Tauren or Orc?

[Chanak]

The mechanics of group play - and thus instances - revolve around three general positions in group/raid: healer, tank, and damage-dealer (DPSers, as most of us call them). A further sub-category of significant importance is Crowd Control, or CC. Typically the damage-dealing classes handle crowd control, as healers and tanks have no ability in that area (an exception being a Priest's ability to shackle an undead mob, or use Mind Control on a mob...but then a Priest can deal damage via a Shadow spec). That is how Blizzard has designed group play in WoW, and there's no really no way around it for the most part.

Classes and gear have their limitations. A Paladin's ability to deal damage above level 40 in groups is severely handicapped compared to other classes, resulting in two possible roles: healer, or tank. A Warrior can deal damage but at a disadvantage: their defense suffers, and they have no CC abilities. A druid can heal, deal both spell damage and melee damage, and tank...but their lack of CC ability indoors puts them at a disadvantage, and so in groups/raids usually occupy 2 roles: healer or tank. Etc.

A number of factors are at play here that conspire to make Rogues the preferred melee DPSer, mages and warlocks the preferred "clothie" ranged DPSers, warriors and feral druids the preferred tanks, and priests and paladins the preferred healers. Shamans face prospects similar to paladins. Druids do very well at healing but are handicapped in their ability to bring dead group members back to life, and so usually aren't found much in groups until raid-level and endgame. Don't get me wrong here: a friend of mine heals with his druid for our guild runs in Outland instances and we usually do just fine, but if his rez is on its 30 min cooldown, dead group members must hoof it from the graveyard. Other than that his heals are more than adequate to carry us through bosses like Murmur.

A rogue will generally perform better than a warrior in a melee DPS role in a group for several reasons. First and foremost is their ability to bring CC to a group, an all-important utility that is required in many encounters. Secondly, the rogue class is designed to deal melee damage as their primary role, and as such have better defenses and threat-reducing abilities in that capacity. In contrast a warrior cannot offer a group CC, and sacrifices defenses in order to dual-wield in Berserker stance or wield a two-handed weapon in Battle Stance. Also, a warrior has no ability to shed threat from themselves should they gain it...other than dying or being bubbled by a paladin. Threat management and crowd control is of such importance in high-end content that it is easy to see why warriors are often passed up in the role of melee DPS. They simply do not do as well as rogues in that capacity. Pure damage numbers are not the only consideration for the position.

As tanks, however, Warriors are arguably the best in the game. It is what the warrior class is designed for in groups, and their primary purpose there. A warrior has abilities to attract aggro and increase their threat, meaning they make the best target for a beating in a group. Their high health and excellent armor, plus the ability to block with a shield, make them ideally suited as tanks.


Feral druids come in a close second, with Paladins bringing up the rear. I have tanked instances with all three. All things considered, it is easier for a warrior to tank. However, since the primary job of a tank is to attract attention and take a beating, warriors aren't the only ones who can do the job successfully. A Paladin tank can generate threat quickly, but having less health than a warrior or feral druid they are a bit more vulnerable to heavy hitters. A feral druid is an excellent tank since in Dire Bear form their health and armor are on par with a Protection Warrior.

In groups warriors do not do very well in a melee DPS role, through no fault of a player. Group and solo play are different animals altogether.

[Darth Valthri]

Originally Posted by Chanak

As tanks, however, Warriors are arguably the best in the game. It is what the warrior class is designed for in groups, and their primary purpose there. A warrior has abilities to attract aggro and increase their threat, meaning they make the best target for a beating in a group. Their high health and excellent armor, plus the ability to block with a shield, make them ideally suited as tanks.

i agree with the "arguably". my paladin can hold aggro relatively well (no where as easily as i could on my warrior (glory be to sunder armor), but still fairly well), and as prot spec i find i can take a fairly hefty beating. when i was ret, i wasn't doing all that well, so i decided to try a prot/partly holy spec. haven't dropped it since. the ability to fight off 4-5 avg-dmg mobs at the same lvl as me is great. grabbing aggro from mobs is a bit of a pain (excluding undead), but once i do, i've found that i become their favourite dance partner.

[Caden]

Originally Posted by Darth Valthri

you mean respec to do a group run somewhere, then respec to solo-style when you're done? i'd rather carve a hole in my pocket. it'd have the same effect, and it'd be a lot easier on yourself.

No, I don't mean respec every five minutes. More like respec every 5 days. Spend a few days doing a bunch of group runs to get armor on a protection build, then respec fury to do some solo questing.

[Darth Valthri]

oooohhh.... ok then yeah that makes a bit more sense.

[Vai'Lutra]

On a purely ornamental note:

Tauren are bigger and their mounts are bigger.
not that means anything it just makes you look bigger =)