First you must Follow

Posted by nelli on 07 23rd, 2009

Categories: Tanking & Cooldown Rotation Tips | no responses

A while ago, Namthe wrote about a humbling experience healing as an undergeared druid. He talks about first doing 5 mans and it being cake and then doing 25 mans and it being overwhelming. (and challenging and fun) What does it have to do with tanking? Nothing and Everything. His post reminded me of just how important it is to develop your personal skill set in stages and how I recently made the mistake of not doing that.

The Important of Learning in Stages

I’ve talked about leading as a tank in the past, but what I forgot to mention is that we all have to start somewhere. Can you imagine what would have happened to Namthe if he’d not only jumped into healing that 25 man undergeared, but also had to lead it at the same time? (you know kinda like what you and I do when we switch to Fury without having played it in the middle of a raid)

He’d have failed.

But more to the point, he’d have overwhelmed himself so much that he’d have hindered how quickly he could learn to heal a 25 man. (or in my case, DPS) Which is where we find the point.

Which isn’t to go back on what I’ve said in regards to leading 5 mans immediately in order to improve your tanking, but it is to say, don’t lead a 25 man. Or more to the point, don’t expect to hit 80 and assume that because you’re a tank that you’ve got the god given right to lead. Don’t test out a spec that plays dramatically different than you’re used to when you’re the one that’s got to lead the raid. Don’t switch from DPSing and just assume that you’ll magically be able to tank a 25 man and learn to “ride a bike” again. You have to be comfortable in the most overwhelming situation for your character possible and then you’ll be ready to lead.

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There’s no one else

And there’s the rub, I suppose. Sometimes that just happens. It happened to me at 70. You’re the leader whether you like it or not. How I survived it was playing, a lot. When you aren’t raiding, you’re mastering your class. Don’t fall into the trap of overwhelming yourself in a raid and then running the easiest instance possible on an off night to de-stress. You don’t have time for that. Do things the hard way on an off night because come game time, you’ll have to do things the hard way and lead.

Simply put, do what you loathe until you don’t.

Yes, it’s stressful for a while, but the alternative is getting into the habit of doing things the wrong way because you never took the time to learn to do things the right way when not leading. A Warrior can tank without using Concussion Blow on a boss, without using Heroic Strike while moving, even without catching every Sword and Board proc, but that still doesn’t change that that Warrior is playing the wrong way.

So, what are you going to do?

You’re going to do 5 mans especially the ones you hate instead of just expecting to lead some pug raids and “gear up” there.
You’re going to do 5 mans with your UA spec even if it’s terrible for that before running it in a raid. (I’m talking to you, Vene)
You’re going to do 5 mans with your tanking spec especially if you haven’t tanked in months before leading.
You’re going to do 5 mans with your Fury spec before running it in a raid. (I’m talking to you, again, Vene)

Read the original: First you must Follow