5 Things Your PuG Tank Wants You To Know …

17Dec/0924

5 Things Your PuG Tank Wants You To Know …

… and one more thing that your paladin tank really wants you to know!

1. The better my gear gets, the harder it becomes to tank heroics.

I realize this seems counter-intuitive. It has to do with resource management: warrior and druid tanks generate rage from damage, while paladins convert healing into mana via Spiritual Attunement. (And you thought warlocks were emo? :p) As our gear improves, we are able to avoid more and more incoming damage. Although this is a boon to our survivability, it can be debilitating to our rage or mana (re)gen.

Watch my power bar. If it’s just a little sliver of red, then I’m rage-starved. If it’s just a little sliver of blue, then I’m perilously low on mana. Either way, I’m struggling to maintain my rotation and therefore to build threat. Give me a two-second head start before you charge into melee range and start Whirlwinding. Or Divine Storming. Or FoKing.

On second thought, don’t FoK at all. This is a T-rated game.

Also: if my power bar is light blue, then kindly disregard this advice. I’m a Death Knight, and you can simply /follow me through the instance while I— ...GET OVER HERE!

2. The better your gear gets, the harder it becomes to tank heroics.

I may be running on fumes, but you have enough mana to flood Desolace and more energy than a gnome on Noggenfogger. Reinstall Omen, dust off your long-neglected aggro dump (that’s Soul Shatter for warlocks, Iceblock for mages, Feign Death for hunters and Death for everyone else) (Vanish never works!) and maybe even toss me a Misdirect every now and then? Please? *puppy-dog eyes*

3. You don’t need to have a full mana bar when I pull the next pack.

If you’re my healer, then rest assured: I’m watching your mana bar even more closely than I’m watching mine. I won’t pull if you’re empty, but I’m not going to wait for you to drink to full before every trash pack, either. Unless the DPS are trying to stand in The Bad® or get themselves cleaved, it’s just not necessary. (And if they are, remember: it’s their own damned fault!)

If you’re feeling a little light-headed, sit down and have a sip. I’ll charge ahead — and I promise: I’ll be fine on my own for the few seconds it takes for you to take the edge off.

If you’re DPS, then … well. >.> To be perfectly honest, I’m leaving you behind on purpose. Sorry about that. It’s just that if you’re conveniently out of range or mana when I pull the next mob, then I’ll have a few precious seconds to build threat before you come ‘round to peel it off me.

4. I get lost a lot, especially in the Old Kingdom.

Sorry!

5. If I am attempting to Line of Sight ("LoS") a pack of trash mobs around a corner or into an alcove or another room, either stand back and do nothing… or simply stack on me.

This is especially true in Halls of Reflection. In order for me to LoS a mob, it has to be hating on me. If you try to smack it with a sword or spell before it’s where I want it to be, then it will turn around and eat. your. face. (Or, more likely — since I can’t imagine a scenario in which I’d be LoSing melee mobs — shove a fireball down your throat, which is even more unpleasant.)

Just stack on me. We can pretend we like each other for the few seconds it takes for the mobs to stagger into position after I’ve gotten their attention with my Divine Frisbee of Avenging Righteousness.

6. This one is paladin specific, but important: Divine Plea has a 60 second cooldown and a 15 second duration.

Glyphed and talented, Divine Plea not only reduces incoming damage by 3%, but also returns 25% of my maximum mana over 15 seconds. While the damage reduction is a nice-to-have, the mana regen is a HAVE-TO-HAVE. That's not one but two capital HAVE's (which may actually make one capital WHOLE. But who's counting?)

Hitting things refreshes Divine Plea, so — hypothetically — I can keep it up for the entire run, returning a fair bit of mana as I’m catapulting myself like an unhittable elven cannonball through packs of rampaging geists.

Of course, this assumes no breaks in combat for less than 15 seconds at a time …

Guys? This is why I chain pull. (Until I get lost. See #4 above.)

This is also why I’m going to ignore any silly “These are my rules…” macro you might spam at me. See, you may think it’s “common courtesy” for me to wait patiently while you rummage around in your bags for a piece of stale strudel; dust it off on your robes; take a small, ladylike bite; comb your hair; summon three non-combat pets until you find one that perfectly reflects your current emotional state like a walking, talking emoting Facebook status; and then finally — FINALLY! — deign to click Yes to your own /readycheck.

Um, no. “Common courtesy” is completing the run quickly and efficiently, with minimal loss of life (unless it’s a rogue’s, of course), a few pleasantries and two Emblems of Frost for the road. (But I'm sure your hair and your strudel and your two-headed dog are very nice, too!)

* * *

This post is dedicated to Keaton, who loves me enough not to say "I told you so."

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Filed under: Paladin Leave a comment

Comments (24) Trackbacks (4) ( subscribe to comments on this post )

X
December 17th, 2009 - 15:38

DK tanking is kind of unique. We can’t always go indefinitely, especially because of rune cooldowns.

Especially when, for AoE packs, we start with DnD for 3 runes. IT->PS->Pest and its like 3-4 seconds until we can use runes again.

I like warrior tanking the most. Its more active, and there are spammable abilities. Sometimes as a DK, if I go a few seconds without a runestrike or a yellow hit, I feel like I am just autoattacking ><

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- Typeronin
  December 17th, 2009 - 22:04
  
  Snap agro as a DK tank is hard for me but once you get going, DKs are among the better AOE tanks in the game. I think warriors can get the most snap agro off on AOE packs than anyone else.
  
  Personally, I think DK tanking is slightly broken at the moment.
  Typeronin´s last blog ..All Wins and No Wipes Make Cult Something…Something…
  
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  - The Renaissance Man
    December 18th, 2009 - 03:08
    
    Well, it depends heavily on the spec. A frost spec tank should have not problems with snap AoE aggro. A blood tank, however, has a rough time with it. Unholy tanks can generate more sustained AoE aggro than any other tank in the game, but their start up is really slow.
    
    DK tanking is in a better spot than it was during 3.2, but it’s still somewhat lagging behind the rest of the classes. Just how broken it seems, again, depends on your spec. Blood is the only really viable raiding main tank spec at the moment, with frost lagging behind, and unholy being pretty much completely non viable.
    The Renaissance Man´s last blog ..The Year in Review
    
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    - Typeronin
      December 20th, 2009 - 11:04
      
      Yes, sorry, I forgot to mention spec. I tank as blood as I like the cooldowns best and as you said, it is the most viable raid spec. Frost has no problem with snap AOE agro. Glyphed Howling Blast + blood boil is fantastic for getting initial agro before going into your rotation…better than just dropping DND, IMO. For blood, it’s mostly DND, disease and then start cleavin’!
      
      Thank god my main is a shaman so I don’t have to worry about this stuff.
      Typeronin´s last blog ..All Wins and No Wipes Make Cult Something…Something…
      
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      - MyName
        December 23rd, 2009 - 12:21
        
        I think frost is the best spec for heroics, though possibly not for raiding. Unless they have like, all ToGC/ICC gear all I need to do is drop D&D, then pull the mobs with howling blast and blood boil when they get close and AoE is good to go. If you talent a few points in unholy, then you can be ready for the next pack in 30s. Also you can get hungering cold which actually helps when that mage goes wandering off the rez and aggros an extra patrol…
        
        One thing the blog also forgot to mention is that you can talent frost to help out melee (with improved icy talons) so it’s not completely useless if you lack an enhance shammy (which you might in 10 mans). Still, no unique snowflake buffs like unholy or blood.
        
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The Renaissance Man
December 17th, 2009 - 16:15

Also, I loathe people who take it upon themselves to pull for me. Due to mana constrictions and the availability of certain cooldowns, it might be a bad idea to pull that pack of 5 mobs right now.
The Renaissance Man´s last blog ..The Year in Review

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lilrabbit129
December 17th, 2009 - 16:53

This post was great. I couldn’t have put it better myself. I just started blood DK tanking, starting out with the easier heroics. When I was going through dungeon finder with blues and greens it actually seemed easier. Now that I’m in mostly epics, the DPS has gotten more geared, and quicker to pull stuff off me.

Guess people’s egos grow proportionally with their gear score.

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Elam
December 17th, 2009 - 18:30

The one thing I’d throw out there- Invisibility is the mage threat dump, not ice block. Ice block freezes their threat with the mage (and causes the mob to go to the next highest threat target!), but it doesn’t actually drop threat, meaning that if the tank has not been threating for 10 seconds when Iceblock falls off the mage will get argos back. xd
Elam´s last blog ..I wish WordPress went Livejournal style.

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Lifedeathsoul
December 17th, 2009 - 19:58

You might want to refer to the map now and then. All Northrend dungeons have maps now so it does help in the Navigation department

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Rhii
December 17th, 2009 - 20:08

I know you’re also a healer, and an extremely competent one, so perhaps I’m just being a whiny baby.

But also your extreme competence as a healer leads me to believe that you’re a more competent tank than some of the blockheads I’m running with.

The degree to which I find myself being left in the dust by the rage-starved tanks of the world is a bit extreme, and since it only started happening lately, I’m not convinced that it’s purely a consequence of “the way things are”. And some of the blockheads I’m running with are NOT alright left alone while I (god forbid) loot my sparklies for two seconds. The last thing I want to hear when I come around the corner to watch my tank get skewered is “Healer, wtf!”

So yes, I suppose so, but with a grain of salt.
Rhii´s last blog ..She’s Alive!

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Eidlhe
December 18th, 2009 - 10:53

lol Nice job on the rules. I’m on the flip side of that equation as a healer.

@Rhii feel your pain…almost like you’re not allowed to loot, and if you have to drink and loot…forget about it.

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Anea
December 18th, 2009 - 12:20

I loved this post

#4 is true for me too >.>
Anea´s last blog ..The WoW Year in Review

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Jyorore
December 18th, 2009 - 20:06

Sometimes I pull too many mobs too fast on purpose, the same way your Divine Plea runs out, rage deteriorates pretty quickly.
Sometimes I DONT taunt that mob back off you…Perhaps you should have been DPSing the same target I was TPSing… Makes sense?
Be thankfull the healer Rezzes your dumb butt and try not to do it again!

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Rosaly
December 19th, 2009 - 17:43

Lol.

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Morrighan
December 20th, 2009 - 06:37

Great post. This is why one of our officers pulls everything in sight as fast as possible! I might be a tiny bit more sympathetic now. Maybe.

And I get lost too. In fact, in Kara my getting lost was legend. People still check if I know where I am in TotC.
Morrighan´s last blog ..ICC Lower Spire (10 and 25 Normal) Crib Sheet

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Moodring
December 21st, 2009 - 18:27

Additions from a bear:

7. I will not wait while you take a 10-minute afk after every boss, and will vote to kick as thousands of dps and hundreds of healers are queued to take your place.

If you have to do something else then you probably shouldn’t be playing a video game at the moment.

8. I will not tolerate meter linking or whining about the damage output of someone 3 tiers below you in gear. This annoys me to no end and I will vote to kick. Any healer in greens and myself can 2-man the entire instance anyway, you’re only here to make it faster (and possibly provide the DE option).

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Svengaly
December 22nd, 2009 - 11:23

As a disc priest healer, I was completely IDIOTIC about pally tank mechanics, until a lovely guildie filled me in, by screaming at me in vent, “STOP SHIELDING ME”. BWAH? Then he explained the mana regen from heals. /facepalm Sorry to all my mana starved, PUG pally tanks. I get it now You’ve earned your “patient” titles.

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Bristal
December 22nd, 2009 - 12:58

I can easily pull down 5K dps and make most other DPS look bad in a PUG. But in heroics, setting the tank as focus and misdirecting at every opportunity is the most important thing a hunter can do to make a run quick.

Turn recount off and DO IT!

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Nahyomi
December 22nd, 2009 - 17:20

Plenty of PUG tanks are NOT watching my mana bar. I trust tanks I know to chain pull because I know they are watching my bar. I’ve been told by various PUG tanks that paladins don’t use mana to heal, that I had plenty of mana when he started the HoS Brann event with my mana at 30%, and that my mana is my problem not his. All three of these tanks then blamed me for wipes.

To be honest, if a PUG tanks tells me at the start “I would like to chain pull, but I will watch your mana bar. Let me know if you need to drink at any time”, I’ll most likely go along with it and trust you. But in the absence of that, you can bet I’m going to protect my mana bar, because there are very bad PUG tanks out there.

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Spinks
December 23rd, 2009 - 05:05

Here’s another one. No I won’t take my pants off because you’re bored and want something to heal. If you’re bored, can’t you help nuke or download porn or something? I like my gear and now that I get rage from blocks and parries, I’m not taking it off. Ever. Not even in the bath,

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Valgav
December 29th, 2009 - 12:56

As a pally tank, #1 doesn’t apply. I actually regen mana faster as my gear gets better. But then pally tank mechanics are OP in my opinion.

Amazing post, I wish everyone knew about the troubles of tanking pugs.

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Misaki
January 5th, 2010 - 04:31

Nice guide. I recently started tanking on my Paldin, and can already feel your pain on these issues. Especially annoying is getting Disc priests shielding you instead of just healing the damage. You might be Disc, but you can still just put out raw heals just fine thanks. Shield = no damage = no healing = no mana

And keeping Divine Plea rolling is a compulsion of mine. It just feels wrong if It drops off

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Nefernet
January 14th, 2010 - 09:09

Very interresting article.
I play a healing druid and a hunter and I was quite surprised recently by the tanks getting shortage in mana or rage. Now I will remember why and keep my innervation close for the paladin (because I don’t use it anyway, if I have to then something is wrong…), and remember to misdirect in 5-mans again.
Thanks !
Nefernet´s last blog ..I’m still alive… Barely…

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Light
January 20th, 2010 - 21:22

Just as an FYI… we prot warriors gain most of our rage from getting hit. I get about 9 rage on a swing with my current weapon O.o

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