Just figure I'll post it here, so if I decide to do it, it won't come as a horrible shock to my tankadin readers. In my spare time I'm leveling a warrior to give warrior tanking a try. *gasp* *shock* Oh no! Kaziel's becoming one of The Enemy!
Okay, first off "the why": I like tanking. I've realized I like tanking more than any other of the normal roles in an MMO. While I like tanking as a paladin, what about as a warrior? I don't know. I could end up hating not having mana, and only having 2 shield blocks per 5 seconds as opposed to 8 over 10 seconds. But I don't know. So I want to give it a try. I've made Deis, my (currently) level 7 Draenei warrior. I plan on leveling him up to 70 to try out tanking. Even if I find I prefer tanking as a warrior, the amount of time I've put into gearing and repping up Alixander means I'm going to stick with him until the next expansion.
Also, one thing appeals to me about warrior tanking: Simplicity of gear. I'll be honest... paladin tanking gear has always felt very awkward to me. The stats you need don't feel like they mesh very well. Of all the stats that are needed, only one pulls double duty (block rating for increasing crush avoidance and for increasing threat from Holy Shield and BoSanc). On the other than, warrior tanking gear feels much more sensible. Strength increases block value and DPS (direct threat increase; rage generation which translates to threat generation). Block value (both from gear and from STR) increases mitigation and threat generation (Shield Bash). Agility increases crit (rage generation which translates to threat generation), armor and dodge. Possibily there are a few other stats that do similar effects. While I love the challenge of getting the best gear as a paladin, a lot of it feels very counter-intuitive.
There are also two other reasons that are kinda stupid... First, dual wield. It's just cool! Yeah, I know that it's not something I'm ever going to use as a tank, but I've always loved the concept of dual wielding... Second is Blood Elves. What about Blood Elves? Well, as a paladin, I'm always reminded of wanting to play a Blood Elf as my main. Why don't I play one? Because I enjoy playing with my friends more than I enjoy playing a Blood Elf. So I stick with the Alliance. But being a paladin is a constant reminder that I could be playing a Blood Elf paladin.
What if I do change: Okay, first off, if I decide that I would prefer Deis to Alixander that does not mean that warriors are better tanks. It just means that they are better for me. And also I will be at the forefront of the fight to improve paladin tanking. Even if I change, I still firmly believe paladins should be allowed to be tanks just as validly as bear druids or warriors.
And one final thing: Why not bear druids? I could also roll a feral druid, but I've never wanted to play a druid. It's about the only class I've never had the urge to play. Mind you, I enjoy their company a lot, and three of the 12 raiders in my guild are druids (two balance and a resto), but I don't want to play one.
Avowing my price sensitivity
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I was watching a preview video of Avowed, Obsidian Entertainment's next big
role-playing game, to be released in February 2025. Now I am not the
biggest fa...
1 day ago
5 comments:
Don't sweat it. Have fun with your alt, see what happens. Pedaling uphill all the time, fighting against players preconceived notions, not to mention fighting enounter design at points, can get tiring. I made a Night Elf Warrior, all of level 7 right now. I like their animations better, and 1% dodge is nice, plus I don't like Elekks).
Always good to try new stuff and been open minded atleast. Just because you may choose to play another class don't make you an "enemy" to our Paladin class. Your doing what you love to do and that's Tanking. Choosing a Warrior thus allows you to do that and learn well Warrior mechanics. Coming from playing a Paladin allows you to be a even more aware tank. Allows you also to speak your mind even more about the difference of the two classes and Theorycraft more about what can be changed or improved with Paladins as a whole on your blog. Since you been playing a Paladin, playing a Warrior will only make you that much better at Warrior tanking. You been used to Situational Awareness as a Paladin in looking out for everyone.
I'm sure you will find good stuff to rant and rave about.
Go for it. If nothing else it will give you the perspective to be able to compare/contrast the classes with an open mind.
I made a Night Elf Warrior, all of level 7 right now. I like their animations better, and 1% dodge is nice, plus I don't like Elekks).
That's another reason I could never really play a Druid. I'm not overly fond of playing as a night elf. Again, I'm friends with lots of them, but I don't want to play one. Also, I'm not overly fond of Elekks either... once I finish up the quest lines in Azuremyst and Bloodmyst Isles, I'm off to Teldrassil to get some rep with Darnassus to work on becoming exalted with them to get a kitty mount.
Just because you may choose to play another class don't make you an "enemy" to our Paladin class.
While that may be true, there are certainly some tankadins I've seen how hate warriors. And honestly it's not so much that warriors are The Enemy, in as much as they are The Man who's keeping them down, in their view.
This view is only kinda untrue. First off, I have little doubt that there are in fact some warriors who push to their guilds that paladins are not as good a tanks as warriors are. But if any group of people was categorized as "The Man" it would be the uncompromising guild officers of guilds that won't allow Prot spec pallys to tank.
In the a different vein, the anger towards warriors that some paladins have, blaming all their problems on warriors is entirely unwarranted, and it really irks me. Too many times I've seen posts over at Main Tankadin which suggest bringing all of our current weaknesses up to par with warriors, but not giving us any more weaknesses. The reality is and must be that each class should have some sort of weakness. Maybe they do need to increase either the amount of health or the mitigation of a paladin up a bit to make it more even to warriors, but we are by no means so weak that we have no value, which is how some paladins paint themselves.
Just got pointed to this post, and I want to throw in my support. I started off as a Night Elf Warrior, twice, actually once to 60, then on another realm to 70 (before transfers were in the picture) and now I'm a Pally Tank. It gives you a certain amount of depth, and weight to your words when you talk about tanking, and the difference between classes, and I've shut people up just by class dropping.
Be aware, you will find yourself flailing at your keyboard, trying to hit a button that simply isn't there, as I have coming from Warrior to Paladin. You will get used to it, but will still have that feeling of "I could do this better as the other guy"
One thing that Paladins have Warriors beat is Threat, they really can't hold a candle to us in that regard, except in very long fights.
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