Tankiety - how do you deal with it?

[MirielleLavandre]

Hi all,
All during HW I mained WHM (had BRD and DRK at cap, too, in order to help friends) but during ARR I loved playing tank, but hated when the 'speed run' mindset began to become a thing. I remember it mostly starting to be common around Brayflox HM, though people did it a lot even back on WP and AK once geared enough. However, I really do like the role and wish I could play it now in SB as a PLD, but wonder how people who have anxiety about tanking overcome it and/or ignore others who either complain about pulling slow (which would be probably what I'd do...one pack at a time) or pull too much?

Add to this that I have pretty bad social anxiety IRL and even though I love tanking, doing so these days makes it something I can only ever do in a group of FC mates or all friends. I wish I could do it with a group of pugs, but just the thought of random people going off on me for playing at a pace I'm comfortable is fairly daunting. Any hints/tips ideas to help me brave the wilds of tanking in SB in pugs? Thanks, your friendly shy and quiet tank-wanna-be ^_^v

[Faliandra]

I had exactly the same issue. However, I like speed runs and I did wanna do the same as a tank too. And I was completely inexperienced as a tank.

Best advice I can give is to have a friend who is good at tanking come with you for a couple of runs until youve figured out the basics, maybe even over voice chat, and helping you handle stuff.

It really even helps to have a friend tell you to "flash more, you just lost aggro, just spam it a couple of times".

Have him explain the basics to you as you go.


But please...Be open about the speed running thing. Its fun. You might need a little practise but I promise that pulling a lot of mobs is way more fun once you get the hang of it.

[BorisDaBlade]

Well since the dungeons are new, going at a slower pace won't be as frowned apon during the first few months of the new expac. So now would bexpect a good time to pick it up with little worry about people wanting speed runs.

As for anxiety, it really boils down to just trusting the other 3 players with you. DF not that bad. Don't let the "Tales from the duty finder" scare you.....

[Clethoria]

I WAR-ed all for 2.0 but noped out. Lag from my laptop wasn't helping. However, making friends to do content with helps. Dip your toes with primal a few times before jumping into the insta queue ocean of DF eases the tension a ton. If you can't manage a full party, then a least a tank friend capable of other roles to guide you along.

I got the shounen training treatment because they'd intentionally play like a bad DPS to better deal wih possible situations.

[BlastHardcheese]

Social anxiety can be a dick with stuff like this but if you want to set the pace to something youre comfortable with based purely on not liking big pulls, you'll need to be prepared for pushback and reach a consensus with the whole party.

If you're wanting to limit your pull size because gearing means you're probably going to die, then it's perfectly acceptable to communicate that, if people continue to be dicks... Well, you're a tank, their queues gonna be longer than yours

[Odstarva]

I had a mild form of anxiety about tanking, but that was three years ago (!) It just goes away with time, practice and experience!

Personally, I begin by grabbing a medium-sized group - see how long it takes for dps to finish the job, how well is the healer keeping me up, do I need to use many cooldowns?
And depending on how I answer these three questions, I start grabbing larger or smaller groups (I seldom have to do the latter though).


Note: have thick skin. It doesn't happen very often (at least not in my experience), but every once in a while someone will try to tell you how to do your job. Be receptive, see what they have to say - if you believe there is a small chance it may hold some truth, try it before dismissing it altogether. It is never a good thing to antagonize anyone, even if it's an unsolicited opinion.

[BorisDaBlade]

if people continue to be dicks... Well, you're a tank, their queues gonna be longer than yours

This. If they don't like the fact the dungeon might take 4-5 minutes longer. Then let them kick you and smile at the fact that, if they don't have an FC tank handy, they're gonna be sitting on their thumbs for a while.

[Clethoria]

This. If they don't like the fact the dungeon might take 4-5 minutes longer. Then let them kick you and smile at the fact that, if they don't have an FC tank handy, they're gonna be sitting on their thumbs for a while.

[Talec]

Given that I expect a maxlevel tank to be always able to hold aggro, what does makeing one a good tank?

To be honest, and while beeing aware that this might be not the majority opinion, I consider a good tank, a tank who doesn't waste the time of the other players. As a result, a Tank who pulls one pack after another, while having AoE-potent DDs/WHM with him, and makes sure with this attitude that the run takes 30 minutes or even more, is considered a bad tank in my eyes.

And I say this as a former DRK.

[Leigaon]

...Any hints/tips ideas to help me brave the wilds of tanking in SB in pugs? Thanks, your friendly shy and quiet tank-wanna-be ^_^v

I come from being a WHM from 1.0 and figured jump to tank and war as my first thing and learn the rules of the road. So I already come with the "You ignore my strategy I ignore your screams" mentality.

I hated speed runs too, not because of the stress but because all I saw as a constant flash of lights all around and orange circles everywhere to the point where my cat would have a seizure watching. It was boring, you pop maybe one CD and pull everything and in a flash of light things are dead.

If they tell you that you're pulling slow there's one thing that I try to do and that's take time to compromise with yourself. If you know the dungeon go "I'll take on a bit more but i'm not taking the whole floor" Meet them half way see where the line is.

There's lots of bottlenecks that can cause things to go to crap or go awesome. In SB currently, jump over to the tank forums and you'll see, tanks are having issues with

* Maintaining TP
* Maintaining enmity on all mobs.
* Jumping to DPS to Tank stance.

I'm not restricted by the old ways of thinking so to me I've had very little problems with this. They have a problem holding onto the past and not liking the direction. S.E. is trying to put an end to speed runs and unless something changes, i'm having to slow down. So this alone may be enough to bring you back.

In return every role is going to have to get use to the new ways of asking for help and helping out. If you're having hate issues, enmity down moves as DPS, more over power / flash from tanks. If you're having TP issues, ask for some TP or MP. It's a co-op game that's been forcing us in this mentality of "We're a team but I can do everything I need to do by myself." that doesn't seem to be the case right now.

So take your time, meet your team-mates half way and continue to look at where things are going..the problem maybe lessen due to how things were adjusted and make it easier for you to deal and come back to tanking.