If you're looking to join or raid with Taunt, the topic often ends up focussing on questions like "What class/role do you need?". This page discusses this, because there is a lot of complexity and there are some issues that need to be understood for those who are new to WoW.
Taunt's main objective in building a raid group is to play with a balanced, optimised list or good players. This sounds very simple, but it is not. Questions such as; "What does balanced mean?", "What does optimised mean?" and "What is a good player?" all have nuance and require a lot of thought. If you're asking the above question, please read the following as it's important to recognise the nuance involved.
Normal and Heroic raids require a basically balanced group. Fundamentally, a basically balanced group requires the following:
The game is appropriately balanced so that any well set up group as above can defeat any Normal or Heroic boss.
Mythic difficulty often requires further balance optimisation, with many mechanics directly enforcing this balance. Specifically:
Some classes have particular advantages, whether it be through raw DPS or some class based ability. These can be in a number of ways. Typically one class will slightly outperform, and occasionally there will be major advantages in the more challenging content.
Players often do substantial research trying to work out the difference in a few percent of DPS between classes. These differences are always useful, but it does miss the point somewhat. A well geared, well played person will perform well in any class or spec if they enjoy it. The research is easier, the practice is more fun; the whole experience is more positive and lends itself to performing well.
Very few fights require raw DPS or healing throughput that truly only one class can deliver. It is usually a mechanic or ability that makes them shine. This is particularly true for Mythic bosses, where a class or ability will become completely key. For example:
In Taunt's progress through Nyalotha there were two balance druids and 2 mages. As mentioned above, The Prophet Skitra has a mechanic that becomes irrelevant with good crowd control. The raid composition allowed for a kill on the first attempt.
There are other fights where these abilities are completely useless. At Mythic is designed to ensure that many or all classes are extremely valuable at some point in the instance. Thus there is almost always a place where a class is optimal and a place where it is sub-optimal.
Consider the following: People who chase certain traits, such as DPS, rarely see that the officers are analysing a lot more than they tend to consider. While raiding, the following are being reviewed after every pull as a minimum:
There are countless examples of the higher DPS players forgetting or missing out the above, and feeling aggrieved when this is pointed out to them. Attacking the wrong target might help the raw DPS throughput, but might be terrible for a fight. This is an example of nuance that is lost. As an example, DPS against Drest'agath is a complete waste of time when not afflicted by void infused ichor.
There is no best class overall, by design. It should also be noted that when classes become over powered, they tend to be re-balanced, often quite promptly.
To be clear; a player who has multiple, completely geared, high-level characters will be able to switch between these characters easily and become truly flexible. These will be extremely valued members of the raid team. However, it should be noted that the amount of effort required to completely gear multiple characters is high. Do not think you can easily do this!
It is also the experience of the guild officers that players who tend to chase "the hotness" end up playing classes they do not enjoy. Some switch class midway through a tier, wasting effort and forcing the raid to either help or wait for them to re-gear and slowing progression. It's also surprisingly common for players to quit the game all together. Burning out with a class you don't enjoy is a real issue.
In order to achieve basic balance for raids, please ensure you:
The Officers maintain a list of what player is interested in playing what class. Given that the Shadowlands raid prep has begun, it is particularly key that this is arranged for the new raiding schedule. Please contact the officers if you intend to raid or want to change class or spec.
Please be aware:
To be clear; If you decide to play [insert current class-hotness] and there are 25 other [insert current class-hotness] you will have to fight extremely hard for your position.
This page will discuss the current required classes and specs. As discussed above, we have some flexible players who could fill these positions, but the aim is to recruit a dedicated person for the required roles.
The guild are currently looking to fill the following spots:
Having these with respectable offspecs would be useful (especially the healers).