Tanking 101

This was written up by a very skilled level 60 Warrior. I would link to it, but it's inside a passworded site, and so instead I'll present it here in full:

Tanking-

You should almost ALWAYS be in defensive stance with a 1h wep and shield. There are very few exceptions to this (getting an initial charge on a boss or group where you don't have to worry about agro range and pulling other groups/adds), but this is the config where you will spend the most of your time.

When starting a new fight it is good to have Battle Shout going, and if you don't have it then burn a quick Bloodrage to get some instant rage, then use Battle Shout first. You can then get a small heal and be ready to go.

I almost always start a fight with a pull with my bow 99% of the time unless it is a trivial group or I am familiar enough with the area to know there are no roamers/pathers and the mobs won't run away to agro more. When pulling, make sure you target the mob that you want to kill first and shoot it to pull back to your group. If it is a caster, make sure you coordinate with your mage so they counterspell the mob, or if no mage is present you can also do Bloodrage then Shield Bash so they don't just sit back and peg you with ranged magic damage. Another good way to pull is to use your environment to help you pull. If there is a mob of casters, shoot the closest one, then back away behind a corner where the mobs no longer have line of site on you. Without LoS, they will stop casting and rush you, which works out perfectly! Sometimes if you have a warlock mob, they will sit back and start summoning instead of rushing, so you have to be aware of this and what type of targets you are dealing with.

Regarding grabbing and keeping agro- This can be challenging if you have others in your group that are well equipped (or even moreso if they are much better equipped than you are), because they can outdamage you and get high on the hate list pretty fast with a few crits in a row, or even worse, just attacking normally without any crits or abilities. Being able to hold agro is not something that relies solely on the warrior, but also other requires other classes in the group to know how to manage their own agro. A tank's job is to try to keep as many mobs on his as possible, for as long as possible. If you are losing agro early, or losing it late, then you need to communicate with your group to let them know (usually this isn't necessary since they'll usually have a mob jump in their face to deliver the news personally). Here is what I usually do to grab agro and keep it (assuming it is a mob of melee classes):


Shoot one mob in the group (this is usually enough to get the entire group to agro on you)
The entire group should now rush you and begin swinging away while you begin attacking the mob you initially shot. Both attacking and being attacked builds up rage.
Once you get 1-2 swings off then everybody else in the group should focus on the mob you are attacking, this should be enough time for you to build initial agro. As soon as I have enough agro the first thing I do is Demoralizing Shout which builds a small amount of agro while reducing the mob's Attack Power. Next I pretty much spam Sunder Armor on all the mobs. This builds very good agro and reduces their armor so you can take them down faster. This is the primary tool you will use for agro management, and you'll need to not only spam the mob the MA has targetted, but also other adds so they don't peel off when you get a heal.


If your healer gets agro, the first thing you do is ignore whoever it is you are attacking and run to the healer ASAP. You should be able to Taunt the first mob, get a swing in, and use Sunder Armor once, then move over to the second mob (if there is one) and swing away while spamming Sunder Armor as fast as you can. This is usually enough to get agro, if not, use your taunt once the timer is up on it, get another hit or two, then switch back to the first mob and build up some more hate on him too. If there is more than 2-3 mobs then Challenging Shout is your AE Taunt, but it has a 30 min cooldown, so don't get used to using it. Also, if there are more than 1-2 mobs on a healer then you can Taunt one, do War Stomp to buy some time, then use taunt on the second (while swinging and Sundering between). Also, depending on how you are spec'd, you can also use the Stun ability you get through talents to help give you more time and take an additional mob off the healer temporarily. Disarm also works good here to lessen the damage they are dealing while you are waiting on the taunt timer and trying to pull agro.

In battle stance you have "Mocking Blow" which is almost always useless, but it can be used properly in a few scenarios. The problem is that you have to switch stances to use it, and usually you will lose quite a bit of rage if so. This will make the mob attack you for 6 seconds, but then he runs straight back to whoever he was attacking before if you haven't topped his hate list. Piercing Howl is a good AE kiting ability that slows everybody down, which can help give you a few more seconds if you know a big heal is coming and mobs are about to try to jump the healer. Kick this off first and it'll slow em down when they rush the healer, which can give you enough time to peel em off before they make it there.

Being a warrior is probably one of the most exciting rolls to play IMO. You pretty much lead the group through instances, pick who and when to pull, and are in charge of keeping the healers alive. One mistake can wipe the entire group, but knowing what to do when the crap hits the fan can save the entire group from what would ordinarily be a complete wipe. It is hectic being a good warrior because you basically have to be able to control any mob at the drop of a dime.

This is also the most equipment reliant class, and you'll find that you need to be +1/+3 levels higher than the rest of the group for most instances and be at the high end of the recommended level for instances. STA should always be your primary stat, and after that you can go either STR or AGI. I prefer AGI since it directly contributes to your AC and also helps your dodge percentages, where STR will help with blocks and dealing damage.