New to tanking

[Cyanyde8298]

I never really tanked before this. Always just Dpsed. What should I know about tanking in general and tanking as a low lvl monk (lvl 15)? Should I worry about rotation or anything like that?

[Zethras]

I'm going to be completely honest, I wouldn't pick brewmaster until at least level 50, simply because you don't have access most of your tanking abilities.

[Hanto]

Step 1: This link here will answer all of your questions. http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...ng-Guide-5-1-0

Step 2: If Step 1 is not your cup of tea (you're asking for tanking advice as a level 15, so I assume you're not a super serious gamer, thus Step 1 may be too detailed for you), just Keg Smash and Breath of Fire everything that isn't a boss. Keg Smash and Blackout Kick bosses. You'll figure out everything else as you level, just read the abilities and see if it synergizes with being a tank.

---------- Post added 2013-01-10 at 02:17 AM ----------

I'm going to be completely honest, I wouldn't pick brewmaster until at least level 50, simply because you don't have access most of your tanking abilities.

At low level dungeons you only need AoE. Keg Smash does that well enough since you get it at lvl 11. Breath of Fire is 18 and that's the icing on the cake. :P

[Nikkaszal]

I'm going to be completely honest, I wouldn't pick brewmaster until at least level 50, simply because you don't have access most of your tanking abilities.

All the main attacks come before level 20 (Jab, TP, BoK, KS, BoF) apart from SCK... can't remember for the life of me when that comes in but I think it's 42-ish? Regardless, SCK cannot even compare to the apocalyptic pain-train that is Keg Smash and BoF AoE at low levels. Brewmasters tear into mobs with frightening ease then go begging for more.

It's all the active mitigation which comes later, and it's all unnecessary really until you hit Cata and above.

---------- Post added 2013-01-10 at 07:36 AM ----------

Keg Smash and Breath of Fire everything that isn't a boss. Keg Smash and Blackout Kick bosses. You'll figure out everything else as you level, just read the abilities and see if it synergizes with being a tank

Unless there's been some numbers tweaking since I levelled my monk, BoF will out-damage BoK on single-target fights until level 80 or so even if the DoT doesn't take.

And pretty much everything low level will be susceptible to the BoF DoT, 5-man bosses included.

Do some tests for yourself, but you may well find that is flat-out better than BoK at low levels.

BoK's low-level damage scaling is rather terrible.

[Kisho]

The best thing to do is just throw yourself in and see what happens. Learn by doing! That's what the levelling process is for, after all.

[Nootz]

Just try it out. I was really skeptical about Monk tanking since I've seen them get wrecked at max level, but they have a pretty decent skill cap compared to most tanks. I personally think they're the most boring with lack of CDs and mainly spamming. Just feels more like a DPS spec than a tank spec. May be different for you but changing from a melee spec into a tank spec I was expecting a drastically different playstyle.