I have never tanked a raid in LOTRO before. How hard is it?

[Tokia]

I have tried tanking in SWTOR and found it too difficult. I have also been a tank in WoW and found it too difficult to figure out what to do in the raids. My question is if I am a Guardian, Warden, or Captain (I read that Captain is currently the best tank in the game), is it difficult to tank in LOTRO raids like WoW and SWTOR, or is it kinda simple like in Runescape. For instance, would I have to do anything but sit in one spot and keep aggro or would I have to dodge, run to avoid mechanics and run some more to avoid being in the circle.

Thanks

[WeirdJedi]

An instance tests your knowledge of the game and reflexes whether you are a tank or not. The amount of effort on the tank's part depends on the boss you are fighting. The majority of bosses will have some mechanism that deals massive damage to anything in front of them. This means it is your responsibility to hold the boss in a way that only you receive the damage. Some will knock you around or drop puddles where you stand. Others will have abilities where they go after your group whether you like it or not. Then there are encounters where you have to pull in mobs that spawn in the middle of the fight. Keeping the boss in the right spot, making sure you have its attention, and staying alive is what defines the tank role.

A raid is the same thing only with 12 people instead of 6 and less room for error. There are boss fights where you just sit tight in some corner and make sure you are pressing the right buttons. However, there are now cases where you will need two tanks. The developers love to have what is called a "tank swap" in the middle of battle. This means that after a specific boss's debuff gets too high for a tank to handle, you will switch targets with the other tank.

Sadly, Lord of the Rings Online follows the same perspective as other MMOs. You fight a boss, die, and learn what not to do the next round. Casuals like us usually have to refer to some sort of guide (https://dadislotroguides.com/) beforehand. If you had trouble in similar games, then you will probably find the same problems here. The good news is they have at least designed T1 for the new raids with us casual players in mind. T1 tends to be easy enough that you don't have to be concerned about getting better gear or worrying about added mechanisms:

With the new raid Amdân Dammul, the Bloody Threshold available for preview up to Tier 3, we wanted to talk a bit about how difficulty will work with this raid as we are changing things up a bit:

Tier 1 has been made significantly easier, and can be considered a “Story Mode” aimed at lower difficulty raiding.
Tier 2 is the new “base” difficulty, and is as complex mechanically as a previous Tier 1.
Tier 3 is now as difficult as a previous Tier 2.
Tier 4 is now as difficult as a previous Tier 3.
Tier 5 is now “challenge mode”, and will introduce a raid-wide mechanic to further test our best raiders.

[Omen_Kaizer]

For instance, would I have to do anything but sit in one spot and keep aggro or would I have to dodge, run to avoid mechanics and run some more to avoid being in the circle.

I'd give tanking a pass, there are mechanics even on a few fights in tier 1.

[Uvirith]

Its easier than WoW, and definitely not nearly as hard as SW:ToR. And compared to ESOs tanking its like playing Candy Crush (but nothing is harder as ESO-Tanking).

The telegraphs in LotRo are pretty obvious, the inductiontimes are long, and most encounters special mechanics only revolve around facing the enemy away from the group, knowing where the group is and knowing when a hit comes in you need to soak.

So if you wanna start mmo-tanking, LotRo is a good starting point.

[Teyaha]

tanking itself is easier than healing or dps in just about every mmorpg today.

the gameplay itself is not the hurdle to being a competent tank it's encounter knowledge. so for many the first time they tank a new encounter is a horrible experience if those with you are not willing to teach or be patient as you learn.

[Vilda]

It is hard, in terms you, as tank, have to know about boss and mechanics more than anyone else in the group. Especially in raids, where you need to swap aggro, keep an eye on debuffs on you, grabing ads in time etc.

Keeping aggro and positioning are the easiest parts.