Squishy tanks... is it me or them?

[tinythinker]

I'm a newly minted level 70 WHM, with a level 60 SCH and level 31 AST. I like my healers. I think I'm okay at playing WHM. But one thing I've noticed lately is I don't see a lot of middle ground with tanks. Either they're fine and I can throw a regen on them then holy spam to my hearts content, or they get half their health knocked off before my current cast completes, and I struggle to keep them up.

I am leveling DRK, but I'm pretty ignorant about tanking, and I'm not sure if I'm dealing with bad tanks or if it's me that's bad.

Any ideas on how I can better manage situations like this? I feel like it's my responsibility to keep the party alive, so I'm open to anything.

I've been a WHM for a while (currently on long break from healing) and had the same problem with SB dungeons. I hesitate to level a tank, though, I never remember enough details from all the dozens of fights to be in charge of turning bosses and I get lost easily in dungeons. Good for you for trying the tanking path

It's great that you're leveling a tank too. Def helps to see what you can do better when you play both sides.

A good idea would be to learn the tank cool down icons (buffs to circumvent damage) and watch their buffs in a dungeon to see if they're using them. Some tanks ignore them completely or save them for bosses only, which a lot of cooldowns get more use in in trash packs.

Another good idea is to check their gear. Just right click and examine them and do a quick glance. If they're using cooldowns properly/gear is up to date, it's also possible their gear is broken (don't think it shows up for anyone but them tho).

Good advice. I've thought about learning the icons myself, and tank gear can be a big issue. (Personally I'm not sure I would know enough about dungeon gear requirements for a quick check to help. Would have to go look it and the dungeon up later.) But if the OP knows the expected i-levels of dungeons that would help along with cool-down use to know if the tank is making it harder.