This comment by Azure Shadows’We Didn’t Start the Fire post sums up the added difficulty of tanking / healing for me.
It’s *often* the case that a single mistake by a healer or tank can wipe the raid. It’s *rarely* the case that a single mistake by a DPS can wipe a raid (though the DPS may die, or his or her damage done may be poor that fight).
I know that when I play DPS in groups I make stupid mistakes but there is that margin for error. I can over-aggro, blink into an un-aggroed mob, knock my keyboard onto the floor and most likely the group will be just fine. My toon may be on the ground dead whilst I die of embarrassment but nine times out of ten I get rezzed and the run goes on. If I forget to hit the right cooldown or stand in the wrong place or let my attention wander a little, the result is often a refreshing run back from the nearest graveyard for everyone.
To make things complicated, it’s also harder to objectively measure your performance as a tank / healer. As DPS you get a nice simple number and as long as your DPS keeps going up and you’re not pulling aggro you’re doing fine. As a tank or healer I’m always wondering if I’m doing a good job, or if the tank/healer/DPS is carrying me. There isn’t a nice simple number to look at – without a deep theorycrafting analysis the best you can say is “Nobody died, so I think I did okay.”
#1 by Liza on 1/15/2010 - 12:40 am
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Nobody died and we had some laughs and I gave the healer a little time to snooze is more like.
#2 by Jaimie on 1/15/2010 - 10:18 am
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Dirt naps don’t count as snoozes.
#3 by Liza on 1/16/2010 - 4:18 pm
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They would if you were undead!
#4 by Jaimie on 1/16/2010 - 7:02 pm
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Ah that would explain Kevin’s (Mornal)frequent lying down on the job
#5 by Liza on 1/17/2010 - 2:36 pm
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And with a baby on the way he’ll have to catch as many snoozes as he can!
#6 by Joel on 1/18/2010 - 9:38 am
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You are both nuts. No wonder I enjoy your company.