December 22, 2009 - 9:07 pm
Welcome to Tanking Tidbits number one. In these little segments I’m going to be explaining some things about tanks ie. how to spec, how to hold threat, what is our job, stats and more. I know there are plenty of sites that have helpful info on tanking, “TankSpot” being one of them. But I find that forums are rough places to get info sometimes. If your a player who is unsure of how to ask things or new to tanking you can take a lot of heat posting on forums and usually will get blasted by some player who’s way to sarcastic and plainly just a douche bag. At Valaar.com I’m going to break things down and open the posts to comments, BUT, if I see a comment that is counter-productive then I’ll get rid of it. I want to help those players looking for a place to get good info and have a good conversation.
Now onto the Tidbits!
As for Number one, I’m going to start with something simple. Defense and what it means. I’ll be using reference to WoWWiki to better explain things in detail but I’ll explain the jest of it. Odds are if your looking to become a tank in WoW then your either still leveling up or are sitting at 80 wondering if you should and what’s the first step to take. If you don’t have a set of “Tank Armor” then your going to need to start collecting. Let’s start with the leveling folks. As your leveling it’s not really worth gathering tanking armor unless your around 70 for instances of that nature but before that it’s really not relevant. In fact I wouldn’t even suggest leveling as a tank spec until 70 unless your just looking for practice on how to lead a team with pulling, marking and so forth. I will say as a pally I leveled Protection (tank) 70 to 80 and it went fairly quick as you can tackle more mobs at once. Just a note, keep a lot of Mana Pots on you and use Blessing of Wisdom. But 70 is a good time to go tank as you can start doing instances like Nexus and Azjol Nerub. Your going to want to keep items with Defense on it. When you do hit that magical number of 80 then your going to be ready for heroics. This is where your going to start getting your “Tanking Epics”. The whole point here is for two stats, Defense and Stamina. If your going to tank raids you need to have a defense cap of 540. That is the “Special” number. Why? Well being “capped” at 540 means that any boss mob that’s level 83 (those are elite raid bosses) won’t be able to deliver a critical strike to you. Your defense will mitigate the strike and keep you alive and your healer happy. At WoWWiki you can see the break down here under Critical Hits.
At first you might be frustrated and wonder how am I going to reach 540 as soon as you hit 80. Now with patch 3.3 it’s even easier then when Wrath of the Lich King was released. You’ll be able to do a few heroics via the new Looking for Group feature and collect those badges. Getting gear now is the easy part. Just make sure along the way you don’t forget to raise your rep with the factions around Northrend. There are enchants for your head and shoulders that you’ll need to boost your stats. Sons of Hodir is an important one unless your a scribe and can enchant your own shoulders.
Something I suggest to all players, not just tanks, is Atlas Loot. This is an addon that puts a little treasure chest on your map. Clicking on it will open a window that will let you pick a dungeon or raid and show a list of bosses and what they drop. This is extremely helpful for figuring out what dungeon or raid you need next to get that piece of armor that will put you over the top or complete a set. Check it out here.
Along with Defense is Stamina. As a tank your going to need a big health pool. Since your going to be taking a lot of damage and the skills of healers can range your stamina is your fall back to stay alive. The more HP the more time you buy while your healer is off yelling at their dog, kid or girlfriend and not watching you. Don’t have some, get some. Once your defense is capped and you don’t risk falling below 540 Stam it up with gems, enchants, and trinkets.
That is a good little starter. I know this is probable elementary for some but for those who are interested or new to the spec it’s a stepping stone.
If you have any questions even if it doesn’t pertain to this top, please feel free to ask!
I’ll be back with more!
-Valaar
