So, I've had almost a week to try out the changes since they removed vengenace from PvP.
The result is, hardly surprising, that our damage has become insubstantial. This, in itself, created less than a problem from one point of view than I was afraid of. Competent enemies still bash the healer when we're carrying a flag or defending a base, and under those circumstances our damage was already pitiful to begin with as we received very little damage for vengeance to scale from.
More problematic are the situations when we participate in a general large scale mayhem. Our low damage makes a difference, but what hurts more is that the selfhealing we have from WoG also falls into the basement. In other words, we're much less able to make a difference when defensively defending a last stand position. Think bosses in AV or IoC.
On a positive note, however, quite a few pet-look-alike abilities still give us vengeance. If this is an error to be removed or not I don't know, but as long as it remains I'll continue to taunt pets, be they hunter pets or other classes' temporary pets.
All in all we stillfunctoin as decent flag carriers and defenders of bases. The latter case sees us shine a little less than before since dimishied damage output sometimes enables a shielded enemy to shake off our AoE damage and cap the base anyway.
Taking on another payer one on one, however, is fairly pointless now. At least if they're geared in proper PvP gear. Our pitiful damage is still more than sufficient to wear down someone in PvE gear, and since our mitigating effects haven't been diminished in any major way (WoG shield lowered) we're very hard to kill for a single oppoenent.
Showing posts with label PvP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PvP. Show all posts
Monday, February 6, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
Tank nerf PvP
It would seem we'll be relegated to running random as FC only. With the upcoming removal of Vengenace from player attacks we should expect to get stuck at around 4 - 5k dps dummy-style.
The main problem with the change is that we won't even be theoretically able to defend our healer as splash damage doesn't increase our own damage output.
Long gone will be the days when we poured out damage as a result of unskilled players attacking us in groups and allowing our healer to concentrate on healing like there was no tomorrow.
The primary change to battlegrounds should be FC lasting much shorter. If noone wants to come as a tank, then a squishy will have to do the job. In all likelyhood we'll see more healers running with flags as they're the only ones who have a decent chance to survive the onslaught.
As for those of us who tanked our way through BG:s. It's either respeccing dps, and getting that big two-hander, or hoping that at least pets still give us Vengenace. Some taunting should give us the answer post-patch.
The main problem with the change is that we won't even be theoretically able to defend our healer as splash damage doesn't increase our own damage output.
Long gone will be the days when we poured out damage as a result of unskilled players attacking us in groups and allowing our healer to concentrate on healing like there was no tomorrow.
The primary change to battlegrounds should be FC lasting much shorter. If noone wants to come as a tank, then a squishy will have to do the job. In all likelyhood we'll see more healers running with flags as they're the only ones who have a decent chance to survive the onslaught.
As for those of us who tanked our way through BG:s. It's either respeccing dps, and getting that big two-hander, or hoping that at least pets still give us Vengenace. Some taunting should give us the answer post-patch.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Random battlegrounds: Arathi Basin
This is possibly the BG I like the most.
Five objectives, two teams.
I prefer getting a solid hold on the Lumber Mill because you can stand there and call incomings. Conversely the Gold Mine leaves you blind to what's happening.
Obviosuly you should capture your own 'starting' objective and keep a defensive force there or at least ready to intercept anyone going for it.
The Blacksmith in the middle is usually heavily contested. I'm not entirely certain why as it can be attacked from all sides and is the objective with the longest distance to another objective. In my mind it's best used to tie up enemy resources while your team holds on to Farm/Stables, LM and GM. A decent alternative is holding LM with an oversized force, and smaller defensive force at BS and an even smaller at Farm/Stables. At least if you have a decent number of people who can parachute down from LM.
As a tank I prefer defending LM for the duration of the battle, calling out incomings and notifying my team of the number of defenders at enemy held objectives. Well, barring GM which is invisible to be.
Being a random BG you can sneak in in full sight and snag Farm/Stables all too often, and swarming the enemy starting objective is quite often a solid response to them zerging one of our bases. You're not planning to hold it, just force them to return back home. In such a scenario a tank is quite useful suiciding at the enemy starting objective in a fruitless attempt to 'defend' it.
Five objectives, two teams.
I prefer getting a solid hold on the Lumber Mill because you can stand there and call incomings. Conversely the Gold Mine leaves you blind to what's happening.
Obviosuly you should capture your own 'starting' objective and keep a defensive force there or at least ready to intercept anyone going for it.
The Blacksmith in the middle is usually heavily contested. I'm not entirely certain why as it can be attacked from all sides and is the objective with the longest distance to another objective. In my mind it's best used to tie up enemy resources while your team holds on to Farm/Stables, LM and GM. A decent alternative is holding LM with an oversized force, and smaller defensive force at BS and an even smaller at Farm/Stables. At least if you have a decent number of people who can parachute down from LM.
As a tank I prefer defending LM for the duration of the battle, calling out incomings and notifying my team of the number of defenders at enemy held objectives. Well, barring GM which is invisible to be.
Being a random BG you can sneak in in full sight and snag Farm/Stables all too often, and swarming the enemy starting objective is quite often a solid response to them zerging one of our bases. You're not planning to hold it, just force them to return back home. In such a scenario a tank is quite useful suiciding at the enemy starting objective in a fruitless attempt to 'defend' it.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Random battlegrounds: Battle for Gilneas
This is a three flag competition.
Each faction starts close to one flag of their own, and there's one in the middle.
The battle is very much about holding two flags, or rather rotating forces so that you always hold one flag more than the opponents. My experience is that you want to zerg the middle one as quick as possible while avoiding a humiliating loss of your 'starting' flag.
As a tank I've come to the conclusion that the best job I can do is to head for the enemy starting flag immediately. Not to take it, but to suicide. The reason for this is to tie up resources. In a best case scenario I'll have three or four enemy players spend well over half a minute killing me when I do my lonely assault. That is almost always enough for us to get the middle, or Water Works, flag.
After this the fight usually splits into one out of two scenarios. The enemy tries to hit WW while being careful not to lose their starting flag. I spend those fights rushing their flag alone, which is usually enough to see us winning by keeping two flags for the entire battle, and obviously never getting close to taking the third.
One useful trick is to get 'caught' by the enemy respawned players as they rush to hit WW again. As I play horde I also get the benefit of getting trapped in plain sight of those defending the Lighthouse, so they tend to stay there while I get chewed up by the force who ought to have let me be and hit WW instead.
The second standard battle is when the enemy hits our starting flag instead of getting caught up in a slug-fest for WW. Defending our flag is very often the most important job I can do now. The point isn't to kill the enemy players but rather to disable them from capping our flag by being a general PITA and refusing to die. If things start to get really dirty, a lonely rush for the enemy starting flag surprisingly often pays off. Just make sure noone else in your team isn't already trying to ninja-cap it before you head away, though.
It's also highly important to remember that this is a Random BG. You'll have players leaving their toons at the flag and going AFK in the hope noone will notice (players never leaving the spawn points are always noticed). Thus it's perfectly viable to hit the enemy starting flag in plain sight and cap it. You're likely to find out if there's really a player behind the keyboard of the defending toon.
I've used this defensively as well. As I can't see a stealthed player I'm forced into a guessing game. However, stealthed players tend to CC me before trying our flag, in which case I'll have to lay down AoE and notify my team. The best way to handle a plain-sight ninja attempt isn't to attack the enemy immediately though. Wait for them to start capping. Make sure you can break CC, and give them a slap. Preferably a ranged attack. Sometimes they'll try the flag again, and get slapped, and try again. Normally, though, you'll get caught up in a duel none of you can win, but that's good enough. The flag stays secure.
All in all this is a BG where you'll doing your job best if you keep dying slowly against multiple opponents killing you rather than doing tehir job -- capping or defending flags.
Each faction starts close to one flag of their own, and there's one in the middle.
The battle is very much about holding two flags, or rather rotating forces so that you always hold one flag more than the opponents. My experience is that you want to zerg the middle one as quick as possible while avoiding a humiliating loss of your 'starting' flag.
As a tank I've come to the conclusion that the best job I can do is to head for the enemy starting flag immediately. Not to take it, but to suicide. The reason for this is to tie up resources. In a best case scenario I'll have three or four enemy players spend well over half a minute killing me when I do my lonely assault. That is almost always enough for us to get the middle, or Water Works, flag.
After this the fight usually splits into one out of two scenarios. The enemy tries to hit WW while being careful not to lose their starting flag. I spend those fights rushing their flag alone, which is usually enough to see us winning by keeping two flags for the entire battle, and obviously never getting close to taking the third.
One useful trick is to get 'caught' by the enemy respawned players as they rush to hit WW again. As I play horde I also get the benefit of getting trapped in plain sight of those defending the Lighthouse, so they tend to stay there while I get chewed up by the force who ought to have let me be and hit WW instead.
The second standard battle is when the enemy hits our starting flag instead of getting caught up in a slug-fest for WW. Defending our flag is very often the most important job I can do now. The point isn't to kill the enemy players but rather to disable them from capping our flag by being a general PITA and refusing to die. If things start to get really dirty, a lonely rush for the enemy starting flag surprisingly often pays off. Just make sure noone else in your team isn't already trying to ninja-cap it before you head away, though.
It's also highly important to remember that this is a Random BG. You'll have players leaving their toons at the flag and going AFK in the hope noone will notice (players never leaving the spawn points are always noticed). Thus it's perfectly viable to hit the enemy starting flag in plain sight and cap it. You're likely to find out if there's really a player behind the keyboard of the defending toon.
I've used this defensively as well. As I can't see a stealthed player I'm forced into a guessing game. However, stealthed players tend to CC me before trying our flag, in which case I'll have to lay down AoE and notify my team. The best way to handle a plain-sight ninja attempt isn't to attack the enemy immediately though. Wait for them to start capping. Make sure you can break CC, and give them a slap. Preferably a ranged attack. Sometimes they'll try the flag again, and get slapped, and try again. Normally, though, you'll get caught up in a duel none of you can win, but that's good enough. The flag stays secure.
All in all this is a BG where you'll doing your job best if you keep dying slowly against multiple opponents killing you rather than doing tehir job -- capping or defending flags.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Random battlegrounds: Eye of the Storm
This one is rather fun for a tank. Four towers, one flag.
The general strategy is to leave the flag alone and capture towers ASAP. A semi-decent team will have two smaller groups capture the two towers closest to your starting spawn, and either one massive or two smaller zergs fighting for the tower/s closest to the enemy starting spawn.
For a tank this presents a golden opportunity to do it all wrong, provided that you clearly state what you're up to before the battle starts. You're hitting the flag, and you don't want any help.
Most often this is a suicide mission. You get to the flag and blow every defensive CD in your arsenal in order to keep enemy players tied up by a flag they shouldn't have come to in the first place. If you can keep four or five players busy there for some thirty seconds, then your reward is likely to see three towers captured in the absence of defenders.
Sometimes the enemy team has a working leadership, and you'll end up by the flag alone. Not much to do about it. Collect and head back home to capture it. The lack of a single tank at the towers is outweighed by the extra points you get by capturing the flag.
If you're followed by a bunch of teammates to the flag, just ride through the area and attack an enemy tower. You're up for a bad start with a group of people hitting the flag instead of the towers, and the best way to do something about it is to go suiciding at one of the enemy towers in the hopes that your presence there will see the enemy team move more players to defence. It's unlikely, but I've seen it happen.
After the battle has started in earnest you should rotate between three types of duties. Defend an undermanned tower, attacking an undermaned enemy tower or hitting the flag if there is an enemy group at it.
If you're defending, do call out incoming enemies. Your job isn't simply to suicide. Your job is to stay alive until reinforcements can arrive.
If you're attacking a tower alone, then you are indeed suiciding. Make an effort to get inside, or behind a corner, or whatever you can do to move the defenders away from a position where they can see incoming forces. Chances are they'll call out for reinforcements to a defence which really doesn't need any.
If you're hitting the flag, then you're suiciding to keep enemy players busy at a location they shouldn't be in.
Sometimes you can even help your team by fighting on the roads. This will only be true if you can grab the attention of three or more enemy players.
The general strategy is to leave the flag alone and capture towers ASAP. A semi-decent team will have two smaller groups capture the two towers closest to your starting spawn, and either one massive or two smaller zergs fighting for the tower/s closest to the enemy starting spawn.
For a tank this presents a golden opportunity to do it all wrong, provided that you clearly state what you're up to before the battle starts. You're hitting the flag, and you don't want any help.
Most often this is a suicide mission. You get to the flag and blow every defensive CD in your arsenal in order to keep enemy players tied up by a flag they shouldn't have come to in the first place. If you can keep four or five players busy there for some thirty seconds, then your reward is likely to see three towers captured in the absence of defenders.
Sometimes the enemy team has a working leadership, and you'll end up by the flag alone. Not much to do about it. Collect and head back home to capture it. The lack of a single tank at the towers is outweighed by the extra points you get by capturing the flag.
If you're followed by a bunch of teammates to the flag, just ride through the area and attack an enemy tower. You're up for a bad start with a group of people hitting the flag instead of the towers, and the best way to do something about it is to go suiciding at one of the enemy towers in the hopes that your presence there will see the enemy team move more players to defence. It's unlikely, but I've seen it happen.
After the battle has started in earnest you should rotate between three types of duties. Defend an undermanned tower, attacking an undermaned enemy tower or hitting the flag if there is an enemy group at it.
If you're defending, do call out incoming enemies. Your job isn't simply to suicide. Your job is to stay alive until reinforcements can arrive.
If you're attacking a tower alone, then you are indeed suiciding. Make an effort to get inside, or behind a corner, or whatever you can do to move the defenders away from a position where they can see incoming forces. Chances are they'll call out for reinforcements to a defence which really doesn't need any.
If you're hitting the flag, then you're suiciding to keep enemy players busy at a location they shouldn't be in.
Sometimes you can even help your team by fighting on the roads. This will only be true if you can grab the attention of three or more enemy players.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Random battlegrounds: Isle of Conquest
So, let's have a look at the other mass combat BG.
Just as when comparing WSG with TP, you'll notice how Alterac Valley is positively huge when compared to IoC. Just as with TP this means you can actually change your mind as for wether going defensive or offensive.
As with Alterac there's very little you can do as well as any other role until the enemy boss is engaged. Go for a siege engine and get those gates down, or follow a parachut drop team to get inside and do the same job withou having to get gates down.
To a minor degree you can defend objectives, but the fight lasts for so short a time that taking enemy held objectives are rarely worth it.
You should expect the team rush madly for either the workshop or the docks initially. Preferably they should do both, but in a random BG with 40 players on each side there's very little coordination going on.
You'll just have to go with one group. Preferably the smaller one as you could make a difference in how long it takes your team to finally lose the initial struggle for that objective, and time is worth gold.
When the time comes to tank the boss, swap to PvE gear, pray enemy players are removed and make sure the boss stays in his room. You don't want the wiping buff to kick in. Use your raidwall (if specced into it) for the first jump (one of two boss special attacks) and drop your area heal at the same time. It's helpful if someone in the assaulting team could drop a bloodlust or similar just after the pull. Hence it's a good idea to communicate this on chat before pulling.
Just as when comparing WSG with TP, you'll notice how Alterac Valley is positively huge when compared to IoC. Just as with TP this means you can actually change your mind as for wether going defensive or offensive.
As with Alterac there's very little you can do as well as any other role until the enemy boss is engaged. Go for a siege engine and get those gates down, or follow a parachut drop team to get inside and do the same job withou having to get gates down.
To a minor degree you can defend objectives, but the fight lasts for so short a time that taking enemy held objectives are rarely worth it.
You should expect the team rush madly for either the workshop or the docks initially. Preferably they should do both, but in a random BG with 40 players on each side there's very little coordination going on.
You'll just have to go with one group. Preferably the smaller one as you could make a difference in how long it takes your team to finally lose the initial struggle for that objective, and time is worth gold.
When the time comes to tank the boss, swap to PvE gear, pray enemy players are removed and make sure the boss stays in his room. You don't want the wiping buff to kick in. Use your raidwall (if specced into it) for the first jump (one of two boss special attacks) and drop your area heal at the same time. It's helpful if someone in the assaulting team could drop a bloodlust or similar just after the pull. Hence it's a good idea to communicate this on chat before pulling.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Random battlegrounds: Alterac Valley
This is one of the large scale battlegrounds, and to be honest my knowledge of the overall strategy for this one is rather shady.
With very little to do when it comes to handling enemy players I usually ride to the very opposite end and start picking off archers and burn down two bunkers.
While I wait for more people to join I continue killing off the NPC:s, and eventually I swap to my PvE tanking gear and hit the enemy boss when we're ready for the final assault.
I'm a bit unclear as to how important it is to clear out every NPC at the enemy starting base, but in order to make the ordeal as short as possible I'll drag the elite ones out of their buildings and tank them in plain sight of my team mates. This almost inevitably leads to them being burned down in seconds as people have a tendency to attack anything that is being fought close by.
The final fight is a pure tank and spank fight with no finesse involved at all. Don't forget to swap to PvE tanking gear as it makes the fight a lot easier for your healers. You can't do anything about remaining enemy players more than pray your team keeps them CC:d rather than getting involved in in an outright fight as this slows down the boss fight considerably.
With very little to do when it comes to handling enemy players I usually ride to the very opposite end and start picking off archers and burn down two bunkers.
While I wait for more people to join I continue killing off the NPC:s, and eventually I swap to my PvE tanking gear and hit the enemy boss when we're ready for the final assault.
I'm a bit unclear as to how important it is to clear out every NPC at the enemy starting base, but in order to make the ordeal as short as possible I'll drag the elite ones out of their buildings and tank them in plain sight of my team mates. This almost inevitably leads to them being burned down in seconds as people have a tendency to attack anything that is being fought close by.
The final fight is a pure tank and spank fight with no finesse involved at all. Don't forget to swap to PvE tanking gear as it makes the fight a lot easier for your healers. You can't do anything about remaining enemy players more than pray your team keeps them CC:d rather than getting involved in in an outright fight as this slows down the boss fight considerably.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Random battlegrounds: Strand of the Ancients
Let's have a go at what I believe is the most tank-hostile BG of them all.
Basically, we have nothing to offer here, or almost nothing.
The battle is split into two rounds. One attacking and one defending. Attackers protect siege engines, pick up bombs and commit general mayhem to gates in a wild race to the last gate. They need to remove slowing debuffs from the engines, slow defenders, capture graveyards and get to the final goal in short time.
Defenders, well, they have to make this not happen. So, slow engines, slow attackers, defend graveyards (within reason) and overall become a major PITA at all natural choke points.
We have poor snaring abilities, a stun on a long CD, are suspectible to CC, do abysmal damage at close range and more or less no damage at all at long.
Attacking:
As an attacker, try getting up on an engine. The driver doesn't use any abilities anyway. Just drive and destroy. When your engine is about to blow up, desert it and get up on your mount. Ride the hell away if possible and pick up a new engine.
Later, always pick up bombs before picking up your engine. Same rule as above for almost destroyed engines, but this time you drop at the gate and deploy the bomb. Now our much maligned Consecration shines. People taking damage don't defuse bombs. Stay on top of the bomb and suicide while using every AoE attack in your arsenal. Anything that makes that bomb go off is a bonus.
If you're at the relic chamber when the gate breaks, and if you have the ability available, bubble immediately and rush for the relic.
Defending:
Don't bother getting down to the dirty job. We have little to offer. Go grab a cannon instead. Bomb away at anything that moves, especially engines. When the gate you defend goes down, jump down on the enemy side of the gate. Take the portal to get back home faster.
We're doing poor damage, but we're still good at AoE tanking. Tank the graveyards. People taking damage can't capture any graveyards, and you can survive longer than a squishy. Suicide time again.
At the last choke point, and definitely at the Relic Chamber, please do bubble your healers. You're on defusing duty if the attackers allow you. Doing poor damage, remember?
So, are we entirely worthless? Well, we share a small benefit together with Frost DK. When a gate breaks down, ride at +20% speed and capture the graveyard associated with the gate that is still intact. Chances are you'll be alone capturing it, and you'll get a head start at picking up bombs and start driving for an undefended gate. It's not much, but it's something.
Basically, we have nothing to offer here, or almost nothing.
The battle is split into two rounds. One attacking and one defending. Attackers protect siege engines, pick up bombs and commit general mayhem to gates in a wild race to the last gate. They need to remove slowing debuffs from the engines, slow defenders, capture graveyards and get to the final goal in short time.
Defenders, well, they have to make this not happen. So, slow engines, slow attackers, defend graveyards (within reason) and overall become a major PITA at all natural choke points.
We have poor snaring abilities, a stun on a long CD, are suspectible to CC, do abysmal damage at close range and more or less no damage at all at long.
Attacking:
As an attacker, try getting up on an engine. The driver doesn't use any abilities anyway. Just drive and destroy. When your engine is about to blow up, desert it and get up on your mount. Ride the hell away if possible and pick up a new engine.
Later, always pick up bombs before picking up your engine. Same rule as above for almost destroyed engines, but this time you drop at the gate and deploy the bomb. Now our much maligned Consecration shines. People taking damage don't defuse bombs. Stay on top of the bomb and suicide while using every AoE attack in your arsenal. Anything that makes that bomb go off is a bonus.
If you're at the relic chamber when the gate breaks, and if you have the ability available, bubble immediately and rush for the relic.
Defending:
Don't bother getting down to the dirty job. We have little to offer. Go grab a cannon instead. Bomb away at anything that moves, especially engines. When the gate you defend goes down, jump down on the enemy side of the gate. Take the portal to get back home faster.
We're doing poor damage, but we're still good at AoE tanking. Tank the graveyards. People taking damage can't capture any graveyards, and you can survive longer than a squishy. Suicide time again.
At the last choke point, and definitely at the Relic Chamber, please do bubble your healers. You're on defusing duty if the attackers allow you. Doing poor damage, remember?
So, are we entirely worthless? Well, we share a small benefit together with Frost DK. When a gate breaks down, ride at +20% speed and capture the graveyard associated with the gate that is still intact. Chances are you'll be alone capturing it, and you'll get a head start at picking up bombs and start driving for an undefended gate. It's not much, but it's something.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Random battlegrounds: TP
Twin Peaks is WSG on speed. They're very much alike, but they aren't identical.
To begin with the flag areas don't have the excessive amounts of attached areaas where you can run around and hide. They also lack the opportunity to back into a corner at the very place where you want to dump your flag.
TP is also smaller than WSG. Swapping between defence and offence is a lot faster.
All in all this calls for a slightly different strategy for the PvP tank.
When you collect the flag, ride in through the front door, but exit through the side entrance. Don't stay, just grab the flag and get the hell out.
When returning home I personally prefer going back through my front door. The reason for this is that I've seen too many abyssmal accidents result from having your team split in two groups because you're trying to sneak in through the side entrance together with your escort.
Going home through the front door means hacking your way through the choke point. Again this isn't as bad as it sounds if you have solid team mates. You take fire because the flag you carry aggroes just about every enemy in sight, and your healers keep you up, remove snares and occasionally Holy Leaps you a bit closer to home. During the entire chaos your escort gets the opportunity to give enemy healers a hefty gift of hurt.
Obviously, if your team sucks, then going through the front door is suicide, but you're likely to get stomped all over anyway, so it really doesn't matter all that much.
Well back at home you'll want to stick close to the flag until you have incoming enemies. Then you should move to a corner which can't be targeted from the platform above you. That way ranged enemies have to get down on the floor where they can be targetted by your own melee. Make sure your healer stands close to you as well.
As with WSG, hiding above the flag is taking a huge risk. You can be separated from your escort and go down in seconds.
TP also differs from WSG in another way. Three tanks isn't all that excessive in TP. The reaon is that even a short delay can be golden. If you have three tanks in your team, then having one suiciding by crashing into the enemy train heading for your flag is good use of your money. If the enemy dismount to kill your offending tank (and they usually will) then you've just split the enemy into two separate groups even before they collected the flag.
In the best scenario this results in a slug-fest when your own flag carrier returns with their flag and they're still busy collecting your flag. You can afford going all out aggressive here, because even if you lose your flag by getting killed you still have ample time to collect theirs long before their flag carrier can return back home. Obviously you could get lucky and down most of their team before they can exit the building, and if that happens you're very likely to kill their flag carrier during the next wave of combatants incoming from the grave yard.
Just as with WSG the battle will usually boil down to you waiting at home with the enemy flag while your stacks of damage debuff tick away. The difference is that incoming waves of enemies come quicker compared with WSG, and an offensive team have a far greater chance of going defensive due to the shorter distances involved.
In the three tank team (or a two tank one with a squishy collecting the enemy flag and returning for a drop off) this means you want one tank being a major PITA on the bridge separating the playing fields. If that tank and a healer can keep three or four enemies busy in the middle you're likely to have superior numbers where it matters. It also slows down incoming attacks.
As for the flag carrier back at home, you'll have to take much higher risks compared to WSG. You're a weak damage dealer, but a damage dealer still. During enemy waves you'll simply have to take an active part in reducing them. This will mean you risk being CC when your own team kills the enemy flag carrier, in which case they'll pick up the flag before you can capture it. If your healer is a priest this isn't a problem as long as you have spoken beforehand. Have your priest healer heal you from the capture point and Holy Leap you immediately if your own flag is returned home. Obviously never fight out of reach from your healer.
To begin with the flag areas don't have the excessive amounts of attached areaas where you can run around and hide. They also lack the opportunity to back into a corner at the very place where you want to dump your flag.
TP is also smaller than WSG. Swapping between defence and offence is a lot faster.
All in all this calls for a slightly different strategy for the PvP tank.
When you collect the flag, ride in through the front door, but exit through the side entrance. Don't stay, just grab the flag and get the hell out.
When returning home I personally prefer going back through my front door. The reason for this is that I've seen too many abyssmal accidents result from having your team split in two groups because you're trying to sneak in through the side entrance together with your escort.
Going home through the front door means hacking your way through the choke point. Again this isn't as bad as it sounds if you have solid team mates. You take fire because the flag you carry aggroes just about every enemy in sight, and your healers keep you up, remove snares and occasionally Holy Leaps you a bit closer to home. During the entire chaos your escort gets the opportunity to give enemy healers a hefty gift of hurt.
Obviously, if your team sucks, then going through the front door is suicide, but you're likely to get stomped all over anyway, so it really doesn't matter all that much.
Well back at home you'll want to stick close to the flag until you have incoming enemies. Then you should move to a corner which can't be targeted from the platform above you. That way ranged enemies have to get down on the floor where they can be targetted by your own melee. Make sure your healer stands close to you as well.
As with WSG, hiding above the flag is taking a huge risk. You can be separated from your escort and go down in seconds.
TP also differs from WSG in another way. Three tanks isn't all that excessive in TP. The reaon is that even a short delay can be golden. If you have three tanks in your team, then having one suiciding by crashing into the enemy train heading for your flag is good use of your money. If the enemy dismount to kill your offending tank (and they usually will) then you've just split the enemy into two separate groups even before they collected the flag.
In the best scenario this results in a slug-fest when your own flag carrier returns with their flag and they're still busy collecting your flag. You can afford going all out aggressive here, because even if you lose your flag by getting killed you still have ample time to collect theirs long before their flag carrier can return back home. Obviously you could get lucky and down most of their team before they can exit the building, and if that happens you're very likely to kill their flag carrier during the next wave of combatants incoming from the grave yard.
Just as with WSG the battle will usually boil down to you waiting at home with the enemy flag while your stacks of damage debuff tick away. The difference is that incoming waves of enemies come quicker compared with WSG, and an offensive team have a far greater chance of going defensive due to the shorter distances involved.
In the three tank team (or a two tank one with a squishy collecting the enemy flag and returning for a drop off) this means you want one tank being a major PITA on the bridge separating the playing fields. If that tank and a healer can keep three or four enemies busy in the middle you're likely to have superior numbers where it matters. It also slows down incoming attacks.
As for the flag carrier back at home, you'll have to take much higher risks compared to WSG. You're a weak damage dealer, but a damage dealer still. During enemy waves you'll simply have to take an active part in reducing them. This will mean you risk being CC when your own team kills the enemy flag carrier, in which case they'll pick up the flag before you can capture it. If your healer is a priest this isn't a problem as long as you have spoken beforehand. Have your priest healer heal you from the capture point and Holy Leap you immediately if your own flag is returned home. Obviously never fight out of reach from your healer.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Random battlegrounds: WSG
Two flags, get the enemy one, stay alive and have your friends kill the enemy flag carrier.
This is a BG where a tank shines.
I've learned to dispense with all finesse. Just ride across the field, keep a little bit to the right to avoid getting caught up by enemy CC. Ride straight through the front door and keep running.
This can be done even without escort, but if the flag is guarded by more than two people you're dead. Preferably you have a squishy with you to grab enemy attention.
Get the flag, and avoid getting involved in any fights unless you're zerging the place. Run back out the same way you came. Don't forget to check for the speed-buff.
What I've found working out best is to cross the field somewhat on the outskirts of where fighting is going on. You're likely to draw attention, but unless the team you're grouped with are hopelessly bad you'll also get yourself a pretty strong escort.
The reason getting slightly caught up in battle mid-field is actually pretty good is that you'll draw fire onto yourself. Your healers are likely to be left alone, and with a live healer you can crawl all the way to the flag-deposit point without going down. I even go as far as backpedalling the last bit to make sure enemy players don't lose interest in me. By that time I've stacked up an impressive amount of vengeance, and reds quickly learn that a flag carrier actually hurts pretty bad.
The kind of attrition fight described above should normally give your dps a decent opportunity to catch the enemy flag carrier in superior numbers. The reason for this is that while you slowly fight your way home, the closer to your own spawn point you get. As players die left and right you'll generate a continuous superiority in numbers simply because the enemy has longer to ride to get back in action.
Back at home you just cram yourself into a corner by the deposit point. Hopefully you have a small escort including a healer staying with you.
I know a lot of people prefer staying upstairs, but my experience is that this is all too often a very bad idea. If an enemy DK pops into the fight you're likely to be physically separated from your healer. It's a lot harder to split up the defending group if they're close to the flag.
When the enemy arrive, and they probably will, you'll need to check their numbers. If they're few you most likely want to leave your protected position and assault in order to help with local numerical superiority. Use SoT and let them eat shield.
If they're a crap-ton, make sure you're seen and back into that corner again. Hopefully one or two enemy melee dps beeline directly for you, giving you a superb opportunity to tank them PvE boss-style. Even though some 25% block chance is rather poor, it's a lot better than zero. Add that your measly dodge and parry both activate if you're fighting frontally. It all adds up. Your stun is a defensive cooldown as well. Use it.
This is also the point when you need to decide if you're going to bubble before going down or if you're going to risk being CC when you need to pull the LoH off. Always remember that bubbling makes you drop the flag, so this has to be timed. As for the general fight just distribute your defensive cooldowns evenly and keep a very close eye on your healer health. You'll want to bubble him/her when things look dark.
Also don't forget your raidwall (if you're specced into it) and the measly area heal you have available. You should probably fight with SoI rather than SoT when overwhelmed numerically as well. WoG at CD, so use that SotR sparingly. If you have time and are able to see anything, free friendly melee dps from slows.
Usually nothing funny will happen until the flag carriers have collected four stacks or more of the damage debuff. This is also when enemy zergs usually occur. Eat food, bandage and throw self-heals between attack waves. Also, don't forget to buff up occasionally.
When the flag has been captured you need to know if you're one or two flagcarriers in your team. Sometimes a squishy grabs the enemy flag. In that case you need to get out to orchestrate a drop off. If you have a proper tank picking the flag up, then you should join the offensive team. Not because you're especially good at killing anything, but because you want to be close to the enemy flag when it spawns after the next capture.
Now get out there and tank your way to glory.
This is a BG where a tank shines.
I've learned to dispense with all finesse. Just ride across the field, keep a little bit to the right to avoid getting caught up by enemy CC. Ride straight through the front door and keep running.
This can be done even without escort, but if the flag is guarded by more than two people you're dead. Preferably you have a squishy with you to grab enemy attention.
Get the flag, and avoid getting involved in any fights unless you're zerging the place. Run back out the same way you came. Don't forget to check for the speed-buff.
What I've found working out best is to cross the field somewhat on the outskirts of where fighting is going on. You're likely to draw attention, but unless the team you're grouped with are hopelessly bad you'll also get yourself a pretty strong escort.
The reason getting slightly caught up in battle mid-field is actually pretty good is that you'll draw fire onto yourself. Your healers are likely to be left alone, and with a live healer you can crawl all the way to the flag-deposit point without going down. I even go as far as backpedalling the last bit to make sure enemy players don't lose interest in me. By that time I've stacked up an impressive amount of vengeance, and reds quickly learn that a flag carrier actually hurts pretty bad.
The kind of attrition fight described above should normally give your dps a decent opportunity to catch the enemy flag carrier in superior numbers. The reason for this is that while you slowly fight your way home, the closer to your own spawn point you get. As players die left and right you'll generate a continuous superiority in numbers simply because the enemy has longer to ride to get back in action.
Back at home you just cram yourself into a corner by the deposit point. Hopefully you have a small escort including a healer staying with you.
I know a lot of people prefer staying upstairs, but my experience is that this is all too often a very bad idea. If an enemy DK pops into the fight you're likely to be physically separated from your healer. It's a lot harder to split up the defending group if they're close to the flag.
When the enemy arrive, and they probably will, you'll need to check their numbers. If they're few you most likely want to leave your protected position and assault in order to help with local numerical superiority. Use SoT and let them eat shield.
If they're a crap-ton, make sure you're seen and back into that corner again. Hopefully one or two enemy melee dps beeline directly for you, giving you a superb opportunity to tank them PvE boss-style. Even though some 25% block chance is rather poor, it's a lot better than zero. Add that your measly dodge and parry both activate if you're fighting frontally. It all adds up. Your stun is a defensive cooldown as well. Use it.
This is also the point when you need to decide if you're going to bubble before going down or if you're going to risk being CC when you need to pull the LoH off. Always remember that bubbling makes you drop the flag, so this has to be timed. As for the general fight just distribute your defensive cooldowns evenly and keep a very close eye on your healer health. You'll want to bubble him/her when things look dark.
Also don't forget your raidwall (if you're specced into it) and the measly area heal you have available. You should probably fight with SoI rather than SoT when overwhelmed numerically as well. WoG at CD, so use that SotR sparingly. If you have time and are able to see anything, free friendly melee dps from slows.
Usually nothing funny will happen until the flag carriers have collected four stacks or more of the damage debuff. This is also when enemy zergs usually occur. Eat food, bandage and throw self-heals between attack waves. Also, don't forget to buff up occasionally.
When the flag has been captured you need to know if you're one or two flagcarriers in your team. Sometimes a squishy grabs the enemy flag. In that case you need to get out to orchestrate a drop off. If you have a proper tank picking the flag up, then you should join the offensive team. Not because you're especially good at killing anything, but because you want to be close to the enemy flag when it spawns after the next capture.
Now get out there and tank your way to glory.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Random battlegrounds: general
I'll give my input as a casual tanking PvP player. Hence BG are always the atrocity called random battle grounds.
I'm assuming that you're joining in some kind of tank spec, possibly in your main tank spec.
I'm also assuming that you have access to a semi-decent set of PvP gear. Say the 371 you collect for honor. If you don't, just don't bother. You're made of paper the moment a caster shows up.
You'll be doing bloody awful dps, so your goal is to stay alive in a constructive way. Or you'll suicide in an equally constructive way.
When suiciding, try getting a message away that you're planning to do so, and that you don't want any help. Your mission is to buy the rest of the raid a few extra seconds by keeping some opponents busy killing you. Just burn every CD you have available for survival and pop whatever CD you have for getting out of CC.
When staying alive you're either waiting for reinforcements to arrive, in which case you do as when suiciding, or you're jogging around with a flag. In the latter case you're trying to reach teammates unless you already have an escort with you. Use defensive cooldowns sparingly if you have a healer with you. In that case, attack as many targets as possible. You want people hitting you and leaving your healer alone.
When people refuse to hit you, or you're getting chain CC:d, Hand of Sacrifice a friendly target who's taking a beating.
I'll follow up with some more specific articles for casual BG-playing as a tank.
I'm assuming that you're joining in some kind of tank spec, possibly in your main tank spec.
I'm also assuming that you have access to a semi-decent set of PvP gear. Say the 371 you collect for honor. If you don't, just don't bother. You're made of paper the moment a caster shows up.
You'll be doing bloody awful dps, so your goal is to stay alive in a constructive way. Or you'll suicide in an equally constructive way.
When suiciding, try getting a message away that you're planning to do so, and that you don't want any help. Your mission is to buy the rest of the raid a few extra seconds by keeping some opponents busy killing you. Just burn every CD you have available for survival and pop whatever CD you have for getting out of CC.
When staying alive you're either waiting for reinforcements to arrive, in which case you do as when suiciding, or you're jogging around with a flag. In the latter case you're trying to reach teammates unless you already have an escort with you. Use defensive cooldowns sparingly if you have a healer with you. In that case, attack as many targets as possible. You want people hitting you and leaving your healer alone.
When people refuse to hit you, or you're getting chain CC:d, Hand of Sacrifice a friendly target who's taking a beating.
I'll follow up with some more specific articles for casual BG-playing as a tank.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
But I only PvP
I ran into a conversation with someone who wanted to tank but only spends time on PvP.
Now, first of all I have to say that it's a horrible idea to tank without tanking. Gear will never replace knowledge.
Still, let's assume that you do indeed know how to tank, but you spent the last half a year doing nothing but PvP. Now you need to get into shape to take up that tanking again.
Your gear will, correctly, get you kicked out of every pug you join, so there has to be a way to get around it.
Well, there is. At least to get you into heroics, and from there you get valor points without destroying your supply of the conquest points you need to continue PvP.
Buy the season 10 helmet, cloak (or do the Thrall quest chain if you haven't done it) and belt. Get a season nine onehander. Continue doing PvP, but concentrate on getting honor. 375 honor buys you 250 justice points. You should be able to buy one JP piece or two daíly this way.
Do the Molten Front quests. The quick and dirty version is only doing only one day's worth of quests. That's enough to get you a necklace and boots.
You should be good for running the old Cata heroics within a week as tank, and from there on you have 490 valor points available per week. Gearing for the trolls would require the standard grind, and that's better explained in my failsafe gearing guide.
Now, first of all I have to say that it's a horrible idea to tank without tanking. Gear will never replace knowledge.
Still, let's assume that you do indeed know how to tank, but you spent the last half a year doing nothing but PvP. Now you need to get into shape to take up that tanking again.
Your gear will, correctly, get you kicked out of every pug you join, so there has to be a way to get around it.
Well, there is. At least to get you into heroics, and from there you get valor points without destroying your supply of the conquest points you need to continue PvP.
Buy the season 10 helmet, cloak (or do the Thrall quest chain if you haven't done it) and belt. Get a season nine onehander. Continue doing PvP, but concentrate on getting honor. 375 honor buys you 250 justice points. You should be able to buy one JP piece or two daíly this way.
Do the Molten Front quests. The quick and dirty version is only doing only one day's worth of quests. That's enough to get you a necklace and boots.
You should be good for running the old Cata heroics within a week as tank, and from there on you have 490 valor points available per week. Gearing for the trolls would require the standard grind, and that's better explained in my failsafe gearing guide.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Difficulties getting that elusive slot
We have one very problematic slot as pugging tanks, and that is the helmet. While pugging Cata tier one raids is perfectly doable, a 359 helmet isn't all that much of an upgrade compared with the 353 one that eventually will drop if you farm the trolls for Valor Points.
So we need to find us a replacement. That replacement would be the 384 PvP helmet. Now, a PvP item doesn't sit all too well with most of us, but this one comes with a bucket load of mastery. The Resilence is, obviously, a dead stat, but at ilevel 384 it comes with a big chunk of armour and stamina to make up for close to 300 points of wasted stat.
Now, I'm not even remotely arguing in favour of this helmet compared to a 378 PvE one, but that's the catch. You need to pug down anything dropping a 378, and that might prove difficult for a casual tank. So we're stuck with a 359 or a 353, and compared with those the PvP piece doesn't look too shabby.
Now we have another problem. 2200 Conquest Points. Doing arena as prot is more or less out of the question. I've spent a lot of time dying to cram out a few wins, but you'll make yourself an unhappy partner.
Pugging rated battlegrounds, however, isn't entirely futile. A tank is quite often handy there, so you can pull your weight properly.
Still, you may be a casual tank for the simple reason you can't spend a lot of time gaming. Then you're unlikely to want to spend the time you have available smacking other players over the head.
So your last resort would be to convert Valor Points to Conquest Points. At least it's done at a ratio of 1:1.
I'd suggest that you wait with it though. There are quite a few items which should come higher on your list, but eventually you're going to run out of truly appealing items to buy for VP. That's when this helmet, and of course, the PvP cloak starts to look appetizing. The helmet because it's the best we casuals are likely to lay our hands on, and the cloak because it's the second best there is in the game.
So we need to find us a replacement. That replacement would be the 384 PvP helmet. Now, a PvP item doesn't sit all too well with most of us, but this one comes with a bucket load of mastery. The Resilence is, obviously, a dead stat, but at ilevel 384 it comes with a big chunk of armour and stamina to make up for close to 300 points of wasted stat.
Now, I'm not even remotely arguing in favour of this helmet compared to a 378 PvE one, but that's the catch. You need to pug down anything dropping a 378, and that might prove difficult for a casual tank. So we're stuck with a 359 or a 353, and compared with those the PvP piece doesn't look too shabby.
Now we have another problem. 2200 Conquest Points. Doing arena as prot is more or less out of the question. I've spent a lot of time dying to cram out a few wins, but you'll make yourself an unhappy partner.
Pugging rated battlegrounds, however, isn't entirely futile. A tank is quite often handy there, so you can pull your weight properly.
Still, you may be a casual tank for the simple reason you can't spend a lot of time gaming. Then you're unlikely to want to spend the time you have available smacking other players over the head.
So your last resort would be to convert Valor Points to Conquest Points. At least it's done at a ratio of 1:1.
I'd suggest that you wait with it though. There are quite a few items which should come higher on your list, but eventually you're going to run out of truly appealing items to buy for VP. That's when this helmet, and of course, the PvP cloak starts to look appetizing. The helmet because it's the best we casuals are likely to lay our hands on, and the cloak because it's the second best there is in the game.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
PvP gear for tanking
Even though it doesn't make me feel very happy, for those of you out there who never see a drop, the PvP helmets make a very good substitution.
The new ilevel 371 Vicious Gladiators Scaled Helm is better than anything you'll se before the Cataclysm tier 1 raids. You could get ilevel 359 tanking raid drop -helmets that aren't as good as this one.
The ilevel 384 cousin doesn't fare as well when compared with its Firelands ilevel 378 tanking cousins, but it's obviously a step up from the 371. Observe that 'not faring as well' still means that the 384 PvP helmet qualifies as a perfectly valid 378 tanking helmet, albeit poorly itemized.
The Ruthless cloak, at ilevel 384, clocks in as the second best tanking cloak in the game, only beaten by an agility based dps cloak. You have to love Blizzard for itemizing gear properly.
So, what's so interesting about these metal hats? Well, you can buy Honor for Justice Points, and you can buy Conquest Points for Valor Points.
The new ilevel 371 Vicious Gladiators Scaled Helm is better than anything you'll se before the Cataclysm tier 1 raids. You could get ilevel 359 tanking raid drop -helmets that aren't as good as this one.
The ilevel 384 cousin doesn't fare as well when compared with its Firelands ilevel 378 tanking cousins, but it's obviously a step up from the 371. Observe that 'not faring as well' still means that the 384 PvP helmet qualifies as a perfectly valid 378 tanking helmet, albeit poorly itemized.
The Ruthless cloak, at ilevel 384, clocks in as the second best tanking cloak in the game, only beaten by an agility based dps cloak. You have to love Blizzard for itemizing gear properly.
So, what's so interesting about these metal hats? Well, you can buy Honor for Justice Points, and you can buy Conquest Points for Valor Points.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
PvP for fun
Can I PvP as a protection paladin?
Yes, but not very well.
Since the nerf to our incessant selfhealing we became a lot less viable in arena. Battlegrounds, however, are a slightly different matter. Especially if we gear up as well as possible.
Now, being well geared isn't the same as showing up in your mid 350 tanking gear and thinking that it'll work. Casters will hand you your rear and even melee will be sadly uncooperative. By cooperative I'm referring to standing in the front of your shield like the targets you usually tank.
You'll need proper PvP gear, and that's easily gained from honor points alone. As we're likely to focus on getting our tanking gear come 4.2 the state of the art PvP equipment won't come fast. However, if you just happen to sit on a few thousand valor points you could as well convert them into their conquest counterpart and get started.
You want exactly the same gear as a retribution paladin, barring a one hander and a shield. Both are, luckily enough, available in PvP versions. Start with a trinket that gets you out of trouble once every two minutes, and try to get the gloves as soon as possible.
Now, somewhere above 3000 resilience the fun in battlegrounds start as a paladin tank. You'll primarily concentrate on carrying flags, defending objectives and tank the ocasional boss fight that occur. The latter is better done in your proper tanking gear though.
You'll soon notice that players are surpricingly easy to taunt. For some reason a lot of people take personal offence at someone who refuses to die instantly. If you back up into a corner you'll even be able to benefit from some of that shield blocking that is part of our normal procedure. However, you can't fight ranged opponents from a cornered position. Those need to be handled by either a corner pull or an outright assault.
Another fun job is the deliberate suicide, especially if you happen to have a healer who likes you. Just head into the thick of things and start using AoE like you were tanking trash. More often than not you'll get the attention of enemy players who start hitting you instead of doing something useful. A few heals are usually enough to keep people occupied for well over half a minute, which is time the opposing team sorely lacks.
Never expect to get a decent kill score. That's not your job when tanking, and that's not your job in PvP. You're there to be a meatshield and a general PITA.
There's even a marginal profit for your tanking to be had if you're inclined to push out as much damage as possible on content you overgear. The PvP gloves add a sweet 5% damage to all your CS attacks.
Also, if you're grinding materials, most likely as a miner, and play on a PvP server, gear with resilience will make ganking you at a node all that much harder. In a one one one match against someone who's hunting players in the open world you're very likely to come out victorious. The main reason isn't that the protection paladin is so fantastic at duels, but rather that gankers tend not to be overly well geared, and as a tank you're already a lot harder to kill to begin with. While you do pitiful damage you can usually just outlast your attacker.
The last, but maybe most important benefit, is that you'll grow a new kind of awareness to your abilities. When to use them, and how to use some that doesn't see as much use when you tank as they ought, well, at least not as a pugging tank. Removing snares, shielding that friendly healer of yours, swapping seals midfight, using trinkets, using potions wisely and pathing.
Pathing is knowing which way you're going to move, before you move. As a protection paladin you're suspectible to all kind of bad things slowing you down, but you move faster than most other players. That makes moving intelligently all that much more important.
Oh, and fighting with the information from your screen. No DBM telling you when to use what abilities. You'll need to act upon a lot more of the graphics that is provided by the game rather than addons.
Now go out and have some fun slamming that shield of yours into the face of other players!
Yes, but not very well.
Since the nerf to our incessant selfhealing we became a lot less viable in arena. Battlegrounds, however, are a slightly different matter. Especially if we gear up as well as possible.
Now, being well geared isn't the same as showing up in your mid 350 tanking gear and thinking that it'll work. Casters will hand you your rear and even melee will be sadly uncooperative. By cooperative I'm referring to standing in the front of your shield like the targets you usually tank.
You'll need proper PvP gear, and that's easily gained from honor points alone. As we're likely to focus on getting our tanking gear come 4.2 the state of the art PvP equipment won't come fast. However, if you just happen to sit on a few thousand valor points you could as well convert them into their conquest counterpart and get started.
You want exactly the same gear as a retribution paladin, barring a one hander and a shield. Both are, luckily enough, available in PvP versions. Start with a trinket that gets you out of trouble once every two minutes, and try to get the gloves as soon as possible.
Now, somewhere above 3000 resilience the fun in battlegrounds start as a paladin tank. You'll primarily concentrate on carrying flags, defending objectives and tank the ocasional boss fight that occur. The latter is better done in your proper tanking gear though.
You'll soon notice that players are surpricingly easy to taunt. For some reason a lot of people take personal offence at someone who refuses to die instantly. If you back up into a corner you'll even be able to benefit from some of that shield blocking that is part of our normal procedure. However, you can't fight ranged opponents from a cornered position. Those need to be handled by either a corner pull or an outright assault.
Another fun job is the deliberate suicide, especially if you happen to have a healer who likes you. Just head into the thick of things and start using AoE like you were tanking trash. More often than not you'll get the attention of enemy players who start hitting you instead of doing something useful. A few heals are usually enough to keep people occupied for well over half a minute, which is time the opposing team sorely lacks.
Never expect to get a decent kill score. That's not your job when tanking, and that's not your job in PvP. You're there to be a meatshield and a general PITA.
There's even a marginal profit for your tanking to be had if you're inclined to push out as much damage as possible on content you overgear. The PvP gloves add a sweet 5% damage to all your CS attacks.
Also, if you're grinding materials, most likely as a miner, and play on a PvP server, gear with resilience will make ganking you at a node all that much harder. In a one one one match against someone who's hunting players in the open world you're very likely to come out victorious. The main reason isn't that the protection paladin is so fantastic at duels, but rather that gankers tend not to be overly well geared, and as a tank you're already a lot harder to kill to begin with. While you do pitiful damage you can usually just outlast your attacker.
The last, but maybe most important benefit, is that you'll grow a new kind of awareness to your abilities. When to use them, and how to use some that doesn't see as much use when you tank as they ought, well, at least not as a pugging tank. Removing snares, shielding that friendly healer of yours, swapping seals midfight, using trinkets, using potions wisely and pathing.
Pathing is knowing which way you're going to move, before you move. As a protection paladin you're suspectible to all kind of bad things slowing you down, but you move faster than most other players. That makes moving intelligently all that much more important.
Oh, and fighting with the information from your screen. No DBM telling you when to use what abilities. You'll need to act upon a lot more of the graphics that is provided by the game rather than addons.
Now go out and have some fun slamming that shield of yours into the face of other players!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
A short piece of advice, PvP
A surprisingly efficient way to hone your tanking skills is PvP.
While you're unlikley to learn how to position mobs you will learn how to use the abilities that tend to just occupy a slot on your interface but never get used.
In PvP people are actually out there to get you. That's what PvP is all about. But it also happens more slowly. No boss slamming you for 100k damage or funny crap on the floor instagibbing you. You'll be stunned, slowed, rooted in place and watch that friendly healer go down costing you an avoidable death.
So you'll learn when to bubble, when to LoH, when to use Hand of Freedom and when to bubble your healer. You'll see that healer leap you out of a lost position, when you should run into the fray and what types of opponents are best gripped to your position by that DK.
Most important, you'll always play in an environment where you don't know beforehand what's going to happen, and that hones your most important tanking ability -- that of environmental awareness.
While you're unlikley to learn how to position mobs you will learn how to use the abilities that tend to just occupy a slot on your interface but never get used.
In PvP people are actually out there to get you. That's what PvP is all about. But it also happens more slowly. No boss slamming you for 100k damage or funny crap on the floor instagibbing you. You'll be stunned, slowed, rooted in place and watch that friendly healer go down costing you an avoidable death.
So you'll learn when to bubble, when to LoH, when to use Hand of Freedom and when to bubble your healer. You'll see that healer leap you out of a lost position, when you should run into the fray and what types of opponents are best gripped to your position by that DK.
Most important, you'll always play in an environment where you don't know beforehand what's going to happen, and that hones your most important tanking ability -- that of environmental awareness.
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