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Alpha Two Phase II testing is currently taking place 5+ days each week. More information about testing schedule can be found here
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Tank Desires Compilation and Analysis/Conversion
Azherae
Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
As we march to the end of Alpha-1, it seems only fitting that the last line of Compilation be about those who are the line of defense. The buck stops here, folks. It's time to talk about the Mailmen... er... I mean... Tanks. I probably should have looked for more tanking threads, but in keeping with 'tradition', data has been, as always, taken mainly from this official thread and this unofficial(?) one. One or two forum-active posters have had some of their data taken from this thread and similar, but this doesn't affect the aggregates.
Disclaimer: Tanking is an inexact science in most games, and depends heavily on the design of mobs and encounters. There's also concerns about how to actually do the job 'properly' in PvP. This causes the schema to contain a lot more speculative design ideas. On the other hand, no need to worry about bias from the Tank in my group, since they don't want anything complex enough to taint this.
Things that Tank-interested people wanted, sorted easiest of all so far:
Tanks want interesting mechanics. New and exciting ways to defend, as well as the ability (and in-game need, brought on by enemies) to go for specialized builds. Fortunately, they are also brimming with ideas on how to do this, and therefore there is more than enough to work with for a schema, even without specifically invoking speculative Augments too much. Their problems will be 'other players who expect them to be able to do everything', moreso. For this reason, it is probably best to split their ability sets into 'things they will all probably want' and 'specializations', but even this is also informed by their PvP vs PvE focus. So with all that out of the way, a schema.
In general, Tanks don't seem confused about what they want to do, nor 'confused' about how to do it, some just know that they need to test which way is the most effective way to do it. This may lead to them changing their Secondary Archetype more often in some cases to adapt to the needs of their group/plans. This is also probably a reason why we see a disparate number of Paladins, since this is the 'do it all' defensive tank class. Just provide them with good augments and they'll figure it out. This is a class where the Augments that other classes need will probably shine through without problems, lessening the 'special requirements' for them, other than Keepers.
In general though, here are the trends.
If you've read any of these before you are familiar with my speculative Reverse Engineered Augments List by now. They work fine, but Tanks are more likely to need to give much more specific feedback to Intrepid about little adjustments to make sure they get what they want out of even these, so I expect a lot of discussion to revolve around that. Abilities as a whole, seem to fit into the design space, though, with just the possibility of some duplication required so that players can have flexibility and variety without getting stuck into specific rotations. Do Tanks hate rotations less?
Either way...
THIS POST IS IN NO WAY AN EXPLANATION OF WHAT INTREPID IS ACTUALLY DOING
But it is, potentially, a place for you to tell them what you want them to be doing. Good luck, Mailmen.
Disclaimer: Tanking is an inexact science in most games, and depends heavily on the design of mobs and encounters. There's also concerns about how to actually do the job 'properly' in PvP. This causes the schema to contain a lot more speculative design ideas. On the other hand, no need to worry about bias from the Tank in my group, since they don't want anything complex enough to taint this.
Things that Tank-interested people wanted, sorted easiest of all so far:
1. One Warden was also willing to be a Guardian, another wanted to dodge tank, two others wanted this class
2. One Paladin wanted Death Augment on attacks, another wanted to be frustratingly invincible, another wanted a 'Bodyguard' mechanic ('Cover'), another would take this if Brood Warden wasn't fun, sixteen others wanted this class
3. One Knight (probably) wanted a Whirlwind ability and a Charge, another wanted decent damage in solo, another (willing to be Nightshield) wanted to relentlessly defeat their opponent via retribution, another was sorted here because they were a dual wielding fighter type but with a 'high damage mitigation ability' wish, five others wanted this class
4. One Spellshield (probably) wanted to go the Evasion route, another had specific desires that were considered for the schema ( @trokair ), another wanted to explicitly be a Magic Tank (ice magic), four others wanted this class
5. One Nightshield was willing to be a Siren, another (Probably) explicitly wanted to dodge tank with their 1h sword, one other wanted smokebombs, another wanted group stealth and evasion buffs for caravan protection, another planned to just craft and roleplay.
6. One Guardian wanted this because they suck at FPS, one other was also willing to be a Knight, another was willing to be a Paladin, another was considering Assassin, yet another was considering 'every other tank', three others wanted this class
7. One Keeper was looking forward to a fresh approach to Tanking, another was willing to be a Spellshield and had a few specific ideas (in both cases they wanted things the game already has, mostly), another might actually just have wanted to be a Necromancer with a big shield, another wanted staying power and massive damage, two others wanted this class
8. Two Argents were willing to be Paladins, aiming for a bit of extra healing/support in both cases, one other wanted this class
9. One undecided player just wanted some good mechanics for PvP, another wanted 'buildup damage', evasion, and dual wield (treated as a Nightshield for schema), another had ideas for all secondary Archetypes, another two focused on control and CC, one other considered Guardian vs /Mage or /Summoner, yet another explained things in a way that might be referencing Dreadnought, one was looking at Knight but was willing to try many things, there were four others
2. One Paladin wanted Death Augment on attacks, another wanted to be frustratingly invincible, another wanted a 'Bodyguard' mechanic ('Cover'), another would take this if Brood Warden wasn't fun, sixteen others wanted this class
3. One Knight (probably) wanted a Whirlwind ability and a Charge, another wanted decent damage in solo, another (willing to be Nightshield) wanted to relentlessly defeat their opponent via retribution, another was sorted here because they were a dual wielding fighter type but with a 'high damage mitigation ability' wish, five others wanted this class
4. One Spellshield (probably) wanted to go the Evasion route, another had specific desires that were considered for the schema ( @trokair ), another wanted to explicitly be a Magic Tank (ice magic), four others wanted this class
5. One Nightshield was willing to be a Siren, another (Probably) explicitly wanted to dodge tank with their 1h sword, one other wanted smokebombs, another wanted group stealth and evasion buffs for caravan protection, another planned to just craft and roleplay.
6. One Guardian wanted this because they suck at FPS, one other was also willing to be a Knight, another was willing to be a Paladin, another was considering Assassin, yet another was considering 'every other tank', three others wanted this class
7. One Keeper was looking forward to a fresh approach to Tanking, another was willing to be a Spellshield and had a few specific ideas (in both cases they wanted things the game already has, mostly), another might actually just have wanted to be a Necromancer with a big shield, another wanted staying power and massive damage, two others wanted this class
8. Two Argents were willing to be Paladins, aiming for a bit of extra healing/support in both cases, one other wanted this class
9. One undecided player just wanted some good mechanics for PvP, another wanted 'buildup damage', evasion, and dual wield (treated as a Nightshield for schema), another had ideas for all secondary Archetypes, another two focused on control and CC, one other considered Guardian vs /Mage or /Summoner, yet another explained things in a way that might be referencing Dreadnought, one was looking at Knight but was willing to try many things, there were four others
Tanks want interesting mechanics. New and exciting ways to defend, as well as the ability (and in-game need, brought on by enemies) to go for specialized builds. Fortunately, they are also brimming with ideas on how to do this, and therefore there is more than enough to work with for a schema, even without specifically invoking speculative Augments too much. Their problems will be 'other players who expect them to be able to do everything', moreso. For this reason, it is probably best to split their ability sets into 'things they will all probably want' and 'specializations', but even this is also informed by their PvP vs PvE focus. So with all that out of the way, a schema.
The basic provided skills we already know of are already good templates for Augments of all kinds, without much need to even explain how they'd interact in most cases.
Javelin is the one most likely to be affected oddly, and balanced specifically. Weapon Throw is more likely to be helpful for Spellshields, who can augment it with an elemental attack and just treat it like a spell.
Shockwave could be used to deny enemies the ability to pass, some augments could let you put up walls, if not, an explicit 'put up wall' ability would probably be needed
Ultimate Defense is a good way to cover for uses of other augments for Knights, and Onslaught, etc, help to round out their control options. Better still, the specifics of those attacking skills means that some of them are 'specializations', and the Tank could just focus on defensive abilities and related Augments, for effectiveness, if they wanted to.
Other things they wanted though, are a Mana Ward that takes damage to their mana or something similar, and another ability option was 'when hit by a specific spell/element type, raise resistance against it', a powerful stance that could be augmented for Keepers.
The ability to share some resistances (from gear, presumably) to nearby allies, suggested as Warding Circle, could really enhance Spellshields and Paladins. Already covered somewhat by Ultimate Defense at high ranks, but this ability type having a 'special duplicate' that does more/something other than Defense could be interesting for builds.
One implication is that they needed another two CC skills, one blinding flash, one just 'general use attack', but Flash and Slam are common-ish abilities near/in this Archetype, so they are both unsurprising and probably fitting.
It took a while for anyone to specifically ask for 'the ability to block attacks on those near/behind me', but this is also a common Archetypal thing and could be augmented in the standard way for buffs. Keepers in particular might be able to summon a shield for another without physically going to them. If Tanks have that naturally, then they'd just specialize in it.
Javelin is the one most likely to be affected oddly, and balanced specifically. Weapon Throw is more likely to be helpful for Spellshields, who can augment it with an elemental attack and just treat it like a spell.
Shockwave could be used to deny enemies the ability to pass, some augments could let you put up walls, if not, an explicit 'put up wall' ability would probably be needed
Ultimate Defense is a good way to cover for uses of other augments for Knights, and Onslaught, etc, help to round out their control options. Better still, the specifics of those attacking skills means that some of them are 'specializations', and the Tank could just focus on defensive abilities and related Augments, for effectiveness, if they wanted to.
Other things they wanted though, are a Mana Ward that takes damage to their mana or something similar, and another ability option was 'when hit by a specific spell/element type, raise resistance against it', a powerful stance that could be augmented for Keepers.
The ability to share some resistances (from gear, presumably) to nearby allies, suggested as Warding Circle, could really enhance Spellshields and Paladins. Already covered somewhat by Ultimate Defense at high ranks, but this ability type having a 'special duplicate' that does more/something other than Defense could be interesting for builds.
One implication is that they needed another two CC skills, one blinding flash, one just 'general use attack', but Flash and Slam are common-ish abilities near/in this Archetype, so they are both unsurprising and probably fitting.
It took a while for anyone to specifically ask for 'the ability to block attacks on those near/behind me', but this is also a common Archetypal thing and could be augmented in the standard way for buffs. Keepers in particular might be able to summon a shield for another without physically going to them. If Tanks have that naturally, then they'd just specialize in it.
In general, Tanks don't seem confused about what they want to do, nor 'confused' about how to do it, some just know that they need to test which way is the most effective way to do it. This may lead to them changing their Secondary Archetype more often in some cases to adapt to the needs of their group/plans. This is also probably a reason why we see a disparate number of Paladins, since this is the 'do it all' defensive tank class. Just provide them with good augments and they'll figure it out. This is a class where the Augments that other classes need will probably shine through without problems, lessening the 'special requirements' for them, other than Keepers.
In general though, here are the trends.
Tanks are clearer in their desires, the Wardens want range, the Spellshields want magic, the Nightshields want evasion or strange misdirection skills. Fortunately as straightforward as this continues, for the Keepers, Argents, Paladins, and Guardians, there doesn't seem to be any lack of variation or good options for dynamic gameplay in PvE. PvP is likely to need more work, with more direct defensive abilities added that protect allies directly, but the amount of push-pull and other similar things Tanks are likely to have, should cover it. As you'd expect, Paladin is the most popular.
If you've read any of these before you are familiar with my speculative Reverse Engineered Augments List by now. They work fine, but Tanks are more likely to need to give much more specific feedback to Intrepid about little adjustments to make sure they get what they want out of even these, so I expect a lot of discussion to revolve around that. Abilities as a whole, seem to fit into the design space, though, with just the possibility of some duplication required so that players can have flexibility and variety without getting stuck into specific rotations. Do Tanks hate rotations less?
Either way...
THIS POST IS IN NO WAY AN EXPLANATION OF WHAT INTREPID IS ACTUALLY DOING
But it is, potentially, a place for you to tell them what you want them to be doing. Good luck, Mailmen.
Y'all know how Jamberry Roll.
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