Party tanking for fighters - Updated
 

Well I've decided to try my hand at writing a short guide on fighter tanking in parties. To most people, what I have to say is just general common sense but I've come across a surprising amount of comments in the game and out of the game about fighters not doing their jobs properly when tanking in parties.

If you use these tactics people will be more inclined to choose you over another fighter and using these tactics will ensure that people will actually want you in their parties.

These tactics are best used in a party with 3+ players. A cleric for healing, a fighter for tanking and a mage for damage dealing. This character mix is especially important when hunting in areas like the Prison or Goblin Camp.

Skills that should be used:

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/7523/tauntiy7.jpg Snearing Kick also known as Taunt - fast cooldown

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/4449/mocksz1.jpg Mock(AOE Taunt) - slow cooldown

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/4...esliceren7.jpg Bone Slicer - damage skill that slows down the targets attack speed. - slowish cooldown.

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/7818/stunuu4.jpg Stun - For those times when you need 1 less monster hitting you if you've been overrun by mobs.

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/9...vastateff9.jpg Later on: Devastate - AOE damage + stun - Using this skill will mean that you cannot use your normal stun attack till the cooldown has worn off - Additionally this skill only works on the monsters in front of your character(semi circular).

When the skills should be used:

Taunt

If you're just dealing with 1 mob you can use the taunt skill to lure it away from other mobs so you're not getting overwhelmed, but this should still be used if there are not any other mobs around.

The main reason for using it is to cause aggro, this means the mob will ignore all the other party members, even those dealing damage to it, and it will attack you. By casting taunt before the mob is attacked by the rest of the party, you ensure that it will stay focused on you as the designated tank and this will save you time as the rest of the party won't need to chase it down if it starts attacking your party mage or archer.

Taunt should also be used if a mob is attacking anybody other than the fighter(especially if a mob is attacking the party mage or archer), that way the healer only has to focus on 1 person, instead of 2 or 3. By ensuring that the healer only has to worry about 1 person party members will die less often.

If a monster attacks your mage or archer make sure you this skill on the monster attacking them. You're there to tank, they're there to deal damage, so use taunt so they don't have to worry about monsters attacking them.

Mock

This is used if your party gets overrun, as the normal taunt will only work on one monster. This should be used to it maximum effect as it has a long cooldown time so you want to try and get maximum results when using it.

As mentioned above with the normal taunt, use this to gain the aggro of all monsters, so your party healer only has to worry about healing you and the damage dealers don't need to worry about using hit and run tactics to stay alive.

Bone Slicer

I use bone slicer on all mobs as it means the party healer isn't going to be wasting stones healing me, as bone slicer lowers a monsters attack speed. Its not necessary with just 1 monster but will mean your party can make longer trips.

Bone slicer can be a life saver if you've had to use mock(The AOE Taunt) to aggro 4 or more mobs, there have been a few times where just lowering the attack speed of 1 monster has saved my life as it meant the the healer had a little extra time to heal me.

This is also a "must use" against bosses, which can deal huge amounts of damage, your healer would otherwise not be able to keep up with if the boss is attacking at full speed.

Stun

Don't worry about using stun if you're only dealing with 1 or 2 monsters. The main reason for using stun is the same as bone slicer, it can save your life if you've got 4 monsters attacking you and you need to slow the damage down a bit.

This is another useful skill when fighting bosses as the healer doesn't need to worry about healing you if the boss is stunned.

Devastate(AOE damage + stun)

This isn't the most practical skill around, as it uses over 100 SP's even with 1 skill point in it to lower SP consumption. This can be used in conjunction with the mock skill.

If there are 4 mobs attacking the party use your mock skill. The monsters will attack you, don't use devastate immediately run away a few steps so that the monsters will chase you. This will ensure that they all gather in 1 place to attack you. By doing this you make sure that devastate will have an effect on all 4 monsters instead of ignoring the mobs that may have been hitting your character from behind.

An additional use for devastate is that it can be used to cause aggro on more than 1 monster if you're still waiting for your mock cooldown time to run out.

How Builds And Weapons May Affect The Damage Dealt and Received.

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Thats all i have to say on the subject although i might add more once i have access to more skills.

I know most of the stuff mentioned above is common sense but not all fighters seem to know this, so just thought I would put this together so people can't have an excuse for being bad or lazy tanks.

Big thanks to Claude(Stryfe) and Revy on their input.
Opinions or suggestions are welcome.

Nice guide, but I have a question about stats, im thinking of going 1:1 END:SPR since im going to be tanking most of the time and not really going solo it's a pretty good setup because of the natural increase of STR the fighters have and the +Crits the SPR adds I'll be able to do good DMG. The reason I brought this up is maybe you can give me your insight and I think it would go good with the strategies you've already posted.

wow. thnx for the taunt guide. I seriously did not know what it was used for :P.
Ima buy that skill now XD!

Nice guide.
I have united a party with Andy. I think... he is PRO =)

--Tactics for damage dealers
We should see the enemy whom tank did taunt and attack it, for don't make the tank(and cleric) worried.

You can use TAB key to find the target when there are a lot of enemies.
If you find enemy which HP decreased, perhaps the tank is attacking it. And you should attack it together.

Good guide.

I don't have a fighter but yes, I love partying with fighters who does the things you have listed, especially taunt. :3

I never knew that. o:

Very informative.

-round of applause- *looks around to make sure no one is looking-*grabs the Megaphone and* ANDY IS PRO....lol seriously nice guide :D maybe Sasuke will read it an stop killing me and Fire in Conceal Peak lol :mad:

Huh, didn't think Taunt can be so important. :P Is it a good idea for all types of fighters though? This might be GREAT for defensive fighters who has high hp and defense.

But for the kind of build I'm making (STR:SPR), it has low defense and HP as a tanker, but high damage. Chances are I'd die easily compared to the rest of the fighters, but still last longer than archers and mages.

It'd be good to have your input.

Also another question; is there a prequisite for Mock? Or I can just get it straight away?

First of all your build should not have a big effect on your tanking if a decent cleric is around, thats why i suggested the character mix of cleric, fighter and mage. I have 11 endurance, 5 dex with the rest of my points in strength and have no problem soloing either. Just don't try taking on 4 king coll's and 4 other mobs at once, thats just suicide.

I'm a 1 handed fighter so the shield might make a difference but i'm not sure how much difference that makes in damage taken. (I'll ask Claude to post his input on that, as he recently changed from 2h to 1h)

Only prerequisite for mock is the level requirement, but i'm not sure on the level requirement, i'll be adding that information once the game starts again so i can confirm skill names and level requirements in game.

Taunts useful in any situation be it in parties or soloing its probably my most used skill after slice and dice. Its best not to take my numbers on how many monsters to take on at once too seriously. The best thing to do is to start with 1 at a time then work your way up to 2 then 3 until you figure out just how many you can tank at once with a cleric around.

Sorry for the late response lol, I just now read your message.

First of all, great job with the guide. There are only a few Fighters I know of that can fully utilize the Mock/Taunt skills and truly be a good tank. This guide should help a lot of parties in the future.

Second, I dedicated my entire Closed Beta Fighter to test out the capabilities of all 3 weapon types, not just 2Hand sword and 1Hand Sword. When tanking, 1Hand swords are obviously more superior when compared to 2hand swords, and 2hand Axes. However, just how much of a difference are there between the 2Hand Weapons, and 1Hand Weapons in terms of damage output, and tanking power? Also, what's the difference between 2hand axes and 2hand swords in the same aspects? I focused my build around determining the differences between the weapon type, and hopefully coming up with a conclusion before the CB phase ends.

The following information is very rough, for I haven't put in the exact statistics as of yet. When CB2 comes, I'll be sure to post more accurate information.

1Hand Swords Vs. 2Hand Swords
-The Attack speed difference between the two is .3 seconds.
-The average damage difference between the 2 weapons are 20. The damage difference between the 2 can go as low as 10, and as high as 40. The damage tends to lean towards the "High" point usually, but the average remains the same throughout lvls 30-40. I'm not certain wether this pattern will stay through during the 50's and 60's, though I have a pretty good idea that it will.
-The difference in damage received is around 30~40. Combine this with the "Toughness" skill of 1hand swords, there is a huge difference between the tanking capabilities of 1hand swords and 2Hand swords.
-I've yet to determine the difference of average damage between 2hand swords and 1hand swords when taking Attack Speed into consideration. (In other words, which one will do more damage overall as time goes on? This little comparison will be the absolute factor in determining which build is the best against bosses)
-The conclusion I've come to so far is that the damage dealt, isn't enough to warrant the loss of such defensive advantages, atleast for the levels involving 20~40. I'm almost sure that the statistics and ratio between the two factors will change dramatically, in the 60's. 2Hand Sword fighters doing really good, strictly depends on the Stat Build, therefore, won't show its true "potential" until in the later levels. However, this is pure speculation for I've yet to reach that said level. Hopefully, in CB2, I'll be able to make some final observations.

1Hand Swords Vs. 2Hand Axes
-The comparisons are pretty much the same, except it's even slower by .3 seconds. However, the damage is more unstable, and staggers a bit more with its min and max damage.

2Hand Swords Vs. 2Hand axes
-I haven't spent too much time comparing these two, for honestly, I'm not a fan of axes. However, I find myself doing better against bosses and high DEF monsters with an axe, compared to the 2Hand Sword, while 2Hand swords are more optimal against monsters that have less defense.

I'd like to add one thing, although Taunt was originally made to help parties and make sure that the tank stays the tank, Taunt also has its uses when soloing. I apologize if this was already mentioned.

Also, Andy's right. The Builds don't really play a big role in terms of tanking as of yet anyways. A good cleric is more important. I don't really see a big difference of change with different "Builds". I've experimented with the use of rings. However, I have a pretty good speculation that builds become really important near the end. For example, 2Hand Sword/Axe pure offense builds will start to see the fruits of their labor when the Dmg+ Starts to accumulate, and 1Hand Sword pure Tank builds gets a significant HP/DEF/Block boost with high END in conjunction with a high lvl toughness skill.

Anyways, I decided to post everything instead of simply answering (The answer's in Bold if you want to bypass all the text) the question because I believe that this'll contribute somehow to the guide.

Thanks Claude, nicely put. ;D

I didn't realise just how much you had compared the weapons. Might be an idea to copy and paste that information into a separate thread as I think people will find the information useful for deciding which way to go in terms of weapon choice.

I plan on doing so eventually, perhaps sometime around CB2. This way, I can include the actual stats, as well as provide the differences in the later levels and the final conclusions.

@ Stryfe

Nicely done. I'd always wondered how axes would fare against 2h swords. Your stats are a bit rough, but the overall product outweighs this! =)

Thanks a lot :O That's a lot of information from a short question. :P
Looks like I'll have to get Taunt for CB2. :3 And so far it's safe to say that it'll be a better choice to use 1-H swords because the damage dealt on the other weapons isn't enough to make up for the defense lost? At least from lvls 20-40.
Well, I'll still probably choose a 2-handed weapon, personal preference. XD

Thanks again, both pros AndyB and Stryfe :P

Nice guides both Claude and AndyB. I suggest putting Claude's post into the guide if possible? ^^

For those who didn't buy/use Snearing Kick (aka Taunt O.o): get it ASAP, even if you aren't partying. It's a highly usefull skill, basically this is what makes you able to solo, since it's like a ranged attack - you can pull one monster out from an agro crowd with this, so you can stick to 1v1 fight instead of 1v3++.

Also, 2 little things i'd like to add:
Mock: It has a cap; maximum amout of monsters affected is 5.

Demoralizing Hit (or w/e it's called): An AoE skill which reduces the damage dealt by the monsters around you. Can be lifesaver when your cleric spaces out.

Claude that is a really long Guide! lol
I wonder why isn't anyone building a guide for Archer's! that will really help!

Heh, Skeith as the highest level archer are you volunteering? :rolleyes:

AndyB, i don't know what to write or the topic of my guide. lol

@Everyone: Thanks for the compliments.

@AndyB: I was just about to say that, lol.

@Skeith: I'll be glad to help with the format, I'll just need your input on a couple of things.

Ok claude! =)

Updated the guide with Claude and Revy's input.

Guides are quite easy to start Skeith even if you're wording is a bit off just write what you feel about the class...people will either take it or leave but most will take it.:D

GRRR...somebody make Sasuke read this guide >_< he pwnzored us in Concealed Peak because he does not use Snaring King. and because 2 hand warriors cant tank for crap >_< get shields xD

if the cleric is good, 2h axe fighters FIGHTERS FIGHTERS can tank...

and on the topic 1h sword vs 2h sword, the 2h sword does a larger damage over time...mainly because its speed is not much slower and the crit on it is fairly high. even though it has 1% more than the 1h sword, that 1% is actually quite a bit, don't under-estimate it. granted the axe's crit are more worthy of praise, but its not really as useful in leveling purposes, its more usefull against monsters that you can't take down very quickly like elite monsters.

I'm pretty much a tri-fighter ;p i got all skills 1hsword,2hsword,2haxe - hella expensive and my stats is more toward the 2haxe, but i still do well with 1h and shield

*elite monster is a one of those monsters that are different and lot more stronger but not strong as bosses in KQs, like fighter ratman, hero slime, fighter mushroom, Jewel Grave Robber, piggy bat (dang that thing has too much hp) etc etc

Fighter = Soemone who is well rounded in both defense and physical attack
Warrior = Soemone who excels in physical damage dealing.
Defender= Soemone who excels in defense.

I think using that terminology will get confusing as the job changes for a fighter are fighter, clever fighter, and warrior...
It will be hard to tell which type they are talking about.

you do know that axes have the least acc., then 2hands, then 1hands. If you go pure STR for 2handaxe, or sword, you will need to toss a few points into dex. And i really dont see the point of adding to STR at all. You get 1.2 extra dmg for each free stat you put in. there are more useful ones to dump them into like END, or SPR, or DEX if you are 2hands.135 x 1.2 = 162. you will only get an extra 162dmg if you go pure str. and thats only if you hit. OR survive long enough to kill them -_-;;

IMO, dumping points into dex would more or less be a waste. As seen in game, there is already a LOT of scrolls, and there is accuracy and evasion increasing tiers (scrolls). Bearing that in mind, there is no scrolls for power. None at all. I do agree dumping some on spr is a nice idea though, since there isn't anything that adds extra crits.

END is great, lots of HP and def, but I think some of its features will be wasted as a 2-h sword or axe fighter. Cos end boosts shield block%, but without a shield, that feature is useless. If that is the case, wouldn't you want your points to have a complete effect over the character you're making?

Besides, as said before, there are so many scrolls to increase your stats, but none increases power.

Of course I am speaking without much experience but still, these are my opinion and facts I've concluded.

I agree with this above poster dex wise, i hit pretty consistently and i haven't even touched dex. There are scrolls too.
2handed will need end though in the end, to make up for the lack of defense. They'll need it even MORE once they get vitality. (Dramatically increases str at the cost of defense.)
Spr works great with fighters too, their COMPLETELY horrible magic def is something that needs to be compensated for not only for just the extra critical power. If you really don't think you need end, i would recommend this.


On the other hand in the scroll making descriptions there is "apparently" a scroll that does increase power. This scroll recipie is actually for accuracy increase, but for all we know, it could just be another bug preventing us from accessing these power scrolls.

Then again, power scrolls i've never seen dropped by mobs...


Normally i would reply to a thread like this ages ago but i'm lazy... Good guide you got here..

Strength potions or whatever they're called add crit and str which increases attack power. Hopefully all recipes will be available in cb2, so potion makers can start producing them. One of the scrolls also increases crit, think its the concentration scroll.

@rokaraged - while its true that vitality lowers defense you can use a scroll to compensate for the lost defense.

Agree with what you both said about dex, not much point in adding to it since fighters seems to have fairly decent accuracy without scrolls, even when using 2h.

Those "Power Scroll"s have a buggy translation. They're the ones increasing your aim, actually. ^^

Yea, there are STR and DEX potions, but recipes weren't accessible.

However, with a 2h axe, i would think about adding DEX. Axes have even less accuracy than 2h swords, and evasion comes in handly, maybe it's even better than the def from end, since you can evade magic attacks too (can you? O.o). Btw the HP from END is +5hp/point, which isn't too good.

as to the dex reply...honestly..i rarely missed...the only times i missed was going up agianst elite monsters and red monsters...and thats without the aim scroll

btw, there is a scroll that increases your crit by 1%? or was it 2%...it was one of them xDD lol

btw vitality...will be another boss-battle skill mainly...

level 1 vitality acquired at level 20 from Item Merchant Nina (? - aka fame merchant) for 400 fame.
Raises attack by 62 and decreases def by 30
Lasts for 1minute and cooldown is 3 minutes without any empowerments

Thanks for the insight, didn't think attack power-ups would be thrown into the potion section. >.> Opens a new light for potion recipes. XD

Have you even seen how much def vitality takes off? Even at level one the defense is very signifcantly more than most scrolls adds on. If you think a def scrol will compensate BOTH for no end AND vitality, you won't last long unless you got some greatly refined armor

Images added, not sure if I'll be able to update the guide with my experience from later skills as I've hit the 10000 character limit. Big thanks to Fireriot for providing the images.

I've just went through some fighter skill lists, and I saw both Snearing Kick and Mock has a second level.

I can see that Mock increases in how many enemies they can attract, but what in the world does Snearing kick increase? The description, the only thing that was different was the massive SP cost, but the distance and effect seems to be the same.

Could any high lvled explain this?

I haven't gotten it yet but if i'm correct it increases the power of the taunt.. This works great if your trying to pull a boss monster off another friend that is a bit stubborn.

Taunts don't always work especially if your trying to pull off monsters off a friend who himself has alot of agro.

I haven't tested it yet, but that's what most of us have assumed in game, since mage's can cause more agro than a fighter's taunt at times, it makes sense to have a taunt that causes even more agro to get the mob away from your party mage.

I remember mobs in Marlone Dungeon ignoring my taunts, but since i've got the skill to lvl2, no mobs are ignoring it anymore.