Strength Tanks

[Leonus]

From where I stand, it seems like some people want to take less damage and just focus on holding hate. Others want to be able to do more damage as a tank to shorten encounters.

Both sides are offended at each other... Why can't we have both?

A tank that just sits there, holding hate and taking little to no damage and hitting like a wet noodle is boring.
A tank that takes too much damage, dies all the time focusing purely on doing damage is a bad thing.

Where is the middle ground?

[AlexiIvaniskavich]

....Where is the middle ground?

*you hear whispers of tanks long since past*
<Defensive cool downs>

[Syzygian]

From where I stand, it seems like some people want to take less damage and just focus on holding hate. Others want to be able to do more damage as a tank to shorten encounters.

Both sides are offended at each other... Why can't we have both?

A tank that just sits there, holding hate and taking little to no damage and hitting like a wet noodle is boring.
A tank that takes too much damage, dies all the time focusing purely on doing damage is a bad thing.

Where is the middle ground?

There is no middle ground anymore. Somewhere down the line, a mentality emerged that tank DPS is based strictly on gear, and that if a tank is wearing full or mostly VIT gear, then it follows that they also do not know their proper DPS rotation, etc.

Although I've NEVER encountered it except in other tanks, the reverse is that if a tank is wearing full or mostly STR, then it follows that they do not know how to use defense cooldowns.

The first scenario is far more prolific. I tell people all the time but the idea refuses to catch on: A tank that chooses to wear VIT can still know how to hit their DPS ceiling in the scope of that gear, through good cooldown use and the proper DPS rotation. I.E. a VIT tank can still be a skilled player.

[Bashum]

From where I stand, it seems like some people want to take less damage and just focus on holding hate. Others want to be able to do more damage as a tank to shorten encounters.


Where is the middle ground?

Except that there's this misconception that having STR accessories causes you to take "more damage" which is not the case at all. It simply gives less time before your healer needs to pop out of cleric stance and begin healing you.

As long as your health bar is decreasing at a rate that's reasonable enough for healers to stance dance and dps with relative ease, there's zero reason to have any extra VIT at the expense of STR.

[Syzygian]

Except that there's this misconception that having STR accessories causes you to take "more damage" which is not the case at all. It simply gives less time before your healer needs to pop out of cleric stance and begin healing you.

As long as your health bar is decreasing at a rate that's reasonable enough for healers to stance dance and dps with relative ease, there's zero reason to have any extra VIT at the expense of STR.

I'd say that this misconception barely exists anymore, people have been so militant about stamping it out. Instead people are swinging to the other extreme, which is that having VIT accessories means you don't know how to do your job, which, to parrot back your words, is not the case at all, it simply means the tank wants to be able to soak up as much damage as possible before anyone in the party needs to worry.

I say this is a tank that primarily uses STR gear and uses melds to meet HP checks. I do this purely because its what my static prefers and I adapt to meet their needs.

You could also argue that unless there is an enrage that the extra 300 or so DPS that you're doing from switching to STR will help you meet, or that your weaker self-heals are causing you to die (unlikely), or that you cannot keep aggro without STR gear (lol), there's zero reason to stack STR either.

[Bashum]

I've been running full melded forever, just because I'd rather not deal with either of the extremists :P

[Ashkendor]

I'd say that this misconception barely exists anymore, people have been so militant about stamping it out. Instead people are swinging to the other extreme, which is that having VIT accessories means you don't know how to do your job, which, to parrot back your words, is not the case at all, it simply means the tank wants to be able to soak up as much damage as possible before anyone in the party needs to worry.

Right, when I see a tank in Fending, I don't think: omg what a scrub. If I'm tanking with them, I consider their gear and whether or not I'm going to have to watch my hate as OT or if I should just MT. If I'm healing them, I shrug because it gives me a few more GCD's to DPS. As a DPS, I shrug and try to manage my hate. I think both playstyles are viable (aside from Savage, which I think we can all agree is a different sort of beast), it's all just a matter of what you're comfortable with.

I've been running full melded forever, just because I'd rather not deal with either of the extremists :P

I also prefer melded when you need to be a bit tankier than full slaying but don't want the loss of enmity/dps that goes with full fending. From a healing standpoint though, as long as the tank in question is using their cooldowns properly it's not any harder to heal a strength tank than it is a vitality tank. It just means I have time for a couple of Broils in there before I have to drop CS and Lustrate. It doesn't bother me either way. I just did a decently fast run of St. Mocianne's (~20 mins) on Scholar with a Warrior in full Slaying that did some pretty big pulls, and I still found time to DPS because they had excellent cooldown management and they actually let me mitigate them before each big pack (seriously, SS and Adlo before the pull help so much).

.... I tend to tank Thordan EX with Vit accessories and 1 strength accessory. Does that make me bad? Should i switch and go full strength? I'm DRK btw

Honestly, I'd say if you're clearing it (or making progress in it) then you're fine. ^^

[WolfKid]

.... I tend to tank Thordan EX with Vit accessories and 1 strength accessory. Does that make me bad? Should i switch and go full strength? I'm DRK btw

[Immut]

.... I tend to tank Thordan EX with Vit accessories and 1 strength accessory. Does that make me bad? Should i switch and go full strength? I'm DRK btw

It doesn't make you "bad". Equipment can never make someone bad. But it makes you suboptimal.

Honestly though it doesn't really matter as long as you can perform. The DPS checks aren't nearly as strict in there and the extra HP will give you more freedom with your cooldowns.

It's not like savage where you need to squeeze out every last dps or roulette where everything is so faceroll there's no justification for not getting it done as fast as possible.

[Twilite]

K. When are you all going to shut the hell up about this?