New Year's Resolution / Dungeon Tips

I suppose it's a little strange having a New Year's resolution for WoW. Regardless, my new mantra this year is:
Never lie to the Dungeon Finder.
That means if I can tank and/or heal, then I am definitely ticking those boxes. DPS is so easy sometimes, but the Dungeon Finder only works if everyone contributes. Besides, playing an in-demand role can shorten your queue times significantly, so why not?


Tips for New Tanks

If any low-level and/or new tanks are reading this, here are a few suggestions on how you might improve your experience when using the Dungeon Finder:

• Stand still as often as possible: melee DPS classes are ideally supposed to be attacking enemies from behind, and this is impossible when the target is following a dancing tank. Your healer(s) will never lose line-of-sight or range either.
• Keep enemies in front of you: player-controlled characters are unable to avoid (dodge or parry) or block damage from enemies that are behind them.
• Mark a DPS order: I have the raid markers (skull, cross, etc) keybound to my F*-keys. This makes it trivial to mark up enemies, and helps your DPS find the targets they are supposed to be killing, which should make it easier for you to maintain threat on everything.
• Master "the pull": there's quite a lot of finesse to tanking, but once you figure out how to get enemies on your good side, everything will suddenly become smooth and shiny for the whole party. :)
• Mind your healer: if your healer is frequently running low on mana, make sure you let them drink-up between each pull. It might be a good idea to "pop your cooldowns" (meaning your damage-soaking self-buffs) at the start of a pull, or whenever your healer is having trouble.

Rules for DPS Players

Low-level DPS players are in too great a position to spoil an experience for tanks. Here would be my suggestions for the death-dealers in a party:

1. Don't die: your ePeen is worth nothing when you are dead. Resurrections and grave-yard runs steal valuable time from the whole group.
2. Watch your threat: this is one of those very simple tips. Reign in your compulsion to kill for just a few seconds while your tank gets a situation under control. Tab-target often so you know you are killing the enemy with the lowest health, which should hopefully be the same target the tank is concentrating on. 
3. Obey raid markers: the convention is to concentrate on the skull-marked enemy first, followed by the cross. I am amazed at how often unmarked enemies die before marked ones.
4. Crowd-control early, interrupt often: the moment your tank pulls, you may have a few moments to CC some of the enemies before they reach him. Depending on the strength of the group, this could save you lots of hassle and make the pull easier on everyone. Enemy casters should be interrupted and/or silenced as often as possible by anyone able to do so. Note that you should never immobilise an enemy when a nearby patrol will come and notice.
5. Defend the healer: if there is an enemy attacking the healer, by all means stop it. You could pull threat on the enemy or CC it, or use healing or defensive spells on the healer. Remember, sometimes the best way to CC an enemy is to just tank it yourself for a few moments.
6. Help your tank: if you have any threat-sharing abilities, you should be giving them to your tank whenever they are available. This is especially necessary if you are approaching or exceeding the tank's level of threat on your target.