping, etc.) or the Easier-ish Way (ask for help) and be given info.
Dual Spec is great for the ability to run a dungeon as DPS to learn it and where to go. I did all of my 80 lvls as prot (not sure if I'm ready to tank 80-85 stuff :3 I'm kind of **** when it comes to tanking, I don't mind failing as a DPS..but I feel like a total let down if I fail as a tank).
Before you go tanking in a group run, try rounding up a few mobs to tank, this will teach the basic skills of positioning and using your tank cooldowns(CDs) to prolong longetivity. Start with 2 or 3 and build your way up to 5 or 6 (it also makes some questing stupidly easy :) )
In any group runs the tank (you) should be in control, in lower level runs (20-50ish) this might not seem as important as the Bind On Account gear has made alot of low-level instances very trivial, as you progress you will find being a tank and being in control of a run becomes more important.
Improving your tanking is as much about teaching/making people aware of what you are doing as it is anything else. Download a marking add-on (I use Baud Mark) and mark every group in order that you will fight them.(Most commonly Skull then Cross, and all the crowd control abilities (CC) which vary in marking allocated).
In almost all runs I do(as a tank), before any pulls I will allocate marks to my group members (eg. MAGE you sheep = moon, ROGUE you sap = star, SHAM you hex = triangle) and so on. Mark these accordingly and there will be times where you will want one of the DPS to pull (start the combat), TELL THEM, the biggest problem in any instance/raid is lack of communication. Id rather over-communication than none.
From here it is a matter of learning the dungeons, if your not sure speak up, the words "hi guys, first time here, please give me any info on bosses" is much better than a tank running in and wiping everyone. Most times there is 1 patient person that will give you a quick rundown on what is happening.
If in doubt always target the caster-type mobs, (seer/caster/flamer) before the melee type (watcher/master/warrior), any mob that has a pet is also going to be a ranged and should be engaged ASAP.
Also, dont be afraid to give it a try., elitist will always exist and someone might ROFL you and your gear or whatever, but everyone needs to start from somewhere, if a group wont cut you some slack you dont wanna be in a group like that anyway. Above all, have fun tanking is really just DPSing as much as you can on a given target, its great once you get over the fact that others can ruin it for you by not being a part of your "party". Do the best you can and be honest about what you know, thats all you can do.
In any group runs the tank (you) should be in control, in lower level runs (20-50ish) this might not seem as important as the Bind On Account gear has made alot of low-level instances very trivial, as you progress you will find being a tank and being in control of a run becomes more important.
Improving your tanking is as much about teaching/making people aware of what you are doing as it is anything else. Download a marking add-on (I use Baud Mark) and mark every group in order that you will fight them.(Most commonly Skull then Cross, and all the crowd control abilities (CC) which vary in marking allocated).
In almost all runs I do(as a tank), before any pulls I will allocate marks to my group members (eg. MAGE you sheep = moon, ROGUE you sap = star, SHAM you hex = triangle) and so on. Mark these accordingly and there will be times where you will want one of the DPS to pull (start the combat), TELL THEM, the biggest problem in any instance/raid is lack of communication. Id rather over-communication than none.
From here it is a matter of learning the dungeons, if your not sure speak up, the words "hi guys, first time here, please give me any info on bosses" is much better than a tank running in and wiping everyone. Most times there is 1 patient person that will give you a quick rundown on what is happening.
If in doubt always target the caster-type mobs, (seer/caster/flamer) before the melee type (watcher/master/warrior), any mob that has a pet is also going to be a ranged and should be engaged ASAP.
Also, dont be afraid to give it a try., elitist will always exist and someone might ROFL you and your gear or whatever, but everyone needs to start from somewhere, if a group wont cut you some slack you dont wanna be in a group like that anyway. Above all, have fun tanking is really just DPSing as much as you can on a given target, its great once you get over the fact that others can ruin it for you by not being a part of your "party". Do the best you can and be honest about what you know, thats all you can do.
Necro Warning: This post occurred more than thirty days after the prior, and may be a necropost.
#8REDACTED,
Posted: Jun 04 2011 at 3:11 AM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) Azurean01, have you seen WoW Macros Guide's warrior macros for tanking at http://wowmacrosguide.com
Most of your macros appear to be WAY out of date. Just looking at your "Light Attack" macro...
Bloodthirst is a Fury-only ability, so this is in no way a tanking macro. You also don't want to switch from Defensive Stance to Berserker Stance in the middle of a fight except under very rare circumstances. Finally, your cast sequence will hang for about 7 seconds the second time through, since BT has a 3 sec CD and WW has a 10 sec CD.
0: Charce/Intercept
1.5: BT
1.6: HS (off GCD)
3.0: WW
4.5: BT
4.6: HS
6.0 - 12.9: WW is on GCD, macro will try to cast it anyway
13.0: WW
A cast sequence macro would be terrible for Prot warrior tanking. Shield Slam has a 6 sec CD that can be reset by Sword and Board procs. Revenge is your next-highest damage ability, and it has a 5 sec CD and is dependent on a block, parry, or dodge. Devastate is your filler ability with no CD.
As for the other macros:
"Heavy Attack": macro is specific to Arms.
"Execute": macro is wrong in that you actually want to be in Berserker Stance for the extra 5% damage buff.
"Slam": Fury only wants to use Slam on Bloodsurge procs (not sure about arms, I think it still screws with the swing timer).
"Charge": If you're spec'd Prot or Arms, charge is usable in combat.
"Intervene": I would add [help] as a conditional on the stance switch
"Overpower": Good for leveling, I guess, as long as you have points in Tactical Mastery. Once you get higher up in level, expertise will all but eliminate mob dodging. Arms gets Overpower off Taste For Blood procs.
"Mocking Blow": Taunts can no longer miss, and Mocking Blow has been removed from the game.
"Whirlwind": Given that you get a separate bar for Berserker Stance, I'm not sure why you need this macro.
Edit: Off topic, but why are you trying to sell Blizz Authenticators for 600% of list price?
Edited, Jun 4th 2011 8:00am by AstarintheDruid
Quote:
Light Attack
This is your main tanking macro. Put it on your gaming mouse if possible, so you can use it while moving during combat.
This is your main tanking macro. Put it on your gaming mouse if possible, so you can use it while moving during combat.
Quote:
/dismount
/startattack
/cast [nocombat,stance:1] Charge
/cast [combat,nostance:3] Berserker Stance
/cast [nocombat,nostance:1] Battle Stance
/cast [combat,stance:3] Intercept
/stopcasting
/castsequence reset=5 Bloodthirst, Heroic Strike, Whirlwind
/startattack
/cast [nocombat,stance:1] Charge
/cast [combat,nostance:3] Berserker Stance
/cast [nocombat,nostance:1] Battle Stance
/cast [combat,stance:3] Intercept
/stopcasting
/castsequence reset=5 Bloodthirst, Heroic Strike, Whirlwind
Bloodthirst is a Fury-only ability, so this is in no way a tanking macro. You also don't want to switch from Defensive Stance to Berserker Stance in the middle of a fight except under very rare circumstances. Finally, your cast sequence will hang for about 7 seconds the second time through, since BT has a 3 sec CD and WW has a 10 sec CD.
0: Charce/Intercept
1.5: BT
1.6: HS (off GCD)
3.0: WW
4.5: BT
4.6: HS
6.0 - 12.9: WW is on GCD, macro will try to cast it anyway
13.0: WW
A cast sequence macro would be terrible for Prot warrior tanking. Shield Slam has a 6 sec CD that can be reset by Sword and Board procs. Revenge is your next-highest damage ability, and it has a 5 sec CD and is dependent on a block, parry, or dodge. Devastate is your filler ability with no CD.
As for the other macros:
"Heavy Attack": macro is specific to Arms.
"Execute": macro is wrong in that you actually want to be in Berserker Stance for the extra 5% damage buff.
"Slam": Fury only wants to use Slam on Bloodsurge procs (not sure about arms, I think it still screws with the swing timer).
"Charge": If you're spec'd Prot or Arms, charge is usable in combat.
"Intervene": I would add [help] as a conditional on the stance switch
"Overpower": Good for leveling, I guess, as long as you have points in Tactical Mastery. Once you get higher up in level, expertise will all but eliminate mob dodging. Arms gets Overpower off Taste For Blood procs.
"Mocking Blow": Taunts can no longer miss, and Mocking Blow has been removed from the game.
"Whirlwind": Given that you get a separate bar for Berserker Stance, I'm not sure why you need this macro.
Edit: Off topic, but why are you trying to sell Blizz Authenticators for 600% of list price?
Edited, Jun 4th 2011 8:00am by AstarintheDruid
Quote:
Most of your macros appear to be WAY out of date. Just looking at your "Light Attack" macro...
Wait, you went to that website? I was scared of it personally.
I've been tanking some low level instances recently, and I say. For multi-mob pulls, get up Blood and Thunder (Rend/TC) as soon as possible. Mark a skull and Shield Slam your primary target once you Thunderclap.
Shield Slam by itself will out-threat most DPS - even heirloom geared ones unless they're a crazy high burst class, in which case the mob is dead anyway.
Pay attention to your surroundings. There's not too much that's really dangerous in low level instances, but you're going to do a lot better if a mob isn't chewing on your healer.
If you're undergeared or not confident, don't be afraid to ask for CC. It's a good idea to practice it regardless.
Quote:
"Slam": Fury only wants to use Slam on Bloodsurge procs (not sure about arms, I think it still screws with the swing timer).
OT, but Arms wants to use Slam as its filler (when Mortal Strike and Overpower are on CD and there's more than .5 seconds left on MS CD) once you get the Improved Slam talent at least.
Do you still have to get a swing timer add-on, or does it not reset your swing timer anymore?
Edit: My warrior at 81 is TG Fury / Prot, BT + Victory Rush seemed pretty hawt for keeping my health up.
Edited, Jun 4th 2011 11:40am by AstarintheDruid
Edit: My warrior at 81 is TG Fury / Prot, BT + Victory Rush seemed pretty hawt for keeping my health up.
Edited, Jun 4th 2011 11:40am by AstarintheDruid
AstarintheDruid wrote:
Do you still have to get a swing timer add-on, or does it not reset your swing timer anymore?
It just pauses your swing timer. You haven't needed a swing timer addon in a long time.
The big difference between Arms and Fury is that for Arms, it hits very hard and has a 0.5 second cast time (castable while moving). Early in Cata, people preferred Heroic Strike, but then Blizzard gutted Heroic Strike and iirc buffed Slam.
Arms Warrior/ Prot here. Slam is used as filler, at least to my knowledge. It does really good damage if you're enraged ( which, you usually are ). Slam will never replace MS or Overpower in your priority list, but it is a extremely useful filler.
As far as tanking goes, Warriors need at least 2 global cool downs to achieve solid aggro ( rend, TC ) if your group isn't allowing you that, you might want to inform them to wait 3 seconds before attacking. Which, I know, is difficult with most ADHD DPS nowadays. Good luck, and remember, Warriors tank with their BEARDS!
Scholar
18 posts
I've been a wartank for 4, almost 5 years. A lot that I've learned and know I learned by just doing. Warriors have one of the biggest tool boxes when it comes to abilities, and knowing when to use them, how to use them, and whats the best way to generate threat is the key to becoming a sought after wartank!
I would suggest moseying over to tankspot.com and looking up guides there (there are several!). There's a guy, Logan, who will answer any questions on wartanking. He has a primer, an intro to wartanks.
http://www.tankspot.com/showthread.php?74760-WarTank-101-The-Primer
With lower level dungeons, as I was noticing leveling my drood, that even if a tank lost aggro, it was easy to keep everyone alive. This is mostly due to the fact that there are plenty of toons out there decked in Bind on Account gear.
If you're lucky, you'll get in a group with someone who knows the low level instances like the back of their hand and are willing to help you through them. This was my case, and since I was in no hurry to really level my drood, I took my time walking people through.
Hell, I'll roll another toon and help ya out if you want xD
I would suggest moseying over to tankspot.com and looking up guides there (there are several!). There's a guy, Logan, who will answer any questions on wartanking. He has a primer, an intro to wartanks.
http://www.tankspot.com/showthread.php?74760-WarTank-101-The-Primer
With lower level dungeons, as I was noticing leveling my drood, that even if a tank lost aggro, it was easy to keep everyone alive. This is mostly due to the fact that there are plenty of toons out there decked in Bind on Account gear.
If you're lucky, you'll get in a group with someone who knows the low level instances like the back of their hand and are willing to help you through them. This was my case, and since I was in no hurry to really level my drood, I took my time walking people through.
Hell, I'll roll another toon and help ya out if you want xD
Necro Warning: This post occurred more than thirty days after the prior, and may be a necropost.
I'm curious, how many have macroed Shield Block into some other ability? Personally, I got tired of forgetting to use it, so I put it in a macro with Shield Slam.
I thought about putting it on Thunder Clap, but usually I open AOE fights with Rend, Thunder Clap and then Shockwave, which would stun everything for a bit of the Shield Block duration, so now I've put it on Shield Slam as the timing fits.
I view Shield Block like I do my Paladin's Holy Shield. 30-second cooldowns are just way too short for me to keep track of, especially in 5-mans where AOE can be a little hectic ('ello Frost Death Knights with itchy trigger fingers). I know that using them in a macro isn't ideal, but I'm sure it's better than missing one or two every other fight.
I thought about putting it on Thunder Clap, but usually I open AOE fights with Rend, Thunder Clap and then Shockwave, which would stun everything for a bit of the Shield Block duration, so now I've put it on Shield Slam as the timing fits.
I view Shield Block like I do my Paladin's Holy Shield. 30-second cooldowns are just way too short for me to keep track of, especially in 5-mans where AOE can be a little hectic ('ello Frost Death Knights with itchy trigger fingers). I know that using them in a macro isn't ideal, but I'm sure it's better than missing one or two every other fight.
Please "talk up" if your comprehension white-shifts. I will use simple-happy language-words to help you understand.
Necro Warning: This post occurred more than thirty days after the prior, and may be a necropost.
Using the same macro here Maz,
just makes things easier, less buttons to look for / press
and with Shield Block giving the Shield Slam more dmg, it seemed to me the perfect ability to tie it into.
just makes things easier, less buttons to look for / press
and with Shield Block giving the Shield Slam more dmg, it seemed to me the perfect ability to tie it into.
Shivera wrote:
Using the same macro here Maz,
just makes things easier, less buttons to look for / press
just makes things easier, less buttons to look for / press
That sort of macro doesn't cause a lot of problems in heroics.
If you're serious about tanking in a raid setting, you're going to lose survivability by macroing Shield Block in with an attack rather than hitting it manually..
I rather like the Shield Block/Shield Slzm macro idea. Considering I've only been running leveling dungeons, I may just have to do that.
Edited, Sep 20th 2011 7:10am by Poldaran
Edited, Sep 20th 2011 7:10am by Poldaran
I experimented a little with putting Shield Block on other abilities, but I find that Shield Slam is the best choice for me. It costs little rage (some are free), which means there's always rage for Shield Block, unlike if you add it to Heroic Strike, and Shield Slam is high on the priority list for single target fights, so you hit the button very often.
Just make sure you make the macro
#showtooltip Shield Slam
/cast Shield Block
/cast Shield Slam
Shield Block boosts your Shield Slam damage (if talented), so you'd want to activate Shield Block before Shield Slam, though I don't know if it actually works since the two abilities would, theoretically, fire at the same time.
Guess I should test it, but I won't be able to for some time, so if anyone else knows or can find out, I'd appreciate it.
Of course, you should still use the macro above as you should prioritize Shield Block over Shield Slam, if I'm not mistaken. This way, if you don't have enough rage to use both, you'll at least get Shield Block.
The above macro will indeed activate Shield Block before the Shield Slam hits, boosting the damage of it.
Edited, Oct 19th 2011 12:03pm by Mazra
Just make sure you make the macro
#showtooltip Shield Slam
/cast Shield Block
/cast Shield Slam
Shield Block boosts your Shield Slam damage (if talented), so you'd want to activate Shield Block before Shield Slam, though I don't know if it actually works since the two abilities would, theoretically, fire at the same time.
Guess I should test it, but I won't be able to for some time, so if anyone else knows or can find out, I'd appreciate it.
Of course, you should still use the macro above as you should prioritize Shield Block over Shield Slam, if I'm not mistaken. This way, if you don't have enough rage to use both, you'll at least get Shield Block.
The above macro will indeed activate Shield Block before the Shield Slam hits, boosting the damage of it.
Edited, Oct 19th 2011 12:03pm by Mazra
Please "talk up" if your comprehension white-shifts. I will use simple-happy language-words to help you understand.
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