what role should I be taking on? (tank or dps)

Kreetar

I'll be the first to admit that I have little to no knowledge about what makes a good dps, tank or even healer. it's my first MMORPG game [that I've been playing for over a year, but still...]. I was always more focused on the exploration aspect, but with the daily Undaunted pledges, I am really hitting a wall with people. I use the grouping tool and never know if I should be ticking the icon that says "Damage" or "Tank". I seem to be better at endurance than really doing the most damage, so I tend to think that I'm closer to being a tank. but, I get scolded in group for not using a shield. is that a 'must' for tanks? I do everything two-handed mind is in the gutter , so is it also a 'must' for a good tank to be one-handed + shield? I'll put more about my character below:

Breton Dragonknight, Veteran 13
slot one: Burning Embers IV
slot two: Stone Giant IV
slot three: Critical Rush IV
slot four: Silver Shards IV
slot five: Wrecking Blow IV
Ultimate: Magma Shell IV

I don't use anything else. I have skill points available to unlock others, but upon first glance, do the skills I use all of the time seem to be okay for someone identifying as Damage or Tank?

I know I'm giving someone out there an aneurysm with how much I don't know, but I want to learn. please have patience with me, and thank you in advance to anyone who responds.

x_Nathan_F

Well it really all comes down to what to want to do what about your second weapon..? And what about your attribute points as well..?
I tend to see most tanks put most on stamina some on health and some on magic to keep themselves alive. And yes most tanks use one hand and shield the first skill on one hand and shield when used against an enemy taunts them meaning you can keep the boss on you while the others deal damage and the healer keeps you alive.

ListerJMC

Hmm you seem to be more DPS with that set-up, but what armor weight are you using? I'm guessing medium if you find you're not running out of stamina? If you're tanking, you'll probably want to go with at least 5 pieces of heavy armor. Also, are you using armor sets?

I'm probably not the best person to ask, my DK tank is still a work in progress, but basically -

If you want to tank you should get a sword and shield in your main bar. A major reason for this, apart from the increased protection, is the 'Puncture' skill which forces the enemy to attack you instead of the other members of your party (this is called a 'taunt'). There is another skill like this in the Undaunted line called 'Inner Fire' which acts as a ranged taunt, but most people use 'Puncture' as their primary taunt in my experience. As a tank, you need to keep the enemy from attacking your DPS/healers because they're not going to have as much health and protection as you do. That doesn't mean you need to get everything in the room to attack you, but you should be aiming to take the bulk of the damage because you can withstand it the best. In a boss battle, you should definitely be aiming to stop the boss from attacking anyone else. I know tanks who have a 2h sword in their back bar because there are times when tanking isn't necessary and they want to deal a bit of damage.

DPS is pretty self-explanatory, you're going to be dealing out as much damage to enemies as you can. I'm not sure what setup is the best for that as my DK is a tank. At a glance, what you don't seem to have on your bar currently is a good AOE to deal area damage to mobs. I'm not sure what the preferred DK skill for that is, many DKs I run into seem to use Caltrops as their AOE which is an Alliance War skill. Maybe think about getting a ranged weapon on your back bar if you go the DPS route.

As a general note I'd be looking up builds for a DK tank / 2H dps and see which one you prefer really. Just make sure they're current .

ryanborror

Your race is best suited for magic damage dealing although Bretons have higher spell resistance and good magic recovery which could also work for a dk tank. I think you'd be best suited putting all your points into magic and making a fire Mage character focusing on destruction staff and ardent flame tree. You will do among the best damage at end game and as w Breton you'll have great sustain. Or since you're using a two handed sword, you could put more points into health and stamina and make a tank. This would require focusing on sword and shield and heavy armor but when soloing, most tanks use other stamina weapons to do damage like dual wield or 2 handed sword and typically put a sword and shield skill on their bar just to level it.
Here's an example at level 15 of a fire Mage setup: bar 1 destruction staff- force shock, burning embers, volatile armor, igneous weapons, destructive reach, standard of might
Bar 2 destruction staff- extended chains, wall of elements, burning talons, fiery breath, weakness to elements, magma armor
For a stamina tank build at 15 you could do this:
Bar 1 2 hand sword- crit Rush, brawler, uppercut, obsidian shard, unstable flame, dragon leap
Bar 2 sword and shield- ransack, heroic slash, extended chains, hardened armor, choking talons, magma armor

With the Mage build the idea is to stack ardent flame and destro abilities to get lava whip and impulse.
With stamina tank build the idea is to level up your weapons skills. You also want to unlock dragon blood quickly for a self heal and the earthen heart passive Battle Roar as it returns resources with ultimates. the more skills of a certain skill line you have on your bar, the faster you level the skill line

Brrrofski

A tank uses a sword and shield, taunts everything with "puncture" ability and blocks and mitigated damage while the rest actually do the killing.

There's no option to that, that is how you rate to tank.

Once you get more familiar you can start helping to kill things, but unless you know what you're doing it'll get you killed.

You also need to be running armor sets that give you good mitigation. You need skills slotted to draw aggro and cc enemies as well as provide you buffs and mitigation.

So no op, you currently shouldn't be putting your role as tank. Also, if you're doing dungeons as a damage dealer, you need good AOEs.

What armor weight and sets are you using?

NBrookus

Kreetar wrote: »

Breton Dragonknight, Veteran 13
slot one: Burning Embers IV
slot two: Stone Giant IV
slot three: Critical Rush IV
slot four: Silver Shards IV
slot five: Wrecking Blow IV
Ultimate: Magma Shell IV

Nothing there says tank at all.

Good tanks can run without S&B, but generally a PUG would expect a tank to have on one bar at least, since the first taunt you unlock in the game (stamina) is in the weapon skill line. 2nd taunt is in the Undaunted skill line and is ranged & any weapon set can use it.

Do you want to tank? If yes, we can offer build advice.