Why I love my Tank?
Hmm... probably because... he's my go-to toon when I want to feel Super!
Sure, energy blasts, rains of fire, and powers of darkness are all fine as far as they go... but nothing says 'Super' to me like going up and punching some punk, accompanied with a thunderous noise. Super Strength just feels so powerful to me, I've had a hard time getting into any melee toon since!
...Although I will admit, the crawl to SOs was painful. Once I got them, though, it was like a breath of fresh air for my Tank. And then I hit Rage, and haven't looked back.
Of course, my Tank isn't a level 50 yet... in fact, he just hit 35. So far I'm waiting to see what the game has in hold for an Invulnerablility/ Tank at these levels. (I already know I'm going to have problems with Rikti and Carnies... I'll see how others work out...)
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I love all heroic archetypes, I don't have a monogamous relationship with any of them. 
So why do I love the Tanker? Well, I love logging on my tanker when I want to feel like a real superhero, the type that takes a beating wihtout raising a brow, while anyone else would have dropped.
My tanker I play when I want to feel impossible to kill, truly a god of war (though Scrapper might to claim that title too). When I want to feel impervious and not be concerned about the pace my health drops. Sure I might not do as much damage as the Blasters or Scrappers. But I survive and prosper, where lesser beings would have fallen.
I'm lazy and don't feel like being all spazzy like a Scrapper or shark bait like a Blaster.
Just hit me in the face 
Because durability is what we don't have in real life.
In real life, offense is king of the battlefield -- we can destroy stuff from the edge of space with satellite-guided precision munitions. We have nukes, for crying out loud.
What we don't have in real life conflict is high durability. Sure, there are isolated examples like composite armor and battleships and the NORAD bunker. But in general, weaponry is to be avoided because our power to destroy far outstrips our power to endure. We don't even need high-tech...even improvised explosive devices kill and wound quite readily.
So in-game, offense is fun...but it's not a paradigm shift. Sure, the team's Blasters leveled the bank robbers. But we already expect bank robbers to get leveled by SWAT teams in the real world.
But the ability to go into hideously dangerous situations with (at least some) confidence -- the durability to go right into the teeth of all that deadly weaponry and stay standing -- that's the fantasy we do not get to live out in the real world.
Durability, defense, mitigation, whatever you want to call it -- THAT'S superhuman.
If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
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The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog
Very well said.
I think you just summed up my love of the AT Sailboat.
Too bad it won't fit in a sig.
Taking It On the Chin I-16 Tanker Guide
Repeat Offenders
I just think it is one of the hardest things to die on.
Even people who are bad at the game can survive on a Tanker and that's why many play as one.
It's Epic.
Well done Sailboat. I really like that take.
In addition, for me it's often about being a protector. I think Supes said it: "Every hit I take is one they don't have to" indicating his fellow League members. It makes me angry when one of my teammates gets hurt or killed, because it means I'm not doing my job to the best of my ability (assuming they've not brought it on themselves by being stupid). It makes me want to try harder. I encourage myself to be hyper-aware, to know everything that's going on on the battlefield, where the threats are, and how to interpose myself between those threats and my team.
I'm a big brother and fiercely loyal friend in real life, not to mention being rather bear-like in stature, so that role of protector is what comes naturally to me, and makes me feel good. I can get that feeling to a lesser extent on Defenders, which is probably why they're my two most played classes.
Two words... Bring it!
"I am a Tank. I am your first choice, I am your last hope." -- Rune Bull
"Durability is the quintessential super-power. " -- Sailboat
Because playing a GOOD Tank on a team makes everything else work. I run on a ton of crappy PuG's that are all over the place and faceplanting... The solution? Grab one of my Tanks. All of a sudden, problem solved. Blasters don't die, Scrappers... Well... Sometimes they reel it in a little.
Bottom line, Tanks can make a real difference. Moreso than other Archetypes I have played. And for me, making a difference is what it's all about.
I love my tanks because after years of playing control and damage archetypes, I have found nothing that so easily and consistantly controls enemies.
My tank is like my truck, we have a car that's faster and better looking, but when I have some big project to do I want my truck because it's sturdy, reliable and takes what I throw at it.
Superman would be a tank if he played CoH, and who doesn't want to be Supes? ;]
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Superman would be a tank if he played CoH, and who doesn't want to be Supes? ;]
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Uh oh! You've done it now......
"I am a Tank. I am your first choice, I am your last hope." -- Rune Bull
"Durability is the quintessential super-power. " -- Sailboat
[ QUOTE ]
Superman would be a tank if he played CoH, and who doesn't want to be Supes? ;]
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Playing Superman is what's kept me with this game for five years.
Takes
Anything.
Never
Killed.
We don' need no stinkin' signatures!
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Superman would be a tank if he played CoH, and who doesn't want to be Supes? ;]
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Playing Superman is what's kept me with this game for five years.
[/ QUOTE ]
No, no, no! In the name of all that is holy, please stop! If you say it three times he will appear!
"I am a Tank. I am your first choice, I am your last hope." -- Rune Bull
"Durability is the quintessential super-power. " -- Sailboat
My .sig says all I really need to say...but I'll expound a little, anyway (coz I'm a wordy bugger).
First thing to know is that I'm a roleplayer. If I'm playing the game, I am to at least some degree immersed in my character. While I like to think I'm a pretty fair technical gameplayer (after 5 years, things sink in for even a numbskull like me), it's really all about the story, the character, the visceral and emotional impact of the situation. And tanks are just freakin' great for that.
My namesake character and first 50 is a tank (and old-school firetank, in fact). I remember desperately trying to buy the team Empath (the only other survivor of a near-wipe) enough time to teleport and resurrect the others..and somehow living through it. I remember herding a substantial portion of the final Eden Trial room and marveling at a screen filled with enemies, astonished to be alive.
One of my most recent 50s is also a tank, a WP/DB build. Even more than Dollhouse, Mirka embodies what I love about the AT. A "runt of the litter" type with no "super" powers beyond an utter refusal to let her friends come to harm while breath remains in her body, she's my take on the"first in, last out" ideal. From herding the entire "Nemesis lower parade ground" on the Dark Watcher arc ender to shrieking "come here and pick on someone your own size*" at a Kronos to standing toe-to-toe with Lord Recluse while her friends trash the towers, she's the character that makes me feel super. She's the character that will take the best an enemy has and ask, "Is that all you've got?"
"And in this moment, I will not run.
It is my place to stand.
We few shall carry hope
Within our bloodied hands."
[ QUOTE ]
Takes
Anything.
Never
Killed.
[/ QUOTE ]
Takes
Anything.
Never
Killed.
Ever.
Really.
[ QUOTE ]
Superman would be a tank if he played CoH, and who doesn't want to be Supes? ;]
[/ QUOTE ]Me.
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Superman would be a tank if he played CoH
[/ QUOTE ]
Superman is not a Tanker on the grounds that he actually has offensive prowess.
He isn't the weakest hitting melee hero in the Justice League. He's considered their powerhouse because of his offensive might, not because he stands there yelling insults and clustering the villains around him so Green Lantern can pick them off with little effort.
He'd be insulted by Tankers if he played CoH. He'd spend fifteen minutes trying to damage Jurassik and then throw the keyboard down in disgust.
.
No he wouldn't. He's intelligent enough not to get that emotionally invested in a video game.
"the reason there are so many sarcastic pvpers is we already had a better version of pvp taken away from us to appease bad players. Back then we chuckled at how bad players came here and whined. If we knew that was the actual voice devs would listen to instead of informed, educated players we probably would have been bigger dicks back then." -ConFlict
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He's intelligent enough
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He's intelligent to know Tankers could represent super strong invulnerable heavy hitters like himself better than they do now and still maintain balance if the devs would heed some of the suggestions for offensive tweaks and inherent power proposals floated around here instead of ignoring them and shafting Tankers with a role as weak hitting decoys.
Silver-age Supes would even invent no less than a dozen Tanker inherent proposals that would allow Tankers to be heavy hitters and maintain game balance. And the devs would ignore them too.
.
My tank is the superbeast.
Title says it. From what I've seen over the years Tankers have some of the more ardent followers, just look at tanker tuesday it's been going longer then anything else run by players, because people who play the AT have stuck with it even with leveling bazillion alts.
I mean even my man BABs talks about his Tanker with fondness.
So take the title and run with it.