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Tanking new Flash Points


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So I've more or less been playing since day one. I have tons of alts, several of which are tanks. I stopped doing Flash Points after Mandalorian Raiders because I have haven't been to anything after.

 

Here is my question: How much grief will I get by just saying I don't know the instance and asking the group to bear with me? I kind figure people are just happy to have a group.

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So I've more or less been playing since day one. I have tons of alts, several of which are tanks. I stopped doing Flash Points after Mandalorian Raiders because I have haven't been to anything after.

 

Here is my question: How much grief will I get by just saying I don't know the instance and asking the group to bear with me? I kind figure people are just happy to have a group.

 

Honestly, it will just depend on the people. I was learning most flashpoints recently, and I had some people help me, and some leave the group. At the end of the day, all you need to have explained is how the three boss's work, and usually only the third will actually present a challenge.

 

Now that I've learned, I am more than happy to help, and will usually ask if anyone needs help at the start of a FP.

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I've never had an issue in PUGS yet with that specific thing. Most people tell you the fight so that they can get through it in one try and fast. Besides that, tanks are hardest to come by so if you're a tank, they'll pretty much bend to your will to get through it.
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Once entering the Flash Point, let the group know that you are still learning and to bear with you. If certain individuals have issues with this, they're more than welcome to exit and wait for a new group, which of course, they'll be waiting even longer now. As mentioned, most have these on farm and expect a quick run, just let them know ahead of time, most will help where needed.

 

Tanks and Healers have little down time in the queue.

Edited by Pirana
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I've run into a few FPs where the fresh tank opening admits he's fresh and asks for pointers and advice. All of those FPs went fine because we all knew to expect him not to hold aggro like an experienced tank and what not. I'm an experienced tank so I could walk him through how to approach the fights. Others in the group gave pointers too, even those I forgot to mention.

 

You may have a few dps or healers who drop group when you say that, but that is not your fault and is their short-sightedness. What you don't want to do is go in and not say you are still learning - that is just a recipe for disaster.

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So I've more or less been playing since day one. I have tons of alts, several of which are tanks. I stopped doing Flash Points after Mandalorian Raiders because I have haven't been to anything after.

 

Here is my question: How much grief will I get by just saying I don't know the instance and asking the group to bear with me? I kind figure people are just happy to have a group.

 

People shoot themselves in the foot with this, then complain that there are no tanks.

 

Been tanking for years, through many games. Lead raids, tanked everything in wow and this game. Took a break. If I come back I'm sure there will be some knucklehead giving me grief because I don't know the new heroic or maybe a few older ones. Attitude more then anything else tends to contribute to the "tank shortage". No one wants to have to deal with peoples attitudes.

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This is the first game I ever tanked in.

 

I did a lot of flashpoint leveling on my first tank character. Never had a single problem with any group. (If I didn't know a fight, I let 'em know.) I think what made me better out of the gate is that I had some healing experience on the other faction, so I was comfortable with watching the overall group situation and used to keeping my eye on people's HP.

 

People in pre-50 were pretty laid back, to be honest. Think about it: flashpoints aren't the fastest way to level, so the hardcore "plough-through content" types probably probably aren't there, anyway.

Edited by Stenrik
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Been wondering about this myself. Been playing the game since launch but I had a kiddo a few months ago and I"m just now getting back to the point where I think I could do some FPs again. I'm a Guardian tank and don't have a lot of experience with the endgame FPs, though. Before the kiddo I ran the dailies to get purple mods for my orange gear and I think all my stuff is at least 126 rated (I'm at work so I can't check). Just nervous about trying to group finder some FPs (even on easy mode) since the tank is usually the leader.
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This is the first game I ever tanked in.

 

I did a lot of flashpoint leveling on my first tank character. Never had a single problem with any group. (If I didn't know a fight, I let 'em know.) I think what made me better out of the gate is that I had some healing experience on the other faction, so I was comfortable with watching the overall group situation and used to keeping my eye on people's HP.

 

People in pre-50 were pretty laid back, to be honest. Think about it: flashpoints aren't the fastest way to level, so the hardcore "plough-through content" types probably probably aren't there, anyway.

 

This is also my first MMO that I tanked in. Normally I play DPS but I decided to do something different. I had zero issues in the level 50 non heroic FPs. Simply told people to give me advice on how tank it and they did.

 

The non heroics FPs are also...very easy. You have room to screw up and learn before you hit the tough stuff.

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Been wondering about this myself. Been playing the game since launch but I had a kiddo a few months ago and I"m just now getting back to the point where I think I could do some FPs again. I'm a Guardian tank and don't have a lot of experience with the endgame FPs, though. Before the kiddo I ran the dailies to get purple mods for my orange gear and I think all my stuff is at least 126 rated (I'm at work so I can't check). Just nervous about trying to group finder some FPs (even on easy mode) since the tank is usually the leader.

 

Simple solution, queue as DPS for a while. Yes the queues are longer but you can watch and learn. Just be sure to leave your taunts out of your rotation :). I did it in WOW and this game.

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You're a tank, don't worry about it. Tell people up front, if someone does not want to help they will leave, however dps is a dime a dozen and you will find someone that isn't a complete jerk quickly.

 

Healers are a little harder than dps to come by, but not by much. I have been running 1 or 2 HMFP daily on my sawbones to get a couple fresh 50 tanks some experience and gear. No one has left or said a thing about the fresh 50 tank. They have all been very friendly and helpful.

 

So if you are unfortuniate enough to get a jerk, don't worry about it. If you are still worried, just make friends with a healer and have them go with you. I know I don't mind going with fresh tanks, especially since tank and healer qroups always spell instant query. I have also done more than a few HMFP with new tanks and all but one I we finished the HMFP as a group (one group the 13K HP tank quit after dying in HM The False Emperor. However, the had he waited 10 seconds he would have known the death was a bug and nothing he did wrong. He died when he force leaped at the wrong time). You get a group were you have a healer and tank together, people may leave, but no one will attempt to kick you unless they are extremely stupid.

 

Just remember no HMFP is that hard, so don't make them overly hard, go in and learn, but most of all have fun. 70% of the players know the instances so well and are so over geared they can do them in their sleep. I tank a few on my dps shadow on guild runs. We do randoms at times with 3 dps and a healer, so with a decent group I know they can be done with a very average tank (way below average tank in my case).

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If you know how to tank, even HM FPS are not that hard to do, as long as you are at least in recruit. The big thing that might draw ire, is that you won't know how to skip trash. Just follow one of the other players and generally you will be ok. Be upfront at the beginning of a boss fight that you don't know the fight and someone usually will clue you in to what you need to do. In flashpoints where you start with a cutscene, you can use that time to let everyone know you are new. In ones that don't, it's probably best to just run with the group until the first major fight. That way, you aren't miles behind those ADD players who run off immediately while you are typing.

 

Make sure you use your guard function on a DPS if they are pulling agro from you. It is a great way to equalize dps that have much better gear.

 

Most players are fine. I can count a handful of times where I had to deal with a jerk. If someone is a jerk, just /ignore them. They won't be able to que with you again and they have just added to their cue time.

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Is there a level that a character needs to be before they can do Flashpoints, Operations, etc?

 

There are flashpoints for anyone from level 10+, but Operations are restricted to level 50 only. The leveling FPs (those you can do from 10+) have various minimum level requirements though, so you can't just do all of them right from the beginning, and the hard mode version are restricted to level 50 only as well.

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