I hate tanking in this game for two reasons. (notice I didn't use the words "don't like" or "dislike" but literally used the word "hate")

 

1 - WAY too many stuns and knockbacks from enemy npcs. I hate losing control of my character and this game knocks you around like a pin ball. It's very frustrating tanking with the enemies they have in this game. It would be one thing if a boss did a stun or knock back every now and then, but it seems like every other fight you lose control of your character.

 

2 - The other thing I hate about tanking in this game is how enemies all use their moves at the same time and you get rocked at the beginning of the fight and it's why you are more likely to die during trash than you are an actual boss fight. Here's a quick example... You start up a fight and an enemy uses unload which is a high damaging channeled ability. Normally wouldn't be a problem, but you don't just have that one enemy doing it. Instead you have three enemies blasting you with the same move right as the fight starts so your hp just drop insanely fast. It's not just unload, it's enemy dots and whatever else the same enemy types have for moves. Needless to say, very annoying.

 

Anyway, those are the two main reasons I don't like tanking in this game. Tanking is something I enjoy doing in other games but this game makes tanking nothing more than a huge headache.

Edited May 17, 2013 by genesiser

1 - WAY too many stuns and knockbacks from enemy npcs.

 

While I agree that NPCs with control effects are more prolific than in any other MMO I've ever played, it's not as if, as a player tank, you're without recourse. With 2.0, every tank has the ability to avoid a vast majority of control effects, as long as you can predict them (which, unless you don't pay attention or are doing new content, you generally can): Saber Reflect and Resilience will both allow you to dodge a *large* number of the CC effects while they're up, and Hold the Line is pretty much a button that says "lolcontrol". Yes, control effects are *annoying as hell*, but it's not like you have no recourse to avoid them (hell, on all of the droids/turrets with radial knockback effects, you can prevent it from ever being used by just never standing within 4m of the target; this is definitely easiest as a Shadow tank or a VG tank, but, as long as you can taunt spam, any tank can do it *if it really pisses you off that much*).

 

2 - The other thing I hate about tanking in this game is how enemies all use their moves at the same time and you get rocked at the beginning of the fight and it's why you are more likely to die during trash than you are an actual boss fight.

 

The phenomenon you're referring to is commonly called the "alpha strike" and it's not even *remotely* unique to TOR. In fact, any MMO where you fight multiple enemies at a time and they're not almost entirely melee, you're going to have to deal with the alpha strike because all of the enemies are aggroed at once which means they'll all start shooting at once. Honestly, it makes a lot of sense.

 

Of course, I don't really see a problem with it because it creates a very nice predictable period of high damage, which is the *perfect* time to use your CDs. Not using your CDs when you *know* a lot of damage is coming (and, as you've pointed out, you *know* the alpha strike is coming) is just asking to be taken down; it's just like a Shadow that doesn't use Resilience when Scream is coming: you don't really have a right to complain when you've got the tools to avoid the situation and the only reason you're in it is because you simply refuse to use them.

The reason is quite simple: DPSing is easier.

 

You don't have to try as hard or pay as much attention as a DPS.

Others have said it already, pugs will quickly stop you from ever wanting to que again.

 

Plus people would rather swing around 2 lightsabers, or shoot lightning from their hands.

 

But to be fair, that can be said for any role. I recently leveled and started to gear my sniper, because we have to many healers / tanks in my guild. And some of the **** you see from tanks and healers can be just as bad.

 

Had a 40K HP tank just the other day, after the healer called him out for stacking endurance. And generally having really bad stats on the gear he had. He made it a point that he didn't care, his goal was to have a tank with 40K hp. He thought that was just the greatest thing in the world, and could careless if mobs could 2 shot him because of his poor mitigation stats.

Edited May 17, 2013 by caveslug

Personally I don't tank because...I'm not a leader, I feel uncomfortable leading and tanks are...the assumed leaders. You need to pull first, you need to lead the group around...And honestly, it seems pretty hard, needing to keep your eye on every mob, interrupt all the attacks, know all the attacks to interrupt, make sure nothing attacks the other members...I'm a healer. I look at health bars and dps in between. I stay behind the rest of the group and follow everyone else. I find it an easier roll...and I like keeping people alive. So thats why I'm not a tank.

I have a tank because others suck at tanking

well to tell you i like tanking i play my tank 95% of the time i dont mind doing 6 or 7 HM flash points over the night but to get thous augs are costly. for me i do a little trade skilling but mostly run dailys Makeb black hole section x and well even whit my dps pet its slow my guild mate plays a dps sorc and has his dps pet he can run thou makeb in close to half the time i know this becouse we do the group mission together and the solo stuff solo

 

 

and alot of times whit group finder you get under geared dps and healers or you get some one in the group pulling agro whit over use of aoe's if your usingg aoe skill it makes holding agro on a group of mob's hard

3 biggest reasons I can think of are:

1. In simplistic terms, DPS'ing is just easier than tanking so not many people do it.

2. A large portion of tanking is also knowing the fight mechanics of each FP/Op, so some people may not feel as comfortable tanking if they have never even done the fp/op before.

3. As you get closer to endgame content like ops than it becomes more about gear. If my health pool is about the same as a DPS'er than it's going to be that much harder to keep agro, and it makes it harder for the healers to keep me alive. No amount amount of individual "skill" can make up that gap if your gear isnt up to par. (ie An under-geared DPS won't affect the group as much as an under-geared tank)

 

Edit: Also I forgot to mention that the investment put into tanking is usually a lot higher (repair bills from group wipes, min/maxing your mitigation stats, etc.)

Edited May 17, 2013 by UrbanSaint

Edit: Also I forgot to mention that the investment put into tanking is usually a lot higher (repair bills from group wipes, min/maxing your mitigation stats, etc.)

 

Any good player will be min maxing there stats also, and will have the same investment into repairs and gear as a good tank.

 

One of the biggest reasons I haven't leveled up my tanks yet, was I got sick and tired of watching bad dps when I was tanking. You know those guys that jump into a trash pull, and go balls to the wall on the elite. Ripping aggro off the tank, because you are trying to clean up the weak adds beating on the healer that they ignored.

Edited May 17, 2013 by caveslug

Others have said it already, pugs will quickly stop you from ever wanting to que again.

 

It's this (mostly their complaints) and the pressure of being the tank. Usually one DPS being subpar is not a big deal, but even small mistakes from the tank like not picking up an add can wipe the group and lead to much rage. It is what it is, I don't see any way around it.

 

As the tank you're standing out there in front of everyone and any mistake you make is very visible - given that many people aren't very polite and easy going while pugging, who the hell wants to deal with that? Instead, I'll just tank with my guildies, who I know are good, who I know won't give me **** if I make a small mistake, etc. Less stress for me. I don't think there's been a day I've been online where other guildies of mine haven't been complaining about the 'awful tanks' they get. I don't want to be that awful tank or have people saying that stuff about me.

Edited May 17, 2013 by dcgregorya

I like to tank per se, but the other players demand things I don't like or don't know.

 

I am new-ish to the game (1 month old). They demand I have super gear, super stats, know all the tactics for all the bosses. They want a leader (I don't like to lead), they want a quick run. If I mark targets, sap targets etc. there's always the guy (usually sentinels) who wants the quick run ignoring them and just jumping in the thick of the mobs to "make it faster". There's most often a guy who will AoE and thus break all the saps / CC and then I have to painfully chase the mobs, which in turn chase a guy who runs all the way away from me.

Healers often are DPS spec and less than experienced at healing (the little healing they put out that is). Some times healers DPS and heal just when somebody (possibly the tank) is about to die.

 

Other times we get the bossy know-it-all who sprays orders and attitude all the time, including demanding runs to be done in a different way that I know (usually with less than brilliant results).

I like to tank per se, but the other players demand things I don't like or don't know.

 

I am new-ish to the game (1 month old). They demand I have super gear, super stats, know all the tactics for all the bosses. They want a leader (I don't like to lead), they want a quick run.

 

Simple rule: don't let them get you down.

The (ugly) truth is that no matter what a DPS says, tanks are much more important and much harder to find than a DPS, so if a Tank just threatens to leave after being mistreated, the DPS will probably shut up if they are wrong. (and I'm saying this as a DPS)

 

The thing with Swtor is that you don't need any of these things for most of the content.

If you're tanking a HM FP and you don't know the tactics, ask and I'm sure you will be pleasantly surprised with people's willingness to help out. Whenever I'm doing a FP and someone says they're doing it for the first time, I always take a few minutes to explain tactics (if it's not just a tank and spank boss). If someone doesn't have a few minutes to spare that will help someone else, then maybe they shouldn't be doing a FP in the first place.

 

If I mark targets, sap targets etc. there's always the guy (usually sentinels) who wants the quick run ignoring them and just jumping in the thick of the mobs to "make it faster". There's most often a guy who will AoE and thus break all the saps / CC and then I have to painfully chase the mobs, which in turn chase a guy who runs all the way away from me.

 

Yes, there will always be people who break CCs. Unfortunately, there's nothing that can be done about it apart from vote kicking them if they become too annoying.

 

Healers often are DPS spec and less than experienced at healing (the little healing they put out that is). Some times healers DPS and heal just when somebody (possibly the tank) is about to die.

 

Other times we get the bossy know-it-all who sprays orders and attitude all the time, including demanding runs to be done in a different way that I know (usually with less than brilliant results).

 

I never understood why healers are not respeccing for FPs. DPS all you want in any other case, but if you queue as a healer, please get your *** to the respec guy and go full Healing.

 

As for your last point, there are usually more than 1 ways to do a FP (e.g. the Sith/Jedi group in Mandalorian Raiders). It's the tank's job to decide what way it will be done, so ask them to wait and tell them how you wanna do it. However, sometimes there might be an easier way for everyone (or just the healer) so if someone suggests something different, it's not necessarily a bad thing. Give it a try and it might actually be a better way than the one you knew.

Edited May 18, 2013 by TheNahash

Tanking in this game can be extremely frustrating at times due to brain dead DPS. Most of the healers are ok, and people who can't heal and refuse to learn wash out and go back to DPSing after too long. You still get a few knuckleheads who are spec'd DPS and try to off heal through a hard mode, but I've found a lot of them get enough justified abuse to kill that practice before too long. I'd say about 80% of group finder DPS is absolutely awful, and IMO a lot of the problem stems from being hugely overgeared for the content for months. I run almost exclusively with my roommate who is a commando healer, and he is pretty darn good at his job. It's EXTREMELY common for DPS to leap into a room and pull all the mobs. We've gotten to the point where people who do that don't get healed, expensive repair bills seem to be the only way to get through to some people.

 

I'm also pretty tired of DPS not using proper kill order and unnecessarily making my job and the healer's job difficult. You can tell pretty easily who has played a tank or healer and who has only ever DPSed when you're in a flashpoint. People who have only ever DPSed will often tunnel vision the elite and strongs because that's who I'm tanking. They don't understand that when the four trash mobs are smacking the healer around, that that's time you won't get healed, and I can't grab them all because all seven guys in this room put too much damage on one target for a healer to power through in a 60 second pull. I would think that most DPSers would relish the thought of killing weak mobs because you get the trill of finishing off several bad guys per encounter. I know I do when I play my Sentinel.

Edited May 20, 2013 by AdmiralOnasi

I'd like to think myself a natural tanker having gravitated to that role since the pen & paper days and by now have an impressive resume of rolling endgame main tanks across 8 mmorpgs. But I swear, half the joy (and the rest, frustration!) of a Jedi shadow tank is my HP just pingponging when getting focused fired on. Other tanks usually feel beefier the more gear I get; but this one never stops feeling like I'm in the middle of an epic struggle to stay alive.

 

But I must say, it does feel exhilarating. And there is something really fun about being a stealth tank doing stealth ops with stealth heals and dps.

 

It would be nice to be able to be anything though. My favorite class in that other panda mmo was the druid. With a 2ndary spec, I could be anything the group needed. Too bad there are no such thing as tank/dps/heal ACs.

I don't play tanks for two reasons:

 

1. I find avoiding damage a more satisfying accomplishment than surviving damage. Which means I prefer ranged classes over melee classes in general.

 

2. In MMO groups, tanks are commonly expected to lead. I don't particularly enjoy leading groups of random people. These groups are something I'm more inclined to "tolerate" than to "steward".

 

The first reason is something I regularly suspend in games at least once, since melee differs somewhat from game to game. The second reason, however, is something I've found to be pretty consistent. So I usually end up with max level, endgame ranged characters, and one or two mid-level melee alts that I only play solo.

What the above poster said is true for me as well, especially the second part. I don't like being the leader! I don't like having that responsibility. If I'm the tank and we wipe, I'm gonna feel like it's my fault, even if it isn't, and I hate that feeling. Also, tanking can be very stressful. Some people are meant to be tanks. They are cut out for it. I'm just not. Also, I just love the damage dealing role, because I love killing things. lol. That said, I do have two high level tanks: a Vanguard and a Guardian. They are both sitting at 50 right now. They were fun to level because of the extra survivability, but I'm too chicken to use them in group content, because what if I mess up?

What the above poster said is true for me as well, especially the second part. I don't like being the leader! I don't like having that responsibility. If I'm the tank and we wipe, I'm gonna feel like it's my fault, even if it isn't, and I hate that feeling. Also, tanking can be very stressful. Some people are meant to be tanks. They are cut out for it. I'm just not. Also, I just love the damage dealing role, because I love killing things. lol. That said, I do have two high level tanks: a Vanguard and a Guardian. They are both sitting at 50 right now. They were fun to level because of the extra survivability, but I'm too chicken to use them in group content, because what if I mess up?

 

I felt the same way until I realized and really took to heart the fact that 90% of wipes are caused by DPS doing things they shouldn't.

I will respond with my experience during my first 3 toons.

 

My first was an immortal Jugg. Mobs took eternity to die.

 

My third was sentinel. Mobs will die in 2-3 attacks if they are lucky.

 

PvP as tank with bad team is super lame. At least as a dps you can do major damage, sometimes win the WZ by yourself (especially in lowbie).

I felt the same way until I realized and really took to heart the fact that 90% of wipes are caused by DPS doing things they shouldn't.

 

 

This is why I grow to hate tanking every time I try it.

 

People don't listen to directions, do stupid crap and then complain about the consequences... It's almost like they TRY to make it as horrible an experience as possible for everyone involved.

 

 

 

It's a vicious cycle for me. I play a tank, get pissed off at the stupidity of DPS, and swear off tanking for a while. I DPS and get annoyed by how bad the tank is and how they either ignore me or insult me when I give them advice. So I play a tank again. And the whole thing starts anew.

 

It's only recently that I've realized it wasn't just DPS or just bad tanks. These people have made me hate people in general.

I was just doing Mandalorian Raiders as a PT tank and I was reminded of another reason tanking isn't fun.

 

That *********** KNOCKBACK. Holy crap its annoying. It felt like I spent the whole instance being knocked around.

That *********** KNOCKBACK. Holy crap its annoying. It felt like I spent the whole instance being knocked around.

 

The only class that should be really annoyed by the knockback in the current FPs are Guardians. Every enemy that has a knockback like that only uses them when the person they are targeting is in melee range of them. As a Shadow or PT, you can stand at 10m and hit 'em with your short ranged attacks and you'll never get bounced around. Even a Guardian can do it with Saber Reflect and some minor taunt spamming to generate easy threat.

The only class that should be really annoyed by the knockback in the current FPs are Guardians. Every enemy that has a knockback like that only uses them when the person they are targeting is in melee range of them. As a Shadow or PT, you can stand at 10m and hit 'em with your short ranged attacks and you'll never get bounced around. Even a Guardian can do it with Saber Reflect and some minor taunt spamming to generate easy threat.

 

That knock back can also be interrupted so there is no reason any tank would have issues there beyond the L2P scenario.

That knock back can also be interrupted so there is no reason any tank would have issues there beyond the L2P scenario.

 

Not all of them can be interrupted. The turret knockbacks can be outranged, but they're instant so they can't be interrupted and the turrets themselves are immune to CC. The only absolutely surefire way to avoid the KB is to just short range tank the ones that do it (which is only a bit of a problem for Guards).

Not all of them can be interrupted. The turret knockbacks can be outranged, but they're instant so they can't be interrupted and the turrets themselves are immune to CC. The only absolutely surefire way to avoid the KB is to just short range tank the ones that do it (which is only a bit of a problem for Guards).

 

The one in Mando Raiders from the large droids (which the poster you quoted was complaining about) can be interrupted. Many of the others aren't cast but intelligent play (or just letting the derpy Sentinel leap in first /evilgrin) will get around it.

The one in Mando Raiders from the large droids (which the poster you quoted was complaining about) can be interrupted. Many of the others aren't cast but intelligent play (or just letting the derpy Sentinel leap in first /evilgrin) will get around it.

 

 

Did you forget one of the bosses loves using Force Push?