The Human Tanks
You’ve all encountered them, I guess?
The “new” tank primadonnas – the ones that drop out just after the group has zoned into the dungeon, presumably because they don’t like the instance and can’t be arsed running it.
I’ve been around a few of those and every time I see one drop from the group without a word (or with a word in a few cases actually) I have muttered to myself and the group about what a bloody nuisance it is – now we have to stand around for 5-10 minutes before we get another tank from the dungeon finder and can get down to business.
But what if it the drop-out tanks don’t drop our because they think there’s a pea under all the layers of mattresses? What if they have other reasons to drop? Maybe not all, but what if some or perhaps just one or two of them leave the group for another reason than “this instance sucks”.
You see, not all tanks are the 40+ k health variety who have done nothing but run instances since lvl 10 and knows how to hold aggro and chain-pull their way through the dungeon as fast as possible without ever standing in Bad Things.
Some tanks are actually new to the whole tanking business. Maybe they have levelled by questing a lot, maybe they just decided to try out that tank offspec with that dusty tank set they have accumulated over the odd run. Maybe they have just come back to the game after a break and their tanking skills are a bit rusty.
And they are all human. Behind every toon of whatever race there is a human playing it, a human who messes ups and forgets things like the rest of us.
And maybe, just maybe, someone new to tanking or someone feeling a bit rusty tanking does not want to do an instance where they feel they are out on deep water, where there are potentially nasty multi-mob packs with casters, or where there is a tricky boss of some kind, or perhaps where there are dragon flying involved.
Those things are easy when you know how to deal with them – everything is easy when you know how to do it and has done it a million times before – but if you are new to them maybe you don’t want to put yourself through the pain of over-aggroing dps and the verbal abuse that follows when you miss a mob and it wreaks havoc on the rest of the group. Or even the verbal abuse from people inspecting you and finding you wanting.
Somehow the norm for a random heroic seems to have become a tank with a minimum of 30 k health buffed, preferably 35+ k, and woe to the poor tank who does not fill out his plate armour or furry hide to that extent. Because we all know that it is impossible to do a heroic with a lesser geared tank, right?
My warlock was in heroic UK last night with a tank sporting 23 k health buffed, which indicated that he was fairly new to tanking. At the end of the first long passage, the one with the abominations and the mob packs, the tank lost aggro on a mob and it went straight for the healer and flattened him.
PUG Healer has died.
PUG Healer has left the group.
Without a word the healer just ditched us all. One single mistake on the tank’s part and the healer just folded his tent and left. Must be quite encouraging to be practising tanking with such a group.
Later that day my warlock took a trip to heroic ToC and got in a group with a tank having about 25 k health unbuffed. The cat druid in the group lol’d at him and said he had more health than that if he went bear. The tank offered to go dps but of course the druid didn’t want to tank.
It was a new tank and definitely not the best one I have encountered, on the first boss trio he kept two bosses on him throughout the fight but he didn’t even once taunt or attack the hunter, who kept peppering the healer with his arrows. I suggested that the tank range taunt or something, because that hunter’s arrows are pretty painful (been on the receiving end of them a fair few times), and the rest of the group also chimed in with constructive advice like “FFS!”, “Get aggro noob!” and similar. Encouraging and stimulating responses, don’t you think?
I told them to be nice, people has to learn sometime, and we actually got through the run without any more hickups.
I’m not saying we should treat the tanks with silk gloves and fuss over them no matter how bad they are, or that I find it acceptable behaviour to just drop out and leave the rest of the group hanging twiddling their thumbs til the spot is filled again, but being a new tank running PUG randoms must be a very scary and scarring experience.
And if people can’t tolerate even a single wipe how will the new ones ever get confident and learn their stuff?
I know, I know, in a perfect world, tanks would gear up and learn the instances in the normal versions first, they would know the drill before they entered any heroic varieties, they would know how to pull and how to taunt and how to always keep aggro.
Or they can go as dps and roll on tank gear that drops, and use the emblems to purchase even more gear, but even a geared tank is a new tank if he has never practised tanking.
So maybe, just maybe, when a tank drops the group right after having zoned in, it is not because he can’t be arsed to do that particular instance but rather because he has been there before and knows that he will have trouble with something and he knows the healer and/or dps will give him shit for it.
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12 Responses to “The Human Tanks”
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[...] a brilliant, thoughtful post over at Reflections from the Pond, looking at why tanks might drop groups. I really loved this post [...]
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[...] I will stay, I will stick it out because now I want to heal you. If you acknowledge that I’m a real person, with a real name and an equally essential part of this trinity and call me by that name (Cassandri, not “healer”) I will do everything in my power to keep you alive. [...]
Well said – and, yes, it’s far too easy for me to get caught up in hte woes of being a jobbing healer to remember that other people are having a stressful time as well. It infuriates me when people mock and deride others in the LFG system, I mean, people have to start somewhere. Chas and I have actually taken to joking lol-ing each other across the room when we join a new group – so we’ll be like “lol, this tank only has 45k health, what a noob” but, just to yourselves, and just as a joke. I’d happily heal a tank with whatever number of hit points he happened to have. The thing I find problematic is gently nudging new-tanks towards doing things like stopping ranged mobs arrowing my face off – I’m semi-tempted to roll a female toon actually because even obvious newbies rarely take kindly intended nudges from Tam at all well (I’m nice, I’m promise, I’ve never lol-noobed someone, or ffs-ed them).
Tam´s last blog ..Would you sell your pride for 5 minutes?
I know Tam, I have you up as one of the good ones, and the way you stood up for that newbie cow got you a spot on my wall of everyday heroes :-)
Some tanks do actually say they are new to the whole tanking business and are happy to take any advice they can get, while some, well, some don’t.
And it does not help being a female toon in some spots, I had a tank in ToC whose only response after we wiped when I could not heal him and the melee through standing in green goo the entire fight and myself through the ranged attacks (and could definitely not find the time in midfight to politely ask him to move) was “WTF! Noob healer!” and then he dropped the group :-(
This is a great post and a great observation. I know that my boyfriend almost gave up tanking at this stage after a completely disastrous run of HGun. And I feel perfectly miserable if my heals fall short (like they did on my first attempt at HHOR), so how much worse must it be for the tank who is always the first one blamed?
Thanks for bringing me some much needed perspective.
Rhii´s last blog ..Warcraft placebo button
The sad thing is I wonder if all the considerate tanks are too scared of wiping to stick around – thus leaving me (as a healer) with arrogant dickheads who ignore me completely and seem to think that a steady stream of healing will just flow in the moment then enter combat.
For all the tanks that might hesitate because you think your group will abandon you or critise you, I’m going to write my own post in reply.
Treat me like a person and I will have your back. I won’t leave. I don’t care if we replace all the impatient healers grouped with us.
Errr… the impatient DPS*
:)
Cassandri´s last blog ..Revisiting Razorfen Kraul
I have a Pally Tank as my off-spec, and honestly, I’m terrified of running it. I*have* run H VH a couple times, but mainly because it’s relatively easy, and i know *most* of the bosses. (and they’re all just tank & spank)So, I will tank, but ONLY there.
That being said, I could completely understand the “tank droppers”, as you posited them. Sadly, my experience with them dropping (or heals dropping) is because they are “totally imba” and the rest of us are merely adequate.
SlikRX/Balthazario´s last blog ..Porcupine Pie and Other Prickly Things
You know, as someone who has tanked for 3 years on the side, I can more than sympathize with tanks who drop groups. I’ve got a little baby!DK who tanks in iLevel 200 gear, and I have been ripped to shreds and abused by people in 232+ gear.
Why? Because I can’t get aggro back if they pull for me, or go full out on a target I have like 6k threat on. Had a moonkin go absolutely apeshit at me for letting him die when he pulled on purpose.
So yeah. It doesn’t surprise me that some tanks have instances they feel they can’t do with the DPS they get. It’s also not surprising that it seems to be tanks with 40k hp unbuffed who are the real primadonnas, at least in my experience.
Great post, though. It’d be nice if people could remember that said tank isn’t *always* a primadonna for dropping!
If a well-geared tank drops group, you’re better off without him. Who needs the attitude?
The beauty of being a well-geared and competent tank is that you can pretty much get any four toons through most instances (the new ones being exceptions). As long as you get the occasional heal, the group will be fine. You can’t run another random for 15 minutes anyway, why not give it a shot?
I can tell you now, starting to tank heroics is not scary, it’s often just infuriating. My first one was DtK, and I had 22K unbuffed. Once everyone was in, the ‘healer’ paladin ran in and starting DPSing without a word, and when I pointed out that I was supposed to be the tank, he said I should put my tanking gear on. Obviously tanks can’t have less than 25K health, it seems. Then, when I DID try to tank, he failed utterly at healing, and I dropped like a rock on the first trash pack. He left after that and I managed to get a guildie healadin to replace him. After that we had no more problems. I guess he was expecting to be put in a group with an over-geared tank who wouldn’t need much/any healing.
My DK tank is an alt. My main char, my shaman, has a resto spec and I actually ENJOY being put in a group with a lesser-geared tank, as it makes it a nice challenge to keep them alive. A few guildies and I needed a tank for a random heroic and got one with 24k health unbuffed. In Pit Of Saron. He was very nervous and didn’t think he could do it, but with some encouragement he tried anyway. And you know what, we managed it. Sure, we wiped a good few times, but we got there in the end, and had fun doing so.
So to the nervous newly-80 tanks just starting on heroics, good luck, and keep at it! It will be difficult at first, and you’ll get your share of asshats who’ll think you’re inadequate, and huntards who don’t know what misdirect or feign death are for, but soon enough you’ll start getting the gear you need to appear worthy, and as long as you know how to tank you’ll do fine. Plus, sometimes you might even get a good PUG ;)
I’m one of those new DK tanks. I have leveled 2 healers (Druid and Pala) a Warlock and a DK DPS. Figured I should try tanking. So I let my sons starts off as they have nothing stopping them from trying things in the game (me, I’m just too worried not to do a good job) and they managed great in 2 heroics with my DK at 25HP unbuffed. Then I tried, and it worked out OK.
So I was getting more confident and signed up for another heroic and we wiped on the second pack. The healer asked me how much defense I had, and I replied 531 (535 is defense capped in heroics I think). He left the group without a word.
So I made another DK and plan to learn to tank from the start, it’s not always easy to shrug off comments like Learn to play etc.
What amazes me is that noone does CC anymore, now that would really help a new tank :-)