how do you pick your MT?

[intolerantape]

Generally, I tank the bosses simply because I am the worst choice for getting into DPS gear. Not to mention my DPS gear blows chunks because we have a ton of Death Knights.

[law90026]

Way too much emphasis on the "MT" role for current content.

As an example: Sarth: The OT tanking adds is really important as well.
KT: The OTs tanking the adds are really important as well, possibly more so than the MT.
Faerlina: OT is important again here and taking a ton of magic damage while holding aggro on 4 mobs.
Patchwerk: OTs take more damage than the MT.
Gothik: It's really 2 MTs on this fight if you think about it.
4 Hmen: 2 MTs again.

The old concept of MT / OT has, to some extent, fallen by the wayside now. While being MT could be a symbol of prestige, I wouldn't be totally fussed by whether you're picked as MT or OT, so long as you get to raid. From experience, if you prove you're dependable over time, you will get your chance to MT.

[Hyenna]

In our guild I am named MT but its not supposed to mean that I tank everything. It means in my guild I lead the tanks and decide who is going to tank each encounter. I am given this position because:

- I talk on Vent
- I know the fights better than any other member of the guild
- I know each tank and what they bring to the raid (skill/experience/gear)
- I hardly ever mess up and if I do I am the first to admit it and do everything I can to fix it

I have been in the guild along time and just want to see it progress, I would be doing all these things if I wasnt named MT anyway. MT is just a label like raid leader and officer, showing that I am putting alot of effort towards the guild progress.

[orcstar]

I think too much of the 'gear up the MT' and put all of the focus on gearing up the most critical folks at the exclusion of others is a legacy of games like EQ.

If you want to progress faster, in current content any sane person would gear up their dps. Healers and tanks are at a level they can do anything in game very very fast. After that, stronger dps is the key to success.
Or....not use lootpriority at all. Because if you clear naxx25 on a weekly basis you're gona be showered with loot.

[Braggha]

In our guild, each raid we promoting one of the tanks to maintank this run. Not that means that he tanks everything, but he goes first and creates rhytm of run, speed of pulls, he makes tank assignments on bosses and so on. Generally it is fun, and allows each tank to have raid leading experience.

[minrog]

Unless your Raid Leader is a tank the Raid Leader is going to end up with a tank they favor most. This tank will likely be the one that exhibits the qualities that Vene and Xav pointed out. The MT gear priority deal comes from when you'd get maybe 2 plate tanking drops in a week and you couldn't afford to make mistakes as to who got what; I agree it is defunct except in the most bleeding edge scenarios. What hasn't changed is that when something is "not right" the RL is going to ask one of the tanks for input to fix it. That's your MT (or Tank Lead might be a better way to describe it).

OT in a fight is actually more fun for me. As long as the gear gap is not great I like to put the newer tanks on MT duty for a given boss because it's a lot harder to mess up. Stand there. Let the mob hit you and spam threat rotation. Avoid those fire things. Don't face mob toward raid.

Edit: I'm not sure but when the hell do you have time to use a Lightwell while tanking on Malygos? If the guy put a Lightwell right next to me I'd probably click it but wtf if I drag the boss over to use that thing it's going to waste the raid. I can see a Shield Wall or a Last Stand popped if Maly eats a spark but honestly Lightwells?

[Bokeh]

I agree that skill accounts for a lot in this game but these types of comments are no help to anyone (imo)

Maybe i'll turn up to our next Sapph/patchwerk fight with an HP pool of 25k raid buffed and 539 defence and little avoidance !!!

Skill> Spec > Gear applies to a certain limit ofcourse, what i mean is is that it's a non-issue as long as you are sufficiently geared for the place, which is any gear you get pre-naxx. Whoever has the best gear from inside the instance itself should not be a deciding factor on any fights except for 1 or 2.

[Moshman]

My guild dosn't have a "MT". We just say in our tank channel "i wanna tank this" and we let him.

For progression we normaly use the best suited tank or best geared since we're all at the same lvl of skill. But there isn't alot of progression left other than achievements so we let everyone have a try.

[Erichilles]

My guild dosn't have a "MT". We just say in our tank channel "i wanna tank this" and we let him.

For progression we normaly use the best suited tank or best geared since we're all at the same lvl of skill. But there isn't alot of progression left other than achievements so we let everyone have a try.

similiar situation here. Just to keep things fun, we often roll to see who will tank, or in some fights, not have to tank

unless it's a fight that we've had trouble with in the past (patchwerk 25 man normally takes us 2 or 3 tries) we just have fun with it

[The_Target]

I agree that the terms MT/OT are outdated. On our Naxx runs we switch who gets hit by the boss, and who deals with the non-boss mobs. Fact of the matter is, either person not doing their job right is going to wipe the raid, equal opportunity for success/failure. I thoroughly enjoy either responsibility, as they are both crucial to a successful fight. On fights like Loatheb and Gluth, there isn't really an MT as you are passing the boss back and forth between two tanks. I like the fact that Blizz has made the encounters very dependant upon a 2 tank balance, and making that 2nd tank be very busy (Maexxna being somewhat of an exception).

[Angry Grimace]

With tanks, gear level usually works. It's pretty much impossible to load up on Naxxramas and higher gear without being at least somewhat capable.

[greendragonempire]

in my 10man group, I am blessed with a great feral co-tank. He was the guilds MT before I showed up and armed with tankspot and EJ blew away everyones concepts of what a warrior could do. As far as Naxxramas, we split it up based on whose skillset is best suited for which role.

anub - feral (adds are stunnable and warr got more stuns)
widow - feral (adds are reflectable so I can dps on boss and keep aggro with SR)
Maexxna - feral (shockwave is very reliable for the adds, swipe not so much)
Noth - warrior (swipe more consistent than TC for picking up adds)
Heigan - warrior (kitty + hots + rebirth too useful)
loatheb - warrior (cuz I got 40% block rating)
patchwerk - /roll
Grobbulus - patch soaker gets to MT this
gluth - feral w/dps OT (prot warr kiting ftw!)
Thaddius - warrior (kitty dps better than prot dps)
Raz - adds tank!
gothik - warr goes live, feral goes dead
4H - meh
sapphiron - warrior (feral dps/ennervate/rebirth/tranq)
KT - warrior


People really need to get out of the MT/OT concept and more of a tanking team mindset.

Yah true, We have 4 tanks in the guild (i'm #4 and usually fury dps now) and I would trust any of the 3 tanks to tank any encounter.

the "MT" for any encounter is chosen by what will benefit the raid the most, and actaully the OTs job is just as important as the MTs.

[Kataztrophe]

I agree that skill accounts for a lot in this game but these types of comments are no help to anyone (imo)

Maybe i'll turn up to our next Sapph/patchwerk fight with an HP pool of 25k raid buffed and 539 defence and little avoidance !!!

I cleared and Mt'd 25man Naxx the second or third week of LK still wearing T6 with not even 21k unbuffed and had to hit the 540 with an elixir of protection. DPS and healers were also similar geared. I'm sure the top three or four guilds on every server in the game worldwide did the same thing.

Skill > gear

[thedrawrf]

If tanks are of almost equal skill/gear...have them switch off for fights. I tanked trash through almost all of BC. It sucked. And if anyone tells you "we need to learn to do this fight like the MT does it!!11" Wow isn't rocket science. It's not like the main tank is going to do things much differently than any other tank.

[Blóódfrenzy]

In my 10 man group I have an awesome prot pally that tanks with me.

anub - He tanks, I do adds. I can dps when adds aren't up.
widow - he does widdow i do adds. AMS keeps me from taking damage and I kill the add for enrage.
Maexxna - /roll
Noth - I do Noth, he picks up all adds, we dps adds only during 2nd phase
Heigan - He tanks, I dps
loatheb - He tanks <3 his 70 percent block chance
patchwerk - /roll
Grobbulus - He tanks, I pick up adds
gluth - we have a ret pally throw on gear and kite while we switch on and off
Thaddius - He tanks, I dps
Raz - be both use the beacons
gothik - I do live, he does dead, Consecrate > me
4H - I have the DPS with me
sapphiron - He tanks, I direct our 5 melee to not stand in blizzards
KT - I MT, he does adds.

[headknocker]

I think the definition of MT and OT are completely changing and have very little to do with gear. I am the MT, for one of our guild's RAID groups, and the OT happens to be the raid leader. While we can swap around on bosses, generally, I call the fight ahead of time, I call boss relevant stuff (pop cooldowns, webspray inbound) he keeps slightly better situational awareness and/or ability to move during boss fights, and calls add mechanics (dave is web wrapped, add spawn). We have equal priority on loot and generally call it based on who will get more from it rather than 'I'm MT so I get geared first'.

I think what makes an MT has less to do with what happens in the RAID and more to do with what happens before you set foot in Naxx. Most of my week is spent helping guildies gear up and/or learn their class or try new things. I'm closing in on 200 heroic wrath instances, and if I've gone a week without 5-10 deaths I don't remember. I've died helping our ele shammy try to figure out resto. I've died helping him figure out what his emergencies heals are like in ele mode. I've died in a 3 hunter group while we tried to figure out the post 3.0.8 survival/marks changes. I've died from shear boredom trying to run nexus for another rogue that wants the dragon sphere.

By the time I've set foot in Naxx with a guildie, I've probably run 20 instances with him/her. I know what they are going to do, and they know what I'm going to do. I know that if we only have a, b, c dps its probably not worth trying patchwerk today. I know which two healers can handle maexxna if one of them gets web wrapped before a web spray.

Worry less about the title. Worry more about the job.