Tanks needed?

[Medowin]

I was thinking about making a tank character, but it seems as though making a "pure tank" isn't all that required in this game.

If I put everything into making a 100% defensive tank, would that be a viable and sought after member of a group? Or will I just be another one of many potential tanks since anyone can do it?

[Ralmeth]

Every good tank has a DPS mode. Even in quests or raids where you need a good tank, there are lots of trash mobs to kill, so I wouldn't recommend a 100% defensive build. You can go mostly defensive though with your DPS mode as simple as using power attack and the best THF weapon that you can find.

[Medowin]

Every good tank has a DPS mode. Even in quests or raids where you need a good tank, there are lots of trash mobs to kill, so I wouldn't recommend a 100% defensive build. You can go mostly defensive though with your DPS mode as simple as using power attack and the best THF weapon that you can find.

Can I just go Fighter and use a few of the bonus Fighter feats for DPS?

[unbongwah]

The problem is "100% defensive" tanking no longer works thanks to the recent Intimidate changes in Update 9; Intim effect only lasts 6 secs and is on a 15-sec cooldown timer. In order to hold onto aggro, you have to generate threat; and while there's threat-boosting gear & abilities, it's still based on your DPS. So no DPS means no threat means you'll keep losing aggro - and if you want to be a tank, it's kinda your job to hold onto aggro. Plus as Ralmeth says, you won't need or want to be in purely defensive mode all the time. Do you need the DPS of a pure barb? No, of course not; but you do still need to be able to make a significant DPS contribution, IMHO.

My view is a well-rounded tank should have a solid mix of DPS, HPs, Intim, AC, and threat boosts (from class and/or race abilities); if you plan to go S&B, I consider the revised shield feats almost a must-have. [If you find a way to squeeze in any self-sufficiency or extra survivability from high saves, Evasion, etc. so much the better.] Have a look at the Sentinel Squire in my sig. I haven't updated it since before U9, but it gives you some idea of what I think goes into a good tank build and the tradeoffs involved.

[scottmike0]

The problem is "100% defensive" tanking no longer works thanks to the recent Intimidate changes in Update 9; Intim effect only lasts 6 secs and is on a 15-sec cooldown timer. In order to hold onto aggro, you have to generate threat; and while there's threat-boosting gear & abilities, it's still based on your DPS. So no DPS means no threat means you'll keep losing aggro - and if you want to be a tank, it's kinda your job to hold onto aggro. Plus as Ralmeth says, you won't need or want to be in purely defensive mode all the time. Do you need the DPS of a pure barb? No, of course not; but you do still need to be able to make a significant DPS contribution, IMHO.

My view is a well-rounded tank should have a solid mix of DPS, HPs, Intim, AC, and threat boosts (from class and/or race abilities); if you plan to go S&B, I consider the revised shield feats almost a must-have. [If you find a way to squeeze in any self-sufficiency or extra survivability from high saves, Evasion, etc. so much the better.] Have a look at the Sentinel Squire in my sig. I haven't updated it since before U9, but it gives you some idea of what I think goes into a good tank build and the tradeoffs involved.

some parts are true, but if you know how to build a good tank, then you never need threat gear unless your dps is that horrible..., usually if you attack it first and wait a few sec then you have full aggro so yeah, ac does rock just dont over do it

[SensaiRyu]

Two recent ziggy runs - both on normal so completion shouldn't have been difficult. Aggro doesn't work well on this run and it's easy to intim ziggy and her pups to keep them from attacking each other. For an initm tank, ziggy on hard isn't difficult. On norm she should be a cakewalk.

On one run, we had an aggro tank - had difficulty controlling pups (without hitting them), when trash entered the map, they'd attack the charmed pups, and ziggy got bored with the tank and decided to chase cars. Could be lack of experience, luck, or just that it's harder to manage ziggy and pups with just aggro.

Intim is a must for getting hate on stray pups as toons drag them by. Keeping ziggy from attacking charmed pups means keeping the pups alive longer. I completed a run where after ziggy started to bleed we lost charm for two pups. Using intim I was able to maneuver ziggy and the uncharmed pups around so that the sole charmed pup would hit ziggy instead of the other pups. Something aggro wouldn't be able to do. Due to charm hiccups, we never got the other two pups charmed. Another benefit if intim is that the tank can use it to keep the trash away from the charmed pups.

But that's only one quest... For Vision of D and you have to hit back at least 1/3 as hard as the real DPSers to keep aggro - of course, the more DPS you can put out, the more the DPSers can do without stealing aggro from you.

Getting the gear for keeping ur hate gen up means grinding out some DT quests. It's not easy getting intim/str/con up but I'd prefer an intimitank over an aggro tank any day. And as stated above if you want to tank, it's your job to keep aggro while your intim coolsdown.

[landofshishio]

If u want a tank i suggest a Barbarian.

A good barbarian build will keep aggro, even if you dont have threat generation. I remember my first 2 lives on my barb he could tank anything w/o the threat items.

A barb with 800 hp, 70+ str should be able to keep aggro with average party.
If you want to have the ultimate your goal would be around 900 +hp sustaining 74 + str and some healing amp and threat . Epic claw set does the job for the threat + healing amp of 30. You dont need more than that rly to tank edeeps, elite tod. Beside its possible to even get some intim with that build i got 55 on my barb with up to 1022 hp and up to 106 str.

[Enoach]

A pure Tank is a great asset to its team. But for a pure Tank to be effective it must:

1. Be able to hold agro - which now requires a mix that includes being able to inflict damage - the amount needed is dependent on the Hate % multiplier and the amount of damage being inflicted by others
2. Be more survivable then the others in the party - This means Saves and Damage Mitigation. A disabled tank is just as bad as a dead Tank
3. Be able to assess the situation and adjust - As sometimes lowering your personal DPS to Increase the DPS of the party is a valid trade-off, and other times Lowering your Defenses to increase your DPS will also be needed

Of all of the builds the AC Tank is dependent on specilized gear to improve their AC. Such as gathering the right Dodge bonus Items and Insight bonus Items. Getting the right Armor / Robe for the job, and even the right weapon. Some of this equipment is easier to get then others and is a growing experience.

The other approach is the high HP builds. These are effective but have a drawback of being hit all the time.