Ranged Tank

[Vorpal_Spork]

Even the SWTOR tanks weren't truly ranged. Sure, they had ranged attacks for pulling, and a ranged pull and leap, but their main combo was built around Stock-strike/Rocketpunch and Ion Blast/Flame Sweep, both of which were close range, under 4m.

They had a lot more ranged attacks than they did melee attacks though. Or at least bounty hunter did. My only trooper was a healer.

[Askio]

They had a lot more ranged attacks than they did melee attacks though. Or at least bounty hunter did. My only trooper was a healer.

As someone that played a vanguard, most trooper abilities are ranged. But many of the abilities relied on being close, like gaining Ion Pulse and Shoulder Cannons.
Hmmm, I suppose I'm wanting to set aside the idea of tanking in dungeons to just solo tanking.

I actually got my wish. A galdiator in the first Duty wasn't pulling, so I did it so our healer wouldn't get eaten alive. Our "tank" got annoyed I was doing their job, and said "I want to watch you die," and the 3 others in my party proceeded to stop as I was pulling 6 enemies. I then made them eat those words by killing all the enemies with nary a scratch.

[Askio]

Setting aside my smug satisfaction of rubbing it into the faces of jerks that just abandon their teammates, kiting isn't what I had in mind. When I tank in other games, it's from a range. I have an elementalist mage tank in GW2 that works fantastic, but I use a scepter, not the daggers.
My focus on tanking as an archer would be purely from a survival standpoint. Since there's no melee penalty for ranged classes, I guess my preference of being able to hit any enemy from anywhere and selectively pick them off or draw them in just lends itself more to my style. I don't mind if they get close, just that I can dictate when. It really just comes down to the enemies in each different game though.

[mdha02]

as in 3 smn 1 sch?

We've been doing 4 summoners. The group I do this with are still on pre-30 dungeons so we might have to switch it up later. We normally have 2 people summon tank pets and the other two summon dps carby/garuda. So far we've not had any wipes or problems in the dungeons. Like I said, it's a lot of fun to at least try. Simply because it's a whole new way of playing the dungeons.

[aisustrong]

We've been doing 4 summoners. The group I do this with are still on pre-30 dungeons so we might have to switch it up later. We normally have 2 people summon tank pets and the other two summon dps carby/garuda. So far we've not had any wipes or problems in the dungeons. Like I said, it's a lot of fun to at least try. Simply because it's a whole new way of playing the dungeons.

youll definitely need a real healer for vigil and garuda
might be able to get away with it in brayflox, but the last boss might give you trouble

haukke: probably, last boss might be a bit tough
qarn: no way
cutters: maybe
dd: maybe
aurum: no

[Kuwagami]

youll definitely need a real healer for vigil and garuda
might be able to get away with it in brayflox, but the last boss might give you trouble

haukke: probably, last boss might be a bit tough
qarn: no way
cutters: maybe
dd: maybe
aurum: no

haukke : doable although you'll have 3 people healing for adds most probably
qarn : doable (surprisingly) but pretty tough. You'll need mind accessories on every SMN focusing on healing to survive the few hard hitting moves from the last boss. On second boss, you can kill it without breaking it's soul stone but I don't know if it triggers the random target or not.
cutters : 2nd boss is the hardest. You can kite the last boss to death
DD : last boss is the only hard part, not a problem with titan though

[aisustrong]

last boss of dd is like the easiest part of the whole dungeon

[Tex_Mex]

Hehe the best incarnation of a ranged tank I have seen yet was the engineer from Wildstar. It was a true ranged tank since every ability it had in its arsenal could hit to 20m or longer. It also had heavy armor and regenerating shields to help mitigate attack damage. Its large aoe patterns also made it a threat generating machine, and one of the most reliable tanks in the game!

The drawback to it was that the engineer had the worst mobility of any class in the game. That was how they balanced the ranged aggro generation. To be fair Wildstar and FFXIV have WILDLY different combat systems, so many aspects of the ranged tank do not cross over well. But a heavy armor guy with a massive shotgun style weapon is sweet indeed.