Tank for sure.

Think of it this way -- healing is EASY as long as you have a good tank. DPSing is EASY as long as you have a good tank.

Rarely is there massive group damage in a 5-man. Every now and then, but not often. On my healer I just have a spam button to heal the tank, and specific buttons to heal each DPS/healer. If the tank is doing their job, I shouldn't have to heal anyone else. I don't even have to face a certain direction as a healer -- but if my tank turns its back (i.e. can't block) to that boss, she could get crushed.


When mistakes happen, a clutch taunt can save the day. I know people always say "clutch heal", but those clutch heals are really only delaying the inevitable (death). If the tank doesn't rush over in time to pick the add back up after said clutch heal, you're likely still going to die -- or worse, that "clutch heal" puts aggro on your healer.

When I'm pugging a 5-man, the absolute #1 thing I look for is a competent tank. The tank's TPS sets the pace for the DPSers, the tank's mitigation sets the pace for the healer, the tank's situational awareness mitigates mistakes. I would rather take a retarded healer and an uber tank than a uber healer and a retarded tank -- in the latter case, it doesn't matter if the healer is uber if the tank can't hold aggro off of the uberhealer's heals.

In raids, tanks get their ego complex because they make or break the raid. A bad tank will ensure slow progression. I've had an experience with a tank *cough cough* that had such bad situational awareness that it was the HEALER's job to tell him where to walk to pick up his adds. The healer's vent conversations go something like this: "Left side! Left side! Your OTHER left side! Ok, get out of the middle. GET OUT OF THE MIDDLE. You better dodge or do something. This is going to hurt. STOP DPS HE DOESN'T HAVE THREAT YET."


This is why I lead with my tank.