Is it wrong to Queue as a Tank if spec'd Vengeance?

[froops]

If you have the skills and the gear, there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to queue up as a 'tank' when you are a Vengeance spec'd Jugg.

 

I've ran an HM LI and the healer, who regularly runs EC SM and HM, did not have any complaints when I asked him if I was hard to heal.

 

That said, if I'm required to MT or OT either EC SM/HM or EV/KP HM I will respec to a tank spec however for any HM FP I've not had any issue tanking in my DPS spec. This includes HM LI. That also said, I was required to OT in an EC HM mid way through the run when I was in my DPS spec and the healers didn't seem to have any issues keeping me up in the Firebrand/Stormcaller fight. Just threw my tanking gear on and away I went. That was also pre 1.3 changes to SSM and threat buffs.

 

Now if you were to try and tank with a sub par tanking set of gear for a particular FP or Op and you were DPS spec then I'm sure people would be upset. This however also applies if you were to be Immortal spec and had crap tanking gear also.

 

TLDR: If you can do the job, I don't think it matters what spec you are. If you line up for something that you clearly don't have the skill or gear for (regardless of spec) then that's a no no.

[DayneDrak]

If you can hold threat and the healer isn't losing hair over trying to keep you up, you're fine. Just be forewarned that if you have issues, one of the first things folks are going to look at is your spec and gear. If you can do the job well enough, it's likely no one will notice you're not Immortal.

 

And while the advice to just go ahead and do it in this thread isn't invalid, just keep in mind that overgearing the content creates alot of slack, if you don't, then you have to make up for it with superior play.

[Mordeguy]

in reality, it is kind of a bad idea to even queue up as a damage if you are jugg. because vengeance is one of the weakest dps trees in the game, and everyone expects a jugg to tank. we have great survivability and threat generation, so why wouldn't you want to go tank?

 

doin' it very wrong

[Aetou]

If you have solid tanking gear (re-itemized Columi or above) then tanking Tier 1 HM FPs in something like a 31-10 Vig spec is perfectly viable - you're still a better tank than somebody in Defense with inferior gear. I wouldn't want to run as the main tank in HM EV or LI with that setup but offtanking HM EV or for any of the T1 FPs it is more than fine. You lose out on 3% Def, 4% shield, Warding Call and Blade Barrier. You gain better blanket reduction (Commanding Awe), damage, and the ability to PVP without respeccing constantly. Focused Defense is also an awesome defnesive CD for Vig Tanks - just make sure you only use it when you have your taunts available due to the threat reduction element. Other than that you shouldn't lose threat because your damage output is significantly higher than a pure Def build and that balances out the loss of Hilt Strike and Guardian Slash.

[Jjix]

What about the whole issue of "beggers can't be choosers"? If it means the difference of having to wait hours for the 1 dude who has specifically specced for tanking or having very little queue time at all . . . shouldn't we be grateful for the vengeance jugs who are willing to tank? If we are talking average flashpoints here, sure, they might be slightly more difficult. But I'd gladly take the extra difficulty if it means not having to wait around forever looking for a tank. There aren't enough tanks . . . demanding people be specced a certain way only exacerbates this problem. For elite content that is one thing, but for average content more tanks -- even not very good ones -- is a bad thing how?

[Oggthebase]

as a healer I prefer a real tank versus a squishy tank who thinks he is a dps.

 

I'd rather wait longer to get a real tank for a smooth instance than go through endless wipes and pay repair bills.

 

Since the group finder is server only, people who try to game the system are easily identified and ignored.

[Jjix]

Consider this: there are 24 major specs per side in this game. Of those, only 3 are tank specs.

 

Out of 24 possible specs, 3 are for tanking. When you add on top of that many people prefer DPS specs for solo play, PVP, and leveling in general . . . you can see why the queue wait times are so long.

 

Personally I favor more action and less waiting around.

Edited July 2, 2012 by Jjix

[Elyx]

It really depends on who you get in the run.

 

with my guild I will run Vengance in DPS gear and often wont even run Soresu for HM BT or Foundry. I'll switch over to Soresu and tank gear for the bosses...we simply clear trash too fast for it to matter (especially when I run with our guilds Maurader or our top Sorc...we tear stuff up big time).

 

But for Randoms, you never know. I've ran with randoms where I was even nervous in deep immortal due to healer newness or lack of gearing. So IMO you really need to play it safe. Remember, the random queue isn't cross server...so the people you run with will see you on fleet....over in BH...on belsavis during dailies...in PvP queues. the last thing you want to have is a reputation for being a poor "tank", even if its simply due to lack of gear/experience with your healer/DPS.

 

personally, I'd just go with Immortal. or queue as DPS. there's a reason that Tanks are uncommon, and Queues are fast. If you can keep up with Vengance, then go for it. But dont make your PuG's suffer too much I honestly prefer an easier time with PuG's...your more then likely going to get under-geared and inexperienced players as not