Sandshark95 wrote: »@Inufandom
In general:
A Tank is a player that has a lot of health, can take a lot of hits, and whose main priority is to keep "aggro" (enemies' attention) off of the rest of the group. Tanks jump into the middle of the fray, taunt and group up the adds, and keep the heat off of the DPSs and Healers so they can perform their roles more effectively. Staying alive, keeping aggro, and enemy grouping are a Tank's main duties; doing damage is secondary, and usually left to DPSs. Any class can do this, but you'll probably see more DragonKnights and Templars filling this role, as their abilities synergize well with tanking.
A DPS is a player whose main goal is to kill everything as quickly as possible. Pretty straight forward. This is probably the most common role as it's not really a specialization like healing or tanking. It does take a great deal of skill though to be able to put out high, sustainable damage numbers. Again, any class can do this; yes, you do sound like a melee Sorc DPS.
A Healer is a player who is responsible for keeping the team alive. Healers have primarily healing abilities slotted on their bars, along with a few support abilities such as damage/regen buffs for the group. Doing damage is a Healer's least concern, and for that reason, many Healers use Restoration staves. Any class has the potential to be a healing class, but Templars by far have the most healing abilities available to them.
There are also "Hybrid" builds, in which a player can perform two of these roles to some degree effectiveness. Examples are Tank/DPS, Healer/Tank, and DPS/Healer. However, it's not recommended to attempt these hybrid builds, as you'll likely end up being just "okay" at the two roles you pick instead of being good/great at one role. It's hard enough to master one role, let alone two.
Hope this clears up some confusion