What This Tank Would Like DPS To Know

The rant in the previous post was directed to those who know better.

Now there are those DPS folk that don’t know better, and they shouldn’t be faulted for their behavior when they get frustrated out of a lack of understanding. To them I would like to offer a few basic guidelines for running dungeons, from a tank’s perspective.

1. Tanks get the mobs to focus their attacks on them through threat. Mobs have a threat table which mathematically calculates who in the party is the biggest “threat” to them. Threat can be generated by damage done or even healing. You know how your recount meter builds up to your top dps numbers? The threat table takes a few seconds to build up also. In fact, I recommend using the add-on called Omen, which is to threat what Recount is to damage. Anyway, if you start wailing away, nuking the bad guys before the tank has built his threat up, you will probably be determined to be the biggest threat to them, so they will attack you. That is not good, because they are supposed to attack the tank. Therefore: please give the tank a few seconds to get the mobs mad at him before you start attacking. In the case of a Paladin tank, I would suggest that when you see his consecration, wait 3 seconds. Some Pallys start with consecration, I personally do not. If there are casters in the pack, I prefer to pop an AoE silence to bring them in closer before consecrating. Sometimes the mobs need to be lead to a location other than where they are initially found, hence the term “pull”. Whether it’s a Judgement, a wrist-rocket, a Captain America shield toss, or whatever, there’s usually a few things that build the threat before consecration is dropped, so that’s your safest cue. The real point here is, regardless of whether your tank is a Pally, a Bear, a Warrior, or a Death Knight, it takes time to grab their aggro, so please give them the opportunity.

2. The “pull” is when the tank initially says, “Hey you! Over here! Come get some!” This is usually done in the form of hurting them, aka doing damage. Because of #1 above, this is to be done by the tank, unless he specifically asks for assistance in rare circumstances.

3. As dps, you are watching the mobs’ health, your recount meter, and working your rotation. The tank is watching his mana (or rage, or whatever), his healer’s health and mana, the position of the other party members in case he needs to do some extracurricular taunting, working his rotation and prioritizing change-ups based on the actions of the mobs and the party members, and of course his own health in case he has to hit one of his “Oh No!” buttons. So if the tank is not moving as fast as you think he could, please understand that he may be taking the time to assess the situation for a good reason.

4. The most important party member for the tank is the healer. They are a team within the team. The tank stays alive because of the healer, the party stays alive because of the tank and the healer. So if you notice that the healer let you die because he chose to heal the tank instead, don’t take it personally, it’s simply a matter of “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one.” And if you see the tank slowing down, it may be that he is trying to take stress off of the healer.

5. On the flipside, you may notice that the tank is speeding up. In the case of a Paladin, being healed replenishes mana. Taking damage initiates healing from the healer. So constantly fighting and taking damage maintains a happy level of mana for him. In the case of a Bear, once rage is built up, keeping it there is a good thing, and that is done by continuing to attack. The point being, tanks move at different rates of speed for different reasons, which is why the tank sets the pace for the party. Admittedly, I am a slow tank, perhaps too slow, but I am a “look before leaping, and assess before acting” kind of person. Mostly. Or I may be rambling on in Skype and unwrapping my 42nd candy bar (mana comes in many forms).

6. And finally, if the floor beneath you is changing, it is rarely a good thing, so move. Away from it. Quickly. The less the healer has to focus on your health, the more he can focus on the tank’s.

So in summary:

Please let the tank get the aggro before you start attacking.
Please let the tank make the pulls.
Please let the tank move at his own pace.
Please be mindful of where you’re standing.

Thanks for listening. If just one more dps understands why tanks do what they do and stops griefing them, the World (of Warcraft) will be a better place. And who knows, maybe if tanks get less grief, more people will want to play them and everybody’s queue time will be the same! Wouldn’t that be sweet!