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Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest news on Alpha Two.
Check out general Announcements here to see the latest news on Ashes of Creation & Intrepid Studios.
To get the quickest updates regarding Alpha Two, connect your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Tanking Challenges: The Burden of XP Debt, Repair Costs, and Glint Loss
Orijin
Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
[TL;DR]
As a level 18 tank, I find tanking particularly punishing due to the unique XP debt, armor repair costs, and the 25% loss of materials upon death. These factors hit tanks harder than other roles since we’re on the frontlines and die more frequently. Additionally, AoC’s group composition, allowing eight players but typically only requiring one tank, may reduce the demand for tanks.
I’m concerned that these combined factors might decrease the appeal of the tank role. Has anyone else felt this? Should XP debt and material loss be shared among group members to distribute penalties more fairly? Or should we reduce or remove these penalties if a Cleric resurrects the tank? I’d love to hear the community’s thoughts on this.
Edit1: Added mention of the 25% material loss on death, which further increases the financial burden on tanks.
Edit2: Added HiruxArai's suggestion to reduce or remove penalties if resurrected by a Cleric.
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As a level 18 tank currently exploring Ashes of Creation in its Alpha 2 phase, I wanted to share specific challenges I’ve encountered with this archetype. While tanks are often considered a cornerstone of group dynamics in most MMOs, certain mechanics in AoC make tanking feel uniquely punishing.
Individual XP Debt and High Armor Repair Costs
In AoC, as in many MMOs, the tank role depends heavily on teamwork. However, what sets AoC apart is the individual XP debt and armor repair costs that impact tanks more severely due to their frontline role and high damage intake.
While I have no problem accepting punishment for my own mistakes, if a tank’s death results from another player’s error—such as unexpected DPS aggro or a lapse in healing—the tank alone bears a steep personal penalty, making each group failure especially costly.
Sometimes, the entire group might wipe, but in my experience, the tank often dies first, leaving DPS to kite enemies while the healer resurrects the tank, who then picks up aggro and allows the group's XP grind to continue, leaving only the tank with the XP debt to recover from.
Reduced Demand for Tanks Due to Group Composition
Another factor that might affect the appeal of the tank role in AoC is the unique 8-player group structure. While most traditional MMOs with smaller groups of 4 players include one tank, one healer, and multiple DPS roles, AoC’s larger group composition often includes just one tank while relying more heavily on DPS and healers.
This composition reduces the frequency of tank demand, which may further discourage players from taking on the role, especially with the additional XP debt and repair burdens.
Potential Solution: Shared XP Debt Among Group Members
While I understand that tanks are usually in high demand in MMOs and that AoC’s group composition could help balance this, I worry that the increased XP debt burden on tanks might have the opposite effect, discouraging players from stepping into this role.
One possible solution could be to share XP debt among group members. Since XP gains are already shared within the group, sharing the XP debt would distribute the cost of group mistakes more fairly, making tanking less punishing and encouraging more players to consider this essential role.
What Do You Think?
I’m curious to hear if other players feel similarly. Should AoC consider adjusting the XP debt mechanic to make it fairer for tanks, or perhaps even share it among group members? Are there other ideas the community might have to make the tank role more balanced and appealing? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
PS: Amusingly, I came across this post from a cleric who mentions similar concerns about the challenges for tanks: A Cleric’s Suggestion on Tanks. Additionally, HiruxArai also raised some great points on the lack of incentives for tanks, including ideas on reducing penalties if resurrected by a Cleric: HiruxArai’s Post on Tank Incentives. It’s interesting to see this issue recognized across different roles. Looking forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts!
As a level 18 tank, I find tanking particularly punishing due to the unique XP debt, armor repair costs, and the 25% loss of materials upon death. These factors hit tanks harder than other roles since we’re on the frontlines and die more frequently. Additionally, AoC’s group composition, allowing eight players but typically only requiring one tank, may reduce the demand for tanks.
I’m concerned that these combined factors might decrease the appeal of the tank role. Has anyone else felt this? Should XP debt and material loss be shared among group members to distribute penalties more fairly? Or should we reduce or remove these penalties if a Cleric resurrects the tank? I’d love to hear the community’s thoughts on this.
Edit1: Added mention of the 25% material loss on death, which further increases the financial burden on tanks.
Edit2: Added HiruxArai's suggestion to reduce or remove penalties if resurrected by a Cleric.
--
As a level 18 tank currently exploring Ashes of Creation in its Alpha 2 phase, I wanted to share specific challenges I’ve encountered with this archetype. While tanks are often considered a cornerstone of group dynamics in most MMOs, certain mechanics in AoC make tanking feel uniquely punishing.
Individual XP Debt and High Armor Repair Costs
In AoC, as in many MMOs, the tank role depends heavily on teamwork. However, what sets AoC apart is the individual XP debt and armor repair costs that impact tanks more severely due to their frontline role and high damage intake.
While I have no problem accepting punishment for my own mistakes, if a tank’s death results from another player’s error—such as unexpected DPS aggro or a lapse in healing—the tank alone bears a steep personal penalty, making each group failure especially costly.
Sometimes, the entire group might wipe, but in my experience, the tank often dies first, leaving DPS to kite enemies while the healer resurrects the tank, who then picks up aggro and allows the group's XP grind to continue, leaving only the tank with the XP debt to recover from.
Reduced Demand for Tanks Due to Group Composition
Another factor that might affect the appeal of the tank role in AoC is the unique 8-player group structure. While most traditional MMOs with smaller groups of 4 players include one tank, one healer, and multiple DPS roles, AoC’s larger group composition often includes just one tank while relying more heavily on DPS and healers.
This composition reduces the frequency of tank demand, which may further discourage players from taking on the role, especially with the additional XP debt and repair burdens.
Potential Solution: Shared XP Debt Among Group Members
While I understand that tanks are usually in high demand in MMOs and that AoC’s group composition could help balance this, I worry that the increased XP debt burden on tanks might have the opposite effect, discouraging players from stepping into this role.
One possible solution could be to share XP debt among group members. Since XP gains are already shared within the group, sharing the XP debt would distribute the cost of group mistakes more fairly, making tanking less punishing and encouraging more players to consider this essential role.
What Do You Think?
I’m curious to hear if other players feel similarly. Should AoC consider adjusting the XP debt mechanic to make it fairer for tanks, or perhaps even share it among group members? Are there other ideas the community might have to make the tank role more balanced and appealing? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
PS: Amusingly, I came across this post from a cleric who mentions similar concerns about the challenges for tanks: A Cleric’s Suggestion on Tanks. Additionally, HiruxArai also raised some great points on the lack of incentives for tanks, including ideas on reducing penalties if resurrected by a Cleric: HiruxArai’s Post on Tank Incentives. It’s interesting to see this issue recognized across different roles. Looking forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts!
2
Comments
Demand for tanks is always at an all time high whenever I've been on (Which is all the time)
Yes tank repairs are expensive and XP debt sucks too. Caster also get one shotted by random stuff more often than not, specially in random parties.
That's interesting you mention kiting, as that was another point I initially wanted to discuss. In Ashes of Creation, kiting might be a good tactic to avoid dying, but it feels discouraged in party settings. The reason is that AoC relies heavily on ground-targeted area buffs and debuffs, which often have significant effects. When you’re forced to kite, it’s easy to miss out on these, reducing their overall impact on combat.
That hasn’t been my experience, though I think demand likely varies by server and time of day. It’s good to hear that demand is higher for you, but I haven’t consistently seen this myself.
I understand what you're saying—DPS players do sometimes die unexpectedly. However, my point is that tanks generally die more often than DPS and healers, especially in group settings. This means that tanks carry a heavier XP debt over time compared to other roles, which can feel like an additional burden without any added benefits to offset it.
This convo reminded me that, on top of repair costs, I also end up taking home less Glint since 25% is lost on each death. This essentially leaves tanks with higher costs and lower income compared to DPS classes.
Would be interested to hear if others are experiencing similar challenges or have different perspectives on tanking in AoC, especially around kiting, group demand, and XP debt.
I completely agree. I’ve experienced this firsthand, and you worded it better than I could.
Reducing or removing the XP debt and durability loss when a Cleric resurrects the tank is an excellent idea. This change alone could make the tank role far more attractive.
I agree that spreading XP debt across the party is a bold suggestion. This shift would emphasize teamwork and mutual responsibility, fitting well with AoC’s risk vs. reward philosophy. Additionally, it might be worth adjusting the 25% Glint loss on death specifically for tanks, either by reducing it or sharing it among the group. This would help balance the financial strain that tanks face compared to DPS roles.
All in all, it’s great to hear everyone’s thoughts on this. So far, we have two solid suggestions to address the problem, and I wonder if there are other ideas out there ?
you shouldn't be grinding with a lot of material or your asking to get upset with this system. losing glint however i understand, i lost 3k glint last weekend in 10 minutes from mistakes and bugs.. it hurt. as far as everything else..... if youre tanking stuff in your level range and gear capabilities you dont die too often. if youre like me and my group, you're pushing harder content for more rewards. hence risk/reward system. so i dont think it needs to be changed. however i love the idea of being rez'd reducing the loss!
this is a very risk/reward game. When tanking the harder content and the tank goes down, you can be sure half if not all the party is as well. so its a good system in my mind. but again, reducing the penalties when rez'd would be a fantastic patch to help the burden tanks seem to feel when at low levels
A big improvement would be reducing the spike in incoming damage. Also, mobs like Blood Blades have ground effects that you’re supposed to dodge, but the only visual cue for the ability, aside from a cast bar that’s only visible on one mob at a time, is the effect on the ground. In a group, the spell effects from your team often make it impossible to see anything on the ground. This means that if you pull more than one Blood Blade, it becomes a bit of a dice roll whether you survive or not. Fixing stuff like this would make it less likely to die due to bad luck as a tank