[trigillass]

This post is an open discussion about the many and varied means to resist being killed. To be relevant, the threads added after must include input on one of the following topics:

-Race Selection
-Stats Selection
-Gear Selection
-Class Selection
-Talent Selection
-Trait Selection
-Tactics
-PVE or PVP

Thank you in advance for your contribution to growing knowledge.

[Sawrock]

It depends on what kind of tanking you want to do. There's no just one "tanking" since every type has blindspots that, due to the stat system, make in unreliable. For example, I could be a Chaturangan Black Knight but have no room for resistance. I could be a Void Assassin with a focus on resistance and dodging but if someone with a GUI build manages to hit me, I'm down in two shots. Even if you're resistant to damage all over there's crit builds that can slice through you like hot butter and/or status builds that can wear you down slowly or use wincoins like bottomless Enma's Summon.

So, with in regards to the topic at hand, what kind of tanking do you mean? Physical? Magical? Status? Critcal? All of the above while somehow seemingly not making your offensive presence null?

(Edit: Corrected someone to somehow)

[trigillass]

That actually adds a new parameter; PVE or PVP.

[FaeLenx]

For PvE, the best tanking is having summons or deployables that you can heal up and keep getting targeted by enemies. Or be a runemage and put your runes under smoke, enemies will attack that rune forever. (1 smoke and 1 null rune means an enemy will sit there attacking it forever and ever). Generally, tricking the AI is your best bet.

For PvP, denying damage can be done through so many avenues. Besides the obvious stacking of DR or Evasion, you can use Spellthief Phantasms to waste actions, simply *move away* from your enemy to deny them the chance to deal damage, debuff the enemy to deal less damage, have a natural form of healing or status immunity that helps you tank and hold like Glykin or Dullahan...

For PVP, you get creative. And the one thing you're going to hear from a tank who is used to taking 30 damage from a stacked glass cannon is 'Arbalest is bullshit' while someone stacking 60 celerity is going to run a TRAIN on that arbalest because it's a class that's extremely susceptible to dodge stacking.

And don't knock dodge stacking either. Even my hit stacking, rifle magic gunner could still be knocked down to 10% hit chance against characters built to evade. And people with 100% hit chance were kited and beaten much more reliably than them.