Note: This is a Spark Post off Thespius' over at World of Matticus for today.
I try and do my best when I do show up as a tank in LFG. I'm polite, keep an eye on my healer, and even double check if the pace I'm comfortable moving at is what the healer wants.
I've had enough -bad- groups as a dps on my hunter to not want to be a wench (pick another word) in groups where I'm the tank. Of course, I'm not confident as a PuG tank because I've had too many bad groups. I've gotten through groups and been told I was the worst tank they'd ever had, just because I'm too cautious or for some, too reckless. And those are in groups where nobody died... heck we may have gotten close to killing me a few times, but I didn't notice it. My focus is on keeping the mobs ON me. My pace does not change.
When I'm on the paladin, I step forward, lift the shield, and leave my life in the hands of the healer. If I drop first, I did my job. And I try my hardest to avoid too much too quickly, because I have a pretty good idea of what my personal limits are.
Some would say the only way I'm going to get over my hesitancy or recklessness is to run more PuGs. They might be right, but I can also understand why tank is the one thing so many groups wait for, burn out on a tank or healer and that's one fewer in the lists for everyone.
I've barely played my paladin in the last month. I've barely played because, to be honest, I don't feel like I'm good enough. I've got the gear to handle tanking thanks to my wonderful guild mates, but not the experience, at least not as much as say, Niqora or Kazi or even Myst. I'm not a primary tank. I occasionally want to tank, but I feel like I'm slowing everyone down as I fumble and slip, letting a mob past me, which bee-lines directly at the mage.
I guess I'm not confident anymore. I trust guild healers or guild-allied because they do know I'm not primarily a tank, I just have her in reserve. I used to enjoy tanking for the guild, because we needed her as a tank. Now, like I said, I feel like I'm sucking royally, and I don't want to screw up and get yelled at by a PuG, just because I made the wrong split second decision. My guild says I can tank... but I guess, I don't feel like I can.
Can tank.... I guess?
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Matt’s Notebook: Silken Court Cleared!
2 weeks ago
Hey,
ReplyDeleteIf Tic can tank you surely can. I get that same feeling if I do any pugs with my hunter. And yes I got called a huntard and a noob as I was some place that I'd never been before. Of course they were friends of the tank so I kept my mouth shut as the tank was a friend of mine. Later he apologized because they were jerks. No biggy.
Remember you ARE the tank. The pug goes as YOU want it to. If they want to complain tell them to level a tank themselves otherwise SHUT IT.
My best advice.. keep an "OH SHAT" button available and up to pull that errant mob back on you. I can't tell you how many times I just waited for Lin to pull a mob off me so I could use mine. It happens, you're a lot better than you think you are. Remember I always thought I wasn't that great and you were one of my biggest fans. So there you go.
Remind those jerks that take the game so seriously when you wipe all you've done was kill a few pixels. LOL
Now go have fun.. because tanking is exactly that.. FUN :)
Best thing I think you can do for your confidence is to take a healer you know and trust with you. With me tanking and Kazi healing, we know what we can take on and what we can't because we communicate with each other. If he tells me that he can handle going faster, I go faster. You're right, you are putting your life into the hands of your healer. So group with someone you know is going to watch your back.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what else I do differently than you...I use the standard 96969 rotation, etc. I don't know how you operate but I keep my head on a swivel. I'm constantly turning my camera around and watching for unexpected pats or a mob that got away from me. The mobs that you've already got lots of aggro on can be pretty much ignored. It's the stranglers you miss that bee-line for the healer that are the biggest cause of wipes. That and pulling too many at once. Which I've -never- done before. *cough* >.>
But Tic's right. Just have fun. If someone's giving you hell about going slow, remind them that they can always leave the group, requeue after their 15-minute debuff, and then wait the 20 minutes to get another group. If they still complain...who do you think the group will kick? You, the tank, or them?