“As day is to a sword, night is to a shield.”

― Anthony Liccione

I know, in forums, we solely tend to speak of numbers or easy talent builds because of the time we lack. But bare with me, my friend, and take your time to think about the path you go as a Tank for 5 minutes.

What is your philosophy as a tank?

Don't have one, or new to tanking? No worries, maybe you'll have one after this

IMHO, Tanking in general is not just about numbers, threat meters and the Threat you keep Per Second. These are merely tools for the trade; they are necessary but they lack an underlying direction by themselves. That direction is the Tank's Philosophy which it can lead him to many new things.

Why someone chose the Tank role?

-Healers have more chance to find people in GF, since they are the first needed for any platform, be it PVE or PVP.

- And if you'd chose to play a Damage Dealer class, you'll get away with almost anything. Especially, you'll have more awards (i mean MVP) than a tank, since no one cares about Protection pts in WarZones

So, why bother to have all those responsibilities, such as leading the party? And be the one who's blamed after a wipe, regardless of who's fault it was.

Well, for my part... Because, I know that "where the Glass Cannons believes that the best defense is good offense, the Tanks tries for the reverse to save their asses when things get real."

And I'm not afraid of pressure, in fact I'm up for it! "Leadership is absolutely about inspiring action, but it is also about guarding against mis-action." -Simon Sinek. So, if I lead a PuG of newbies out of a HC quest without any casualties, I count this as a "+" point for my part, for everyone's part, actually.

To achieve this, I must follow a path.

As Sun Tzu says, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

― The Art of War...

This leads me to learning in any way I can. So it is now the Path of Wisdom. Theory-craft! Also, with every fight, I learn new things about myself. About my weaknesses, and my strengths.

And for when the real action arises. With the wisdom I have, I do my best. If I lose, well... I go there again and try 1 more time! Maybe to lose better, maybe to win that one.

But when I barely took back the aggro, and save the healer from the boss, and the party from a wipe, it's another "+" point which no reward in the game can be substitute for it.

At the end of the day, my goals are the same:

1. PROTECT THE HEALER!
   
2. PROTECT YOURSELF!
   
3. PROTECT THE PARTY!
   

Tanks don't need a philosophy. Tanks need to know the fight mechanics, how to keep aggro, how to keep their mitigation up, and when to use cooldowns.

Maybe true but solely depending on dry numbers won't make you a great tank; and a philosophy is what diffrentiate a good tank from great one.

Mmorpgs makes me delve deep into the war history and tactics, so reading Sun Tzu wouldnt hurt, my tl;dr friend. xD On the contrary, it carries you to higher "level".

Maybe true but solely depending on dry numbers won't make you a great tank; and a philosophy is what diffrentiate a good tank from great one.

No, reflexes and fight knowledge do that. "Philosophy" is just a hokey religion in this context.

Mmorpgs makes me delve deep into the war history and tactics, so reading Sun Tzu wouldnt hurt, my tl;dr friend. xD On the contrary, it carries you to higher "level".

Sun Tzu was talking about iterated simultaneous positive-sum multiplayer games. PvE tanking is a single-player game (if you disagree with me on this point it means you don't know what you are talking about), and PvP tanking is effectively not iterated and is zero-sum. Sun Tzu is only weakly related to the latter and completely irrelevant to the former.

Sun Tzu was talking about iterated simultaneous positive-sum multiplayer games.

LOL. English, good Sir Troll... Can you speak/type it?

/Ignored

I'd simply be glad for maras who don't jump into every fight first (double saber throw is addicting, yes, but seriously? every time?) and let my tank start the pull, so I can do my job of being their meat shield.

My only philosophy: LEAD (not just through the map but also set the tone for the interaction between players, particularly around loot) and PROTECT.

Too many DPS just wanna FPS Doom their way through the game and only think the tank and healer are there to make it fun for them. Too many players in PUGs don't know the encounters or aren't willing to listen. Too many players don't know loot-sharing protocol.

I understand now why there seem to be fewer tanks than the other roles (at least on Begeren Colony): it can be a thankless job.

I'd simply be glad for maras who don't jump into every fight first (double saber throw is addicting, yes, but seriously? every time?) and let my tank start the pull, so I can do my job of being their meat shield.

I couldn't agree more. Younger/New Sentinels/Marauders are tend to start a Heroic Quest or FP, just as in they used to in usual quests. I gotta make a new thread about reeducating the DPS xD

Too many DPS just wanna FPS Doom their way through the game and only think the tank and healer are there to make it fun for them. Too many players in PUGs don't know the encounters or aren't willing to listen. Too many players don't know loot-sharing protocol.

 

I understand now why there seem to be fewer tanks than the other roles (at least on Begeren Colony): it can be a thankless job.

Yeah, now that EA/Bioware reduced the difficulty in some FPs, the need for a tank is "reduced" as well. Hence the lack of Tanks in PVP, too imho. But me and people like me play this game for the PvP Tanking mostly. I spot them when I see them on the WZ, be it on my side or the rival side.

PvP tanking wasn't possible in this manner before SWTOR; I mean the taunt usage and all. But I see this in other mmos too.

IMy only philosophy: LEAD (not just through the map but also set the tone for the interaction between players, particularly around loot) and PROTECT.

Sometimes it's really hard to lead impatient players. They barely want to listen and when they listen, they just don't follow their roles which is essential for HCs, FPs, and OPs. Not to mention PVP. So, what do you do when they impatiently jump on a FP Boss while you're giving the tacs?

Honestly, I don't really care if they Double Saber Throw/Force Charge in there or not. If they do: Force Speed, area taunt, proceed. If they don't: Force Speed, Wither, proceed. Not much of a difference.

Only thing that slightly annoys me is assassins or sorcerers who think Overload is a great damage tool. Scattering the mob group across the room for the 5 damage it deals... oh, honey.

The only thing I can think of that might qualify as a philosophy is "Better use a cooldown and not need it than not use it and need it"? But that of course depends 100% on knowing the fight.

Sometimes it's really hard to lead impatient players. They barely want to listen and when they listen, they just don't follow their roles which is essential for HCs, FPs, and OPs. Not to mention PVP. So, what do you do when they impatiently jump on a FP Boss while you're giving the tacs?

Simple, I let them tank. If I'm running flashpoints or raids on any of my toons, especially my heals or tanks, and a dps jumps in before the tank, I let them tank or even refuse to heal them. If they are dead, at least they can't mess anything else up.

As for a tanking philosophy, I only really have one. I don't think that a tank is the best tank he/she can be without having healing and dps experience as well. So I think the best tanks are those who are proficient on their healing and dps alts as well.

As for a tanking philosophy, I only really have one. I don't think that a tank is the best tank he/she can be without having healing and dps experience as well. So I think the best tanks are those who are proficient on their healing and dps alts as well.

If I understand this statement correctly (Im not a native speaker), Tanks at first must/should first at least have a DPS experience so that he know the instances/raids well beforehand. And maybe a healing experience to learn what a good healer do and don't do n the raids.

Great one! Thanks for the info.

If I understand this statement correctly (Im not a native speaker), Tanks at first must/should first at least have a DPS experience so that he know the instances/raids well beforehand. And maybe a healing experience to learn what a good healer do and don't do n the raids.

 

Great one! Thanks for the info.

I wouldn't say it is necessary to know this beforehand, but it definitely helps to improve your tanking if you have a first hand experience of the openers the different DPS classes can do so you can make sure your own opener doesn't get beat out in the threat charts. Some tanks have that experience from just working with their dps, but most great tanks o know have experience in those specs as well. I started the game as a main on my Sentinel, and then I mained on my sage before finally maining on my tank. If you get a chance, just dabble in the other classes. See what makes them tick.Get used to their opening rotations. It will help you out a lot. My personal opinion.

If you get a chance, just dabble in the other classes. See what makes them tick.Get used to their opening rotations. It will help you out a lot. My personal opinion.

Noted. Will do. I am currently leveling my shadow alt, when I capped that, i'll have a good understanding of shadow dps openers.