Really Frustrated Low Level Though

[freemarx]

Hi forum folks; I'm a causal player mostly leveler. I played a Ret Pally in Wrath and had just tried to start tanking before I stopped playing for a while. I came back with the patch and well yea.

Right now, I'm a level 21 paladin...I tanked my first instance (WC) last evening. It was a mess...I was 2.5 shoted when I pulled a group of 3. It always felt like everything was on CD; I feel like I'm doing it wrong.

Right now my basic rotation/priority list is as follows...

Avengers Shield Judge Crusader Strike...use WoG when I have 3 HoPo...my Righteous Fury is on, my Devotion aura is on and of course I only have one seal right (Righteousness I think) now.

So why can I not hold threat, if I'm using the only skills entrusted to me by my trainer...trust me I'm trying...I'd run into a pull cast AS and then not but one second later...Omen would pop the "Losing Threat" message...nothing was more disconcerting.

My question for anyone is what pray tell can I do to be a better protection paladin tank...I understand Hammer of the Righteous at 29 will be great and Consecrate at 24 maybe help as well but I'm only level 21 right now...so obviously those tools are not going to help now.

Further, I had a healer say I was squishy...all I've done is run one dungeon and quest...am I supposed to AH a load of blues so I'm not squishy...I'm on my secondary server so I don't have my BoA's anymore either.

Thanks for reading my wall and any advice anyone can provide besides give up is so very welcome.

[Aerron]

It might be a gear issue ... but hard to say without knowing what gear you're using. What stats are you going for with your gear?

I would suggest Retribution aura, as a poor substitute for Consecrate until you get that, but it sounds like if you're really squishy that might not be the best idea. I suppose you could switch over to Devo once the mobs had a chance to pop you a couple of times.

I had a hard time telling from your post, are you having more problems with Threat or with Survival? Sounded like both.

[freemarx]

It might be a gear issue ... but hard to say without knowing what gear you're using. What stats are you going for with your gear?

I would suggest Retribution aura, as a poor substitute for Consecrate until you get that, but it sounds like if you're really squishy that might not be the best idea. I suppose you could switch over to Devo once the mobs had a chance to pop you a couple of times.

I had a hard time telling from your post, are you having more problems with Threat or with Survival? Sounded like both.

Here's my character profile for gear stuff, most of it is quest rewards or random drops that were improvements stat wise. I seem to have trouble with both threat and survival though. I can pull 4-5 non-elite mobs while questing and be fine but 3 elite mobs in the instance yea not so good.

Running through this over and over...I'm starting to think it might be a combo of slow heals and DPS just deciding to pewpew all over everything.

[Njall]

DPS just deciding to pewpew all over everything.

I think this is the problem. I fear that the bad DPS habits learned in Wrath will plague the game for months to come.

[freemarx]

DPS just deciding to pewpew all over everything.

I think this is the problem. I fear that the bad DPS habits learned in Wrath will plague the game for months to come.

Makes me feel a little better...I tanked pre-patch on a DK and Warrior and I really pride myself when I perform a role on doing it well and doing it right...I may never raid but I'd rather be known as someone who is half way decent then be someone who is just slamming buttons and has no clue

[Blane]

Try pulling less at once. I have yet to come across any survivability issues in the lower-level instances just pulling one or two mobs at a time. It also means your DPS is only spread between two mobs at most, making it easier to hold aggro (though I can relate to the "everything's on cooldown" feeling. HOTR can't come soon enough.)

[econ21]

Threat is very gear dependent imo, with the weapon base dps being by far the most important. If the dps have heirloom weapons and you don't, you may struggle. The weapon (and the shield) were the things I would always try to keep up to date as I levelled, by checking the quest rewards on wowhead and by keeping an eye on the AH. Don't worry about tanking stats on a weapon - go for a slow high base dps one-hander.

The other tip I would give is to make frequent use of the skull raid mob marker (I have it macroed and put in a very prominent place early on my action bar). If the dps all focus fire on the skull either (a) you will keep threat as that is also your main target; or (b) they will rip it off you (if gear is the issue), but normally, it will die to focus fire before it can do much damage. You can always taunt it back.

Threat management is not just your responsibility. Make sure the dps is letting you pull and attacking the skull. I would only worry a lot if the healer is getting ganked (righteous defence is great for avoiding that).

As to your dying, that may be a healer issue but keep an eye on your gear (scouring the quest rewards for your zone on wowhead is a good idea here). I would tend to do dungeons when I was at the higher end of the recommended level range as it makes a big difference to your survival. But if you are doing randoms (and the rewards are good), then you don't have that freedom.

[Kelaan]

I bound my numeric keypad to icons, so that I can use the big zero key for skull, and then 1-6 for any others I might care about. Rarely do I use more than skull and X for marks. I also focus my healer so that I can see when they're getting beat on. (I also move the raid-style Group unitframes from Blizzard moved more centrally on my screen.)