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I would say take taunt in your 20s. I took it at 20
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False, just because you took it at 20 does NOT mean someone else should. I have over 6 tanks at high levels (passed 30) and have always taken taunt at lvl 10. Its routine really, and on big teams early one I run into no problems, mainly due to the fact that I have either, mitigation of life points through any type of healing defender, or higher defense and res thanks to any bubbler. I form teams that are full of support and damage. Been doing so for a while now, its your own fault if you can't handle the "heat" in those early levels.
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Like I said, it isnt necessary.
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False, if it were not necessary the devs would have deleted it from the power list. It's still very functional and still highly used.
"If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything"
"You're like Giraffe's, the way you look down on me, with your vegetarian scorn."
Gauntlet is broken? Did I miss a memo?
Taunt isn't necessary ... over half my Tankers don't have Taunt and have tanked everything in the game. It *is* handy however. On a really tight build, Taunt is usually one of the first powers I feel that is expendable. However I've also been tanking a good long time, so I don't think this might necessarily apply to a newer Tanker.
Unfortunately my server (Justice) is fairly low pop, so I don't have the luxury of being able to put together a PUG with optimal support for the holes of my young Tanker, which is another reason why I don't take Taunt earlier (I usually wait until after L20 ... I'd never put off Stamina to take Taunt even on a WP Tanker).
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Possibly more agro ... taunt auras have a toHit check while Taunt does not (in PvE) and since global accuracies are fairly non-existent at the pre L20 game, misses quite often (as does Gauntlet).
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Most taunt auras are actually auto-hit. Chilling Embrace, Invincibility, Against all Odds, and Rise to the Challenge are all auto-hit, and so is the taunt portion of Mudpots. Only Dark Armor and Fiery Aura depend on auras that require a to-hit check, and unless you're going up against foes much higher than you, they will still hit regularly.
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And I agree that taking Taunt too early will generally give the Tanker more agro then he/she can handle, depending on the situation of course.
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You can always choose to not use Taunt if you're getting too much aggro, even if you have taken it.
And, quite honestly, having all of the aggro is pretty survivable even on a low-level team if you adequate support. I've been both in the tanking and the support role at those levels, so I know that it's quite possible.
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Possibly more agro ... taunt auras have a toHit check while Taunt does not (in PvE)
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Only damage components have to hits. If the taunt aura is only damaging (e.g. Blazing Aura), it needs a hit check, which is why BA used to be the worst taunt aura for tanks (and it pulsed the slowest too), at least before WP. For something like Pots, it needs a hit check to do damage, but the slow effect is auto and so is the aggro it generates.
For Taunt, I try to stay away from it and only usually pick it up as an IO mule, but once I have it I'm pretty happy I do, cuz let' face it, it's a really nice crutch to lean on and lets you play lazier than w/o Taunt.
An Offensive Guide to Ice Melee
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Gauntlet is broken? Did I miss a memo?
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Sure, ask any Fire blaster, or scrapper. Its all "good" till your aggro literally gets pulled away due to some blaster's Snipe, or some scrappers quills....this is without taunt of course.
Then again pre I5 all this , "I don't take taunt" ranting would have never even shown up on the boards. But hey...time makes fool's of us all.
"If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything"
"You're like Giraffe's, the way you look down on me, with your vegetarian scorn."
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Gauntlet is broken? Did I miss a memo?
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Sure, ask any Fire blaster, or scrapper. Its all "good" till your aggro literally gets pulled away due to some blaster's Snipe, or some scrappers quills....this is without taunt of course.
Then again pre I5 all this , "I don't take taunt" ranting would have never even shown up on the boards. But hey...time makes fool's of us all.
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That isn't broke Lac ... Gauntlet has a toHit check. If it misses, and another person damages the target, it overrides your proximity agro (assuming you've done nothing else to that mob).
Also to take Taunt or not to take Taunt has been a revolving issue since beta and doesn't seem to be going away any time soon.
Sorciere: Are you sure about auras having auto-hit on the taunt effect? I could have sworn they used to have a toHit check.
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Also to take Taunt or not to take Taunt has been a revolving issue since beta and doesn't seem to be going away any time soon.
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Opinion. Until I see proof of otherwise.
"If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything"
"You're like Giraffe's, the way you look down on me, with your vegetarian scorn."
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Also to take Taunt or not to take Taunt has been a revolving issue since beta and doesn't seem to be going away any time soon.
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Opinion. Until I see proof of otherwise.
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Fact. Somebody has there panties in a bunch today 
Kruunch, I'm pretty sure that the aggro auras that are auto-hit (such as Invinc and CE) only have to make ToHit checks against AVs and GM-class critters (and maybe EBs, but I'd need to check on that). But against most enemies, those auras are automatic aggro.
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I was just the one with the most unsolicited sombrero." - Traegus
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Also to take Taunt or not to take Taunt has been a revolving issue since beta and doesn't seem to be going away any time soon.
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Opinion. Until I see proof of otherwise.
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Fact. Somebody has there panties in a bunch today
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Did Lacry really just not believe that Taunt vs. no Taunt has been a revolving issue since beta? Did they ask for proof of that? Have they not been here?
Heck, there was a guide written by me in I8 about it, because the debates were pointless and pretty mcuh happening all the time.
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I was just the one with the most unsolicited sombrero." - Traegus
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Sorciere: Are you sure about auras having auto-hit on the taunt effect? I could have sworn they used to have a toHit check.
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Positive. The auras that I described are auto-hit against everything except AV/GM-class critters. See Invincibility, for example.
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Also to take Taunt or not to take Taunt has been a revolving issue since beta and doesn't seem to be going away any time soon.
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Opinion. Until I see proof of otherwise.
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Fact. Somebody has there panties in a bunch today
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Did Lacry really just not believe that Taunt vs. no Taunt has been a revolving issue since beta? Did they ask for proof of that? Have they not been here?
Heck, there was a guide written by me in I8 about it, because the debates were pointless and pretty mcuh happening all the time.
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Remember when it was Taunt vs Provoke arguments. Taunt was auto hit but single target. Provoke was AoE but with To-Hit.
I prefer the Taunt or No-Taunt arguments myself 
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Possibly more agro ... taunt auras have a toHit check while Taunt does not (in PvE) and since global accuracies are fairly non-existent at the pre L20 game, misses quite often (as does Gauntlet).
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Most taunt auras are actually auto-hit. Chilling Embrace, Invincibility, Against all Odds, and Rise to the Challenge are all auto-hit, and so is the taunt portion of Mudpots. Only Dark Armor and Fiery Aura depend on auras that require a to-hit check, and unless you're going up against foes much higher than you, they will still hit regularly.
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And I agree that taking Taunt too early will generally give the Tanker more agro then he/she can handle, depending on the situation of course.
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You can always choose to not use Taunt if you're getting too much aggro, even if you have taken it.
And, quite honestly, having all of the aggro is pretty survivable even on a low-level team if you adequate support. I've been both in the tanking and the support role at those levels, so I know that it's quite possible.
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Don't forget that gauntlet ramps up as you level up, meaning you don't get the full effect until later. By 22 or so, gauntlet actually means something, and taunt is a good supplement. I wouldn't say it's mandatory, but it is certainly a good tool that all my tanks have.
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Also to take Taunt or not to take Taunt has been a revolving issue since beta and doesn't seem to be going away any time soon.
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Opinion. Until I see proof of otherwise.
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Fact. Somebody has there panties in a bunch today
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Did Lacry really just not believe that Taunt vs. no Taunt has been a revolving issue since beta? Did they ask for proof of that? Have they not been here?
Heck, there was a guide written by me in I8 about it, because the debates were pointless and pretty mcuh happening all the time.
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Remember when it was Taunt vs Provoke arguments. Taunt was auto hit but single target. Provoke was AoE but with To-Hit.
I prefer the Taunt or No-Taunt arguments myself
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Still, those were Taunt vs. other-than-Taunt (meaning no Taunt) arguments. Also, those were pretty much before Gauntlet was introduced, too.
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I was just the one with the most unsolicited sombrero." - Traegus
Is it always frowned upon when someone asks for proof?. Pretty horrible that I need to even ask that.
"If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything"
"You're like Giraffe's, the way you look down on me, with your vegetarian scorn."
No, but when we know that you're never going to offer any in return...
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I was just the one with the most unsolicited sombrero." - Traegus
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No, but when we know that you're never going to offer any in return...
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OH SNAP!!
Oh no you didn't!!!!
Ah circular logic, simple and easy to use when evading the point at hand.
"If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything"
"You're like Giraffe's, the way you look down on me, with your vegetarian scorn."
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Is it normal to take straight up "Taunt", or is there enough threat from the other abilities to make it obsolete?
I have seen some builds with it and some with out across the various Tanker posts.
Thanks.
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Here are the tools a Tanker has to manage aggro:
*) Gauntlet - All Tankers have this. It is an AoE taunt that radiates from the target of all your (single target) attacks. (AoEs just taunt the enemies they hit.) Different attacks have different radii, generally the harder they hit the larger the radius.
*) Auras - These periodically taunt up to 10 enemies close to you. Some (AAO) are more effective than others (RttC, which barely qualifies).
*) Taunt - A ranged, autohit, aoe with a duration second to none. It also has a range debuff, so it can be used to cluster mobs even if there isn't geometry around to break LOS.
For mobs in melee range, Gauntlet and Auras will normally keep you covered against normal content. Where Taunt comes into play are situations where everything isn't clustered nicely around you. This could be a result of knockback, an ambush, a spread out mob, multiple mobs within los of one another, etc. Without Taunt, you'd normally either have to just let the group deal with the loose aggro or leave the mobs you currently have to go hit the loose mob.
Taunt is also the only way to cement aggro of an AV/GM with certainty. Gauntlet and Auras have a chance to fail against them, so if you plan on tanking AVs/GMs I'd strongly suggest picking it up.
One last corner case - Scrappers with taunt auras (most notoriously Invuln and Shield). These sets can and will pull aggro off you without Taunt. You see, the taunt mechanic isn't a binary on/off, but a gigantic threat multiplier of many variables, including damage. Since Scrappers deal more damage than Tankers, their threat is multiplier more dramatically than a Tanker. Taunt, with its superior duration and thus larger multiplier, can overcome that shortcoming.
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My personal take? Taunt is an exceptionally useful tool with a wide array of uses. I wouldn't make a Tanker unless it was a solo only character. When I pick it up is an entirely different question. I normally pick it up in the 20s. I almost always end up soloing at low levels, so Taunt isn't useful to me. Besides, there are other more interesting powers I'd want to pickup. If, however, you're like Sorciere and group at early levels, it may be more useful to you. I tried a Taunt-less Tank (Ice Armor) once, but I couldn't stand it. Broke down and picked it up at lvl30.
I don't begrudge Tanks who don't have Taunt so long as they can hold aggro.
[edit: Note, taunt durations scale with level, so relying on Gauntlet for aggro at low levels is very problematic. It gets much better by the 20s.]
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Ah circular logic, simple and easy to use when evading the point at hand.
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THe point that you were arguing was that the Taunt debate has gone on since beta, and will likely continue. The proof of which has been purged since the forums get regularly pruned of old threads. So, you can sit there an know that we can't really get you 'proof,' but anybody who has been here since Beta knows what happened.
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I was just the one with the most unsolicited sombrero." - Traegus
Have it on the build you use for teaming. Don't have it on the build you use for soloing.
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I dont think taunt is necessary, and this is coming from a WP tanker (the weakest taunt aura)
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You either believe Gauntlet isnt broken (which it still is) or have no idea on what class you decided to play. As a WP at level 41, I say take taunt, as your aura will need the extra agg. Plus what did you take in place of taunt?, please don't tell me another attack?.
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About 75% through the TF, I hit 20 and said, Woot! I finally get taunt!. The group chat was like,youve been doing just fine. You dont need it etc
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There's plenty of bad players on CoH. Who have no idea what some classes are capable of. There's a difference in "surviving" and "defeating" said mobs in a tf or in a mission for that matter. Your team was surviving, thanks to gimped Gauntlet. Your team was "winning" and or "defeating" mobs thanks to Taunt.
"If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything"
"You're like Giraffe's, the way you look down on me, with your vegetarian scorn."