Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, The Burning Crusade, Lore, Wrath of the Lich King, The Queue, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria
This isn't meant to imply that one is harder, or a better benchmark of skill, or what have you. It's simply a personal realization based on thinking back on the past years of World of Warcraft and the changing roles I've played.
People who've read the site know that I tend to fall into certain patterns - I start an expansion tanking, switch to DPS for a big chunk and then, somehow, I end up tanking again. I did this in classic WoW, where I played as a DPS as I leveled until about level 40, then tanked until Four Horsemen in Naxx 40. Cut to Burning Crusade, and while I tried to level as a tank, the rage problems and lack of AoE threat meant that I went DPS for a while, only to end up tanking post Karazhan as bosses began to hit harder and the ranks of tanks willing to endure it thinned out. Wrath of the Lich King I tanked for the same guild, left and ended up a DPS for most of Naxx 25 and Ulduar, only to switch to tanking in Trial of the Crusader and stay there until Arthas was dead. Cataclysm? I tanked 10 man Tier 11 raids, switch to DPS in 25 man Firelands and stayed there for most of the expansion only to switch back to tanking for Dragon Soul. And finally there's Mists of Pandaria, where I began as a draenei tank, switched back to a pandaren DPS warrior, went through my orc phase, DPS'd as a tauren for a while and am now a worgen arms warrior.
Last week Adam wrote a piece about how tanking changes you as a player. What's interesting to me is how much I have to unlearn from tanking. There's a DPS mindset, where you learn to watch for spell effects, learn to avoid damage if at all possible (rather than learning how to survive it) and to Always Be Attacking, to constantly get as much activity translated into damage on whatever it is you need to be damaging. Tanking comes second nature to me. I could go tank right now and be fine. DPS requires much more attention from me, it's more demanding and while I'm competent at it, it's always something i have to consciously work at. It's made me a better tank because it's challenged my preconceptions. DPS isn't easy. Especially not being good DPS. There's a ton of work that goes into it.
I just wanted to say that, as someone who has tanked and DPS'd, I admire really skilled DPS players.
Adam (@Adamdm_) asks on Twitter:
Saur-priests say saurok were created by mogu, but they mention a belief they evolved from devilsaurs. Which is more likely?
We have plenty of evidence that the mogu meddled in saurok evolution. Between the Dagger in the Dark scenario, Primordius' existence in Throne of Thunder, Progenitus on the island proper, archaeology in the game, we know the mogu made the saurok to serve as soldiers. What we don't really know for sure is what, exactly, they made the saurok from. There's no dinosaurs on mainland Pandaria, but there's plenty of them on the Isle of Giants to the north, and there's no reason the mogu couldn't have included a few in their experiments to make the saurok.
Continue reading The Queue: I work harder at DPS than I ever did as a tank
The Queue: I work harder at DPS than I ever did as a tank originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 18 Mar 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.