Should I be afraid of tanking?

[Deleted]

I'd definitely look up what to do before joining a LFR really as a tank. It's a real pain the ass having a tank that doesn't know what they are doing as it's quite a prominent role. I'd follow everyone else's suggestions with maybe going in as DPS first to get a feel for how the encounter plays out, then look at tactics that you'll likely understand much better now that you've seen the inside of the raid. Other than that, no, tanking is not something you should be scared to do (:

[pld]

So your advice is to be an asshole, eh? Don't let the dps bully you; bully them! And don't let it get to you if they call you out on it, they're wrong because you're the one in charge by default. Interesting advice. I adopt a similar tankingstyle in LFR myself. I call it the "ignore all raid mechanics"-style, where I taunt off the other tank in all situations where he has threat and I'm in melee range of his target. Not having threat is just, like, soooo boring. You won't get kicked for it unless you die! Raids love fast pullers.

You're twisting my words here. Newer tanks often run into the issue where DPS who feel the tank is pulling "too slowly" will run ahead and pull groups without notifying the other party members. I wasn't saying the tank should purposely pull everything slowly or to bully anyone else, but it makes sense that someone who's new to role may not be as quick as someone who's had previous experience doing it. In the long run, it probably saves time for the tank to move through a dungeon/scenario/LFR at a comfortable pace vs. pulling more than he should especially if he's a new tank (with I assume "mediocre" gear).

When I mention the part about having thick skin, I never intended that to mean he should stick his fingers in his ears and pretend everything is okay even when everyone is dying around him. That point was directly related to my previous statement that if people are being jerks to him just because he's not a super tank who can pull everything, don't be bugged by it. If you look at my previous points, I make it pretty clear that he should go into every situation knowing the fundamentals of the encounter. It just happens that more often than not, the criticism tanks receive aren't completely warranted.

[schwank05]

Take the druid, then spam Thrash/ Swipe = Win. It really not all that difficult hit up one of the websites such as elitist jerks or Noxxic and look up rotation, do 2-3 practice heroics hit up LFR gear up then you are basically more than ready for normals. Back in Wrath Tanking was much more intricate and difficult than it is now, now its incredibly easy

[NRL1515]

Take the druid, then spam Thrash/ Swipe = Win. It really not all that difficult hit up one of the websites such as elitist jerks or Noxxic and look up rotation, do 2-3 practice heroics hit up LFR gear up then you are basically more than ready for normals. Back in Wrath Tanking was much more intricate and difficult than it is now, now its incredibly easy

For Druids, maybe. For other classes, not so much. Back then, all you had to do was make sure you had enough threat at the beginning of the fight, then stand there and get hit, making sure the boss is positioned correctly. I doubt you've done much tanking in normals. This advice, sadly, is fine for heroic dungeons and maybe the first tier of LFR, but it is NOT viable for normal modes or even ToT LFR if you're going in at 480 ilvl.

If the OP is only concerned about dungeons and maybe a H Scen or two, you're right... not much is required for tanks. However, if he's looking to gear up, get some experience, and start getting into normal mode raiding - which I get the feeling from the original post that he is - he's going to want to make sure he can keep his active mitigation up regardless of the circumstances. It'll only benefit him in a 'real' raid. Practicing bad habits early makes it more difficult to break them later on when you've got a bunch of different things going on at once.

Pally tanks rely mainly on making sure shield of the righteous is up for larger hits, Monks rely on shuffle up time, Warriors rely on shield block and shield barrier timing, and DKs are all about keeping their blood shield up (granted, it's a little more complicated). Druids, I'm afraid I'm not as well versed as the other classes, but they have similar abilities that you would need to maintain.

Granted, once your rotation becomes second nature to you, it gets easy - but that's only because you've put in the time and effort to perfect your rotation while there is chaos all around you.

Personally, I find tanking to be one of the most rewarding experiences I've had in this game. I used to heal back in vanilla through wrath on a priest and pally, but then during ICC our guild was short on tanks and I switched and never looked back. Once MoP hit, I rolled a Brewmaster Monk, and am having the most fun I've had in this game in a long time. I enjoy the new active mitigation model they've (tried to) implemented for every class, and as a Monk, I feel like I have enough abilities in my toolkit to deal with any type of situation that may arise.

However, it's a personal choice and you may end up not liking being a tank, and that's okay. Many things that have been said about tanks in previous posts are true. Knowing the fights and the layout of an area helps a ton. You do need to have a thick skin, because starting out you WILL make a bunch of mistakes, and people will get upset with you. Screw 'em, you're helping them out by lowering queue times, which is only beneficial to their gameplay experience. They can afford an extra 5 minutes to go through that dungeon/scenario/LFR.

[Aceshigh]

As already mentioned a couple of times there is zero need for active mitigation in the content he will be doing in the near future.
There is no reason at all to be afraid of tanking especially currently as 9/10 only require you to watch for a debuff on the other tank and taunt at a certain number of stacks.

As mentioned by the post I quoted, that wasn't the context of the post I quoted. Go back and read it again.

[Daltin]

Don't be afraid of tanking. It's not the beast it used to be, and can be quite relaxing if you're used to a healing role. If you want to be more comfortable with the pathing of dungeons or LFR, just do them as DPS first.