Gumblethebear: You aren't wrong, but you know they aren't going to listen.

DerNesor: I never felt this understood

averiamoon: This is too accurate.

Magnilous: I always pug up to 2800 io and i feel this so much. I usually tank up until 2k or so and then give up. Tanks are so much fun at lower levels but higher keys really are stressful.

MythycalVC: I dont need to do 80% of a DPS's damage to have fun as a tank. I need to be able to pull and not die while holding threat...

woolywoolwine5325: With all the challenges and homework that come with M tanking, I really think that Tank mains should get a permanent discount on their WoW subscription.

jeanlandry69: Totally agree with everything.

Another fix would be to let mob% show in every difficulty of the dungeons so that you can easily work on the routes.

ziminar93: As a DPS:

I dont think week 1-2 you expect tanks to know the route. I am quite chill at least.

You can really notice when you have a good tank. Is SO much fun to have a good tank. You notice. You thank them.

Having said this - Make tanking fun.

vondry87: So true! When I play as a dps, I just relax and enjoy the game. When I tank, I am just way too focused and feel relieved at the end. That´s not fun. So I only tank when playing with my friends for fun. I won´t tank in pug. I won´t put so much effort into learning routes etc. only to get yelled at by a hunter for taking a different route than he is used to. Also for people having limited time to play learning the routes is difficult and I cannot keep up with the optimal routes (especially if there are several possible routes that depend on the group composition like skips etc). I just wish there was a way to somehow go through the dungeon without needing to worry about missing % at the end (or having too much % at the end). You know just some obvious standard default straight forward route that would be just ok for casual players. Not the most efficient one, but decent one that does not require prework to learn. Some dungeons were like that, but in some it was not really the case.

Torrenaxe: Best advice i got recently for anxiety is from quazii and thats to pretend you’re in a follower dungeon and ignore chat. Once i started just let people say what they want to say and not respond, my heart rate went down.

arathwrdarn5553: Two additional challenges for tanks:

1) 100% uptime for thick skin vs comments in pugs.

2) Top tier De-escalation skills when pugs start flaming each other, this bricks keys that could still be timed.

Sevyns762: I was a tank main since I started M back in S2 of Dragonflight (3K ish player every season); I just don't have time to min/max routes on my own (the homework as you put it, which is 100% on point) so I swapped to DPS. I think blizz just needs to give tanks better tools; let us plan routes in-game (not with MDT) and HIGHLIGHT the packs on your in-game route. And give us the most popular routes (In game) for the key level we're tanking. For those who don't know, low and mid key routes are vastly different than high key routes due to what the players at those key levels can typically handle.

If they can remove the friction from homework, I think you'll see more people try it out.

JBX5677JB: I started playing WoW at the end of Dragonflight and tanked in S4 for some lower keys. My first season trying to push and improve was S1 of TWW. I had a goal of top 1% pugging as a tank which was 3050 io. After I timed my last key, which was a 13 City of Threads, I screamed out to celebrate so loud that I thought I was going to get in trouble at my apartment complex. A few minutes later, it hit me. I wasn't celebrating or was happy at the accomplishment, or because of how fun the experience was. I was happy it was over and that I didn't need to tank again that season. Your words about gaming should be fun hits hard for me. I want to tank again next season after just healing this season, but I also don't want to feel like I am being tortured/abused at a decent key level without any respect, acknowledgment, or appreciation.

manuelius6306: Not sure where I got the info from but I head that in a survey around 50% of people dont want to tank because of Routing. If that's true they could make a huge difference by simply highlighting all mobs you need to pull or make routes easier in general. Like you have 3 ways to go, all give 100% but one has more casters, one higher health mobs and maybe one more tank dmg etc. So you can chose based on your strengths.

glenndoiron9317: The homework that came with routing is the reason I originally stopped tanking 5-mans.

Clippyhelpsyou: I tank since TBC, so its my favorite Role by far :D The Problem besides some dungeons is mostly with people, specially pugs, you cant try different things that would seem fun or interesting with routes and outside of m not many chances to play in my opinion. Raid is locked to only 2 spots, wich is not really that interessting either, mostly taunt the right time and you can relax. PVP is fun for a bit for variety. I think if people (not all but most) would be a bit more open to play the game and not just progress, we as tanks would have a better time. But most of the time a route is locked in and if you dont do that route someone is complaining.

Dont get me wrong you can find people that are open to it, but its just a rare occasion.

Anyway my biggest advice for someone who maybe struggles with tanking, communicate clearly, doesnt matter if you are new or a veteran tell the group what you want out of the key and find the right people to play with, then you can have a blast, it may take some time but its worth in the end :D

geekmp3: They say, "hell is other people," and I agree. I love tanking and have since BC... still tank. But the vitriol from other people makes me want to not play.

andrewandrew3923: Tanking feels like a job I pay 15 a month to do

shiftxor7077: Thanks for the vid. So much of the difficulty in tanking is in the initial seconds of a pull as well. Gathering, threat, survival (for some tanks like DK) while at the same time dps want to zerg asap. As someone who mostly pugs these days initial moments in pulls are where most issues are, pulling is where most of the group/party tension arises and its been that way for a while and nothing ever changes.

Players get used to the tanks with good snap agro, this becomes becomes the expected standard. When the run with a tank without that like say a Brewmaster who was to run around and tag stuff while holding off on big hitters until everything is together people get pissed. They don't care about class mechanics or class diversity, all they see is in one group they can near instant zerg in the other they have to wait and the blame the tank/player. The only way I can make it work now is to try and constantly be ahead of everyone to set up the next pull but still dps will leave that one mob at the back and follow me so ...

I wish they would implement a sizeable threat buff on entering combat, one that winds down over a couple of seconds. Enough to take the edge of this early threat tension without feeding in to kiting.

SmugHomura: I don't think tanks should be OP. It incentivizes that mass pull zugzug strategy. Imo they should make tanks more passively tanky and less actively tanky. It makes no sense that you're a full plate Warrior or Paladin with a shield and you feel like a clothie whenever you don't have your SotR or Shield block up. Active tanking should still be important, but also tanks should just be able to walk into a pack and tank without needing a defensive CD on permanently.

Randomdood11188: Very insightful conversation coming from someone who actually has knowledge of both high and low end pugging. I hope blizz happens to stumble upon this video. Thanks for this.

garyhansen2899: I remember when active mitigation was specifically for tank busters, now encounter designs force you to actively keep it up 100% or fall over. I think being tanky without it and requiring it for the busters is the right move…and give BDK more passive movement increases. Slow as hell

Kiickman: I would love tanking, but i dont want an extra job. Playing video games should be chill

vanguelisk: and also buf all healers to resto druid levels!

Jan 01 2026

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