Self-Buff Tanking

**Biggest** · 04-13-2010, 08:58 AM

Hi folks,

Here's some pics of my Warrior, Biggest.
I'm going for a self-buffing build so I can take on high-level bosses and live to tell about it!

As you can see, I died many times leveling up. It's good practice to know what not to do.
After this latest respec, I hardly die anymore....I miss it sort of. Ok, not really...

Here's my skill breakdown:

I eliminated all knock-back effects (except a 1-point Stomp for good times) and instead went for "bringing them towards me". Taunt does this, and buffs my dodge.
Hell Scream defuffs the mob group and keeps my HP from going down too fast.
Iron Blood buffs Armor so I take less damage and it gives agro to any mob hitting me.
Restore is for recouping HP during long boss fights, because although Enchanter heals help, you can't really depend on them and I actually don't want them to have to be healing. Let em dps ^_^
Rage buffs mah crit and damg brah! Brings up the agro to all who encounter my blade!

So here's me when I chillax in town...

And here I am when it's GO time!

It's all just experimental, see what works for you!

**EddyBumba** · 04-13-2010, 09:18 AM

Hey Biggst
Similar thoughts to mine. I respecced to full tank with similar points/skill set up, no knock-backs, invinsible hp/armour etc.
Works well so far with no need for pots when in a 25 or similar group.

One thing I've found is +M/s gear is a god send, I could stand and take hits all day but would be OOM every couple of mob groups, now just +1 keeps me going through normal mobs with bosses+mobs needing maybe one pot if any.

**Biggest** · 04-13-2010, 09:38 AM

Yeah Croc's gear makes mana pots go byebye!

**Skeeta** · 04-14-2010, 02:43 AM

So all that armor and you still take dmg and forever to kill a mob when an archer can do it bettertaking no dmg and dropping groups quickly. Sad really I wanted the bear to be good(feral dual spec here cat/bear) bt sadly it's not.

**Biggest** · 04-14-2010, 08:36 AM

The question is, is tanking needed in the game? At this point... it's not an essential part of the play experience.

How many mobs do you think a dps could comfortably solo at a time, 2? 3? 5 or more? Now multiply that times number of people in your group. 5. If a party of dps can survive in a room of 10 or more mobs without "proper" tanking, then what good is tanking?

Tanking potential only even comes into play for the elites or bosses. Those are the only really hard fights where people die. The more bosses in a pull, the more you want a tank. For a tank to be essential you'd need a lot of harder pulls more often.

Also, a lot of effects in the game have a knockback effect. This creates chaos and tanking just can't get it's groove on because it's an ever changing mess. The essence of tanking is "bring them all to you and hold them" and that's a losing battle when mobs are getting hurled away from you in all 360 degrees every 2 seconds.

Another issue: Healing...AOE heals are not a tank's best friend. AOE heals promote a perceived strategy that we should strive to have equal distribution of damage across all members of the party. This is the all dps party scenario, no one tanked, so we all took a little damage. One button click--poof! We're back to full! I might start a healing thread...

http://www.spacetimestudios.com/show...=1841#post1841

There's an essential rock-paper-scissors type of class balance that needs honing. Dps SHOULD be thinking, " If I go in there without the tank, I am going to die." Tank should be thinking, "If I go in there without a healer, I am going to die." and the healer is thinking, "If I don't go in there, those two are going to get themselves killed!" ^_^

So, in order to make tanking more essential we need:

Decreased survivability for non-tank classes. (harsh!)

More frequent elites and bosses.

Less player produced knockback attacks.

A better way for tanks to receive they kind of heals they need. (HoTs and focused healing)

All this only matters of course, if the devs want to provide a more tactical experience for the players. As it stands, at level one you bash your way through blindly and at 25 you're still just bashing. How hard do you have to think to play this game? It's a matter of marketing. Casual gamers = easy and fun, Hardcore = hard and challenging. Also interface issues, the more complex the battles are, the more the UI needs to be perfect. Hard to do on a 4-inch screen. This game has a real casual fun feel, an honest to god multiplayer coop dungeon crawl on your cell phone. It's like a novelty. How deep can it really go? Will it lose it's charm if too many more features are integrated or will it blossom into something more?

I'll keep watching.

**Pixxie** · 04-14-2010, 10:41 AM

Hey there Biggest... just curious.. was there any strategy to the 83 str 53 dex setup? or fairly random?

**Skeeta** · 04-14-2010, 01:08 PM

Well said biggest, well said.

**FeralDruid** · 04-14-2010, 01:12 PM

Mob levels definitely need to be increased, right now they are very easy for the sake of driving sales on DLC, and for that I can't blame the Devs for. Gotta keep the bean counters happy if you want to push your product to the next level. The Devs are listening, and I'm sure we'll see more class distinction as the mob difficulty is increased. My opinion on the matter is to offer a "Heroic" version of all the DLC with raised mob levels to promote better group play through class reliance.

**Buvet** · 04-14-2010, 05:11 PM

Biggest, you are my hero. Each individual class should have a "job" that relies on other jobs. The warrior is the only class that really does, and only because warriors run out of money for healing potions eventually.

**SMELTN** · 04-15-2010, 09:29 AM

So Biggest what would you focus on building up first? I am only level 4 but I screwed up and put 2 points in Vengeful Slash, so I am going to reroll to use your build.

What should I start with? I want to use your skill break down

**Biggest** · 04-19-2010, 09:31 AM

Tanking my way from 25-30 was a real blast! Having the last 2 skills made a big difference, as did the new dungeon designs. Finally I was useful lol. I got into some really good groups and we wailed our way to 30.

Here's me with buffs: 81 Armor and 53 Dodge thx to Iron Blood, Hell Scream, and Taunt

I found a nice purple Pick-Axe, but sadly my Shield is a white and my Armor is the 99c Frosty Armor, as I got no drops there either =-(

My basic strat for big pulls was: Beckon, Auto-Attack(and keep it up), Hell Scream, Evade and/or Iron Blood, hold while watching HP and potion if needed, if losing aggro, Taunt. Against a boss I would throw in Crushing Blow and against annoying ranged mobs Crippling Slash.

I was doing pretty well but then I did some tests and discovered some possible bugs having to do with Hell Scream and Crushing Blow. It seems they just plain don't work. At least from my tests with screenshots posted here: http://www.spacetimestudios.com/show...ls-not-working

So I laid those skills aside for now and focused on what worked, Iron Blood, Evade and Taunt. Lot of people seem to dislike taunt, but it comes in handy when Beckon is on CD and as a lighter Evade. If I had to use something more against a boss, I'd try Super Mega Slash. Knockbacks are generally a no-no, but in this case it would, A: separate the boss out from the mob of mobs (allows dps to focus fire), B: keep you out of his attack range while you can still be holding his aggro (less inc dmg to you).

And oh man, I've been on the iPhone all this time, but last week I got to try my friend's iPad, and I was like "Hey can I DL this free game for a sec?" Boy, it's like 10 times better! I had all my skills at the ready and could type faster and could tap-target more easily, as well as just see what's going on with everything. Sigh, oh well. I think I'll be going over my friend's house alot more often. ^_^

**Sayishere** · 04-19-2010, 09:48 AM

useful thread

**Cageymage** · 04-22-2010, 03:02 AM

i can vouch for this guy - great tank !! Im a 30 Chantress, and had almost no problems healing him thru 5man lost expedition. Very nice to see someone not afraid to use pots ! .... on the other hand - DPS still needs to learn :P (Most of them - not all) Anyways, Biggest, add me to friends, name is same as in this forum.