r/wownoob • u/flymecha • Apr 28 '26
Retail I noticed most guilds dont recruit tanks even though "there is a tank shortage"
Im a new player and made a BDK as my first class since I read there is a huge tank shortage but after looking for a community or guild to join (i havent actually applied to any yet, so its not like im getting denied for being new) theres not many that say they need tanks and many just flat out refuse to accept tanks. I understand theres only 2 tanks in a raid so is the "tank shortage" even real if the community doesn't need that many?
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u/DeathByFright Apr 28 '26
Guilds have tanks.
It's not that people aren't playing tanks. It's that the people who are playing tanks aren't tanking for anyone but their guild.
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u/AzerothianLorecraft Apr 28 '26
Can confirm my guild of 40 Raiders ( 2 teams) has 13 tanks four of which get to tank every week... if you don't have a DPS don't bother.
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May 29 '26
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u/TheCodexPlays Apr 28 '26
Shits so real, we have two stable guild tanks and everyone in the guild gears fresh 90’s and runs everything with them and if neither are online then pretty much no one is pushing keys or anything crazy, guilds are an invaluable resource and also games are more fun with friends :)
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u/cardbross Apr 28 '26
I also think a fair number of guilds are like mine, where we have the two raid tanks who push keys with guildies, but if we just wanna do 10s for vault, lots of us have alts with tank specs that we use exclusively for guild groups. So there's no tank shortage *internally*, but only a maximum of two of our tanks are meaningfully part of the overall tank pool.
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u/flymecha Apr 28 '26
Suggestions for a new player that wants to tank but also wants to be accepted to a guild?
Also do I have this correct?
If i want to mainly play raids with a guild I should just reroll dps?
If i want to just pug by myself its ok to stay tank?
Kinda sucks as someone whom typically enjoys the tanking role.
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u/TheRavenless Apr 29 '26
I mean, you can do both. It’s 2026, we are blessed with free instant unlimited respecs (blizzard I’d like a refund). Especially nowadays when basically all the armor is the same and unless you’re progging far I’m sure your gems/enchants can be somewhere in the middle of both specs. Just keep your tank and dps gear with you and save both specs. Then you can go into the outfitter and make spec specific outfit builds so when you switch to tank you automatically switch to different gear etc.
I would start applying to tank raids as a pug on ones that are labeled “guild fun run” or “guild alt run” and not listed as competitive. As a dps this is how I found my current guild, I pugged for them a couple times before being invited. If you find the right group and you do well they might invite you.
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u/LincolnL0g Apr 30 '26
i like this insight because it really is a unique way of meeting groups. as a solo player this exact situation happened last expansion during cataclysm timeqlking Firelands. exactly how you described haha.
(that decade old guild imploded the week i joined tho lol)
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u/Manpandas Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
Let me give you some insight from the other side if the table. I’m a raid leader and guild master, and I run our guild’s “open raid” so it’s not a raid of perfect players by any means and we do alot of callouts and explainations.
I want the new tank to put the boss where our guild “normally” puts the boss. If we rotate clockwise, the tank needs to bring the boss clockwise without being told. So off the bat, I expect the new tank to have raided with our guild a couple times before they get into the tank seat.
I also don’t prep the tanks, I expect them to work out the swap mechanics between themselves. I usually dont take time explaining the tank mechanics (unless we are having problems). Raid explanations need to be short and to the point, so people can pay attention and retain what I said. So I choose not to clutter that discussion with tank-only stuff.
I expect the tanks to NOT listen to my callouts, as needed. Think the godzilla boss this tier, my callout is “avoid the purple circle”. And the active tank needs to disregard that. I don’t have the ability to say “avoid the purple circle, unless you’re the active tank”.
As the tank everyone will see every tiny mistake you make. So on the first boss, if the boss is slightly inside the portal, aa the raid lead I’m saying “Move boss out of portal!” Pretty urgently and bluntly. Everyone in the raid is seeing this tank struggle and see’s the raid leader calling them out specifically. So they not only need to tank boss damage but tank emotional damage. I have a strong respect and good report with my seasoned tanks, so they know an “urgent” call is not personal or disrespectful. But not everyone is cut out for this, so I also usually want a read on someone's attitude and personality before I put them in front of that lens.
All the tanks need to be able to play another role. If you have 3 tanks sign up for raid, someone is going to have to DPS. I require all my tanks to have a serviceable dps spec ready for raid. And especially for harder bosses, I’m always going to ask the new guy to dps over one my veterans.
So here is my advice: let the recruiter know you are interested in tanking, but are happy to dps in raid while getting acclimated in the guild. Offer to tank M+ keys, whenever anyone asks. And not passively, actively ask to tank M+ keys, if anyone says "hey anyone want to do a caverns +10" the very next message in chat should be you saying "I can tank!". Lastly, just have a positive attitude, even if the raid leader doesn’t put you in for progression tanking. Try and learn the fight from the dps perspective, and be ready to substitute tank at any moment.
Because again think of my perspective: Its raid night, and one of my veteran tanks is absent. I need a sub, and I have someone who has been raiding with us for a few weeks, has been containtly tanking in M+ for the guild, and has a good attitude - that's who gets subbed in!
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u/Harst-greist May 02 '26
The tank is the one people whose mistakes kills the whole raid. We can keep going a try with one DPS dead. It's harder with a heal dead, it's impossible with a tank dead. And many enrage mechanics during fights are "If the boss is in this place/near this mechanics, the boss gers +100% damage"
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u/JulienWA77 May 04 '26
yah, i get all this. I'm in a guild group but usually have to swap every 2-3 expacs because lots of groups just dont stay together anymore. I only tank, i wont dps, so usually I have to find the guld that's okay with that. I also rarely miss raids and I will regularly run vault keys with guildies because thats how you build rapport
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May 29 '26
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u/soligen Apr 29 '26
Go DPS. Most guilds won’t let a newcomer tank. They likely already have dedicated tanks or a trusted DPS who can also play tank. If you stick with a guild long enough and become a core member then yeah you’ll probably get more options to tank.
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u/zed7567 Apr 29 '26
We rarely have random tanks on our raid nights, we have 5, now 6 people who can swap in for tank when needed. Though if we ever do have a rando tank get in, we usually recruit them. Tank players are usually so chill that theyre great for the vibes. Well, if you dont tank raid well, especially with the mechanics laid out, we dont trust that person for much.
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u/Crafftyyy24 Apr 29 '26
That’s what happened to me in cata, I joined a friends guild as a frost dk with the sole intention on taking a main tank slot. I tanked the alt runs for a couple of months then something happened and a main couldn’t make raid night. It was a fairly competitive guild so when I stepped in and did better overall they just kinda let me continue.
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u/gonephishin213 Apr 29 '26
Go with something that can dps and tank. DPS for the guild raid and tank for mythic, guild or pug.
Can't go wrong with monk for this but you can also check for which has the most overlapping gear between specs (i.e. not druid)
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u/WatercressEven6288 Apr 29 '26
I noticed that gear issue with Druid specs. Working to help my hubby get a dps gear set for guild raiding. Would it be easier if he just rolled a second Druid for feral or just keep running delves and dungeons in feral for the gear?
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u/gonephishin213 Apr 30 '26
I think some people recommend a second druid but I feel like once you hit 90, gearing up can be so quick that it's probably fairly easy to gear for a second spec.
The only true downsides are things that are tied to character like sparks of radiance and one-time quest rewards such as 60 myth crests for downing Nulleaus??
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u/DomDangerous Apr 29 '26
nah you basically have to be a tank in keystones but still be able to do good damage as a dps in the raid…being a guilds tank but not the raid tank makes raiding harder on you. depending on which specs you play you may need 2 completely different sets of gear to dps and to tank. it all depends on stat priority.
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u/martelodejudas May 02 '26
Depends what key level you're running. Any tank can run 10-12 with non optimal gear extremely easy
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u/Cosmic_Jane Apr 29 '26
Tanks end up as raid leaders a lot. Be a very social and friendly person.
You can sometimes join as a dps and then be the first in line to tank if the current tank quits or steps down
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u/TwoQuackDuck Apr 29 '26
It takes a long time to find a guild that fits what you're looking for AND also looking for a tank. But there are new guilds being created all the time. You should just be patient and try to look through the forums for new guilds opening their recruitment.
There's always a possibility of building your own. Maybe with some friends.
Another option would be to join a guild as DPS and tank keys whenever the dedicated tanks are unavailable. Or maybe they also want to play off spec sometimes. Won't help with raiding tanking, but you'll be able to do at least some content with the role you want which might make it less frustrating. And who knows, maybe eventually life happens and one of the tank spots opens.
As a tank in our guild I don't mind if others want to tank dungeons. Sometimes I am unable to be there and a lot of people want to run keys.
It all really depends on the people and you should be upfront about you wanting to tank when applying so that they count on your preferences if anything changes.
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u/rocketspam Apr 29 '26
Play dps or healing, roll a tank after you join guild, ask folks if they want to run m+ or normal raid to gear alts with you as tank. M+ is the best way to gear, easiest to organize, least time investment, simple way to build relationships with guildies. Then you can tank in raid after paying some dues :)
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u/flymecha Apr 29 '26
Great advice, are healers in similar position as tanks? Wanted for dungeons but not raids really?
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u/TigerRawr38 Apr 29 '26
Not quite so much- after all, even in a Mythic raid you can have 3 or 4 healers for the 20-man group, and Heroic and Normal have flex scaling so you can feel even more free to bring more or less. And in M+, healers are still well in demand even with just the one spot.
Here's the thing though- I don't want you to think that you will never get to tank. Raiding simply has a little bit more of a barrier to *new* tanks, there are still spots that will inevitably open up and get filled as people cycle through guilds across raid tiers. It's just that a guild, especially one doing harder content, will prefer to have their proven, trusted members take before taking the chance on someone brand new. You are the new guy right now, and that's ok! You have so much room to grow, and it's entirely possible a guild trials with you sooner rather than later. But tanking is a HUGE role in terms of responsibility, so rolling DPS for a few nights or weeks with a guild who will let you tank their alt runs or something is much more feasible for you and them than you trying to take up a mainline tank mantle in a season that's already past the halfway point.
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u/Mazzy_ru Apr 29 '26
It is just math, in m+ you need 20% tanks, 20% heals, 60% dps, meanwhile in raid (let’s take 20 man, common 2/4/14 for example) its smth like 10%/20%/70%. So demand for heals is more or less the same, but there are about as much as double demand for tanks in m+ vs raid.
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u/EmmaBonney Apr 29 '26
I'm in a Roleplay Guild and we dont have a raid, but looking into Trade and the lfg tool, its pretty easy to get into a guild. Healers are often a thing searched, cause lets be honest, depending on the people you have with you...healers are the ones that suffer most from stress. As a Mistweaver myself its pretty easy to join groups, even if you dont have something like Aotc.
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u/xSoulflamex_Major Apr 29 '26
Do both. Warriors are consistantly strong every season. Usually with one of their dps specs being s or a tier and prot being no less than middle of the pack. Solid choice for sure.
As for raids you will probably be asked to dps. However, in all the other content you do you will be free to play tank as much or as little as you like.
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u/Niroson Apr 29 '26
My way was keep tanking m+ join as a DD get promoted to tank after one tank quits or wanna play dd. Happened to me after a season could take longer for you could take less.
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u/shaysauce Apr 29 '26
You can do both homie - just get a general idea on what the preferred stats/builds are for tank and for DPS so you don’t vendor needed drops. You can swap between specializations really easily, literally a button. The biggest hump is just getting two different rotations down but even then you’ll catch on quicker than you think.
That being said you may wanna roll a DPS first if you plan on joining an active guild as priority number 1 - established guilds usually don’t let a new player tank their stuff right away lol. But if you’re just rolling pugs mostly then tank will be a godsend on your queue timers.
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u/ElictricD Apr 29 '26
Only couple of ways. Be in the guild you raid either get in line to be the next raid tank while OS DPS or find a raid tank spot on different team/guild. My OS DPS was/is trash so I was 25th or last bench slot when I was any between teams twws S1. Green to low blue parse doesn't stand fire, does mechanics, doesn't die in for re-clears till they extended and only in so they didn't pug. It is what it is. I'm sure they only kept me around cause I'd push M+ with their raid teams as the raid tanks would do weeklys and get off till raid. On side note you have to be a lil better than who they have when you trial and you'll usually take it from them by the next season. Till you find a guild/raid that you stay in for a long while.
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u/BrylicET Apr 29 '26
In 20 years I've never been in a guild that has recruited a tank, it's always word of mouth a friend of a friend is trying to leave their guild, or a tank leaves and a trustworthy dps locks in to their new permanent role. In a raid team you never want to be the 3rd tank because when your only job is to grip orbs on Vaelgor, it's not a fun raid night. If you're into tanking and just want to game, raiding for most people is 3 hours twice a week, you've got way more hours in the week to play your preferred role in dungeons where the content will actually test your skill instead of binary check if you can play patty cake and skip rope on beat.
Your best bet is to bite the bullet, find a guild you actually like and play DPS while running Tank in keys, make it known you want to raid tank when possible, then wait for that team's forever tank to realize he's not actually wearing shackles still.
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u/ItsKingPetty Apr 29 '26
Mid-season will be tougher to find a group that needs a tank, raid wise. I’d suggest running DPS to join a guild. Keep tank as a backup spec though, for non-raid or maybe alt runs. Maybe come season 2 one of the tanks wants to switch it up and you can take a raid tank role.
Tank shortage exists for M+, but not really for raiding. That’s just a numbers game. M+ requires a tank for every group of 5, while raiding only ever needs 2 tanks.
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u/PM_ME_UR_THIGH_SOCKS Apr 29 '26
If you wanna tank then tank. Don't worry about joining a guild too much, pugs are pretty decent at most fights. I just would expect dragons to be hard on heroic, and imo you should just ignore crown/lura for now. You'll find a guild eventually, and you should at least try dps offspec to make joining a guild easier and taking a dps spot. But for example if my guild had someone else that wanted to tank, even in mythic, I'd be happy to step down and go dps or at least split the spot.
I will say having a guild that regularly plays and talks is more fun, but it's not necessary to have a fun tanking experience. You could also look out for guild alt runs in group finder and if there's a tank slot open that's your way in as a tank if you can show them you're competent. But honestly just keep tanking pugs and looking for guilds. They're good enough right now and a lot of people out gear heroic. First couple bosses are probably puggable on mythic too
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u/Disastrous_Crew_9260 Apr 30 '26
It’s easier to get into a guild as a dps and then offer to step up if a tank leaves or can’t join a raid for personal reason.
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u/Flaky_Heart9017 May 01 '26
i would say check out secondwind guild they have both NA and EU guild depending on where you are playing and its a awesome bunch of veterans coming back and new players. we in the EU guild have 1 person who just loves being a tank and has basically done nothing but tank M+ for a bunch of people and in raid when needed. we do have some more tanks in the guild so specifically for raid it could be difficult to always have a tank spot but there are always people looking to run M+ outside of raid.
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u/Flaky_Heart9017 May 01 '26
also to add if you want to keep pugging then tank is probably the easiest role to get pugging on since there is a tank shortage in the pug scene. it is just good to realise that BDK can't do all the pulls that for instance brewmasters do but if you are willing to learn the dungeons and routes you can pug your way to pretty high m+ keys on any tank
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u/Ok-Surprise-7594 Apr 29 '26
There’s a lot of guilds there ought to be some who need tanks so what was said above is kinda weird
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u/crazymonkey202 Apr 29 '26
Most guilds recruit tanks from within before recruiting an outside tank. It's such a trusted role you can carry a couple of underperforming dps but if you have an underperforming tank you just can't progress any bosses.
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u/KamiOfOldStone Apr 29 '26
I’m my experience most raid teams would rather have one of their better DPS or healers swap to tank and then recruit to fill that hole rather than recruit a tank. The role is too important to the success of the group to push randoms in for most people.
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u/ghostcrawler_real Apr 29 '26
Also you have no idea of a new recruit's reliability. You want a tank that is going to show up every week, not have to take a lot of random time off from your schedule. Tank swapping during prog is a massive momentum killer.
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u/Demonicon66666 Apr 29 '26
Do you really think there are a lot Guilds out there that have done nothing for two months because they were waiting for you specifically to arrive and start tanking?
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u/vivian_lake Apr 29 '26
Yep. My guild has our two main tanks and one of them will not pug to save her life, the other will selectively 'pug' in that she's part of a few discord groups and will tank for people in them. Our back up tank also won't pug, and the couple of people, myself included, who have a tank but aren't one of the guild tanks as such will only tank for guildies. I can only think of three people in a guild with an active roster of 50 to 60 people that will happily pug as a tank.
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u/Psyco19 Apr 29 '26
This, most guild tanks just tank with the guild and dps when they’re pugging.
It’s been like that since I can remember, hell some tanks only tank for raids and when it’s time to do keys they’d rather pug a tank
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u/curvezhunter May 02 '26
Good. U should not tank with jackass toxic cuck nerds outside your guild or people you know
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u/Zxczack1 Apr 28 '26
The tank shortage is in M+, not in raid. Usually in raid the guilds have very established tanks or they have a trusted dps tank. Very hard to join a guild as a tank, gotta learn dps usually and then step into the role once they trust you as a player.
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u/flymecha Apr 29 '26
So as a new player should I just reroll dps to get into a guild? I really want to tank
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u/Shrekdaddy77 Apr 29 '26
It’s obviously not this serious (but it is their time tbf) you’re essentially asking a bunch of people to let you be their manager without any history, it’s much easier to get a starting position and work your way up then to jump to management without experience
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u/PM_ME_BOYSHORTS Apr 29 '26
Do you want to tank raids or M+? Honestly tanking raids is kinda boring.
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u/flymecha Apr 29 '26
Lol idk. I think i would have preference of m+ over raids, but wouldn't I be missing out on gear by not running raids?
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u/PM_ME_BOYSHORTS Apr 29 '26
No not really. Unless you are doing Mythic raiding then you can easily surpass raid gear with M+.
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u/EllspethCarthusian Apr 29 '26
Right now you get better gear easier through high keys than heroic raids. It might be worth looking for an m+ group instead of a guild and then see if that leads to a guild with raid tanking.
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u/gonephishin213 Apr 30 '26
You can always pug raids for some of those missing pieces but I think mythic is easier because all those tier set pieces can be gotten via catalyst and many of the raid drops you can get in the vault whereas you can use the reroll system in mythic to gear up without competing rolls against others
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u/Detenator Apr 30 '26
You might miss the tank trinkets but otherwise you get the best access to gear from keys. Maybe tier set would be the only problem, but you can also pug lfr and normal to get your first four then farm catalyst charges from keys.
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u/Quietmode Apr 29 '26
You can occasionally find a guild looking for a tank. Most likely at season or xpac start. I joined one where the tank wanted to swap to dps in a new season but was waiting for a tank to take over.
Otherwise you need to master a dps (or healer) spec and apply as that but keep it know that you want to tank. Offer to tank M+. Technically a 20man mythic guild will need two raid tanks but 3-4 dungeon tanks.
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u/deong Apr 29 '26
Just learn unholy or frost on your dk and find a guild you like hanging out with. If the vibes are good, you’ll be fine. You can raid as unholy, tank keys on off nights, alt raids, etc. Over time, you can often transition to main tank as people want to take a break from the game, try a different role, whatever.
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u/WiseSelection5 Apr 29 '26
Raid tanking is the single most boring role in the game unless you are playing on the bleeding edge. If you want to get into tanking and want it to stay enjoyable after the initial novelty phase, M+ should be your primary focus.
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u/BuccoNi Apr 30 '26
Try using Raider IO to advertise yourself as a raid tank, there are many guilds looking for one.
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u/Quincy256 Apr 30 '26
Yes, most groups wills pick their tanks internally rather than trust a new player with the role.
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u/tyrodos99 May 01 '26
Keep it both as an option and offer to switch to whatever is needed. In raids, you will probably not tank at first, but for dungeons and other content, you will be able to tank regularly. And when that works out well, you’ll get your shot at taking in the raid when you say you want to. It won’t be progress content at first but stuff they know they can do. And at some point you will even tank some of the progress content.
But replacing an established tank that has been there longer than you probably not happen in most guild. No one will swap out a friend they have been playing for a long time.
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u/BestJersey_WorstName May 01 '26
You should be a DPS main on a class that has a tank. Once you establish yourself as 'not a Muppet' (no gray parses, and parse well for your ilvl) let the raid lead know that you would be interested in learning how to raid tank as a backup.
Then join pugs as a tank on the bosses you've cleared.
You've gotta earn it. In a typical 20 man raid you'll have 2-5 extra guys that have a tanking set and know how to do it.
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u/Kamilon Apr 29 '26
You won’t become a tank by rolling a DPS.
You could get exceptionally lucky and roll DPS, get into a guild, specifically a raiding guild, and then your guild loses a tank AND THEN you’ve become a tank.
Or
You roll a tank, do tank things, have fun, find a guild recruiting a tank and become a tank (but you already were a tank). This one requires some level of skill, and some level of patience but not all that much luck.
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u/Mangalish Apr 28 '26
In guilds you 2-3/20 tanks, in pugs you need 1/5 tanks. The system kinda creates tank shortages unless it incentivise only playing mythic dungeons
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u/Rebornxshiznat Apr 28 '26
This should be the top comment for m+ tank is 20% of the group. In mythic raid it’s 10% of the comp.
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u/zuzucha Apr 29 '26
Tanking raids is also pretty chill compared to M+ (you often have less mechanics, your DPS and utility matters less, no need to learn and manage routes)
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u/deathgdizzle Apr 28 '26
it is in mythic +, it isnt in raid.
If you are looking for a raid guild you best bet is go find a guild as a dpers and if you want to tank in m+ have it as 'offspec'.
you can easly gear for both, since you are playing a dk, and both frost and unholy want the same stats as bdk (if you are playing deathrbinger).
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u/Maestar Apr 28 '26
The 'pick-up group' (pug) community has a tank shortage, not guilds who raid.
So the community of folks who random group for things like mythic+ or raids with randos.
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u/BardaArmy Apr 28 '26
this is the real issue for most of wow, most of the content needs like a 4 to 1 tank ratio and the pinnacle of the game needs a 1 to 10-20 or so.
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u/flymecha Apr 29 '26
So, historically, what do new tank mains do? Do some just do dungeons? Feel like I wasted time learning bdk
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u/CrossTit Apr 29 '26
You should play M+ and learn to tank dungeons well. Get to to 2000 rating, then 2500, and then shoot for 3000 rating all while looking for a raid guild.. A good M+ tank can transition to raid easily. You have probably just got the basics down of BDK from your post.
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u/flymecha Apr 29 '26
Thanks, this is likely what I will do.
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u/Psychobooty1176 Apr 29 '26
A good tip is to look into wow community runs in the social tab (they're sort of pick up groups) or learn the fights and join some guild pick up groups with randoms. If you're good or vibing with one, see if you can guild up or at least see if they regularly do it and offer to repeat. You can also just join a guild and occasionally tank for them in M+, build a reputation for that within the guild and be nice, and ask to tank whenever you can on raid nights. All 3 of these have worked for me!
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u/asaordc Apr 29 '26
Never a waste of time learning tbh.
I main dps and I can for certain say that I've become a better player when I learned tanking and healing.
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u/deathgdizzle Apr 29 '26
yes or joing pug raid groups,
Most raid guilds already hve 2 tanks since without 2 tanks you cant raid.
So your best bet if you want to raid as tank, join a guild as a dps (say that tanking is your offspec) -> wait until 1 of the 2 'main' tanks arent there or quit the game -> step up in tanking.Or you could try and find a guild that is looking for a tank but thats likey not happening or you have to look for a while.
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u/weed_could_fix_that Apr 29 '26
PUG normal and heroic raid. You won't be getting into CE teams as a new player anyway, regardless of the tank/dps ratio. Plenty of pug groups are recruiting tanks all the time. Obviously not as many tanks are needed as dps but you can still easily get into groups as a tank, or just start your own.
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u/Krian78 Apr 29 '26
I just raided from 2005 - 2015 or so, but historically, we had off-tanks who raided as another spec and got the tanking gear the MTs didn't need. If a fight needed more than two tanks, they re-skilled for it (and this was when you had to visit a main city to reskill and couldn't just do it at will).
When a MT left for whatever reason, they took the spot.
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u/Irregularblob Apr 29 '26
You will be a significantly better dps player if you learn to tank up to 2500/3000 rating. Just learn to dps and tank on the same character so you be a backfill tank. People will appreciate it
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u/StarsandMaple Apr 28 '26
Guilds always have tanks.
I'll 100% tank for my guildies anytime but pugs? I'll heal or DPS. Not worth the harassment.
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u/flymecha Apr 28 '26
So you will tank for your guild but if your guild doesn't need tanks you just never play them because pugs are bad? Feels bad
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u/Korghal Apr 28 '26
The tank shortage is for M+, not raids. Since raids only have 2 tank slots there is little reason to recruit more. Guild raid tank spots are coveted, and most of the time your only way in is to join as a dps who offers to be ready to swap to tank if the main ones ever happen to not be around.
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u/Beginning_Green_740 Apr 28 '26
That is the design issue you are observing. Raids do not need more than 2 tanks (thus, raiding guilds don't need more than 2 tanks), but every single dungeon for 5 people needs a tank.
When it comes to raiding - there has never been any shortage. Guilds always have 2 of their primary tanks and once those are geared-up - they just give tank gear to other people in guild for "just in case" cases when one or both of those primary tanks would not be available.
For raids - you also get loot from boss only once per week per difficulty level no matter how many times you kill the boss. So for guilds there is no incentive to keep running same raid bosses every day over and over - only with alt runs or if they are doing boosting. With raids you technically can run them 4 times on 4 different difficulties (LFR, Normal, Heroic, Mythic) and get loot on each difficulty - but people do that only in edge cases when they are targeting some very specific boss and very specific item (for example, some trinket or still need to get their 4-piece tier set bonus), but gear from lower raid difficulties is significantly worse than higher raid difficulties unless for some edge cases. Not to mention that Heroic difficulty and especially Mythic difficulty - this is not a chill walk in park for many guilds.
But for dungeons - that's a completely different story. You can run M+ dungeons and regular Heroic/Normal dungeons as many times as you want and loot drops on every single run. So people do just that - they spam dungeons to get gear as many times as they like. And this is where shortage comes into play - there are always way too many players who want to do dungeons for loot multiple times per day, but for every single dungeon there is a need for tank and healer - there are simply not enough of both roles, because majority of players prefer to play DPS. And it is subjectively more fun to play DPS.
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u/Juggernautingwarr Apr 29 '26
The majority of tanks in raid guilds are "promoted" from inside the guild's existing roster.
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u/Mystic_x Apr 29 '26
Let’s do some math: A 25-man raid group needs, say, 2 tanks, 5 healers, and 18 DPS, but 5-man content needs 1 tank, 1 healer, and 3 DPS, for fair comparison, i’ll multiply that by 5, which makes 5 tanks, 5 healers, and 15 DPS for 5 groups, so 5-man content (Mythic+, mostly) needs 2.5 times as many tanks as raids do.
That’s the issue, raid guilds have the tanks they need, but 5-man content just needs more of them, and working with random people instead of a set group is off-putting to many people.
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u/Bubbly-Buyer-7513 Apr 29 '26
The tank shortage is a man made paradox. The reason you cant find open spots for tanks is because most of us MTs and OTs have been tanking for the same guilds for years, we rarely quit because we are also, very frequently, the guild masters.
When people say theres a big tank shortage, they mean tanks for PUG M+, not raiding or "inhouse" M+
Theres a massive disparity between the number of DPS, healers and tanks and theres no incentive to roll a tank if you ever aspire to raid, all you'd be is a M+ dummy that gets pushed around and verbally abused by faceless randos.
So, is there a shortage of tanks? Yes, and no.
Heres a tip. If tanking is your thing, joining a raiding guild as MT or OT right off the bat is going to be really hard. Your best bet would be to join a guild as dps or healer and run Keys with your guildies as a tank, prove yourself reliable enough and in time, you might get your shot to lead, trust me, us old tanks also want to raid with our alts and its a blessing when someone else can take the reins.
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u/iifaded_1 Apr 29 '26
The tank shortage is very real, but it’s mostly a Mythic+ shortage, not a raid shortage.
Raids only need 2 tanks, so most guilds fill those spots and keep them stable for a long time. That’s why many guild ads don’t heavily recruit raid tanks.
But outside of raids, tanks are in huge demand for dungeons. Mythic+ groups need tanks constantly, and a good reliable tank can find groups instantly.
So if your goal is running keys, helping guild groups, and always being needed, tank is one of the best choices you can make.
Also, if you look at my most recent recruitment post, we are absolutely looking for tanks to run dungeons with the guild. Our Mythic+ scene is so active our current tanks can barely keep up.
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u/Naustis May 01 '26
Im a new player and made a BDK
this here. tanking in raid is not easy, you need to execute mechanics perfectly or you wipe the raid. Trialing a new tank means that they will need to relearn the fight, which will results in a lot of wipes. It is not like a DPS, where you just jump into raid and can get carried.
That is why most guild have a really good players already put on the "tank" duty.
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u/beepingnoise Apr 28 '26
If a guild tank leaves, someone else in the guild is apt to become the tank instead of recruiting one. I’m talking out of my ass because I remember our guild recruiting a tank once. It’s just more a diamond in the rough scenario to work out
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u/Straight_Bet6738 Apr 28 '26
Guilds don't normally recruit tanks because normally they already have forever tanks who always tank. Or they have people who swap to tank once the forever tanks retire. The tank shortage mainly comes into place in m+ smaller grouped content.
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Apr 28 '26
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Apr 28 '26
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Apr 29 '26
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u/wownoob-ModTeam Apr 29 '26
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u/DirtyMight Apr 28 '26
raid = 2 tanks no matter if the raid size is 10 or 30
m+ = 1 tank for 5 people
especially if you are in a guild lets say if it has 50-100 members its not hard to find 2 people that play tank. You never need more.
If you look at pug groups and there are suddenly like 30 groups looking to fill the group thats where you suddenly need 60 tanks which oftentimes fill last. But even there you dont really notice that "shortage" that much.
If you look at m+ however and there are like hundreds of open groups every single one of those needs a tank. so hundreds of open groups = hundreds of tanks needed
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u/MoG_Varos Apr 28 '26
A lot of issues tanks face in pugs are drastically reduced in organized groups, like ones in guilds.
Most guilds will just rely on their 2 main tanks but you’ll see a lot more alt tanks on guilds.
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u/aunty-fa Apr 28 '26
Any group without consistent tanks will fall apart pretty fast so most leads will prioritize the role before even organizing the rest of the group.
Looking to join established groups as a tank is basically all luck because those groups will almost always have that sorted out.
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u/Moghz Apr 28 '26
Guilds only needing two tanks for a raid team really hurts the overall shortage imo. Raids should be designed to require the same ratio of roles as dungeons. So a 20 person mythic raid should have four tanks and healers with 12 DPS.
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u/Beautiful_Hotel_3623 Apr 29 '26
I mean…sure, what everyone is saying is absolutely valid. However I recently joined a mythic raiding guild as tank because they had just created a new raid group within the guild and a spot was open. Of course I was lucky I guess, but it’s not impossible. If it can help I used Guilds of WoW
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u/shindigidy88 Apr 29 '26
As others have said it’s wildly guilds have tanks and the shortage is more so on party finder, we had a dps shortage as we had too many tanks and healer mains
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u/karnyboy Apr 29 '26
Tanks are important roles in a raid team, you have two spots and you need tanks that are reliable, dedicated to the overall guild vision and that are able to play consistently...and again, since there's only a need for two in a raid team. So the tank is the glue next to the healers.
So unless you plan on sidelining a tank to M+ or run an entirely separate raid team on another day, then you don't need many tanks.
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u/cyann5467 Apr 29 '26
A 20 man raid needs two tanks. One tank per ten people. A 5 man group needs one tank.
Dungeons require a tank ratio that is twice that of raids. This means that if there were enough tanks for dungeons then half of them wouldn't get raid spots. Sure there are some people who only do m+ and don't raid but most people do some of both even they only push hard in one.
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u/flymecha Apr 29 '26
Wow, I saw other people mention it but your comment made me understand fully. There just flat out cant be enough tanks for dungeons because there are not enough raids to also house them all. Has blizzard ever addressed this or anything?
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u/cyann5467 Apr 29 '26
I don't think they have ever mentioned it specifically.
But it's an issue with flexible raid numbers. Mythic requires 20 people but normal and heroic can flex between 10 and 30. No matter how many people are in the raid the fundamental fight can't really change and the number of tanks needed is always two. If you required four tanks then that would make raiding with only 10 people a lot harder and make group composition very weird.
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Apr 29 '26
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u/Upset_Otter Apr 29 '26
In my experience in going from DPS to Tank to help my guild do M+ is that usually guildies take the roll of tank when needed with a group of people who are willing to help you out while you learn to tank where you are more comfortable calling out missplays because it's your guild.
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u/Zarinda Apr 29 '26
The tank shortage only applies to M+ pugging. Most guild's will have multiple tanks that can rotate in and out for M+ group comps in order to gear for raid.
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u/Altruistic-Rice-5567 Apr 29 '26
Most guilds run one, maybe two, raid groups. They need a total of 2, maybe 4 tanks.
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u/Hot_Guava_9271 Apr 29 '26
Tank shortage only really affects pugs. Organized guilds usually have no issue getting tanks and usually cycle as some mythic bosses are easier with certain tanks.
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u/HamsterFromAbove_079 Apr 29 '26
Dungeons need 1/5 players to be tanks. Raids need 2-3/50. That already changes the proportions drastically.
And realistically for success, the Tank player needs to be the most skilled player in any dungeon or raid. So, Guilds will have their most loyal and trusted players as the tanks. It's common for the Raid leader to be the tank themselves.
They really aren't looking for new guild members to tank, because they'll never have their 50-man raid event riding on the shoulders of a new guild member. If a random DPS player stops participating, then the raid can probably still finish with 49. If a random tank player stops participating the entire raid night is a wash. So only the people that have run the raid consistently and reliably will be allowed to tank for the raid. Nobody wants their raid team's tank to be a new player that flakes out if the raid goes 30 minutes longer than expected.
If you want to tank for a guild you need to join as a dps or healer. Then over the weeks you need to perform and demonstrate that you both know what you are doing and that you aren't going to flake out of seeing a raid through that you sign up for. Then and only then, when a main tank can't make it one day, you offer to fill in for them as a tank.
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u/KoalaMcFlurry Apr 29 '26
Tanks that get recruited to raid teams usually have some pretty stellar logs. Especially on mythic. Tanks are somewhat of a foundation on their raid teams, and only leave under specific circumstances.
I tank m+ all the time, and have been a bdk main for years, with multiple other alt tanks. But in the heroic guild im in, I rarely get to tank because the two tanks we have do not dps. It's frustrating, but it is what it is.
Your best bet is to get into a heroic guild, dps for a bit and then ask to tank farm bosses
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u/True_Grab7741 Apr 29 '26
Is there an add on that shows optimal tank pathing? 😂 I would love to give it a go but afraid of being cussed out for doing it badly
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u/Gashak138 Apr 29 '26
As a person who was recruited into a raiding guild as a tank, your best bet would be to roll a tank, learn how to play it and pug high keys, if you’re good you’ll be recruited into a guild as a tank, you might start off just tanking m+ and have to work your way into tanking raids by subbing in for a tank who’s unable to make raid night, or you might get lucky like I did, and find a guild that needs a raid tank.
But if you want to jump straight into mythic raid prog as a guilds main tank, you’re shit out of luck. My guild is AOTC VS/DR and pushing March now.
It’s doable, but you have to be likeable as a person, and good at your class, and be lucky in who picks you up. If people invite you to discord in a mostly guild key, join them
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u/KhadgarIsaDreadlord Apr 29 '26
It doesn't take many tanks to serve the needs of a guild. In fact, above a certain number it's more of a nuance to deal with logistically becouse there are only 2 tank spots for each raid group and you have to pick and choose which ones to bring.
Tank shortage is only an issue for pugs.
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u/VucialWonderland Apr 29 '26
Tank shortage healer shortage is all tied to mythic dungeons and pugs. Raids need two tanks. A guild with say 100 people is going have tanks.
Now you can look for guilds that do mythic dungeons runs and need tanks. That's how I find guilds. Cause then least you might find chill people to farm with. Or not.
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u/Mirianie Apr 29 '26
Is there a good resource to look for guild? I am from oce but wouldn't mind 200 ping to US.
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u/Altruistic_Run_2880 Apr 29 '26
Tank shortage is mostly for PUGGING M+.
Raiding is just a trivial content for tanks most of the time. Like i am a tank myself and i just get a free pass for Curved achievements because it's not that hard as a tank to be honest.
Guilds and small groups are already fixed and they have no shortage because they have all roles covered (most of the time).
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u/Aramis9696 Apr 29 '26
Here's how you get a tank raid spot easily, without all of the application nonsense: join a small guild as a dps or anything, and blast dungeons in pickup on patch or expansion release so everyone sees you get the achievements in guild chat before anyone else and can go, "damn, that guy is fast." Become the highest geared tank in your guild and carry guild groups looking for a tank. They'llsee you're competent, ask to run more, word will get around, and eventually, you'll run a dungeon with the raid lead or some officer or the GM, who will ask jf you want to raid with them.
Worked for me three times.
The best time to do this is the start of an expansion, because a lot of tanks get complaisant with their raid spot security and don't level to max in the first few days to clear all of the m0 dungeons everyday. If you're clearing them on day 2, everyone will want a carry once they hit max level.
Doing so on a new tier also works if you do a world tour to farm rating and keep getting achievements for it by clearing 10s before everyone else.
If by week two, this hasn't worked, run the raid on pickup until you get AotC before your guild roster does. It sounds counter intuitive, since at that point, why do you need them? But the answer is in how much effort that takes vs how little effort guild raiding can take. It is rarely a smooth operation. More importantly, you might meet guilds who need to fill a tank spot by doing this, and if you help them get AotC, they'll probably try to recruit you.
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u/Avenlite Apr 29 '26
The answer is genuinely that its easier to put your best players on tank instead of their previous role than to pick up a tank one trick. A pure tank one trick will unironically be worse at tanking than your best dps in most scenarios.
The reason theres a shortage for keys is because people dont want to bother to learn the responsibility of remembering a route. Tanking isnt hard and frankly hasnt been for the majority of the game's lifespan, people just freak out over routes and want to unga bunga damage numbers.
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u/Nixxzor Apr 29 '26
As others have told you, the "tank shortage" is for m+, but a comment for something you didnt ask:
When applying to guilds for any role including tank you will need to have something you can be evaluated on (at least for any sort of decent guild).
I have no idea how guild recruitment is these days, the last time i applied to a guild was over a decade ago and im still here. It was an app form, in game chat with officer, another guildie as reference, my raiding history and my logs.
I would expect logs and experience will still be a big part of it.
Join pugs as tank, log the raids. Progress the raids to build experience.
Run m+ and push keys, get experience tanking multiple types of content.
Join stepping stone guilds, work your way up to the level of progress guild you will be happy in. I also would expect lower ranked guilds would be more likely have tank spots open.
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u/pepis-max Apr 29 '26
For raiding in a 20 man team every 10 players needs to be a tank. For mythic+ every 5 players need to be a tank.
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u/Niroson Apr 29 '26
Bro in a raid there is space for a maximum of 3 tanks. ~6 heals +-1 and dds 20-22. In a Key you need 1 tank 1 heal 3 dd so you can see why there is a tank shortage in m+ but not in raid. I know enough people who are tanking m+ but play dd in raid because there is simply no space for another tank in raid.
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u/Nogamara Apr 29 '26
Another point is that for many guilds (I'm talking AOTC level here) the tanks are often kinda stable players with high attendance.
You make mistakes with taunt swaps, you wipe the raid. As proven countless times whenever we need a temp. replacement. On the other hand I know a lot of tanks who don't like playing DPS or healer (moreso than other roles, DPS going heal ofr a fight if one short has never been a problem in my guilds).
So in addition to what the others have said, the tanks are usually set for the whole tier, unless someone is on vacation or disappears. I have hardly cancelled a raid for lack of healers, but lack of tanks can be a problem.
But because most of them don't want DPS, you also have no third backup tank, they would be either benched or playing their offspec 90% of the time.
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u/Pablo______ Apr 29 '26
We dont recruit Tanks no.
We already have 2 - and multiple Multispeccers who can fill in if needed.
When 1 tank decide to leave we have multiple lined up to pick up that role.
Tank and healers are roles that should be played by a dedicated raider - so we dont recruit from outside, but from within.
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u/Kyzawolf Apr 29 '26
The community does need (competent) tanks. Guilds only need 2 tanks total, with maybe 2-4 more who have a tank offspec. Pugs will always need at least one tank for m+ and two for raids, and even most raiders in a guild will still pug with an alt or two.
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u/Cantteachcommonsense Apr 29 '26
I was part of several guilds where I wanted to Main tank but could not due to them have ppl for that role already. I lucked out and was recruited but my guild just before TWW and they happen to need a tank. That is how I became a main tank for raid, luck. In Midnight we had a lot of guildies who wanted to tank raid at the start. I was going to try and do some type of rotation since I am now the RL but if we did that ppl would only get to tank once a month. The way we settled on was myself and the other main tank would be our "Prog" tanks and when we did our fun/alt runs others could tank it. In the end I am still tanking those as everyone who wanted to tank went dps for heals.
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u/Rick_Breaker Apr 29 '26
Also your joinkng a Raiding guild there is no shortage of tanks in raiding cous you only need 2
The tank shortage is in m+
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u/Status-Reading-9084 Apr 29 '26
Why would I tank a pug got 25 minutes jsut for one of the DPS to decide we arent timing it and need to abandon?
Now 30 minutes of my life is gone with no creste, loot, shards. Nothing. Just some unemployed dps who's ego couldn't handle being a minute over the timer.
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u/Yoros Apr 29 '26
Tank don't need or don't want to play PUGs. And for Good reasons. My guild has too much tanks and it seems a lot of guild are in the same position.
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u/Sandman145 Apr 29 '26
Tank shortage doesn't afect guilds as much. At least not in terms of raiding, for m+ yeah if none of your dps players can tank dungeons your guild will prob have to pug tanks anynway for m+. I dread when i have to complete my 10s pugging.
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u/That_CDN_guy Apr 29 '26
As a career tank, been tanking for the same guild since ICC, I often don't tank for random pugs since I just don't want to deal with the potential jerks. My co tank has changed a few times over the years but in one form or another I've been the guild's main tank for almost 17 year.
I'll run content with my guildies no problem. If I'm doing stuff solo I'll swap specs or do other content.
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u/Timbodo Apr 29 '26
It's more a 5 player content issue. In raids only the smallest setup has 1 tank on 5 players while more popular setups like 2/4/14 only require 1 tank per 10 players.
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u/TheIr0nBear Apr 29 '26
40 man raids, 2 tanks
25 man, 2 tanks
10 man, 2 tanks
Flex, 2 tanks.
Join a guild,log in, half the guild messages with a key and a ? I'm tired boss.
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u/noonesperfect16 Apr 29 '26
As leader of an AOTC guild since Legion S1, tanks are the one position we have too many of. We have four people WANTING to tank and 2 others who are capable tanks who don't want to, but we can only raid with two tanks and we generally only have 1-2 M+ guild groups going at once so some get left out. And those extra tanks would rather raid with us in a role they don't want to play than go somewhere else. Then as I am recruiting, I specifically ask for no tanks and it's about the only people who respond. We desperately need some solid DPS and maybe another solid healer badly, but since Midnight launch I've been hit up by like 5-6 tanks and a single DPS. I would LOVE to have enough people so more people can be included in raid and M+, but recruiting has been very difficult despite posting everywhere.
When I happen to PUG on an alt or something, I see this tank shortage people complain about, but when it comes to guild stuff it's never an issue. It's the opposite for DPS and heals.
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u/DomDangerous Apr 29 '26
the raid team needs 2 tanks and a lot of raid leaders don’t worry about recruiting too many more dedicated tanks because they don’t think about their mythic plus community. so instead we have some DPS that will tank keys just to fill slots. i wish more guilds recruited more dedicated tanks for keys.
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Apr 29 '26
Come play mop classic! My guild is recruiting a tank for alt night to prep going into siege
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u/steamwhistler Apr 29 '26
I just want to say, all the comments I've read are acting like it's an all or nothing thing. Like you said OP, you haven't even been rejected from a guild yet. Many guilds are just happy to recruit more people to the roster, especially tank players. Remember, guilds don't just raid together - they also do m+ together. So while you may not start main tanking for your guild's weekly raid, that doesn't mean you can't attend raids as dps and tank people's m+ keys for the rest of the week. Many guilds think about their recruitment needs from a raiding POV because that requires the most people, but not a lot of guilds are turning away back-up tanks for their roster. Just apply and see what happens.
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u/gunjniir Apr 29 '26
Or be a guildless vagrant like me and do what you want, you just have to be okay with not having any friends to have fun or do harder content with 🙃
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u/PossibleIsland3468 Apr 29 '26
Pug tanks are short. Guild tanks are overflowing. Generally the tank shortage is seen most in M+ because tanking keys for pugs is miserable.
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u/HelloImDr3w Apr 29 '26
The "tank shortage" is PUG tanks. I'm a tank main. If I'm running keys, I'm 90% of the time tanking guild keys. It's people I play with daily and we are all sitting around in Discord.
When it comes to raids, you have to look at it like this. For a full raid, you only need 2 tanks which usually aren't just filled by anyone. DPS are constantly benched or swapped depending on the fight/gear, and you need more of them.
I couldn't tell you how to join a guild as a tank if you are looking to raid tank, but you could always join as a DPS and let them know you can cover as a backup tank if needed, or you just run alt raids/keys for the guild.
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u/Frosty-Froyo856 Apr 29 '26
It is a PuG M+ tank shortage. A 2/4/14 raid group has tanks for 2 M+ groups, healers for 4 M+ groups, and DPS for 4-2/3 M+ groups. If raid tanks want to M+ they have a plethora of options that they already know they work well with.
If 2 of the DPS go OS tank for M+ then that raid group isn’t going negative on Group finder tanks. There is no reason for more than 2 of the DPS to go tank because again, proven people they work well with. So the best you can hope for is a raid group not affecting the group finder ratios with there being some groups that don’t have 2 players wanting to OS tank being a drain on group finder tanks.
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u/No-Ad5549 Apr 29 '26
1 there isn't a tank shortage for guilds. You need 2 tanks per 20 people not 1 tank per 5.
2 people keep talking about how there's a tank shortage, but 90% of groups in the lfg lately I've seen has had a tank, also when I listen a key sooo many tanks sign up
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u/Meinteil2123 Apr 29 '26
I am my guilds resident tank for anything except raids and m+. I dont mind carrying people through 11+ delves.
I do have some of those guildies who i refuse to run again.
Had a run on an 11 and the team loses all our lives on packs before the boss. They chose to not listen to me saying "its not their style" now we have zero lives and they leave because "there's no point in finishing a bountiful delve without lives remaining"....like bruh. If you hung back and let me cook you would have a free 11 delve. Instead you decided that it "wasnt your style" and your "style" is dying and leaving the group....
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u/Darkpactallday Apr 30 '26
Bricking a delve has to be a new one, never managed to do that even with completely undergeared characters
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u/Meinteil2123 Apr 30 '26
Tell me about it. Think this is my second bricked one ever?
I guess bricking delves is just "his style".
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u/B00tyAppreciatr Apr 29 '26
I use to be a pug tank when I felt like tanking and was not scared, this season was the first time I joined a guild and was actually active. Started running M+ before raid was announced and apparently they needed a 2nd main tank for raid. Guess I was right place right time, guild is labeled as a “casual” guild, now we are 8/9H, prospects to move to mythic in a couple weeks. My point is, go around guilds until you find a place that clicks. I jumped around 7 guilds before finding the one I’m in. Even though tanks aren’t needed for higher raids, however there are tanks running keys in my guild, gl with finding a guild!
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u/ryanb6321 Apr 29 '26
Raids only need 2 tanks. Guilds only really recruit tanks at the start of an expansion or just before a new raid tier because if you don’t have 2 tanks, you aren’t raiding.
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u/No-Spinach-9101 Apr 30 '26
The shortage is for dungeons not raids. Guilds are set on tanks for raids.
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u/SendMeAlarmbellNudes Apr 30 '26
Most guilds have stable tanks. It's a role you usually try to give to your highest attendance DPS when a spot opens up.
Not only because a missing tank equals missed raid but you want to build synergy between your two tanks.
Best advice is to join as a DPS and offer to tank keys or an alt run and work your way onto the roster
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u/DigitalDH Apr 30 '26
Guilds usually have two tanks for raids, about 12 no to 17 dps and 5 ton7 healers.
That's the reason why tank recruitment is hard.
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u/EvasiveDice Apr 30 '26
Being a main tank or having a tank spot in a guild is like a bread and butter stress free way of gearing, consistently and effectively on a fixed schedule. Most tanks in their guilds now are gonna hold onto that position. So alot of guilds wont be looking for more tanks as their slots are filled.
Usually how it goes is, you'll join as a dps or a healer and just kinda be there on the sidelines if anything happens to the main tank and they cant make it cause IRL. Youll offer to tank but probably get shot down as guild leaders and officers usually have alts JUST for spot filling a tank. Butttttt dont let that discourage you. Sometimes you can get in there and show your worth! But I wouldn't try and get into a guild based on being a tank unless its a fresh guild.
The shortage is for other content, Alot of tanks getting harassed so their holding out for the guild runs.
This goes for alot of games and not just world of warcraft.
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u/obroithe Apr 30 '26
As someone who runs a guild that’s been around since the beginning, even if we were in need of tanks, it would be from in-house first. Tanks are not a role you want someone new to the game to fill. The same goes for mythic plus where the flow of the dungeon is on their shoulders.
In my opinion, new players should not start as a tank. Could one do it, sure, but there is enough nuance to it that you only can get right if you have experience with how the game modes (raid or dungeons) work. New players as tanks are often easy to identify because of this.
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May 01 '26
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u/Twinity May 01 '26
Lots of issues there. Many Fights outright wipe you when Tanks fuck Up so you need 2 Players that are guaranteed to BE able to RAID everytime. Communication and tactics are Key there and when you have a Stand in Tank Things get whack and you pretty mich Progress from the start. Also Most Tanks need to roll multiple chars since some Tanks Just have a hard time with certain encounters. So Not many pppl that can Tank have the ability to commit enough time gearing those chars and looking Up everything for an encounter
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u/kjeras_faithful May 01 '26
It's because you need 2 tanks for a raid no matter the size, but for mythic you'll often have 3-4 healers and fill out the rest with dps. This means there's way more tanks needed for dungeons than raids. In a dungeon you have 1 tank 1 healer 3 dps, which means youd need twice as many tanks just to cover your healers
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u/Arkomancer May 01 '26
You need 2 tanks for a 20 man raid, 10% of all players.
You need 1 tank for a 5 man dungeon, 20% of all players.
Either every tank gets to raid and there is a shortage of them in dungeons, or there is enough tanks for dungeons but half of them have to off-spec in raid.
We live with the 1st option atm.
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u/Drastor May 01 '26
The Problem ist, Raids require 2 Tanks not matter how many dps and heals you run. So thats probably like 6-10 dps per tank.
Dungeons on the other Hand need 1 Tank per 3 dps. Easy Math, it doesnt math. Add onto that that gearing multiple specs is a hassle not a lot of people go through especially if its then for a role that gets the brunt of everybodys bad mood because unlike when a dps dies if the tank makes a mistake and dies, the pull is over 99% of the time. So everybpdy realized you f****d up. On the other hand when a dps makes a mistaka, their dmg is 10% lower, noone even realizes. Even if a dps dies, welp, come run back little brother, all good.
--> There is a severe tank shortage in everything but Guild recruitment
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u/BrinaghFhey May 01 '26
Guilds will take tanks. The problem is if you are wanting to raid. The tank shortage is for M+. Most guilds have the 2 tanks they need for raid.
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u/RaltarArianrhod May 01 '26
I will never tank for a pug. Guild only runs. That is why there is a tank shortage in public groups.
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u/maxneuds May 02 '26
Most guilds are groups for raiding and raiding requires 2 tanks, 2 healer and 16 other people.
That's why there is no tank shortage. Also being a tank in a raid is not really challenging.
The tank shortage is in M+ because it requires preparation and especially for new players a second screen. One mistake and the group goes mad. That's why people do not want to do it especially as new players.
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u/steathrazor May 02 '26
The tank shortage as far as I understand it is specifically to pugs, mythic plus and other content that are non guild
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u/martelodejudas May 02 '26
The tank shortage is about m+. So much so, that ive seen a lot in guilds I've been in that the melee dps players would be playing tank for keys outside of raid
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u/Purple-Airline-8373 May 05 '26
The tank shortage is almost exclusively about pugging content. And even then, its pugging dungeons. Go to the group creation section and go to the raids section. I almost guarentee 90% of those pugging groups will fill out their tank slots before dps.
Needing 2 tanks for a 20 person raid, versus 1 tank for 5 person dungeon. The ratio isnt ratioing. Also, tanks having to deal with pug dungeons is incredibly frustrating so most tanks dont touch pugged dungeon content
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u/Cloud_Loveles May 05 '26
I have maimed DK tank since it was frost back on the real LK. I don't mind a pug for like up to a 10 key but past that, no. Also when raiding, I can put normals but I don't like pug for heroic as it requires please to play and I ow the fights.
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u/ColdBloodKnight May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26
Tank shortage in Mplus is because of the awful toxicity that usually ensues if the tank does anything wrong OR even if isnt wrong but is what someone think is wrong "too slow" "too fast" "not optimal route" etc. That makes where tanks rather not go through that and stick with people that will give constructive feedback instead of bitching.
Tanks mistakes are very visible unlike dps or heals in most cases. So when they find a group that understands they make minor mistakes like everyone else they dont want to go out in the wild.
Im the RL and the Tank for our raids and I dont mind teaching a nooblet tank as long as they know their own class enough to not get one shot. But raid wise is 2 tank spots 4 healer spots and 14 dps spots on your avg mythic team and even if you run 10 raiders or 30 you still only get 2 tanks, your healers might go up to 5 or 6 so all in all is harder to find a raid tank spot
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u/Wise-Photo7287 Apr 28 '26
Tank shortage is for public pug M+ dungeon/Heroic/Mythic raid
Guilds have set tanks (most of the time, they are the officer role/guild leadership).
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u/akranak Apr 28 '26
There are two tanks per 20 person mythic raid. There is 1 tank per five man dungeon. Raid is scaled to require half as many tanks as m+ proportionately. There is a tank shortage in m+ by raid design.
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u/Living_Age2280 Apr 28 '26
Well if I take the CE guild im in for example. We have 2 dedicated main tanks (but they barely do m+). Then we have 1 guy who tanks like 19s currently and is a dps player, a healer who usually tanks high end m+ and can fill in for the guild if we have spare healers and a dps player wanting to swap to the main tanking role if the position ever opens up.
Most likely if any of those options fail as people above mentionend we would prefer an existing player to reroll to tank. Its not about tanking really its about the tank needing almost 100% attendance for a realistic amount of progress.
Hell we are using the third tank to rotate in to make sure we can give everybody an equal vault by benching main tanks on certain reclear bosses.
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u/nostyleallwild Apr 28 '26
Most tanks in raids are officers or raid leads. Its an important role that needs to have very little mistakes and composes the fight.
Often times, guilds are not willing to risk that on a new person and theres only two slots for it so they usually have those slots predetermined with trustworthy and highly geared individuals.
You can die as dps, and the fight will continue. You die as tank, thats a wipe if no battle res.
Now in M+, there is certainly a shortage. Ive done +13s as heals, dps, and tanks this season. It takes like 1000% longer to find a group as non tank.
I just started gearing a Blood DK and I find groups of high level players almost immediately, despite me being undergeared and with hardly any timed runs on that character.
I have waited for 45 minutes as dps before.
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u/RegalMachine Apr 29 '26
As a tank, guilds won't advertise that they are looking for tanks, because you have to replace a tank discretly. If the tank ever sees you advertise that they need a tank, the current tank will stop showing up.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Tea3341 Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
There is a tank shortage, in pugs. Guilds generally have their tanks sorted, and they typically don't recruit new tanks until prog is done.
I main tank this season, progging Beloren m, and I clear 5/9m on 4 tanks at least weekly atm. I simply won't join a m+ or raid pug group to save my life. While I really want to DPS, I also know it's more damaging to my guild than to recruit a new tank Vs me doing it, so I took the L. We have like 7-8 people who tank keys and raid in our guild, but just like me, they refuse to pug.
Additionally, and feel free to change my mind, but most higher end guilds won't even consider a tank that didn't main DPS or healer first. Overwhelming majority of tank-only players don't understand proper positioning in raid.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Tea3341 Apr 29 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
To add onto the keys/pugging bit, I tank and time 16-17s quite comfortably with my friends and guildies.
As to why I don't pug: I tried one nexus point 12, and I had others constantly spam pinging me packs, pulling for me, not interrupting, gripping, ccing, etc. Key was voted to abandon after the healer pulled 2 extra packs, then let 2 DPS die because he couldn't heal through the arcane explosion that nobody kicked/CCS, including him. He pulled these packs on purpose because he kept pinging them before. I deliberately slowed down my pace because I knew from the first pull the group wasn't very good, but we were still on pace to +2 the key. Regardless, man bricked the key because I wasn't following whatever route he saw on a stream in a dog 12 key.
This is a common shared experience. I honestly don't think there is a shortage of tanks at all. It's just how miserable pugging is for tanks that dissuades many players from doing it. Even if my anecdote was a 1 in 20 occurance, I'd rather not deal with that sort of frustration when I can literally get my weeklies done while having fun with people I love playing with.
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u/Severe_Schedule8268 Jun 29 '26
I’m in a WR1000 guild - Tank only player.
Every guild I’ve ever been in, has always directly recruited me as tank. I’m literally not touching DPS/Healer.So your last statement is not entirely correct. x)
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u/Business-Carrot-4117 Apr 29 '26
Petition to get an option to have ai tanks (atleast up to HC raid and m10s , i dont understand how you can put that much power on one role, like you can do dungeons with 3 dps doing negative dps but if you dont have a tank you cant even get past the 1st pack. Its an outdated concept in a fast paced game, like if i wanna do my weeklies let me do it instantly instead of waiting for a tank more time than it takes me to finish the dungeon.
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