Nice one Shannon. Ill say one thing. BAck when i used to play my empath, i learned two things very quickly. Firstly heal other is an awesome power, saves having to stand next to other people and get blatted, an emergency run in-heal aura-run out is easy enough to do. Secondly, Dont stand anywhere near the tank unless you like being on yer behind most of the fight. Having said that its not too clever to stand next to those pesky blaster either as they have a tendency to draw lovely aoe's too. Gosh Darn nemesis grenadier just bounced me half way across the room!!.
Ok not all squishies take heed of this and regularly get theemselves into "another fine mess" but the point is, lots of people moan about waiting the extra two seconds it takes for the tank to consolidate aggro, when its really for their benefit to do so.
On the other hand sometimes i regret showing newer members of the Tanking world how to herd properly as they get carried away and insist on herding every mob. Point blank is sometimes more effective, as long as the rest of the team bear in mind that the tank should be the front man who see's more clearly whats coming round the corner, how close the next mob is etc etc.
Shannon has a good viewpoint on tanking and i totally agree with her. Im the one that should be getting hit nobody else, call it attention seeking or whatever, and i will do everything in my power to keep it that way. Some poeple on the other hand just cant be helped. Try telling that cocky scrapper who thinks he is invincible cos he has hardly taken any damage yet not to aggro the other mob... not always a pretty conversation
I pretty much steamroll most, just nowadays people who watched how I tanked cos of broken invincibility are doing "similar" to it when its not needed. XD
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
On my ice tanker, I used to like to jump into the middle of a group of bad guys, and taunt the outliers. I like this sort of "centralised tanking" because it's easy to follow and lets you easily see if any wayward mobs are threatening your friends.
With my Stone tanker, I'm still unsure of whether I can afford to take Taunt early on. It basically comes down to Taunt at 16 and Stamina at 28, or Taunt at 28 and Stamina at 22. Power slots are just too tight. So if I cannot take Taunt until so much later, I expect I'll develop a different style.
I remember.....
My other big tanking influence was Buff Boy, who sadly is taking a short break from CoX.
He was the man who got me interested in fire tanks to start with. Watching him bound across the map with his fire/ss tanker was... well quite scary actually. His attack chain was simple but effective and good luck tryin to keep up.
Other tank influences apart from shann and Buff..... (this is starting to sound like im accepting an award) oo hang on ive digressed from the OP completely now...
Yea what she said... =D
When I was first levelling Maelwys (my first toon, Kat/Regen) there were a few tankers who stuck out above the rest. They were both INV, and the squishies on the team didn't tend to die when they were tanking.
I suppose that was something of an inspiration to me. It didn't come down to aggro greediness, or even being built for survivability, just "situation awareness": they simply always took the alpha and then kept an eye on the movement of the mobs, making sure that tough enemies didn't get to enter melee range with the squishy toons.
Whilst higher level enemies have other things to watch out for like ranged mez attacks, IMO it's much more fun for a team if things appear to be slightly chaotic. I first learnt tanking on my Peacebringer Dwarfie, and without an autohit taunt or a taunt aura I almost never had a teammate die on me because I was watching the mobs we were fighting like a hawk (for voids and cysts, if nothing else!!).
The chaotic aspect is part of why my INV tanker doesn't herd unless it's absolutely necessary. It's more fun when there's a certain element of risk involved. It's a fine line to walk though, and you need to really know mob abilities so you don't let the dangerous ones run amok.
When I'm tired or fighting mobs that mez a lot, I'll hold aggro completely to err on the safe side. When I'm not... Rage and Armors/Invincibility on --> Jump into the middle of a group of mobs [use Taunt on the most dangerous mob in that group whilst jumping - optional] --> Footstomp in the middle of the group --> look for dangerous enemies (Bosses, Mezzers) and taunt them and/or cycle melee attack chain on them. Then act sensibly: if a Scrapper picks off a Boss or LT, it's now the Scrapper's responsibility... leave it alone unless they get into trouble. But if a Blaster AoEs the group, keep their aggro.. etc.
This is true. The primary job of tanker is to keep the team safe, not herd for maximum xp/minute efficiency. Those who place latter above the former get a cold look from me (and most other people).
Agree Hammerfall, all too often I've been in teams with tanks who herd needlessly when often the best course of action is jumping into a group of mobs and getting aggro.
Of course the third type of tank is those who only look after themselves and are scared of dieing. often called Scrankers, unless you are going to solo a lot I don't see the point in that type of build unless you are frightened of debt
DDT's.... the bane of my existence
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I remember.....
My other big tanking influence was Buff Boy, who sadly is taking a short break from CoX.
He was the man who got me interested in fire tanks to start with. Watching him bound across the map with his fire/ss tanker was... well quite scary actually. His attack chain was simple but effective and good luck tryin to keep up.
Other tank influences apart from shann and Buff..... (this is starting to sound like im accepting an award) oo hang on ive digressed from the OP completely now...
Yea what she said... =D
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Two different types of Tankers that work differently. My Fire/Fire gives me freedom that I dont have as Shannon. I will insist that in comparing 2 tankers you have to look at the builds. I even find when comparing an Inv/ss with an Inv/Fire each has a difference in abilities. The amount of reasons for even taking taunt amongst different types of Tankers will differ.
However Thundorn as gracious as you are I doubt you saw much of me. I prefer to play other toons. Shannon was my 2005 Tanker, I get her out begrudgingly without new challenging game content to play and dont have to play her at all so rather have my terms for nostalgias sake even though I am no longer benefitting from the type of people I learnt around. 1169 hours is enough so far. Id sooner jump on my other Tankers really.
I see Tankers jump in the middle of groups and then Tanking stops, sure they have some aggro but a defender may have more than they can handle. Tanking shouldnt stop, no one should have more than they can handle a tanker can try to ease the situation.
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I suppose that was something of an inspiration to me. It didn't come down to aggro greediness, or even being built for survivability, just "situation awareness": they simply always took the alpha and then kept an eye on the movement of the mobs, making sure that tough enemies didn't get to enter melee range with the squishy toons.
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This Maelwys is basically what my post is about with other possibly useful stuff.
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This is true. The primary job of tanker is to keep the team safe, not herd for maximum xp/minute efficiency. Those who place latter above the former get a cold look from me (and most other people).
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I am part RP and dont see XP, alot of players would think me poo for not earning XP fast enough, I dont even know how the reward system works and no way in hell can i keep up with the XP overtime on my Firetank with any of my other Tanks and with that I learn to love RotP. I see the game made up of cones, aoes you know the usual stuff if you have ever played a RP fighting board game with them templates.
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
Nice post Shannon, pretty much how I think of Tanking too. I think of the Tank as like a very limited but important type of Controller in a way, and having played Controllers makes the logic of Tanking clearer to me. Basically it's to grab and hold aggro for the team, and to keep the enemy bunched as tight as possible for AoEs (includes AoE controls).
I find that a good Tank is sort of the lynch-pin of a team. A Tank who doesn't do the job in this "pure" way is still handy to have around, because of Gauntlet, but IMHO someone who plays their Tank in this "pure" way is a real catalyst for any team, making the xp flow substantially higher than it would have been.
For my personal fun factor, I also love the fact that as a Tank you have an excuse to be the first, to run ahead, in the way everyone would love to do but can't normally risk. And of course let's not forget the fun factor of standing in the middle of a heaving bunch of mobs shouting "Comon, is that all you've got!? RAAAWRRR" 
Yep great post and great ethics for alot of tank types.
but as mentioned it does varie on all builds & playstyles and teams - being able to adapt the blue prints you have there is what will show the good tankers to the greats i think. If your tanking and all is going well I always think if anyone drops it should be you first and try to stick to that ethic when my tanking is going on.
Nice post and good for any new to the AT
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I am part RP and dont see XP, alot of players would think me poo for not earning XP fast enough, I dont even know how the reward system works and no way in hell can i keep up with the XP overtime on my Firetank with any of my other Tanks and with that I learn to love RotP. I see the game made up of cones, aoes you know the usual stuff if you have ever played a RP fighting board game with them templates.
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I don't RP per se, but I have to say that the way tanking system works is very immersion-breaking compared to what Id want it to be. (refer to my mention on another thread about wanting to tank few, but hard enemies). But of course my opinions rarely affect devs.
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refer to my mention on another thread about wanting to tank few, but hard enemies
[/ QUOTE ] The thing is, that's what you do in almost every major MMO. CoH is fairly unique in the amount of foes you can fight at once, and I (and I know many others do as well) really enjoy that aspect of it. Getting floored just about every time when you're against more than 3 foes is not fun.
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refer to my mention on another thread about wanting to tank few, but hard enemies
[/ QUOTE ] The thing is, that's what you do in almost every major MMO. CoH is fairly unique in the amount of foes you can fight at once, and I (and I know many others do as well) really enjoy that aspect of it. Getting floored just about every time when you're against more than 3 foes is not fun.
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Funny, I havent noticed it. What I meant was, its not easy to spot similar situations in comics, although there has been some. Or maybe I just read old-fashioned superhero comics..
Great post Shannon
Any one considering the Tank AT for the first time should read it.
I have had some people criticise me for my style of tanking with my Ice/Stone Tank Big Ray in that I dont herd that often. My first toon was an Empath and I still have this type of mindset no matter what type of AT I am playing.
My style of tanking when allowed, is to run/jump into a mob go past them, turn round and face the rest of my team so I can see whats going on and looking for strays. Taunt to me is in some ways like Heal Other to an Emp, instead of healing the other player I am pulling the aggro off them. I also know the limitations of my character in that Ice tanks seem to have problems when the mobs start conning +4 to them or is that just me? Then you need the back up of your fellow team members.
p.s. My route to tanking came via my Warshade 
I must agree 100%!
Tanking is about getting hit instead of the other 1-7 people on your team.
I've 2 tankers atm, one 12 & one 20 (I had a 26 before but got bored of him, altism strikes again )
I recently Tanked in a 6 person team (only Tank). One member of the team died, repeatedly! The Blaster. I must point out the Blaster felt he should rush in before me, using his melee attacks.
When I eventually convinced him to let me attack 1st, he ran in with me. I couldn't pull aggro from him fast enough as he was hitting with an AoE before I could TP behind the mob & Taunt. This drove me mad!! I wanted to hit him instead of the mobs.
What was even worse then was another Blaster joined (newish to game) and followed his example.
I had to stop mid mission & ask them did they wanna Tank & I'd stay in Blaster range. After a while this sunk in & they got the message.
I always get defense powers over attack powers on a tank. Scrappers are the melee fighters not Tankers. I'll target an ally taking damage & hit Taunt for those all important saves.
Too many people have lost the concept of Tanking, Tanks are becoming Scrappers with great defense!
50's -
Scrappers - Xtream & Ouroboros Enforcer. Controllers - Vanguard Phoenix, Midnight Protector & Mythical Illusion. Tanks - Stone Cold Sober. Blasters - Ultimate Solution & Crey Prototype. Defenders - Lucifer - Bound. Peacebringers - Xtream Justice. Masterminds - Xtream Malfunction. SoA - Arachnid Lord
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When I eventually convinced him to let me attack 1st, he ran in with me. I couldn't pull aggro from him fast enough as he was hitting with an AoE before I could TP behind the mob & Taunt.
[/ QUOTE ]Wouldn't it be more efficient to get IN the mob with your aggro aura on?
In turning of a group its good to pass through the group, some jump over, a Stonetanker would be better double tp, tp in taunt tick, taunt outside of aura, tp a little further to turn them (which is gonna be good if an earth thorn caster says in that moment "Its quicksand time" (Something Icetankers dont worry about) but often the largest AoE gauntlets get used and the front of the group that becomes furthest away from you get taunted en route and the rear of the group are aura'd.
There is a reason for being opposite side of a enemy group to the team and thats when you want to point cone attacks one way and to see more clearly whats going on. A Tanker in the middle of a group can have cone attacks pointed in all directions. Question is the type of group your fighting, would there be a need to point direction of fire away? Are there cone attacks? and are they collectively that heavy for anyone?
But despite that looking back at the team is a lot better when you know nothing nearby in the way of groups can be aggro'd, I do pan about myself. I could be knowing there is no cone attacks somewhere in the middle, usually I am never in the exact middle, its often where most can be taunted with the aura and then taunting those outside of it. Even turning cone attacks sideways can be fine anyway.
Just because you have jumped into the middle of a group doesnt make everything taunted. A Taunt aura tick has to happen and when that happens itll only be on those in the radius, so despite being in the middle you can still have a blaster instantly planted. When a blaster runs in with you he has as much chance of aggro as you do and even if he is lucky and you have taunted most of the group with your aura it may only take a couple to plant him. Damage to an enemy group can be done before a taunt tick, more easily so with Firetankers and StoneTankers imo due to taunt ticks applied with damage component and the tick is not as frequent as others and also with Firetankers the aura can miss.
Now some Tankers kind of like to coil around and effect all with aura and tighten up a bit, to get the enemy thats using ranged attacks switched to melee (change in damagetypes can happen for the better sometimes) or to have as many in aura, pbaoe range and collected for other peoples AoEs to better multihit, all reasons are especially good for Invulns anyway as they get a major def boost and usually the damagetype is more favourably lethal although heavier. Some do what I do most of the time for speed and get in the bulk of the enemy group and taunt those outside of the aura. Usually as I run in I taunt those I am not going to run near enough to to aura taunt. On my Stonetank Id of pretargetted what I will have left of the group to taunt after I have tp'd into part of the group and then I can tp in and taunt whats outside of my aura straight away.
At the end of the day though I like to use powers like Footstomp, Fire Sword Circle, Icepatch and Tremor or Fault as a "Ready signal". Its an additional gauntlet, not too reliable but better to be surer for team to attack after that than before.
All in all the blasters timing was early, because you cant play outside of game mechanics. I am guessing that maybe you are a Stonetanker.
I see some Tankers taunting whats just in front of them that they could be both hitting with gauntlet and aura anyway when they should be taunting furthest away or whats hitting someone else which is the main reason I posted. With so many new players coming into the game I think its good if they can see how different a Tanker should be to a Scrapper anyway 
.
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
good post i wish i had read it before getting my tank to 50 tbh it was only after i hit 50 with my tank i actually learnt how to use him to his full capacity, my only method was the jump over taunt away from team....i have now learned the (why does no one tell you) taunt aura herd) i didnt even know i had one 
ive just made a ice/fire tank and cant wait till i can tank instead of scrank
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good post i wish i had read it before getting my tank to 50 tbh it was only after i hit 50 with my tank i actually learnt how to use him to his full capacity, my only method was the jump over taunt away from team....i have now learned the (why does no one tell you) taunt aura herd) i didnt even know i had one
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Seriously?
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
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ive just made a ice/fire tank and cant wait till i can tank instead of scrank
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Heh, I've made one too, and I've been tanking since 4
Ice is adept at low level tanking, and I've found that I can do some good AoE damage, too.
I just need Stamina and SOs now, to sort out end troubles
I've not been reading the forums much lately so just discovered this and I must say: really nice post Shannon.
I guess most of the regular posters here put some thought into how they tank but I do sometimes think that a few helpful words would do wonders for some newer players. I don't think I really got the tanking thing until I reached level 18 and got Invincibility. Until then I just felt like a scrapper who could do a bit less damage and take a bit more pain.
God knows how many hours of game time further on (was over 1300 on my Inv tank last I looked) and I'd like to think I'm a bit better than I was in my teens. Nowadays I still see tanks in their 20s basically scranking, thinking their unslotted aura (depending on their primary) is auto hit or standing and taunting mobs to them instead of using an aura to consolidate aggro. Anyway, I digress.
My method of tanking is usually to target an outlier in the spawn, then get into the spawn running in such a way that I can hopefully grab most of them, and taunt the outlier. Depending on the density of the spawn I have been known to jump up and down a few times to get them as tightly packed as possible before letting off fire sword circle (smaller radius but faster activation) and then combustion (larger radius but slower activation). If I've been given enough time there's not a lot of chance of someone stealing aggro. I don't tend to herd multiple spawns that much these days because even when it's practical to do so the odds of someone interrupting the herd just seems too high in a lot of teams these days so it's not worth the probable deaths.
As for watching other players health bars I actually started to mimic an empath friend in my early days. I always have taunt in the first slot of tray one so that I can click a name and hit "1" on the keyboard. Exactly the way I do it on my empath.
I don't have the fight or medicine pools either because I can usually control the odds when I'm solo and I rely on the rest of the team otherwise. Whilst doing Infernal once an empath once said I was a bit squishy for a tank because I needed healing (I'll be kind and assume she was teasing) to which my reply was: "yeah, but every single mob in the room is hitting me and no one else. I keep their attention, you keep me alive and the rest kill them off." I could have added "that's why we're a team" but I didn't
Nice thread!
I actually learned most about tanking with my PB, probably because Dwarf is a tank taken right back to basics! I now apply these tactics to my actual (all be it low level) tank 
I always considered it standard fare to aproach a group, aoe as many as posible, pass through the group and taunt any i haven't already got the attention of, then proceed to pound on/taunt any mobs that look like they might turn their attention away from me I agree about being disapointed if anyone other than me gets hit too, I feel like they're encroaching on my teritory
I learned most of my tanking off of a variety of other people and Id hate to name and shame them
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
When I Tank, the fighting of the enemy comes secondary to getting myself hit by all around me. I have been end drained or just used an Awaken I have still taunted as it is there (granted I am not too worried about scrappers).
) but I am still looking for a runner as I attack. Still as opposed to giving the smackdown on anything I prioritise looking to taunt any lost aggro/extra spawns over the fight, I could be attack, panview, check, attack, pan view, attack on the most forested of maps with leaves or plainly zoomed out.
. The Tanker mostly wont. The Tanker usually has an autohit wont miss power(s) that can be easily much more relied upon to gain control and make it safer for controllers, defenders and blasters to do their thing which in turn helps the Tank out a big deal because even he can take it all itll be a long fight without the team. Tanks can get foes within a area of a Rads debuffs clammed together before a controller controls the group, preventing anchor runners and with all that a blaster will take the group out fast cutting fight duration immensely.
or playing a villain where anarchy, madness and the benefits of debt is cool).
Not only does a sense of bodyguarding kick in but also a sense of jealousy should anyone elses health bar move often taunting asap thats inclusive of scrappers out of reflex. Yes i can pass a out of view door way, suffer lag, have the sun in my eyes and mistakes can be made but the heart to get hit is there.
Granted things can happen so fast you can be caught in the action time of an attack. But thats not too bad because I either have to see for a taunt recharge anyway, look and target a foe or foes or perhaps without much vision click a name to taunt in the hope theyd be targetting the ones to taunt or if without taunt available follow and go over and hit an offending enemy thats attacking someone else.
I prefer clicking a name and taunting, in the ideal hope they are targetting what hits them the moment they are hit. It beats travel and the possible miss of an attack along with the possible shifting of clustered foes out of a nice tight debuff zone.
People can be hit by cone attacks aimed at me and so I like to point them away from team by being opposite side of the group to team which is also usually means the slightly further I am from other people the less chance there is of an AoE hitting me hitting someone else.
In entering a group like many Tankers I taunt the thinner area of the group and enter the thicker part of the group using my aura and then turn the backs of all the foes to the team or taunt the very front of the group make my way to the back and turn foes away from the team but either way I like to finish up facing the team to also see whats going on.
My first 2 attacks are my heaviest and best gauntlet attacks. Them being a Knockout blow which is my hold on my greatest threat and then a Footstomp to not only have a damage mitigating opener but have a 4 fold way of letting enemies know I am there and to be sure that they are likely to be taunted.
Taunt->aura->knockout blow (great aoe gauntlet 1)->footstomp(great aoe gauntlet 2)
After "all of this" I am actually "ready". (Blame invincible being broke for when I used to spend a tad longer herding)
Then its pretty safe for others to start attacking. After all that it usually does mean complete safety (if nothing is broke
A map is up, to know where everyone is or going, team bars are up so that I can see them and if their bars move I need to be looking to do something about that situation. I dont want a defender hit ever, I dont want the controller hit, I dont want the blaster hit but blappers and scrappers being melee sometimes get hit by sharing the area of effects with me which I cant always help. If people attack before full taunt control then a recovery is in order, a bit of a mess can happens, a spread early AoE immob is a pain for an Invuln. I disbelieve that recoveries ever need to have to be made in a good team except for ambushes or "wanted" fun factor.
Sometimes after directing damage off of teams completely someone decides to get in the area of effects (damage,debuffs and controls) I can try to redirect, but sometimes there is little or no where else to go but I do look for that.
On top of it all, to try to be sure people dont get hit, not only do I have to think about what I am fighting, I am also thinking about what could be above on any balcony, behind the next corner, or beyond the thin wall where there is a room that you can gain aggro from and how far the enemy can see because there is no point trying to prevent people from getting hit if you leave them no range from other groups. So I avoid as best ambush points. Sometimes you dont get a chance cos someone in their l33tness has picked the fight in an ambush area for you, that 50 blaster went thru the portal first to those 8 EBs on the STF. Well anyway the rest of the team are often there to act promptly with controls, buffs, debuffs and attacks to minimise fight duration and increase survivability as soon as possible and should be safe to rely on the Tanker to pick the fight point seeing as the Tanker often instigates the fights anyway (not always good btw).
Why am I saying this? Well I see Tankers playing in a manner no different from a scrapper. I cant tell the two ATs apart in playstyle, in fact I may even often be safer with someones scrapper as a squishy than someone elses tanker. Taunt sits in the tray of some Tankers dormant and used unnecessarily on those taunt controlled in melee anyway. At a time when Id go to use it to save someone important, a jab is used on a minion and then a punch followed by their attack chain. The fixation on the boss, lieut, minion etc I really dont understand, how is whether or not something is dropped more important than saving whoever that has been taking hits for the past 10 seconds and is about to get dropped?
A good Tanker, when offered ample opportunity and freedom to tank on their best terms by the team often goes through mission after mission with no one getting defeated or when there isnt ample support is most likely to drop first. Entire Arcs and TFs by an experienced good tank would be done, defeats would come from impossible saves or unlucky tad lateness. A defeat is often avoidable. For the sake of fun many allow some strays but still most players dont like debt, its the just getting away alive that gives the buzz.
I have seen the Granite Tanker with no taunt, mudpots turned off, with aid self, you name it, everything for his own survivability attacking minions leaving other people to struggle with the bulk of the group, the mezzers, best damage dealers etc everything squishies cant handle in a reactor room. Then once being the last man standing in the reactor room he is like "Ha look at how tough I am all these cant put a dent in me", the team could of done with a Tanker taking that before they were defeated, its no good a Tanker gaining attention as a result of everyone else defeated. Well anyway the Reactor got him and everyone rejoiced.
The last man standing may appeal to the scrapper mind but as a Tanker, I think either the whole team would have to be quickly surprised against overwhelming odds or a Tanker has failed.
A controller can go to control +2-4 lvl groups and miss, get aggro and be defeated, a defender can go to debuff +2-4lvl groups get aggro and be defeated and a blaster can go to blast -1-4 lvl groups and be defeated
Why do I see Tankers in seriously spread groups? I dont know? Spread groups means less at a time get debuffed and AoEd. the reason for my post comes up first "What is more important about hitting some foes while a squishy that has been making you look good or helping you survive is getting beat? Is it not better to help those that help you?
Not all goes well when I tank, I could say stand back please, knowing that the type of pull I make won't have all foes herded but will have them come to me faster. It could be a taunt pull of 5 bringing 15 in total some maybe using my presence within their perception range. It makes for faster herding with me out of line of sight faster and as long as no one is close to me so as also be found in perception range by the untaunted its fine, and once I have centred up and stomped at least everything is ready but like I say not all always goes well, someone may attack too early.
I dont have fight pool, i dont have med pool, this makes me slightly more reliant on the players around me as it logically would do. Sometimes I make up for not having as much damage mitigation from armours from Tanking methods, offense and sometimes its about casting a team formation about the enemy.
Usually in the way that it is in big teams of whatever 99,9% of the time I need some team support in its many forms. Its normally good enough support that the extra powerpool picks are a complete waste. Recognising the team alot is good though to me in focusing the mind to whats important to me as a Tanker, this means that if I dont taunt control and redirect effects then I too would suffer defeat alongside anyone I failed to save. It would not take a Reactor core explosion to defeat me and being 50% RPer that I know I am, anyones defeat upsets me. (Unless I am on test server where rp is pointless
Now then can I get anyone to talk about when they Tank please?
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.