Playing World of Warcraft as a tank is a tough proposition. You’re the lynchpin of the entire group and if you should place an enemy in the wrong position, grab aggro from the wrong thing, or simply die – your team is looking at a wipe. That said, it has become a little easier in recent years with tanks being able to shrug off ever-increasing amounts of damage. Blizzard just announced that this is all about to change, with tanks becoming less tanky and more reliant on support.
The big headline of the changes coming to World of Warcraft: The War Within is that tanks will start taking more damage on average in encounters. This will mean healers in the MMORPG will have to be on their toes more, making sure they top up health wherever possible to ensure continued survival for the group. This will be mitigated by not reducing defenses against burst damage, so tanks will be ground down a little more but should perform the same against big, heavy attacks.
The reasoning for this is related to the general creep of toughness that’s taken place recently. Blizzard notes that some groups have been able to complete content without healers at all, simply powering through or using self-healing to deal with threats. Self-heals will still be in the game but continuous healing effects will be nerfed, meaning both the tank and all healers will have to be playing at the top of their game. The idea being that DPS, tanks, and healers are all essential in a group – and should have roles to play that make a real impact on the team.
When these changes hit the game, Blizzard will be looking for specific feedback on a range of questions related to tanking. From enquiring about durability to how it affects your builds, this will be your chance to have your say on tanking in the next expansion and how well tanks feel to play in instances.
You can head over to the World of Warcraft forums to read the full list of changes, including how they’ll specifically affect your class, here. You can also keep an eye on the WoW The War Within release date, which is currently set for Monday August 26.
If this has you thirsting for more from the game, you can take a look at our guide to the best WoW addons, and if you want something else our best single-player MMOs guide will get you adventuring in no time.
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