WARs, how do you keep Tanking interesting?

[TheFishyOne]

Tanking in EQ does not seem to be terribly interactive in terms of buttons to press. As a raiding CLR, I constantly have to make judgement calls regarding mana conservation vs. letting someone rie (I’m nearly blind irl, so my guild has me on patch heals, rather than be part of the CH chain), which means figuring out the right spell to use on a dynamic basis . Tanks pop disc once at the start of the fight, and kick if they see a spell being cast. Maybe Taunt if they lose aggro. Am I missing anything? Warrs seem like they would be awfully boring after a time. What keeps you guys from getting burnt out?

[Jauna]

Thats pretty much it, outside of a few rootnet or mallet clickies for emergencies you are just auto attacking in that deep dark void of not much to do but still enough to do to not window out for animated pornography.

[Jimjam]

Strafewriggling backwards when under Torpor.

Battlebandaging to maintain RSI.

Asking force to disengage autoattack for enrage, then flipping the mob to catch out AFKers.

Generally being bad.

[trite]

Taunt isn't a thing while tanking raid bosses. There is other stuff to do and not just main tanking after clicking midnight mallet and defensive disc.

• Rampage tanking (knowing how to get on ramp correctly)
• Keeping junk buffs up through dipels.
• Keeping yourself rooted with bark pots if relevant.
• Repositioning after being feared.
• Calling push and guiding mobs that gate while DPS pushes.
• Calling AE's to get casters out of the way.
• Keeping mobs positioned correctly so casters can dodge AE or you arne't vulnerable to knock back.
• Watching your health with reaper/soulfire/wort pots.
• Managing agroe if you are not currently tanking.
• Turning off attack for enrage.
• Being able to take agroe after heals are landing and the speed bump has bought time in case another tank goes down.
• Dodging AE and DPS when you aren't tanking.
• knowing which resists and weapons you should be using for each fight
• fight specific stuff like self dispel with Crystallized Pumice during nexona fight, or what to do when Dain banishes you

there's lots of stuff good tanks have to do and be aware of...

[Swish2]

Importing from my rogue days, but keep an eye on your crits...what's your highest? Something I liked to keep track on with my backstabs....every few seconds I'd get another chance to beat it.

Not exactly exciting but something I'd passively hope for in a session [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[MagpieRockyl]

Sonder has a good post. What he missed is the social aspect. Warriors are leaders. You have to make groups constantly. In raiding, you are a vital component to success, and the better you are at communicating, the better. Most raids have one leader who is overwhelmed by all the facets of raid administration. The main tank essentially becomes the Fight Leader. You have to know the mob you're fighting. You have to anticipate how the retard dps horde will behave. You have to speak up and command drug addicted players, or else they will wipe your raid. If you like being a leader, speaking up, and guiding people, you'll be a good warrior. If you just want to be silent and hit autoattack, you'll be a shit warrior and no one will like you.

[MagpieRockyl]

Says the fay gate who runs open wtov raids and fails to manipulate loot system for his personal gain.

That's a backhanded compliment

[TheFishyOne]

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

About the social aspect, my problem is that I’m nearly blind irl. During raids, this is not a problem, as I can use TS for comms, and haveall my heals macroec to show targets, and have other macros to communicate important events, like when I land an MoK. Leveling up, this could be a problem, as it is difficult for me to play and read chat at the same time. With the slower pace of combat in EQ, however, I think it can be managed.

Still in the process of reading all your replies (see: nearly blind irl), but am starting to get an idea of how tanking can be fun. Thanks again for all the feedback!

[Jimjam]

You know there is a command to increase font size in eq? You could viewport onto half the screen and the other half have a giant chat window? Have you tried that? Or is it blind beyond even huge fonts?

[Troxx]

I always found simply being the tank to be interesting enough. If I ever get bored of being the point man or just need something different - that’s what alts are for.

As others have pointed out, being an effective warrior also means situational awareness, knowing what you’re fighting, the strengths/weaknesses of your hunting party, leading from the front, carrying a bag or 2 of tools (and knowing when to use them), positioning mobs (and when to push/whatever), strategically using kick/bash to interrupt, etc.

I find playing my warrior a lot more engaging than my monk for what it’s worth.