Analysis Of Why Tanks Are Underplayed

[Tahbitha-kilrogg]

I worked really hard on my Druid to learn to tank in M+ Season 1. I spent months running instances night after night up to M +9. And got good at it, really good.

Before I started trying the levels where the affixes became a part of the dungeons, I did everything I could to learn how to do them as a tank in advance. I ran them as a DPS. I watched every YouTube video and read every guide I could find. I downloaded every addon I could find that might help. I studied harder for this than I did when I was going for my Professional Engineering license (which I passed).

Then I started my first instance with the seasonal affix and the first time the run deviated from the very specific exact pattern the DPS started cursing me out and left.

And THAT is why there’s a tank shortage.

[Pinar-stormrage (Pinar)]

Make shamans earth elemental a tank and suddenly theres no shortage of tanks. #rockyboi4newtank

[Katahnkah-bloodhoof (Katahnkah)]

@Hówárd-moon-guard

And you cannot practice as a tank if you are a solo player. because if you try to do a regular or even a low M+ most people will judge you to death.

I love playing my Prot. warrior! Charging and smacking things in the face with my shield, watching them slap me with their silly weak hits as I punish them for their foolishness. I love entering a “Defeat the dangerous foes of XX” and helping random folk I see there get their kills. in or out of a group, if you help me kill it, iʻll tank it for you ( ill try at least)

What I don’t like is the atmosphere of a PUG. Where random folk will judge you critically for your efforts. (perhaps they have a tank and are used to running this very instance in a very efficient manner or whatever)
It seems as though no one has anything nice to say but when an insult or critical judgment comes to mind they can’t seem to keep their comments constructive.

So yeah I love playing my prot. warrior but I draw the line at PUGs.
Nope, don’t want any of that.

[Einerus-emerald-dream]

I’ve actually been considering going back to tanking. My biggest qualm with it is that i’d then be basically useless in pvp…and being frank I don’t like that tanks have to rely on gimmicks to survive in pvp. That’s something that needs to be rectified.

As for everything else…I mean the tank shortage started around Cata. Being a tank here doesn’t feel rewarding in the slightest, especially if you compare it to FFXIV where I have mained tank since Heavensward it just feels better there. Granted ESO’s tanking felt worse, but that’s irrelevant. I think the biggest problem when it comes to tanking here is that it just doesn’t feel good, and the flak you take as a tank is well…pepega. I tanked for years here from 2004-2012…and that’s when I stopped really playing. I have mained tank in every other game that i’ve played though except ESO.

[Argorwal-ysera (Argorwal)]

@Tydrielion-madoran

It starts with the community. As long as the community continues with the toxicity towards tanks, trash talking them, kicking them from runs just because they’re learning or they’re not going GOGÓ speed or not allowing them a learning curve then we will continue to see them dwindle. Ask yourself " why don’t I role a tank character" and you’ll get your answer. A lot of responsibility and accountability that no one wants. They just assume they’ll dps and someone else will Tank. In that regards it’s just not worth the abuse to role a tank.

There is some nuance here.

Runs get pushed to “go go go” because…well, they can.

In leveling and heroic dungeons the mobs are so toothless there isn’t really any fear in pulling multiple packs.

Also, there is no real waiting around for resources in these dungeons. Dps and tanks have infinite, and healer mana isn’t overly taxed.

And all tanks can aoe threat.

So there isn’t the natural downtime between packs that used to be more common in older expansions.

I’ll use TBC classic as an example solely because it’s active now and not as prone to memory fog and nostalgia.

Even in a leveling dungeon like Blood Furnace the dungeon pace is much slower for a few reasons.

1. Tanks can’t aoe threat, so pulling multiple mobs is difficult sans Prot Paladins.

2. Dps and healer mana runs out fairly quickly, making prolonged fights harder to finish.

3. Related to mana, many of the mobs auto attacks hit the tank fairly hard and needs constant healer attention. This is tied to running out of mana, and also is compounded by multiple enemies auto attacking the tank.

4. Most dps classes doesn’t have great cleave or aoe damage to bring down large packs fast.

These aspects (and likely others) all combine to a much slower, pull by pull, approach to dungeons that allows for more natural breaks, time to chat, etc.

My disclaimer is I’m not advocating a return to this style, mythic+ is fun, just trying to add details on why things have changed beyond just “player attitude”

[Calenwyr-stormrage]

In classic and TBC the tank shortage is because the tanks are already geared and dont need anything from the content you want to run.

In retail it is similar if your doing a 15 your tank choices are Steve (who needs 8 15s for his vault and is already KSM), Bob (who needs your dungeon to get KSM), Larry (who hasnt actually done a 15 yet) or Bruce (a guildy willing to play down from his normal +25 for you to get a vault).

Obviously Steve will get his 8 runs first with higher io, Bob might take a few tries to get the right dungeons this week, Larry will probably time 30-40% of the dungeons he joins. Bruce will sweep in on Monday and fix you up with a key.

Now Bruce would probably pug a 15 if it was worth something to him, (hell he probably sells 15s on the side)

The issue with WoW content is always unequal rewards someone has everything from the content you want to do so why would they participate in it with you?

[Hunglo-cenarius]

Maybe you should leave that guild. If people are going to act like that then just find different people to play with.

[Wariya-stormrage (Wariya)]

@Jingyi-stormrage

Solutions to fix the tank shortage:

• Make AI dps and Heals

The end

[Argorwal-ysera (Argorwal)]

@Calenwyr-stormrage

In classic and TBC the tank shortage is because the tanks are already geared and dont need anything from the content you want to run.

In retail it is similar if your doing a 15 your tank choices are Steve (who needs 8 15s for his vault and is already KSM), Bob (who needs your dungeon to get KSM), Larry (who hasnt actually done a 15 yet) or Bruce (a guildy willing to play down from his normal +25 for you to get a vault).

Obviously Steve will get his 8 runs first with higher io, Bob might take a few tries to get the right dungeons this week, Larry will probably time 30-40% of the dungeons he joins. Bruce will sweep in on Monday and fix you up with a key.

Now Bruce would probably pug a 15 if it was worth something to him, (hell he probably sells 15s on the side)

The issue with WoW content is always unequal rewards someone has everything from the content you want to do so why would they participate in it with you?

This is true, but the ratio of dps to tanks is still way off which drives the shortage.

You say all the tanks are already geared and don’t need anything from the dungeons as a reason.

Why doesn’t that logic apply to dps and healers?

Shouldn’t they be already geared and not need the dungeon as well?

At the end of the day tank/healer/dps ratios of the people trying to pug dungeons is vastly different than the required 1/1/3 ratio it takes to run the dungeons.

[Adaia-moon-guard]

Tanking is the easiest role by far. Dps and Healers have to do a lot more to be effective. The perceived pressure of being the “leader” is why people don’t tank. It’s not hard.

[Galassin-stormrage]

Why I don’t like to tank/quit tanking even though I want to tank:

have to study up on routes for every dungeon and the changes made to routes because of affixes

I have to worry about people ripping threat off me.

I have to worry about people pulling more mobs onto me when my cds are down.

Dps not interrupting, ever.

Man. If I could just get into a dungeon and just worry about my rotation and cds, I’d be a happy camper.

[Calenwyr-stormrage]

I would say the number of people who could tank is > 30% of the player base (playing a class with a tank spec) the number that actually tank is probably less than 10% once again due to unequal rewards

For example if I want to tank I have a bunch of trash trinkets and not enough vers and haste (and way too much mastery and crit). Because stat weights are massively different between tank and dps for some classes I need a whole second gear set to tank (new rings, amulet, trinkets, waist, wrist) also would need a second unity legendary with the right stats. So you have effectively nearly doubled my gear requirements for a spec I would then need to relearn the dungeons on.

Raid tanking is different if I jump into the heroic raid with my current gear (and dps trinkets) I can tank with no issues but if I want to do 15s and higher I really need tanking gear

[Pyra-scarlet-crusade]

@Brocknor-hellscream

This is true of every class, and I’ve been outspoken about it for at least a decade.

This game needs a way to let people PRACTICE without WASTING OTHER PEOPLE’S TIME.

Isn’t this why the Proving Grounds exist?

[Rita-velen]

@Jingyi-stormrage

Tanks should get rewarded an extra loot piece or some sort of rewarding incentive that would make it more played. Tanks share the same loot chances as dps and healers so there is really no incentive to play a tank other than instant fast queues and everyone wanting you.

Disagree, you want tanks to gear up and stop playing regular key levels even faster?

Same as the “give tanks more xp so there are more of them in leveling dungeons” idea. The same amount will tank, possibly a few more. But they will do it less frequently than other roles and the problem becomes even bigger.

[Hoheh-quelthalas]

I’ll just repeat to what everyone is saying.

At the end, the main reason for the tank shortage is the pressure for being the leader. It’s also about the commitment needed (in a guild, being “the tank” is a kind of special spot that comes with added expectations).

I’d also add that there’s another factor (not so important as the previous ones) and that’s the spec’s fantasy. I love the tank role, I’ve tanked since TBC, but I also like the fantasy of being an intelligence based individual that uses the arcane or some other tricks to outsmart his enemies. And currently there’s no tank that plays with that fantasy. Monk kinda did to some extent, but being a drunk monk isn’t really where my fantasy is going.

If there was a wider variety of fantasies for tanks (I know, you’re supposed to be “bulky”), I think the role would also end up attracting more people.

Currently you have:

• 3 warrior types, strength based, heavy armor big dudes.
• 1 bear (kinda magic based, but only to become a bulky bear).
• 1 drunk guy, still a physical fighter.

Maybe a dragon that can invoke the power of the dragonflights would be a good addition? I don’t know.

[Arthaedeus-stormrage]

The current incentive reward needs to be increased.

[Calenwyr-stormrage]

The only real incentive that would work is gold though.

You give tanks extra gear they finish gearing faster and run less dungeons.

You decrease number of vault slots needed if you tank, they run less per week.

The only change would be Blizzard effectively paying people gold (which could turn into a sub) to tank. However your still going to get a bunch of high ilvl people without tanking gear to tank then.

[Annastasi-proudmoore]

@Jingyi-stormrage

I know some don’t agree with this but it is the truth. If more classes had the option to be a tank then obviously people would start playing tanks more

things aren’t true just because you stomp your feet and declare that they are.

@Jingyi-stormrage

A solution would be to add in raid mechanics that require there to be 3/4 tanks, if not they’ll be punished for it via raid wide dmg.

I am a tank.
I have been a tank since BC.

I detest fights that require more than 2 tanks. This would be my exit from the game.

@Hewer-kelthuzad

Tanking for randoms isn’t fun

this. this right here is 100% of why there is a “tank shortage”

there is no tank shortage. there’s a shortage of people who want to put up with crappy pugs.

[Arthaedeus-stormrage]

I agree that tanks shouldn’t be geared faster because in the long run there will be less tanks in LFD due to already being geared. Additional gold sounds good for an incentive for tanks to me. Something needs to be done by next expansion though since the new class/race can’t be tanks.

[Calenwyr-stormrage]

I mean overall the new race/class has little bearing on tanks.

For example I switch from maining dk (in which I need to play melee dps as we have 2 tanks) to maining the new class I now have a ranged dps main and a dk alt which I will run as a tank (because I can now just get 1 gear set and do m+ with him).

So in theory for every tank main you lose you also get people who couldn’t tank on their old mains who can tank now.