Why NOT to Tank

Strangely enough, some prefer to hit others, instead of being hit themselves.

Strangely enough, some prefer to hit others, instead of being hit themselves.

Sometimes you wonder, with tanking being such a fun and rewarding role, why do some people actively avoid it? There are many warriors, paladins, druids, and death knights that don’t even know the first thing about their tanking abilities. I’ve thought of a few reasons that people might not be interested in tanking.

Short-term Responsibility

I remember a conversation I had with a mage, once. I told him that tanking was fun, and asked if he’d ever consider playing a class that could tank. His response somewhat surprised me. He said, “You can screw up as a DPS. You can’t as a tank.”

Tanks have a big responsibility, even in a small group. If you don’t have the gear or the skill to handle an encounter, you will cause a wipe. A bad DPS will either not contribute much damage (poorly geared) or just get himself killed (poorly played). Moreover, you can’t really “carry” a tank. You can bring more damage to make up for bad damage dealers, or more healers to make up for insufficient healing. You can’t split a boss’ attacks between multiple tanks to make that job easier.

Personally, I love the responsibility. It keeps me honest, and keeps me focused. Apparently, though, some people shirk from the spotlight.

Long-term Responsibility

Along with the short-term issues in an instance, you also have a greater responsibility to a raid. In my guild, we require a 90% attendance from everyone, but we expect near 100% for the tanks. The reason is simple, it’s hard to replace a well geared tank, and guilds generally focus their gear towards tanks at the start of a tier to make encounters easier. In other words, they are relying on you and you owe it to them.

Ultimately, it’s for the best if you only have tanks you can count on. A no-show tank can kill a night of raiding.

No Big Numbers

Healers try to get big numbers on their heals. A big crit on a tank, a massive group heal, or just a nice HPS on recount. Damage dealers try to get big numbers on their attacks. A big crit on a boss, a flurry of numbers in AoE, or just nice DPS on recount. Tanks try to get small numbers on their damage. A well timed dodge on a boss attack, taking next to no damage from a big group, or just a small Damage Taken number on recount. See the difference, here? Where everyone else is getting bigger and badder, you just make everything else get smaller and smaller.

Can anyone think of other good reasons why people would avoid tanking?

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