Advices for new tank pally

Hi everyone,

I started a pally in Aug 08 and have been able to lvl it to 80 recently. I did fairly well leveling it as a ret pally.. but I'm realizing (and am interested) that I'd like to tank with it. Been reading a lot on this forum, and been gathering tanking gear. Am about to re-spec in a day or two. I still consider myself a newbie, but I am a quick learner. I don't plan on doing raids quite yet, heroics maybe when I'm geared a bit more.

I'm edging closer to the 540 Def (476 as we speak), but I have a question re: Health. I remember seeing somewhere that I should have a certain amount of Health before starting to be an effective tank. I have about 17k.. is that enough? what should I aim for?

I know I should stack Stamina to help that and that tanking gear should help.

Any other advices for a newbie are always welcome.

Thanks

20k is a good baseline for starting heroics; you'll run into plenty of people who think you can't tank heroics without 28k hp, though. Find a pocket healer and go to town.

Get the crafted gear, and you should be well on your way.

Good luck.
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What Fuzzy said. There are a few posts about what is needed for heroics, but bottom line is 540 defense, 20K health, 20k+ armor. The Tempered Saronite chest, bracers, belt, and boots will help tremendously here. The Daunting Legplates and Handguards as well.

I'd recommend starting with Heroic UK, Nexxus, and Violet Hold (Just pray for no Voidwalker or Ethereal bosses in your first two runs). Some of the others can be rough before you start to aquire more health/avoidence.

Good Luck!
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(technically it's 535 def to be crit-proof in heroics)
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Don't stand in the fire.
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If you shoot Anthony several hundred times with an anti-tank rifle whilst he is stabbed to death by a squad of ninja monkeys, he will be dead.

OK?

Run the instance on normal at least once before doing it on heroic; refresh your memory of the pulls and which mobs should die first.

Excellent tanks use their excellent knowledge of the instance and their excellent leadership skills to avoid situations which require their excellent gear.
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Everything in war is very simple. But in war, even the simplest thing is difficult.

And bring along excellent DPS and an excellent healer to ensure that your excellent skills are never called upon.
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If you shoot Anthony several hundred times with an anti-tank rifle whilst he is stabbed to death by a squad of ninja monkeys, he will be dead.

OK?

try start with caster dps.... might be easier than melee dps since you can easily notice if you missed a aggro and mobs are running to ur casters. Try dps down caster mobs first !!

You want 20k HP. Stay away from heroics until then.

Biggest piece of advice is to buy a Tempered Titansteel Helm. This is a piece of gear you will hold on to even when you're raiding 25-mans and will give you a huge boost to health. A Titansteel Shield Wall is next priority, and the boots are nice if you can afford it. It helps to have a miner.

If any piece of gear you have is worse than the Tempered Saronite, fix that.

Grind Wyrmrest Temple rep up first. At Honored they have an awesome cape, and at Revered they have a chest and boots.

Run regular Halls of Lightning as much as possible; the trinket that drops that is very, very useful. Nexus, DTK, UK, and VH are great starting heroics. Stay away from AN, OK, HOL, and Oculus.

Make sure you're getting professions perks. Enchant every piece of gear you get at ilevel 187 and above, and remember belt buckles. Gem for stamina.

Make sure you're using a 969 rotation when you can. You'll really impress people with your threat and DPS output.

You're at a really difficult point in the game. It won't be long until gear comes really quickly. Good luck.
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17k is probably ret spec and ret gear, right? Remember prot talents give you extra bonus on your stamina. Now put on some proper tank gear and you should clear 20k no problem.

969 is great but without the gear you'll still find pressure when there are some top-calibre dps in the group. Especially if they've just came back from a heroic raid with all the buffs still on them...

Also buy the BOE Crusader Square shoulders, they'll last until you get the Colossus one from heroic Gundrak, one of the instances you don't want to go without good DPS. I once found one selling for 20G on the AH...I bought mine for 100G.

With a half-enchanted set one should already be able to get over 20k health and well over 540 defence. Now spend some money and get the crafted epic helm and shield, you should be well prepared for the easier heroics. If you're rich, pick up the Titanium Earthguard Ring. It won't get replaced until raiding content.

Personally, I think running all the regular instances until Argent Crusade and Wyrmrest Accord both at Revered should be a good start. One for head enchant (37 stamina and 20 defence!) and the other for very good chest and feet pieces (blue ilv-200, heroic quality!)

If you're unsure about tanking, then go in as ret but pay attention to what the tanks do. Regular Halls of Lighting often see some heroic-geared tank coming back for the defence trinket. I ran it over and over, saw five of them go out to tanks (of couse I pass on it as ret), but I learnt a lot from observing what they do.

When I finally felt ready to go prot, I've had all the regular drop tank gear (other tanks didn't want them). Entered heroics fully enchanted at 24k hp unbuffed.

At the very least, try not to enter heroics with ret pieces (trinkets are exceptions, they're hard to come by). You're handicapping yourself by doing that, and it may ultimately cause you to perform badly and end your tanking desires right there.

So much good info in this post that I personally found very useful! Perhaps someone should compile it and sticky it somewhere?