Well, I've been level 70 for a few months now and find a few things I'm not quite happy about. My character is feral and I really love the feral spec. However, while my dps is great, my tanking skills are mediocre. On a scale of 1-10 (ten being the best) I'd probably rate my tanking skills as a 6 (or 7 on good days). I also realize that I'm often hard on judging myself. I've had people say that I've done fine when tanking. Anyhow, one other little note is that when I tank, I find myself really tensing up and getting stressed because I don't want to make mistakes and I want to try my best to keep aggro. Because of all of this, I feel that I really don't want to tank. (Although, off-tanking is okay.)
On the other hand, I love when I'm in cat form and dpsing. Not only am I either near or on top of the damage meters, but I can innervate the healer, or battle rez if need be (things I don't dare try while tanking). I can also off-tank the occasional mob or two. I don't seem to be as stressed when off-tanking.
Yet, when I try to find groups for instances, as soon as they find out I'm feral, they want me to tank. If I say I just want to dps, then I almost never find groups unless my friends happen to be online and available.
So, this had me thinking of maybe switching from Feral to Balance. That way no one will ask me to tank. Yet, I don't know if that would make a difference in me getting into any groups. Mookin dps still has the same limitations as feral dps....limited crowd control (roots only outside, hibernate only beasts, cyclone is short).
Restoration isn't really an option right now. One of my friends is a resto druid and she does the healing when our group does get together. (The other two in our group is a warrior and a mage.)
I can't seem to make up my mind. Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions to help me make up my mind?
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Boomkin or Feral dps?Follow
Quote:
I also realize that I'm often hard on judging myself. I've had people say that I've done fine when tanking. Anyhow, one other little note is that when I tank, I find myself really tensing up and getting stressed because I don't want to make mistakes and I want to try my best to keep aggro.
this is gonna sound bad but if your of age and can go with out getting hooked try drinking while tanking. i do it all the time and it goes soo much smoother. i ot our kara runs on my pally and have yet to play with out drinking when i dont drink i tense up. when drinking cools the nerves some. if you dont wanna drink try maybe eating or playing some feelgood music to ease ya up.
personaly i hate tanking on my druid true i'm only lvl 34 i think but i like my warrior and pally better. i think druids hit too slow some how i cant keep the threat up that good. then again i've had some bad groups of peeps being higher lvls but i'm still not impressed with low lvl druid tanking skills. maybe just me i dont know. on other hand i hate oting on pally harder to keep up threat when not blocking on pally.
Alcoholic much?
lol maybe before but i only drink like 2 nights a week. when was in marines and before when i partied with my brother i drank non-stop. but it just mellows ya out some when you get excited or tence in game.
if your 'friend' is a friend, ask him/her if they would be willing to respec feral so you can try out resto for a whle as your aren't getting on with it.
but tbh you can't ask whether feral or balance is better on a forum, you will get the feral nuts and the balance nuts shouting for their side and you will get no where(there tend to be more feral druids around, that leveled feral due to necessity)
but tbh you can't ask whether feral or balance is better on a forum, you will get the feral nuts and the balance nuts shouting for their side and you will get no where(there tend to be more feral druids around, that leveled feral due to necessity)
Scholar
38 posts
Hey sim.
I am a bit the same with the being tense and under pressure while tanking, but I am better now with more confidence and the know how. While i found around the level 50 mark I was around 2nd or 1st in the group for damage sometimes, which I was pretty proud of, but at 70 i get flogged in the damage metres. But nothing beats knowing you have tanked an instance well, and the satisfaction of a no wipe party with people saying good job at tanking, you will find you will never get this while dpsing as feral.
I think you should stick with feral, even if you wont tank, off tanking is important, more important then dps as they are easily found, and easily matched as balance I think. Maybe try and tank mid 60 instances and help out the lower levels while practising tanking to boost your confidence. Anyway good luck to whatever you choose.
Cya.
I am a bit the same with the being tense and under pressure while tanking, but I am better now with more confidence and the know how. While i found around the level 50 mark I was around 2nd or 1st in the group for damage sometimes, which I was pretty proud of, but at 70 i get flogged in the damage metres. But nothing beats knowing you have tanked an instance well, and the satisfaction of a no wipe party with people saying good job at tanking, you will find you will never get this while dpsing as feral.
I think you should stick with feral, even if you wont tank, off tanking is important, more important then dps as they are easily found, and easily matched as balance I think. Maybe try and tank mid 60 instances and help out the lower levels while practising tanking to boost your confidence. Anyway good luck to whatever you choose.
Cya.
Also, learn to trust your CC, or only go to instances with CC you can trust. Rogues that can tell you how long is left on Sap, Hunters that can chain-Trap, Warlocks that can Fear-kite, chain-Seduce, and Banish if they have to...
More CC means you only have to worry about 2 or 3 mobs tops, and Swipe spam can keep them off your healer. Good DPS will also know how to use their UI or the "F" key to attack whatever mob you're concentrating on building the most threat on.
Switching to Balance won't really help you get groups at 70, you're still trying to DPS without CC. The best thing I can suggest is to find a couple really good Tankadins to do instances with.
More CC means you only have to worry about 2 or 3 mobs tops, and Swipe spam can keep them off your healer. Good DPS will also know how to use their UI or the "F" key to attack whatever mob you're concentrating on building the most threat on.
Switching to Balance won't really help you get groups at 70, you're still trying to DPS without CC. The best thing I can suggest is to find a couple really good Tankadins to do instances with.
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when I tank, I find myself really tensing up and getting stressed because I don't want to make mistakes and I want to try my best to keep aggro.
I tanked UB for the 1st time as Feral Druid last night (at lv69 lol). So all the mobs were green to me. Even with me marking the mobs, the mage sheeping and top pulls I had to worry about was 3 mobs (yay swipe ftw). The DPS kept the kill orders, everythign went smooth, well except the bat things fearing a member into another group (which we lived thru).
All that and I was still a bit nervous.
Even when I'm getting on my Warrior and we're running KZ, I still get a bit stressed until after the 1st couple of pulls. I'd think it's only normal.
Which leads me to repec'n to Resto, which is in my gameplan when I hit 70. I want a healer, but I've only healed back at lv30 with my priest lol. I can't wait to see how nervous I'll get as the healer
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So, this had me thinking of maybe switching from Feral to Balance. That way no one will ask me to tank.
You'll never be able to keep up with an equally geared dps specific class like mage or rogue, but if you can find people to take you theres not gonna be too much difference between whether your dpsing as feral or oomkin, though my preference leans slightly towards to oomkin.
I think everyone has a little bit of that nervousness when tanking especially when your hitting instances or raids for the first time and have no idea what could be around the next corner, you just have to suck it up and do it.
if you can find people to take you as a dps'er though more power to you...my server has probably 3:1 healers to tanks so i'm almost always in demand.
I think everyone has a little bit of that nervousness when tanking especially when your hitting instances or raids for the first time and have no idea what could be around the next corner, you just have to suck it up and do it.
if you can find people to take you as a dps'er though more power to you...my server has probably 3:1 healers to tanks so i'm almost always in demand.
iv hardly see any boomkins in 5mans, they tend to hide away and only ocme out on guilds runs and save their power for raids
DKDruid wrote:
Alcoholic much?
No, it's called 'youth'.
I like to sip on a drink while I'm reading these forums. Then I usually watch a movie while the sipping turns into slurping and I come back here with a lot of good advice about absolutely nothing.
That's when I log on.
Please "talk up" if your comprehension white-shifts. I will use simple-happy language-words to help you understand.
I have 70 druid I tell group right up front I'm ok tank but I rather be off tank or dps if possible. I have not have any problems find group when tell them this up front.
[quote]No, it's called 'youth'[quote]
Aaah yes, this youth thing. A lot of that going around lately. There's even supposed to be a fountain of the stuff someplace, but I never did find it. They probably stuck it in southern Sillithus. Never could be bothered to go that far.
Just mark my words: This 'youth' mumbo jumbo is bound to end someday, and then we old folks will rule the world! [Insert evil plan laugh here]
Edited, Apr 1st 2008 9:21am by DKDruid
Edited, Apr 1st 2008 9:22am by DKDruid
Aaah yes, this youth thing. A lot of that going around lately. There's even supposed to be a fountain of the stuff someplace, but I never did find it. They probably stuck it in southern Sillithus. Never could be bothered to go that far.
Just mark my words: This 'youth' mumbo jumbo is bound to end someday, and then we old folks will rule the world! [Insert evil plan laugh here]
Edited, Apr 1st 2008 9:21am by DKDruid
Edited, Apr 1st 2008 9:22am by DKDruid
By the way, DKDruid, you wouldn't happen to be from Denmark, would you?
The DK in your name confuses me.
The DK in your name confuses me.
Please "talk up" if your comprehension white-shifts. I will use simple-happy language-words to help you understand.
Yup, I'm a fellow dane and druid :) (from Odense if you must know :))
Nobody "enjoys" tanking. It's high stress & little credit. It does get easier, though (less stress... maybe more credit).
Groups are easier as a feral. Equipment is easier to come by as a feral (very few leather spell-dps pieces out there). Solo-questing seems easier as a feral.
If you'd rather DPS, then yeah, go balance. No sense trying to shove a square peg through a round hole.
Groups are easier as a feral. Equipment is easier to come by as a feral (very few leather spell-dps pieces out there). Solo-questing seems easier as a feral.
If you'd rather DPS, then yeah, go balance. No sense trying to shove a square peg through a round hole.
Scholar
23 posts
Playing a boomkin is great and you have all the same utility (meaning innervate, b-rez). Getting gear at first can be tough, I had to spend about 500g when I went balance at 70 to get blues off the AH/gems/enchants but don't regret it at all. Also the main thing is knowing what stats to focus on. Quickly getting to the hit cap will impress any guild since it's a necessity. In half blues, half Kara epics (2 T4 pieces) I'm hit capped (152 exactly), have over 800 spell dmg unbuffed, 8.1k mana unbuffed (with Kings, and Arcane Int I get up to 9.6-7k).
Also don't say that boomkins are useless in 5 mans. I've ran most heroics quite a few times (hard to get groups for Shattered Halls and such on my sever so I don't have the pleasure of having experience in all of them) and I do just fine. UB is one place where we can offer reliable CC as well as Seth Halls through hibernate. Really as long as you have a good tank everything goes swimmingly even without an extra CC. Just have to pull back a but further then fear, etc. And in Kara I'm normally 2nd or 3rd on DPS with my guild and rarely ever go OOM anymore with smart usage of mana pots.
However, fully expect that as you move out of T4 content to get swiftly passed up by the rogues/locks/hunters on DMG meters - their gear just scales better. In Kara the only classes that are beating me right now are mages and affl locks on longer fights like Prince where their DoTs add up. I beat rogues in my guild right now because I'm simply better geared than them.
Also don't say that boomkins are useless in 5 mans. I've ran most heroics quite a few times (hard to get groups for Shattered Halls and such on my sever so I don't have the pleasure of having experience in all of them) and I do just fine. UB is one place where we can offer reliable CC as well as Seth Halls through hibernate. Really as long as you have a good tank everything goes swimmingly even without an extra CC. Just have to pull back a but further then fear, etc. And in Kara I'm normally 2nd or 3rd on DPS with my guild and rarely ever go OOM anymore with smart usage of mana pots.
However, fully expect that as you move out of T4 content to get swiftly passed up by the rogues/locks/hunters on DMG meters - their gear just scales better. In Kara the only classes that are beating me right now are mages and affl locks on longer fights like Prince where their DoTs add up. I beat rogues in my guild right now because I'm simply better geared than them.
Tanking is one of those things, where either you like the thrill, or you hate it.
The bottom line is this: PLAY THE SPEC YOU LIKE. PERIOD. If you dont like tanking, tell people right up front you dont tank, but youd be happy to OT if needed. Let them know that IS a form of CC. Find people you like to group with, impress them with your use of forms, so they trust in your ability to change to a tank in an instant, br in an instant, even throw a cyclone if needed etc etc etc.
Use your hybrid class to its fullest potential, no matter what spec you choose, and you will find people that group with you, will always find ways around the CC issue to include you. In other words, dont get stuck into the 'all i can and will do is dps kitty" rut. Watch whats going on in the raid, if you see a mob go after your healer, hit bear, fearal charge and bash it, giving the tank a few seconds to pick it up etc etc etc.
I turn down invites to heroics every day, no matter what spec I currently am, because the people ive grouped with, know that I play my druid to its fullest potential, tossing heals here, bashing there, shredding here, cyclone there etc etc.
A good way to help get the experience is when you go to a bg, PICK A HEALER, and make him the target your gonna protect that whole bg. Do as much dmg as you can kitty, but never take your eyes off your healer. In this way, you can gain the skill and reaction time, to make your inclusion into raids/instances even more likely.
Just a suggestion. Good luck wichever you choose, and have fun!
The bottom line is this: PLAY THE SPEC YOU LIKE. PERIOD. If you dont like tanking, tell people right up front you dont tank, but youd be happy to OT if needed. Let them know that IS a form of CC. Find people you like to group with, impress them with your use of forms, so they trust in your ability to change to a tank in an instant, br in an instant, even throw a cyclone if needed etc etc etc.
Use your hybrid class to its fullest potential, no matter what spec you choose, and you will find people that group with you, will always find ways around the CC issue to include you. In other words, dont get stuck into the 'all i can and will do is dps kitty" rut. Watch whats going on in the raid, if you see a mob go after your healer, hit bear, fearal charge and bash it, giving the tank a few seconds to pick it up etc etc etc.
I turn down invites to heroics every day, no matter what spec I currently am, because the people ive grouped with, know that I play my druid to its fullest potential, tossing heals here, bashing there, shredding here, cyclone there etc etc.
A good way to help get the experience is when you go to a bg, PICK A HEALER, and make him the target your gonna protect that whole bg. Do as much dmg as you can kitty, but never take your eyes off your healer. In this way, you can gain the skill and reaction time, to make your inclusion into raids/instances even more likely.
Just a suggestion. Good luck wichever you choose, and have fun!
Quote:
Nobody "enjoys" tanking. It's high stress & little credit. It does get easier, though (less stress... maybe more credit)
Very untrue. I love the pat on the back after a good run and do get occasional "wow, wtf i critted 3 times in a row and you still keep agro!!"
It's just about what floats your boat. In my case i love beeing the big furry flesh wall between bad things and the rest of the group. Nothing quite as fun a huge pulls where you have to sprint all over the place to pull mobs of healers and dps'ers. Others may hate it and some may even think I'm strange, but saying noone likes it is definately not true.
Edited, Apr 2nd 2008 11:35am by DKDruid
Scholar
36 posts
Also some people like playing tank because "If you want something done right, do it yourself" :D
i dont trust many others to tank. i know what im capable of, and be it on warrior or druid, its taking and holding a minumum of three mobs as long as my dps isnt stupid or if im a full tank spec. theres maybe a half dozen other people on my servers i trust to do that job besides me. im sure more exist on each server, but i havent met them. id rather do it myself and know the job will be done right.
plus tanking is a great way to get revenge on some people.
"oh no! growl was resisted! challenging roar too! oh the horror i have to endure watching you die! thank god we didnt need you to kill the rest of these guys off or else someone important might have died!"
everyone deserves their little moments of spite <.<
plus tanking is a great way to get revenge on some people.
"oh no! growl was resisted! challenging roar too! oh the horror i have to endure watching you die! thank god we didnt need you to kill the rest of these guys off or else someone important might have died!"
everyone deserves their little moments of spite <.<
Quote:
plus tanking is a great way to get revenge on some people
True, but there are other ways too. Damn i love those mind controlling mobs in sethekk halls :D
Only problem is the very revealing mangle debuff they have on if you don't get them all the way down :D
Mspurr wrote:
Also some people like playing tank because "If you want something done right, do it yourself" :D
That's the reason I rolled my Warrior
I was in slow PUG after slow PUG with my Hunter. When we finally found a tank, we wished we had not 
. It was not that bad, but some people marking mobs makes me cry.
skull......... X.......... X is now skull........ Patrol is now X
Not to mention tanks get more parties than my Hunter did, errr... invited into parties faster than my Hunter.
Off-tanking isn't CC unless you've got a healer that can efficiently heal 2 targets and still have time to off-heal the DPS (read: druid healer). For single-target healers (Paladins, Imp DS Priests, Shamans to a lesser extent), it's easier to heal 1 person taking 2x damage than 2 people taking 1x damage.
i have a great answer to your problems.....
panzerkin
its great fun i moonkin tanked lbrs last nite, its amazing lol.
iv seen a moonkin tank prince and gruul so it can be done at 70, its just not reccomended
panzerkin
its great fun i moonkin tanked lbrs last nite, its amazing lol.
iv seen a moonkin tank prince and gruul so it can be done at 70, its just not reccomended
Quote:
iv seen a moonkin tank prince and gruul so it can be done at 70, its just not reccomended
...and it's pretty much impossible unless you vastly outgear the instance in wich case you have no need for the gear anyway :P
So yea, doable for fun but not for progression raids
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