How did you become a tank?

VDoom1

There are many reasons why some choose to go as a tank in dungeons and such. To lead the charge and protect once allies. Or in a more realistic term, to be the enemies punching bag.

I recently found myself in the position where I was sort of forced to be the tank, and by recently I mean like 1 hour ago. xD
Turns out a dps/dd had qued as tank. But as soon as I saw the bow on his back I questioned that, and he sure was not taunting. With a sword and shield being my choice for arms I had unlocked the Pierce Armor ability, meaning I was able to taunt. So not seeing any other option I just charged at the enemies and taunted away. To avoid being sloppy I like spammed the ability for taunt. xD Taunted everything really, even though an ESO tank doesn't have to and perhaps shouldn't taunt everything. Just the more important mobs like bosses and the once that just do a lot of damage.

However as this run went well, as in no one died and it did not take forever. I feel quite okay that I went in as "acting tank". I think I shall que as a tank in the future. I mean it went well, and felt pretty okay. I prefer going as dps/dd. That way you can kinda just chill in the background while tanks and healers do all the real work. Tanks and healers just have so much to do and a lot to think about. Not always easy keeping everyone alive through a dungeon or trial etc.

So that's my story how I became a tank.
Now I'm curios how did you tanks out there become tanks? Did you choose it? Or was the choice made for you. As in my situation. If you choose it, why did you choose it?
Sure I could have left the dungeon, but you won't get any XP from that.

(Oh and of course an added bonus. Dungeon que is probably a lot faster if you que as tank, yay! )

Glaiceana

Hey VDoom
I actually created my tank character as a direct copy of my main originally. So he was just a male argonian version of my DK DD. Simply because I didn't know what else to play as. Eventually as I played more with others I realised other roles would be useful, and it gives others a chance to learn other classes etc. So I decided to respec him as a Tank, my brother helped a lot as he mained a tank at the time. And I really enjoyed the role.
So yes that was how Dances-With-Frost-Dragons became tank

JobooAGS

The 2016 election made me make a tank... it was just a matter of who won for race and name...

Nestor

As to why I tank, it's fun. The power from controlling the boss and adds and making them do my bidding is addictive. Absorbing damage that will one shot a squishy DPS over and over again is just a rush. Bringing up the Group Stats and Utility to create more group DPS is fun too.


Puncture only needs to be used every 11 seconds to keep Major Fracture up (taunt goes for 15 seconds). Chains is better for aggroing trash mobs, in that they may not stay aggro'd on you, but your gathering them together to make it easier to AoE them down. Add in Ingneous Weapons and Shield and either Heroic Slash or another Shield and your set to be a basic tank. The thing about Tanks is, slow your skill application, only apply them as they are needed, not rapidly like a DPS will. That is the hardest part about being a tank, is taking things slow. Turn on your Buffs in the UI to help with how often you need to be applying the skills.

https://woeler.eu/

SirCritical

Picked up a sword and a shield

VDoom1

Glaiceana wrote: »

Hey VDoom
I actually created my tank character as a direct copy of my main originally. So he was just a male argonian version of my DK DD. Simply because I didn't know what else to play as. Eventually as I played more with others I realised other roles would be useful, and it gives others a chance to learn other classes etc. So I decided to respec him as a Tank, my brother helped a lot as he mained a tank at the time. And I really enjoyed the role.
So yes that was how Dances-With-Frost-Dragons became tank

Greetings guildmaster Glaiceana!
So you didn't intend for your DD to even become a tank, same here. Just happened. It was give it a shot or leave the dungeon really. But I gotta say tanking is very fun, so far it has only been fun anyways. Being able to change from different roles can be very useful I agree. Somehow on my templar I always have a healing ability. So that templar is like 90% DD, 10% healer.

Nestor wrote: »

As to why I tank, it's fun. The power from controlling the boss and adds and making them do my bidding is addictive. Absorbing damage that will one shot a squishy DPS over and over again is just a rush. Bringing up the Group Stats and Utility to create more group DPS is fun too.


Puncture only needs to be used every 11 seconds to keep Major Fracture up (taunt goes for 15 seconds). Chains is better for aggroing trash mobs, in that they may not stay aggro'd on you, but your gathering them together to make it easier to AoE them down. Add in Ingneous Weapons and Shield and either Heroic Slash or another Shield and your set to be a basic tank. The thing about Tanks is, slow your skill application, only apply them as they are needed, not rapidly like a DPS will. That is the hardest part about being a tank, is taking things slow. Turn on your Buffs in the UI to help with how often you need to be applying the skills.

https://woeler.eu/

Agreed Nestor, tanking is fun. Though I imagine we all have or will come across a not so great group where tanking is just a curse. Burning Talons is your friend, also great for controlling mobs. And oooh I noticed, have to be very careful with how fast you use up magicka and stamina. You have to either have fast regen or just use it carefully. Really glad taunting abilities like Pierce Armor don't use much stamina at all.

Mureel

I've just levelled a tanking char that I started like 2 years ago - simply because we haven't enough good tanks.

Now, the matter is whether or not I can be a good tank xD

akl77

Cos the que as dps is unbearable. Healer sometimes got long wait too.
Tank is always instant and in demand.
It’s also not hard, you don’t have to button mashing like dps rotations.

VaranisArano

I became a tank when I started playing before One Tamriel because I made a Dragonknight as my first character while playing with a friend who was playing a squishy nightblade. It worked out very well - I tanked the enemies while my friend killed them.

Once we started doing group dungeons with friends after One Tamriel, it was very natural to stick with the tanking role.

m2rc

I became a tank because I got misled by Deltia. True, but I'm so happy I was mislead.

In his video where he advises viewers as to what race they should choose for each class, I was a little misled. I wanted to be a Dunmer, I knew that for sure. But then Deltia was talking about how Dunmer make great Dragon Knights. I wanted to be a Dunmer mage, like I had in Skyrim, but it turns out fate had it out for me. I made my character and soon (for some reason I can't remember, this was over 2 years ago now please forgive me ) I picked up a sword and shield and never looked back.

I've now done all the DLC trials, completed Vet dungeons on HM no death runs, guided new players through the game, lead countless raid teams through tough bosses and best of all; become a badass 2h and Sword and Shield bruiser for questing and adventuring.

That's my story.

Lightspeedflashb14_ESO

My friend who was my tank and I played with all the time quit and I couldn't find a reliable one after. That was 2015.

The_Auror

.

Diddly_D_Potatoes

All of my characters were tanks at some stage in order to max out undaunted. It is the easiest way to get groups through the group finder as the queue times for tanks is near instant regardless of what dungeons you pick on the finder.

You don't even have to change your toons mundis, cp or attribute points. Just put on tank sets and you should be fine to tank most of the vet dungeons.

Even after I've completed the undaunted skill line on all my toons, half of them still carry around a tank set just it case they need to tank something.

Stinkyremy

I'm a tank main, I created a tank in the beta, created a tank day one first char, then created a tank frist years later when I picked it up on PS4.
I levelled as a tank, did all quests as a tank, doing all trials, dungeons and PvP as a tank.
Healing seems very easy to me, and being a dd, in this game, is just an autismo race of mashing buttons in sequence fast enough praying that the game doesn't spag out, miss your bar swap and mess your rotation.

I am tank main in most games, I prefer to control the battle and make things easier and economical for my team than be a sideline mash buttons in sequence player (dd) or a spam the same button with infinite magika (healer)

kylewwefan

I originally turned my Nightblade into a tank. Because there was a tank shortage at the time it seemed. He was great for dungeons and normal trials, but not so great for vet trials.

Everyone always talked about DK being the best tank. It took awhile to level one up, but they were right. I found tanking on DK far easier and therefore better. At the time redguard was second best to imperial for tank. Or so I was told.

Then the warden was introduced. I tried it for awhile when heard it’s a great tank. It’s ok, but I prefer DK.

Eventually there was much talk about MagDK being the new OP class, so I leveled one up. I never got great damage with her so when all the uproar of off balance was rampant and MagDK being dead, I switched them around. MagDK makes a great Tank.

So now I have a stam and magic version of every class. Solid tank and healer.

DocFrost72

Man, this time I'll make a damage toon in an rpg, I can feel it!

Takes hit.

Oof, that hurt. Better put heavier armor on.

Takes hit.

That was a lot of my health. Maybe a few more points in...

Takes hit.

You know, if I had a shield I could block even more damage...

Takes hit.

Aww... hope that fly is okay after hitting my armor.

Lynx7386

Been tanking since my World of Warcraft days. Mained a druid, was a healer at first until feral became viable, and then started into the tanking scene. Basically what pushed me towards tanking was the fact that I wanted to play a feral druid (shapeshifter) - but at launch only druid healers were accepted in raids, and then when the later patches came around that made feral druids viable they were only really good as tanks (damage was still a secondary role and not nearly as good as warlocks, rogues, shadowpriests, etc). So, in order to get a spot in dungeons and raids as a feral druid, I had to be a tank. Turns out, it was a natural role for me - I've always been good at it and I loved being front and center fighting huge bosses (and feeling like a bawss myself, lol).
I eventually went on to tank in WoW with a paladin, warrior, death knight, and even a rogue (gimmick, really, dodgetanked onyxia a couple of times when getting 100% dodge chance was possible on a rogue).

When I went on to other games, I kept at it. In Global agenda I played a robotics, which was really a support/hybrid character but if built right made a pretty darn good tank. In Star wars: the old republic I played a powertech bounty hunter tank, and later a jedi shadow tank and sith warrior tank.

Here, I started off as a nightblade and didnt actually get into tanking until year 2 or so. Tried numerous dps roles and just never felt like I was doing all that well with it, but once I started really getting into doing dungeons and trials I went back to tanking and havent stopped since. I do still play healers and dps occasionally but I've tanked on every class in ESO now at one point or another, and continue to do so on my warden and dragonknight.

Funny thing is, I tend to dislike the big heavy-armored warrior stereotype characters in most RPGs. I prefer hybrid characters that look a little more agile and capable of various roles. One reason I loved the druid so much in WoW was because of its versatility - you could swap from tanking to dps to healing on the fly. In karazhan I remember tanking one of the bosses in bear form, and both healers died to aoe, so I seamlessly shifted out, revived them, and went back to bear form before even getting hit again, was a beautiful moment that saved the raid group from a wipe and made me the hero that night. Always looking for situations like that =P

My favorite character in ESO, by far (with gusto), is the warden. Reminds me so much of my old wow druid and what he was capable of. I may not be able to shapeshift this time around (well, I can, but only into a werewolf), but being able to tank and heal at the same time while putting out at least moderately decent damage is exactly what I look for in a character, and the nature theme doesnt hurt either.

IldaraFathryon

The short version is 'I could never get my DPS high enough at the time to make into a decent vMoL team, so became a tank instead'.

The fact that it's a huge amount of fun is what keeps me going back

Ozstryker

I think tanks and healers have to be very reactive players..... where as dds must be super efficient in their rotations, movement, builds etc etc if they wanna be good!
There are two very different types of player here, and seems to me folk gravitate one way or the other.

I also get quiet satisfaction when at the end of a good run dds are patting themselves on the back cos they managed awesome numbers and a super fast run and didn't die etc........ *whispers your welcome

Lynx7386

Ozstryker wrote: »

I think tanks and healers have to be very reactive players..... where as dds must be super efficient in their rotations, movement, builds etc etc if they wanna be good!
There are two very different types of player here, and seems to me folk gravitate one way or the other.

I also get quiet satisfaction when at the end of a good run dds are patting themselves on the back cos they managed awesome numbers and a super fast run and didn't die etc........ *whispers your welcome

This is very true. I play well reactively, but I absolutely hate being stuck in a rotation of skills.

On the one hand, DPS is boring because you're using the same abilities in the same order over and over and over again to be effective. On the other hand, DPS gets screwed by mobile fights where your rotation is constantly having to get reset or adjusted because of the chaos of battle.

I play tanks and healers much better because I like simply reacting to combat. I have very few abilities that are on a 'rotation' (just keeping taunt up and my buffs active), but outside of those I move with the flow of the fight, I use abillities as needed rather than constantly in a pattern, I read what the enemy is doing and what my allies are doing and try to manipulate both (yes, sometimes we have to manipulate our potato dps players

White wabbit

Got into tanking as I was easier to queue I'll be the first to say that I'm not great at the game but just want to have fun , and I'm.enjoying tanking on both of my wardens

WhoSlappedThePie

I went to character creation > created a dragonknight > got him a sword and shield > tank

White wabbit

WhoSlappedThePie wrote: »

I went to character creation > created a dragonknight > got him a sword and shield > tank

Lol about right

profundidob16_ESO

Well I just clicked the wrong role while queuing in random group finder...é voila !









(disclaimer: I was joking. I don't ever select roles I'm not ready for)

Asardes

"Now I am become tank, the carrier of PUGs." - any of my characters, ticking all roles and queueing

DeadlyRecluse

I slotted a taunt and queued as such.

Tinus_92

Back in 2015 I kept dying in Cadwells' Silver+Gold on my main DK, so I ended up investing in health attributes and heavy armor. With the old pledges in mind tanks were scarse, and with me doing limited damage and having plenty of health, slotting a taunt did the job, and continued developing from there.

Been tanking dungeons (no trials) for about a month until my templar damage dealer was ready, which become my main character. For dungeons my magicka templar could switch between tank, heal & full damage by switching gearsets, and started doing trials as damage dealer too. Meanwhile my DK tank got abandoned for over a year, but I'm now regularly tanking normal trials + vet craglorns & vmol on 'casual runs' on my old DK once we're lacking other tanks. I'm doing decently, but am not as skilled as those who tank as their main. Next to the ocaccional tanking I'm also healing veteran craglorns, and have completed every hardmode except of vAS+2 on my templar DD main.

Must admit that tanking on the newest DLC vet-dungeons is fairly difficult, DD/healing are much easier tasks here. Regular vet dungeons are however very easy as a tank, with older dlc dungeons being in between. One-shotting mechanics + sustain are tasks I need to work on regarding my tank.

No real tanking experience in pvp, other then 'tanky' builds.

TelvanniWizard

I haven´t a tank, but I once, suddenly, became one with my magsorc DPS. Was running normal White Gold Tower and our tank (250 cp) was a complete fake, the most fragile crystal cannon I have ever seen (well, he would have been a crystal cannon if he could have done at least a little bit of damage, what seems he couldn´t, so, inert crystal vase seems more appropiate).

So I had all the bosses on me during the whole dungeon. Not a big problem, but did the dps job quite more laborious. The fake tank would be dead 60% of the time.