Do you want Tanks in your team?

From what I've come to know...sadly, the Tank's role in this game is pretty much a part-time job. Since launch, "new content" (mainly raids) always needed a tank. However, as content gets older/easier, gear gets better, and damage more powerful, a tank finds himself switching to his off-spec until once again he is called to his main duty. And yes, I'm certain that in the near future, T5 content will be the same, "do-able without a tank".

But for what its worth... thanks to all the tanks that:
- Cornered the ARC in Inner
- Held the Prime Assassin while pulling all the adds in FOS2
- Kept the Wing Armors off the group as we burned down the Avatars in Prime
- Showing Tala (and her clown of a boyfriend) who's BOSS

For blocking, juggling, pulling, holding, shielding, and pretty much taking the bulk of all the damage.
I say, enjoy your downtime while you can, don't hang up that laser-proof vest yet, we'll need you again...I promise.

(Edit: BTW...if you couldn't tell, I LOVE running with tanks...especially mine! )

Lol, I couldn't............. Could I. No, sadly probably not.

Add something simple to your utility belt like "mass provocation agent" Makes receiving aggro easier to manage instead of spamming inescapable storm in multiple directions at different mob groups. Its Instant aggro in a consumable. EVERY good tank should have something like this at their disposal in this newer content where from time to time aggro can be for no reason dumped.

I think for ops and 4man, especially t5 content, tanks make the group run a lot smoother. Healer doesnt have to stress as much healing the whole group rather than one that takes majority of the damage. But if you can get 2 good dpses than the risk without a tank can be rewarding in time management. But majority of the time I like to run with a tank especially for pugs because a lot people might have just started healing or new to it and I dont want to wipe all the time because he gets majority aggro and cannot heal the team let alone himself in time.

Tanks can play in dps role too, the extra prec and might make little difference in score if you have all your critical innates and you are good at clipping, yesterday i forgot to switch to my dps set, yet at the end in score i was barely lower than a dps player using full t5 modded with expert mods, and my tank gear was using full alphas/betas.

Same using punchline, is almost as good as t5 set, a few times i forgot to switch gear but still there is little difference when everything die fast.

I was in BIA a couple of nights ago, we took a tank instead of a troll. It was a smooth 34 minute run with no deaths. Tanks aren't bad, who needs trolls.

I used to use that in T4, ill give it a try again. thanks. Never use my cc trinket now as my doms well over and i have T5 trinket for health so it'll replace that slot.

Short answer: Tanks make things easier. In the T5 content, if there's no tank, someone has to do the tank's job without having the tank's health, defense or tools. This usually falls upon the healer.

BIA, Family and Trigon's Prison are definitely made for tanking, even if it's doable with two DPS. If I'm pugging Trigon and it's a below-90CR group, you're going to need GOOD players to survive with two DPS.

Just today I was one of two DPS in a group that wouldn't listen to me and instead disbanded, after having wiped a couple of times on the two-brother fight in Trigon. The fight where we survived the longest was the one where I kept the most aggro, and did what you HAVE to do in these fights when there's no tank: Kited the heck out of them instead of standing still and letting them combo. Same thing when I did the alert as a healer with two DPS in the group, and same thing in a lot of the BIA/Family boss fights. You've gotta block, dodge, heal, block, dodge, heal, all through the fight.

But nope. Healer was focused on standing still and comboing, and so we failed until they gave up.

This is a re-re-edit from a similar topic:

The kamikaze DPS that run in die, get picked up, die again (rinse and repeat) and then complain when the others fail but then in the end, BRAG about the amount of damage they put out as compared to other DPS's. Of course they are going to do damage, that's what they're supposed to do: its in their job description, for Chissake. They don't really consider the rest of the support roles that heal, give power and draw agro and that others have to pick them up and get hit in the process. Too many seldom block and are power pigs. They have no right to complain.

Tanks are usually to blame when a DPS dies. So I need to stress that even though we may continue to hold agro doesn't necessarily mean that Bosses/ ads wont leave you. A good example is in Nexus when Ninja and Future Batman, specifically, leap about the arena, attack, kill, and so on but do eventually come back to the tank while Steam powered and GCPD stay "Tanked".

I can't stand it when some butt-hole DPS tells me that I'm not holding agro on these guys but it's these same DPS's that have become so accustomed to doing the Wave or Nexus "wall glitch" (as they were artificially boosting their gear) that they don't even know how to beat it straight up.

It's a "Tank-less" job. (tee-hee).

Right "Russian Girl"?

I have no problem with Tanks. I actually feel bad how little respect they get. I hate when people are like "kick the tank and get another DPS". I'm like, no, I'm not going to exclude a player just to shave 2 minutes off the run time.

I dont mind heal the tank. I mind tanking being the healer.

Yes, I much prefer a Tank. Because when a group pulls me into a 2 DPS group, (me being a DPS) I find myself getting more aggro, and I'm not the highest DPS D:

YES TO TANKS!

I feel so much love right now

To those that understand the importance of someone taking the hits for you so you can do your job....I say thank you.

To those that believe its easier to run with 2 dps because it goes "quicker"...I say thank you.

Being dual spec'd, I can do both well. I prefer tanking because, simply put, I'm better at it.

Pertaining to the dps that run ahead of me...if they can't hold their own and stay alive until I can draw the aggro, all they are hurting is the progression of the team. If someone has to stop and rez you, you are stopping the potential power/heal/damage that could have been added to the progress.

To use a saying I've seen many a times.....
YOU CAN'T HEAL STUPID!

I love having tanks, especially in T5 Alerts/Ops. A good tank will make things run smoother, gathering enemies, letting the DPS smash and the healer and troller (me) work unencumbered.

A lot of players are too impatient. 2 wipes = rage quit usually for these players. A tank on the team instead of 2 fast burning DPS usually results in a slower run which doesn't appeal to this type of player and because there are so many of them with that attitude, Tanks get shoved to the side.

Personally, I'd rather play the "traditional" way with all 4 play roles. It's less power intensive and far more enjoyable for the entire team that way.

This made me chuckle as I'm 'that' healer who's the first one into battle and won't stop meleeing everything. This is especially true with 2 dps' since it's better that I gain aggro under certain circumstances. I do play quite often with a tank but am still usually the first into battle since we're way overgeared for T5 Alerts.

I prefer with a tank. Without a tank, everyone thinks they're the leader and go kamikaze assuming the healer will follow them and heal them before they die. Meanwhile they're dead before my map even shows where they currently are. When there's a tank, you follow the tank.

I prefer not to run with a tank, because they keep pulling aggro off of me, the tank.

Healers love tanks. They make our jobs easy in PvE and we can wipe the floor with them in PvP. What's not to love?

Content I like to have tanks for, Paradox, Nexus, Fos2, Prime. Everything else having a tank is just leisure off the difficulty of the content. Im not saying I dont like having a tank in the party for low level content. If there is a tank in low level content or an alert. I expect them to fight not draw aggro and block all the time and do zero damage. Tanks are rare in my book, good onces are really rare so keep tanking and do what you do.