Help me be better!

[MsMisato]

I started tanking but got distracted but now I’m getting into it again I have a few questions.

]At what point should I pop a defensive cooldown? And is there a particularly order like should I save the 30% until last, is there a common rotation or all depends on how many mobs you pull?

Depends on the level of the dungeon really. You can blow thru trash mobs on lower levels super quick, so is somewhat dependent on how fast you move through the trash. Personally, I just run with rampart and shelltron during trash pulls. IF you use sentinel it should be the first cool down to pop since iwth on a 2 minute timer. Of course you can use hallowed ground, but personally I like to save it for the oh poop moments.

Though a big word on Hallowed ground. It is animation locked. That means you need to pop it when you have enough health to absorb a hit or two. If you lack the health and you get popped you can still die because it doesn't go into effect until the animation is done.

Wall to wall pulling, is this a thing I should do in level 50 dungeons or wait until higher levels.

You can and I recommend wall to wall pulling. Its super fun, it pushes you to pay attention to everything as a tank which is a good thing. However, it is dependent on your healer's ability and how well the dps in the group can well dps.

As for final sting, good news, you can stun the hornets Most trash mobs are stunnable, susceptible to debuffs like arms length slow, kick, shield bash and so on.

Should I spam aoe until there’s only 2 enemies left then go onto single target attacks.

Spam your aoes on 3 or more targets.

AOE rotation (not running to pull mobs) Eclipse>Prominence then the spell aoe part (which will be post level 70) Requiescant>holy circle x 4>confector and repeat. then when you drop to 2 mobs you can go to your normal target rotation which you can bounce between two mobs.

Do you usually pull one pack and see how you get on and that determines how you will play for the rest of the dungeon?

I usually ask the group if they are good with wall to wall as I see more and more new players, this is a good way to find out. Majority of times its big pulls.

If no one is responding, I will go single pulls and make a judgement call on whether or not a we can handle wall to wall. This means gauging on the dps and the healers ability.

Any other pointers would be grand I am focusing on paladin at the moment but will work through them all.

Don't be afraid of dying. Its going to happen and its expected. Even the most perfect of runs can go south for whatever reason. Gear and food is a big thing for tanks. At end game, melds will be important as well. Definitely pop a visit to The Balance on Discord loads of good info there