The General Concept of Tanking

I just wanted to post a little about tanking, taunting, pulling, etc. There was a paladin running halls of stone with me the other night who wanted to know how well he did. so i chimed in with a suggestion. i was running nexus with manda and met a paladin who, although never asked for help, was criticized by the two dps (two fury warriros, unfortunately also in my server) who stated that the tank was fail because he was using seal of wisdom. i chimed in with some spells and some suggestions. he took it really well. the two warriors left after the instance without much help, no suggestions, nada. way to go. Sons of Liches, i wont be partying with any of you any time soon. anyway, that aside, i've also noted some very interesting behavior among many tanks throughout my LFD experience.

Lets pick this up from the very basic, high level concept. Tanks do not evolve. That's basically it. they dont evolve. either because they went dual spec at 40 and is forever stuck at the level 40 style of tanking instances while leveling/questing in dps spec, or they simply do not get anyone in their group to tell them they suck. well actually they might not suck. they might just be getting zero feedback. i am guilty of some of this, where i find myself in a group with an ok tank or even a bad tank, but just wanna get things over with and hope that, for the tank's own sake, he goes and looks up some tanking blogs/sites/videos. but i do not know how often that happens. i wonder if they even think their tanking isnt stellar and would look something up without anyone in the group complaining or mentioning, productively, that the tank should L2P.

I have been thinking about doing several blog posts on tanking. one about pulling. another about positioning. another about cooldowns, taunts, resource conservation, etc. maybe the positioning/pulilng should be one post, as it is closely related.

In any case, the first pala tank asked in halls of stone, after the instance was over, how he did. i mentioned that he should turn around and look at his party in order to see adds and such. the instance where the two warriors were attacking the paladin, i simply spelled out what i used to conserve mana since the tank was using seal of wisdom. the warriors figured he was a fail tank. however, he was doing just fine, but he could have been doing much better with actual "tanking" seals and blessings. you know. those designed by bliz to tank with.

Lets go through the basics of each class.

The Stance:
1. Warrior: Defensive Stance. you get this at level 10 through a quest. use it. it increases your threat and allows you to do certain moves that's reserved for Defensive stance.

2. Death Knight: Use Frost Presence. this is not a talent spec. this is a "Stance" that you use. the other two presences do different things but is only beneficial for dps. tanks should stay with the defensive Frost Presence.

3. Druids: Bear Form or Dire Bear Form. This form, like frost presence and defensive stance, adds high threat to your attacks and increases your survival.

4. Paladins: The tanking Stance, Form, Presence for the paladin consists of two parts. one, he must use Righteous Fury. this is a buff that stays on forever, until the paladin dies. This increases threat and, if improved, will reduce a bit of damage. The second part is found in a blessing, Blessing of the Sanctuary. This blessing will increase health and will return mana to the paladin after every successful dodge or parry. this is THE blessing for the tanking paladin. As for "seals", we'll worry about that later.


The Pull:
All tanks are gifted with some very nifty pulling abilities. some pull by charging into a group of mobs while others pull the mobs to a common, middle ground. vary rarely should you see a tank pulling mobs to where the group is standing (which causes a lot of problems for the ranged dps who, for the most part, would like to remain... ranged).

There are several key considerations to take before, during and after the pull.

Consider before the pull the makeup of the mobs. Healers? Casters? Melee? What is the mix? can you also pull a group without pulling pats (patrols)? or if you're pulling pats, can you pull without pulling another group with them?
Also before the pull, consider where you want to pull them and, most importantly, where you want them to face. it does matter greatly where the mobs face after the pull.

Consider during the pull whether all the mobs are running to where YOU want them to run. During the pull, watch out for stray bullets from happyhunter, or deathgrip from doopidDK. i've done this a few times and apologize profusely for it.
Also during the pull, look out for your timing, as the pull may be too late and you may end up pulling some patrols or another group, or even the pather that's behind your group.

Consider after the pull whether you are on the target you need to be on. Know that changing targets often can confuse dps, will definitely cause more damage done to you (and subsequently, more healing needed to you) prolongs the fight and may cause loss of aggro. You may want to consider using raid icons if you do switch targets often. This way a dps will know who to target no matter who you may target yourself. Consider whether the group is safe where you're tanking. Remember that you should, for the most part, have your party in view. meaning, you turn the mobs away from the party. remember, as the tank, you're the one taking all the damage. so keep it that way by facing the mobs away from your party. if a mob does a knockback, make sure your back is against a wall. if the dps can be knocked back into another group, make sure you posistion yourself so that they will be knocked back "safely". If the group is safe from new adds and the possibility of pulling unwanted groups during the fight, then your next concern will be on the dynamics of the group of mobs itself.

Since there are four different types of tanks, and some odd ones, i will not be covering them specifically in a fight. however, i will state the common, overall concerns of every tank. Threat.

The ultimate goal for any tank is to control an encounter, whether its a group of mobs or a boss fight with adds or enrange timers, the whole game is about control. This has to be in the tank's head before anything else. how he gains control is different for every class he plays, as well as for every situation/encounter he experiences. but the goal is the same. he needs to control the situation. when i tank, this is my goal. i want every mob to do exactly what i want it to do.

For example, society controls the individual through laws, values, mores, etc. Individuals control a car through its pedals, steering wheel, fancy use of toe-heel, lol, etc. Tanks control their game through threat. Think of it that way. your threat is your key to control. and how you move around the gameboard of the dungeon will only enchance or hinder your control. i'd say, 75% of the "control" fight is through use of the dungeon layout, in positioning, in pulling and movement. only 25% of the fight is really a battle between you and your dps. it should be even less. but we dont live in a perfect world. so lets just round it to about 25%.

Again, i dont want to get into further details on how to pull without really discussing specifics, as in, specific tank, specific instance, specific party and specific mob group. What i do want to emphasize is that there are many variables to consider while tanking and how we plan out the pull will really be the determining factor as to whether a pull is a good pull or a bad pull. note, i consider bad pulls to be any that involves the melee dps having to run around the tank. this leads to less time for the dps to dps and also provide a possibility for the dps to accidentally pull another group.


So with that though, let me just list a few pointers when tanking.

1. Know your rotations. yes, know them inside and out. know when you will get your Runes off cooldown, know when you can use DnD again, know when you're able to use your taunt, avengers shield, charge, intercept, mangle, bash, etc. know your rotations and know your ohsht spells.

2. Know your taunts. put them on your action bar. do not make them mouseclicks only. taunt often. practice it. Some classes have two taunts.

3. Know your backup taunts. they are not really taunts. but ways to get aggro should your taunts not work. some would prioritize this before your taunts, or use it depending on the situation. Charge, deathgrip, intercept, silences, stuns, bubbles.

4. Zoom OUT. see the big picture. dont get sucked into tunnel vision tanking. looking at closeup graphics of a boss' crotch is great, but you still want to see the big picture. if im against a wall, i usually just use the bird's eye view.

5. Face the party. This means the mobs face away from the party. this helps the dps in many many ways. a) melee will not have to run around you to attack, thereby reducing the chances they may pull another group. b) the mob's frontal area of effect attacks will not hit the party (think Ingvar's Smash and Anub's Pound). c) You can see your party members and taunt when stray mobs attack them. how else will you sue your taunts and back up taunts? you have to see the party to do this.

6. Do not pull with a taunt. folks, please, for the sake of all kittens everywhere, pull with an actual attack or pseudo taunt. heck, use heroic throw, back up, then charge. yes. do that. its not as easy as using a taunt, but still. some classes get cool ones like avenger's shield. i even pull with exorcism sometimes. bears can fff. or feral faerie fire. then charge. dk's, i know you like deathgrip, but only do that if you know you wont need it in the near future. you can pull with deathcoil if you have enough runic power, or strangulate. if you have enough room you can run in and icy touch, switch to a caster and strangulate him, then go back to your main target. its not that hard to avoid the taunt. its actually more fun. srsly folks. save your taunts for when you actually want to taunt. pulling is something entirely different.

7. use your defensive cooldowns often. this helps the healers. every class has one. they are all played the same now. no really. every tanking class is the same now. IBF, Barkskin, Shield Wall, Hand of Protection. as well as the "plus % health" spells we all get. i forgot the names. but they're there. last stand, survival instincts. heck, paladins can sacred shield themselves. i know i do! dk have different abilities depending on spec. know they're there and they are very useful.

8. STOP GEMMING STAM. please.. you get enough stam from your gear. stop gemming stam and please gem defense (or agi for bears). i hate, absolutely HATE healing tanks who gem stam. unless you're doing an easy instance and are ICC10/25 geared, then sure, youre avoidance rocks anyway and stam doesnt really matter, its icing on the cake. but if we're doing difficult content (ie. emblem of triumph geared bear doing heroic forge, pit, or halls of reflection in ALL stam gems and stam chants) i'll hate you for it. you might live longer, but im doing nonstop healing. NONSTOP i say!


I am sure i'll think of more pointers. but these are the ones i can think of right now. anyway, hope this is a good general guideline in tanking (although i'll probably get zero feedback on this post). i will try to post more about positioning later. as well, i will try to post about priorities as well. sometimes i do wonder why clothie mobs dont all die first.