Want to Tank, a bit overwhelmed.

[Breidr]

I will start this off by saying I have never tanked in an MMO before. I know I've got a long road ahead of me and it's not exactly the easiest one either. I have chosen this path out of interest for the saber wielding classes and a desire to be melee. I also have a pocket healer partner, so it should make things easier. They have healing experience. I have nothing.

 

With that, I have begun reading numerous tank guides and attempted making sense of them, as well as posts on the forums. I will say it has been a lot to take in.

 

I am a bit frightened by the amount of keybinds that might be needed. Once i get past 12 or so I start to struggle. I'm also not too keen on Defensive Cooldowns, they seem difficult to use properly.

 

I hear recommendations for a Vanguard/Powertech tank everywhere, but they don't seem as easy to use as everyone seems to think. Mind you this is mostly based on reading guides. I am, however, leveling one solo to feel out the class. Feels kind of clunky right now, but I'm only on my 20's.

 

The Kenetic Combat Shadow is the next class I want to try. It seems to play more like a DPS rotation than anything else from what I've seen. I don't know how hard it is to monitor stacks, but they seem to need very few abilities. They do rely heavily on their cooldowns, which is a weak point of mine so I may struggle.

 

I haven't even touched the warrior or guardian outside of level 10. The sheer number of cooldowns is scary, and the number of abilities also seems the highest.

 

If I've only ever been an average DPS player in one other MMO, how can I get into tanking?

[LadyDarkkitten]

Actually you will find jug tanking the easiest to pick up. Its very intuitive once you start to play it. Basically just your standard rotation puts up a variety of short term defensive buffs. If you level a class in immortal spec and treat it as a dps while you level through the story it will make alot of sense to you and I really reccomend it. The shadow is a class thats really easy to screw up. Its the most skill intensive of the tanks and as a rule good shadow> good jug/pt > weak jug/pt > weak shadow. It is a lot of fun though.

 

Can I reccomend if your new to the tanking game you come watch these guides? Now they are about wow, but the theory applies to swtor too. This is how I learned to tank back in cata wow/1.x swtor. Now I know he talks abit , but for basic how to tank theory his basic guides and workshops can teach you alot. Like the theory of "the deathball" this is where we use line of sight to gather a group of ranged and melee mobs together and hold them with our Aoe, allowing our dps to aoe them down quickly.

 

 

Hope that helps.

[JediQuaker]

Why are you tanking? Are you looking towards tanking in end-game Ops, etc, or are you just simply interested in trying it?

The reason why I ask is that, as a tank you don't (or shouldn't) do a whole lot of damage, and neither does your healer companion. That can make solo play very long and boring.

I would suggest that you re-configure your self as DPS until you get to about level 50, and then start working on your tanking. In the early stages you don't have a full skillset, and so, learning to tank can be frustrating, especially if you don't play in a full group with 2 DPS, a healer and a tank.

[Storm-Cutter]

I would advise trying tanking at mid-level with a few understanding friends / guildmates. - Use voice chat and launch into some of the FPs.

 

Try a few different things, try letting the DPS pull the bosses off you and taunting them back, turning the boss, or if you have a mate who is/can spec as tank, try tank swapping. - Get to grips with your DCDs when the big hits come in.

 

Find some instance where the bosses are hard and with your comp on passive, try staying alive as ling as possible.

 

Best advice I ever got was to put the 'target of target ' view up. ( using interface editor) And so long as the boss is in that picture (ie concentrating on you) You're on the right track. As soon as the boss starts looking at the others in the group, you need to get him back on you - either with a taunt or by co-ordinating your best burst with a taunt drop from the DPS or heals. Also turn on raid frame(s) or arrange your team-mates portraits so you can see who is in trouble.

 

Maybe consider PvP - slap a guard on someone, and learn to keep them alive, by using intercede ( or its equivalent) your taunts and DCDs. The chaotic nature of PvP can teach you what to do in those 'Oh S***' moments. Certainly try some duels if PvP isn't your thing. - Get to know what buffs you get with what abilities.

 

You could also try using your companion as heals while you tackle big mobs. Swap the comp out for one of lower influence until you can pretty much solo the boss, or at least keep them pounding on you for as long as possible.

 

GL. It takes practice, but it isn't that hard to do well enough for HM FPs. NiM raids is a whole new level tho'.

[tharbison]

I have a VG tank and do tacticals & HM FP's almost exclusively.

 

You're probably better than you think! Just the fact that you're here asking questions tells me you're committed to getting better. These would be my suggestions;

 

• Don't try to hold agro on the entire mob - focus on the strongest/hardest hitting. If dps are worth their salt and follow the kill order, the trash will be dispatched quickly.
  
• Be prepared to swap guard to whichever group mate is getting pounded.
  
• The target of target suggestion above is good - anytime a boss/strong is hitting someone else, this will let you know.
  
• Have a thick skin - people can say mean things. Don't let it get to you - a good tank is hard to find. Keep practicing.
  

The good news is it's pretty easy to get a group as a tank. Once you find your rhythm it's a lot of fun.