Post by johannhowitzer on Jul 31, 2008 22:13:40 GMT
I've been talking with some friends lately about the fact that many tanks seem to think tanking is all about running up and hitting stuff, and not seeing any comparable topic on the forums, decided to start a "Tanking for Dummies" guide, similar to Ill's Barding guide. I don't claim to be the authority (or even really an authority at all) on tanking, so not only have I already talked some of this out with others - a good deal of credit goes to Mistoffoles - but I invite you to suggest additions and changes! In the future, hopefully people will be able to point inexperienced tanks in their party to this thread, rather than going to the trouble of giving lengthy advice in-game.
The Golden Rule
A tank's first job is not to deal damage, but to take damage in place of those who cannot. You are first and foremost a protector, not a killing machine. You should always be on the lookout for party members in danger, and be ready to intercept pursuing enemies. I've seen far too many tanks run up and start whacking away at an enemy while letting other enemies run past and start mauling their friends. Your party will love you if you make this your top priority! The game is a bit different in Hells with the presence of ability checks, always ask if you're not sure what you yourself can't or shouldn't tank.
Target Priority
Once the squishies are safe, resist the urge to just start pounding on the nearest nasty. Your primary target will depend heavily on the situation, but here are a few general guidelines:
= The nastiest nasties should fall first. This usually means casters with debilitating or deadly spells, such as the Windtalkers in the desert, the clerics in the Ssithrak dimension, and the Ectocloners in Penumbra. Ask if unsure.
= Ignore any disabled enemy while non-disabled ones still roam. This means stunned mobs, whatever the mage has grabbed, anything that's been made into a statue, etc. Those mobs are to be saved for last, since they can't hurt anyone.
= If it's clear an enemy can be rapidly defeated by a caster, ignore it unless it chases someone squishy. For example, let the Bloodfire Mage take care of stuff that's vulnerable to fire. Ignore the types of mobs your casters are dispatching left and right, and go for the ones they have trouble with - in the desert, this generally means devariels, screelings, and sanders.
= Focus your fire - get rid of wounded mobs first. A critter can do the same damage at Near Death as it can at Uninjured. Tanks should pile on the same single mob and burn it down fast, then move on; it's helpful to have a designated tank-leader, who can determine the focus-fire target... this can be the same as the player who spawns mobs. If you have a party member who is dishing out Harm spells left and right, follow him around! The mobs he harms will fall in one hit, and the two of you will chew through the crowds like mad.
Exception to focusing fire: each type of tank has unique abilities; rogues get sneak attacks, rangers get called shot, dragon disciples get fear aura, assassins have mortal strike, etc. This may affect your targeting - an assassin would try to target mobs that aren't immune to crits, rogues would ignore all enemies attacking them and turn to backstabbing. Ask your party where your special abilities will be best suited if you're not sure. [credit: strykerofchaos]
Of course, whatever faces you smash, you're gonna want to smash them as hard as possible. You'll need a good weapon, but there are also right ways and wrong ways to build every kind of tank. For build ideas and advice, go to HGWiki's Build Page and find your favorite class. [credit: Aribeth]
Be Prepared
A boy scout you may not be, but no one likes a Leeroy. Before the run starts and before each new type of spawn - or in fact if anyone in the party says "let's think about this first" - you need to stop and make sure a plan is set. The party may want you to attack a certain mob, pull the enemies to a certain location, etc., and a good plan can turn failure into success. Make sure everyone is ready before moving on, and never assume. Related to this: if anyone in the party calls for a rest, do not move on. Casters hate this, and it can get you into some nasty trouble.
How to Tank Archers
Anything ranged, including enemy spellcasters, should never ever be rushed unless you have to. Instead of following your instincts and closing the distance, move back out of their line of sight. This will force them to come to you, which means you won't have to take the risk of spawning more enemies. This is known as LoS pulling, and I've seen precious few tanks (especially at early levels) practice it, to the danger of their parties. Instead of running out and bashing that annoying devariel archer, take cover behind a cliff. Like a dope, he'll run forward to re-establish his line of sight, and when he's close enough everyone can gang up on him. If there are no walls to hide behind, see if you can use the enemy's maximum range instead by running a long way back. (This strategy may require the rest of the party pulling back with you, so make sure they are aware beforehand. [credit: the1kobra])
Alternately, you can pull out your ranged weapon (every tank should carry one) and hit them with pointy sticks or rocks. Keeps you from being flat footed, draws their attention, and you don't spawn anything new. [credit: the1kobra]
Slow Spawning
A rogue with blinding speed running ahead full sprint to spawn things is an easy way to overspawn or get the rogue killed. Instead, face sideways and sidestep forward with the Q and E keys, and when you feel the momentary lag that says something spawned, fall back slightly to avoid flat-footed evilness, then re-engage according to the gameplan.
Use the Terrain
Don't just pick any old spot to stand your ground... be creative. Use doorways and such to create bottlenecks, forcing enemies behind your target to stand still and do nothing. Plant casters at the top of hills while you tank stuff at the bottom. Hells parties are usually pretty good at this stuff, but why not use it in the Frost Orc cavern too?
Alternate Gear
Carry equipment that will allow you to adapt to various situations. Once you get a lot of BURs, this becomes much less of a concern, but until then it's crucial. For armor, pack different sets to cover AC, various resists (exotic and non-exotic), saves, etc. as needed. It does no good to have monster AC against Axilar if you have a puny fortitude save. For weapons, a tank should always carry a high-enhancement weapon and a high-damage weapon. You can use the weapon with the damage bonuses when there's a weapon-buffer present, and the other when there isn't. Later on, collect weapons with various damage types, even if they're not your weapon focus, so you can hit any mob's elemental weakness. For example, you wouldn't want to use a Duellist's Dream - rare and valuable as that weapon is - against Living Sand, as it has no electrical damage. In that case you are better switching to the electrical rapier from the Imports shop until the Sand is dead.
Many tanks do not bother to carry ranged weapons, but there's simply no reason not to, and a lot of reasons for it. One was mentioned above, but in general you will run into situations where melee combat is not an option, and you don't want to have to stand there flat footed looking all tasty to mobs, now, do you? [credit: the1kobra]
Can anyone think of something I left out, or something that should be clarified or changed?Also, if this needs to go in a different subforum, by all means move it. Thanks for moving this; I hadn't noticed the new subsection!
The Golden Rule
A tank's first job is not to deal damage, but to take damage in place of those who cannot. You are first and foremost a protector, not a killing machine. You should always be on the lookout for party members in danger, and be ready to intercept pursuing enemies. I've seen far too many tanks run up and start whacking away at an enemy while letting other enemies run past and start mauling their friends. Your party will love you if you make this your top priority! The game is a bit different in Hells with the presence of ability checks, always ask if you're not sure what you yourself can't or shouldn't tank.
Target Priority
Once the squishies are safe, resist the urge to just start pounding on the nearest nasty. Your primary target will depend heavily on the situation, but here are a few general guidelines:
= The nastiest nasties should fall first. This usually means casters with debilitating or deadly spells, such as the Windtalkers in the desert, the clerics in the Ssithrak dimension, and the Ectocloners in Penumbra. Ask if unsure.
= Ignore any disabled enemy while non-disabled ones still roam. This means stunned mobs, whatever the mage has grabbed, anything that's been made into a statue, etc. Those mobs are to be saved for last, since they can't hurt anyone.
= If it's clear an enemy can be rapidly defeated by a caster, ignore it unless it chases someone squishy. For example, let the Bloodfire Mage take care of stuff that's vulnerable to fire. Ignore the types of mobs your casters are dispatching left and right, and go for the ones they have trouble with - in the desert, this generally means devariels, screelings, and sanders.
= Focus your fire - get rid of wounded mobs first. A critter can do the same damage at Near Death as it can at Uninjured. Tanks should pile on the same single mob and burn it down fast, then move on; it's helpful to have a designated tank-leader, who can determine the focus-fire target... this can be the same as the player who spawns mobs. If you have a party member who is dishing out Harm spells left and right, follow him around! The mobs he harms will fall in one hit, and the two of you will chew through the crowds like mad.
Exception to focusing fire: each type of tank has unique abilities; rogues get sneak attacks, rangers get called shot, dragon disciples get fear aura, assassins have mortal strike, etc. This may affect your targeting - an assassin would try to target mobs that aren't immune to crits, rogues would ignore all enemies attacking them and turn to backstabbing. Ask your party where your special abilities will be best suited if you're not sure. [credit: strykerofchaos]
Of course, whatever faces you smash, you're gonna want to smash them as hard as possible. You'll need a good weapon, but there are also right ways and wrong ways to build every kind of tank. For build ideas and advice, go to HGWiki's Build Page and find your favorite class. [credit: Aribeth]
Be Prepared
A boy scout you may not be, but no one likes a Leeroy. Before the run starts and before each new type of spawn - or in fact if anyone in the party says "let's think about this first" - you need to stop and make sure a plan is set. The party may want you to attack a certain mob, pull the enemies to a certain location, etc., and a good plan can turn failure into success. Make sure everyone is ready before moving on, and never assume. Related to this: if anyone in the party calls for a rest, do not move on. Casters hate this, and it can get you into some nasty trouble.
How to Tank Archers
Anything ranged, including enemy spellcasters, should never ever be rushed unless you have to. Instead of following your instincts and closing the distance, move back out of their line of sight. This will force them to come to you, which means you won't have to take the risk of spawning more enemies. This is known as LoS pulling, and I've seen precious few tanks (especially at early levels) practice it, to the danger of their parties. Instead of running out and bashing that annoying devariel archer, take cover behind a cliff. Like a dope, he'll run forward to re-establish his line of sight, and when he's close enough everyone can gang up on him. If there are no walls to hide behind, see if you can use the enemy's maximum range instead by running a long way back. (This strategy may require the rest of the party pulling back with you, so make sure they are aware beforehand. [credit: the1kobra])
Alternately, you can pull out your ranged weapon (every tank should carry one) and hit them with pointy sticks or rocks. Keeps you from being flat footed, draws their attention, and you don't spawn anything new. [credit: the1kobra]
Slow Spawning
A rogue with blinding speed running ahead full sprint to spawn things is an easy way to overspawn or get the rogue killed. Instead, face sideways and sidestep forward with the Q and E keys, and when you feel the momentary lag that says something spawned, fall back slightly to avoid flat-footed evilness, then re-engage according to the gameplan.
Use the Terrain
Don't just pick any old spot to stand your ground... be creative. Use doorways and such to create bottlenecks, forcing enemies behind your target to stand still and do nothing. Plant casters at the top of hills while you tank stuff at the bottom. Hells parties are usually pretty good at this stuff, but why not use it in the Frost Orc cavern too?
Alternate Gear
Carry equipment that will allow you to adapt to various situations. Once you get a lot of BURs, this becomes much less of a concern, but until then it's crucial. For armor, pack different sets to cover AC, various resists (exotic and non-exotic), saves, etc. as needed. It does no good to have monster AC against Axilar if you have a puny fortitude save. For weapons, a tank should always carry a high-enhancement weapon and a high-damage weapon. You can use the weapon with the damage bonuses when there's a weapon-buffer present, and the other when there isn't. Later on, collect weapons with various damage types, even if they're not your weapon focus, so you can hit any mob's elemental weakness. For example, you wouldn't want to use a Duellist's Dream - rare and valuable as that weapon is - against Living Sand, as it has no electrical damage. In that case you are better switching to the electrical rapier from the Imports shop until the Sand is dead.
Many tanks do not bother to carry ranged weapons, but there's simply no reason not to, and a lot of reasons for it. One was mentioned above, but in general you will run into situations where melee combat is not an option, and you don't want to have to stand there flat footed looking all tasty to mobs, now, do you? [credit: the1kobra]
Can anyone think of something I left out, or something that should be clarified or changed?