r/classicwow • u/fuzzy_zoo • 1d ago
Classic 20th Anniversary Realms New to tanking
I’d like to try tanking as a Druid. This will be my first toon as a tank as I always roll heals.
My anxiety will be not knowing what route to take in a dungeon. Is there an addon that can guide me instead of relying on watching YT videos ?
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u/Gamesarfn 1d ago
I never tanked before and was always heals also
Rolled a tank just to try it out and also was worried about knowing the way in dungeons
Heres two map sites I use that have been helpful so far, havent had to watch any videos yet with these maps:
https://www.fadedandblurred.com/wow-classic-dungeon-maps-for-tanks/
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u/snackynorph 1d ago edited 21h ago
Nice choice. The main tip I can share with you is "left is law". A lot of dungeons have visual cues for the right way to go, but it's almost always a safe bet to go left.
Also, more generally, the main thing you care about is your healer's health mana 🫠 bar. Follow that, get familiar with their pace, and you're golden. Also, enjoy druid, and don't forget that you can always toss a regrowth/rejuv on yourself before a nasty pull! Glhf out there
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u/PSGAnarchy 21h ago
Healers health bar and their mana bar. As a druid you can't do anything to keep yourself alive so those are the things you live and die by.
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u/pentol5 1d ago
Quick tips for druid tanking:
You can start a pull by casting regrowth/rejuv on yourself (or others) before going into combat to have a little extra threat from the healing (overhealing does no threat, but actual healing done will contribute threat).
If you mark at least a skull every pull, people will generally act in a much more manageable way. I reccommend having markers keybound. I personally use F1-F8 for Skull/cross/tri/square/moon/star/nipple/diamond, and you can set this in the keybinding menu.
The key to holding as much aggro as possible is to plan for which mobs will be loose. If you hit skull once, before hitting other mobs, you can let skull go on a melee DPS for a little while before taunting off him, since this gives you more time to build a threat-lead on secondary targets.
Macro your health pots together with bear form, and make sure to only use it when you're OFF the GCD. If you use it while on GCD, you'll be outside of bear form for a while, so don't panic-use them.
You should generally focus on threat stats over survivability stats. Your healer is used to healing shield-less warriors, while you've got your shield built-in with bearform. Don't be afraid.
Try to be the most agressive and fast-moving member of the group. Being the first into combat helps a lot for keeping aggro. Innervate your healer to keep this a safe way to play.
When a pull is halfway to 3/4ths done, try to pool rage for the next pull, so you can start the next one with 3 mauls back-to-back. Threat early is worth way more than threat later.
Use a nameplate addon that shows you your relative threat level, preferably as both a color and as a percentage number. I use threat-plates.
Caster mobs should either be Line-Of-Sight pulled with starfire+moonfire+faerie fire, or you should get right up in their face, if that won't pull more.
In outdoors instances, you can pull by entangling roots on a melee mob, but then you need to know you have taunt available for it when it comes, so it doesn't smack the healer.
Feral charge interrupts many spellcasts. If bash is on CD, you can interrupt by quickly running out of range, and charging in.
Think long and hard about which trinket you want to take from the onyxia attunement quest. Both are great, and you can only have one. The armor one is irreplaceable, but the crit one is stronger overall. There are only wrong answers here, so make sure you're onboard with whatever mistake you will commit to.
With the onyxia head one, it's not a question, take the neck.
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u/Sprinklewoodz 1d ago
I would run every dungeon as feral dps at least 1 time each while paying extra attention to the pathing and how the mobs get pulled.
Then you can run them every time after working on your tanking responsibilities and practicing. If you become knowledgeable on pathing and how to approach each pull it will make tanking way more manageable.
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u/Wcitsatrapx 1d ago
As a warrior I like to run it as a dps the first time if I can and even kind of off tank to feel out the mobs here and there. Or h just straight up tell people I have no idea where to go lol
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u/jonas_ost 1d ago
Just say to the others to lead the way. Tank dosent need to be the fungeon guide. I often lead and mark etc as a dps
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u/GeneralGhandi7 1d ago
Simple for map knowledge, first time tanking each dungeon let the team know it's your first time and they'll likely walk you through it (ask them too). Most people are just glad to find a tank these days. PS don't forget you have access to all roles as druid so maybe opt for healing first then after learning dungeon go ahead and tank
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u/savagely-average 1d ago
I started tanking for the first time a week ago, also as a druid. I had severe tankxiety as well, but honestly there have been 0 issues. Ive only been using my own key for now because I don't know routes yet and don't want to brick other people's keys so have been setting up the group finder with the title Chill +4. New tank learning.
Everyone that's joined has been super nice, they know before trying to join that I'm new and they've all asked if I want to lead or if I want someone to lead and ping the pulls.
It's been a great, and fun, experience so far. Might be different once I start going into other people's keys but I'm not aiming for 3000 rio or anything, just aiming to learn. Will probably just have fun learning this season and then aim for KSM next season.
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u/Jazzlike_Suspect7807 1d ago edited 1d ago
Hey! First everyone was new to it at one point. I've been playing for longer than I care to admit and I still take a deep breath before tanking. I'm not nervous I just don't want to deal with nonsense. If your dps works with you, it's seriously fun. You can figure out how everyone likes to play and set the speed. If you have the impatient twats that are pulling before you or pulling on accident it can get frustrating. But it's ok to fail. It's ok to have fun. I will add that most people understand what you're going through because tanking is a lot. The average player would rather sit and wait for a tank than play one because of the stress. I've been a ret paladin main from the beginning and I've been the off tank/off healer for pretty much that entire time whether someone asked or not. If either gets overwhelmed I start taking aggro or healing til the fight is done. This is just meant to help. I'm sure as a druid heals main you've had your o shit moments where you have to bear slap some mobs to keep from wiping
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u/Kleanupguyy 20h ago
Theres not really “routes” like retail m+, theres a few optional skips here and there, but its mostly pretty linear. I never tanked at lvl 60 before annivesary, so the Dungeons I was unsure where to go, I just quickly skimmed a video before going in
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u/Subspace1011 20h ago
You will get hunters who don’t know how to control their pets, rogues that want to off tank, and mages that go full bore before you even establish threat. Don’t try to fight them. Just let them do what they do. You can try growl in something running to a mage, but really your primary focus should be to keep your healer alive. Without them, you’re dead.
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u/Bare02 1d ago
With how few tanks there are just let the group know you're new and they'll gladly guide you. If they have an issue with that then join one of the other 6 groups looking for a tank and try again