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Playing a Tank (EQ Races)
Classes considered tanks by this article -
Paladin, Shadow Knight, Warrior
NOTE: This article is aimed at those
starting out, battle hard veterans need not read on =)
(Generally any class with taunt can be
considered a tank though the 3 classes listed above are the only ones with the
hit points and armor class to be a tank really effectively)
Taking Damage
The first thing to overcome is to accept
that your main job is not to deal damage, leave this to the monks, rangers,
rogues, mages, wizards etc of the world. Your job is to take the damage pure and
simple.
Doing Damage
Sure you are often more than capable of
doing a lot of damage but the point is, you are the only one who can really take
it! If you are someone who always has this urge, try to remember that if you
allow a monk or a rogue to tank; they are going to cost the healer a lot more
mana. Meaning there is less to heal you and the rest of the party when they are
in trouble. This can also reduce the number of buffs that can be given to the
party.
Building Aggro
When the fighting starts and you find
yourself against more than one mob, even though they might all be attacking you,
remember that as soon as someone heals you or the mobs are nuked, all the mobs
you haven't really aggroed are going to run off to the healer/nuker (unless
someone else is actually fighting them at the time). It usually pays to give the
mobs a few smacks first so that all the aggro is firmly on you or at least keep
an eye on the casters.
Assisting
While you are doing all the above, there
is yet another thing to remember, assisting! While you are building up aggro and
changing targets you aren't actually assisting anyone with the damage, but when
you are sure all the aggro is on you it usually pays to all hit the same target.
The faster each one dies, the less times you get hit and the less mana it costs
the healer to keep you all alive. This is even more important when there is an
enchanter in your group, if you are all fighting different mobs, then when the
enchanter "freezes" them they are all going to be woken straight back
up!
Leading
The tanks are usually the ones holding the
party together (well other than the commanding enchanter), they will know their job (usually) and make sure everyone else
is doing theirs. It doesn't really matter how many people are in your party, if
everyone is doing their job you will still fight more effectively than the
groups next to you. If you find yourself with a cleric who nukes and an
enchanter who dots then you can either try to tell them (politely) to start playing like
their class or you can leave the party. I have to admit leaving seems the better
option than possibly having an argument and generally ending up dead (especially
if the argument is with the only healer!). Of course this never actually solves
their problem but there are plenty of other people who you can group with.
Fun
Doing all the above can be pretty hard to
keep up with but after awhile you will find yourself doing it naturally. If your
group is all working together and you are smashing everything you come across,
you should find its actually pretty good fun!
Of course if you find yourself getting
bored with it and the urge to do the real damage won't go away, or you'd prefer
to be the one healing, start up a rogue/monk/cleric or whatever you think would
suit you. There is little point playing a class you find boring.
If you are still interested in your class
Good Luck with it =)
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