Playing an intimitank

[Slapphappy]

I am getting ready to roll a character whose main party roll is to get aggro and not die. I have been browsing the forums here and found some interesting thoughts on the build, but I am wondering about game play...

What advice do you have for playing this kind of toon well?
How does playing this toon change through the levels?
How useful is this sort of a toon for a party? (compared to a DPS barb or a straight pally for example)
Does this sort of toon ever get boring?

Thanks for your thoughts

[KiwiPhil889]

... playing an intimitank is not a gloryboy job. Most ppl wont comment if you manage to pull a large amount of aggro. You may hear "hmmm that was a pretty easy run" and such,but thats generally about it.

Situational awareness is a biggie. No point in gettin the aggro off the first mob to run into view if you miss the 7 comin just round the corner,so practice timing the aggropull,don't always hit it straight off the bat.

Don't know about anyone elses style,but i built mine to be an aggro magnet,take the aggro via a reasonable AC, 53 atm,w/ chattering ring and +2 more AC still to go. At high lvls you still get hit,and spells still hurt,so i have about 400 hp atm,w/o falselife,100% fort,and SR 19. I use a crippling destructor to enable the rest of the party to bring em down quicker. My DPS is generally not flash,but he is alot more soloable than my DPS barb,more resilient. I very rarely need the use of a shrine,(usually only use it to maybe save the healer a little SP)but i have pally lvls for wand healing.

Alot depends on the party you're running with. Mass Hold type wizzies will love ya,because you pull the mobs into a nice tight bunch.

Think about weapon effects you want,as that is where you gain alot of versatility.I don't try to compete in DPS,as i will invaribly lose, so i leave it upto those more suited for it,but i also have a DPS char so i get my fix that way lol.

catch ya.

[Twerpp]

What advice do you have for playing this kind of toon well?
Ensure your build is solid, use DDO Char Gen and get feedback.
How does playing this toon change through the levels?
DPS is always gonna be lower than 2handers, Barbs, Etc, but endgame with Khopesh is pretty sick. Level 9 and a bloodstone is awesome, powerattack I suggest in later levels too.
How useful is this sort of a toon for a party? (compared to a DPS barb or a straight pally for example)
Straight pallys dont get full intimidate ranks, but their Cha dependence can make up for that, usually its a dump stat for fighters. A pally can be as good as fighter, even better if he multi-classes to max ranks and get some more defensive power such as Armor Mastery, or Evasion (remember intimidate works on spell-slingers too, dont expect them to try to hit you with a wand because AI is better than that).
Does this sort of toon ever get boring?
You may get bored if the DPS is gimped, if you cant score some kills yourself you will feel like just a crunchy meat shield, still doing an important job but hey we all like to get kills in even clerics. If you build your intimitank right, get the best gear, and play him well, you will find yourself not only tanking but outkilling barbs and fighters who may be either not built, played, or uber-geared up so well. Remember clicking the intimidate button gives you total party control, even a fully raged barb with glancing blows will lose his targets to you (if he hasn't killed them yet lol) when you hotkey that button.

[Twerpp]

Oh yeah and to touch on what Kiwi is saying, you will never be appreciated. 99% of people have no idea what the orange "Gimme yo fruit cocktail punk!" icon over the heads of your enemies even is. In fact I wouldn't even recommend building an intimitank unless you have a solid group/guild who knows how to work with you, and what the hell you're doing. I dont bother with destruct or helper weapons, thats a rangers job :P . I do like cursespewing greater banes though, great DPS and they get neg 4 to hit me, you get your kill ganked by a caster a lot but no big deal, all in the sprit of teamwork.

[Borror0]

What advice do you have for playing this kind of toon well?

From my own thread:


Borror is an Intimitank, that means high intimidate, good shield for when things goes out of control, high saves and most of all high AC. Don't think it's an easy to play build. Intimidates has a 10 second cooldown but is effective during only 6 seconds. Also, it's Area of Effect ability, meaning that mobs near you are affected, however, there is a certain range. That means four things:



When you trigger, mobs must be in range.
If you miss your shot and trigger Intimidate at the wrong time, you're much much less effective during 10s.
Everything must be dead or near death by then.
The party must know how to react when intimidate breaks.


It is very important to know these. at first, you'll probably suck. That's the way it is. It's not that important, you'll have a killer AC. Remember that AC is still as important at low level as it was before module 4.0, the devs didn't go back and make AC worthless there too. Until level 11, AC is king. Clerics will love you, they'd remember you. You are a clerics' wet dream. However, that's only if you suck but have good gear. It is very important to have good lowbie and high-end gear. Intimitanks are really gear-dependant, be ready for it.

Once you get good at intimidating, clerics won't like you too much, Heck, they'll even ask your AC because he only had to throw an heal to the barbarian in thw whole quest but he had to keep on healing you, this is a complement. Honestly, it comes with practice. Just keep on questing and you'll get good at it. An intimitank is different for a DPS character, really different. It is not mindless playing, by far.

Now, leveling the build is a piece of cake. Your deaths will be really bad sign for the group. You'll very probably be the last man standing and will be saying "I'll get you all to the rez shrine once I'm finished with these." Even in end-game, you'll be able to top yourself of with potions... most of the time. For that reason, a intimitank is a pleasure to PuG. He can save every bad group from death. However, he good group that knows nothing about his play style, he'll be less useful. In a group that knows him a lot, he'll be awesome. Nukers will like him, clerics will like him... and squishy will want to marry him.

This is to say: If you go unoticed, it's normal. If you feel useless in a gooed group, that's normal. They don't know how to play with you. However, wait for the bad PuG to come... and you'lll feel uber again.

Lastly, this build isn't really sort of self-sufficient. If you carry around 3-4 Planar Grids and a few Resist Energy (11th) wands, you'll do fine. However, if the group knows what buff you need. It's even better. You cannot buff yourself really well, and sometiems your life depends on those.


How does playing this toon change through the levels?

This question totally depends on the gear you have ready for it at all levels. I know ealry level where a total breeze because of all the twinking gear I had ready for Borror. At low levels, I could solo quest so easily because nothing could hit me. Then, as I gained level, I was loosing out on effectiveness as I didn't gather gear for every levels. When I finally reached level 9, it became much more easy again. Then, once you hit GH, you take a drop... unless you have all the gear ready.. I was missing a few. But, this toon is really easy to level, I can't think of a lot of character as easy to level as this one, besides casters.


How useful is this sort of a toon for a party? (compared to a DPS barb or a straight pally for example)

Well, he really is useful, but like I said, the better your gear is, the more you'll be. If your party members are all geared better than you, with hgiher AC and better saves... you're pretty much useless. If your party is crowded of low AC low saves tanks, then you'll get loads of efficiency. Also, the more your party knows you, the more they can play with you, the better you'll be. It's obviously not for everyone, it's not a type of character everyone will love, but those that do enjoy it a lot. Now, if you want me to "compare".



DPS barb:

Well, nowhere near as much DPS as him. That is sure, an intimitank does very little damage compared to him. However, he also brings something else to the table, mana efficiency: less healing, more DPS. In the end, it balances well in a good party. If your cleric only has the "heal" function, well you're slower, but you'll still get quests done easily, in fact, more easily. If you're cleric is a little but "slow on the heals", you'll be happy to be an intimitank... unless he's too slow on the heals... in those cases, you'll be the first to die since you'll grab aggro all the time, but even in those cases, I have haled myself with potions a bunch of times. Really easy as long as there are no caster mobs around, a bit harder harder if there are.

Straight pally:

Sadly for our little pure class paladin, the intimitank kick his ass. The truth is that paladin are in need for some love. An intimitank had a DPS not really that far from a paladin (as long as he stays Sword and Board) and has higher AC as him, as most paladins cannot even afford CE. Plus, an intimitank's AC is useful against all the mobs. A paladin's AC is useful against only the mobs he pull aggro from, if there is a barbarian in the party, that will rarely be the case. So, at the end of the day, an intimitank is more efficient. Of course, a paladin can save mana with Resist Energy, but so can a paladin based intimitank and any intimitank saves mana by needing less healing.



Does this sort of toon ever get boring?

Like any other toon, you'll get bored an play other. Many characters, many playstyle. I enjoy managing the aggro on my intimitank, I like the DPS of my sorc, different things to enjoy from different characters. It's all up to you whether you like it or not.

[Borror0]

Oh yeah and to touch on what Kiwi is saying, you will never be appreciated. 99% of people have no idea what the orange "Gimme yo fruit cocktail punk!" icon over the heads of your enemies even is.

While I say you'll go unnoticed, I won't say you'll be unappreciated.

But yeah, peopel usually wonder what the yellow thingy is.:D


In fact I wouldn't even recommend building an intimitank unless you have a solid group/guild who knows how to work with you, and what the hell you're doing.

I find my intimitank to be really easy to PuG. You can turn any bad PuG into something much more easy, but I do agree that you will enjoy your toon even more in a good guild.


I dont bother with destruct or helper weapons, thats a rangers job :P . I do like cursespewing greater banes though, great DPS and they get neg 4 to hit me, you get your kill ganked by a caster a lot but no big deal, all in the sprit of teamwork.

Me neither, helper weapon are for ranger. I carry a ton of greater bane, plus a +5 Flaming DA of PG and a few weapons like a Vorpal and a Disrupter for PoP and other places where it is more worth it then DPS. But I never thought of the Curespewer/Greater Bane combo, I'll keep an eye open for those now. :)

[Slapphappy]

Thanks for he feedback all, esp Borror - good insights. I am still torn on this. I dont have uber gear on my toons, but maybe ill give it a try with this build.

I am thinking Human fighter (with 2 levels of pally thrown in for wands, LOH, divine grace and aura)

28 point build

str - 14
int - 14 (for CE)
wis - 8
con - 14 (for HP)
dex - 12 (AC dex bonues will only be +1 with heavy armor and tower shield)
cha - 14 (for saves and intimidate)

wearing fll plate and a tower shield

thoughts?


(and what is PuG? - hate to sound like a noob, but there it is)

[ErgonomicCat]

PuG = Pick up Group - clicking "Group" then joining in.

I think that a pally/ftr mix is the best route - either Pally 11/Fighter 3 or Pally 2/Fighter 12.

From my experiences in this game, and others, being a tank is a fairly boring job, right up until it's not. Ironically, when things are going well, you're a bit bored, and others are having a blast, mowing things down. When things go *wrong* then you're having a blast, and they're all panicked.

My primary experience is playing a tank in CoH - in that game, people know what a Tank is for. So for the most part, you turn on your armor, you turn on your AoE taunt, you hit Taunt, and people start killing. BUT, when the wandering patrol hits the corner, or the Controller goes down from a chance crit, then it gets interesting. When life bars start dropping like mad, that's when you find out if you're a Tank, or if you're a guy with a Taunt/Intimidate button.

[binnsr]

I would suggest an 11f/3p or 7f/7p split. Those splits give you better AC through enhancements.

I'm currently leveling up my own second intimitank as a WF 9f/3p/2r. Unlike the non-evasion versions, this one is fairly dependant on a good dex item from the get-go, although getting access to the 1st tier of House P buffs early gives you +2 to your AC for the first 30 minutes of the quest.

If I was going to rebuild him (5 tomes in, probably not), I would take adamantine body until after taking the second rogue level and switch to mithril at that point.

[aiastelmon]

Intimitanks are the offensive lineman of DDO. A good one makes any party seem like a bunch of geniuses. You can make up for a good deal of the "flailing idiot" factor in a group, such as people who just swing like crazy at everything. I run in a regular small WF only group with a 2H Barb and a Wizard, and all the barb has to focus on is going after the enemy spellcasters while I herd the melees. The Wiz freelances and can heal me, nuke the mobs I have pulled together with initimidate, or pick out single enemy nukers to blast. Also, being Warforged gives me the fantastic WF hate enhancement. So when I intimidate, I try to land a smack or two on each of the baddies and then tend to keep the aggro when the intimidate goes down.

The other day we were hit by an ambush from the back, and the Wiz eeped like a school girl and ran toward me. I just backed up with a mob or two on me, popped intimidate, and gathered all 7 or 8 of them up. The barb finished off a nuker, came back and chugged through them quickly using back and rear attacks, no one landed a shot on the Wizard.

Those are the moments intimitanks take pride in.

-B

[KiwiPhil889]

... the things i like about playin intimitank?? The ability to control the mobs (for 6 secs at least anyways lol). i.e Intimidate and then move so that the mobs back is to the other melee types. Doesn't seem like much,but makes it a bit easier. And yeah, i tend to play him with the goal of making the other members job easier. Might look around for a nice curse spewer though, am in the process of lookin at the add-ons to various bits of my gear.

[Riot]

Clerics Love you. They save mana and don't have to focus on others as much.
Rogues love you. They get to backstab all night long.
Barbs would love you if they knew better. They usually dont' have Int or Wis, but if they did and could talk, they would say thanks for taking intial agro so I don't get smacked around so hard from charging in and thinking my 600 HP and 400 damage is mana efficient.

Rangers love you, they can attack either by bow or melee and not worry about gaining agro.
Wizzies and Sorcs love you cuz they don't get chased and they can reign the fire.

Bards love themselves, rightfully so, they are just cool like that.

Paladins are just jealous.