Don't spank the tank

[Nektarious]

I found this posted here http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread....25325334&sid=1 and wanted to repost it here for more people to read. If you tank you will want your randoms to do this stuff.

Guide: Don't spank the tank !

Many people have been asking questions regarding the shortage in tanks.
Therefore I have decided to make a short "guide" on what "prevends" people from tanking/scares tanks away,
and how we ALL can work on the solution (in other words increase the number of people who are willing to tank) , or at least decrease the number of tanks that we scare away.

Targeting and knowing the way in an instance:
A tank is expected to mark the targets. But occasionally it happens that the tank doesn't know which mob is priority. In this case the tank either pretends to know and dashes in, hoping no one will notice so he won't get flamed.
Or, the Tank admits he doesn't know, with a huge chance of getting negative responses. The exact same goes for not knowing the way in an instance.
Those negative responses can easily scare away the tank. Those responses really are unneccesairy.
Instead of flaming the tank, let him/her know that it's good to admit to not know something, and help out. If you have been a Wow-player for a long time, you probably know the instance and the mobs in it by heart, so how much effort and trouble will it be to lead the way, and (help) mark the mobs ?
And you might feel it is not your job to "take over Tank tasks" , but it is your job to work together as a team, and clear the instance as a team.
Nobody benefits from flaming the tank and not helping out.

Not much experience and aggro:
Nobody has instant experience, we all need to learn how things work, and yes we fail at times but eventually will grow. That goes for tanks as well.
Unfortunately, tanks are expected to have instant experience. They are expected to be an expert in holding aggro, taunting of mobs the dps pulled etc.
When a tank admits not to have much experience, don't flame him ( and most certainly do not vote kick him ). Give the tank the chance to earn the experience.
Here are a few tips (things players should know, but appearently don't know).
-Don't pull the mobs, just let the tank pull them. Yes, a tank has abilities to taunt it off, but you'll make tanking a lot harder.
- Give the tank a couple of seconds to get solid aggro before you attack (wait even longer before using aoe attacks).
- Attack the same target as the tank (if the mobs are not marked, keep an eye on your threat meter, switch mobs if your threat level almost reaches the tank's level ).
- Manage your aggro : Cut down on the dps (don't look at your dps meter, not important. I mean would you choose high dps over massive repair bills ? ), or use threat losing abilities if you have them.
- If you do get aggro, don't run away with the mob chasing you. There is (almost) no way the tank will be able to taunt it off you. Just stay or get closer to the tank, so he/she can taunt it off. And stop attacking that mob, to make sure you don't surpass the taunt.

"Low" gear and hitpoints :
Nobody starts off in full epic gear, and most instances do not require it either. Still the tank gets made fun of when he/she has some blue gear.
Instead of flaming the tank, help out a little if you think the tank may have some trouble staying alive.
- If you are a full epic and experienced healer, you should have no trouble to keep up a lower geared tank.
- Dps with some healing abilities can throw in a heal as well if needed ( don't look at your dps meters, not important).
- Use abilities to lower the damage caused by the mobs.
- Use crowd control.

"Gogogogogogogogogogogogogo":
This actually enrages basicly every tank, it's pushing and annoying, and could easily be repaced by: "I'm ready " or "Pull when you are ready".
- If you want your tank to accidentaly let you die, use gogogogo.
- If not, just use a more friendly way to let the tank know you want to move on.
- Give the tank some time to get ready, find out what is the best way to pull the mobs, regain mana/rage etc.
- Keep in mind that the Tank might be waiting for the healer to be on full mana.
- Don't pull. And by that I really mean, don't pull. If you're out of luck, the tank and healer will just let you die.

Don't blame the tank, if:
- the instance doesn't load.
- Your dog ate your homework.
- The healer forgot to heal.
- The dps pulled and wiped the party.
- The dps attacked an entirely different mob and dies.
- The dps used aoe 0.1 second after you pulled and dies.
- The healer went afk.
etc.


Conclusion : Your tank is your friend, be kind and friendly and help out. If you are an imba WoW-player, or one of those players that thinks Wow has become to easy, go do instances with starting tanks, and help out.
You will find the instances more challenging that way, that is the right way to show how imba you are (instead of tearing down someone else), get more people willing to tank, and you won't cause Tank tears on the other side of the screen.
You'll be a Hero !

[Verb]

This is a great list.

I will say, however, that we tanks also can suffer a bit of humility. When I cause a wipe, I own up to it and apologize. Sometimes the healer leaves, but most of the time people undertand.

[Grguch]

True, True, True and True

[Nektarious]

In refference to the "Gogogogogogogogo" my normal reaction is to then either walk the rest of the instance or to pull the next four groups and watch the DPS try to AoE them down, I single target at that point and let them die. I just make sure that the healer doesn't get threat, because this falls into the catagory of if the tank dies it's the healer's fault and if the healer dies it's the tank's fault.

[Bloodgruve]

Gogogogo'rs piss me off the most. I put them on a 2 min penalty for every go.

nontanks that pull are a close second. They get the vote kick or I let them tank

Good post. This could be translated for many other situations also.

Blood~

[Dylis]

nice post, everyone thats not a tank should read this... its not an easy job and most people make it even harder than it is.

[Nektarious]

nice post, everyone thats not a tank should read this... its not an easy job and most people make it even harder than it is.

I'd post this up in the warrior and pally forums, but I don't want three threads of the same thing going.

[Mclotsodots]

CAN I GET AN AMEN!!!!! OMG this is so true. I actually laugh when dps pull cause I am usually running with my wife for heals so she knows not to heal them and I don't taunt I let them die pick up the mobs then she makes them run back while the group keeps going. The run is like the dumb ass penalty box, they can take that time to reflect on why they are not the tank.

[Deleted]

As a tank, I partly disagree with this post. Assuming you mean heroics, there's an insane number of downright crap tanks out there and it's not the groups problem to boost them. There's no need to mark, even with poor gear, basically all tanks press 3-4 buttons and taunt and they hold most of the mobs on them without a problem. It's not rocket science.

However, that said one part that I strongly agree with is the ninjapullers and would also like to add army of the dead, god I hate that:P Other than that, good luck getting aggro off me apart from taunts..

[Mercadi]

if the healer dies it's the tank's fault.

Some healers are plain stupid and stand in cleave/fires/poison clouds, and die. Or not listening to my suggestions about positioning.

[Nektarious]

As a tank, I partly disagree with this post. Assuming you mean heroics, there's an insane number of downright crap tanks out there and it's not the groups problem to boost them. There's no need to mark, even with poor gear, basically all tanks press 3-4 buttons and taunt and they hold most of the mobs on them without a problem. It's not rocket science.

However, that said one part that I strongly agree with is the ninjapullers and would also like to add army of the dead, god I hate that:P Other than that, good luck getting aggro off me apart from taunts..

This is more for the benifit of none tanks, not tanks. And if you haven't run into these situations consider yourself blessed.

[Dedweight]

Some healers are plain stupid and stand in cleave/fires/poison clouds, and die. Or not listening to my suggestions about positioning.

I believe he was referencing situations where the tank could prevent the death, stupid players standing in avoidable damage is a completely different scenario.

[Pieterman]

gogogogogogogo means i loose aggro to them

[Deleted]

in most instances i mark the target i will attack first with the skull (only on stronger groups of course) so the tank can prepare to use a taunt on it. that is my way of supporting the tank^^

and in case he/she doesnt know the way, i use minimappings to show them.

[Cheezee]

If you really want to mess with the hunter/rogue who likes to pull for you then wait for them to cast MD or tricks and just as they're about to open up on a new pack teleport out of the instance for a quick 15-20 seconds. Extra points if it's a guild rogue or hunter.

[aftermidnight]

DPS pulling is my #1 enrage; I've gotten to the point with them that I simply don't taunt and rather, stand there while I calmy type "You spank it, you tank it."

Smart-asses are a close second with a recent encounter on my 68 warrior in UK.
People complaining about my lack of defense gear to start off with (I cant help outlands hardly has any!) followed by, in my case, a 73 rogue instantly going all out.
I ask "Please target my target" and they go "Please hold aggro", I said "Read above" as he replied with "Read above " <= smileyface FFFF-
RAGE

[Oajng]

I guess I dont suffer from any bad things while during heroic (Im a bear tank)

I always go max speed in dungeons. Kill a group, go to the next one.
I also do heroics with my dps gear (Almost 100% passive ArP), unless I look at the healer and see that he is not well geared for heroics. So I pretty much never lose aggro. Non-Mitigated Swipes ftw!

[The Madgod]

As a tank, this is definately one of the better lists to DPS that i've read on how not to be a jerk to the tank. We can screw you much more than you can screw us (cuz we got the healers on our side :P)

This is a great list.

I will say, however, that we tanks also can suffer a bit of humility. When I cause a wipe, I own up to it and apologize. Sometimes the healer leaves, but most of the time people undertand.

Of course. The list just says that you should give your tank more respect and to make the run smoother for everyone involved, not carry them or let them make all the mistakes they want. it'd be irresponsible if we caused a wipe and blamed it on someone else.

CAN I GET AN AMEN!!!!! OMG this is so true. I actually laugh when dps pull cause I am usually running with my wife for heals so she knows not to heal them and I don't taunt I let them die pick up the mobs then she makes them run back while the group keeps going. The run is like the dumb ass penalty box, they can take that time to reflect on why they are not the tank.

haha soo true man, thats how i want to do my heroic runs with my friend when he finally gets his bloody account. He's going to be rollin a resto shammy, and im already working on leveling a prot warrior. It'll be fun to see the dumber DPS just rage at the consequences of their stupidity.

[Reg]

Or tanks should simply man up and take opportunities like DPS pulling to increase their skill at picking up multiple mobs and learning how to tank. When I tank, I love it when DPS are so gung ho to kill shit that they move at a good pace. I also find it helps me out because it allows me to be better prepared for those "Oh shit" moments. Stop whining about DPS pulling and l2tank, because not everything in this game goes smoothly.

[aftermidnight]

Or tanks should simply man up and take opportunities like DPS pulling to increase their skill at picking up multiple mobs and learning how to tank. When I tank, I love it when DPS are so gung ho to kill shit that they move at a good pace. I also find it helps me out because it allows me to be better prepared for those "Oh shit" moments. Stop whining about DPS pulling and l2tank, because not everything in this game goes smoothly.

Key words in bold.
Be a passive tank and it'll get to you; too.