This post is inspired on my recent experiences with running Timewalking dungeons (20 or so) in random groups. As a DPS, I couldn’t help but notice three different types of tanks in those groups:
TYPE #1: “I Have No Idea Where to Go” Tanks
These guys may be totally new to tanking or just new to the instances in question, but they would have to have others tell them where to go. They wouldn’t know which mob groups to skip or which shortcuts to take, almost wandering aimlessly at times. I’m the patient type, so I didn’t mind them that much as long as the dungeon eventually gets cleared, and there are no leavers.
TYPE #2: “I’m Going to Run Like Heck and Pull the Entire Dungeon” Tanks
These were the worst to get. They’d often leave DPS or even the healer behind, fighting off mobs alone from wandering patrols or what have you. They’d tend to pull like 20 trash mobs all the way to the boss room, to not be able to hold threat on them all, and to end up dying, leaving the rest of the group to finish the fight. Seriously, I had one tank who died like three or four times in the dungeon from pulling way too many mobs, negating any time he was trying to save with the big pulls as we waited for him to be rezzed and healed up yet again. If you’re this type, you come off as annoying to others in the group, not cool or competent.
TYPE #3: “I’m a Team Player Who Knows His Job” Tanks
These are the optimal ones to get. They know where they are going, they move at a steady pace, but they will also stop to make sure that everyone is caught up and healed before proceeding. They’ll also keep an eye out for mobs that are attacking others and pull them instead of leaving people in the back to fend for themselves. If you are the Type #1, strive to be this type with practice.
Did I leave any other types off of the list?
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I usually pull the entire hallway then stop until its dead then move to the next one so, what am I? Also, if overgeared people are pulling like a frieght train, theyre prob level boosters getting paid and doing it as quickly as possible.
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Sadly type 3s are a dying breed.
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Only a dying breed because DPS have forced tanks new and old to run like that or get kicked.
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Type 2 is by far anda away the best to have… let’s get the dungeon done and over with, this isn’t an M+, so type 3 ain’t needed and type 1 ain’t acceptable, I’ll just leave if the pace doesn’t get picked up.
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I need to mark my territory.
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Speaking as a solely dps player, no. We don’t want it.
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Type 2/3 hybrid I’d say. Such as myself. I pull a few groups at once and then find a place to line-of-sight them so the DPS can do their thing.
Because despite what those who complain about fast tanks claim, it is possible to pull both quickly and sensibly. We aren’t all MoP remix demon hunters.
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Whenever I’m able to heal, I want the type 2 every time… is it chaotic? Yes… but I just want big pulls, big damage, let’s get this done as quick as possible… at least in que based content.
I want your type when I’m in M+ lol
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Fair. I just thought the idea of type 2 was that it pulled too much and got itself and everyone else killed.
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Pulling a hallway is totally fine IMO. It’s when tanks pull the entire hallway into the boss room and then pull the boss at the same time that it becomes a problem.
While line of sighting the healer and locking people out.
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Yes, I ran a Stratholme tonight where the tank locked all of the DPS out of the Baron fight. We just sat outside and waited while he very slowly ground the boss down over a few minutes. Fortunately for him, the healer made it in right when he pulled, so they two-manned the whole fight.
In one Dire Maul run, the healer was left trailing last in the moving group often while the tank charged through the twisting hallways way out of sight.
The chain pulling tank, someone who starts at a decent size group and continues to pull when they can, i.e. when the casters are dead or the group can handle more enemies.
There is also a pseudo the 5th tank, which is actually tank 1, but someone who is geared and knows their way around a dungeon, but has no idea on routes. They think they are God’s gift to this game but somehow pull too much or not enough simultaneously while being so bad it somehow stresses out the DPS and confuses the healer.
Many type 3 tanks are not pulling ‘up to their groups needs’, but simply pulling what they can handle, or 1-2 groups at a time. Type 2 and 3 can be the same person, pull like hell up to the point their group can handle it.
Type 1 and 2 can also be the same person, someone who knows nothing and pulls like a madman, and is almost certainly under geared, but seen 5 minutes of an MDI and watched a 20 minute Quazii video on Advanced Theroretical Tanking and now think they are the Neil DeGrasse of tanking.
IMO the chain pulling is the best one, knows the routes, knows the groups capabilities, knows how much to pull and when to keep pulling, when to slow down, when to stop and let the group catch up, what to pull to ensure nothing can go wrong and overall just give the smoothest tanking for the group.
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Yeah, there’s definitely a spectrum involved instead of just three distinct types with many players falling in-between or being a hybrid of those types. I mentioned only the three types because most the tanks I recently encountered fit them pretty well, and it seemed like a good starting point for the discussion.
Whenever I come across a 3, i will take down their name and they will become a go to tank. But that is a damn unicorn these days. And I don’t think it is the tank’s fault. it is the general nastiness of players.
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mixture of 2 and 3 is the best. pulling huge, keeping aggro on everything, is a rare sight to behold, and wonderful for dps to burst down.
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I was fortunate enough to get a few #3’s tonight, so they do exist. Having a #3 immediately followed by a #2 is a stark contrast though with the run having a very different vibe, especially when the over-pulls cause unnecessary deaths or wipes which interrupt the run. Avoidable deaths/wipes aren’t fun.
That’s the nice thing about being a NE hunter with a Brazier of Awakening.
When the party gets too crazy, I can just FD, watch them die, then rez the healer. and hope they learned something. I may or may not be giggling the whole time.
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Type #4: “I have zero self preservation and will be pulling regardless of the cooldowns of my group, or myself”
These shiners are often found on the FotM tank of the patch, or a Vengeance Demon Hunter. They have a significant crossover with a type 2 tank, but will still try to keep threat, throwing their entire kit at a single pack with reckless abandon, and die the very next pack without serious intervention from the rest of their group. Also often seen on bears who never shift out of bear form, even between packs, or on prot warriors who only know how to hold forward at the expense of their own wellbeing, they thrive in situations where pulls go well, but falter the second they would have to deviate from their warpath of anything in front of them. With a good amount of training, these players will become a type 3, or if left alone, will regress to a type 2 entirely. Bless their lil’ hearts. They should probably download OmniCD to track party cooldowns, and a Weakaura pack that covers their own character until they learn to track their own.