Tanks....To Taunt or not?

Is taunt critical for a tank to take. I ask only because I avoid it at all costs. Don't like the power, don't want it, but I am questioning myself. I have never had anyone complain in the past, I still rush in and draw aggro that way, but don't pull it in battle. Thoughts?

There are rare times when I taunt at range.

One, when there is a need to separate closely spawned mobs. Two, when I see one critter breaking toward an injured, out classed or overwhelmed teammate. Lastly if the alpha strike is very mez intensive. In that case a separate myself from my teammates so any AoE mez attacks don't spill onto any mez susceptible teammates.

I have it at its base slot on any character that takes it (tank/brute), and the base slot has chance for psi damage in it. I like Taunt when it's slotted with that proc. It's almost an attack that way. It almost always hits at least one dude taunted, if not more than one. More damage is more damage! It finds its way into a regular rotation in my attack chain.

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In all honesty, it depends on your play style and can sometimes depend on your team. I know many people who don't take it because they "good tanks don't need it", but there are still times when a teammate might get the attention of a stray foe that isn't in your immediate herd, and Taunt would be useful. Being smart is part of being good, and it can be smart to have it "just in case".

Personally, I feel a single stray foe is best handled by throwing a quick Nemesis Staff in it's direction.. which will get it's attention, knock it down, take some nice damage, and maybe even kill it. Taunt isn't always needed.

I'd save Taunt for when a whole extra mob is on the loose and you are already at your agro cap.. pulling a few foes off a blaster and letting a few foes in your herd agro onto a scrapper next to you instead helps the team's survivability as a whole.

There are also other times where having Taunt might be useful. Use it to take advantage of the Enemy AI. Tanking LR in the STF for example... Using actual attacks on him (or other foes) make them use stronger attacks on you, while just standing there using Taunt effects will make them use the lesser powers more often, helping you survive better/smarter.

Taunt also has a -range debuff which will make the ranged foes come in even closer to you, that will help bring keep them in range for your auras and other AoEs.

In short.. like I said.. it can depend on the playstyle of you and your team whether or not you may want to use it.. but I wouldn't say it's required, and I wouldn't mock anybody for not taking it.

I'm of the personal belief that if a tank is built for missions (not for farming or PVP) on teams, then the tank should have taunt.

Taunt, even without a damage proc, can be a useful tool for a tank, and it can be used very effectively...if you practice at it, you can even use it to single pull from a group of mobs (I've done it).

To me, a tank that teams for missions that doesn't take taunt is a selfish tank...thinking only of him/her self.

When I tank, I use it to constantly pull mobs away from teammates, and I tab through foes to spread it out, since there is an agro cap.

I tend to pick it up with my tanks. I find it help me keep aggro and thus keep the team a bit safer. Also, I seem to recall they added a range debuff to it and I've found it particularly useful against things like those annoying Council Marksman ever since.

I have Taunt on my Tanks and use it like another ranged AOE. Although, I don't pick it up until the the late 20s. I like to get all my armors and several attacks first.

[Taunt] is a must for any Tanker/Brute who isn't a joke.

Taunt is a tool like any other. If you find it useful, use it. If not, don't. It's not "critical". I find it helpful in many situations, but I have tauntless tanks as well. I would usually suggest that first time tankers start with it, though, and move on to going tauntless once they've got the hang of how things work.

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It's only important if you want to take and hold aggro like a good tank.

I tend to take Taunt, but I certainly don't use it every spawn. I'll use it when I feel it's needed (as with Father Xmas). I'll use it if I've come low on endurance for whatever reason, to help the team even if I can't deal damage (low EPS toggles + Taunt means I keep damage off my teammates; attacking would drop my toggles and get me killed). And with Super Strength, I'll often use Taunt during the Rage Crash

Taunt is a tool. Some powersets benefit more from it for aggro control than others. (Willpower seems to be brought up as an example of this quite often.)

My suggestion? On your first tank, take it. See how it works. Your first run through with any tank primary, take it and see if it helps. If it does, keep it. If not, drop it. For laughs, if you don't "need" it but have a free power pick later, take it and stick the psi damage proc in it.

I *like* having it, but I wouldn't call it essential - and I'll judge other tanks on how well they tank, not if they have taunt or not. And anyone who judges a tank solely on if they have taunt or not is, like the power itself, a tool.

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I'm going to join in with the "useful but not essential" crowd. At the end of the day Tankers don't actually need to hold all of the aggro in a group anyway. As long as you get the bosses and most of the Lts are focused on you the rest of the team should be able to handle the rest and most Tankers can do that just fine with a combination of Taunt aura and attacks.

That being said I have taunt on my Tank for the same reason I took leadership toggles on my defenders, grant cover on my scrapper and recall friend on my blaster. None of those are essential for my character to perform well on a team but they are all powers that I can use to make my teammates' lives a little easier.

You can tank most situations effectively without taunt but it does mean you can more effectively gather aggro to you and that high damage teammates are less likely to peel aggro off of you and that makes your teammates safer.

When I'm tanking, be it with a tank, brute, or scrapper even, I make sure everyone understands that if they pull it off me, it's their problem. I'll use Taunt to save a teammate in a pinch, but I tend to just run in with aura going and punchvoke. That does the job most of the time. Taunt is used to pull, to make sure a particularly nasty baddie is focused on me before it melts a teammate, or get mobs to come closer to me/my team with the -range. I don't spam it, I don't try to keep *everything* on me, I just do what I can to keep damage focused on me, not my team.

Taunt is very handy at low levels, however. The ability to get aggro without using endurance is handy when you don't have Stamina to fuel your toggles/attacks is very nice.

You want me to run over there to hit that minion hassling a squishy to gain their attention? Urrgh. That sounds like hard work...

On a Tank I take it, when I can, and use it as an AOE. Mostly due to laziness.

My Warshade slotted up Dwarf Antagonize for much the same reasons. I don't want to be lumbering around chasing things thank you. I just want them up close so they can be Mired to death.


On Brutes the only one I took it with was my Dark/WP because people were stealing my lovely aggro and hence my Fury. He wants things beside him to help make him immortal. My Claws/Elec has plenty of fury generation ability and the ability to attack from range anyway, so no need for it. My Stone/Fire has Fault up every 12 seconds or so and an excellent damage aura.


So for Tanks yep, it's a ranged AOE which can save an ally and it's slot-cheap (so ideal to take in the 20s). For a Brute only if I need it to keep aggro and fury high and I don't have other ranged options.

from a blappers perspective "OMG TAUNT THE AV FOR JEBUS SAKE!"

I've tanked half of Posi 1 and all of Posi 2 on an unenhanced shield scrapper. Not by choice, mind you, but because the tauntless Willpower tank I was teamed with couldn't hold aggro against AAO.

Well, keep in mind that at that level, hardly anyone's a "good" tank anyway.

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