Business Time recently went through a lull where it felt like our team was not pulling in the same direction. It was as if the team was no longer striving to achieve the same objective. There was laissez faire, an obnoxious aura of accepting less than our best. The officers met and we decided to meet with everyone one on one and do a review of their performance with notes on where we’d like to see some improvement, whether it be attitude or performance. The results were good, there was noticeable improvements in the whole team’s performance.
The reason why I bring this up is because as the Tanking Officer, I was asked to review the performance of our little team of three. So before I could do these reviews, I had to figure out for myself what is our goal. What do we, as tanks, need to achieve?
We need to aim to be exceptional.
Alright, exceptional is all well and good, but what does that even mean?
I’ve been fortunate to tank with excellent tanks in the past. Noodlestein and Idkittens were tanks who could turn a complete mess of an attempt and somehow pull a victory even if 7 out of 10 players lay on the ground at the end. I remember an example of Id’s quick thinking on our first Halfus heroic kill when we had lost all the healers in the last few percents and he activated Slate (not part of the plan) who stunned Halfus just long enough for us to pull a kill.
Those two guys, I would always assign them the toughest jobs because I knew they’d learn it faster than anyone else. These examples and many others are to me what denotes an exceptional tank. I often refer to players like these as people who make their class sing. It’s sheer beauty to behold. This should be any tank’s goal: To be the one that is always asked to do the toughest jobs.
A good tank will generate solid threat. He/She will know the fights, know how and when to move the bosses and where to position them. They will use their cooldowns and communicate well with their teammates.
Where an exceptional tank shines is in the small details that while sometimes not necessary will make the fights smoother and sometimes will change the tide of a battle. They will be lightning quick on picking up those adds on Rhyolith. Their dps will be high, contributing favourably to the teams goal of beating an enrage timer. When not being the active tank, they will switch to berserker stance, drop righteous fury, switch to cat or frost/unholy to help with the new tank gain aggro while still hitting as hard as they can. As a warrior, you can also intervene the tank you’re taunting off of to lower their threat, maximize their dps and mitigate some damage. They will be able to kite a boss around a room so fast as to make the healers swear.
The list could go on. For us, we made ourselves a list of things we wanted to improve. For one, it was to practice his kiting and his movement as a whole. He needed to learn not to back up or turn his back to a boss to kite him. Turn 90 degrees and strafe. Then go and learn to strafe and change direction while remaining in control at all times.
We all have things to work on. Even great tanks have things they can improve and I think that is one big thing that separates the greats from the good. They keep working at it.
As for me, you’ll excuse me but I need to go and tank some pugs. Is there any better environment where chaos can break any time a hunter misfires? Raiding feels very controlled in comparison, until it’s not. And this is when, I hope, that this practice will help. And maybe, one day, I’ll be closer to being considered an exceptional tank.
Difference between a good and an exceptional tank? clearly that would be a Noodlestein! >:x
Oh there you go, not able to walk through the doorframes again.
It’s always good to self-analyze and realize what you can improve upon. I really like the idea of pugging to improve – I do it often on my healers not because I need the VP, but because I LOVE when things go awry because it really challenges me. (Hello, Stonecore hall before Ozruk.) And little things like Intervening the tank you are taunting off is a great trick that shows you really know your class.
In my opinion, you’re pulling your weight on a raid team not if you’re necessarily topping meters or holding threat, but if you know little ins and outs of your class and know how to truly maximize your effectiveness. When I raided on my Hunter, I felt I was in such a position. It was not uncommon for a “Distracting Shot-Disengage-Deterrence-tank the boss so the bear tank could battle rez someone” common to be carried out. Or knowing when to shift into a cat/bear form as a resto druid to use a stun or cat dash. It’s all about optimizing what you’ve got to work with!
Yes, that’s exactly it. These I call my special missions. These missions will more often than not lower one’s dps output but I give it to the ones who have shown that they really are comfortable with their class. It could be kiting Atramedes’ fire breath when he’s flying, dealing with the Magmaw adds, kiting the adds on Maloriak, driving on Rhyolith, flying on Alice, etc. I would never give those missions to people who I feel are just steady. To take on those special tasks, you need to have mastered the basics and shown that you can take on more.
Funnily enough, this hits the nail on the head about why I don’t tank in pug’s anymore – because I came to realise that I’m not invested in tanking enough to be an exceptional tank. The wierdness which sometimes appears in pugs tends to put me off – fast, especially when I am getting blamed for the fact that some random Hunter decided now was the time to let his pet nom on the boss before the trash was cleared.
Maybe if there were enough folks online in my guild to run a guild dungeon then my attitude to tanking might change.
For now though, I relish the chance to heal random heroics on my Druid. The fact its my tree form which brings the group back from the brink of a wipe is fantastic, I can’t wait for my Paladin to reach maturity and get his holy light in to random five mans.
So basically, you have decided to strive to be exceptional, just not in tanking. That’s perfectly fine, it’s a personal choice.
In the case of the healer, it’s using salve or the crown of shame on overzealous dps, it’s using that cluth cooldown in time, using lifegrip to bring someone back from harm.
Exceptional players are of every flavour. I also have the chance to run with excellent dps and healers. It’s really in the care for the small details that one shows his mastery over his class.
You are so right with the difference between a good and a great tank. It is those little things that make the difference. When tanking I can hold threat, know where to hold the boss, know when to move it and to where, know when to use my cooldowns, etc, and I am a serviceable tank. I’ll get the job done in the ideal situation.
That is one of the reasons I do not tank randoms. In randoms you need to be excellent. Not all the time but enough that it could be stressful if you where not. I prefer the safety of my guild when tanking.
I might never become a great tank but I can surely spot one from a mile away. You can tell when you get one in a random almost instantly. They do things, even small things, that show you they are more then just your meat shield for the day.
I remember the first little thing I saw a tank do that raised an eyebrow and made me realize there is more to tanking then just tanking.
It was a guild tank I had never run with before and we where walking past some mobs and he stopped there facing them as we walked past and I asked him on vent what he was waiting for. He said, he was waiting to make sure everyone got by safe. He said, although it is extremely rare they will get pulled, it was worth making sure.
As small a thing as that was it has since become a sign for me when doing randoms. If the tank does that, they are more then just a “good” tank, they are something better. I’ve also adopted that when I tank. Whenever passing mobs now, even if it is unlikely they will pull, I always wait until everyone is past before I move.
The little things make a difference.
Oh yes, the wonderful last straggler ass pull, the death of many pug groups!
Here, you’ll see my project management background come out as for me, this little gesture is about mitigating the risks. Worst is, that tank is probably getting yelled at by some group for not go go going.
When tanking, just like you noticed that little gesture, I will usually push the first two three pulls in an instance harder as I’m learning how fast my healer is, does he keep up, will he use cooldowns or do I rely on my own, etc. I also asses the dps, who will be the one working to pull from me, who will be carried, will the mage go invisible, will the warrior pop all of his cooldowns before I even hit the pack, etc. Then it’s using my experience to see how fast I can this group without breaking it.
If you’re interested in this idea of snap judgement, by the way, I suggest the book called Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell.
I love those little details like the tank waiting to ensure the party went through. It’s really the mark of someone who knows what he’s doing and cares about the success of this group.
I loved tanking with pugs
I want to try and find the tanking passion I used to have. I started finding PUGs demoralizing toward the end of Lich King and all throughout Cataclysm.
I still remember having difficult 5 man groups in Vanilla, such as the pulls immediately after The Beast in UBRS. Until the players could significantly outgeared it, most groups would just wipe on that corner door pull to take it out in two tries. I prided myself on toughing my group through that pull without a wipe (and boy did the target markers make that easier). Players would listen when the tank spoke up, and often that tank wasn’t putting people down in the process (those negative attitudes go both ways).
For the last couple of expansions now, it feels like PUGs are simply not as malleable as they once were. Everyone thinks they know how best to do the instances and they know exactly what’s gone wrong.
Discouraging is putting it lightly.
Well, i do like to tank stuff, but normally i don’t consider myself an exceptional tank. I just do my best, whether the run goes well and wrong.
But i do say, being able to solo the boss’ last 10% when all the rest of the group lost hope (and sometimes dead too) is revigorating to me ^-^