Breakfast Topic: Do you prefer to be the off tank?
by Henry Phillips 
Sep 19th 2010 at 8:00AM
Most tanks (and aspiring tanks) want to be the main tank of a raid. It is upon this prestigious player's shoulders that the success or failure of the raid is often considered to rest.
Screw that.
First of all, we know that stereotype is untrue. Healers and DPS both play critical roles in raid success, even though they are sometimes forced to argue for their significance. But I don't often hear praise for the off tanks. While the healers heal, the DPS damages and the main tank tanks, these "wannabe main tanks" play critical roles in most every fight. Whether they have to pick up adds or share the burden of boss tanking with the main tank, these intrepid heroes have to work just as hard to keep the raid alive.
I first tasted off-tanking back in Naxxramas (10-man) when I stepped up to the task of being one of the rear tanks on my elemental shaman during the Four Horsemen fight. Here, I received my first taste of the special joy of adapting my skill set to new situations for every fight. I pined to be the one who would kite the zombies on Gluth, but my shaman lacked the capability, and one of our mages shouldered the responsibility. You can rest assured, however, that I was always back there to assist by laying down my Stoneclaw Totem.
My guild fell apart for a while after Ulduar was released, and I was too poor for more WoW. Once I wasn't poor anymore, I leveled a feral druid, and we all got back together just recently and started raiding Icecrown. Now I'm the off tank, and I'm loving it. Being an off tank lets me flex and show how creative and adaptable I am.
Do any of you tanking types out there prefer the off-tank role?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Tanner Sep 19th 2010 8:15AM
i like being the off-tank, especially on fights like rotface or the blood prince council, i find it way more fun to run around kiting things and picking things up then i do standing in on spot spamming a rotation
JR Sep 19th 2010 8:43AM
My feelings exactly. When I started tanking in raids I was envious of the main tank warrior because he was the MAIN tank, which in my mind at the time left my pally as a second-grade tank. In the paladin community's effort to assert pallies as viable tanks on par with warriors, they often imprinted the idea on young protadins (like me) that off-tanking was a dishonor, a shame, and that all tanks should strive to ascend to the glorious ranks of main tanking.
Eventually I noticed that off-tanking/add-tanking/whatever is much more fun and more challenging. Now I almost fall asleep in fights where I'm just standing there doing my rotation with no movement or adds.
Angrycelt Sep 19th 2010 4:04PM
My first character was a ret pally. When our still very new guild hit Karazhan, we had A: a ton of paladins, B: No druids, C: no off-tank. One marathon of a leveling blitz later, a very fresh bear tank set her paw inside the stables. My task? Pull the huntsman first, then hold the horse while the main tank grabbed the Huntsman himself.
I was totally hooked. I still enjoy the flexibility and mobility of the off-tank, and would rather do that then be the guy who just stares at the boss' codpiece for the entire fight.
Spazmoose Sep 20th 2010 3:27AM
I absolutely love off-tanking, and prefer to be in that role, even if I would be more suited as the main tank. There are a few reasons for this, however, a major one being that, I feel the role is less stressful (making it more enjoyable to me anyway).
Another reason, is that I was almost forced into the role on my Death Knight with my guild. We had some issues where we were not having people show up to raids, and I had the only toon that was geared anywhere near enough to actually tank something, but nowhere near as well geared as our main tank, so I figured I would set my priest aside (because we had plenty of healers).
Since that point, I have gotten a lot of joy out of tanking, and my DK has become my main within that guild (I have since moved my priest to another, more progressed guild).
Tarotes Sep 19th 2010 8:14AM
Well, to be honest I don't really mind as long as I am tanking. Although from time to time some change of scenery might be good, and that's when I switch between off- and main-tank.
On the other hand, it's usually the main tank that gets most of the glory when the boss dies so that makes me want to be the main-tank since everybody will go "awesome job dude" and similar (even better when it gets messy and you have to push yourself to the limit).
But on the other hand, being a off-tank and having to take over for a dead main-tank is twice as awesome as being the main-tank. :D
instant0 Sep 19th 2010 8:24AM
... People actually comment the MT doing a good job when a boss dies?
I've been MT'ing since March this year in ICC25 and I've yet to see us target anyone in particular for commendations, except maybe going "wtf!" when someone does a new recount highscore...
I honestly would prefer OTing instead of MTing as I think its more relaxing. When I first started MTing i felt so much pressure on my shoulders since any mistakes I did could cause a wipe. Eventually I learned to live with it...
rotny Sep 19th 2010 8:14AM
I've always liked OTing. I feel like the raid's safety net.
Some adds show up? I got it.
DPS pull aggro and MT doesn't seem to notice? I got it!
Often I seem to be more situationally aware than the MT anyway lol.
Tim Sep 19th 2010 8:14AM
My drood is strictly heals but I am making a warrior now and would like to do that. Main tanking seems to be too heavy a burden. But I would love a support role such as off tanking :)
Cedrich Sep 19th 2010 8:17AM
'Off tank' is an out dated term/mindset that isn't really used inside the tanking community any more. You have one tank, you have two tanks, co-tanks if you will. Considerate, professional tanks share the different tanking roles on each boss. Most of the time, the non-boss tanking roles are the more fun, more challenging parts to play anyway.
glyakk Sep 19th 2010 8:28AM
I feel the same way. Most guilds I known of the tanks are just as capable/geared, as the other.
JR Sep 19th 2010 8:33AM
It may be an outdated idea, but it's still around and kicking. Do a search for "off-tank" in the wow tanking forums and you'll find many ocurrances. I agree this concept should be gone, but doesn't look like it is yet.
Gendou Sep 19th 2010 9:04AM
In our guild, the "OT" as it were, is usually the guy with the DPS set who switches to DPS for Valithria 10 and Rotting Frost Giant weekly. Yes, all tanks are equal in ICC... but some are more equal than others.
Dril Sep 19th 2010 9:32AM
Actually, it is used inside the tanking community. Off-tank is now just a general term that means the person who isn't on the boss/main/big mob; i.e. the tank that is running around. Esentially, from an encounter point of view one could look at it like this:
Main Tank is the "threat" tank who's soaking up the big hits and letting the dps go wild.
Off Tank is the miscellaneous tank who's not so much battling threat all the time as he is stopping adds/dragons/flies/cakes from annoying and/or killing the raid.
While not STRICTLY correct for defining their role, the terms are stuck. By and large no one's offended or indeed annoyed if they're the OT anymore, since arguably the better tank should be the OT anyway.
Sleutel Sep 19th 2010 10:57AM
This is exactly what I was coming in to post. Personally, I tend to use the terms "boss tank" and "add tank" for a lot of fights. There are some times--like Sindragosa--where I'll refer to the "main tank" (the one who is on Sindri through the first phase) and the "off tank" (the one who will be trade-taunting once she's grounded), but it's by no means a universal term anymore. There have been plenty of fights in Wrath where the "off tank" has the much more challenging job.
FWIW, I'm a Protection Warrior in a hardcore endgame guild.
thebitterfig Sep 19th 2010 11:21AM
I'm mostly with Ced, but more based on fight design than anything. Like when doing a VoA pug, someone asks "who's main tank and who's off tank" and it literally makes no sense since Toravon is a taunt-switch fight. Same goes for Lady Deathwhisper, Saurfang, Festergut, and Sindragosa. Blood Queen and Marrowgar require the soak tanks to be just as sturdy as the aggro tank, and everyone is an off-tank for Dreamwalker. Of course, if you look back to ToC, you'll see a much more MT/OT schematic, with about half of the instance having a clearly defined Main Tank (part of beasts, Jaraxxus, Anub).
Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it just seems like Blizzard has been getting better at designing encounters where the second or third tanks are much closer to equal, and are quite well involved in the fight. Likewise, it comes down to mechanics almost as much as gear for determining who does what tanking job. The Keleseth tank on BPQ isn't the one with the worst gear, but the one who's most capable of strong ranged threat, a DK or a paladin (go go Hammer of Wrath on the 1hp non-empowered prince). Warriors are simply the best offtanks for LK due to unlimited taunts and the hugely-but-rarely useful Safeguard. We'll stun the Horrors in P1 while the hunter tranq's away their enrage, and we're better at soaking the ghosts in P3.
Anye Sep 19th 2010 1:47PM
"Off-tank" is only a dated term because of Blizzard's raid designs in Wrath. Naxx had plenty of OT opportunities; Ulduar had a few. Only real tanking encounters that have been situationally different for an OT versus an MT has been Putricide and LK, and Putricide was a freaking vehicle fight for OT. Hopefully they'll move back to a BC-era tanking model for fights in Cataclysm.
And yes, I personally loved being off-tank back in the day. MT was all about being geared and soaking huge hits... OT was the clean-up crew. It was frantic and fun. I can't even begin to tell you how boring it is to stand in place and taunt on rotation, or pop cooldowns once every three minutes.
Altaholic Sep 19th 2010 5:13PM
From my point of view, the MT requires better gear, so he can hold threat on the boss and let the DPS go nuts, and so he can soak up the big hits. The OT requires more skill to run around, pick up and kite adds, pull aggro off healers and dps, and generally be more situationally aware. In cases where gear level is equal, the more skilled/experienced tank should be OT.
Goulashia Sep 19th 2010 8:20AM
I've always hated offtanking. It's normally sitting there, using a few attacks to do damage on the boss waiting for your target to appear.
Pretty much stopped tanking because so far the lesser skilled person is the MT and it just frustrates me to hell. (I've pugged most of WotLK span) Or the lesser geared person tries to take the glory taunting whenever, but it seems like they never taunt the loose mobs if there ever are any.
Anon Sep 19th 2010 4:16PM
Frankly, that's one reason why I liked off tanking. The other big name tank in the guild? He had the gear. He could tank bosses just fine. Picking up adds? Not... so much.
Maybe it was because there wasn't any MT vs OT loot drama but all that mattered was getting the boss down. I was better at zipping around, picking up adds, and, by golly, that's what I did.
'course, there was always trouble when I was main tanking and would try to grab adds out of instinct but OTOH, it was a great habit in 5mans and wipe prevention effort.
Hahahaha Sep 19th 2010 8:21AM
I believe there is no such thing as off-tanking. Tanks adapt as per fight and their assignment.