Warrior Tanking in World of Warcraft
Pros and Cons of Warrior Tanks in World of Warcraft
Aug 15, 2008
When trying to describe raiding to people who don't play World of Warcraft, the best analogy may be to compare it to a game of football. Raiding is all about team coordination - the raid leader is the quarterback, calling the shots, your damage dealers are your receivers and runners, and your tanks are the offensive linemen that take the hits to keep the ball in play and moving forward. The analogy isn't perfect when you consider healers, since the sort of injuries acquired in a football game don't generally need powerful magic to mend.
Regardless, this article is about your defensive line: the tanks, specifically, the main tank. The goal of the tank in World of Warcraft is singular - to take the hits so the rest of the team doesn't have to. In fact, in most raid situations, tanks are the only characters that can take more than a single hit from most enemy bosses.
There are three character classes in World of Warcraft that have the capability to be raid tanks: Warriors, Druids, and Paladins. Each class has its own unique flavor and mechanics that excel at different facets of the raid tanking game. This article focuses on the Warrior class, and it what it brings to the table for raid tanking.
Advantages of Warriors as Raid Tanks in World of Warcrat
Warriors are veterans of the tanking game - when the game originally launched, they were essentially the only class that could really get the job done. While this is no longer the case, there are still a lot of reasons to choose a Warrior as your main tank. The distinct edge that the Warrior carries over his tanking contemporaries is his superior mitigation. Simply put, the Warrior is better at reducing incoming damage than the other tanks.
In addition to their sturdy armor and shields, Warriors have access to a couple of "emergency buttons" that the other tanks simply don't. Last Stand grants the Warrior a short-term health boost to allow healers to catch up with incoming damage, and the potent Shield Wall reduces incoming damage to a minimum, allowing Warriors to survive the most brutal attacks.
Drawbacks to Warrior Tanking in World of Warcraft
There are two primary disadvantages that Warriors are saddled with. The first is that while they are superb at holding the attention of one monster, battles featuring swarms of enemies tend to overwhelm the Warrior, and some bad guys will inevitably break loose and attack healers or damage dealers. The second downside is that when a Protection-specialized Warrior isn't tanking, he's practically useless. The only other function he can provide is damage, and his damage output is frankly pathetic and almost negligible.
This combination of characteristics makes Warriors a great choice for a main tank for any raid group. Since the majority of boss encounters feature a single, super deadly enemy, put a high-mitigation Warrior on the front line to soak up the deadly blows while a secondary tank, a Druid or Paladin, can take care of smaller multitudes of monsters.
The Warrior class is jam packed with abilities, so before deciding on a Warrior as the main tank for a raid, be sure he or she has the skill needed to play the class. An adept, well-geared Warrior as a main tank will help deal with hard hitting bosses sooner than other tanks can attempt them, making Warriors the premier tanks for focused raiding guilds.
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