Oh, and as a tank never use a taunt to pull. You need that taunt for 3 seconds after the pull. I learnt that the hard way, and now will resort to a quick facepull if no other option is there before completing the LOS pull.

When I first started tanking I didn’t know much, and I did a ton of research. It was easier since I had a dps toon as my first toon, a healer as my second toon, and tank as a third toon. So I saw everything already. But #1, look like you know what you are doing. Mark the right mobs. Do the right pulls. Follow the right strategy for the bosses. Be nice to everyone. Be in charge and in command. If you make a mistake, admit it. Don’t stand for trash talk. Wait for the freaking healer. Wait for the healer to have mana (screw the dps). Simple things that really show you are a good leader, will make people love you long time.

With that said. I took over as tank and warned the group. “Hey guys this is my first time here and I need you all to let me round up the mobs before dpsing.” The first set of waves went smoothly. I had tanked the place on reg and heroic dozens of times with my pally tank so much it was boring. I had to really work to round up the mobs on my bear but it went really smooth. Until we downed the first boss and got the second waves. It was like everything I said early magically disappeared and they went back to crazy dps. The DK and Mage quickly nuked themselves leaving us with me, the healer and one dps for the second boss. It was rough and long but we made it through the boss. The pally healer decided he would be the “official wow police officer” and inspect peoples gear and talents and tell them what they needed work on. I mean I am all for constructive criticism but you really don’t have to do it in a condescending manner and in party chat. You can quietly whisper them and say hey you may wanna give this some more attention. Neways i dropped group because i pointed out that he had point less talents for a pally healer and we kinda got into it. I mean does a holy pally really need increased damage from judgements??? I never used my judgements on my holy pally and healed all the ICC 5 mans with out a problem not to mention VoA 25 and Ony 10 so oh well. My point is I felt 30% reduced stun and fears is good for a tank, I could be wrong and willing to admit but, dont be an ass clown about that.

Oh man sorry for the crazy rant that was suppose to be about the dps and need for cooperation between the tank and dps but turned into a vent session my bad. o.O!!!!!

I’m more confident now but it hasn’t changed–when I’m on my bear I am looking freaking all over the place for where stuff is and making sure no one’s getting gnawed on by a sudden pat. On my DPS I just stand around and hit things and try not to over-aggro and/or avoid whirlwinds and such. Even knowing I may someday tank a particular instance doesn’t seem to make me pay more attention to what’s around me to learn it, I dunno, it’s really like there’s a mindset for each role.

That was an excellent run BTW..

Last night, i pulled heroic HOL. It had been a while, but i still knew which way was up. I started the run off with a message to the group.
“Please keep all arms and legs in the vehicle, holler if you need a mana break, you pull it you tank it.”
the group responded with a chuckle and the run went really well. Only one person died that I was aware of, my guild rogue that came along got melted by the elementals before the blacksmith boss.

I then pulled a normal culling of strat, gave them the same message and they were overjoyed. one actually thanked me for knowing what to do. They had some less than knowledgeable tanks that day apparently.

My worry is… in a world with random LFD and no consequences for being lazy, will there truly be a majority of players who step up to learn how to CC?

I know that the players that had to learn and use it from the beginning will take pride in dusting off their skills and ‘bring it’ to the party. It would be a mark of honor that when asked, “Hell yeah, I can chain trap” is the answer.

But what about all the people who picked up the game afterwards, and just never learned it?

I had a Rogue in Scarlet Monastery the other day, and he kept stealthing and moving ahead of the group, and I was all, “What the hell is he doing?”

Then I got a chance to see… and he was sneaking in and sapping targets!

Most of the time the other mobs aw him and gave chase, but I had to grin at seeing a Rogue in level appropriate instances practising their CC when they knew I was giong to be running in and breaking it with a Thunder Clap anyway. Seeing him made me grin.

Now a days I don’t even think our CC abilities come into play much at all. I hate the no CD on aoe crap now everyone just blows things down at a steady rate the only problem is it puts more strain on tank and healer. Tanks have to hold aggro on bigger groups for longer with more threat than ever. Healers have to keep a tank up that is being beat on by four to five mobs at a time every pull. I would really prefer to go back to the old days. Perhaps they can split wow. Leave the easy game for the inexperienced gamers and let us vets have a challenge.

It was fun to read this explanation of how and why tanks are the default group leaders. I’ve noticed that it makes a huge difference when I try to lead as tank versus trying to lead as DPS or healer. I think the biggest factor is simply that the tank controls the pull speed and the target mob(s).

At lower levels (and even those levels), I’d recommend trying to start a PUG that you could call a “classic PUG” or “get better at our class” PUG or some sort of descriptor in /2. The objective would be to assemble a PUG of members at the low end of the dungeon’s range and NOT rely on the LFD tool for the group composition. (The LFD tool gives you a buff and picks a range of levels that basically ensures a smooth run even if things are handled smoothly). Take that group into the instance and you’ll find you need to think through every pull. You will have AoE abilities that weren’t available when the dungeons were initially tuned, but being on the low side of the level range will guarantee you won’t want to rely on the current standby of collect ‘em up and burn ‘em down.