[A Rant] Tankadins, Willpower, and the Good Fight.

I'm jaded. I can be an asshole. I get ticked off with members of my own class. And I wonder if I'm the only one.

"You can wait your whole life for Jessica Alba/etc. while your Significant Other gets uglier every day... but she's viable now."

I get sick and tired of hearing the words "can't", "not good enough", "farm content", "other classes would be better" from our own Paladins' lips and typing fingers. And this, my friends, has jaded me.

If someone doesn't know how to spec for optimal tanking efficiency at their level, it's their problem. There are many Paladin Tanks that know how to.

If someone doesn't know the gear differences for optimal threat, mitigation or avoidance, it's their problem. There are many Paladin Tanks that know how to.

If someone doesn't know how to stack raid groups for the best synergies posible, it's their problem. There are many Paladin Tanks that know how to.

If someone doesn't know how to maximize a tanking rotation, which seals/abilities/consumables to use, or any of the advanced tricks that become standard later on, it's their problem. There are many Paladin Tanks that know how to.

And so on and so on...

It is my belief that the biggest thing holding people back is their own insecurities. After that is an unwillingness to do research, or lack of teamwork.

So I go the opposite route. When young Tankadins look at the forums and see all the nay-saying they need people to give accomplishments, to highlight the positives that often get overlooked, to be given reason and truthful numbers that they will like. The last thing we as a spec of the class needs is for discouragement and dying out, when the further each individual progresses the greater this spec of ours becomes.

So I take the blows from people that don't believe I can sustain 1k trash TPS (non-demon/undead) w/ Sanctity Aura in a raid situation... because many don't know yet how to. Or how to keep the Mana Bar full without hurting threat per second by group makeup and particular use of skills and consumables. Or how to AoE tank heroics. Or tanking silencing bosses. Or tanking fearing bosses.

Almost every difficulty can be overcome, and some weaknesses can be turned into strengths with the right effort and experience.

Maybe I'm cheating because my Paladin was not my first tank. I was raid tanking on my Druid long before this Paladin became my main. I learned much about gearing, clever uses of tactics/teamwork, and about my fellow classes in those ages... and have applied those skills to learn them again to my Paladin. The more I know my fellow tanking brothers in the "corps" and the more I know the instance we're working against, the better we all become.

Paladin tanking is not a loss cause. Paladin tanking is not "viable" or a "farm content" role. Paladin Tanking is deserved and is best placed in the trifecta of Warrior, Druid, and Paladin tanks that work together as a team and know how to singularity push their own uniqueness ahead and plurally work as a team. The product is greater than the sum of it's parts, and that product to be truly great requires a Paladin tank.

It is not a time for self doubt.
It is a a time for self betterment.
If you should fall, pick yourself off your feet and try again.
You will succeed.
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Armory // On-Hiatus

Only those who will risk going too far can ssibly find out how far one can go.
If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?

/wipe teardrops
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An Officers Guide to the Paladin Tank

While that is a very good post, I'm missing the link to 'Tankadins and high EGO scores'...

Are you saying that their egos are stopping them from doing research or working as a team? I personally think that this website itself is proof that the research part is formost in our minds. Everyone here has come to this place to learn more and become better tanks.

Don't mean to be negative, just not sure the point of the post is getting across.
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Bramiest's Knight in Shining Armor

The enemy outnumber us a paltry three to one, good odds for any Paladin!

@Cimzar

Edit: Changed the title.

I'm personally talking much more about the Official Forums than Maintankadin or Tankspot (which are both very supportive and critical).
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Armory // On-Hiatus

Only those who will risk going too far can ssibly find out how far one can go.
If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?

FOR WRATH!

FOR RUIN!

AND THE RED DAWN!!!
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Paladins are awesome tanks. We do very well in our little AOE/burst threat/uncrushable niche.

The problem is, that niche doesn't come up super often, and in other situations we just don't have the tools available to us that a Warrior has. So, most of the time, a Paladin tank defers to a Warrior tank.

There's nothing particularly wrong with that; in fact, the "MT or bust" attitude can hold a Paladin tank back just as much as a biased raid leader. It's important to know when you need to step back and let someone else do the heavy lifting.

Does having a good Paladin tank help your raid? Definitely. Does having a Paladin main tank bosses while equally-geared and skilled Warriors twiddle their thumbs help your raid? Probably not.

EDIT: Ah, just saw your comment about it mostly being in reference to the official forums. Yeah, you're definitely correct, there's a whole lot of "lol spec holy and stfu" over there.
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Me, LOL!

Inspiring, Nymeros. Tankadins shall read these words and be given new resolve.

Remember the words of Nymeros next time you wipe. And remember the words of his house:

Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken.

Stay the course, paladins. You're doing well.
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GM of <Adaptation>
Stats below usually unbuffed w/o Devo Aura

1617 heal, 118 mp5, & 14.24% crit heal set

I don't really understand your point, lots of grand standing but little substance. Are you saying that you are tired of people not living up to their potential or are you mad that paladins acknowledge that we don't have to tank everything to be successful?

Probably not a good idea to use such an obscure tag line either, because it colors your whole post to think that you are talking about paladins with large egos, as opposed to a pen & paper role playing mechanic.

I think I see where you are coming from, but I am not sure your message makes total sense.

Edit: Main forums are pretty much a pile of shit stacked on some dirty bum in the worst part of town. Go there at your own peril, sure you can find some gems in that shit, but at the end of the day you're still covered in shit.
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Visit my crappy blog... Nerf This...

The saddest thing about the forums is the difference between the EU and US forums. I actually don't mind browsing the EU forums, since the moderators are actually pretty active there. The US forums are about what Vanifae so eloquently stated, though.

Neither place is as informative or supportive as here, regardless.
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Bramiest's Knight in Shining Armor

The enemy outnumber us a paltry three to one, good odds for any Paladin!

Ooooooh quotes.

"Tank 'em all and let God sort 'em out..."

- Vanifae
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Visit my crappy blog... Nerf This...

I agree with Nymeros on his point about pally insecurities and the general negative perception from others. Young pallies (in terms of raid tanking experience) hear a lot of negative opinions about pally tanking in raid situations. Some of the information is actually true at least in relation to survivability compared to warriors. Most of it is misinformation but leads to pallies questioning their own abilities. Another contributor to this is that speccing prot is new to most of us where warrior tanking and, to a lesser degree druid tanking, are well proven.

It's especially applicable to content you haven't reached yet. For instance, the silencing bird trash in The Eye. These worried me before I faced them because I heard how horrible this instance is for pally tanks. Then I got in there and found their silences not to be a big deal. I'm typically not MT and for this fight I am tanking birds. In this case, I SoR and hit HS as the birds come down the hallway. Many of them are getting sheeped on their way to the raid. When non-sheeped ones reach my range I judge SoR to get aggro on one of them (meanwhile we have druids, etc picking up others). Even if he silences me immediately, I already have HS up. That's enough to get my back to a wall and hold him until the silence times out or gets Cleansed off me. It's not a big deal.

So far every time I've thought there was something I couldn't or shouldn't tank based on some limitation of my class I've learned from first hand experience that I was wrong. The only exception here might be Nightbane without Fearward and even that can be done if you really have to (bring everyone into fear range and then pray for some luck). That one I'd still put in the "Shouldn't tank" column if you have any other option.
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