The tank’s dream group – how to make things easier
So you’ve tanked some little bit by now, just there are runs where you feel like floating from boss to boss to pick up the loot and others where every single trash group is a pain, and that in the very same instance? Then the following might interest you.
There’s more to baking than having an oven
Basically what you know is: Every group needs a tank and a healer. Fill the rest with dps. Go rule some monsters. Wrong. There’s a huge difference as to which dpsers you have, and what class is healing. You should do some research on other classes, their abilities (and disabilities, for that matter). It’s not only making it harder for you to predict what’s going to happen if you don’t know about your fellow adventurers, but if you make this obvious you also embarass yourself.
Know your healer
Knowing the healer’s abilities makes it easier to see if he knows what he does. Check the class forums or whatever source you prefer and make yourself familiar with the healer’s major spells. If he uses others, ask him why. If you’re getting nervous because he lets you go down to 10% life on every other mob group, ask him why. And I don’t mean “ask why” in a way like “hey, idiot, can’t you heal as I expect you to?”, but really asking why. He might have reasons. Probably you’re a total noob on getting aggro and if he would heal you anywhere before that 10% health point, he’d be oneshot by that axe-swinging orc guy. And he may uses other spells because he’s using an experimental build. You can’t know.
How about Crowd Control?
There’s lots of CC available. However, the first question should be: Do I need CC? And if so, how much? Usually having one CC ability in your group will make everything go a liitle smoother. And as a matter of fact it’s not easy to end up in a group without any CC, so chances are you’ll have some. Just once again: Know the abilities. Know which class can do which CC and know the limitations. It’s all about knowledge.
What you should know and do, but probably forget every time building a group
You are dealing with people here, human beings. While some might not care if their character gets labelled “not useful”, others could care. Don’t upset people. Be fair. If you have concerns, ask. If you don’t want someone for whatever reason ask yourself if it’s worth the effort finding somebody better suited. Don’t fuck with people. Don’t ignore answers to your search just because they are “the wrong class”. When running the instance you should try to help & talk rather than to flame. Especially as a tank you should be the one in control, not only of the situation but just as much of yourself. Don’t scream and don’t flame & blame publicly. Ask with a whisper what the problem is.
What you should do and probably don’t do every time you’re having a real idiot with you
Some just don’t get it. There are some PvP guys who don’t have a clue about what they do, pull Aggro, do stupid things and – those are my favorites – will blame you, because you’re a noob. There’s nothing wrong with PvP gear, as long as the player knows what to do, or takes some advice and doesn’t pretend to know better, screwing the run for the rest of the group. If you happen to have an idiot in your group don’t engage in a flame battle, but make your point clear to the whole group. “MegaNukerFiremage makes this run a hard time. I’d prefer going on without him, how about you guys?”. Oh, by the way, a name can tell a lot, so if MegaNukerFiremage answers your lfm-request, you better double-check …
Come on already, the dream group!
Odds are: There’s no dream group. It really depends on the instance, equip and skill. However here are my two cents for my dream group:
- Druid Healer (constant soft heals, no mana problems, resurrect in fight, good survivability in emergencies)
- Mage (sheep, cookies, caster-buff, some good utility – every group’s darling)
- Shadow Priest (group heal, group mana, great buffs, mind control, shackle, can heal in emergencies, can resurrect, fear ward, fade for aggro management – really, those guys have it all)
- Rogue (sap, blind, lockpicking, stealth, good aggro management abilities)
- or, instead of a Rogue, a shaman (totems for group buffing, flexible skillset)
I prefer ranged dps, for whatever reason. Your mileage may vary.
Recommended Reading
- Instance Grouping Guide @ WowWiki.com