Why do you enjoy playing your tank?

There's no doubt about it, the bottom line of City of Heroes is dealing damage to defeat the enemy. You don't gain experience for getting hit, debuffing enemies or buffing allies. It pretty much only comes from beating people in the face until they fall down and don't get back up. To that end, people have taken this pursuit to the extremes, such as soloing Pylons, AVs and GMs, even duoing a mothership raid, all without temporary powers.

By choosing a tanker, you cut yourself off from being able to do those things. Tankers are the least damaging AT, and unlike defenders, have very limited means of increasing that. So in a game so focused on dealing damage and feeling super, why do you enjoy playing a Tanker?

For me, it still is about feeling super. In fact, it's about feeling outright awesome. I've termed myself an "aggroholic," though I doubt I'm the first person to think of that term. I'm always actively seeking larger groups of stronger enemies. If I don't have to keep a finger on my Dark Regeneration bind, what we're fighting isn't tough enough. It makes me feel awesome to know that what I'm up against should be able to kill me, but can't.

That's not all of it, though. By being able to keep all that attention, I'm letting an entire team of people be awesome. Everyone can go full bore with their attacks and not worry about return fire. That makes me feel awesome.

I think my reasons for Tanking mirror yours. I have played every AT and have 50 levels in every one except PBs to date. I admit Scrappers and Blasters are fun .. "Don't think just do damage" but I also enjoy the challenge of support. When I created my first Tank I asked a good friend who is an outstanding herding tank to teach me the ways of the meatshield and while I don't think of myself as "THE BEST TANKER EVER BORN" I am good at my job! :-D

I take a certain amount of pride in doing the job well and it doesn't matter if I am playing a Controller firing out holds and debuffs or on a Tank grabbing aggro to protect the team I want to do it well. I feel a little bad if anyone else on the team dies before I fall (if I ever do) and will use everything I have available to prevent it. I think one of my best moment occurred on the test server .. I transferred my 50 level Tanker and signed on to do the KAHN TF before they nerfed Reichman. I stood face to face with that 5th column goon for almost an hour while the team tried everything imaginable to take him out. Eventually the call came out to just give up and I stood my ground holding aggro while the rest retreated and quit the TF. No one on that team died in all that time and while I couldn't defeat that overpowered AV he didn't take me out either. I was a little disappointed to see how much they nerfed his powers when the TF went live. ... I knew they had to FIX it somehow but compared to what I faced on test Reichman, HERO SIDE, is a wimp. LOL

In a word: confidence. A tanker moves forward without trepidation. A scrapper or brute does also, but they ride the razor's edge alone; the tanker's certainty extends to their team.

A side note on damage. Tankers do have a lower performance peak than some other ATs, but their performance band is also pretty consistent - and the damage they have, particularly AoE damage, they can usefully leverage against more and harder foes with less investment. I'm sure you know this already, but I did want to point out that calling Tankers "the least damaging AT" ignores the breadth of possible performance within ATs and the capability to use that damage freely. Will a Rad/Son Defender outdamage a Stone/Ice Tanker? Probably. Will a FF/Elec Defender outdamage a Shield/SS Tanker? Perhaps not so much.

Thanks for the input so far guys. It's all really interesting to hear.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpittingTrashcan I'm sure you know this already, but I did want to point out that calling Tankers "the least damaging AT" ignores the breadth of possible performance within ATs and the capability to use that damage freely. Will a Rad/Son Defender outdamage a Stone/Ice Tanker? Probably. Will a FF/Elec Defender outdamage a Shield/SS Tanker? Perhaps not so much.

Very true. I guess a better way to word it would be "the AT with the lowest damage potential."

What I was trying to get as is that there are blasters, controllers, and defenders that solo GMs. That's something no tank will do, I think.

I only have one Tank, my Stone/SS and when I’m in a Tanking mood, he rocks (no pun intended). For me, it comes down to one thing: pulling other people’s fat out of the fire. You see, I can rescue innumerable amounts of NPCs on any of my heroes but nothing gives me the same rush as coming to the rescue of my friends. I know that on my team I am the one who is the most survivable, who will be the last one standing and the one who takes the damage so they don’t have to. I’m the one that runs in and gets the villains to hit me rather than my squishy mates.

Given that my general playstyle tends to lean more towards squishy characters, it feels great to stand in the middle of a baying mob and know that they simply can’t hurt me. And then I hit Footstomp and watch them all fall over.

To illustrate, my favourite Tanking moment came ironically from when I was playing my Warshade and was what inspired me to create a Tank. There I was, blasting away in Nova form when I notice that an incoming ambush has picked our poor little FF Defender to target. The team, too concerned with what was going on up front hadn’t noticed. So I shifted into Dwarf mode and teleported into the middle of the ambush, smashing and taunting so that they left her alone. By now, the team has clocked what’s going on and come in to destroy the rest of the mob. Ambush dealt with, we go on our way but not before the Defender had sent me a tell saying thanks. I felt awesome that day, and that’s when I decided to roll a Tank.


(I should add, that only a few minutes after that, we came across a Void Boss who almost one shotted me. But before he could get another blast in, the same Bubbler flew in and Force Bolted the Void across the room before using Aid Other on me. It’s still up there as one of my favourite moments in CoX. )

Regardless of AT, but particularly on Tankers, I enjoy the feeling that I am helping to shape the encounter/battle, that my presence is significant, that If I was not there, then things would be much worse. I practice Tanker Vision, where part of my attention is always on the location and condition of my teammates (sometimes to my own detriment, because even my best Tanker is not completely bulletproof). I use aggro and my various tools for shaping it to control which enemies are attacking and who they are attacking, and Yes, I try to destroy the enemy quickly with my own attacks, because That is part of my job, too.

When Tanking, I enjoy being the focal point of villainous aggression - as well as the focal point for my teammates' efforts - they drop the bombs on Me, because I'm where the enemy is. They throw the buffs and heals on Me, because I'm the one who's taking a beating, so they don't have to. I'm serving up the enemy for their banquet of destruction, bringing the courses and making sure nobody goes without, or has too much. And when we Do get too much, then I'm in the middle of it, working to contain the chaos, until we end in triumph, or defeat.

Be Well!
Fireheart

I feel the same as others here. My inv/SS is just plain fun to take out and fight large groups with. I won't take them all out with blazing speed but the satisfaction I get "slowly chewing through" mobs is almost unmatched on any other toon I have.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison What I was trying to get as is that there are blasters, controllers, and defenders that solo GMs. That's something no tank will do, I think.

Does duo'ing Kraken with an almost attackless /Emp Defender teamate count as solo? It only took me 45 minutes to knock him down .

I don't.

For me, it's all the cool folks I get to hang out with on Tanker Tuesdays.

I found the first post (DK) to be very inspirational. I find that the second post (Heraclea) fits my mindset exactly.

I play to wade in, to survive, and to emerge victorious, preferably without breaking a sweat.

Lewis

I love being a tanker that teams think i'm invaluable to doing a STF as the lone tanker. I like being the Will tanker holding the agro of recluses QUAD of AVs (simultaneously) while the team takes them out one at a time (with the help of fort and clear mind); while the rest of the team goes

"no way! i didn't think that was possible!!"

I love having the Will tanker that outlasts the Stone tanker in pretty much every situation...

but above all else, I love keeping the team alive by eating insane amounts of agro from multiple deadly encounters, leaping into the most dangerous of battles without a battleplan, and always being the last one standing even in the most hopeless battles which strike above the idiotic agro cap, leading the horde away from my comrades corpses so that they can regroup in 5 minutes while i tank the horde solo that took the rest of the party down.

nothing more fun or heroic then a tanker which lasts MONTHS between defeats...

well that was rambling. but i just love my will tanker =D

My Tank Mindset...

I am the tank.
I am the line.
It starts with me.
It ends with me.
I am the fool who rushes in.
Where wise men fear to tread.


I am Heatstroke level 50 Fire/Fire tank. I will kill you before you hurt my team.

I am Excalibur Level 50 Inv/Nrg tank with Perma Dull Pain. I will laugh at you while you try to whittle down my massive hit points and get through my soft capped defense while I taunt and entice you to attack me while my team takes you down.

I am Apex Level 50 WP/SS tank with Rage set on Auto. His motto.. Beat me if you can.. Survive if I let you. Sure you can try to kill me but the ridicolus regen I have will make it hard and the ridiculous stamina means I can do this all day buddy...

I am Avalance level 50 Ice/Stone tank. Bewteen taunt. chilling embrace and icicles you might not even realize there is a team. And between Fault and Tremor I can either keep you nicely stunned or flat on your back.. You chose.

I am ShellShock level 50 Elec/SS tank. I tank those things other tanks are scared to do. Malta ?? HA Cant drain my end.. but I can sure drain yours. Carnies ?? No problem sign me up... Sure Toxic and Dark bother me some.. but with Energize almost perma like Gloria Gaynor, I will survive...

I am Majestic Level 50 ShieldSS tank. Ill be too bisu looking good whiltry to take me down but since I am soft capped to almost everything its sure gonna be hard.. especially when you are either knocked down my my shield or footstomp...

Because my Tank has taunt and can hold Aggro like Crazy, love having the power to protect the other players.

Gauntlet.

Heroes, Villains ♦ Reviews ♦ Retrospect

I like being able to wade in and take it first, and to get the mobs to focus on me. It's not as direct as dealing damage, but it certainly has its own way of feeling powerful and useful.

The great thing about CoX is that no AT is needed, they all can get the job done with different approaches. I've done a variety of all Tanker TFs, and they get the job done well, and it feels a lot different than doing it with other ATs.

The large amount of AOEs tanks get (more than Scrappers, generally) is great, too. I really do hope they maintain that difference with any future porting they do to Scrappers of Tank sets, as that's a major flavor difference between the two. I was leading my Invuln/Mace through the Praetorian +45 missions the other night, and it was great cutting loose with Shatter and Crowd Control in the big swath of enemies my team was fighting.

Scrappers and Stalkers, on the other hand, feel much more focused on single target, with a few AOEs thrown in. Pros and cons to that as well, and I like that when I'm playing them.