Forums » Pantheon Classes

Would a group want more than one "tank"?

    • 11 posts
    March 8, 2017 9:45 AM PST

    My biggest worry for wanting to play a tank is that getting groups could be difficult say there were a large ammount of tanks. Would a Tank class be viable to dps? I had my heart set on being a Warrior or Paladin (Crusader). But these things nag at me. 

     

     

    • 422 posts
    March 8, 2017 10:29 AM PST

    Let me tell you right now. There will be a lack of Tanks. That is almost universal with every MMO ever.

    Until we know how combat and classes work, no one can answer this question. In EQ, the Knights (Paladin and SK) really couldn't DPS. They contributed for sure, but they weren't big DPS. The Worrior could mostly DPS fine as they duel wield. 

    That said, there could be a use for multiple tanks. If you can't find a CC, having a second tank to off tank adds could be helpful. Maybe the Paladin could backup heal. A Knight being a hybrid can be more than just a tank. The Warrior is going to be the one trick pony in the tank world.

    • 11 posts
    March 8, 2017 10:48 AM PST

    Point made I guess we will have to wait *groan* 


    This post was edited by Itchen at March 8, 2017 10:49 AM PST
    • 422 posts
    March 8, 2017 10:53 AM PST

    I really don't think you'll have trouble. As a Tank you can always start a group. There will be tons of DPS looking for groups.

    I really think a lack of Tanks and Healers and CC might be a bigger problem.


    This post was edited by kellindil at March 8, 2017 10:54 AM PST
    • 2752 posts
    March 8, 2017 11:14 AM PST

    kellindil said:

    That said, there could be a use for multiple tanks. If you can't find a CC, having a second tank to off tank adds could be helpful. Maybe the Paladin could backup heal. A Knight being a hybrid can be more than just a tank. The Warrior is going to be the one trick pony in the tank world.

     

    Subjective! Warrior could have many tricks. For all we know every tank could put out numbers around 70% of a regular DPS. Anything is possible at the moment, and they haven't even gotten into colored mana or endurance. 

    • 422 posts
    March 8, 2017 11:25 AM PST

    Iksar said:

    Subjective! Warrior could have many tricks. For all we know every tank could put out numbers around 70% of a regular DPS. Anything is possible at the moment, and they haven't even gotten into colored mana or endurance. 

    Right, as I said we can't really answer that question yet. Its more my guess on how it will work.

    • 2886 posts
    March 8, 2017 11:37 AM PST

    I think any respectable Warrior will be carrying a good two-handed sword or a second one-hander in order to contribute more DPS if a true tank is not needed. Warriors are the masters of weaponry and should be carrying all sorts of situational weapons. But as others said, I doubt a surplus* of tanks will be an issue. I have never played a game where that was the case.

    *Edit: good call Iksar haha


    This post was edited by Bazgrim at March 9, 2017 6:00 AM PST
    • 2752 posts
    March 8, 2017 2:57 PM PST

    Bazgrim said:

    I think any respectable Warrior will be carrying a good two-handed sword or a second one-hander in order to contribute more DPS if a true tank is not needed. Warriors are the masters of weaponry and should be carrying all sorts of situational weapons. But as others said, I doubt a lack of tanks will be an issue. I have never played a game where that was the case.

     

    I would like to play these games.

     

    *surplus ;p

    • 1618 posts
    March 8, 2017 3:26 PM PST

    Tanks may be in abundance early in the game, but within a month, there will be a shortage.

    • 5 posts
    March 8, 2017 3:26 PM PST

    Just confirming what others have already stated, there has only ever been a plentiful in the DPS category which includes warriors. There will always be a demand for Tanks in line with Heals/CC, even more so Tanks who know what they're doing.

    Good ole' friends list...

    x has come online... begin typing /tell x Hey Man (or Woman)! Come to Y!

    x = legit tank


    This post was edited by nouppercase at March 8, 2017 3:27 PM PST
    • 2419 posts
    March 8, 2017 6:17 PM PST

    Beefcake said:

    Tanks may be in abundance early in the game, but within a month, there will be a shortage.

    While I mostly agree with that sentiment, what we will see a shortage of is skilled tanks.  If the people out there are thinking about being a tank, you're nothing thinking about it correct.  You should be thinking about being a very skilled tank, a tank people will put your name on a friends list, who will want you in their group whenever possible, in their guild, in their raid.  Work on knowing everything about your class, how all the class skills and abilities work then add to that a solid understanding of all the other classes and how their skills and abilities work together, what their strengths and weakness are. Be that tank and you will not have a problem finding groups.

    • 107 posts
    March 8, 2017 6:18 PM PST

    Good players will always be in demand, regardlous of class.

    • 191 posts
    March 8, 2017 7:01 PM PST

    Filzin said:

    Good players will always be in demand, regardlous of class.

    Amen.  I'll pick a good player over a particular character every time.


    This post was edited by Shai at March 8, 2017 7:01 PM PST
    • 97 posts
    March 8, 2017 7:09 PM PST

    In VG, all 3 tanks had offensive and defensive stances.  All 3 could do decent dps if needed in offensive.  There were fights that had agro swaps and hate wipes (non raid mobs) where 2 tanks could be beneficial.  We will need to see more how the tanks work to find out if there will be a dps stance on tanks or it is all tank. 

    • 41 posts
    March 8, 2017 7:48 PM PST

    I don't think I've ever played an MMO that had too many tanks, especially at launch or after expansions. :)

    • 780 posts
    March 9, 2017 2:35 AM PST

    I agree with everyone else here.  The tank has always been the hardest to find for grouping.  I don't think you'll have much trouble at all getting a group, and as Kellindil said, you can always start a group as you're the most difficult piece to find.  Raiding?  That's a horse of a different color, but the team has said they're going to address that as well.

    • 2886 posts
    March 9, 2017 5:58 AM PST

    Iksar said:

    Bazgrim said:

    I think any respectable Warrior will be carrying a good two-handed sword or a second one-hander in order to contribute more DPS if a true tank is not needed. Warriors are the masters of weaponry and should be carrying all sorts of situational weapons. But as others said, I doubt a lack of tanks will be an issue. I have never played a game where that was the case.

     

    I would like to play these games.

     

    *surplus ;p

    Oops thanks lol you're right. Mixing my phrases

    • 3237 posts
    March 10, 2017 7:56 AM PST

    The main reason I rolled a tank all those years ago was because of how hard it was to get anything done as an enchanter.  I remember sitting LFG for hours and having my game opportunities directly dictated by the availability of a tank.  It drove me nuts!  As soon as a new server opened up on EQOA, I rolled a tank and have never looked back.  I agree with the sentiment that tanks will generally be the most sought after archetype when it comes to grouping, and great tanks will be even more hard to find.  When you find a good one ... be sure to add them to your friends list.  Having an on demand meat shield is like having a pocket healer ... you can never go wrong!

    • 80 posts
    March 20, 2017 2:01 PM PDT

    Tanks and Clerics are always a need, it's especially rare to get a well played one.

    • 159 posts
    April 3, 2017 11:25 AM PDT

    In general I agree that tanks are typically hard to find. Most games I've played, the majority of players just want to go pew-pew with their DPS, and aren't often particularly good at it. In Elder Scrolls Online I had 4 active characters: a tank, a healer, a ranged DPS and a more melee (though also magic-user) DPS. I found the change in gameplay invigorating when hopping between roles, but I can guarantee I could get a group for pretty much any dungeon in seconds on my tank, a few minutes on my healer, and possibly not get a group at all on my DDs.

    Pantheon seems to cater to a particular class of gamers who might enjoy tanking/healing/support roles more than the average MMO player, though, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

    [EDIT] I should add that this was my experience using the group finder tool. Being in several good-sized guilds, I could pretty much get a group together for most instances on any of my characters in a few minutes.


    This post was edited by daemonios at April 4, 2017 2:53 AM PDT
    • 24 posts
    April 5, 2017 3:37 AM PDT

    I'm afraid your question is not exactly the one to ask.

     

    First, being accepted in a group is a question any role can wonder. Why would you need 2 healers, 2 tanks,2 CCs, 2 DPS ? It depends on the situation and on possible builds and you'll know that after the game is out only. It also highly depends on the number of players at max in a group, that's basically where the selection starts from.

     

    Second, any role based on helping a group and helping other players directly is always a minority in any game. Healers, tanks and support players are always rare. If you, as a tank, are having trouble finding a group, then a lot of other peeps will have the same problem before you with other classes. Tanks and Healers often have a reserved spot in any group, which is not the case for several other classes and roles.

     

    Third, finding a group depends on other factors : your level in relation with the playerbase, the size of the playerbase at the time you are playing, the quest/level/item you are after, your relations, the size and the activity of your guild, the behaviour of the people you meet, etc...

     

    All i can say is that it's hardly a question a tank should wonder, because they are more sought after than what most players do choose playing, and it's definitely not the fact of being a tank that would prevent you from finding a group. It's rather a good point for you is this regard.

     

    You can say both games are different, that's probably true, but in Archeage, there is around 3-4% of players tanking as a primary role, and you often miss a world boss in a 30-40 man raid because noone is able to do it. Just to give you an idea. Also, there is a support skillset in Archeage, called songcraft. Each player can choose 3 skillsets out of 12. That is 23% chance to take normally if everything was even. Guess how many people take it ? 5%, official stats last year. In a 50 man raid, you can expect to find at max 4-5 healers/support, 3-4 tanks. Rest are DPS. And half of these tanks only can tank because it helps them DPS longer. And people often respec to do so, then switch back to their prefered role. You got to know you are a rare case.

     

    Cheers


    This post was edited by Gideon at April 5, 2017 4:03 AM PDT
    • 129 posts
    April 8, 2017 5:50 PM PDT

    Nope. Not really. Not unless it was a laste resort, but likely will be able to wait to fill that last slot with a dps class.

    Even if they made warriors/sks/pallies capable of decent DPS. Most will wait if they are trying to put down exp. Why? Because we'd most likely rather have one tank, one healer, one CC, then stack DPS classes for optimal kill speed.

    The only thing that "decent dps" helps as a pally/sk/warrior is solo kill speed because in a group, you can't compete with pure DPS classes that will be LFG. Utility might be nice, but it depends.

     

    • 9 posts
    April 10, 2017 8:56 PM PDT

    Normal everyday grouping, I have never had a problem being a tank and this goes from Shadow Knight, Dark KNight, Death Knight (starting to see a patern here) Paladin, Templar, Druid, Disciple ( yeah I usually ended up tanking as one), Martial artist (built a tanking one) and Sith Shadow. Can you list all the games lol?

     

    The only time it becomes a pain in the ass is for raids when so many times one tank is needed and its usually the best guy. I would like to see raids that needed a multitude of tanks to handle situations vs needing to have massive amounts of DPS for EVERY RAID.  Always felt that it sould be a 1:3 ratio when it came to tank/dps ratio at least in some raids. I remember way back in the day with some Plane of Fear raids, because of the weird wall agro it was very nice to have a few tanks in the raid to off tank all that trash if you couldn't mez them all.

    • 72 posts
    April 13, 2017 10:07 PM PDT

    As most are pointing out, a well constructed tank class usually appeals to a certain demographic of players.  Rather than dish out damage, you act as a confetti aggro wall made of steel. And as a tank, you also take on the role of leadership.  Such a role usually does not appeal to the masses. 

    I do recall in Everquest II that every tank did play a valuable off-tanking role.  The paladins were excelent party buffers, could heal up a storm, and could even stun lock powerful foes that would otherwise decimate most tanks.  The ShadowKnight often applyed debuffs while also dishing out considerable damage and offensive spell-empowering party buffs.   Monks delt tremendious damage but were often squishy otherwise, and should the main tank have fallen, they would act as blink evasion off-tanks until the healers could get the main tank back on his or her feet.  Berserkers were always my best friend on Ranger due to all their powerful physical empowering party buffs and bloodlusting, at least until Sony realized that all my damage was from my procs procing my proc's procs' procs.  

    I would assume since that some of the original team created these classic classes, they will apply similar mechanics to their newly fleshed out pantheon classes, but with various fun and unique twists I can only hope?


    This post was edited by Farrinard at April 17, 2017 7:28 PM PDT
    • 44 posts
    April 22, 2017 12:36 AM PDT
    The easy answer is yes it will be easy to get / start a group as a tank. They are one of the two most important classes. Meat shield and healer are paramount. Everything else is situational filler classes.