Talk not type!

Talk not type!

Well, maybe not your frustration…but mine.

Last night I tanked Trial of the Crusade (10-man) for the first time on my warrior. It really brought home the importance of Ventrilo (or Teamspeak if that is your thing).

We began with me and a new-ish Paladin tank and it did not go well. Why?

Well, our Paladin friend – a long standing Guild member for the record – did not have Vent installed. Hasn’t had for sometime and apparently can’t or won’t. That makes doing the taunting off each other very hard on the Impales. For me at least, typing while tanking is not an option. There’s too much to keep track of to break out and type. That’s just the way it is.

After a couple of wipes we swapped him out (and he had to go anyway).

Next came another Warrior tank and good friend of mine. Vent installed but no microphone so no speaking. A “Taunt” macro sufficed for him to let me know and he, of course, could hear me call for a taunt when I had two or three stacks of Impale. This made the first part of the Beasts of Northrend doable, but due to other factors we had him switch to healing and yet another Paladin tank joined me.

THIS tank, however, had Vent AND a microphone – and everything went fine first time out. We talked to each other, there was no panicking and even switching phases was handled smoothly. Communication – it’s key.

Ok, it’s not SO important for DPS – especially ranged DPS – and perhaps even less so for healers who are properly assigned. But for tanks – Ventrilo is now a must for any raid I am involved in as a tank. It’s a new rule.

For any raid leaders out there struggling on certain content that doesn’t at least have their tanks talking to one another in real time – make them or remove them. You WILL see the difference.