Black Raven Dragoons

[Zancarius]

Last night, I had the fortune of getting into a UBRS raid last night; the only downside was that it was with a group of (mostly) raiders. Elade was hoping to get her devout robe, and I was hoping to finish off my Onyxia chain after sitting on it for more than 6 months. All things considered, it was a pretty smooth run...

...until we hit Drakkisath.

I was the only warrior on the run, which made the situation almost unbearable if it weren't for the druid that was handling the off-tanking. Unfortunately, as I wasn't in their raiding guild, I was later relegated to off-tank myself with the druid as the main tank. (I honestly can't figure this one out, because the run was quite smooth up until this switch.) Don't get me wrong; their druid was a damn good player. He was doing his best in lieu of a second warrior. However, he wasn't a feral druid--he was resto.

The run failed at Drakk and in retrospect, I think I know why. My sole duty was to off-tank one of the guards while a warlock feared the other; the druid was assigned to be the MT against Drakk. Three times we persistently tried the same tactic--three times it failed. Their rationale, as raiders, was that the druid had higher FR than I did, and thus was to be the MT against Drakk. Unfortunately, once the druid was incapacitated from the disorienting fire spell Drakk uses, regaining aggro became a problem. The rogues were the first to die followed by the mage and the warlock. Then the priests. By this point, I had either dropped or was about to drop since the healing was focused on the druid and the rogues (rather than the warrior relegated to OT). The last attempt had gotten Drakk to 5%, but due to the healing structure, I had dropped when he was around 20%, thereby freeing one of the guards.

I began to consider that my tanking abilities were lacking after last night--I know I could have done much better. But I am beginning to think that perhaps--just once--if they had let me MT Drakk, we would have had the opportunity to drop him. The game isn't purely about FR, it's about aggro control. Clearly one shouldn't have to have their tier 1s in order to finish UBRS. I think last night has finally proven that fact to me.

The upshot is that I know the 'goons can do it. We've got players who don't rely on the crutch of gear to do the work for them. That's more important than all the FR in the world, I think.

[Aigle]

I whole heartidly agree with you, Thal.

My one and only visit to MC proved that for myself. 3 out of the 5 Priests had all tier .1 gear, yet I was numero uno on heals (I had 10 FR resistance, unbuffed). The gear is a great benifit, but it really boils down to the player. Hence why I rarely equip the mana regen gear I recieved in MC.

Don't think for a moment that you were lacking in tanking abilities. You did what you were intended to do being the off tank. Personally, anyone who chooses a restoro Druid as MT versus a Warrior should be taken in a corner, and slapped.

My two cents worth.