my tank is only lvl 14 at the moment so havnt really been effected by ED. i would say when i do get a good team im a very helpful member. i.e. yesterday i was on a 4 man frostfire team and was easily controllin the agro so that the other 3 members of the team hardly took any dmg at all.
i do think on small team 1 tank can make a difference. with larger 8 man teams tho in order to have a fully balanced team i dont think u can really on only 1 tank to control all the mobs.
Generally I haven't noticed any differences at all. My I6 build is as close to my I5 build as possible.
I haven't done many missions, probably about 3-4, a few were solo, a few were in small groups. I think the largest spawns I had were for 4 man Unyielding teams and although on occasions I did not hold aggro as well I as I wished, however I was fighting Nemesis, who can be a pain in the neck to tank in some circumstances as they have long ranged attacks.
I generally don't taunt except for pulling and to regain aggro, so the 5 target limit never really hurt me too much. I use spammed AoEs and my Aura to keep most of the aggro. This has the advantage that I am often one of the top damage dealers in my team, often defeating about as many enemies as a blaster.
Personally I'm going to hold off my opinion on the tanks role in I6 until I have a chance to play when they have 'fixed' invincibilty. Currently it is giving about 3 times the intended buff.
It was interesting to note that when Statesman mentions using a tank on a real team in the thread you quoted, he was a Inv/Fire like me.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
If you read further on in the thread, he also gets a lot of flak for not giving details about the mobs he was facing, his poor tanking (only getting a 1/3 of the aggro and targeting strongmen rather than illusionist and dark ring mistresses) and for saying he did fine even tho he knows he was using a bugged power. 
The only differences I have noticed are that my Granite is just a little bit softer, hasten has far too much downtime and the frequency of my attacks is so low that without a team I am practically useless.
One thing that has definitely NOT happened is a reduction in my ability to hold aggro. Like has been said previously, AoE toggles and AoE clicks are usually sufficient with the odd taunt or hurl boulder just to reigh in stragglers.
Though I hate to admit it, I think Tanks are needed even more now in a team than they ever have been. Every single team i have been in, I have been the last to fall in a wipeout. And that is after a good few minutes of aggro holding and herding away from the fallen.
The role of the Tank is diminished now, but not so much that we need despair.
Having read most of the rest of the thread, I tend to agree with what the guys say. The worrying thing is that he seemed to think that his test was a valid ( and successful ) one.
I hope that the role Statesman played on the team isn't the one he expects us to play.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
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Having read most of the rest of the thread, I tend to agree with what the guys say. The worrying thing is that he seemed to think that his test was a valid ( and successful ) one.
I hope that the role Statesman played on the team isn't the one he expects us to play.
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Even without Granite on. I would feel a little embaressed as a tank if I could only handle 1/3 of a mob and not go after the real nasty villians. Especially with an Empath and Kinetics on the team.
kinda think it makes proper teaming all the more valuble.
empaths were feeling useless after lvl 40, after all the hard work gettin there .now there needed as much as ever.
bugsy had always been a bit of a scranker and i thougherly enjoyed playing him that way . this gave me the oppertunity to turn him into a tanker ,altough it still a tanker of my design
not really one for the facts an figures but the teams i been in yes bugsy been usefull but then so ave all the team
pre issue 6 even even though in a 8 man team , most enemy's i would of been able to solo . now i need the team and the team needs me
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kinda think it makes proper teaming all the more valuble.
empaths were feeling useless after lvl 40, after all the hard work gettin there .now there needed as much as ever.
bugsy had always been a bit of a scranker and i thougherly enjoyed playing him that way . this gave me the oppertunity to turn him into a tanker ,altough it still a tanker of my design
not really one for the facts an figures but the teams i been in yes bugsy been usefull but then so ave all the team
pre issue 6 even even though in a 8 man team , most enemy's i would of been able to solo . now i need the team and the team needs me
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The US thread stated tends to imply that although the you, the tanker needs the team, the team does not need you. The nearest thing to a tank in terms of utility to the team is a controller. If the team is better off with a controller than a tank, then a tank has lost it's role.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
u can reverse that if a teams got a tanker do they need a controller or vice a versus .
controller were also nerfed and no doubt there's a few havin the same discussion. personaly i like havin a controller in team , cant always get one but make do
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Even without Granite on. I would feel a little embaressed as a tank if I could only handle 1/3 of a mob and not go after the real nasty villians. Especially with an Empath and Kinetics on the team.
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Only a third of the aggro, an empath healing him and he still needs dull pain a few times - oh wait, the healer was probably too busy healing the rest of the team for the damage done by the bosses he wasn't taunting. 
I think things are the same as they always were - sometimes you're needed and sometimes you're not. Depends on the team and the mission. I've definitely been on many a mission where I may as well have gone off and had a coffee for all the good I was doing - mobs locked down or arrested so fast I had nothing to hold aggro on.
Other times it can be fairly obvious that I am all that's stopping a team faceplant. Reckon you just have to become as good at tanking as you can. Sometimes you won't be needed to do that job and others, people will be pleading with you to come and tank something for them.....
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Only a third of the aggro, an empath healing him and he still needs dull pain a few times - oh wait, the healer was probably too busy healing the rest of the team for the damage done by the bosses he wasn't taunting.
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If I was an Empath on an 8-man Carnie mission with a Tank who only taunted Strongmen, I'd probably have better things to do than heal him. Like the tough choice between a polite lesson in the fine art of Tanking or kicking the chicken-<censored> son of a <censored>.
By my 50s shall ye know me:
Tundra, DVM, The Late, Neutrino Ghost, Sir Clanksalot, End Of Days, Prof. Migraine
Howler Monkey
Yeh, what kind of Tanker is that? Making sure you get the attention of the lesser dangerous elements, so those more dangerous elements are free to go for the more... squishier... teammates.
States's a wusstank... there's more and more evidence to back up that statement 
.
2 me it seem's that the role of a tank is starting 2 look like stand there and die so ur team don't
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Only a third of the aggro, an empath healing him and he still needs dull pain a few times - oh wait, the healer was probably too busy healing the rest of the team for the damage done by the bosses he wasn't taunting.
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If I was an Empath on an 8-man Carnie mission with a Tank who only taunted Strongmen, I'd probably have better things to do than heal him. Like the tough choice between a polite lesson in the fine art of Tanking or kicking the chicken-<censored> son of a <censored>.
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Yup.
A Paragon Defender
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2 me it seem's that the role of a tank is starting 2 look like stand there and die so ur team don't
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Self-sacrifice! Thats a good soldier!
I hope the devs would realize that all the nerfing causes problems primarily to those that are halfway in the game, characters not having all necessary powers nor balanced build.
However, at least I am still tanking okay at lvl 50(play-style has changed trememdously though), and two friends at around lvl 35 say to have great fun teaming their ice and stone tanks..
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If I was an Empath on an 8-man Carnie mission with a Tank who only taunted Strongmen, I'd probably have better things to do than heal him. Like the tough choice between a polite lesson in the fine art of Tanking or kicking the chicken-<censored> son of a <censored>.
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Yup. Tankers job is take it to the chin for the rest of the team
Id agree with most of the above posts, Imo the tanks should control the aggro, Take if possible, All or most of the damage.
Ive played a few tanks & i think im just getting to grips with controlling aggro quite well.
The trouble is that alot tanks like to solo, While in a team. They just leave everyone to it & take on one baddie at a time, Controling no aggro at all.
Just been on Defiant with a Lvl 30 Tank. Granted, this is when most people playing CoV I guess.
950 people on defiant
57 of them tanks
I.e. About 6%
Which suggests they arent fun to play...
And despite the paucity, and me running around with looking for team on, no interest in me... suggesting they arent popular any more...
***despair***
Could any dev comment on this?
I think your figures may be wrong. I did the same check. Search for all, about 1150 listed. Search for tanks - 50 on. Then I searched for all AT combined and the total was 350. I guess the other total is for villians as well even tho they arent listed (most of the time anyway)
Absolutely correct! My mistake.
Even so 50/350 aint to clever (technically 7 AT i suppose, although PB and WS should be less common)
Was about the same number of defenders and trollers. Blasters and scrappers were up in the 70/80s but they are the most popular AT.
Some high level tanks may not like the changes and stop playing but new tanks will never know any different. Will be interesting to see if those that started after ED and I6 carry on playing their tank to a high level. That will really show if people still think they are fun.
I just started an ice/ice tank(yeah I know),Im on COV at the minute but the tank is my next toon to get levelling. Will be interesting as the weaknesses are starting to show at lvl 10 - groups of lieuts or minions mixed, fine - as soon as there is a boss it goes downhill quickly. Hoping this doesnt continue to SO+ range
Give up now mate, I can barely bring myself to play my lvl 30 ice/ice tank... Dull dull dull, punctuated by death
If you do want to watch paint dry btw, get ice slick power asap, it must be the best secondary power a tank can have
Look at what states says the role of a tank is... the reason it's hard is because you're taking on things tougher than Lts, stuff the good of the team, go for the wusses and let the bosses kill your mates.
I've been having a look at this thread on the US boards and was wondering what people here thought about the tanks role after I5 and ED?
Personally I feel things have changed. I no longer expect to be able to hold 100% the aggro - taunt doesn't work as well and I'm usually busy trying to keep myself alive. I do expect to be able to take the alpha strike better than anyone else on the team and to be able to hold at least 75% of the aggro. I focus on doing that and have faith that the rest of the team can handle the leftovers.
I definitely don't think the AT is useless and I still feel like I'm a benefit to the team. Do other people feel the same?
I also wonder if new tanks will even notice? Having been playing an empath down in the hollows recently it struck me how similar high level tanking is now, with me having to buff and heal the tank a lot and the team not expecting them to hold more than 1/3 of the group at best.