Learning to tank lowbie flashpoints

[PrincessShAmy]

I am an experienced DPS and healer. I wanted to try Vanguard tanking. Of the tanking classes, Vanguard is the one I am most comfortable with. The role isn't totally new to me - I do pretty well with one on one boss fights. However, I haven't been able to really learn how to tank groups of enemies. It takes me approximately three and a half seconds to evaluate the group in front of me and then I jump in. I don't always know if it is the best pull but I do my best. It depends on the group. I know which abilities generate the most threat. A group of four enemies that are all ranged trip me up the most.

 

Last night I queue for lowbie Hammer Station. I ask the group to please bare with me as I am still trying to get comfortable in the tanking role. People often tell me that players are more forgiving in lowbie flashpoints. I have not found this to be true. One guy complained that the pull shouldn't take so long. I could understand his complaint if it was HM Hammer Station.

 

How am I supposed to learn how to properly tank if people are so critical. Finding a leveling guild is not easy. Most guilds that I see advertise are only into end game. Any suggestions?

[KevMeup]

For flashpoint/trash tanking, there are a few things that will help:

 

Hit the mob first. This is where your flame sweep (not sure vanguard name) is awesome. Jump in, and run around tagging mobs. If you hit it, and no one else did, you'll have agro. If they are in a single place feel free to drop your flamethrower or death from above on them as well.

 

Use your carbonite (AOE stun) after you do some damage. This buys you a bit more time as the DPS starts to steal mobs from you and keeps them in place for AOEs.

 

After you start to loose agro, THEN use your AOE taunt. A taunt gives you the highest level of agro +10-30%. So that means if you start a fight with a taunt you get 10% of nothing once the 6 seconds of forced agro are over, the longer you wait, the better.

 

For extra credit you can use your single taunt, stun and pull on mobs to help keep them from getting rowdy. Most trash pulls don't last too long and as long as you grab half the agro, a good healer can deal with the rest. I think that the majority of FP tanks don't worry this much about trash and just jump in, do some damage and let things fall where they may, so don't fret too much.

Edited June 29, 2015 by KevMeup

[nocteh]

i will pipe in from a healer POV for low lvl FP's. Dont worry about getting ALL the aggro from trash mobs as dps kills them so fast I can keep up with healing them. As long as you maintain aggro on the gold mobs it is fine to drop a wee hot or shield on you to survive.

 

in the low lvl FP's just concentrate on your situational awareness of where the mobs are. If i get aggro as a healer i generally take the mob to the tank to peel off me as they are probably too concentrated on that one mob. And getting used to your abilities and what they do and when to use them.

[sumquy]

u made a good choice in pt/van. it is by far the easiest of tanks and still the best performer due to hydraulic overides whenever you don't want to do a mechanic. to your question, part of the problem here is that lowbie tanking REALLY sucks. you don't have a lot of your most important abilities and damage reductions yet. ideally you want to jump into as close to the middle as possible and flame sweep the mobs up. move around a little and then use a firestorm. you can follow up with a death from above to keep their attention, and THEN taunt. as far as people being jerks, tell them to **** off and put them on ignore. you are the most important and rarest class in the group, what are they going to do? go find another tank? yah.

[ruffuswm]

... you are the most important and rarest class in the group, what are they going to do? go find another tank? yah.

 

It's true you are very important, but please don't go getting an ego and treating the group like Sh- because "I AM DA TANK! YOU DO WHAT I SAY!" nothing is worse than an "entitled" tank barking orders, no one gives a flying Fu- if this is your main, alt, or w/e.

 

just keep your head on a swivel, and awareness in overdrive, do your job (keep golds and whites off the healer) and you will do well.

 

the thing that separates a good tank from a great one, is situational awareness and pro-activeness (placement, knowing the encounters) and reactive actions.

(grappling that mob back to you the second he breaks off and B-lines to the healer)

 

-Bullgrim

Edited August 19, 2015 by ruffuswm