Kara the Third

Last night Heroes went back to Kara for our third run.

This time it was
Me (Prot Paladin)
Beilin (Prot Warrior)
Regolas (Afflication Warlock)
Ferth (Fury Warrior)
Faceeraser (Fire Mage)
Agamegnome (Combat Rogue)
Jadgelf (Beast Mastery Hunter)
Sevenn (Holy Paladin)
Sameth (Discipline Priest)
Baconstrip (Resto Druid)

This run was different somehow than our other ones. We had some new people who had not been to Kara before. Originally, I wasn't going to go, but when one of our Prot Warriors didn't make it, I subbed in.

I had never grouped with Beilin before and I felt like we were stepping on each other toes a bit. Something about having a Prot Warrior in my group just made me all flumoxed. I felt like I had to prove I was every bit the tank he was, that there isn't anything magical about the fact that I picked Paladin and he picked Warrior when we rolled our toons. Of course this led to me focusing on the wrong things. No one in the raid or guild has ever questioned me, so I'm not sure what the big deal was to me.

We cleared to Attumen, and the raid leader has me on Midnight and the Warrior on Attumen because the Warrior can disarm. Okay, no problem. As soon as the fight starts we get an add. Our Priest couldn't shackle and heal so Beilin went down, and then Attumen ran rampant and wiped us. I probably should have tried to tank the add and Midnight, but I didn't think about that until it was too late.

So we cleared again and again I went after Midngiht and Beilin grabbed Attumen. Now, I figured I'd just pick them up when they formed. A quick Avenger's Shield and Exorcism should have done the trick. There's no way a Warrior can match that kind of burst aggro. Of course , I get a resist on Exorcism and a miss with the Shield, and have 0 aggro. Beilin picked them up and I did what I could to stay second on the aggro list.

This is probably one of the most difficult things for a Paladin to do. Fortuneately Attumen never left Beilin, so I did what I could, kept a Judgement of Light up and watched my mana. At the time I felt pretty useless, but now that I've had some time to think about it, I wasn't. I did my job and tanked Midnight til they formed, contributing to our kill.

Of course, no Bracers. I guess I used my loot karma getting my cape.

The Raid Leader opted to try the optional beast boss instead of going for Moroes. I would have prefered a shot at Moroes, but I wasn't going to question our Raid Leader. He's got a plan, and I'm going to go with it.

We cleared a bunch of trash and got some decent rep. You get a random Beast boss, and we got the Bat. Lovely thing about this guy is he has a silence, so once again, I was at a disadvantage to tank him. Beilin stepped up and did an awesome job. We got knocked back into some adds, so I picked them up. We got him down to about 2% but then I died and then the raid wiped. Major bummer. We recleared to him and got him down with little trouble. He does a charge like Attumen so I tried to position myself as far away from him as I could. I ate about half his charges. Not sure if people where further away or how he targets his charge.

All in all, I didn't think I contributed as much as I had previously. I was also a bit torqued that the Raid Leader used a Warrior gimmick (Disarm) to decide who tanked on the Attumen. Of course if my Exorcism hadn't gotten resisted, I would have probably have had then after they formed no problem. My concern is that there is going to be a Warrior trick on every boss. Every strat he reads will talk about Tanking from a Warrior only perspective.

I love my Paladin, and I love the way he tanks. I've put all my effort, gold, and almost all my talents into tanking. And to me, tanking ultimeately means facing down the big ugly with a skull where his level should be. I've seen videos of Paladin's tanking raid boss after raid boss. I'd like to do that. But nights like last night leave me wondering if that will only be possible if a Warrior isn't available.

I face the decision everytime I log on.

Do I advance my Paladin (farm gold, rep, whatever) or level my Warrior?

Comments

Anonymous said…
Do what you love man - dont let the standard myth (only warriors are good tanks) derail you. If it werent for innovators and people defying the conventional wisdom, then all of our beloved moonkin, our hammer swinging ret brothers, and our BM hunter friends wouldnt exist.

-Lightshield, 70 Retribution paladin (shadowmoon)

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