Leveling as a tank.

[Disposition96]

I've read many threads and posts and forums about leveling Warriors but they are all as DPS... I was wondering if there was a way to level a warrior as a tank until 80 or is that all done through dps also? I don't understand much about warriors yet but I know I want to make one.

Regards,

[Myte342]

I recently leveled a warrior, I tried to level at tank spec pre-level 60, didn't work out, I went in tanking as Arms and it worked just fine, at level 60 you get Devastate and I leveled as tank from 60-80 just fine, I was actually doing more dps single target as tank spec than I was Arms at that point. Never spec'd anything else since level 60.

Edit: I tried tanking as pre-60 tank spec, didn't work, and tried to quest as tank spec pre-60, didn't work out.
Wait till cata and you get some nice abilities like devastate as core mechanics at level 10, so it will be much easier and more fun imo.

[Datachi]

Leveling as a tank is awesome. Instant queues for dungeons, loads of nifty dungeon rewards (better than dungeon drops in most cases). My Warrior was going to be a tank at 80 anyway. When she was around 72, LFD came out, bought a load of mats to make crafted BC stuff (as well as Cobalt set, VERY useful once you hit NR) respec'd from Arms, made it to 80 a little over 2 and a half days later by spamming dungeons. Found it was roughly (without using BoA gear) 10 dungeon runs per level from 72-80. If you manage to get quests, all the better. Just remember to hand em in with BoA gear if you have any :P

---------- Post added 2010-07-26 at 01:28 AM ----------

Wait till cata and you get some nice abilities like devastate as core mechanics at level 10

Nah, Shield Slam at 10, Devastate will still require 15 talent points in the current Beta. Good thing too, let Warriors learn what Sunder is for before giving em an ability which does it as well as cause damage

[Hoofit]

You need to ask yourself what your ultimate goal is:
- Level as fast as possible.
- Learning to Tank well.

If you're looking to really learn the role of a tank and you've not ever played one before, leveling as one will help you a lot by the time you reach near/at level cap. Probably best to start learning tanking once you've really gotten a few core tanking abilities, but level as DPS until that time.

Leveling as DPS will be faster if you are solo quest grinding, but random dungeon Queues will be faster if you are a tank. I'd suggest leveling the starting zone areas until you've reached lv 15 to 20ish where you have enough talent points and a glyph spot or two before really dedicating yourself. I believe you cannot queue in the random dungeon finder until lv 15 anyway, so get to lv 15 ASAP, then start trying if you really want to.

You can level quite nearly as fast if you learn to hold a lot of mobs enough for your groups to AOE them down and clear instances fast through the RDF tool, though I still would suggest questing while waiting for your queue to pop for maximum speed. If you do this though, be sure to have some big bags with lots of empty space.

Learning to tank at level cap will be very frustrating for your groups, especially with as much gear as everyone has, you'll feel pretty helpless as you are trying to figure out what to do and how to do it. if you've practiced along the way though, and know your class very well, you will be little to no handicap for your groups.

[Rakeer]

you will get ALOT of abuse in the system.
And from lvls 65-80 your gear will lack unless you buy some BoEs or do some quests.

[Dedweight]

I've read many threads and posts and forums about leveling Warriors but they are all as DPS... I was wondering if there was a way to level a warrior as a tank until 80 or is that all done through dps also? I don't understand much about warriors yet but I know I want to make one.

Regards,

It's doable if you have the patience for it and can actually be pretty fun. I didn't level as prot 1-80 on either of my warriors though. First one I leveled as Arms 1-70 and then Fury the rest of the way. My second Warrior however I leveled as Fury until 60 then switched to tanking and had a ton of fun doing it.

If you really want to level as a Tank from 1-80 do it you might actually enjoy it, though if you are looking for speed go Arms(you can still tank sufficiently as Arms) till about 50 or 60 at which point you can pick up all of your damage abilities as Protection and tear through Outland and Northrend.

[Don Yak]

I've currently leveling a warior and i've been prot since pretty much the beginning (lvl 74 atm). The thing i like about prot is that it combines great survivability with great damage. Since you use shield it is way harder too get killed by mobs and therefore you can pull multiple mobs without the danger of getting your ass kicked. Pulling multiple mobs is also a great solution for rage-starvation.

The damage of prot is actually pretty good on single target and even better when AoE pulling. Revenge does a lot of damage and with Improved Revenge it also becomes a cleave and does even more damage. Combined with a thunderclap, cleave spam (Don't forget glyph of cleaving!) and later shockwave (extra AoE dmg + 3 sec stun = awesome), you can do incredibly AoE damage both in dungeons and while soloing.

Leveling as DPS will be faster if you are solo quest grinding, but random dungeon Queues will be faster if you are a tank. I'd suggest leveling the starting zone areas until you've reached lv 15 to 20ish where you have enough talent points and a glyph spot or two before really dedicating yourself. I believe you cannot queue in the random dungeon finder until lv 15 anyway, so get to lv 15 ASAP, then start trying if you really want to.

I disagree here. It depends on how many mobs you pull each time. When pulling only 1 mob at the, you are doing it wrong. As prot, you have the tools for pulling multiple enemy's at the same time, kill them pretty fast and survive decent amount of HP left (this, of course, is influenced by the amount of mobs you pull, your level and the level of the mobs).

[Gloves]

I found questing as prot on my warrior to be a lot faster than arms (not to mention fury). You can pull as many mobs as you can see and come out unscathed if you make proper use of your cooldowns.

PvP is also great fun at the middle to top of the bracket, nothing can take you down.

[Disposition96]

I most definitely want to tank and not be a DPS. Thanks for the input guys. Now would someone be able to lend a hand in terms of a guide for Tanking? All I see are DPS guides. I currently play a Rogue, 5.7kGS, generally top dps, rotations/gems/enchants ect down, I understand how game mechanics work so that's not the issue, just can't find a "tank" specific guide unless I'm looking in the wrong spots..

I'm assuming the BoA gear that I will want to have is :

wowhead...com/item=48685
wowhead...com/item=42949
wowhead...com/item=42946

Two of these? wowhead...com/item=42991

I don't see a need for :
wowhead...com/item=48716

Is there a good tanking BoA weapon? Are there any other items I should take instead of these that I've chosen?

Regards,

[Cocoa]

mass of mcgowan.

[pickley]

I've read many threads and posts and forums about leveling Warriors but they are all as DPS... I was wondering if there was a way to level a warrior as a tank until 80 or is that all done through dps also? I don't understand much about warriors yet but I know I want to make one.

Regards,

Currently leveling as a tank through instances, 30-47 right now, Revenge is overpowered once you get the talent so it hits 2 targets. with heirloom gear you will also out dps most people, its definantly worth going prot :P

[Disposition96]

mass of mcgowan.

Thanks, didn't see that was a one hander, would anyone else be able to answer my other questions? (3 post up or so)

Regards,

[Skutch]

I leveled in vanilla as a prot paly, and in LK as a prot warrior, I found it to be more fun than dps.

[dotSeed]

It's extremely fast through the LFG system. As a previous poster said though, you'll probably want to at least do some quests at 58-61 and 68-71 ranges to pick up new gear for the expansion-shifts in dungeons. It's not a big deal after the jump though. I levelled my Prot warrior almost exclusively in dungeons after 70 and bought BOE tanking gear. At around 75 I was actually over-gearing the dungeons and healers would complain they had nothing to do. This can depend on your luck with boss drops though.

Lots of fun too, past the thirties-ish you'll probably be doing top damage in groups, all the way up to late 70s - unless you end up with someone heirloom'd out with a strong AOE, then you'll probably draw. Don't underestimate just how much damage you'll do. Good tanks do a pile of damage pre-cap.

[Disposition96]

It's extremely fast through the LFG system. As a previous poster said though, you'll probably want to at least do some quests at 58-61 and 68-71 ranges to pick up new gear for the expansion-shifts in dungeons. It's not a big deal after the jump though. I levelled my Prot warrior almost exclusively in dungeons after 70 and bought BOE tanking gear. At around 75 I was actually over-gearing the dungeons and healers would complain they had nothing to do. This can depend on your luck with boss drops though.

Lots of fun too, past the thirties-ish you'll probably be doing top damage in groups, all the way up to late 70s - unless you end up with someone heirloom'd out with a strong AOE, then you'll probably draw. Don't underestimate just how much damage you'll do. Good tanks do a pile of damage pre-cap.

Which is nice and all but that still doesn't answer my questions. :P

Regards,

[Zandalarian Paladin]

I've read many threads and posts and forums about leveling Warriors but they are all as DPS... I was wondering if there was a way to level a warrior as a tank until 80 or is that all done through dps also? I don't understand much about warriors yet but I know I want to make one.

Regards,

I, for one, leveled my warrior with prot spec from LEVEL 10 to 71 (still leveling him). He was orc, but this doesn't make a lot of differences. First of all, you need to know you need a SLOW 1h weapon, really important. 2nd, you'll need a few talents in the other trees, like Armored to the teeth, which is an ABSOLUTE addition to your spec, since you're the most armor heavily geared spec.

With my heirlooms, I was ALWAYS the 1st or the 2nd DPS in randoms and nearly 2 shotting mobs at 60. Once you get REVENGE, everything is plain easy. Learn to use ALL your attacks... enjoy.

EDIT: It was by far the most easy character and enjoyable character I leveled. Way, way better than arms and fury. http://www.wowarmory.com/character-t...ent+Apocalypse

[Lia-Elune]

Step 1: Create Warrior
Step 2: Level to 10
Step 3: Spec Prot
Step 4: Enter Random Dungeon Queue as Tank
Step 5: Repeat hundreds of times
Step 6: Ding! You're 80.

[BrotherGriMM]

i levelled my warrior as prot and it was by far the fastes i have ever levelled a character. it was great fun and very easy i have to say as you are very damn hard to kill and you get dungeons very easily, go prot, have fun, ignore warlesswarrior and enjoy tanking.

[Disposition96]

What items/enchants and builds should I use thought, I understand it's easy and fun and blah blah blah.

Regards,

[Tohk]

glyph of resonating power. glyph of cleaving. glyph of thunder clap (minor).

Cleave, Thunder Clap, Revenge. with 3 buttons, (as the tank) ...you'll top charts in your dungeons with or without heirlooms. Just got done leveling a Prot Warrior from 10-80. It was very OP.