Took Loke into two instances last night: AN and UK. Tanked both. They went well, but the UK run was much much smoother.
Now, Loke is a feral bear that wants to get out there and prove that he can tank, even as a bear. My personal tanking experience has always been a paladin. So... some mental adjustments have to be made.
Thankfully the runs went smoothly. But the group conpositions were radically different for each instance. Not so much the classes, but the players attitudes. A lot of what Kaly said in her blog yesterday were evident last night.
First run was normal AN. I felt rushed, was told to Go Go Go, aoe dps as soon as I charged, etc. All in all a stressful experience. But hey, that's pugs right? We cleared the content with no deaths, I held aggro once I had the chance. I herded mobs around grouped them up and the resto druid kept me up. Didn't have to use any potions or pop many cooldowns.
Second run was normal UK. Granted it's easier than AN, the mobs hit for less. But this group was amazing. They waited for me, they attacked the marked mobs in order. I was allowed my few seconds to build aggro. Pure joy. Again, I didn't have to use any potions or pop many cooldowns.
Only cooldown that I did pop was barkskin, which is macroed into Swipe. Pretty sure I need barkskin when I'm getting threat on groups of mobs. Helps make me less squishy.
Still need to figure out when I can use Enrage, etc. Occasionally I become rage starved, which has me worried. I'm either not hitting enough, not dodging enough, or not being hit for enough dmg. But I was semi-rage starved on the Anub'arak fight. Too many adds that were dying too quickly that I was wasting rage on for snap aggro. Now, I suspect that's just the fight, and that I should have used a carefully timed enrage.
When do other people pop their cooldowns? When do you engrage? Just before a pull? Ever try popping it with barkskin to try and negate the armor loss some?
These are questions that hopefully I'll develop a feel for. I need to get my fuzzy butt into more instances. And I might have a pocket healer of my own, once Kaly figures out that resto shaman is the way to go for off-spec. :D
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Now, Loke is a feral bear that wants to get out there and prove that he can tank, even as a bear. My personal tanking experience has always been a paladin. So... some mental adjustments have to be made.
Thankfully the runs went smoothly. But the group conpositions were radically different for each instance. Not so much the classes, but the players attitudes. A lot of what Kaly said in her blog yesterday were evident last night.
First run was normal AN. I felt rushed, was told to Go Go Go, aoe dps as soon as I charged, etc. All in all a stressful experience. But hey, that's pugs right? We cleared the content with no deaths, I held aggro once I had the chance. I herded mobs around grouped them up and the resto druid kept me up. Didn't have to use any potions or pop many cooldowns.
Second run was normal UK. Granted it's easier than AN, the mobs hit for less. But this group was amazing. They waited for me, they attacked the marked mobs in order. I was allowed my few seconds to build aggro. Pure joy. Again, I didn't have to use any potions or pop many cooldowns.
Only cooldown that I did pop was barkskin, which is macroed into Swipe. Pretty sure I need barkskin when I'm getting threat on groups of mobs. Helps make me less squishy.
Still need to figure out when I can use Enrage, etc. Occasionally I become rage starved, which has me worried. I'm either not hitting enough, not dodging enough, or not being hit for enough dmg. But I was semi-rage starved on the Anub'arak fight. Too many adds that were dying too quickly that I was wasting rage on for snap aggro. Now, I suspect that's just the fight, and that I should have used a carefully timed enrage.
When do other people pop their cooldowns? When do you engrage? Just before a pull? Ever try popping it with barkskin to try and negate the armor loss some?
These are questions that hopefully I'll develop a feel for. I need to get my fuzzy butt into more instances. And I might have a pocket healer of my own, once Kaly figures out that resto shaman is the way to go for off-spec. :D
