Tanking Mrs B Style, Part 2

You can read the first part of our adventure here.

So, last time I blogged about this I’d just started tanking and had successfully managed Deadmines and a couple of other lowbie fungeons. We are only playing the rested on these characters, as we’re both levelling other alts separately, so today we dinged 45.

Since this is halfway to 90, I thought I’d commemorate this with a picture and a blog update:

That’s me, on the right!

As a tank, you experience a weird kind of rush… it’s you who is in charge of not killing the whole group, but also for leading around the dungeon and setting the pace. I actually find it, although exhilarating, really stressful. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lot of fun and I’m loving the challenge. However, without Mr B there, I wouldn’t be able to do it as he is the one who tells me which way to go.

One thing I am struggling with though, is other people not being good players. Before y’all give me a lecture, I know this is WoW and I know it’ll always happen, but I totally appreciate how horrendous it is for new players to the game.

How to help a noob tank like me

1. Let me set the pace – if someone keeps pulling (hunters, I’m looking at you!) and I have to keep trying to get the aggro, it causes me stress and then I make mistakes. This just slows us all down in the long run. I will also let you tank for the rest of the dungeon. #justsaying
2. If I go the wrong way, it’s by mistake, I promise. Instead of saying: “wtf this way ffs”, try saying something like: “hey, it’s this way :)”. I will respond a lot better and probably not go the wrong way on purpose next time just to annoy you.
3. If I stop to loot a quest item, that doesn’t give you free reign to pull the next pack of mobs.
4. Warriors have no speed boosts at this level. This means you may have to wait around. Deal with it.
5. Calling me “tank” will not get a favourable response. Ever.
6. I do not play WoW to power level and skip content. Likewise, I don’t run dungeons to maximise my xp/hr. If you’re not happy in the group, do us all a favour and just leave without the drama. Kkthxbai.

Tanking Mrs B Style.

So, this weekend was a pretty important turning of a corner in my WoW ‘career’, as it was the first time I tanked a dungeon.

I’ve always admired people who can tank – not only protecting the players, but usually leading the raid and soothing frayed nerves all at the same time. Mr B tanks an awful lot (although never LFR!!) so I’ve never really felt the need to learn.

However, I have only one class left to level and this was a warrior. I had tried Arms before and got really bored (rage issues, the same reason I stopped playing rogue as I couldn’t get the hang of energy), so I thought I’d give myself a new challenge and learn to tank.

Yes, I totally mogged the heirloom shield…!

Mr B is levelling a Priest at the same time and with his healing, I knew I wouldn’t be in too much trouble if I made a stupid mistake. So, calling upon his 7 years of expertise, I asked for some advice…

Mr B’s tanking 101

1. Hit stuff
2. Kill stuff
3. Don’t die

… great.

So off I went, knowing I had to maintain a certain amount of aggro so people didn’t rage at me and/or die a lot. Surprisingly, it went really well. Apparently, I probably could have gone a tiny bit quicker (although no one complained), but I don’t get an AoE threat move until level 20, so I played it safe.

Anyway, we had a go the next day, where I tanked Shadowfang Keep, and I had lots of fun with Thunderclap… it makes chain pulling a LOT easier so we were able to go much quicker. My confidence has definitely grown. It’s also made  me much more sympathetic towards new players or people learning a new role…. it’s HARD! I ignored so many /g and /w those 2 hours as I couldn’t concentrate on both.

If you take one thing away from reading this post, please be kind to us nooby tanks – we are trying hard to remember the way, keep you from dying AND learning the class! :p

Tank and healer combination: a match made in marriage?

Mr B:

For a long time I played blood DK. Tanked raids, dungeon finder and LFR with the missus healing on her shaman. It worked quite well, we knew how the other played and as we play sitting next to each other, we can communicate easily.

However, I really hated tanking, especially dungeon and LFR. Probably due to the amount of idiots. I understand people speed running the instances, but I want to enjoy the mechanics of them (especially in early MoP). So, I changed my main to ‘lock – which I love.

BUT the wife stared nagging. Even more than normal. She wants to do challenge modes, we need a tank, etc etc. I caved. Anything for a quiet life!

So, I spent yesterday re-remembering how to play DK. Forgot how good the survivability is with the self-heals – quite enjoyed the change of pace from dps. It also means, if I tank, I am in charge – feel the power! Mrs B hadn’t played shammy for a long time too, so we spent yesterday running dungeon finder and did some Glory of the Cata Hero with the guild to try and remember how to work together.

This is what a half day of me bossing the wife about did to her:

I’m doomed!