GUIDE: How to Tank Properly and Shed the Noob Bear Status!

[Baked-Potato]

How to Tank Properly and Shed the Noob Bear Status!
By: Baked-Potato (IGN-Xenile)

NOTE: This Guide is for PvE and for those who want to be the best Tanks they can. You will not find any Dual-Specing or other builds other than Tank builds.

Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Main Purpose
III. About Stats
IV. My Tank Build
V. Skills
VI. Skill Build
VII. Techniques
VIII. Combos
IX.. Combat
X. Thank You And Revisions

I. Introduction
First you need to know if the Bear is the right character for you. If you want to be the one who takes the hits and keeps your group alive, this is for you. If you want to be the damage dealer, or the one who buffs up the group, then this isn't for you.

To be a good Bear, it takes skill, knowledge and practice. I learned how to Tank by watching veteran Bears and by searching these wonderful forums. It takes time how to learn to Tank, as does anything, and needs patience. Believe me, the end result is worth it when people compliment you on your Bear and invite you to games instead of booting you.

II. Main Purpose
The Bears main purpose is.... drum roll please...Tanking! What is Tanking? Well, it means to be the "Tank" of the group. Your main priority is to keep the enemies on and attacking you. This is otherwise known as gaining/keeping aggro. At the end of the battle, your party should be safe and alive without having to down many, if at all, health potions. You on the other hand should be well stocked up on these as your going to need them. Unless of course you have a or some wonderful mages in your group that heal you. Still, make sure your stocked up!

III. About Stats
As a Tank, your main focus on Stats is Strength. As your Strength increases, other important stats increase as well:
Health - Health is your friend. The more health you have, the more damage you can take before you die or have to down a health potion.
H/S - This is how much health you regain for every second. This also helps you survive longer since you constantly replenish your health, but later in the game you will lose more health then you gain back, but still helps out.
Armor - This is your main stat you want to focus on. The higher your armor is, the less damage enemies inflict on you. Low armor = BAD TANK!
Dodge - This helps you evade your enemies attacks. The higher Dodge, the higher your chance is to make your enemies miss.

IV. My Tank Build
When you reach level 50, you get a total of 245 stat points to add to your character.

To me, the best way for a Tank to go is pure Strength. This gives you the maxium Health, H/S, Armor and Dodge possible. Although doing this, you sacrifice your Hit % since Strength doesn't increase this at all. But to me, since Bears aren't really damage dealers, the Hit % doesn't really matter. Also, end game gear does help increase stats, including Hit %, but I'll get into this later. If you want, you could throw some stat points into Dex for some extra

With 252 Strength (245 + the original 7)
Hit %: 65
Crit: 9
Dodge: 7
Health: 726
H/S: 5
Mana: 400
M/S: 0
Damage: 18 - 25
DPS: 22
Armor: 14

Note: These are the base stats, no equipment bonuses are involved.

V. Skills
Skills consist of three categories: Buffs, Debuffs and Physical Attacks
Below is a list of the skills Bears obtain and what they do at each level. (NOTE: The max level each skill can reach is 5. At level 50, you have a total of 49 skill points to spend on each of the 12 skills. Therefore you cannot max out all skills.)

Note: Equipment and stats influence the amount of damage skills do. IE. With 252 Strength (not including equipment bonuses), Full Rift and Stomp at max, the possible damage is 207-230.
All of these values are taken from the base strength (7).

Vengeful Slash - Unlocked at Level 2
Level 1 - 5 Mana, 4.5 sec. Cool-Down, 4M Range, 18-36 Damage + Knock-Back Chance
Level 2 - 5 Mana, 4.5 sec. Cool-Down, 4M Range, 22-46 Damage + Knock-Back Chance
Level 3 - 5 Mana, 4.5 sec. Cool-Down, 4M Range, 26-56 Damage + Knock-Back Chance
Level 4 - 5 Mana, 4.5 sec. Cool-Down, 4M Range, 36-66 Damage + Knock-Back Chance
Level 5 - 5 Mana, 4.5 sec. Cool-Down, 4M Range, 46-76 Damage + Knock-Back Chance

Stomp - Unlocked at Level 4
Level 1 - 6 Mana, 5 sec. Cool-Down, 4M Area, 38-46 Damage + Knock-Back + Stun
Level 2 - 6 Mana, 5 sec. Cool-Down, 6M Area, 38-46 Damage + Knock-Back + Stun
Level 3 - 6 Mana, 5 sec. Cool-Down, 8M Area, 48-56 Damage + Knock-Back + Stun
Level 4 - 6 Mana, 5 sec. Cool-Down, 8M Area, 48-56 Damage + Knock-Back + Stun
Level 5 - 6 Mana, 5 sec. Cool-Down, 8M Area, 56-66 Damage + Knock-Back + Stun

Taunt - Unlocked at Level 6
Level 1 - 0 Mana, 6 sec. Cool-Down, 12M Area, Taunt + 12 sec. buff (+2 Dodge)
Level 2 - 0 Mana, 6 sec. Cool-Down, 12M Area, Taunt + 12 sec. buff (+3 Dodge)
Level 3 - 0 Mana, 6 sec. Cool-Down, 12M Area, Taunt + 12 sec. buff (+4 Dodge)
Level 4 - 0 Mana, 6 sec. Cool-Down, 12M Area, Taunt + 12 sec. buff (+5 Dodge)
Level 5 - 0 Mana, 6 sec. Cool-Down, 12M Area, Taunt + 12 sec. buff (+6 Dodge)

Crippling Slash - Unlocked at Level 8
Level 1 - 5 Mana, 6 sec. Cool-Down, 3M Area, 18-26 Damage + root target 5 sec.
Level 2 - 5 Mana, 6 sec. Cool-Down, 3M Area, 22-36 Damage + root target 5 sec.
Level 3 - 5 Mana, 6 sec. Cool-Down, 3M Area, 26-46 Damage + root target 5 sec.
Level 4 - 5 Mana, 6 sec. Cool-Down, 3M Area, 36-56 Damage + root target 5 sec.
Level 5 - 5 Mana, 6 sec, Cool-Down, 3M Area, 46-66 Damage + root target 5 sec.

Rage - Unlocked at Level 10
Level 1 - 20 Mana, 28 sec. Cool-Down, Self-Target, 20 sec. buff increases crit 5%, + 10 Damage (Undocumented)
Level 2 - 20 Mana, 28 sec. Cool-Down, Self-Target, 20 sec. buff increases crit 10%, + 20 Damage (Undocumented)
Level 3 - 20 Mana, 28 sec. Cool-Down, Self-Target, 20 sec. buff increases crit 15%, + 30 Damage (Undocumented)
Level 4 - 20 Mana, 28 sec. Cool-Down, Self-Target, 20 sec. buff increases crit 20%, + 40 Damage (Undocumented)
Level 5 - 20 Mana, 28 sec, Cool-Down, Self-Target, 20 sec. buff increases crit 25%, + 50 Damage (Undocumented)

Super Mega Slash - Unlocked at Level 12
Level 1 - 8 Mana, 4 sec. Cool-Down, 4M Area, 18-46 Damage + 20%-90% chance to stun
Level 2 - 8 Mana, 4 sec. Cool-Down, 4M Area, 22-56 Damage + 20%-90% chance to stun
Level 3 - 8 Mana, 4 sec. Cool-Down, 4M Area, 26-66 Damage + 20%-90% chance to stun
Level 4 - 8 Mana, 4 sec. Cool Down, 4M Area, 36-76 Damage + 20%-90% chance to stun
Level 5 - 8 Mana, 4 sec. Cool-Down, 4M Area, 46-86 Damage + 20%-90% chance to stun

Crushing Blow - Unlocked at Level 14
Level 1 - 4 Mana, 4 sec. Cool-Down, 3M Area, Reduce Damage -10, Dodge -5%
Level 2 - 4 Mana, 4 sec. Cool-Down, 3M Area, Reduce Damage -15, Dodge -10%
Level 3 - 4 Mana, 4 sec. Cool-Down, 3M Area, Reduce Damage -25, Dodge -15%
Level 4 - 4 Mana, 4 sec. Cool-Down, 3M Area, Reduce Damage -35, Dodge -20%
Level 5 - 4 Mana, 4 sec. Cool-Down, 3M Area, Reduce Damage -50, Dodge -25%

Restore - Unlocked at Level 16
Level 1 - 15 Mana, 16.25 sec. Cool-Down, Self-Target, Heal 8-10 + 5 Health Regen for 5 sec.
Level 2 - 15 Mana, 16.25 sec. Cool-Down, Self Target, Heal 10-16 + 5 Health Regen for 5 sec.
Level 3 - 15 Mana, 16.25 sec. Cool-Down, Self-Target, Heal 12-20 + 5 Health Regen for 5 sec.
Level 4 - 15 Mana, 16.25 sec. Cool-Down, Self-Target, Heal 18-30 + 5 Health Regen for 5 sec.
Level 5 - 15 Mana, 16.25 sec. Cool-Down, Self-Target, Heal 28-40 + 5 Health Regen for 5 sec.

Iron Blood - Unlocked at Level 18
Level 1 - 20 Mana, 32.5 sec. Cool-Down, Self-Target, 12 sec. buff increases armor +8
Level 2 - 20 Mana, 32.5 sec. Cool-Down, Self-Target, 12 sec. buff increases armor +12
Level 3 - 20 Mana, 32.5 sec. Cool-Down, Self-Target, 12 sec. buff increases armor +16
Level 4 - 20 Mana, 32.5 sec. Cool-Down, Self-Target, 12 sec. buff increases armor +20
Level 5 - 20 Mana, 32.5 sec. Cool-Down, Self-Target, 12 sec. buff increases armor +25

Hell Scream - Unlocked at Level 20
Level 1 - 10 Mana, 5 sec. Cool-Down, 8M Area, Reduce Damage -5, Hit% -5
Level 2 - 10 Mana, 5 sec. Cool-Down, 8M Area, Reduce Damage -10, Hit% -10
Level 3 - 10 Mana, 5 sec. Cool-Down, 8M Area, Reduce Damage -15, Hit% -15
Level 4 - 10 Mana, 5 sec. Cool-Down, 8M Area, Reduce Damage -20, Hit% -20
Level 5 - 10 Mana, 5 sec. Cool-Down, 8M Area, Reduce Damage -25, Hit% -25

Evade - Unlocked at Level 22
Level 1 - 10 Mana, 30 sec. Cool-Down, Self-Target, 20 sec. buff +2 dodge
Level 2 - 10 Mana, 30 sec. Cool-Down, Self-Target, 20 sec. buff +4 dodge
Level 3 - 10 Mana, 30 sec. Cool-Down, Self-Target, 20 sec. buff +6 dodge
Level 4 - 10 Mana, 30 sec. Cool-Down, Self-Target, 20 sec. buff +8 dodge
Level 5 - 10 Mana, 30 sec. Cool-Down, Self-Target, 20 sec. buff +10 dodge

Beckon - Unlocked at Level 24
Level 1 - 10 Mana, 7.5 sec. Cool-Down, 12M Range, Pulls Target to You + 50% Chance of Stun
Level 2 - 10 Mana, 7.5 sec. Cool-Down, 12M Range, Pulls Target to You + 50% Chance of Stun
Level 3 - 10 Mana, 7.5 sec. Cool-Down, 12M Range, Pulls Target to You + 50% Chance of Stun
Level 4 - 10 Mana, 7.5 sec. Cool-Down, 12M Range, Pulls Target to You + 50% Chance of Stun
Level 5 - 10 Mana, 7.5 sec. Cool-Down, 12M Range, Pulls Target To You + 50% Chance of Stun

VI. Skill Build
Since you are a Tank, there are some skills you want to max out, and some you don't want to put any skill points into. Below are a list of each skill and an explanation as to why/whynot the particular skill should be maxed.
The skills which should be maxed out are in Green.

Vengeful Slash
Don't waste any skill points on this skill. Although this skill does more damage than Crippling Slash, you don't need the Knockback chance. Stomp has a knockback effect, and when a knockback is used in inappropriate situations, it annoys the party and may result in a boot.

Stomp
Stomp is a very useful skill for tanks when it is use appropriately. It allows you to pin mobs/bosses against walls and in corners and it allows you to knock enemies away from more squishy party members in dire situations where you lose aggro. This technique will be explained later. When used poorly, this can knock bosses and enemies too far which makes them become invincible until they run back to their orignal position and completly heal themselves.

Taunt
This skill right here is your pride and joy. It allows you to gain aggro from mobs and bosses and also adds a dodge bonus. Although this doesn't allow you to gain aggro 100% of the time, or allow you to hold aggro for long, its essential for a tank. What's especially nice about this skills is it costs 0 mana to cast, and since its cool-down time is lower than the buff time, it can stack. This skill should always be spammed during boss fights! It can be spammed during map clearing/mob fights, but when spammed incorrectly it can cause party members to gain aggro before you get the chance to use it again. IE - You hit right when a mob dies and the group travels to a new one and you cannot gain aggro quickly enough.

Crippling Slash
This skill is nice because it can root the target. Its the weaker of the three slashes but can be useful in some situations. I recommend this should come before Vengeful Slash in regards to skill points.

Rage
This skill gives you the chance of doing 2x damage. Even though Bears are not meant to be damage dealers, this helps the party by the extra damage you dish out. Also, this skills gives an undocumented damage boost (+10 for each skill level its at). It is not a critical skill for Tanking, but I recommend maxing this, or atleast almost maxing.

Super Mega Slash
This skill is the best of the three slashes. The added bonus chance of stun is a plus since stunning your enemies = you and your party taking less damage and kill the enemies faster. I recommend maxing this slash before putting points into any other of the slashes.

Crushing Blow
This skill is a pretty decent debuff. At max level, with Dodge down by 25% and Damage by 50 points, its very useful against mobs, but most importantly aganist bosses. IE Using this skill against the Keeper could mean allowing your party kill him before his first shield goes up, instead of enduring a long, slow battle. Also, after running a few test thanks to Royce, this skill does have undocumented armor reduction. Its slight, but it helps. One more thing, it seems to do some undocumented damage.

Restore
I don't recommend you putting any skill points into this one. It heals very little and the extra H/S only lasts for 5 seconds, therefore only allowing you to gain an extra 25 Health.

Iron Blood
As a Tank, this should be the first skill you max out. You want to obtain the highest armor you can. With the +25 armor bonus at max level, it helps you take less damage and consume less health potions. Max ASAP!!

Hell Scream
Along with Crushing Blow, this is the only other debuff the Bear can bring to the table. This debuff is essential for Tanking since it affects all enemies within the range and it reduces damage and the hit% of the enemy. This means alot less damage is going to be done on you. It is especially useful during boss battles and during large mob battles. Along with Crushing Blow, this skill has undocumented armor reduction. When used along with Crushing Blow, the armor redcution stacks and combined its pretty decent. Also, it seems it does some undocumented damage.

Evade
Along with Iron Blood, this skill helps in mean of survivablily. When your up against bosses and large mobs, this allows you to dodge their attacks which results in you taking no damage. This should also be maxed ASAP!

Beckon
Along with Stomp, this skill is useful in the positioning enemies and bosses. Although it doesn't seem like this skill changes as the level increase, it most definately does. The higher the level, the higher the chance of pulling the enemies to you, the higher the chance of stunning and also the distance pulled. At max level it is like a freaking Jedi pull. Also, this skill does undocumented damage. Note: Like Stomp, when this skill is used incorrectly, it can result in the flinging of enemies/bosses. It also may result in a boot.

If you followed what I said and maxed out the skills I recommended, you should have an extra 4 skill points to spend. Use them as you please.

Skill Map

[Vengeful Slash]------------------------------[Beckon]
[Super Mega Slash]--------------------------[Taunt]
[Stomp]----------------[Crushing Blow]-----[Evade]
[Rage]-----------------[Hell Scream]--------[Iron Blood]

Basically you want to keep them grouped together. Here I have my main buffs on the right. My debuffs are in the center, and my physical skills are on the left. Pretty much I use them in phases and work right to left. Buffs before battle, debuffs at the beginning of battle, then the physical ones.

VII. Techniques
Now that you have a good Tank build, and the appropriate skills maxed out, let's talk about some Tanking Techniques!!

As a Tank it is your job to take the heat and keep the enemies from getting to your more squishy party members. Below are some useful techniques to get this accomplihed.

Walls
This technique is more useful on bosses then mobs. What you do is cast Taunt to gain aggro and have the boss attack you. Once the boss is fighting you, manuver youself so that the boss is between you and the wall. Once this is accomplished, cast Stomp. This should push the boss against the wall. Continue spamming Taunt so the boss doesn't run after another party member, and continue using Stomp as it will only keep pushing the boss into the wall.

If the boss/enemies happen to manuever by you and are no longer between the wall and you use Beckon if they are in range and it should fling them into the wall. If they are out of range, move towards them, cast Beckon and then Stomp to push them against the wall. They should be stunned, allowing you enough time to close in on them and keep them tight against the wall.

IMPORTANT Do not, I repeat, do not use Beckon!! In doing so, you will draw the boss away from the wall and all your work will be for nothing! Only use Beckon if you become between the wall and boss.

The Corner
This technique allows you in bunching together a great number of enemies and allowing AoE skills to inflict the most damage on the most amount of possible enemies. To start, have a corner in mind that you would like to run to. Run to it and cast Taunt to gain aggro so enemies don't attack your party. This also allows the further enemies from the corner to follow you allowing you to grab the highest amount of enemies. Next, when you reach the corner, cast Beckon to draw all the enemies around you in the corner. If done correctly, you should have most of the enemies in the area around you bundled together.
As Beckon cools down and become available, along with taunt, USE THEM! Doing this ensures all enemies stay in the corner and don't go off attacking your party.

If the boss/enemies move out of the corner, cast Beckon if they are in range to gather them back around you. If they are further away, you could follow them a tad bit, cast Beckon and then Stomp (only use Stomp if all/most of the enemies are between you and the corner, otherwise they will be spreaded throughout the room).

IMPORTANT Do not, I repeat do not use Stomp!! If you do, you will only make the enemies go flying around the room!

Luring/Pulling
This technique allows you to pull enemies/bosses one by one or by a few instead having them all attack you at once. (This is mostly used in the Shadow Caves.)
To start, you and your party should agree on a spot for the battle to occur. Once that is done, slowly expose yourself to the edge of the mob. If they are bunched together, wait for them to spread around. Once you have a few targets in front of you, cast Taunt. If done correctly, the enemies should have a ! above their heads. If there isn't, don't worry. Wait for Taunt to cool down and get a little closer. Once you have one or a few enemies targeted, cast beckon to pull them closer to you and your party.

IMPORTANT Do not pull the enemies to far from their orignal positions as if you do, it will result in them becoming invincible and running to their orignal position and completly heal themselves.

Saving Party Members
In some situations, you may find yourself losing aggro and notice enemies gang up on a/some squishy party member(s). If you are near the targeted party member(s) and Taunt is cooling down or didn't work, cast Stomp. This should send the enemies flying away from the party and allow your Taunt to cool down. If near a corner, apply the corner technique. If not you could distance yourself from the party a little, cast Beckon to pull in the enemies and then cast Taunt so you gain aggro. If done correctly your party members should be alive and safe and you should now have the aggro again.

VIII. Combos
As you may have noticed as you play and fight amongst a party or yourself, there is sometimes a big Combo animation flash above the mob/boss. These indicate combos. Also, you may have noticed sometimes a white phrase may float above the enemies head, such as Terror, or Crushed. These are also combos. Below are some combos that are attainable through the Bear itself, or with certain other classes.
Note: Make sure the skills used are in the order shown, otherwise the combo will not work!

Terror - Nightmare (Mage) + Hell Scream.

Shattering Blast - Ice Storm (Mage) + Stomp.

Crushed - Bear Self Combo - Crushing Blow + Stomp.

These are all I can think of for now. I'm not quite sure as the effects of these combos. If anyone has any idea, it would be greatly appreciated.

IX. Combat
Now that you have knowledge of skill, techniques and combos, heres some information of how some typical mob/boss battle should play out.

First, as you are running into a room or hall with mobs, cast your main Self Buffing skills such as Iron Blood and Evade. As you in the room/hall cast Taunt to gain aggro and Beckon to group them together (or use the technique that fits the scenario the best).

Once the enemies are surrounded, cast your debuffs. I would cast Crushing Blow first, then Hell Scream in hopes that the Mage has casted Nightmare so the Terror Combo occurs. If there is no Mage in the Party, just cast your Debuffs how you like, or if they are against the wall, or in a corner, you could do the Crushed combo by casting Crushing Blow and then Stomp.

Now that the enemies are debuffed, now is when you try to inflict damage, but first make sure you still have the aggro (make sure your spamming Taunt every time it cools down), and make sure the enemies are still where they should be. If everythings good, go ahead and cast Rage to buff up your Damage and Crit then cast your Slash skills you have. Only cast Stomp of the enemies are in the correct place (between you and the wall/corner).

As the battle continues and your skills cool down, repeat. Make sure you use your Debuffs as they cool down to keep the enemies weakened and your self buffs to keep yourself from spamming your health potions. Through practice, this process will start becoming natural to you.

X. Thank You and Revisions
Firstly I would like to thank you for reading my guide and to thank you in advance for your feedback. I love contructive criticism, believe me I can take it.
Please let me know of any grammer mistakes. I have no PC and did this all from mt Droid 2 (yes my thumbs are gonna fall off d: )
Also, I will update as frequently as possible and soon hope to add some pictures!! As soon as I take some screenshots, rotate 'em and upload 'em they'll be here.

Revisions
i. 1/21/2011 - Thanks to Royce, I tested Crushing Blow and Hell Scream to see if they have an undocumented armor reduction. In conclusion, they seem to slightly, and seem to do a little undocumented damage as well.
ii. 1/29/2011 - Added undocumented +Damage to rage skill. Started combos. (Phone almost dead)
iii. 1/31/2011 - Added some info on Combos. Added some information on combat. Will most likely be adding in an equipment section and/or end game equipment comparison soon.

HOPE YOU ENJOYED!