Tank Validation and Accountability

Tanks make mistakes too.

Tanks make mistakes too.

I’ve decided to continue this series on my observations about how different roles are treated. I’ve already hit the big one to me, and that is healing. Next, I plan to point out some of the faults blamed on tanks, including a story from a fellow tank and friend of mine.

Like healing, tanking is often a required role in a group. Not always, at least 98% of the time in 5 mans, but 100% in raids. The short and sweet is that if you do not have a meat shield on the front lines, you are going to become that meat shield. That mound of flesh wrapped in plate (or furry leather) armor is there to get punched in the face repeatedly so you don’t have to. Because of this, they too should be treated with a certain level of respect. In addition to their normal duties, Tanks also often are placed in a position of leadership, whether they like it or not.

For nearly 6 months, I would tank on my Paladin. It was a nice change of pace, but also changed my view of how a tank’s job works. I remember when I first started the dungeon crawl, that the tank was allowed a certain amount of time at the beginning of a pull to gain aggro. This was before threat became such an easy thing to come by. Back when Warriors had to get a certain number of Sunder Armors off before the raid or group even thought about casting anything. Now-a-days, from what I’ve noticed, that is no longer the case. It is now a race to the end of the dungeon, and a test to see who can kill the mob faster. Normally this wouldn’t bother me, as quick runs mean quick rewards, but it can cause problems as well.

Continue reading

Class Previews

This week should be fun.  Blizzard is releasing Cataclysm class previews throughout the week.  I hope to be  all inclusive and begin to provide info for each class as it is released.

Though it may not be paladin related, I will be providing ALL classes in the next few posts.  This post here will be used as a landing ground for each, with small comments and links to the full notes.

Enjoy the info as it becomes available, and please no QQ, I just waxed the floors.

Shaman Class PreviewShaman Class Preview
April 07, 2010
11:00 am CST

Warlock Class PreviewWarlock Class Preview
April 07, 2010
3:00 pm CST

Priest Class PreviewPriest Class Preview
April 08, 2010
2:00 am CST

Warrior Class PreviewWarrior Class Preview
April 08, 2010
11:00 am CST

Death Knight Class PreviewDeath Knight Class Preview
April 08, 2010
8:00 pm CST

Rogue Class previewRogue Class Preview
April 09, 2010
1:00 am CST

Hunter Class PreviewHunter Class Preview
April 09, 2010
11:00 am CST

Druid Class PreviewDruid Class Preview
April 09, 2010
9:15 pm CST

Mage Class PreviewMage Class Preview
April 10, 2010
1:57 am CST

Paladin Class PreviewPaladin Class Preview
April 14, 2010
7:00 am CST