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Classic
TBC
Low level tanking
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Post by
xxgreed71xx
I just finished my first instance as Prot, and I died a lot. I was just wondering did anyone else have problems tanking at low levels? I'm level 30 and I'm not wearing any heirloom gear.
Post by
jfdlrr
Edit: Silly me, I just noticed you said you were Protection Paladin, not Protection Warrior. I'll leave this here in case warrior happen upon this question and I'll answer your actual question in a different response.
I'll first point out the obvious just in case. I've seen low-level warriors make all the below mistakes while tanking dungeons:
-Make sure you have actually chosen Protection specialization.
-Make sure you are in
Defensive Stance
while tanking.
-Make sure you have a shield equipped (which means not a 2-handed weapon).
-Make sure all of your armor is mail (plate if above level 40) and is reasonably close to your level.
If you have done all of those things and you are still dying a lot, try these things:
-Spend your rage on
Shield Block
whenever possible.
-Use
Thunder Clap
to apply
Weakened Blows
to your enemies.
-Make sure you are not pulling too much at a time.
If you have all of that covered you shouldn't have a survival problem. In that case, you might have a healer problem or you might be rushing the group and letting the healer run out of mana. Always check healer mana before beginning combat. Try a few more dungeons and see if you get different results with different healers.
That's all I can think of for now.
Hang in there, even if people give you a hard time. Tanking isn't easy, but it is fun once you get the hang of it.
Post by
Varomar
This being the paladin forum, warrior advice probably isnt the best, although some of it is still relevent.
It has been a while since Ive leveled a pally from start so i might mention something you cant do yet, ignore those...
Do make sure you are in prot, righteous fury is on, and you're wearing mail/plate(after 40), use seal of insight for packs of trash to help the healer out, when u can, use shield of the righteous when you can, and use hammer of justice to stun mobs(they cant do dmg), rotate divine protection and try to use it whenever possible. Once you've gotten a couple stacks on WoG and your needing a heal, use it.
A tank is as responsible for mitigating dmg as much as the healer is for healing it, look at your abilities and glyphs/gear to see if there is something you can improve in some fashion.
Look on the interwebs for various tankadin blogs to see the thoughts of other pallies, some may help, others not so much right now.
The lack of heirloom gear should in no way affect your abilitiy to stay alive, with the exception that alot of people expect it these days for some reason..
Post by
jfdlrr
I'll first point out the obvious just in case. This is for Protection Paladins:
-Make sure you have actually chosen Protection specialization.
-Make sure you have
Righteous Fury
active while tanking.
-Make sure you have a shield equipped (which means not a 2-handed weapon).
-Make sure all of your armor is mail (plate if above level 40) and is reasonably close to your level.
If you have done all of those things and you are still dying a lot, try these things:
-Use
Judgment
and
Hammer of the Righteous
as often as possible to build holy power
-Spend your holy power on
Word of Glory
to heal yourself if your health gets low.
-Use
Hammer of the Righteous
to apply
Weakened Blows
to your enemies.
-Make sure you are not pulling too much at a time.
If you have all of that covered you shouldn't have a survival problem. In that case, you might have a healer problem or you might be rushing the group and letting the healer run out of mana. Always check healer mana before beginning combat. Try a few more dungeons and see if you get different results with different healers.
That's all I can think of for now.
Hang in there, even if people give you a hard time. Tanking isn't easy, but it is fun once you get the hang of it.
Post by
jfdlrr
Yes, I didn't realize it was the paladin forum because I came from the "Recent posts" on the news page and only read the title. I added a new reply that was actually relevant to the question. In any case, I agree with Varomar's advice. OP, please update us on how you are getting on with your tanking.
Post by
lonewolfe31705
Also, the thing no one else mentioned. Make sure you are using the proper itemized gear. As a prot paladin, you want dodge and block on your gear. If you are using intelligence pieces, get those swapped out as fast as possible.
Post by
Varomar
I cry a lil on the inside when i see prot wearing int/spirit gear...i just dont understand why someone would gimp themselves that way, its like cutting your arm off before going to a Tug-o-War match...
Post by
1070247
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
BigH
I cry a lil on the inside when i see prot wearing int/spirit gear...i just dont understand why someone would gimp themselves that way, its like cutting your arm off before going to a Tug-o-War match...
It depends on what their other spec is, and what level they are. In the low levels sometimes the choice is between an Int item and an empty slot, in that case they're not gimping themselves by wearing it, they're not adding much either though. Or if their other spec is Holy then there's probably going to be some bleed over, both rings and trinkets are fairly scarce during the low levels, so if you duel-spec at 30 it might take you a bit to build a tank set. At least for a Pally, Druid, or Monk where they have a spec which uses Int.
Now if you're a Warrior... well then, you're just making it overly hard on your group... like this Warrior who was just tanking in my Dire Maul group, half Int gear, the other half Agility stuff. It was painful. Oh, and level 10
white
boots (level 40 dungeon). Don't be that guy :p
@OP
One other thing I find useful is putting my healer as my Focus target (right click on them, or you can make a macro). This lets me easily keep an eye on their mana and health, plus it shows me what they're casting so if I see them casting DPS spells it means I can pull more.
Post by
Fetzie
I cry a lil on the inside when i see prot wearing int/spirit gear...i just dont understand why someone would gimp themselves that way, its like cutting your arm off before going to a Tug-o-War match...
If you are under level 60 it really doesn't matter, especially if you are wearing heirlooms (and let's be honest, you only wear them for the +experience).
Post by
Saerath
@OP
One other thing I find useful is putting my healer as my Focus target (right click on them, or you can make a macro). This lets me easily keep an eye on their mana and health, plus it shows me what they're casting so if I see them casting DPS spells it means I can pull more.
I'm so glad you suggested this, I'm going to start doing this now. Before I would target them to see where their mana was, this will save me the trouble! Thanks!
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