So tanks are in high demand

Community General Discussion
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I tank as my main role, I always have loot spec set to tanking unless I specifically want something else, like a healing weapon or (DPS) trinket. But I very rarely outside of guild runs offer to DPS or heal when pushing content.

But I see a lot of posts outside of these forums where people talk about how hard it is to tank, not so much the tanking perspective, but the other players being trolls. I even just watched a video in an M21 where the DPS after the second pull where harking on the tank which just ended up in the group disbanding.

The best two things I have ever read about tanking is:

  • If you have never tanked than you have no idea what the tanks perspective is
  • Be nice to tank, we have to learn a lot more than other classes

One thing I hate about tanking is in line with that first point, but also an issue with Blizzard is that the default nameplates do not show aggro, nor does anyone who does not tank know which mobs even have an aggro table. Like the mobs in JY or UR (or any other mob that will attack whoever they feel like), you can taunt them all you want, it makes no difference. Too many times I have seen players run, healers included, and run directly into another group, or in a healers case because they are running they stop healing.

One thing that would help immensely is to have aggro colours on the default nameplates, and not just red or blue (or whatever two colours people use), but varying colours. Like I use green for mobs that cannot be aggro’d so I know that mob needs to be focused before they make a mess.

The other issue is more of a player issue. Please be nice to tanks, they do have to learn a lot. They need to know what all the mobs in all dungeons can do and what routes need to be taken. And especially on M+ with the changing affixes it can change what route we need to take. Bolstering, raging, bursting, necrotic, explosives and grievous all make the route we take different with each affix, we not only need to know the basic route, but we need to know the advanced routes per affix.

We need to know the mobs % and come SL in season 1 this is going to again be crucial with the 20% trigger points. Than with each new season we need to learn again a new M10 affix and how it fits with each dungeon. 8 dungeons in SL to start with, that’s 8 basic routes and an ever changing route with each affix, add in TW and we need to know the old dungeons too, that ain’t easy. There is raiding if you do that, take into account you have no idea the capabilities of the group you are running with if you pug, add in the dungeon skips that can be done and it’s no wonder some tanks don’t run the optimal route and can be a little slower than others.

We already have a shortage of tanks. If more people were nice to them, or if more people actually decided to tank instead of being that guy, it might help to know why some people do what they do when they tank.

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I’ve been playing WoW for a month and have been debating playing a tank… Very scary though.

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I’ll tank rather people are nice to me or not. They can wait in que for another tank if they want.

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Make friends with tanks and seldom will you be a week without a key.

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Tanking is not a difficult role to play. In fact, it might be the easiest role to play in the game. The “difficulty” comes from the knowledge and experience burden that tanks carry, almost singularly.

I can heal a +17 of a dungeon I’ve literally never set foot in and probably be okay. Don’t stand in bad, take stuff out of the group, keep everyone alive, awesome. I don’t need to know the mobs or the layout of the dungeon, I don’t need to know the route, I don’t need to know the percentages of trash completion, I don’t need to know the shroud or awakening skips, or the boss mechanics, or frankly anything other than how to heal. Healing is by far the most demanding group role, but admittedly the knowledge burden is low.

Tanking is dead-easy. Having the knowledge and experience you need to properly tank and time a +20 isn’t, necessarily.

I’ve written about the knowledge-burden of tanks being the primary reason we have a tank shortage many times in the past 10 years or so (the second is the lowest-common denominator of needing 2 tanks for a 25man raid group but that’s for another thread). Some people say opening up more tank specs will increase the number of tanks - which is a ridiculous contention. We have six. We don’t need more. The reason people are reluctant to tank is the knowledge-burden.

Granted, this has very little to do with how people treat each other. A “nice” community wouldn’t relieve or absolve this burden.

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I’m nice to tanks who behaves and/or performs in a way that deserves pleasant treatment, and I’ll be extra abrasive to tanks who do not, yet still expects some kind of special treatment.

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Sigh…they are not…if anything its healers, ptr sure has proved that healers are getting the stick up the…

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Difficulty is subjective and contextual. I can tank a +17 without a healer on my DK. The DPS can survive most weeks without one too if they do what they should.

A good group can carry a bad healer up until about +20.

That being said… It isn’t easy to be a good tank. Nor is it easy to be a good healer or DPS. Folks would do well to remember that in challenging content everyone is important and everyone must do their job correctly or you will have a bad time.

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Based on what you’re saying, it sounds like m+ is the issue. The way I see it, since keys can downgrade and m+ is end game content, people get heavily invested into it. Hence why so much drama comes out of it.

This is where being a filthy casual becomes superior. Join us and you too, can chill with the rest of us whilst stopping at the dizzying heights of a +3 :crazy_face:

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It’s not scary. When you get into a run just tell people you are new to the game. Preface the run before it starts. If people’s little brains can’t handle playing with a new tank then they can leave and be childish somewhere else.

You had to learn to heal or dps and tanking is no different.

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when i’m not tanking i turn my brain off and follow the group like a sleepwalker. That’s how easy it is not to tank lol

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Well this late in the expansion I had to stop tanking or healing for pugs. I run my own keys only. The worse groups I found are the guild groups that can’t find a tank. There is a reason no one in their guild will tank for them. LOL

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Not very often do I post, but this one just made my day. I do not tank but have great respect and patience for those that do. There is so much to know and the variances (just by group composition alone) that make each run challenging. My sincerest respect and admiration to all those who are good tanks and to those doing their best to learn.

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I actually enjoy tanking in most content, but I don’t main a tank. Having to memorize different routes for all the different dungeons is more effort than I have the time and energy to put into a game.

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I agree with op…its mostly the fact that alot of people in pugs expect the tank to not be new to the dungeon and know all there is to know.

Something im thinking about is waiting till sl to dive back into tanking content again. Runs will be new dungeons for everyone…hopefully make people more understanding and patient. Idk…

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This is a good post. I agree that tanking is easy, it’s really about knowing how the dungeon works. That’s the main reason I dislike tanking, knowing what to CC as a DPS is not too hard on me and I’m good at it but that + % pathing and plenty of other things without knowing how to properly learn them is what keeps me away from maining a tank. I was doing fine in +12’s and under with my undergeared warrior back in s3 with a group of friends (shout out to my healer :slight_smile: ) but even with better gear I would have needed to learn more if I wanted to push higher keys.

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This really can go either way. I’ve mained a healer of some kind for awhile now. What I have found is that a new tank who can take direction is preferable for me vs the I think I know everything so I’ll run ahead and do stuff but so far ahead I get killed and blame everyone else.

I see the second more often. Cocky tanks who run and pull a bunch of avoidable mobs. Get swarmed blame everyone else and leave.

A tank recently ran into freehold pulled all the mobs on his mount was so far ahead he was almost dead. I got there managed to kee him and the party up. Then he runs into the boss while we are fighting the trash and we die. I said “that trash was all avoidable you didn’t need to do that”
And they said F off and left the group. Like bro. Get out your feelings for a bit.

If you want to tank I respect you. I tanked for 3 expansions and hate it now. If you want to rush ahead and can survive until we get there I got mad respect. But don’t do things unnecessarily just to speed run it. A good tank is worth their weight in gold.

You made some valid points that we can’t always tell which mob you can pull Aggro from.

But honestly the biggest jerks out there tend to be the tanks. They get Defensive(pun intended ) when you try to help or vote to kick you because they are doing something wrong and don’t want to hear what you have to say.

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People keep saying this, and I don’t recognize it. Everyone in my guild who both tanks and heals agrees that tanking is far more stressful than healing in 5 mans, even in dungeons everyone knows well. It’s more stressful because there’s more to manage - ultimately, because it’s more difficult.

I have noticed that warrior tanks don’t have as much of a tendency to say tanking is easy. Are people saying tanking is easy because most tank specs, not including warriors, have a simple rotation? In that case, it’s not that tanking is easy, it’s that bear/protpally/whatever are easy.

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Find better guild.

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