Which talent tree is the right talent tree?

Here I am to discuss talent trees, we have all been there trying to squeeze out the best we can from healing to DPS back to tanking. But when we change our specs over to match the "theory crafted" best we may lose abilities/utilities that we may need or have wanted.

To start lets discuss DPS:

Is there such a thing as too little DPS? Some classes have talent trees that limit their DPS to the point they're avoided by everyone that is max level, and others increase there DPS so much they're universally accepted as the "only viable" spec. What does this mean? Are the other trees really that "bad"? Are they ever of any use? Were they there solely to add some leveling ease? Lets take a look at some under used specs.

For a Mage, frost is the plague spec outside of PVP despite having reasonable raid utility. Talents that allow replenishment (a % mana return for all raid members) talents that slow down adds, freeze them in place, and in some cases encase them in ice and stop them from attacking for X seconds.

For a Warlock Demonology is pretty much on the shelf after you are 80. Why? cause it's pet based damage and again is considerably lower than the others. Like frost this is avoided for the low DPS, despite having a raid wide (proc based) spell power buff from the felguard.

Yes I know my name is being cursed and your mashing your faces with your palms at each consecutive word. But Remember these spec still deal damage and in a 10man 3-4k is not overly low. Yes tanks can make 3k etc etc but the point being that some DPS are already pulling 8k so 3 toons getting 8k and you getting 4k but providing more mana other buffs etc may not be a bad trade off for a DPS "loss". There are heaps more than this I know, this is just to make you think, raid leaders should be aware of these advantages. Of course DPS is still gear dependent to a certain extent and at higher levels of gear the gap may close enough to make it viable again.

In 25mans would these become more viable? Not really, because your utility isn't really felt, as a Shadow priest can provide replenishment and they're not the only ones, but again its not likely to be used in a 10man either as no one will accept your utility for DPS losses. Basically these are lost specs, they are covered in so much hate in 10mans and do not stand out that much in 25's so is there a point to this post?

Well yes, the point I am making is that these are still viable despite the hatred. Why are they viable? Because your guild can still request this of you, and you should make them aware that you can provide a specific buff. It may be a one off thing or a permanent thing. The beauty is that dual spec allows you this freedom between boss fights so if you need a spec for one fight but not the rest then why not have an off spec for that fight? Why not have it for a fight you know your guild can easily beat with your lower DPS from a utility spec?

Healers, there is not much for healers you would think, but again there is. Healers have a few tricks in their trees for different things. They have raid/AOE heal talents to focus there healing through multi-target healing, or single target talents to push their single target heals as far as possible. A healer will spec based on what they are doing for there guild, or for how they heal, and others spec a cookie cutter talent tree. The problem with cookie cutter trees is they hover dangerously close to the point that people start hating the tree or their class. Specs for how you play have the opposite effect. You like your class, you have all you want, but you may let others down due to a few missed choices. Specs for how you heal again fall in between this and make you think about talents you want or talents that cookie cutters suggest. Tanks are in the same boat and many warrior tanks will sometimes take two talent specs in with one for AOE and one for single target. Why? because they cannot take both well enough, healers are the same and DPS falls on another scale where they have the ability to kill either way but can be substantially weakened in utility.

So to clarify what all that dribble means:

* The "best" spec is not always the right one
* Spec as a mixture of what you do and how you do it
* Tanks and Healers specialize between multiple or single targets
* DPS.... Raid contribution based on selective talents and trees
* WHO CARES WHAT YOUR DPS IS AS LONG AS YOU DID IT RIGHT!


Yes I know half the WOW community is now going to end me, the other half sees my point and the third half....hang on.... Anyway, the point being all trees are viable as long as you make them viable.

If you want more DPS there is going to be a more prominent tree, utility again has more prominent talents that may be missed by cookie cutter trees. So work out what you like and what everyone in your guild is comfortable with and have fun. Hell I play a frostfire mage and that spec died on release, so enjoy what you do and make it work. Remember, you can't dps if you're taking a dirt nap because you didn't give yourself utility talents. A healer with no mana is not a healer, its a liability. A tank with no.... HEALTH! is not going to save your DPS'n butt. You may be there to kill but you are all linked to each other.

Egamad...the SHAMAGE

The path to tankhood.

Ok, so I realize many people are taking advantage of the looking for group system for faster leveling, I myself am one of them. But while anyone can DPS and a mediocre healer will do for a 5 man, the tank is the make and break point.

Last night on my hunter (lvl25) I had to use my pet to tank because or Paladin tank (lvl25) could not generate enough aggro to hold my auto shot /sigh. He later tried to reprimand my use of pet to tank and proceeded to tell me how to play my class (or so he thought). For one I have my pet passive by default, and at this level I keep all his tanking/solo questing abilities on his bar ready to save a healer or myself, the DPS loss is not that crucial.

The problem though was not me at all, yes I pulled aggro but after waiting 3 secs and having my first attack pull aggro is surely not my fault. I realize as DPS its my job to watch my aggro, but Omen does not work until you attack or heal a target that is in combat or puts you in combat, so until my first shot I have no idea where my aggro or the tanks is at (hence the 3 second head start). The situation gets worse as he was still yelling at me to turn my pets growl off, (its worth noting at this point my pet was still on passive and sitting beside me) when he could not generate aggro fast enough anyway.

The tanks of this upcoming wave are not something I want my Shaman (lvl80) to be healing, seriously there are a lot of people rolling these classes for these roles and having no idea how to play it. So here is a run down.

Tank: Keeping all targets in FRONT of you is an important trick to learn, it's hard to defend attacks from behind so learn to position them. TAB targeting is another great trick for tanks as many players still prefer to AOE down mobs than single target so make sure to stack threat across all with a TAB or mouse targeting rotation. Aggro, Taunts, Cooldowns, these are cornerstones of your class and many require you to be in a situation to warrant there use, so remember what talents you have and do not be afraid to use them when needed, 2minutes -3 minutes there not long times at all. REPAIR YOUR GEAR!! seriously there is nothing worse than a certain paladin screaming at you for saving the party when his weapon has no durability and he cannot hold aggro.

Healer: You stand somewhere away from possible patrols or other mobs, and you heal. Remember to be stocked up on Water (mana re-gen drinks) each time you sign up, and do not be afraid to do what I call *combat re-gen*, the art of drinking right before the pull and still be drinking in the middle of combat, you can usually squeeze out enough mana before your single big heal to the tank. As with most roles remember to use ability's like fade if your a priest to keep aggro low, as not all tanks are created equal and just because he has 4 mobs hitting him, does not mean a healers aggro will not peel it off.

DPS: Seriously, you know your job, you kill and you do it fast, but for the love of good stop posting the charts up no one cares if you pulled 13k but because you didn't sheep a mob we wiped, and in my case at 25, did not frost trap it, did not off tank on the pet, you may be a Damage toon, but your also a utility when played right. The difference between trash wipes is often not a DPS issue, but which class did not use a crowd control, or Off tank, or heal when the priest went OOM, or innervate etc. Stop comparing your E-peen and realize we are a unit of 5-10-25 or 40 players... and that you are part of a group, yes you signed up to kill, but you can still kill and you can save the day with traps or sheep, and banish etc. While we are the damage dealers and more damage is better, saving the group at the cost of a few seconds on boss is nothing. If you can save the healer then do it! do not wait around for someone else to do it. The list for DPS is to massive the do's and dont's is an article alone.

So I will leave you with that, remember what your role is and think of what else you can do, PVP skill can be used in PVE when it all goes to hell. Crowd control is still valid and necessary, offer to OT something if your plate or a pet user, offer to sheep anything they mark with X. If the tank is having a hard time with 4 mobs use 1 or more of the above to make life easier, all tank classes should now where there taunt is so picking up a CC or pet tanked mob is no great task.

Bringing you more as I get to it, but please add to this as I'm sure this is global and not limited to my battle group.

Egamad.

Guide to Tanking

Ok, it's Egamad again except this time no shaman nonsense, no gem dribble, and no stat to stat on stats.

This is my opinion of tanking, from 15-20 (so far).

Is tanking easy? Well tanking never was hard, get things to hit you by attacking them, seems simple enough. Keep them off the healer, also should never be an issue. Keep them off the DPS, now we get down to the problem I dare to say most tanks will have.

Now I'm not an expert, and this shouldn't be seen as gospel, but I HATE DPS. Yes, yes a bit harsh I know, however in my level range most of them are content to GOGOGO (as Foo says) even when healer is OOM. I have had a pally 4 levels lower start tanking, I've had warlocks and hunters chain pulling mobs, even though healers and other mana users are OOM. Now the dungeons are easy enough, there not hard lets be honest, and with the BOA gear scaling a lot of DPS think they can effectively chain pull to go at there pace and that healers and tanks should work around them.

As Foo mentioned in a gloriously high number of posts, the DPS, the guys on your team are the ones that make the run harder more times than the actual mobs in the dungeon. Now I can hold aggro, its easy enough being a warrior tank, and I have some survival talents already at 20, but for the love of Warcraft I'm not a paladin, I don't start with full resources I need to build them or use a minute cooldown to get them after each OOM healer break. I would love to chain pull and have RAGE in the bank at all times, but alas I have to wait, and the DPS should respect this.

My concern right now, is the fact that these DPS, have limited or no AOE attacks yet, so when the inevitable "I would rather AOE that group than burn a single target" happens, my life will be a blur of panicked button mashing. My point although lost now in the mess of typo's and grammatical errors is that despite the relative ease of the lower dungeons, Dead mines/Ragefire chasm, is that I'M THE TANK! Aggro is mine, leave it alone. I decide what to pull next, and the healer determines the pace/amount per pull. The DPS are there to make there death faster, THAT'S ALL, all DPS should do is kill the targets I have aggro on, and stop when they catch up or take over my Aggro count. You do not need to pull the next mob, or scream to hurry up, the healer needs mana we will wait, its much faster to do it smoothly than make the healer OOM every pull, the tank struggle to pick up the extras you wanted to invite, and then call us "Noobs" because you effectively wiped us.

Now, please guys remember we are not 80, not geared to the teeth, do not have all our magical talents, and have high cost low return spells, and a lack of resources at low levels. I like to tank and I like to heal, I am good at, I can DPS effectively to but rarely get the option. We have our roles, Tank takes the damage and uses aggro to manage mobs, the healer makes sure the tank survives long enough for the DPS to kill the mobs, can we please stick to this method. On that note pets from warlocks and hunters that have Taunt set on are just...Annoying really.

My hope is that my experience from 20 on, is much more focused on the tank being just that a tank, not being a taunt machine from the DPS that pull.

Egamad, now a warrior tank, a shaman healer, and a very bored PVP mage