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World of Warcraft brings people together like few games have ever done before. Appealing to people of all types, World of Warcraft accommodates its players by offering
four distinctive roles - tank, healer, melee, and spell DPS - that appeal to players of all different personality types. So no matter who you
are, there is a niche you can easily fill in the game.

Some players are able to shift easily between the various combat roles, however, in this writer’s experience, most players tend to gravitate towards one specific role that they feel most in sync with. And while not always true, certain player personality types tend to find themselves
drawn to certain roles in game. In fact it even seems that certain roles are predestined to appeal to certain personalities - just like a
hand into a glove some personalities just fit with certain roles.

Continue reading on to explore
the various roles and find out which personality types tend to fit into:

Tank

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style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">In
Game Role:

Tanks are much like the machine
of war they are named after, rushing headlong into battle and deterring
enemies from cutting down their much weaker counterparts. Tanking truly
brings the player up close and personal with enemy mobs, so close in
fact you can almost smell their foul breath. Players who choose to tank
will find themselves depending on huge amounts of health, armor, and damage mitigation to
survive the brutal onslaught of enemies,
while also being responsible
for helping to move the raid or group along.

style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Common
Personality Traits:

Players wishing
to fill the
role of the tank should have a strong, almost domineering personality
but not to the point of becoming overbearing. Driven to lead, Tanks
should be outgoing, yet come across as friendly, able to not only dish
out instructions but also able to make others want to follow them.
Tanks should be able to think out loud and be open to and willing to
implement new ideas. Tanks also must be able to act before thinking,
ready to change the plan at a moment’s notice. It should be
noted that the infamous “More Dots” tank is the
complete and total opposite of the ideal personality type for a tank.

Healer

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style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">In
Game Role:

The healer's role in
a group is
to do exactly what their name implies; heal. Keeping themselves and the
rest of their group or raid alive is their sole focus. Relying heavily
on spells and mana the healer is an essential part of any group.
Usually unable to take large amounts of damage, healers find themselves
in the background, making them an unobtrusive but vital part of the
group. Because they spend
so much time in the background, avoiding trouble, healers can often be
overlooked and as such they are truly WoW’s unsung heroes.

style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Common
Personality Traits:

The Healer tends to be a quiet
sort, who are extremely thorough, amazingly responsible and more than a
little dependable. A healer typically has well-developed powers of
concentration, and often feel a strong sense of responsibility and duty
towards their healing charges. Enjoying serving others, healers
typically prefer fading into the background and do not require praise
or recognition to feel a sense of accomplishment. Despite their lack of
need for praise healers tend to feel their failures, and take each
failure personally. Those with healer personalities may have the
feeling that no matter how hard they try they can never be quite good
enough to achieve the greatness they seek. In this writer’s
experiences many female players gravitate towards the role of the
healer.

Melee DPS

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style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">In
Game Role:

Those who choose the role of
melee DPS will
find themselves in the thick of battle much like a tank, however unlike
a tank melee DPS will make it their sole purpose to do damage
to the
enemy, without pulling aggro onto themselves. Usually outfitted in
heavier armor (although not quite as heavy as the tank), relish in
getting physical with enemies, using brute force to do massive amounts
of damage.

style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Common
Personality Traits:

Those who choose melee DPS tend
to focus on immediate results, rather than bothering with silly spells.
These personality types would rather jump right into the action and
start swinging whether it be in-game or real life. Usually risk-takers
they tend to love fast paced action. Typically outspoken, these players
tend to enjoy drawing attention to themselves whether it be through
their deeds or the spoken word. Very assertive, these personality types
tend to be very assertive and sometimes enjoy engaging in
“one-up-manship.”

Spell DPS

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style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">In
Game Role:

Players who choose to pursue
the art of spell DPS will find themselves immersed in the world of
spells and the like. Spell users, like healers, tend to hang in the
background to launch their attacks. This is almost necessary thanks to
their limitations in armor, making them unusually squishy and therefore
easily killed when directly attacked. Despite their vulnerability,
those who choose the path of spell DPS can unleash massive amounts of
damage upon enemies, just not in the more direct and quick manner of
the melee DPS.

style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Common
Personality Traits:

Those who delve into the world
of spell DPS typically are creative and resourceful, enabling them to
judge what spells need to be used at a certain time. Usually
independent these players need little instruction and would prefer to
simply be left to their own devices. These players are typically more
on the quiet side during raids, however, they are very easy going and
fun loving when the time is right. Players who choose this type of DPS
have little interest in leading, and try to avoid personal conflict
whenever possible.

While certain personality types do fit into certain roles and gravitate towards them more than others, however, any player can play whatever role appeals to them. These observations are solely based on this writer‘s personal experience and are therefore not set in stone. The beauty of games like World of Warcraft is that you can be whoever you want to be.

What do you think the common personality traits are for the four roles mentioned above? Share them in the comment section found below!


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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

About The Author

Amunet, also fondly known as Memtron, is an organic life form best known for its ongoing obsession with Blizzard Entertainment's numerous properties. To that end, Amu has authored hundreds (thousands?) of the most popular World of Warcraft guides, editorials, and Top 10 lists on the planet. When not gaming and writing, Amu is busy chasing after her three children in a perpetual loop of ongoing disaster.

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