Please Do NOT Introduce Another Melee Tank

[Xephenon]

I'd like to hear your suggestions on how a non-melee tank would work and not be horribly, horribly broken.

An evasion tank would be nice to have (when I say evasion tank I mean like the Monk/Bruiser of EQ2 and not the Ninja of FFXI) as would a mage (damaging soaking barriers?) tank but I think they'd all still end up being melee range.

Wildstar has a ranged tank, Engineer, which isn't horribly broken. I'm not sure how that would translate across combat systems, but saying something is "horribly horribly broken" without the game ever having tried something close is straight up wrong.

[roninoftagrm]

*skips 8 pages of potentially repeated ideas*

*stares at arcanist summon 2*

if only we had more enmity pet commands and a defensive buff better than eye for an eye...

*casts protect while targeting summon* "wth"

edit: and on note of red mage, element enchants for weapons/shields/armor would work

dark knight if/when it comes will be a magic/melee tank in all likelihood

[Reynhart]

Wildstar has a ranged tank, Engineer, which isn't horribly broken.

How does it manage to stay "at range" ?

dark knight if/when it comes will be a magic/melee tank in all likelihood

"In all likelihood" Dark Knight will not be a tank

[KikoriL]

Melee range is unavoidable. I'm more worried about tanking styles; things have to be kept unique. We have insane mitigation in PLD, and insane HP to soak damage in WAR.
One with a parry-dodge focus who deals more in counterattacks. Samurai?
One that directly buffs defensive numbers / debuffs the mobs' offensive numbers. Mystic Knight?
One that adjusts and focuses element / damage type resistances. Blue Mage?
One that directly responds to damage dealt / taken with boosted heals / defense. Dark Knight?
Aside from those four thoughts... what else could be done to make a unique approach to tanking?

[Wadoka]

It's the "Tanks are responsible for effective positioning" that would seem to be the big roadblock to Ranged tanking.

What mechanic would allow a Tank to hold hate, do damage at a distance, and position the enemy?

Sounds like the Tank would need a persistent "Bind" mechanic, something which would prevent the target from moving and closing to melee range.

Without a position-holding trait, the melee DPS would vote to kill the Tank first, the mob second...

[KikoriL]

Suddenly picturing a combo skill where the bonus combo effect is a Bind (without disappearing on hit or diminishing durations on each hit)... But unless you give the tank a way to apply this to numerous enemies at once, it still defeats much of the purpose of a ranged tank. And the idea seems all but broken if it's allowed to apply to bosses. Binding Nael outside of Bahamut's Claw range? Any other tank would be relatively worthless in such fights.

[Marxam]

why are people tossing around the idea of a range tank? The last thing we need is another "dedicated" add kiter. The problem is the balance between the two current tanks. They're so homogenized that people simply opt to the PLD since its easier to use and has a superior "oh shit!" button to the WAR. The only thing war has going for it is its dps potential to push a couple %'s in a long fight while still tanking but who needs that when you have great dps?

and where did this dmg buff for pld's come from? I find it hard to believe that an off defiance war vs. sword oath pld (both in dps specs) will do less damage even with berserk and internal release than the pld's flight or fight but feel free to prove me wrong. Personally I think they should cut the cd of unchained to match berserk and remove the pacify effect of berserk but that's just me.

This game needs another tank that can bring something new to the table and not just a "balanced" version of a previous tank, regardless of weapon. But seriously no range tanks. A mage tank would be good however since atm none of that tanks can block or parry magic.

[ArlettLeonor]

Maybe this was already suggested, but it would be cool if the non melee tank would use like a shotgun like weapon.

Imagine pulling enemy with an equivalent of Shield Lob/Tomahawk, then use an aoe attack like Flash and Overpower, probably at spread shot looking attack.

Then you'll have your standard combo to keep aggro, and hopefully another one for dpsing, as well as defensive/Offensive CDs.

The difference would be if you're OT, you can sit back at range and dps away.

[MythToken]

They're so homogenized that people simply opt....

They are not homogenized. Every play Wow? thats homogenized.

They have done a very good job of keeping the playstyle different. And giving them different abilities.

And yes Sword oath Paladins do = or more damage than a warrior out of defiance.
But warriors do more damage in defiance vs paladin in shield oath. The math is in a thread somewhere.

Probably has to do with the fact you lose wrath, and IB which are both huge for damage.

[Asierid]

Wildstar has a ranged tank, Engineer, which isn't horribly broken. I'm not sure how that would translate across combat systems, but saying something is "horribly horribly broken" without the game ever having tried something close is straight up wrong.

As someone who mained a Engie tank in all content in Wildstar...

It isn't a ranged tank.