Advice on tank selection from raid leaders

[Ryoku]

Hello everyone,

I am since a while in my guild, and have been MT/OT depending on if we raided in the guild or with another one. Here is my problem, recently an old guild member (which I never saw online since I am in this guild) has been connecting and always getting the MT role in any content we raid. He is a little bit higher ranked then me in the guild.
So my question to you is: is there any reason to always pick him :
The World of Warcraft Armory

over me :
The World of Warcraft Armory

in turns of gear. (personally I don't get it at all). Previously another member of our guild, also being a DK and an officer, was switching the MT and OT role with me. Now only the linked DK is MTing.

Hope to get some insights from experienced raid leaders.

Best regards
Ryoku

[headknocker]

Not based on gear at least. Surprised to see a dual weilding DK tanking these days. With a 155 hit rating he should be having some threat issues as well as being parry hasted out the ying yang.

The most likely reasons are simply friendship or experience raiding. I would suggest just asking if you could get a bit more tank time if you're feeling under used. Its a problem in 25mans as you often have more tanks than you need. At the very least, I would suggest dual-talenting to ret or holy so that you can fill a dps/heals spot when not tanking. What we tend to do in our guild is we'll bring junior 'mainspec' tanks as dps and let them continue to roll on tank gear to help them gear up. We'll also generally let them tank spider/plague for experience and eventually the harder stuff.

[Theotherone]

Maybe it's just me, but in my book your DK Frost Tank needs to spec his toon a bit better - the present specing alone would have me questioning if he understands the DK. A 6/65/0 Frost spec? Taking Butchery? No points in Anticipation? Nothing in Bladed Armor to help threat? Icy Reach over Annihiliation? Empty Glyphs? IBF Glyph (I believe that was nerfed) Defense of 539, so he's relying on is Sigil to get him over 540?Runic Power Mastery? etc.

My Frost spec is far from perfect, but its been thought out; this spec is, shall we say, odd and it looks like someone who said, "I'm a Frost DK, so I need all the Frost talents I can get."

His gemming/enchanting as represented on wow-heroes seems sporadic.

I think the big question is, does he hold threat? Strength of 828 and dual wielding; I' would guess the answer is "he has threat issues."

So to answer your question, there is no reason to always pick him based on gear or stats. In fact, stats alone would have him riding the pine in my book - eventually as you progress the odd specing will get him in trouble - the bosses in Uldar hit hard (heck even the trash hits hard), and the healers appreciate avoidance and a tank who can hold threat and keep the mobs in the front row.

[Exiledknight]

I see no reason with spec alone why he should be tanking over anyone. Sounds liek you guys are early into ulduar, because spec'd like that if you are downing keepers you must have some damned good healers. The lack of the 5% dodge alone would be a gkick from my guild.

[Rhyseh]

Judging by gear level I highly doubt they are in Ulduar.

To be honest in T7 content gear isn't really an issue, bosses are tuned to raids in all blues and essentially learning the in's and out's of raiding. No, the reason why this guy is getting the MT position over you is probably simply because he is friends with key members in the guild or he is a very good player (judging from spec and gear choices I'd say this isn't the case). It could also be that your raid leader/s are jumping on the "DK's are the best tanks" bandwagon.

In short there could be a large number of reasons, what I would advise doing is talking to guild leadership and asking why he is being selected over you. If your GM's/RL is any good they will give you an honest answer.

[GravityDK]

Sounds political, not about skill or gear.

[Ryoku]

First off, thanks for all the answers, was really starting to doubt my understanding of gear.

Our current progression is Naxx 10/25. We also do Sratha 25, I don't think I would be geared enough for Ulduar 10 (please correct me if I am wrong).

@ Headknocker: I am alot to Mt as soon as that person is not in the raid, so luckily for me he is not very often there.

Best regards
Ryoku

[Exiledknight]

Judging by gear level I highly doubt they are in Ulduar.

To be honest in T7 content gear isn't really an issue, bosses are tuned to raids in all blues and essentially learning the in's and out's of raiding. No, the reason why this guy is getting the MT position over you is probably simply because he is friends with key members in the guild or he is a very good player (judging from spec and gear choices I'd say this isn't the case). It could also be that your raid leader/s are jumping on the "DK's are the best tanks" bandwagon.

In short there could be a large number of reasons, what I would advise doing is talking to guild leadership and asking why he is being selected over you. If your GM's/RL is any good they will give you an honest answer.

I apologize for not looking at the gear prior to responding...kinda looked at it the same way I review our applicants and looked at spec before ever looking at the gear