A few things that will make you a better tank. Part 1

After a few runs I have had in the recent past, I have decided to cover a few things that will make a tank a much better tank.  These are not your normal "get hit capped/more dodge/blah blah blah" stuff.  This will make you a better tank in that you will find that your runs will be smoother and nicer, which makes for a much better experience.  This will be a multi-part post that, by the end of the last post, you should have everything you need to make your life better in game.

The first this I recommend to EVERY tank out there is.......stop and roll a healer.  Yes, you heard me correctly.  Stop tanking and to roll a healer.  don't respec or dual spec and get a healing spec.  I mean start from square one and start healing.  Put all your points in healing as soon as you get them and then, at lvl10, Take off ALL your heirloom gear, replace the removed items with normal green/white items you can find and queue for BGs.  First, this will heal build healing skills.  Good healers learn that you can't just stand there and heal, there are times you have to heal and run as much as you can. This is easily learned in doing battleground.  A big orc warrior or little gnome rogue is not gonna let you just sit there and heal, you have to learn to heal and move to stay alive and keep people alive.  Stay with the group, the only way to learn good healing skills is to stay with the group and heal as much as you can.  Remember, don't get healer tunnel vision. This is where you are healing everyone so much, you forget to heal yourself.  This happens far more then you would think.

Now that you have leveled to 15 in battlegrounds, KEEP your heirloom gear off and queue in for random dungeons.  Now you learn some of the major tanking points in game.  You will now see how often a tank runs in for the next pull before you are ready and have mana back.  You will now see how often YOU are blamed for not keeping people alive, even though you were out of mana, siad you were out of mana but the tank went in anyway.  Here is where you will learn that healers are not supposed to loot ANYTHING, you are just supposed to keep up and heal.  You.....are a healbot.  You will also find some groups that the tank will listen to chat.  Will wait for you to get mana, will let you loot and will not go charging in if you have less them half mana.  Learning this all first hand, you will see what the healing classes go through in almost every run they get in to.

If you want to become a better tank, both for your sanity and for the good of the group (since running a dungeon/raid is a GROUP activity), you will do this until about lvl20 or lvl30.  It will only take you about 2 days to do this and you will learn just about everything you need to know.  Remember, you will not truly learn anything if you run to the AH and twink yourself out.  If you really want to do this, and I recommend you do, you will do it properly and do this in normal level appropriate gear.

My next blog will cover step 2 in becoming a better tank for you and your group.  When all is said and done, you will be a far better tank then you are now.  Trust me, I've done it.

We all like glowing things, the trick is to find just the right glow....

Enchants...

The very concept of enchants escapes some people.  You know you have seen them, running Bastion of Twilight or some other raid or instance.  You look them over just out of curiosity and.....not a single enchant to be seen.  The very idea of not having enchants is bazaar to me.  I never understood it, you are literally cheating yourself and your group.  With out them, you are simply lacking and you could be doing so much more.  Some say, "But was it 80 attack power really going to do?  Probably not much.".  And sure, just 1 enchants won't do much.  But if you enchant everything, you will see huge changes for the good.  Try it, you will see and become a believer.

Since this my blog and I like to cover tanks, we will just focus on tanking enchants.  I'll cover all classes of tanks with some basic enchanting lists.  Since I wanna keep this a bit shorter them my last few blogs, I'll link the enchants instead of listing what they do.  Lets begin with....



Helm

• Druid = Arcanum of the Earthen Ring 150g + Revered Earthen Ring Reputation
• Warrior = Arcanum of the Earthen Ring 150g + Revered Earthen Ring Reputation
• Paladin = Arcanum of the Earthen Ring 150g + Revered Earthen Ring Reputation
• Death Knight = Arcanum of the Earthen Ring 150g + Revered Earthen Ring Reputation

Shoulders

• Druid = Greater Inscription of Shattered Crystal 75g + Exalted Therazane Reputation
• Warrior = Inscription of Unbreakable Quartz 75g + Exalted Therazane Reputation
• Paladin = Inscription of Unbreakable Quartz 75g + Exalted Therazane Reputation
• Death Knight = Inscription of Unbreakable Quartz 75g + Exalted Therazane Reputation

Cloak

• Druid = Major Agility
• Warrior = Protection
• Paladin = Protection
• Death Knight = Protection

Chest

• Druid = Peerless Stats
• Warrior = Greater Stamina
• Paladin = Greater Stamina
• Death Knight = Peerless Stats

Gloves

• Druid = Greater Expertise
• Warrior = Heavy Savage Armor Kit
• Paladin = Greater Mastery
• Death Knight = Greater Mastery

Wrists

• Druid = Agility
• Warrior = Dodge
• Paladin = Dodge
• Death Knight = Dodge

Waist

• Druid = Ebonsteel Belt Buckle
• Warrior = Ebonsteel Belt Buckle
• Paladin = Ebonsteel Belt Buckle
• Death Knight = Ebonsteel Belt Buckle

Legs

• Druid = Charscale Leg Armor
• Warrior = Charscale Leg Armor
• Paladin = Charscale Leg Armor
• Death Knight = Charscale Leg Armor

Feet

• Druid = Major Agility
• Warrior = Earthen Vitality
• Paladin = Mastery
• Death Knight = Earthen Vitality

Rings (if you're an enchanter)

• Druid = Agility
• Warrior = Greater Stamina
• Paladin = Greater Stamina
• Death Knight = Greater Stamina

Shield

• Warrior = Mastery
• Paladin = Mastery

Weapon

• Druid = Mighty Agility
• Warrior = Windwalker
• Paladin = Windwalker
• Death Knight = Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle

As you can see, there are some differences and similarities as far as what the tanking classes need.  However, they all in fact NEED them.  To not have your gear enchanted, in my personal opinion, is wasting your time and the time of the others in your group.  If you can not afford to get the enchants listed, there are less expensive enchants that will work in their place until you can get the best for your gear. The stats of all these enchants put together will make a very large difference in how well you can do your job. 

Think of it this way, as you are charging in to grab a boss, you see the healer struggling to keep you and the group alive.  Now, you think back as you and the group are wiping that you noticed earlier that the healer had no enchants on his/her gear. Could that healer have had an easier time keeping the group alive had he/she taken the time to enchant their gear to get the best possible results?  You don't wanna be the one that causes a situation like that because you just didn't feel like it or never took the time.  Chances are, there is an enchanter in your guild that will be more them happy to help you out to get the enchants you need.  I know I help out my guildies all the time as well as a few other guild members.  If you wanna win, you gotta put your best foot forward, which includes......enchants.


Keep up the good work bears!  We gotta show those other tanking classes how it's really done!


If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to comment below. Follow me here at the Challenging Roar for all the latest post full of helpful tips, tricks and experiences