so you decided to give tanking a try. Maybe you're torn between juggernaut or marauder. Maybe tanking is something you have always wanted to try but were afraid. Maybe you are sick of dpsing in previous games and want to try something fresh when SW:TOR is released. Whatever the reason, I hope you find this guide useful in starting your tanking career. This guide is meant more for new players just getting into the role of tank. Those with a lot of experience tanking, feel free to chime in with advice of your own. FYI please be kind as this is my first attempt ever at a guide.

Let me start by saying, that tanking isn't for everyone. I say that because:

1. You may not find it enjoyable
2. You need to be thick skinned and be able to take criticism and insults that will come when the group wipes(even if its not your fault)
3. It's not pew pew dps
4. You have a lot of responsibility.
5. You need to have constant awareness of your surroundings / healers mana / the fight mechanics etc etc

There are other reasons but those are a few of the reasons why a lot of people just don't tank. I have played tank classes in every mmo I have played and I have always enjoyed it. It's definitely a very enjoyable and rewarding role. I typically always play the classic "sword and board" tank or SnB. These tend to be warrior classes.

I just prefer the classic heavy armor / shield class. In SW:TOR, the closest class to that is the Sith Warrior.

Since we don't know a lot about the talent trees or abilities atm for the Sith Warrior, I just want to go over some useful tanking tips that will help you get started and be well on your way to being a great and well liked tank.

1. Read guides on your class. The old cliche "learn to play" applies here. That's not a bad thing. we all have to learn. It's part of growing into the game. Spec right and gear correctly. This is essential (and obvious). Having trouble or not sure? Read up what other successful tanks have written about specs and gear.

2. Practice what you have learned. Don't give up because of 1-2 wipes and say "screw this, i suck". Learning is just part of the process. Practice makes an average tank into a great tank.

3. Take the time to learn the fights. A game as popular as SW:TOR is going to have so many guides on flash points and operations. Not to mention dozens and dozens of videos of the fights. Take some time to watch / read about these fights. If you dont know the mechanics of the fight..well fail to plan, plan to fail.

4. Groups sort of look to the tank as "the leader" of the group. Even if your not the leader, people just assume the tank knows the fights and will ask you what to do. see tip #3.

5. Have marking of targets hot keyed. I always used the num pad 1-9. I would mark the kill target with a skull or 1 or whatever the game's interface is. 2-3 would be CC'ed targets if I felt they were needed. Make sure you tell the group what the marks mean =).

6. Know your limits as a tank. Don't pull the entire room unless you over gear the place your running. Even if you over gear the place, your healer/dps may not. Better to take a few extra minutes clearing one pull at a time then have to run back and rebuff etc.

7. Be respectful. I have seen a lot of tanks be such arrogant jerks all because "well im the tank..do it my way or leave". This is a terrible attitude to have. While you are a very important role to the party, you need the healer and dps just as much as they need you. you can't complete the instance without the healer to heal you or the dps to kill the trash and bosses. It's a team effort, so be a team player. Be courteous to newer players and help them if possible. Remember, kindness and respect gets you /tells and /invites for more groups and some new friends. Rudeness just gets you /ignored.

8. Don't take insults personal. I don't care how good a tank you are and how nice you are, there will always be some jerk that will just call you a "noob" or "pull faster!!1!1!" and "u sux!" The list goes on and on. Don't let these jerks ruin your fun. Politely ask them to stop and if they don't../ignore or /kick. Your other teammates will probably thank you as well.

9. Set loot rules ahead of time. Since dual spec is going to be added to this game shortly after launch, there will be dps juggs that may want to roll on tank stuff to start their tank set. If your after one particular drop, say so at the beginning of the run or before the run starts. This way you know if the dps jugg is also after that same piece and if he is, you can respectfully decline the group. A lot of the times, the dps will just say "meh you can have it" just so they can get you to tank and get the run started. By doing this simple act (i don't know why more people don't) you save yourself a lot of time and it avoids anger and any confusion.

10. Make sure you are generating threat/hate/aggro on every mob that is pulled. I hated tanks that had tunnel vision and only attacked one target till it's dead before hitting the other mobs. What ends up happening is as soon as your healer casts a heal..yep you got it..pulls aggro and is now either healing himself (and not you) or dies. Same applies to the dps..if they hit a mob you haven't aggroed, then the healer has to heal them and again, not healing you. This just causes so much unnecessary chaos. Open with some sort of AoE threat ability to get the mob's attention on you to avoid this.
    If there is a ranged mob that you can't get to without risk of pulling another pack of mobs,
    have the mob CCed, or LoS (line of sight) the ranged mob to force it to run to you.
    You will have a much easier time (and so will your healer).

11. Know when you need to use a cool downs. Hey some mobs are going to hit hard, or maybe you accidently pulled too many. That's why the cool downs are there. Getting to know when to use them properly will help you immensely.

Okay I am done with the wall of text. If you are still reading, thank you. Feel free to add
some advice/tips of your own and I can edit them into the post. Let me know how I can improve as a guide writer as well! Thanks again, be safe.

End of part 1 guide from Brytag .You can support and give your love to this excellent guide on official swtor forums at this Link

Second Great Post on the same thread by Darthshnooky

1. Learn to be a leader. i know not every group is led by the tank, but it seems like about 90% of the time a strong, successful group does has the tank lead. This doesn't mean telling everyone what to do, it means setting the pace for a run; looking out for others and making sure people are doing what they need to do and feeling good in the experience. If the DPS keeps pulling before your healer is ready, say something about it.

2. Never underestimate the usefulness of tab-targetting in group pulls. If you have 5 mobs you are tanking, the ability to effectively tab-target between them can make your life so much easier. AoE taunts or attacks are good, but typically have a cooldown. While this is going on, don't be afraid to switch targets and give 'em a whack everyone once in awhile. You typically don't have to do this constantly; i usually start with an AoE for threat, then at about 60% life of the main target will switch to hit each other target, and do it again at about 30% life.

3. Switch targets early. This is kinda related to point 2 but I think is worthy of it's own paragraph. If you are tanking a group of mobs and the main target (assuming it's not a boss) is at 20% life, switch to the second target and start working on it. You probably have more than enough threat on that main one that it will never look away from you for the rest of its short life. Then when the group switches to the next target, you already have a good chunk of threat on him.

4. The one thing i would add to learning to play is to spec as a tank for as long as possible. Not everyone likes to spec tank while leveling, but it is definitely worthwhile. Yes, you can learn your class from websites, but most people learn better by doing. Tanking a level 20 flashpoint really IS practice for level 50 hardmodes. Nothing beats experience, just think of it as training for the real thing.

5. Learn to love the left mouse button. I don't mean clicking your abilities, you should try to learn to use hotkeys if you can (not the time for a clicking vs hotkey debate) but for camera movement. Holding down the left mouse button lets you move the camera around without moving or turning your character. Use this and use it often! This is the best way to know what's going on behind and around you.

   It will blow your mind the first time you do this and see a group of horrible creatures charging at your healer. He hasn't seen them. Nothing in chat lets you know what's going on. But when you suddenly leap across the battle and pick up those mobs the person about to be attacked didn't even know about, you will truly be a tank. When the dust has settled, people will know that you know what you are doing. Those kinds of little things make a big difference, believe it or not
   

That said, don't be afraid to not learn fights if that is what your guild is into. Some people like to go into a boss fight blind and see what happens. Most PuGs don't appreciate this, but if you are running with people you know, then the element of surprise and danger can certainly add to the enjoyment of the fight. You ARE likely to die more often doing this, however, so make sure you are willing to wipe and try again. Otherwise, read up on strategies.

End of the second Post

Many Thanks for both swtor.com forum members Brytag and Darthshnooky for the excellent forum thread
Closing

The good tank is a leader that continuously learn the role of tanking !

Note for our Greek friends : I believe that this thread is very important for the players of swtor and i will translate it . so keep your comments on this thread in english lang until the release of the translated thread

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