Getting into end game tanking

Lightbringer55 · #1 07-04-2021, 12:07 PM

Hi everyone!

I'm not a hardcore player by any means and usually only have evenings and weekends to play. With that said I've always dreamed of being a tank at a raid. I'm just wondering if I were to start a warrior and push my way to 60 on green, is it possible to become a raid tank in a raid guild without being at raids 24/7? Would I at least get the chance to offtank stuff or get relinquished to just being a DPS? Guess it's just a question of whether warrior is the way to go, hybrid, and whether the big raiding guilds are already saturated with tanks?

Thanks!

Crede · #2 07-04-2021, 02:01 PM

Can never have too many tanks with defensive ready to be activated. You’ll be fine, start leveling

Lightbringer55 · #3 07-04-2021, 07:00 PM

Awesome so if warrior appeals, go for it? I played a SK a long time ago but always got passed over when the real mobs needed to be tanked so I'd rather push a warrior if it still means I get the chance to stand in a fight for the raid!

Keebz · #4 07-04-2021, 07:32 PM

If you want to tank on raids, be a warrior.

wagorf · #5 07-05-2021, 06:49 AM

is it possible to become a raid tank in a raid guild without being at raids 24/7? Yes.

Would I at least get the chance to offtank stuff or get relinquished to just being a DPS?
There is chance to offtank, regardless of your gears.

No guild will reject you because of abundance of a specific class. This isn't 1999 when there are too many players.

Lightbringer55 · #6 07-05-2021, 11:02 AM

That's what I needed to hear! Obviously if I'm so casual that my gear sucks and I'm a liability, I wouldn't be expecting to have a shot. I love xp'ing/grouping so I know it won't be a problem to hit 60. But it's more the question of when I should be thinking about joining a guild to start gearing etc.

I guess the real question will become with velious, how gear progression is going to work. Are people still going to start with the planes to get geared enough to start in velious, or is there enough dropable/entry level stuff from velious alone to just dive right in?

Soothsayer · #7 07-05-2021, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lightbringer55 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

That's what I needed to hear! Obviously if I'm so casual that my gear sucks and I'm a liability, I wouldn't be expecting to have a shot. I love xp'ing/grouping so I know it won't be a problem to hit 60. But it's more the question of when I should be thinking about joining a guild to start gearing etc.

I guess the real question will become with velious, how gear progression is going to work. Are people still going to start with the planes to get geared enough to start in velious, or is there enough dropable/entry level stuff from velious alone to just dive right in?

Plate house in Kael is a good starting point for getting serious tanking gear. Prior to that, just use whatever. Crusty shell, crafted armor (the warrior quest armor), etc. The camp is easy for a small raid and plate pieces drop like candy, and people will be selling the MQ's for the armor at some point in the relatively near future (though some pieces will be more expensive than others). You also have good weapon options like frostbringer + sarnak warhammer available, so threat should be okay as long as you also have a decent haste item.

I will say that in my time in a "megaguild" on Green, I rarely had the opportunity to tank and was mostly just extra melee DPS, and I left not long after. There were a *lot* of tanks. It wasn't terribly fun or exciting. I've had the most fun tanking high level single group dungeon content.

Lightbringer55 · #8 07-05-2021, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Soothsayer [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I will say that in my time in a "megaguild" on Green, I rarely had the opportunity to tank and was mostly just extra melee DPS, and I left not long after. There were a *lot* of tanks. It wasn't terribly fun or exciting. I've had the most fun tanking high level single group dungeon content.

Very interesting - this is my fear. I love tanking and have no issues doing it grouping, but the idea of raid tanking is a whole other level of fun in my mind. But if I can't raid tank, then I guess I sort of go back to the thought of another SK/Pal since it's fun leveling with them and they provide some utility in other ways (dirty pulling on an SK, etc) because outside of raiding, it seems like a warrior doesn't have a lot of utility?

Lightbringer55 · #9 07-05-2021, 01:30 PM

I guess the other question I have - even if "surplus" in a large raid guild, do you still have a shot at warrior loot, or is it pretty contested still?

Ennewi · #10 07-05-2021, 06:06 PM

As a knight, not having a defensive on raids will limit you in a lot of ways; even rangers can step in (and do regularly) with weaponshield, buying time for warriors to get aggro or clerics to camp out. Knights do get some tanking mileage in during Ring War, 2nd floor Hate, Growth trash, Halls of Testing, and a few other raid encounters, but that's about it. Rangers also have enough sustained DPS not to feel like dead weight, and some burst with BFG plus Trueshot. And of course rangers can stand in as group tank, decently at least up until mid 50s and by then you're raiding.