04-11-2005, 04:14 PM
I still tank slow. Though the last few instances I have tanked have been new to me or I have been trying new things with new party members. But I do agree. I'm getting more aggressive the more I play and learn.
As the healer in the last run with you as main tank I actually thought we were a bit slow at times. You waited for mana when you didn't need to, but well I'm a paranoid healer when I am druid (I can't recover a wipe, even if I might be able to prevent one) so I didn't say anything so you played it right. The fact that I had the wrong stack of drinks with me annoyed me greatly as well and slowed us some that we didn't need. But the only thing that was too quick was not using sap on boss fights but that still didn't matter we owned that instance.
I agree with Treesh that the main puller should set pace and that it doesn't always need to be the tank.
Another note even when I'm main tanking when not the main puller only one person should set battle plans unless it is going to really cause problems in which case someone should be really vocal about. Got in a situation where two plans were called, one by me as tank and one by the puller. Half the group followed one, half the other. I blame me for it since the puller had been calling plans most of the time and had more experience in the instance. Of course there were a lot of experiments in that group and we made it through the battle without anyone but a pet dead, but the leader should be the leader and I should have shut up. :) It is something to keep in mind and something that at times should be clearly defined so it doesn't cause problems later.
Handing of adds needs to be discussed as well. As main tank or off tank when there are mages around I need to know when things are going to be sheeped. I hate breaking sheep and I hate waiting too long to grab something that isn't going to be sheeped. But that is something the tank needs to be aware of. I know this is getting into basic group start again but I wanted to bring it up.
Some buffs can be run on the fly. A paladin is going to be blessing on the fly and in the middle of combat at times because of the length. Things like Mark and PW:F you generally want to hit in a good down spot because of their length of run and mana cost. But generally that isn't going to slow you down more than a minute or so to get them all refreshed. Maybe two drinking sessions. Since most buffers run them all on the same timer the tank can easily check the time on theirs and know that everyone else should be good. I try to casts buffs so that if they do go down they go down on the people who need them the most last (tank is the last one I cast one in other words).
So yeah, even though I can be a slow tank, I agree that faster controlled paces are generally just fine if not better. I agree about the mana on mages, warlocks and hunters, they don't need to be full for anything but boss fights and there is nothing wrong with a support person drinking at the start of the fight. Heck the healer can be drinking at the start of a fight without problems most of the time and that in fact happened once in Razorfen even if you weren't aware of it. :)
As the healer in the last run with you as main tank I actually thought we were a bit slow at times. You waited for mana when you didn't need to, but well I'm a paranoid healer when I am druid (I can't recover a wipe, even if I might be able to prevent one) so I didn't say anything so you played it right. The fact that I had the wrong stack of drinks with me annoyed me greatly as well and slowed us some that we didn't need. But the only thing that was too quick was not using sap on boss fights but that still didn't matter we owned that instance.
I agree with Treesh that the main puller should set pace and that it doesn't always need to be the tank.
Another note even when I'm main tanking when not the main puller only one person should set battle plans unless it is going to really cause problems in which case someone should be really vocal about. Got in a situation where two plans were called, one by me as tank and one by the puller. Half the group followed one, half the other. I blame me for it since the puller had been calling plans most of the time and had more experience in the instance. Of course there were a lot of experiments in that group and we made it through the battle without anyone but a pet dead, but the leader should be the leader and I should have shut up. :) It is something to keep in mind and something that at times should be clearly defined so it doesn't cause problems later.
Handing of adds needs to be discussed as well. As main tank or off tank when there are mages around I need to know when things are going to be sheeped. I hate breaking sheep and I hate waiting too long to grab something that isn't going to be sheeped. But that is something the tank needs to be aware of. I know this is getting into basic group start again but I wanted to bring it up.
Some buffs can be run on the fly. A paladin is going to be blessing on the fly and in the middle of combat at times because of the length. Things like Mark and PW:F you generally want to hit in a good down spot because of their length of run and mana cost. But generally that isn't going to slow you down more than a minute or so to get them all refreshed. Maybe two drinking sessions. Since most buffers run them all on the same timer the tank can easily check the time on theirs and know that everyone else should be good. I try to casts buffs so that if they do go down they go down on the people who need them the most last (tank is the last one I cast one in other words).
So yeah, even though I can be a slow tank, I agree that faster controlled paces are generally just fine if not better. I agree about the mana on mages, warlocks and hunters, they don't need to be full for anything but boss fights and there is nothing wrong with a support person drinking at the start of the fight. Heck the healer can be drinking at the start of a fight without problems most of the time and that in fact happened once in Razorfen even if you weren't aware of it. :)
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It's all just zeroes and ones and duct tape in the end.
It's all just zeroes and ones and duct tape in the end.