Hello,

 

In any game I've ever played I've always rolled a DPS or healer, which is the case for 7/8 of my current characters. My sith assassin is however, specced darkness. He's level 55 now and I want to start tanking hard mode flashpoints on him. I did the normal ones and tried to learn on the go, but I've found this is hard as a tank.

 

If I was ever new to an instance as a dps it was never really an issue, your job is always pretty much the same unless you need to kill some adds or avoid scary circles. I'm finding with my tank that it's almost unacceptable to not know every mechanic and fight inside out, know your way around, which bits you can skip, which things to CC etc.

 

And since in FPs there's only four of you, it's not like there is another tank present you can watch and learn from. So what I'm saying is, is googling FP guides and watching YouTube videos the only way for me to check out these FPs before I attempt them? People seem impatient when I tell them I've never done it before or just give me a "just taunt" response. It sort of takes the fun out of the game feeling that I have to research everything instead of just playing but at the same time I don't want to be a burden on the group by running as a tank that's never been there before.

 

Not only am I new to SWTOR tanking, I'm new to tanking in any MMO so I'm trying to learn a lot at once. Given the shortage of tanks in the game and queue finder I would have thought people would be happy to just quickly explain something or give some pointers, but that's not the feeling I've been getting.

 

How did you guys level your first tanking character in new environments?

Edited December 7, 2013 by Dractonis

Hey! I would normally just ask in chat if it's not new content and use any tips I get about basic mechanics and then adapt to them and learn during the bossfights. Flashpoints are not really hard today ingame even if you are doing 55 HM or SM Athiss, so you should be able to learn a lot during your first fight with the boss and adapt during the fight.

 

If you are totally new to tanking you shouldn't depend on getting all information from other players without doing more then asking, you should actively try to find information about how to tank, rotation, gear, stats and how you have to position yourself in different fights. So watch some youtube walkthroughs about Operations/Flashpoints so you become a benefit for your group! =)

Hey! I would normally just ask in chat if it's not new content and use any tips I get about basic mechanics and then adapt to them and learn during the bossfights. Flashpoints are not really hard today ingame even if you are doing 55 HM or SM Athiss, so you should be able to learn a lot during your first fight with the boss and adapt during the fight.

 

If you are totally new to tanking you shouldn't depend on getting all information from other players without doing more then asking, you should actively try to find information about how to tank, rotation, gear, stats and how you have to position yourself in different fights. So watch some youtube walkthroughs about Operations/Flashpoints so you become a benefit for your group! =)

 

Hi, thanks for your reply. Yes I was new to tanking when I made this character and I do enjoy helping people which is why I like the role. I've researched as much as I can about my build, rotation, gear, stats etc and know all that. Now I want to focus on doing what the game is for; playing it. Obviously it's a learning process though and I don't want to die and have people get annoyed at me.

Well problem is that tanks has a higher learning curve then for example DPS or even healers so it will take you time to learn the encounters, maybe it's slightly to late but doing the story mode flashpoints while leveling is a nice lesson since the mechanics is the same on HM (just does more damage) and during leveling most are nicer if people are bad.

 

Basically the only tip I think I can give you is to continue trying, sure sometimes people will get mad if you screw up but you will have just as many ****** DPS and Healers in your groups that will do something bad as well, so... Keep trying!

Well personally I started with healers and dps chars like you. Then, after I got 3 characters to 50 I felt ready to try a tank. It's easier to learn if you do it while leveling. The story mode flashpoints are mostly very forgiving, and people are either as noob as you, or have lowered expectations. You get to learn from your mistakes too, and without the 5-digit repair bills.

 

Any new content I do (operations, still kinda new to this), I do it with healers and dps alts first, then I study the tank mechanics, and only then do I try to find a group to tank them.

 

If you're not sure about some content I guess what you could do is play it more as a healer with an eye out for what the tank is doing, where they are taking a lot of damage, where they are losing aggro, and if it could be avoided by playing better.

Any new content I do (operations, still kinda new to this), I do it with healers and dps alts first, then I study the tank mechanics, and only then do I try to find a group to tank them.

 

If you're not sure about some content I guess what you could do is play it more as a healer with an eye out for what the tank is doing, where they are taking a lot of damage, where they are losing aggro, and if it could be avoided by playing better.

 

^This.

 

When I was learning to tank on my Assassin I started watching other tanks very carefully when I went through flashpoints as a DPS. I especially looked for things like the best way to bunch up mobs with knockbacks/pulls so that they'd all be within 10m of me during a fight and therefore easier to hold aggro on. Observation taught me things like how to...

 

- Tank the Akk Dog boss in Athiss while standing with my back in the entrance of the hallway the adds spawn out of to make it easier to grab agro on adds as soon as they appear and to avoid getting knocked around.

- Position the purple circles around the edge of the room in the final boss fight of Athiss so the DPS and healers don't have to worry about stepping in them.

- Hold aggro on 2 far spaced turrets in Mandalorian Raiders by attacking one and using taunt+Force Pull on the other.

 

But when it comes to knowing what times to use defensive cooldowns and what to save taunts for, that I had to learn from trial and error while tanking, watching my own health go down, and figuring out what enemies do Force/Tech or Ranged/Melee damage.

Hello,

 

In any game I've ever played I've always rolled a DPS or healer, which is the case for 7/8 of my current characters. My sith assassin is however, specced darkness. He's level 55 now and I want to start tanking hard mode flashpoints on him. I did the normal ones and tried to learn on the go, but I've found this is hard as a tank.

 

If I was ever new to an instance as a dps it was never really an issue, your job is always pretty much the same unless you need to kill some adds or avoid scary circles. I'm finding with my tank that it's almost unacceptable to not know every mechanic and fight inside out, know your way around, which bits you can skip, which things to CC etc.

 

And since in FPs there's only four of you, it's not like there is another tank present you can watch and learn from. So what I'm saying is, is googling FP guides and watching YouTube videos the only way for me to check out these FPs before I attempt them? People seem impatient when I tell them I've never done it before or just give me a "just taunt" response. It sort of takes the fun out of the game feeling that I have to research everything instead of just playing but at the same time I don't want to be a burden on the group by running as a tank that's never been there before.

 

Not only am I new to SWTOR tanking, I'm new to tanking in any MMO so I'm trying to learn a lot at once. Given the shortage of tanks in the game and queue finder I would have thought people would be happy to just quickly explain something or give some pointers, but that's not the feeling I've been getting.

 

How did you guys level your first tanking character in new environments?

 

I play all three roles. Don't worry too much about not being a master of the instance going into it. I've never had a problem (example: when I took a break from Imperial and rolled Rep toons) when I stated from the onset "Hey, this is my first time here can someone else lead the way and give me a general how to on the bosses?"

 

People do get frustrated, but they are a lot more understanding and friendly if they know before first contact that everything in there is new for you.

Run as DPS (and deal with the long queue time), and learn from the good tanks on what to do and so on.

Thank you for all of the responses. I did do the story mode flashpoints as a tank when levelling so it's not completely new to me, sorry if I wasn't too clear about that. When I was levelling I would simply switch gear/spec to dps so I could run that way first to get used to it. Now that I'm 55 though I have invested in 'tanky' gear and I don't think a group would appreciate me respeccing, putting a focus on and a different charge since I'd still have all of my tank gear and gimp damage. I do have DPS characters but they are on republic side and I levelled them prior to Makeb so I need to catch up with those.

 

Anyway I decided to just jump in and give it a go. It's even more unnerving because you get an instant pop on the GF which reminds you just how much the group is relying on you since they've been waiting for a tank for who knows how long. I did Hammer Station and Czerka Core Meltdown HM55s. It went ok I think, nobody died apart from me once when the healer disconnected at the end of the first boss fight in Hammer Station. It was a good test to see how long I could live without a healer anyway.

 

P.S: When I told the group in Czerka that I was new to it the reaction was: "zomgggg we gonna wipe you've never been here :eek::eek:" But it was fine in the end!

Edited December 8, 2013 by Dractonis

If you have a smartphone my best recommendation would be to get the app called "SWTOR Field Guide" it doesn't have the 55 HM's on, but it'll give you a good idea of what to do! There's a few videos on youtube of flashpoints being done. I'd also recommend Dulfy's site for Operations and HM FP's as she is the queen of knowledge!

As it has been said before, having any DPS and/or healing experience will help you. More specifically, both of them offer a different perspective, I think. Melee DPS gives you a very good idea about how you need to move as a tank to get the aggro. You get a feel about the surroundings, obstacles and so on. At the same time, both rDPS and healers can often stand back a bit and get an overall view of the fight and the settings. As a bonus, healers also follow the tank's health bar constantly, so they should know when the tank is expected to take a lot of damage and time their on DCDs accordingly when they tank themselves...

Don't tank for pugs. They complain about the shortage of tanks and the gf queue but can't be bothered with helping a new tank learn. Join a guild, and make friends with the main raid tank. You will learn a lotmore without all the douchey comments in chat, dps pulling, and all the other problems associated with random groups of self-centered ******s.

Are you Empire on Jedi Covenant? I'm heals that doesn't know most of these places either, I'll heal for you. I'm patient, so you wouldn't have to worry about at least one member of your team!

 

I like leveling tank toons in games, but not actually doing real tanking. My lowbie 'Sin, i practice a bit keeping the agro while my comp kills.

Don't tank for pugs. They complain about the shortage of tanks and the gf queue but can't be bothered with helping a new tank learn. Join a guild, and make friends with the main raid tank. You will learn a lotmore without all the douchey comments in chat, dps pulling, and all the other problems associated with random groups of self-centered ******s.

 

Yes I joined a guild yesterday hoping that I can group with people in a more friendly environment. My worry now though is that they'll mostly be focused on content above me and I sort of suck at asking for help and making new friends (I know, MMO and all).

 

I see what you mean about PUGs too. Most have been okay when I've explained that I'm still learning but in the space of a day and four random FPs later:

 

- Reactions ranging from shock to horror to absolute "omg we're gonna wipe this is your first time." Everyone will inevitably enter an instance for a first time at some point, even tanks. Why is this such a difficult concept to grasp? Yes, I read the mechanics and watched some videos but sorry I can't run the FP without running the FP.

 

- An entire group that did not communicate with me, at all. They followed and killed so obviously were not afk. I even tried speaking a few different languages as politely as possible but received no response whatsoever when communication was necessary.

 

- A healer that was dps specced. And it was so noticeable compared to the great healer I'd had previously. How hard is it to respec if you're going to queue as healer?

 

- Marauders that run ahead and leap into groups of mobs. And my main is a sentinel so I know it's tempting but if I wanted to play tank, I wouldn't do so on that char. Maybe I was going too slow for them but I had explained I was new to it and was going as fast as possible. I wasn't constantly stopping in between or anything. After they'd do this I could run on and get aggro back but obviously it's easier to do going first.

 

I know these seem like minor points and having read the "people you meet in group finder" thread, I understand there is much, much worse out there. Anyway during all of these encounters I was stupidly nice about everything because I was so terrified they were just going to tell me I was terrible and boot me, my doormat attitude is probably half of the problem.

Edited December 9, 2013 by Dractonis

Are you Empire on Jedi Covenant? I'm heals that doesn't know most of these places either, I'll heal for you. I'm patient, so you wouldn't have to worry about at least one member of your team!

 

I like leveling tank toons in games, but not actually doing real tanking. My lowbie 'Sin, i practice a bit keeping the agro while my comp kills.

 

Hi, thanks for the offer but I play on the Red Eclipse server. Good luck with your healer.

You sound like a serious player who will make a great tank. Most of good tanking knowledge comes from trial and error. When I started tanking in this game, as my very first mmo, nearly 2 years ago, I would simply do my best and always ask the group to let me know if they saw me doing something wrong and give me tips. The first little bit doing 50 hams as a newbie assassin tank were a nightmare, and I'm sure I could have been one of the "wierd ones"for the first little bit. But I kept at it and nearly 2 years later, am still tanking on my newest toon, a jugg on bastion. I still ask for pointers and such, but now often the reply is " your better than most, keep doing wht your doing". Way better than the " you shouldn't be tanking at all" I got the very first fp I tried to tank. Point is it's all in the practice. I also found for myself that levelling a healer helped me understand tanking much better. I've found that the best tanks are ones who have played healers, and vice versa. In short. Just practice. You'll do great. Don't be afraid to ask questions, and don't let the rude plp you may meet throw you off.

Hi, thanks for the offer but I play on the Red Eclipse server. Good luck with your healer.

 

You can always try to contact my imp alt healer, yu'elle. Do mention you're from the forums please still gearing this one, but I know the FPs

Or ask on any alt in my signature, if I'm online and not busy then I don't mind switching to my healer

Hi, I just wanted to give a quick update and say thanks for all of the great suggestions you guys have given. When I created this thread I had no HM experience, but since then I've now tanked all of the HM55s bar one and most of the HM50s, and feel a lot better doing them now that I know all of the mechanics and what I should be doing. I'm going to master all of them and then gradually try to get more experience in later content. Edited December 11, 2013 by Dractonis

Hi, I just wanted to give a quick update and say thanks for all of the great suggestions you guys have given. When I created this thread I had no HM experience, but since then I've now tanked all of the HM55s bar one and most of the HM50s, and feel a lot better doing them now that I know all of the mechanics and what I should be doing. I'm going to master all of them and then gradually try to get more experience in later content.

Great to hear! Always a pleasure to have one more eager and talented tank in the game.

Hi there, I am happy for you that you managed ro progress to your satisfaction. Should you be interested, our small but very active guild is currently looking for a new tank, To

to complement/stand in for our guildleader who has pretty.much tanked all content in game. We are a mix of male/female players of all levels of experience and do both pve and pvp. We have just recruited a bit of fresh blood and are about to start em off on the easier hm ops. If interested gimme a yell (Raintzozhae) on red eclipse tonight and we can do a tryout to see how we get along. Im main heals btw so we get to be bff ;p

 

ps sorry for cruddy post my phone is acting up

Edited December 11, 2013 by springloadedthor

They complain about the shortage of tanks and the gf queue but can't be bothered with helping a new tank learn.

 

And as a Tank it still amazes me how many DPS time out for FP queues...I'm usually even nice enough to whisper once it hits 30 seconds.

And as a Tank it still amazes me how many DPS time out for FP queues...I'm usually even nice enough to whisper once it hits 30 seconds.

 

Once you've been in queue for 2-3 or more hours, it's easy to forget you're even in queue. I've missed it because I went off to make a sandwich or go to the bathroom. I am a polite person, and would normally leave queue if I'm going to the kitchen to make some food, but like I said--after a few hours it's easy to forget you're even in queue.

 

Then again, maybe I'm just getting senile.

Hi, thanks for the offer but I play on the Red Eclipse server.

 

Please, for the love of all that is good, do not guard the healer.

 

Tanks on TRE have adopted a habit of slapping guard on the healer as soon as they load instance. This kind of bahavior is bad and is not at all helped by healers requesting guard and, in extremely dumb cases, threatening to leave group if they don't get it.

 

There is no reason for the healer to have guard and it should be placed on the mdps instead. In cases when the mdps is completely outgeared by the tank and the rdps, the latter should have guard on them.

 

Please, don't be that tank.

Please, for the love of all that is good, do not guard the healer.

 

Tanks on TRE have adopted a habit of slapping guard on the healer as soon as they load instance. This kind of bahavior is bad and is not at all helped by healers requesting guard and, in extremely dumb cases, threatening to leave group if they don't get it.

 

There is no reason for the healer to have guard and it should be placed on the mdps instead. In cases when the mdps is completely outgeared by the tank and the rdps, the latter should have guard on them.

 

Please, don't be that tank.

 

Actually, slafko, check out the recent posts on the Weird People You Meet In Groupfinder thread. There's a good discussion about guard there. TL;DR: there are certain rare instances where guard on the healer actually make sense; usually in lowbie FPs when there are clueless DPS tunneling elites.

Please, for the love of all that is good, do not guard the healer.

 

Tanks on TRE have adopted a habit of slapping guard on the healer as soon as they load instance. This kind of bahavior is bad and is not at all helped by healers requesting guard and, in extremely dumb cases, threatening to leave group if they don't get it.

 

There is no reason for the healer to have guard and it should be placed on the mdps instead. In cases when the mdps is completely outgeared by the tank and the rdps, the latter should have guard on them.

 

Please, don't be that tank.

 

I know, right. When healing I have to tell them everytime that I don't need a guard on me

 

Actually, slafko, check out the recent posts on the Weird People You Meet In Groupfinder thread. There's a good discussion about guard there. TL;DR: there are certain rare instances where guard on the healer actually make sense; usually in lowbie FPs when there are clueless DPS tunneling elites.

 

Even with clueless DPS I would never guard the healer. I just make sure that most of the trash likes me. I taunt the elite that is bashing the DPS while making sure the healer is safe. It's my job to keep the healer safe, so I will keep the healer safe and I will not rely on some dps to do that for me.

I really see no point in guarding the healer, even with some of the pugs you can meet.