Viability of Lancer as a Tank?

[God]

It certainly doesn't look that way.

[MiNuN]

^See this is why everyone hates the forums :|

[Luluna]

I know diversion is a nice skill and will help you a whole lot if you need to stay alive while something is pummeling your face in. As a tank i don't think so in a big NM fight or anything big, but i duoed with a Conjurer to 50 he kept me alive and i had voke set to keep it from hitting him and i did ok...so for situational yes if you have a nice cure bomb coming your way.

[LunaChild]

Form my experience of playing GLA/MRD/LNC around R20-30 with my friends.
I take tanking role, I got problem of holding enmity while in LNC even with skills build for tanking.

I quite assure that LNC isn't suit well for tanking or even off-tank. With their lacking of enmity holding and being fragile.

Diversion isn't skill for tank in my opinion, it just like "Oh! no!" skill that save you from pinch. But I still working on LNC to obtain it for my tanking option.

[IndecentSoul]

Lancer can tank fine, but you need some cross class skills, which is the point of the Armoury system.

I can tank just fine with the proper Defense + HP armor and the Following cross-skills and traits:

Defender, Foresight, Featherfoot. Plus Jarring Strike, Fracture, Provoke/Taunt/Warmonger. And i mix a few more defensive abilities with some key lancer skills.

Then for traits equip Intimidate, Prime Conditioning, Driven by Faith and Complete Control (unless there is casters involved). I'd add Axemanship if i had it, for obvious reasons.

Then get a good thaumaturge to get transfer you DEF and EVA and you're set.


tl;dr : it's doable but requires some work and a good THM

If you are going to go that far and say that Lnc can tank if you have all that then you might as well just say that Cnj and Thm can tank too by using the def up while casting trait and casting speed up trait and spamming Stoneskin all day while another Cnj/Thm heals/stoneskins as well.

One might even be able to tank better as say a Archer by just kiting mobs all day with slows, binds, and stuns. Ok well that isn't necessarily tanking since it is kiting but still it would probably be more effective then a Lnc tank.

[Belial]

If you are going to go that far and say that Lnc can tank if you have all that then you might as well just say that Cnj and Thm can tank too by using the def up while casting trait and casting speed up trait and spamming Stoneskin all day while another Cnj/Thm heals/stoneskins as well.

One might even be able to tank better as say a Archer by just kiting mobs all day with slows, binds, and stuns. Ok well that isn't necessarily tanking since it is kiting but still it would probably be more effective then a Lnc tank.

Actually THM makes a pretty beastly little tank on certain mobs.

[tachikoma]

Your tanking what fine with your 35 lancer? try tanking an nm...you'll break like glass, even with all those defense abilites from other classes. also you'll want defender II which is a mrd 50 ability at which point you'de just tank as mrd50 anyhow. =p

LNC is a great tank even on NM's with all the right skills, I do agree I'd rather have a 50 GLD or PUG who are equally as loaded up with skills and traits but to say LNC is a paper tank is incorrect. You wear the exact same gear as the GLD. One of the hidden benefits of tanking on LNC is that you can also participate in meaningful BR's by using invigorate. So far tanking everything on my LNC is cake with the exception of greater buff which requires some healers who know what there doing still viable as a small man group of 5-6 without too much struggle.

[Peregrine]

Anyone can tank levelinks and sp parties.
There's really nondemand for lancers to tank anything higher than that.
Then again, there's really no point in a pug or mrd tanking anything higher than that either.

[Krausus]

LNC is a great tank even on NM's with all the right skills, I do agree I'd rather have a 50 GLD or PUG who are equally as loaded up with skills and traits but to say LNC is a paper tank is incorrect. You wear the exact same gear as the GLD. One of the hidden benefits of tanking on LNC is that you can also participate in meaningful BR's by using invigorate. So far tanking everything on my LNC is cake with the exception of greater buff which requires some healers who know what there doing still viable as a small man group of 5-6 without too much struggle.

Defense isn't the issue its health, lancers are not meant to tank, can we get away with it? sure, but so can every class even DoW.

We are a melee DD and support class.


Just saying if you want to be a tank roll something else the rest of your group will thank you for it because if lancer is focusing on tanking they they are not focusing on what they are meant to do so you are gimping your party x2

[Synapse]

im just gonna say from my experience, order of tank at the current state of game, would be

THM > GLA> PUG/MRD > LNC> ARC > CON