Champions Online Tank Guide, Consejos, y trucos

How does tanking work here?

One thing’s for certain. Tanking here is not traditional, but there is one thing it takes from the universal rule; aggro, called Threat to the game’s algorithm. Threat is generated through combat by any numbers processed, through both damage and healing, with the latter producing less threat than the former. An enemy will target whichever person has the highest generated Threat. Bastante simple, bien?

Tank Role and You

The shield beside your frame and above your head carries the implication of a few things. Uno, you should be able to take a sizeable amount of damage. Dos, you should be able to draw attention from targets away from non-tanks. Tres, you are not going to be dealing as much damage as a DPS or heal as much as a Support. The role itself supports these points by what you gain and lose in it.

In Tank Role, your stats are affected as such;
• +25% Maximum HP
• +10% Damage Resistance
• +10% Threat
• +25% Crowd Control Resistance
• +25% Energy Gain from Blocking
• -20% Max Energy
• -20% Energy Equilibrium

More health and resistance support point one, more threat supports point two, less energy and equilibrium support point three. To attest to that last point as well, you cannot use DPS passives in Tank Role, effectively reducing your damage by about 70% o más. Does that make it harder to tank? Yes and no. While in Tank role, your superstats will give you a scaling increase to Threat generated. DPS roles, En realidad, have the opposite of that, where their superstats give them a scaling threat reduction instead, while Support role has 10% reduced threat generated as a baseline. Sin embargo, this does not mean you don’t have to try, as very strong DPS can easily surpass your passive threat. This brings me to the next point;

Modificación(ifier)s

As there is no taunt function in this game, there’s instead been both mechanics and items implemented to change the flow of Threat. The most common and easily accessible means of additional threat is the Desafío ventaja, which is found in most powers that deal damage. Challenge is a debuff that is applied by any power it’s purchased on when it successfully hits the target. The debuff causes the target to deal less damage (decaying over time or until they deal a certain amount of damage to the source) and generates a high amount of threat to the challenger over a brief period. There’s two types of challenge; primary and secondary. Primary is applied when a power is specifically targeted at the enemy, while secondary is applied to any enemies who were indirectly attacked by the power. Powers with no direct target, such as Absorb Heat and Arc of Ruin, will only apply secondary challenge. While you cannot stack the same challenges repeatedly, you can have both Primary and Secondary on the same target. Some powers, specifically ID Weaponry and Bullet Ballet, will do this innately, as a portion of their combo is untargeted.

The other means to increase your threat is mods that generate an additional amount of threat based on pre-mitigated damage. These are most often referred to as

Confronts, as there are multiple that only generate more threat for specific types of damage, but the one that works for any damage type is called Confront. These are mods obtained from various locations; albornos, open missions, the questionite store, misiones, and the recognition store. They are Offense slot mods, which means they go in place of where a DPS would regularly place things for critical rating or severity. Confront, while working for all damage types, has a lower modifier than specific damage types, comenzando en 8% when at Rank 3, 15% at Rank 5, 24% at Rank 7, y 35% at Rank 9, whereas specific damages are 9.6% at Rank 3, 18% at Rank 5, 29% at Rank 7, y 42% at Rank 9.

Actualmente, not all damage types are available as confront mods, but the following (to memory) are available;
• Icy Grasp (Cold Damage)
• Hot Stuff (Fire Damage)
• Maniacal Laughter (Dimensional Damage)
• Infection (Toxic Damage)
• Magnificent Display (Magic Damage)
• Fuerza bruta (Crushing Damage)
• Hollow Point (Piercing Damage)

Por último, perhaps one of the most essential pieces of gear for a tank, the Onslaught Gloves of the Defender. These cost 5000 Onslaught Villain tokens, which is a lengthy grind, but is very worth in the long term. It causes 30% of your direct pre-mitigated damage to be generated as threat, mientras 3% is also given back to you as a damage shield. Esto es, en esencia, a free high rank Confront that permanently gives you the Reckless effect, all while being able to slot a rank 5 stat mod in it.

What about my Defense?

Threat is not the only essential function of a tank. They must also be able to withstand a lot of punishment. A lote of punishment. While regular content will often be easily managed by a tank, the end-game things; Epic Lairs, Cosmics, Rampages, will be less forgiving. Where your defense comes from is going to vary based on how you composed your build; sin embargo, one universal factor is that a good chunk of it will come from your gear. This is backed by standard Tank Specialization choices, which involve taking specs that increase Defense gained from gear. This should make one thing clear;

Distinguished gear is the best endgame set for a tank .Not all will use it, sin embargo, some more specialized tank builds will employ Virtuous, but most cases of such are for off-tanks.

Aside from gear, there are two other sources of Defense (technically three but the third is from a specialization tree that is not recommended for tanks).

gigante, from Strength primary, increases your Defense based on your Constitution, y

Force of Will de Ego and Presence primary, which increases Defense based on your secondary superstats. Juggernaut is the most popular choice for tanks, as it generously scales for a stat that they will already be piling on, and most tanks are melee anyhow, so having Strength makes things easier for them. Force of Will, mientras tanto, does not scale as high as Juggernaut will, but Ego or Presence primary can offer more benefits to non-melee tanks (or healer tanks) while still providing additional defense without the need of gear. Personalmente, while I can understand hesitation to do such, I recommend that any Freeform tank uses Strength primary with Juggernaut until they have a full set of Distinguished gear, at which point they may retcon to whichever stat they may desire. When fully geared, assuming a majority of your mods are Constitution (or enough to reach 16k HP) and are using all gear/defense specializations, the primary stat is as follows for Defense; Fortaleza > Constitution = Ego = Presence > Dexterity = Endurance = Recovery > Inteligencia.

Mitigating damage is an incredibly important part of tanking, so do not skimp on your Defense, and do not leave your Tank Passive unranked. Idealmente, for endgame content, you should have at minimum 80% resistance from Defense pre-gear, 90% post-gear. Exceeding this is never a bad idea, unless it starts hindering your ability to generate threat.

How about Health?

Health is the other pea in the pod for tanks. Where DPS and Supports will normally sport anywhere between 5k to 7k HP, tanks (with the exception of Dodge tanks) should have 12k or more. The more health you have to complement your mitigation, the more hits you can take without dropping like a rock and losing all of your Threat. This means that you’ll be piling on Constitution mods in your gear and devoting less mods to dealing damage–which is okay. The modifiers from above can supplement for the lesser amount of damage you’re dealing, y si no, DPS should be sporting Threat Wipes (powers that automatically sets your threat to 0) to give an enemies’ attention back to you. Si no… Bueno, they’ll go splat before you do. De todos modos, the amount of health you have tends to be seen as how experienced or capable you are as a tank, but the amount you need varies per activity. For standard level content, 9k-12k. For event bosses, with the exception of High Noon’s Liberator, 12k-14k. For high end areas, such as Qliphothic Warzone and the Andrith Ruins Lair, 14k-16k. For Cosmics and Epic Lairs, 16k-18k.

What should my gear look like?

There’s no easy way to say it, but gearing a tank is very expensive if you wish to do so effectively. Constitution mods are one of the most expensive stat mods and Confronts aren’t cheap either. Sin embargo, there is nothing stopping you from grinding both aforementioned mods, as Constitution mods are random drops from any mod source while Confronts can be purchased with recognition or questionite. Dicho esto, starting tanks will need to prioritize defense over health where possible and have to acknowledge that they will not be able to tank things like Cosmics immediately. It is normal advice to gain gear as DPS role and then retcon to your actual Tank build once you have a full set–sin embargo, archetypes and or silver players won’t have that luxury. Regardless of capability, a tank should have equipment for defense and health in case they ever need to act as backup (Please don’t bring this kind of setup to Teleiosaurus), so pack plenty of Constitution mods and use Defense pieces with high Defense rating. If you have no access to Confronts, Gambler’s Gems can substitute, or Growth Amulets if your primary is Constitution or your Form Stat. On note of form stat, you don’t need all your gear to be Constitution. One pure mod or a couple dual mods of your form stat with Con is a good idea, as you don’t want your damage to be too low. Dicho esto, Efficiency helmets are also in your best interest so to be able to use your main damage regularly.

When you’ve finished gearing up into Distinguished and Onslaught secondaries, you can change your stat distribution a bit depending on the kind of content you’d like to do, but for cosmics, what I typically will do is as follows;
• Primary Offense: Rango 7 Constitution x2, Rango 7 Confront x2
• Primary Defense: Rango 7 Constitution x2, Rango 7 Impact Prism x2 or x1 with Rank 7 Growth Amulet x1
• Primary Utility: Rango 7 Constitución, Rango 7 Dual Con/Form Stat, Rango 7 (or what rank is available to me) Powerframe damage mod, Veteran’s Core of Might or Gambler’s Lucky Gem
• Onslaught Defender Gloves: Rango 5 Constitution or Dual Con/Form Stat
• Onslaught Fitness Tights: Rango 5 Constitution or Dual Con/Form Stat
• Onslaught Efficiency Mask: Rango 5 Dual Con/Energy Unlock Stat (same as form stat, en algunos casos)

This can be fine-tuned to meet the effectiveness one desires, and it is highly recommended you visit the Public Test Server to see these changes with no cost to you, but ideally you will have 91% Resistance from Defense or higher, with 16k HP or higher.

What kind of powers should I use?

Most powerframes support tanks, as a majority of powers have Challenge available to purchase as an advantage. Sin embargo, there’s only a select few Defensive Passives.

• Desafío
• Invulnerabilidad
• Regeneración
• Personal Force Field

The upper two are the most effective tank passives with the latter two being more niche but passable in certain scenarios.

Desafío gives a stacking buff that increases your damage resistance, arriba a 6 stacks. A simple yet incredibly effective concept, as max stacks will get you over 100% resistir.

Invulnerabilidad gives a high amount of damage resistance innately and mitigates a flat amount of damage from every attack. Extremely useful for mob tanking, as weaker mooks will barely deal any damage to you.

Regeneración recovers health every 3 seconds and gives 30% resistencia al daño (at rank 3). The recovery increases based on how much damage you take between intervals while the resistance decreases, but blocking attacks will reduce the amount recovered as well. The amount recovered is suitable for regular content, but the extremely low damage resistance and the fact it’s reduced (without the Moonstruck power) when taking damage makes it far less ideal for challenging content.

Personal Force Field grants a high-capacity damage shield that accounts for defenses and regenerates over time. A small amount of damage will get through each hit you take. There are two major issues with this passive; uno, the rate at which it regenerates is decreased as you take damage, and two,

it does not give any damage resistance. De nuevo, suitable for regular content, but not a good idea in challenging content.

Aside from passive, another factor to consider is what Block Upgrade to use. While a majority mitigate 360% damage at rank 3, a select few have higher values.

Escudo de energíafrom Power Armor grants 380%, making it the best overall damage block,

Telekinetic Shieldfrom Telekinesis grants 410% to Physical damage (360% to non-physical), y

Eldritch Shieldfrom Arcane Sorcery grants 410% to Non-physical damage (360% to physical).

Mientras tanto, there are a couple that can be detrimental to Cosmic encounters–aquellos que son

Fire Shieldy

Electric Shield. The former because it can leave a DoT on attackers in melee-range, which would be bad for any targets attacking you that need to be Controlled instead of attacked, and the latter because it automatically deals damage to anything close to you, which again, could hit targets that need to be Controlled, not engaged.

Two more things to consider, one is to use a power that easily triggers your Form, such as using a power with Knock with Enrage. As my mentor taught me, the less buttons a tank has to press, cuanto mejor. This does not mean you can’t use it if it doesn’t trigger your form, but be sure to have a solid plan if you want to use such. The second is to have an Interrupt power handy; Backhand Chop, Ice Cage with Sub-Zero Cellblock, or Mighty Kick with Boot to the Head. One of the cosmics requires an interrupt for one of the phases, so it’s best to have that on deck. And as a last aside, Ranged powers will always have less base damage than Melee will. Something to keep in mind when selecting your kit.

So how do I play this?

The variance from DPS role is going to depend on what kind of content you’re doing. The harder the content, the more you’ll have to block and learn the timing of openings to attack. For regular content, you can deal damage as regular, just block special attacks… or if you’re beefy enough, you can ignore them altogether. A tank should also always have an AoE with Challenge to gain attention from mobs. I find it easier to use PB(point blank)AoEs with decent range (15-25pie), preferably with a knock-to, but cone AoEs work as well. Cylinder AoEs aren’t very recommended unless you can move around quickly via speed or flight. Energy can be an issue with tanks since they have reduced amounts and don’t always have specializations to give them discounts, but they also gain increased energy from blocking, so holding that for a couple seconds can bounce your energy back to however much you need. More specific means to play will be narrowed down based on build.

Dealing with Cosmics: Kigatilik

This is the fun part.

Kiga This will be the most damage-intensive fight for a tank and second-most important place to have the damage mitigation and health. Fase 1 can be annoying, but it is why you bring an interrupt. A CC (Crowd Controller) will get the dogs under control, it’ll be your job to take the dogs 1 por 1 to the other side of the field where you and the DPS can safely dispatch them. Sin embargo, dogs don’t like being controlled, and will periodically attempt to Howl, which breaks all dogs free of control and increases their damage dealt. This is indicated by a large blue wireframe, along with the dogs stopping and bobbing their head. They bob their head a total of 3 veces, and you have to use your interrupt after the 3rd bob to successfully stop it. If you use it too early, they will just re-cast Howl and will be immune to interrupt. They will regularly use this, so always be paying attention to their animations and interrupt as needed until they’re down for the count. Once you’re at the fourth dog, you may stop interrupting, but it’s good practice to continue doing so anyway. Don’t be discouraged if you mess up an interrupt, as phase 1 is easily repeatable and the CC can even re-control the dogs if they happen to break free. Para ese fin, you can also hit each dog if they’re awake and hold block while moving towards the CC’s side to attempt to let them control the dogs again.

When you reach phase 2, if you are the main tank, let the CC know when you’re ready and watch for when they go. Once they’ve gone and all 4 dogs are controlled, get to the platform with Kiga as fast as possible and use as many powerful challenge attacks as you have so he shifts targets from the CC to you. Support may be slow to follow you up to the platform, so be sure to have an Active Defense ready or a health-recovering consumable. For positioning, you want to be standing on the same platform as Kiga as close to the edge as possible, facing him away from the stairs. durante el encuentro, you’ll want to be dealing damage as much as you can, do not try to block all of his auto-shots as they come out at varying speeds and it’s better to save yourself from that frustration. If you are taking a lot of damage and not being healed as quickly, block every second shot. When he charges his Ice Blast (often referred to as BAM for the indicator), hold block until you take the damage, and if that damage puts you below 7k HP, keep holding block until you’re healed, as he can very quickly follow up with an auto-attack. When he leans down and starts shaking, he’s charging his ice breath, hold block until he stands back upright. While uncommon, Kiga can still target the Tank with a Frozen Tomb, and if that happens, call it out immediately, as this leaves you totally vulnerable until you’re broken free. It’s ideal to use an Active Defense when this happens, especially if you aren’t being healed very quickly.

Dealing with Cosmics: Qwyjibo

Ape is Much more straightforward than Kiga, positioning is the most important part of this encounter. For positioning, you want to have the ape at the bottom of the hill, and keep him facing towards the sea, as the hearts spawn directly to his East, Oeste, and North. Listen to zone chat to see if you need to adjust your position. Also always be in melee range of Ape, unless you need to move him closer to the sea, in which case hold block until you’re back in melee. Ape’s basic punch attack still deals a truckload of damage, so it’s best to block the second you see his arm swinging down. His punches can be mitigated by additional players, but it’s best this is left to fellow tanks and not unsuspecting DPS or Supports, and it’s still good practice to block even with soak tanks. Ape’s breath will be indicated by him lifting his fists and him swaying a bit, hold block when you see him doing this. These leave lava piles directly behind you that deal 6k damage for standing in them. When the large wireframe appears, he’s preparing a ground slam. Be sure to block this and stay wherever you land until the lava patch drops below you, entonces while holding the block, get back into melee range with him. Ape will throw flaming meteors to anything at a range from him or lower health targets, and these hit tanks especially hard, so always block when re-approaching ape from a distance. Aside that, he will occasionally roar, which is telegraphed and given an indicator. This won’t deal damage to you, but it will Hold you, so block at least half of the cast to avoid being stunned.

Dealing with Cosmics: Teleiosaurus

Dino The most simple yet most deadly. Your job here will depend on how geared you are. If you are the main tank, you will need to position the main dino, nicknamed mom, close to the palm tree at the edge of her patrol range, and hold a position facing opposite of the mountain. Bloquear todo of mom’s attacks–bites, aliento, wireframes, todo. Dino is notoriously strong, and this is where you’ll need the most practice in knowing when you can deal damage between blocks. A single missed block and result in instant death. When Mom is at 2/3rds HP, she will summon a baby dino, which an assigned Baby Tank will quickly grab aggro from and position it away from the rest of the group. Hold block when the baby spawns, as most of the time it’s first attack will be breath, and getting hit with it unblocked will reduce your defense.

If you are the baby tank, I recommend you watch an experienced baby tank at least once to get an idea of the positioning, but the gist is that you bring the baby a short ways up the mountain–emphasis on short–and keep them facing the opposite way of mom, as well as being far enough to the side so that mom’s tail swipes don’t hit you and the baby doesn’t tail swipe the DPS pile. There’s only a 50 foot range you can move, so be careful on how far you take the baby. If it goes too far, mom will Frenzy, which significantly increases her damage dealt and more often than not, that is enough to kill everyone present even while blocking. While the baby dying won’t trigger frenzy, it will revive shortly after and threat will be reset on it, so it’ll eagerly run towards the DPS pile and use Breath again, so it’s best to keep it out of AoE ranges and to not try and kill it yourself. If you are baby tanking, you can simply hold block until the encounter’s over once you’ve gotten the baby in a good position. Sin embargo, you may need to rack up a bit more score to get credit for the open mission, so you can deal some damage to the baby for that. It is the same deal as mom, aunque, block every attack. Baby is not as deadly as mom, but it still hurts quite a bit.

(I do not have advice on Eidolon, desafortunadamente, as I’ve never tanked it, but having witnessed, it seems to be mostly a matter of blocking his shadow embrace and other AoEs while facing him away from DPS piles, and to gather portal guardians onto the orbs during Red Orb phase. I did not want to create a new section for this, so this is where the note shall be.)

In Conclusion…

Tank is a very engaging role to play when it comes to group content. It’s one I find, personalmente, very fun to do, and I love finding all the ways I can viably tank with different powerframes. There are other things I didn’t cover in this guide, such as Destroids Rise Again, Lairs, and Event Cosmics, but most of those involve the same things; positioning and blocking wireframes. Tank is a vital role, so it’s important to have them in this game, so I hope this helps people understand how to perform the role. I’ll be publishing tank builds in time to come, and the more specific gameplans for them will center around the knowledge here, so this is a companion piece to any of those I make in the future.