Breakfast Topic: Which role is the hardest?
by Eliah Hecht 
May 31st 2009 at 8:00AM
This is a pretty old post, and it's a question that's been asked before, but it's still an interesting one: what's the hardest role in a raid? Ghostcrawler says he doesn't find one of the three roles (tanking, healing, and DPS) to be "hands down harder" than the others, although he does call tanking and healing "probably more stressful."
As someone who's done all three in raids a fair bit, I feel pretty confident saying DPSing is hands-down easier than the other two roles. Of course, it varies fight-by-fight, but typically the most that's asked of DPS is "don't stand in the fire" and sometimes "switch DPS to X." It does take some research and work to get the optimal rotation down, and some classes (like Death Knights) have it harder than others (cough Ret Pallies), but the raid just doesn't rely on your split-second reflexes the way it does for tanks and healers. Heck, last night I caused a wipe by just saying the wrong thing while tanking.
That's the other aspect that makes tanking and healing a bit stressful - if there's a wipe, it's likely to be viewed as your fault. Occasionally it can clearly be placed on the shoulders of the DPS - enrage timers missed, or a mechanic like Emalon's adds exploding - but for the most part, it usually looks like tank or healer failure. After all, a wipe means everyone died, and it's the job of the tanks to keep mobs from running amok, and the job of the healers to keep people alive.
So sometimes it can be nice to take a break, relax, and play a DPS character just so you know it's not going to be seen as your fault if a wipe happens. Usually. I still love healing and tanking, of course, but they are significantly more frantic. What do you guys think?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Classes
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 9)
trollzmon May 31st 2009 8:03AM
Non-arcane mage in Ulduar
Srsly
elstor May 31st 2009 11:53AM
So said the forums:
"Whatever role I play"
Snuffey Jun 5th 2009 11:25AM
Its a case by case basis but I've done all 3 and dps is the easiest overall. Between tanking and healing its close but I'd say tanking is harder overall but its really all subjective. Some fights tanks have it harder like ignis between having to change positioning on the MT and controlling the adds for the OT since they when they go molten they aggro wipe. But on Maexxna having to keep the poison off and putting as many hots on the tank before the web knowing that at some point you could be thrown against a wall and not be able to heal especially when she enrages is harder for the healer. I mainly heal on my druid but also dps on my elemental shammy.
Caelin May 31st 2009 8:31PM
While I would like to say that healing is the hardest since my main is a healadin, after trying tanking on my DK, i have to say that tanking is by far more difficult. There is just so much more to keep track of when you're tanking!
CaffeineRage May 31st 2009 8:09AM
Having built a resto off spec recently, I find it much harder to heal then dps. I have never tanked; so I cannot attest to how hard it is to tank.
I would have to agree. I think dps would be the easiest of the three naturally.
henkbrobbel May 31st 2009 8:19AM
If the Tank dies: its the healer's fault
If the Healer dies: its the tank's fault
If the DPS dies: its their own bloody fault
;-)
RetadinMan May 31st 2009 8:52AM
At Henk:
You forgot:
If they wipe, its the Dk's fault.
Jake May 31st 2009 9:50AM
I have healed and done dps and out of all the rolls in a raid out there I think the hardest raid roll in general is melee dps. Playing my healer is a break compared to playing my melee dps character, theres so much positioning, watching out for aoe, running around, + the normal mechanics of a boss fight. If its between ranged dps and healer though healer would probably be harder.
Jp May 31st 2009 10:15AM
@Retadin-
Better than pre-wotlk, when where if they wiped it was the hunter's fault.
Rodrigo May 31st 2009 8:14AM
Apparently dps is the hardest, because they apparently have a hard time putting out high dps constantly... I (as a tank) still top out many dps, and when the gargoyles in naxx pugs don't die, it's clearly not the healers or tanks fault... How hard can it be?
Holgar May 31st 2009 9:51AM
If your being sarcastic then GG you got me, if not ITS CALLED LACK OF GEAR AND/OR NEEDING TO L2P.
WoWie Zowie May 31st 2009 11:48AM
why did holgar get downranked into darkness?
he's not being rude, he's right
Zandathor May 31st 2009 1:24PM
I have to agree, while I was levelling I did a few instances and my Warlock DPS was always low which put me off doing instances as I felt I was letting the team down. Healing/Tanking while not easy allow you to react to the situation as it develops so even if you make a mistake you can recover during the encounter.
As a result I'm levelling a Druid now so I can Heal and Tank which I've done before on a Warrior and Priest, and use my lock for farming.
Burori May 31st 2009 2:56PM
Its true I've tanked as a paladin and would do a steady 1.2k dps in heroics and naxx and yet I've seen dps do less then 1k dps in heroics let alone naxx! Sad thing is that I have friends leveling alts who at 70 in Wrath greens are pumping out 800+dps yet the majority of level 80s I see suck at dps! I don't tank any more, guild said they needed a holy paladin so I made the sacrifice, but I still occasionally see other tanks pumping out a steady dps that is above most normal dps...
Now onto the topic... After playing Ret, Prot, and holy in a raid environment I can safely say that tanking is the most difficult! Followed very very closely by healing and trailing way off in the distance is dps.
Also... Why are Holgar and WoWie downranked? Its not that Holgar is being rude to the OP he is saying that the lazy dps out there who thinks they can face roll through everything needs to L2P! And WoWie didn't even say anything to deserve to be down ranked.
Sinthar Jun 1st 2009 9:11AM
As DPS i can honestly say, i havent got a foggiest why. You are either running with about 4 tanks n 4 healers or the dps are on /follow. When i entered naxx i did over 2k dps - if your dps cant do that, then boot and get someone who can be bothered to put the effort in, ie getting gear from heroics/quests/crafting, learning their spec, rotation, and actually staying awake long enough to press a button or two.
As a tank, i MT naxx in crafted gear, with a few q's items (not had any drops yet - newly dinged), and tbh that was easier. I dont heal so i cannot rate that. But imo to give my uber super dps (its about 5k-7k dps now btw) i concentrate more than when i tank and most of that is paranoia looking for anything to head towards me, intent on swatting me. Tanking (as a prot pally) is ridiculusly easy atm, with the 69696 rotation and maybe pressing a few buttons as the situation demands. I can even move around while doing it to micro manage the boss position/attitude (attitude is the proper word for 'facing' btw). Im actually looking forward to seeing some moving fights. Mind you ive done heigans 'dance' and one shotted him the 1st time, so maybe being a frail mage and a seemingly indistructable pally somehow help me learn skills more. TBh i think everyone should at least TRY tanking so they understand the tanks side, and probably healing (ugh i hate healing). Least i know who to watch out for and taunt usually before the mob takes 2 steps away, they are my competitors in the dps chart when im on my mage :)
Groth May 31st 2009 8:14AM
DPS is much easier, tanking can be a nitemare until you've got everything locked down, and healing's the most pressure- one moment of slacking and everyone dies.
Beth May 31st 2009 12:03PM
I agree that DPS would be the easiest, although I have to admit playing a holy priest is freakishly easy as well. The only 'hard' part for me is that if I need to take a bio break, the group HAS to stop. Healers and Tanks get less breaks because they're needed, even on trash.
Past that, if someone bitches about my heals when it's obviously their fault for getting hit (i.e. standing in fire), then I just let them heal theirselves. No point in healing someone that doesn't appreciate the fact that I'm prioritizing THEM over everyone else in the group/raid. Yes, it would only take me a second to throw a renew on you, but if you feel the need to bitch about healing, then you can do it. :D
Tes Jun 1st 2009 9:54AM
I've played every class in the game and gotten a fair amount of experience playing at least one type (melee, ranged, caster) of dps as well as tanks and healers end game (even if it is just borrowing a friend's character when they're unable to play something they're signed up for).
DPS is by far the easiest to play. Melee dps is harder than ranged or caster dps due to needing to move around more often. Caster dps dies faster if you make a mistake and over aggro or start dpsing the wrong mob.
Tanking, I find, is the next hardest as you have to manage multiple mobs and take care of mob facing on top of the previously mentioned movement necessary of melee dps.
Healing is by far the hardest and most strenuous job, I have found. This may be easier with other healing classes as most of my end game healing experience is as a priest.
I've noticed several people say that healing is a breeze with their holy priests.
What content are you handling? If you're in content beyond 5 man what raid composition is in use? How many other healers are there? What is your 'job' as a healer (MT,OT, Raid heals, something else?)
I find a lot of the ease of play of healer relies on how competent the entire rest of the raid is. Your job is to not only keep the MT/OT/Raid alive it is to make up for their mistakes.
Sure you could let the idiot that sat in the fire too long die BUT then you're going to be done that guy in dps (or god forbid tanking) and the boss will be that much harder.
What if a couple of your raiders routinely lag so don't get moved in time? It's your job to fix it.
Sure if you have a really competent guild life as a healer could be really easy as long as you're geared and don't blink too much. For the rest of us, we'll quietly be cursing behind our muted mics as we make the split second decision on if we should try to keep you up or try to save the mana for the tank.
Bloppie May 31st 2009 8:15AM
Don't have a tank, but think tanking is mentally surely the hardest. Getting all the hits and trust healers and dps do their work and keep you alive.
mitch Jun 1st 2009 11:44AM
I've been playing for a few years now, mainly my Holy Paladin. I ENJOY healing. It does have difficult and stressful moments but that's what I like. I have played Prot extensively (has always been my offspec) and ret to a lesser extent. I've done a lot of raiding on my Boomkin as well.
I understand all the mechanics we are talking about here and I personally believe that tanking is the most mentally demanding. Healing definitely puts you under more pressure and DPSing is stupidly easy I'm sorry. Not saying it's a bad thing because even though it's easy it's definitely more fun watching huge numbers explode all over your screen while whacking something with a huge weapon of sorts (or casting bolts of magic).
Tanking is about the only role that requires more thought other than the 'whack a mole' logic.
To squeeze it right down into layman terms, Healing is "whack a mole", DPSing is "facerolling" and tanking would be "thinking ahead and using initiative".