What do Healers look for in tanks?

[theStirge]

Regarding the Guard issue, I don't care about the damage reduction, I care about the threat redirection, and I mostly want it in randoms. If I'm running with my guild or other friends, I can usually depend on the DPS and tanks to do their jobs and keep stuff off me, but in randoms, I will almost always pull aggro from healing due to the DPS not massacring the normals and strongs or the tank not taunting or whatever. So if it gets bad and no one takes care of it, I can pop Cloaking Screen and send all the adds to the tank. Of course this only works for Operatives, I guess.

[Kaesoron]

Personally I like the tank to be the leader, I feel much more confident about finishing content if the tank takes charge. Assuming he knows the content Edited July 22, 2012 by Kaesoron

[Denyus]

As long as they hold aggro, have a decent build and tried put some effort in their gear i'm happy and obvioulsy knowing the tactics.

 

Groupwise it's not just the tank in regular Flashpoints the 2 damagedealers should assist the tank with taking out the normal npc's first especially the ranged ones since all tanks but vanguard will struggle to have them under control so rather a dps takes a bit of damage for a brief moment untill they are down then them shooting on me tbh.

[Occide]

What is something that you as a healer look for in a good tank.

 

There's two types of tanks in every MMO. You have, on one hand, the tanks that take damage and hold your aggro and generally make life easier. Then you have your tanks who try to DPS burst.

A "good" tank in my books, and yes I'm a tank, should really be doing the following automatically:

1) Setting up from the beginning of the session, whether it's a heroic mission, flashpoint or operation, his/her marking system. Usually healers have green hilt as their cc and I personally, when I'm on my sentinel, use the lightningbolt as my cc marker, so the tank should be flexible to suit the groups own individual marks.

2) Establish VERY early on who's going to be a more OT role, because some later flashpoints (especially Collicoid and Maelstrom) require an OT to take something down while the tank holds the main boss. And people will argue, especially in the case of adds, that the DPS should automatically take them down. But, you'd be surprised how many tanks take on the adds.

3) Use defensive CDs to reduce incoming damage. Guardian tanks should have whatever defensive CDs they can get on an action bar and pop them when they come up. Seriously, a well timed Saber Ward can change the outcome of an encounter.

 

If a tank does those three things and generally knows the mission well enough to instruct others and lead the way, then you have a good tank. Gear is essential, if they haven't stacked Endurance then there's something wrong with them.

Hope I helped!

[Beltast]

Personally for me predictability is the most important thing when healing tanks. If i can predict how much damage would the tank take, i can plan my cooldowns and skill usage to be most energy efficient, and also with a predictable tank healing the dps is much easier as i don't have to worry about the tank dying to a spike damage while i'm casting a heal on dps.

[Mordeguy]

Tanking advice I give people, that I'm sure most healers appreciate.

 

1. Hold aggro, it's your job. DPS SHOULD take out non-strongs but they don't always do this. Keep enemies off your healer that no one has attacked. Don't get tunnel visioned on one elite while 4 trash are shooting your healer. You aren't there to kill things, just to make sure they are trying to kill YOU.

 

2. Always point things AWAY from your group. Even if they don't do anything to them it's a good habit to form. There are a few exceptions, but they are so specific that this should be followed most of the time.

 

3. Use your cooldowns. Tanks and healers need to work as a team, if you see your group or yourself taking a ton of damage pop a defensive and make life easier on the healer. Give him time to heal up the derping circle loving dps or make that spike damage/frenzy damage easier for them to heal.

 

4. Mark your targets when necessary. Call out people who don't follow them. The entire point for CC or focus targetting is so the healers job doesn't become a fast paced nightmare.

 

5. Be aware of the enemies and their mechanics. Lots of them will drop or ignore your aggro and go after someone else, have your stuns, pulls, charges and whatever you have ready for these situations.

 

6. This is more for me personally, but lead the group! If you're not marking enemies there's no reason to stand there for 20 seconds before every pull, I see so many tanks do this and I don't get why when no one is regening.

 

Follow these and you'll have happy healers.

Edited July 26, 2012 by Mordeguy

[KareBarey]

Tanking advice I give people, that I'm sure most healers appreciate.

 

2. Always point things AWAY from your group. Even if they don't do anything to them it's a good habit to form. There are a few exceptions, but they are so specific that this should be followed most of the time.

 

3. Use your cooldowns. Tanks and healers need to work as a team, if you see your group or yourself taking a ton of damage pop a defensive and make life easier on the healer. Give him time to heal up the derping circle loving dps or make that spike damage/frenzy damage easier for them to heal.

 

4. Mark your targets when necessary. Call out people who don't follow them. The entire point for CC or focus targetting is so the healers job doesn't become a fast paced nightmare.

 

5. Be aware of the enemies and their mechanics. Lots of them will drop or ignore your aggro and go after someone else, have your stuns, pulls, charges and whatever you have ready for these situations.

 

6. This is more for me personally, but lead the group! If you're not marking enemies there's no reason to stand there for 20 seconds before every pull, I see so many tanks do this and I don't get why when no one is regening.

 

Follow these and you'll have happy healers.

 

A good list, not enough tanks know to point a boss away. I do like tanks that lead the group if they know the situation, since they will be responsible for keeping aggro, they should be able to direct the dps which mobs need to be taken out first. If the tank is unfamiliar, then someone needs to direct the action so that it's not a free-for-all. I slightly disagree with #6, because sometimes the tank is sizing up the mobs, waiting for a cool down, etc. I'd rather them wait until they are ready to go before jumping in. I do work with my tank as a team, and I appreciate it when he warns before he's gonna go so I'm prepared. I try to bubble him before a big fight and if I bubble as he's throwing his saber, then we can have a "oopsy" moment.

[ebado]

Different things, but in general a basic understanding of the class that is healing them and the DDs fighting along side them.

 

On my Op, it's standing there and not pulling when I have Kolto Probe up, Stim Boost up and my TA stacks up. Refreshing those over and over can be frustrating. I can understand waiting for CDs to feel safe, but for most pulls they don't need to wait for 45 seconds.

 

On my Sorc, it's pulling when I'm low on Force. This isn't a big deal on my Op as I always have Adrenaline Probe ready (rarely use it in a flashpoint) and regen is easier to begin with, but it can be a fatal mistake on my Sorc, especially with some of the trickier trash pulls.

 

Smaller things, too, like guarding DDs instead of me, knowing which pulls have a group of mobs they need to pick up immediately, stuff like that.

Edited August 5, 2012 by ebado

[Cleet_Xia]

Having drawn 3 bad tanks out of the last 4 tries at the group finder, I'd like to add something here.

 

When PUGing Hard Modes through the group finder, it is NOT quicker to skip every trash pull possible. At the bare minimum the elite pats need to be kiilled, and a "safe" path back needs to exist. It's a bit ironic, but Tanks who are methodical enough to do this are the better tanks. It gives the team a little more time to gel before the boss fights. And as a rule, the "safe" path back is never needed.

 

Without the "safe" path back - groups are generally wipe fests, and a great deal of time doing the HM is spent walking back. Which is not only boring, but time consuming. If you are consistently finishing boss fights with half your team dead, you are not doing it right.

 

If you are the kind of tank who wants to "speed run" everything, you are likely ruining the healer's fun 5 different ways, and there is a good chance you'll eventually be /block listed. If your guild has healers in it that never seem to want to make runs with you ~ this is why.

[Aaoogaa]

Situational awareness - Last run I did the healer died near the end of a trash fight because the tank wasn't waiting/asking for CC nor picking up threat on all the mobs to keep them off the healer. Anyway, so the healer dies. The tank runs off and agros the next group of mobs as I am trying to rez him. Enter combat that interrupts the rez. The tank and his buddy dps die and the mobs come and hump me to death. I mention that the tank might want to wait until I rez the healer, his buddy says, "Oh, he didn't notice." Really? no kidding...situational awareness...noticing what is actually happening in the fight...this tank didn't have it so he is the sucketh.

 

Fight Mechanic Knowledge - 24k hp tank and we wipe repeatedly at the end of battle of Ilum...I have NEVER failed to complete battle of Ilum...ever, until this run. The healer was new and while his gear wasn't great he was in appropriate gear for the run. On the last boss the tank didn't taunt after the vanish phases. He let the dps and healer get beat on every time until the next vanish phase never taunting back onto himself. Only required one taunt yet he wouldn't do it. The healer would run out of energy and we would get ground down. He blamed the healer and left the group...such a sad tanking job by what should have been an experienced tank. I guess he was a dps that was able to get his tank gear running with others. Because he didn't do his job. I mentioned that he might want to learn the simple fight mechanics instead of relying on the healer to do his job...he put me on ignore.

Edited August 11, 2012 by Aaoogaa

[dreoff]

My advice as a Merc Healer: Just because we wear heavy armor doesn't mean we are super tank like healers. if we get hit, it hurts like a mother.... so if you team with a Merc healer, please for the love of raptor jesus, keep the mobs off him/her like any other healer. Thank you!

[PatT]

# 1 - I like tanks that are actually, honestly, and truely, 100% specced/geared as tanks.... There is nothing more infuriating than a tank saying, "well I'm not relly spec'ed/geared for this anyway cya" after we wipe trying to clear something 4 times. yeah thx..... /block [player name]

 

# 2 - I like tanks that wait for their healer and dps to use their out of combat heals before pulling fresh aggro

 

# 3 - I like tanks that actually use their tanking stance & guard on anybody - because some don't.... Why other's don't... don't know.

 

# 4 - I like tanks that turn the mob - so that some of the AoE's don't land on everyone.

 

In short .... I like a tank plays like there are other people in the group. And recognizes the fact that they're only getting to tank, because they have healers and damage dealers with them.

 

THIS. ALL OF IT. Yes. I'm shouting. #2. Esp. #2. Slow the heck down, and MANAGE the darn fight, and give everyone the time to out-of-combat heal (and do it yourself). Don't make the healer heal you when you can out-of-combat heal yourself. What, we don't need time to regen our force?

 

The ony time none of the above is necessary is when you're a lvl 50 doing a standard Esseles run (or similarly op'd) and I can heal it in my rep dancer's outfit. Otherwise, and maybe most importantly

 

GROUP PLAY IS TEAM SPORT. Tank is the Boss of the team. Tank needs to know to zone, have a plan, communicate it to everyone else, not run through so fast that healer cannot keep up, be situationally aware and aware of his team, and EXPECT the team to follow his lead or get canned. For that effort, the tank gets first consideration (other than heals making sure they too stay alive, mostly by casting aoe on both tank and heals at same time. I watch my tank. DPS, should be avoiding pulling too much aggro. A good tank will see that happening, and get aggro back and call out the dps. If they keep doign it, they should have a hefty repair bill.

[dipstik]

im going to answer the question the OP posted:

 

i like healing vangaurds/powertechs with around 24000 health.

[NoaFlux]

# 1 - I like tanks that are actually, honestly, and truely, 100% specced/geared as tanks.... There is nothing more infuriating than a tank saying, "well I'm not relly spec'ed/geared for this anyway cya" after we wipe trying to clear something 4 times. yeah thx..... /block [player name]

 

# 2 - I like tanks that wait for their healer and dps to use their out of combat heals before pulling fresh aggro

 

# 3 - I like tanks that actually use their tanking stance & guard on anybody - because some don't.... Why other's don't... don't know.

 

# 4 - I like tanks that turn the mob - so that some of the AoE's don't land on everyone.

 

In short .... I like a tank plays like there are other people in the group. And recognizes the fact that they're only getting to tank, because they have healers and damage dealers with them.

 

There won't be many REAL TANKS.....read my recent post....it's just a waste for us...we can get almost the same amount of protection from not being a real tank...

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=525192&highlight=tank

[NoaFlux]

Honestly, I do not expect much from PuG tanks, especially in LFG runs. If at least tank uses Guard on right teammate I consider him as super competent player. If two tanks are able to count to 10 in a Fabricator's fight I feel blessed.

 

Do you want to look good in a healer's eyes? It is very simple.

• Do not rush. Healers have to regenerate resource between pulls.
  
• Do not pull if your health pool is below 75%.
  
• Do not guard your healer. There are at least two better targets for your Guard in a group.
  
• Do not overestimate your teams power. It is better to advance slower but safer.
  
• Trust your healer. Do not scream in a chat every time your health pool drops below 50%.
  

 

"Do not guard your healer?" You mean because some one else's energy is draining? Yeah that makes sense. Still it sounds funny, cause that's all you ever hear. Can you explain?

[Doqtyr]

"Do not guard your healer?" You mean because some one else's energy is draining? Yeah that makes sense. Still it sounds funny, cause that's all you ever hear. Can you explain?

 

In this case the term guard refers to the spell "guard" that lowers threat and takes incoming damage off teamate onto tank. I have had some tell me to put it on the healer but most people seem to feel it is best used on a high power DPS.

 

I do not see many Tanks posting on this thread. SWTOR is my second MMO and the first time I chose to be a Tank. I have a fresh 50 and I intend to master the role and there is quite a lot of info now on every FP and OP so I can learn the fights, however there will have to be a first time for each one, so consider taking the leader role if your Tank informs you of his or her greenie noobness, I would appreciate it, and I am sure others would as well.

 

When it comes to pacing the only time anyone complains is when I start a fight and someone wasn't ready, however most people don't want to call out ready is there an accepted cue that I just don't know about, or are people just gonna leave me hangin?

 

It was mentioned I should know what the healer can do. Is there a way short of building a healer to learn?

 

This is a great thread,thank you for posting it. I would like to see an experienced tank weigh in on the discussion

[_gideon]

Guarding healers is argued here:

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=507326

 

Summary: Guard behaves differently in PVP and PVE. In PVE it's more to reduce aggro. Healer aggro is a lot less than DPS aggro due to game mechanics. When healers do get targeted it is by mobs with zero aggro on them from tanks/DPS and in that situation the aggro reduction from guard will do nothing.

[Vugluskr]

"Do not guard your healer?" You mean because some one else's energy is draining? Yeah that makes sense. Still it sounds funny, cause that's all you ever hear. Can you explain?

Guard lowers threat generation. In PVE tanks should use this ability on best DD in a group, because if a healer pulls aggro from a tank, he is doing something wrong.

 

It was mentioned I should know what the healer can do. Is there a way short of building a healer to learn?

There no fast way to learn about healing capabilities. Healing up to about level 40 is very limited for every class and up to level 30 you can barely see difference between healing mechanics.

[POPsi]

Since most of the recommendations were posted already, I only add my personal preference here...

 

-Tanks shouldn't rush into pulls unless the whole party is overgeared for the content. Let the healer/DPS to use their ccs first. In overall, it spares time to burn down mobs 1 by 1, and does not put unnecessary effort on the healer to keep 3 people alive instead of healing the tank only (and if cc is done nicely, healer can do a lot more damage inbetween 2 heals)

[SgtKlavier]

Fight Mechanic Knowledge - 24k hp tank and we wipe repeatedly at the end of battle of Ilum...I have NEVER failed to complete battle of Ilum...ever, until this run. The healer was new and while his gear wasn't great he was in appropriate gear for the run. On the last boss the tank didn't taunt after the vanish phases. He let the dps and healer get beat on every time until the next vanish phase never taunting back onto himself. Only required one taunt yet he wouldn't do it. The healer would run out of energy and we would get ground down. He blamed the healer and left the group...such a sad tanking job by what should have been an experienced tank. I guess he was a dps that was able to get his tank gear running with others. Because he didn't do his job. I mentioned that he might want to learn the simple fight mechanics instead of relying on the healer to do his job...he put me on ignore.

 

Because of weird SWTOR mechanics, bosses drop aggro for odd reasons at certain times during fights that don't really make sense, Battle of Ilum being one of them. Your tank was no doubt doing the wrong thing, but after each vanish phase a new taunt is required to pull the boss back. Thus cycling single target/aoe taunts effectively becomes an important tool (Behemoth fight in Kaon is similar in this way). However, your tank didn't even taunt once, which is a complete failure, and he probably didn't even have target of target enabled or something.

[wainot-keel]

DPS dont take damage if they are positioned correctly unless its from AOE, for example if I do Toth & Zorn with a melee on Toth then I guard the melee but in most cases I will guard the healer.

 

I don't have a tank and my experience healing only goes to like 2, 3 months, but in my experience, getting guard from a tank doesn't help me much.

For example, if we're talking about trash pulls, like the ones in BP (or Foundry) where there are plenty of range attackers which don't get taunted or go untouched by the dps, I'll get aggro no matter what, guarded or not.

 

Good healers dps when they can and when they dont have any healing to do and so it isnt always healing threat.

 

I dps too as a healer if there's no need for healing, but really, if my dps generates more threat than the one generated by the actual dpsers, well... then we have a serious problem that goes beyond the tanking and healing.