[Draagun]

AOC Soldier Class Tanking 101

This is just an informative post based on my experiences working with both my level 80 Conqueror and level 80 Guardian as tank spec. And from tanking two raid bosses successfully. So forgive me if Dark Templar is slightly different or these do not apply to a certain raid.

I - Damage Mitigation
Almost all damage mitigation comes from your selection of equipment and feats. So this is the one you will be tweaking the most. Cunning Deflection feat from the general tree is really nice. It reflects half the damage of the first incoming attack back at the mob and it lasts for 20 seconds with only a 30 sec cool down.
(Revised Information)

#1)Defense Rating:
To be a tank on AOC there are a few things you need to take note of. First is Defense Rating. This is THE most important in mitigation of damage. Even one point can mean the difference between being able to tank the mob or not. Always cap your defense and the more the better. There are bosses that lower your defense rating with stacking effects so have extra it makes you a better tank.

#2)Invulnerability %:
This is second only to defense rating in PVE Tanking and first in PVP. Defense rating seems to have little or no effect in PVP. You will want more then one set of armor to tailor to raid bosses, but you can make a general set for trash pulls and group level mobs. Since the recent patch the only PVP set you need is just lots of stacked damage gems as its now a game of whom two shots whom first. I try to stay at 30% vs Physical Damage and 20% vs all Elemental damage. This is easily accomplished with level 80 protection gems and crafted gear. For Bosses you will have to tailor sets like Crushing/Fire for Vistrix or Cold/Piercing for Kylikki.

#3)Evasion and Immunity:
To explain the way the Immunity ability is suppose to work is it is like Evade for Spells. Though I have tested a 10% Immunity suit and never once seemed to avoid a spell. For now I suggest not to bother with it. Evasion however does work, but not in a raid. Before the recent patch I was running 27.55 evade and it worked well for PVP and instances EXCEPT for raids. Not once did I ever evade a raid level mobs attacks so it is currently not worth using in raids for tanking.

II - Max Health
This one really just comes from your levels and level 80 gear. On my Guardian I have 9k health with buffs and all level 80 crafted gear which turns into 10k health in a raid with a POM buff. More then enough to tank currently. Still the health bonus you get from level 80 crafted gear makes it even more worthwhile even beyond the obvious defense ratings.

III - Replenishing Lost Health
The main 3 ways you will replenish health.

Natural Health Regen:
I recommend all the health regen you can spec into with your feats and not to worry about it on your equipment. This includes things like "Lifesaver" feat in the General feats tree. Conquerors this is where you excel! They have gen Conquerors a massive amount of health regen you can spec into. And along with the Conquerors 6 Second total damage invulnerability they are just as a good as a guardian on a single target.

Potions:
"Keep a Stack of 50 of each Health and Stamina Potions at All Times!" This is important as it really excels your abilities as a solider and they are cheap. Don't bother with higher then the level 60 potions until they allow for crafting your own or seriously lower the prices. Paying 1G per pot is a bit expensive. Pop these babies like candy and have them ready at an instant.

Heals:
This comes in so many ways in AOC. There are of course the healer classes and your job as a tank is to learn how they work. Most of them are cone effect heals, meaning there is NO direct target healing. You need to be standing in the healing cone to be healed. Learn your distances and not to move around too much, healers hate when you move around a lot. There are procs on damage that heal, buffs that heal over time and Duel Wielding Conquerors can even spec into a group wide based off their Furious Inspiration counters.


IV - Threat Generation
For the mysterious threat generation in AOC I'd like to ask if there is anyone out there that can write a threat meter I would have your children. But here is what I have learned. When going for Threat there are two equipment mods and that is % Hate and Taunt. I have tried % Hate mods and they do not do nearly as much as +Taunt. I'm running 1200 Taunt in a Raid which is easy now with +40 Taunt gems. I almost never have someone pull agro off of me, even those pesky rangers that like to open up with their most damaging shots. I do have +27% Hate with just having Defense Stance and other misc feats that come with being tank spec though. If you're doing a raid boss that will need to tank swap I recommend lowering yourself to around 1000 taunt as you will need to be on par with the other tanks so eventually they can take agro off of you.

A word or two on Goad, God Mob and Improved Goad Mob. They do work in a limited way and I personally use Improved Goad Mob only. Because of the obvious limitation such as long cool downs and short duration of effect they are not an effective primary source to hold agro and mostly just for emergency situations which is why I go with Improved Goad Mob as it gives you a 5 meter area range.

V - Equipment Selection
This has to be the most asked question to me. And I am amazed at the people that are running around in level 40-60 gear at level 80. Take it off and delete it, it's worthless. To tank you need to get the most defense rating possible and the only way to do that is to have your levels equipment. Like I mentioned before even one defense rating can mean you not having the ability to tank a mob. Go for gear with the most defense rating first, then invulnerabilities, then max health, then natural health regen and everything else is a bonus. Now for PVP I just say damage damage damage. Stack as much damage gems as you can into your crafted gear and hope you two shot them before they two shot you. It's the only hope since they nerfed the defensive gems now and the most effective.

VI - Misc "The Difference Between Conqueror and Guardian Tanking"
I am writing this one because of the lack of tanking ability I have seen from many level 80 Conquerors. If you can not tank one mob as well as a guardian then you're doing something wrong. Yes you will need Improved Lumbering Hulk and The 6 Second Invulnerability. And you will need At Deaths Door 3/3. This is your Shield! You get the same shielding bonus plus more Invulnerabilities and you get the splash of a two handed sword. On of the biggest complaints I have on my guardian using a sword and board is the splash damage, it almost does not exist. You have massive health regen as a Conqueror that more then makes up for a smaller Invulnerability/Evasion base. This of course diminishes on multiple mobs which is where the Guardians excel. As for Dark Templars again I am sorry I have no first hand knowledge on them, but from what I've seen they are pretty squishy for a soldier class in raid tanking.

VII - Closing Statement
Just like to say that I do enjoy tanking in AOC and it has proven to be just as much of a challenge as tanking in other games such as yes dare I say WOW. Raid instances are both challenging and fun with the right group, or a total disaster with the wrong group and raid leader. You'll have thoughts of "Many Welps!" with most the Raid Boss encounters fo' shizzle. This was an attempt to pour all my knowledge into a single post that I can point to whenever anyone asks me about the solider classes I play. So if you get something from it great! Otherwise thanks for taking your time to read this and fare well.

~DRAAGUN

[Draagun]

Reserved for later use

[Bomteq71]

Good post. My main is a DT. Currently only lvl 63 so I will not be posting anything of use, from what I have heard from the lvl 80 DT's that post here is that most of our problems become evident @ 80 and when trying to raid tank.

So, as soon as I can get the time (damn career always slowing me down)I would like to get to 80, do some raiding, and maybe fill in the white space with some DT advice. It's a pipe dream, but I hope to do it.

On the other side of sport's, I also have a lvl 45 Guardian, that I love to play, and I appreciate your insight on tanking with a Guardian.

Take care.

[Draagun]

Yea I've started leveling a DT, but not had much desire to level after doing two 80's already.

[Keenly19]

the tanks are that way ->

with the gem nerf there is almost no way to succesfully main tank a raid boss

good post though

[Draagun]

Originally Posted by Keenly19 the tanks are that way -> with the gem nerf there is almost no way to succesfully main tank a raid boss good post though

Well just two days ago I used a DT as an off tank for Kylikki along with one other Guardian. They did take hits hard and eventually did die, but gave me enough to get threw a couple phases and we did beat it. So can't say I'd think DT's are worthless for off tanking in raids, especially since this guy had no gem'ed gear just tanking greens/blues.

[Wrand]

Section "IV - Threat Generation" is completely missing a list of all our threat generating combos that are used for tanking.

[BizzyCJ]

CD does not deflect 50% damage for 20 seconds. More like 2.

[Draagun]

Originally Posted by BizzyCJ CD does not deflect 50% damage for 20 seconds. More like 2.

it is 20 seconds... if it wasn't I'd die on every raid boss.

[Draagun]

Originally Posted by Wrand Section "IV - Threat Generation" is completely missing a list of all our threat generating combos that are used for tanking.

I dont know a lot of DT combos but I only use white damage to tank with to conserve stamina.