The Tanking Guide

[dashrandom]

Contents
I. Definition of Tanking
II. Definition of a Tanker
III. Suitable Tankers
IV. The Art of Tanking
1) Holding Aggro
a) Threat Percentage
b) Use of the One Minute Rule
c) Tanking through damage vs. tanking through threat
d) AOE skills
2) Staying Alive
a) Shields and Block Ratio
b) Essence of Invulnerability
c) Evasion
3) Situational Awareness
V. Recommended Equipment and Strategies
1) Knight
2) Champion
3) Soldier
4) Soul Breeder

I. What is Tanking?
Basically tanking constitutes 2 things, a) holding aggro and b) staying alive.

II. What is a Tanker?
A tanker is a character with the ability to tank, either with his own character, or with a pet.

III. Who are good Tankers?
Knights, Champs, Soldiers and Soul Breeders are probably the best tankers you will find. Other classes either have problems holding aggro or die too fast to be good tanks.

IV. How do I tank?
As mentioned earlier, tanking is split into 2 tasks. I will cover each task in specific.

1) Holding Aggro
In order to hold aggro well, a good tank must build threat level (sometimes known as Hate) against the correct monster in the correct situation.

What do you mean by correct monster? Isn't smacking the monster everyone is attacking sufficient?
Nope. If you go through what I call "tab-killing" which is basically cycling through TAB+F1 in a DP, you're not going to tank effectively. Why? Because in Rappelz, monsters have a unique aggro system. Attacking certain monsters will build threat level against a group of similar monsters, while attacking other monsters will only build threat level against the monster itself.

What does this mean? It means that if you attack a single monster, you can build the exact same threat level against a large stack of monsters, i.e. you don't need to attack the same monster that everyone is attacking to build threat level against it.

Ah, ok. I get it, so how do I tell which monster to attack?
To be honest, the only way is through experience. For example, in CV Con 2 DE, the Eye Grinders in the area are mostly of the shared threat level type. If you attack an Aggressive, Screaming or Retailating Eye Grinder, you will build aggro against any that spawn in the DE. Conversely, attacking the Destructive and Hungry ones will only build threat level against that single monster.

Right, so I get the correct monster part, but, how does the situation we're in come into the picture?
Basically, it means that if your party is attacking a mob that isn't aggro-linked (*I will use this term alot from here on, it refers to mobs that build threat level against similar mobs when attacked), and there are aggro-linked mobs in the vicinity, don't join them. Go for the aggro-linked mob instead, since you can build threat directly against 2 mobs by attacking one.

Ah, ok, so just focus attacking on aggro-linked mobs and I'll be fine, right?
Wrong. If that was the case, anybody can tank. In order to achieve sufficient threat rate which must exceed the threat produced by the DDs in your party, you have to do a few more things.

a. Use skills: Using high threat level skills such as Spiracle Cannon or skills specifically meant to increase threat level such as provoke will keep your threat level above that of your party members. Also if the skill is a damage skill with high threat level (i.e. increases threat based on the damage you deal instead of producing a fixed amount), it would be better to use chips and/or defence reducing skills before using the skill in question. One-off high damage skills can also be used to increase threat level as damage builds threat.

b. Use chips: As mentioned above, using chips before using skills is important, however, for classes like Champions or Battle Summoners who intend to tank, all the more so, since most of the threat they produce come from damage. Thus, it is important to keep the mob constantly chipped in order to achieve maximum threat.

c. Make use of the skill animation bug: Sometimes, if you press attack fast enough and press a skill hotkey (skill has to be an immediate cast type), then resume pressing attack, you execute your skill animation and immediately follow up with an attack. This is not exactly a bug, but more of an animation problem. The attack and skill start at the same time, however, every attack animation has some startup delay and the skill executes first (since it is instantaneous).

a) Threat Percentage
Threat percentage refers to the percentage of threat that a skill deals based on the damage done. Some skills, build a large fixed absolute amount of threat against a target in one use (e.g. Provocation) and some may/may not deal damage. There are skills however that deal damage and build threat based on a multiplied result of the absolute damage they deal.

The mechanic basically works as follows:
Damage x threat percentage = threat built against target.

Hence, take note of the high threat percentage skills that would be useful for build aggro. Another important point to note is to chip and use P def decreasing skills on the mob before using high threat percentage skills since it is the damage dealt that actually builds threat.

b) Use of the one minute rule to gain aggo
Ever had trouble holding aggro despite having the highest P def in a party? Especially against bosses like Abhuva and Taranaida that have
"aggro-dumping" abilities (basically cancel all threat level that has been produced against it, resetting everyone's threat level against it to zero)? Fear not, there is hope yet.

The one-minute rule can be described as a bug, although it is seems to be more of a feature of the monster system in Rappelz. The original post has been deletd, however a repost be found here. Simply put, if you attack a monster, then stop, and attack it again one minute later, you will not lose aggro till the mob is dead UNLESS someone with a higher threat rate then does the 1 minute rule to it as well.

The one minute rule can be extremely useful for tanking raid bossesm, especially for characters with high P def but difficulty holding aggro.

Further explanation of the 1 minute rule.

c) Tanking through damage vs. tanking through threat

I have dedicated a section specially to this topic to show that many people have misconstrued presumptions about Champs and B Summoners tanking.

If I were to pick a class to act as a tank, I'm never going to ask a Knight to do it for me, unless it is a raid boss and he uses the one-minute rule.

Why? Simply because, a Knight tanks through a mixture of threat level and threat percentage. Champs tank almost purely through damage since most of their threat level and threat percentage skills are long cooldown and consume ridiculous amounts of MP. Most good Champs can outdamage most good Knights their level. In order to tell if a Knight is outdamaging a Champ, one cannot base it on aggro alone as Knights have skills that raise threat level based on a percentage of the damage done and more fixed threat level skills than a Champ. However, if a Champ is holding aggro and the Knight is unable to steal it from him, then the Champ must be outdamaging the Knight since they have few Threat Level based skills and their threat comes mostly from damage.

To put it simply:

Champs: 90% damage + 10% threat skills
Knights: 70-80% damage + 20-30% threat skills

If Knight cannot gain aggro, his combined (assuming best case scenario) 80% damage and 20% threat skills cannot beat a Champ's combined 90% damage and 10% threat skills. Hence if the Champ is dealing 100 more threat than the Knight.

Champ: x+100
Knight: 100

Damage from Champ: [(x+100)/10]x9 = (9x/10) + 9
Damage from Knight: (x/10)x8 = (8x/10)

Hence the Champ is dealing (x/10) + 9 more damage than the Knight. Do note the figures are purely statistical and only for presentation sake.

But why is tanking through damage so important to me?
a. Tanking through damage means you are contributing to DDing.
b. If you are able to tank through damage, that means you have the most damage output in the whole party, save for Assassins with Oblivion on.
c. Tanking through damage means you are killing mobs faster, essential when DPing.
d. Tanking through damage means you aren't relying on your active skills so much, with less dependence on MP.
e. As the point above, it means you can continue to hold aggro with zero or low MP.

I'm in no way slamming Knights in this post, because Knights have their own advantage in shields and breakers. Refer to the section under staying alive with regards to shields and block ratio.

d) AOE skills
A very important section I almost forgot about till someone brought it up in a reply to the thread (contributors help! Post constructive feedback, questions and I can improve the guide )

AOE skills can build a absolutely massive amount of threat in the shortest time possible, either through damage or the "threat percentage" of the skill. If the AOE skill builds an fixed absolute amount of threat, then it isn't as useful for building threat.

How to use AOE skills effectively:

Positioning
In order to achieve maximum efficiency with your AOE skill ,you have to position your character in the middle of many mobs as possible. Also ensure that the mobs are relatively stationary (i.e. aggro won't jump) and execute your AOE attack to hit as many mobs as possible.

Mobs attacked
It is better to hit only 2 aggro linked mobs than to hit 1 aggro linked mob and 2 non-aggro linked mobs. Why? By virtue of them being aggro linked, the AOE attack will build 200% threat on all surrounding mobs.

Calculation
2 Non-aggro linked mobs and 1 aggro linked mob
Aggro linked = 100% threat against it
Non aggro linked 1 = 100% threat against it + 100% from aggro linked mob = 200%
Non aggro linked 2 = 100% threat against it + 100% from aggro linked mob = 200%

2 aggro linked mobs
Aggro linked 1 = 100% threat against it + 100% from aggro linked mob = 200%
Aggro linked 2 = 100% threat against it + 100% from aggro linked mob = 200%

If the no. of aggro linked mobs increases to 3, the effect is more obvious, with a total of 300% built against all aggro linked mobs and 400% threat built against all non-aggro linked mobs.

Selecting a mob to use an AOE skill on
When selecting a mob to use an AOE skill on, it is better to choose a "fresh" unchipped aggro linked mob. This is because the eventual damage dealt on the mob determines the threat level built against the rest of the mobs. If the mob is at low HP and less damage is dealt to it because the damage has already exceeded its max HP, threat built will be less as well. Why unchipped? Because the constant trend in DPs is to immediately kill chipped mobs for efficient killspeed. If you are the chipper in the party as well, chip a mob, let them go for it, then chip a "fresh" one and use your AOE with both in close proximity for maximum results.

2) Staying Alive
As lame as it may sound, not many people know what "staying alive" constitutes. At least in tanking terms, it doesn't refer to logging out when your HP drops to 10%. As a tank, prepare to die. As a good tank, prepare to die alot.

I don't get you, you tell me staying alive is important, then tell me to prepare to die alot. What gives?
A good tank dies when he has to. To me, if a good tank is dead, the party better as hell prepare to relog, especially clerics healing the tank before his/her death. Quoting an experience that happened to me recently, in CV 2 Crusty DE 1.

Was killing in a DP, I instructed one of clerics to turn his PoV the exit of the DE as Crusty was hanging out near the entrance while healing. Now if Crusty walked into the DE, I would've used Provoke and drank a Wind potion and ran to the stairs and died there. Why? a) Crusty coming in will probably mean cleric down, party dead. Losing one life is better than getting the DP screwed up. b) I choose to be the sacrifice because I'm not sure if anyone else can get to stairs without dying first. c) Stairs is a place normally void of mobs, hence, it'll be easy to ress me.

In similar situations, the tank has to make a sacrifice and hold out long enough till the party gets to safety. After all, it's only a game

Ok, I get the dying part, so how about the staying alive part?
Staying alive does not refer to the following:
- Logging off
- Running away

It does refer to howevever, to the following:
- Having good enough equips to be able to shrug off sufficient damage
- Investing in good soulstones and rings for the same reason
- Making sure your party scrolls your cleric and keeps him from running flat on MP
- Using stuns and disables to try and survive (especially if your cleric does run out of mp
- Using potions for the same reason
- Using debuffs/buffs to take less damage or kill the monster faster (thus achieving the same effect)

a) Shields and Block Ratio
Shields are useless. Every single time I hear that, it reminds me of only 1 thing. Epic 2 Fighter Guide.

Everyone was telling me how axes were everything for a Fighter, Swords were useless, and a sword and shield made less sense (back then there were no 1H axes).

Now, even more so, shields will play a HUGE part in mitigating damage for Knights.

I've often said, the big advantage a Knight has over a Champion in terms of survivability is his shield. This is because:
a. Champs have naturally more vit than Knights (thus more P def)
b. Champs mostly go 2H or dual wield because of their lack of shield passives/actives
c. A +4 Shield and +4 Armor are better than a +8 Armor.

Once again, why? Because of the minimum damage limit implemented in E4. Every mob has a minimum damage limit that cannot be reduced, i.e. if your P def is 1k and the mob does it's minimum damage to you, e.g. 200, it will steal deal 200 damage to you even if your P def is 200k.

The one and ONLY one way to consistently bypass the minimum damage limit at a frequent rate is a shield. Blocks and perfect blocks can either reduce the damage below the limit, or completely ignore damage from an attack.

HW classes are the only class to have Shield passives and actives. From my understanding, with these 2 maxed out, one can easily reach 55-60% block ratio.

That means a 55-60% of adding your shield defense to your total P def every time you are attacked. Shields are also the ONLY piece of armor besides Body Armor that will increase P def by a significant amount for each enchantment level. In layman's term, it's more cost effective to enchant Shields and Body Armor as compared to enchanting Gloves, Boots and Helms. Especially useful to any poor characters out there.

b) Essence of Invulnerability
Many people have told me that this skill is too short, that it would only be better if it lasted for 5 more seconds.

IMO, there's a very effective way for it to be used, considering the fact that it renders you completely invincible to any physical attacks.

a) When you are dying and you need to relog
b) When a boss crits you
c) When a large no. of mobs are aggroed by you

The above situations are all ideal for using Essence of Invincibility. I estimate that it can reduce 1.5-2.5k damage on a R4 Champ when used properly, especially in the last situation.

c) Evasion
Why can't Assassins tank? Every time I hear this question I feel like ripping out my hair. People repeatedly tell me that their evasion makes them appropriate for mitigating damage.

Let me explain why evasion isn't useful for tanking.
a. Evasion is level based. If your level is lower than the mob you're tanking, there's a higher chance of you getting hit. P def on the other hand only takes the target's P atk into considering when mitigating damage.

b. No one can tell you the accuracy of mobs. Since some mobs have lower P atk, others lower HP and whatnot, I suspect that there are some mobs with poor accuracy that makes them good for tanking with evasion. Problem is, there is no effective way to tell, since evasion works as a fixed number vs. a variable rate. Anyone familiar with D&D will be able to understand this, it's simply an armor class vs attack roll calculation where evasion is AC and accuracy is the BAB.

Basically, accuracy varies every time you attack since a randomly generated number is actually added to a fixed rate (your accuracy). If the total is higher than the targets evasion, you hit it, otherwise you miss. So unless you can determine the accuracy of mobs, evasion isn't going to be useful for tanking.

On the other hand, P def works as damage reduction vs a fairly moderate attack damage (crits being the only significant modifier), which makes it easier to decide if the tank can tank at the said spot or not.

c. That being said, no one knows how effective agility is. Since 2 Agility increase one evasion, I'd assume Vitality to be more worth adding, since 1 Vit increases about 3 P def (offhand I can't remember suddenly).Then again, accuracy is a low stat as well, so 1 evasion might actually be quite alot.

That being said, when taking minimum damage from monsters, evasion is a useful stat to have as it "bypasses" the minimum damage limit in a sense. However, I wouldn't recommend sacrificing stone slots to fill with Agi stones instead of Vit stones, especially for Knights and Champs. What one could do is invest in a good Ancient Armor as that adds +5 evasion which is equal to 10 Agility.

3) Situational Awareness
Perhaps the most overlooked ability when it comes to tanking. Sometimes, a bad tanker isn't a bad tanker (i.e. lets other party members die) because he has the wrong class, bad equips or isn't sure of the Rappelz aggro concept. Sometimes, it's merely because he fails to notice some things that others do.

Situational awareness is something that comes from experience. It basically sums of the "skill" of a tanker, minus the knowledge and statistics of his character.

Given the following situation, what one does, can determine life or death in a dungeon:

8 man party: You (tank), Healer, 6x squishy low-defense DDs (think Sins Hunas, SH, CMs, WLs ect.)

Killing in a spot with 3 hawks, 3 orcs and 2 angel adds. All mobs are aggro linked within their mob types. (Yes, it's PP con 3 fast room if any of you were wondering )

Illustration A:
The puller in the party pulls an orc and 2 hawks back. The DDs in the party jump on the orc (closest mob to him). Now, an instinctive reaction would be to try and pull aggro off the squishy DDs, thus fulfilling your role as a tank. However, in this situation, it would be better to get the hawks.

Why? Simply because the orc would aggro a DD, but with everyone attacking it, it would die rather fast. The 2 hawks however, have no one attacking them and will continue pounding away at the puller till someone aggros them. Now the majority of people will think this is common sense, but situational awareness applies to many situations. The next illustration is a ore complex example.

Illustration B:
The puller pulls 2 hawks back. After killing one hawk, an orc spawns and aggros a squishy (either a healer or low defense member of the party). The party jumps on the orc. What do you do?

The correct answer would be to attack the orc as well because:

i) Orc is hitting a low defense member
ii) There are 3 hawks in the area, one just died and one should be attacking you (since all are aggro linked and you should have held aggro on the 1st hawk), which mean only a maximum of 1 more hawk add may spawn but there are 3 orcs in the area. If you ignore the orc that just spawned, it may mean that the remaining 2 orcs may spawn or be drawn to the DDs and 3 orcs will be attacking one of the low defense party members very soon, so you have to pull aggro off that DD.

One last illustration to show the importance of situational awareness.

Illustration C:
You are tanking 3 hawks and an orc spawns and attacks you.

You have a choice to either ignore the orc and continue tanking the hawks or tank the orc.

The correct decision in this situation would be to use Provocation on the orc and continue attacking the hawks till 1 dies, then attack the orc for a few hits and continue tanking the hawk till another dies, then tank the orc.

Confusing? But necessary, let me explain why:

i) If you ignore the hawks and tank the orc, a DD is going to pull aggro from 3 hawks.
ii) If you ignore the orc, the healer is going to pull aggro from the orc with his/her healing.

Therefore, the logical decision would be to quickly gain threat on the orc, then continue tanking the hawks. But why attack the orc after a hawk has died?

Simple.

i) In the process of tanking the hawk till it died, you would have probably received heals from the healer. That would have built threat against 2 groups of mobs, the orc and the hawks.
ii) If you ignore the hawks now, either a DD or the healer is going to pull aggro.
iii) If you ignore the orc now, the healer is going to pull aggro.

Hence, you have to repeat what you did in the first step; quickly gain aggro, either through attacking or using a skill and continue to tank the hawks.

Situational awareness can sometimes be the difference between a dead party and one that barely scrapes through when you are fighting a boss and 3 adds spawn nearby. Pay attention to the no. of mobs in an area, which ones are aggro linked, who is being attacked and how many people are attacking what mob.

Bloopers
A blooper, or a mistake when tanking, due to a mispressed button or hotkey can sometimes make things difficult. i.e. Tabbing too quickly and using Provocation on the wrong mob (as per Illustration A), thereby having the healer pull aggro. However, if you maintain situational awareness, there is a simple way out of bloopers: Using AoE skills.

By using AoE skills, you generate large amounts of threat against different types of aggro linked mobs, thereby letting you ignore that mob type for a while and pulling aggro from the one you should have been tanking in the first place.

V. Recommended Equipment and Strategies
Knights
Weapon: 1H Mace & Shield or 2H Mace
Stones: Vit and Int (Low levels) or Vit and Str
Rings: Vit
Pet: BP or Orc
Belted pet: Yeti
Skills for 1H mace & shield: Spam Shield Blow, Shield Smash, Shield Strike, Stun Mace, Restraint, Provoke, Physical Breaker, Offense Breaker, Defense Breaker, Divine Smash and Mental Breaker. Ensure Active Guard and Divine Cluster and Godly Protection is always on as much as possible. Pet Toggle should be on.
Skills for 2H Mace: Spam Stun Mace, Restraint, Physical Breaker, Offense Breaker, Defense Breaker, Divine Smash and Mental Breaker. Ensure Divine Cluster and Godly Protection is always on as much as possible. Pet Toggle should be on.

Champions
Weapon: 2H axe
Stones: Vit and Str
Rings: Vit
Pet: BP/Skell/Orc
Belted pet: Orc
Skills: Spam Log Split, Wind Cut, Provoke, Spiracle Cannon and Spiracle Bomb. Ensure Barbarian Rage, Spiracle Vitality , Essence of Thunder and Essence of Fire are always on as much as possible. Pet Toggle should be on. Use Mental Concentration when tanking bosses.

*Note: Preferably, try not to have Barbarian Rage and Essence of Fire on at both the same time, especially when tanking Raid bosses like Abhuva or Tara. If you ever die, both your buffs are going to be cooling at the same time and you may drop aggro due to less damage dealt.

Soldier
Weapon: 2H mace
Stones: Int and Vit or Vit and Str
Rings: Vit
Pet: Yeti/Orc
Belted pet: Yeti
Skills: Spam Stun Mace, Restraint, Offense Breaker, Defense Breaker, Divine Smash, Divine Crash, Mighty Crash, Laser Blade and Mental Breaker. Ensure Divine Cluster and Godly Protection is always on as much as possible. Pet Toggle should be on.

Soul Breeder
Weapon: 2H staff
Stones: Int and Vit
Rings: Int
Pet: Yeti/Orc
Belted pet: Pixie
Skills: Heal your damn pet. Ensure Vit Support and Vit Boost are on your pet. Ensure the correct resistance is buffed. Also, ensure pet has Threatening Essence toggle activated.

Contributors: RagzInc (mufieldzwei), SophitiaAlexandra (mikaslayton), (sshades)

[dashrandom]

Placecard in case the first post becomes too big to hold everything.

[patcharin]

Nice guide. However, do you ensure that pet toggle will always hold aggro no matter other DD chars could not take away aggro? What level of threatening skill should be used for pet?

[isanctuary]

I noticed you didn't mention soldiers in your guide, is there any particular reason why you neglected them?

[rangedatkftw]

Speaking as a puller, perhaps some explicit tips on pulling agro off the puller.

On chained pulls, I find alot of tanks end up taking only one of the mobs (often the lowest level) while the others sit there and keep hitting. Means I either

a) Sit there being hit on so I don't generate any more agro and take mobs with me when I go to pull more mobs
b) Fight back, but by the time the tank (and other DD) get to the mob(s), I've generated so much agro, the mob follows me when I go to pull more.

In either case, I get complaints about not pulling fast enough or yanking the current target mob when I go to pull.

Thanks.

[gamebreaker305]

Recommended equipment/Strategies for Knights
Weapon: 1H Mace/Sword & Shield
Stones: Vit and Int
Rings: Vit
Pet: BP or Orc
Skills: Spam Shield Smash, Provoke, Physical Breaker and Mental Breaker. Ensure Active Guard is always on as much as possible. Pet Toggle should be on.

if early to late r4 a 2h mace would be much better for tanking
vit/str/1 int stone
full vit rings
pet Orc/HawkMan or maybe tortus
skills off breaker/def breaker/mental breaker/physical breaker/smite/divine smash/Stun Mace.
Get a good Divine CLuster card.imo Divine CLuster is more to key to gaining aggro than shield mash/provoke

[dashrandom]

Recommended equipment/Strategies for Knights
Weapon: 1H Mace/Sword & Shield
Stones: Vit and Int
Rings: Vit
Pet: BP or Orc
Skills: Spam Shield Smash, Provoke, Physical Breaker and Mental Breaker. Ensure Active Guard is always on as much as possible. Pet Toggle should be on.

if early to late r4 a 2h mace would be much better for tanking
vit/str/1 int stone
full vit rings
pet Orc/HawkMan or maybe tortus
skills off breaker/def breaker/mental breaker/physical breaker/smite/divine smash/Stun Mace.
Get a good Divine CLuster card.imo Divine CLuster is more to key to gaining aggro than shield mash/provoke

If you use a 2H mace, you're better off letting a champ tank because the champ will have more P def and higher P atk.

The ONLY advantage knights have over champs in tanking is block ratio. Without a shield, you can't use your high threat level skills, you can't use active guard, your shield increase passive becomes useless. You can't tank, period.

Speaking as a puller, perhaps some explicit tips on pulling agro off the puller.

On chained pulls, I find alot of tanks end up taking only one of the mobs (often the lowest level) while the others sit there and keep hitting. Means I either

a) Sit there being hit on so I don't generate any more agro and take mobs with me when I go to pull more mobs
b) Fight back, but by the time the tank (and other DD) get to the mob(s), I've generated so much agro, the mob follows me when I go to pull more.

In either case, I get complaints about not pulling fast enough or yanking the current target mob when I go to pull.

Thanks.

Pullers should only attack once when pulling. Especially if it's a SH with a Str/Dex build. The aim of the puller isn't to contribute to DPS, they increase killspeed and survivability at the same time by ensuring that a) the party doesn't get overwhelmed and b) the mobs are still coming at relatively fast intervals.

Btw, as a fighter, you can further improve your role in the party by having some aggro management. I used to Shock Shot or Freezing Arrow mobs that I didn't intend to pull but "tagged" along in the process when I pulled one so as to give the party time to kill the first mob. Also, pay attention to your surroundings. If you notice a mob spawned nearby and probably going to aggro the healer, drop a Arrow of Delay on him to take aggro of the healer and give your party time to kill the mob they're attack at that time (if any).

I noticed you didn't mention soldiers in your guide, is there any particular reason why you neglected them?

Refer to the above regarding knights. Soldiers don't have shields. Soldiers have less P def and P atk than champs. They can't tank per se, but their debuffs can aid the tank in surviving longer.

Nice guide. However, do you ensure that pet toggle will always hold aggro no matter other DD chars could not take away aggro? What level of threatening skill should be used for pet?

Normally, I only use 1 level of Threatening Essence since the remaining levels are not worth adding for the JP cost. The only way the pet is going to hold aggro from other DD chars is to have way more P atk than them. Pay attention to how you distribute skill points for pets i.e. Overbreed blessing of Str only adds +2 P atk for 1 Skill point while the P atk passive adds +3 or +4 (can't remember). Also make sure your pet has well enchanted, fully lair stoned equips. And iif possible, try to make sure your pet is higher level that the party

[etherstrike13]

Recommended equipment/Strategies for Knights
Weapon: 1H Mace/Sword & Shield
Stones: Vit and Int
Rings: Vit
Pet: BP or Orc
Skills: Spam Shield Smash, Provoke, Physical Breaker and Mental Breaker. Ensure Active Guard is always on as much as possible. Pet Toggle should be on.

if early to late r4 a 2h mace would be much better for tanking
vit/str/1 int stone
full vit rings
pet Orc/HawkMan or maybe tortus
skills off breaker/def breaker/mental breaker/physical breaker/smite/divine smash/Stun Mace.
Get a good Divine CLuster card.imo Divine CLuster is more to key to gaining aggro than shield mash/provoke

In theory, 2h maces would be easier for tanking because they DD more...not necessarily better for tanking. Especially in DPs, tanks are supposed to mitigate damage...not DEAL damage. Of course this is DP talk. If you go PVP...things change.

And whoever tanks with a sword is automatically considered a noob in my list.

[dashrandom]

In theory, 2h maces would be easier for tanking because they DD more...not necessarily better for tanking. Especially in DPs, tanks are supposed to mitigate damage...not DEAL damage. Of course this is DP talk. If you go PVP...things change.

And whoever tanks with a sword is automatically considered a noob in my list.

Knights don't tank through damage, so damage is completely irrelevant to them.

Please explain why sword users are noob? :/ Haven't played a knight yet as my HW has yet to change class.

[ragzincisback]

Recommended equipment/Strategies for Champs
Weapon: 2H axe
Stones: Vit and Str
Rings: Vit
Pet: BP/Skell/Orc
Skills: Spam Log Split, Wind Cut, Provoke, Spiracle Cannon and Spiracle Bomb. Ensure Barbarian Rage is always on as much as possible. Pet Toggle should be on.

You really wanna be an aggro whore?? Try this

Recommended equipment/Strategies for Champs
Weapon: 2 1H axes
Stones: Vit and Str
Rings: Vit
Pet: Orc/Hawk
Skills:
Self Buffs FIRST
- Spiracle Vit (seen too many lazy and cheap champs not buff themselves this skill)
- Essence of Thunder (-30% attack & movement speed - great for bosses)
- Essence of Fire ( +250 extra Pattack, on 2 1h axes its approximately 250 on main and 150 on the off hand - every + increases the damage by 13)
- Essence of Invulnerability (a must if doing SS/Takin - especially if you find yourself in a party with a [gouda] healer - 20 min cool time - great for bosses - IT MUST BE NOTED THAT IT ONLY BLOCKS PHYSICAL ATTACKS NOT MAGICAL/SKILL)
- Barbarian Rage (22% of additional attack, with 2 1h axes instead of hitting 2X with a 2h axe, you hit 4X)
- Quick Pot

Spam Skills
When doing a boss -
Provoke, Once in place hit in this order, Mental Concentration, Log Split, Wind Cut, Thunderbolt Wind Cut, Spinning Blow, Smite, Provoke, Log Split - Rinse and Repeat

When tanking multiple mobs -
We dont have Wild Stream (soldier skill) to hit all the mobs, so especially in situations where you have multiple chain mobs and 2 different types, for eg. SS room; Phantasm and Scoundrel, it is wise to use Space Cut/Whirlwind Assault as it hits all the mobs - Wave Cut does the same but only on mobs directly in the front or behind, TWC also does some damage but for the Mp usage, it isnt worth it..

[etherstrike13]

In theory, 2h maces would be easier for tanking because they DD more...not necessarily better for tanking. Especially in DPs, tanks are supposed to mitigate damage...not DEAL damage. Of course this is DP talk. If you go PVP...things change.

And whoever tanks with a sword is automatically considered a noob in my list.

Knights don't tank through damage, so damage is completely irrelevant to them.

Please explain why sword users are noob? :/ Haven't played a knight yet as my HW has yet to change class.

You lose Stun Mace/Perfection by using a sword, which really helps reduce damage if the mob gets stunned. Plus if you skill spam (Which you should...) a sword's speed vs. a 1h/2h mace power is kinda made...IDK what that word is...

[dashrandom]

In theory, 2h maces would be easier for tanking because they DD more...not necessarily better for tanking. Especially in DPs, tanks are supposed to mitigate damage...not DEAL damage. Of course this is DP talk. If you go PVP...things change.

And whoever tanks with a sword is automatically considered a noob in my list.

Knights don't tank through damage, so damage is completely irrelevant to them.

Please explain why sword users are noob? :/ Haven't played a knight yet as my HW has yet to change class.

You lose Stun Mace/Perfection by using a sword, which really helps reduce damage if the mob gets stunned. Plus if you skill spam (Which you should...) a sword's speed vs. a 1h/2h mace power is kinda made...IDK what that word is...

Ah, ok, so higher P atk on a mace, got that.

Stun mace/Perfection aren't really going to help IMO, especially with dungeon bosses, but I accept the explanation for the higher P atk

You really wanna be an aggro whore?? Try this

Recommended equipment/Strategies for Champs
Weapon: 2 1H axes
Stones: Vit and Str
Rings: Vit
Pet: Orc/Hawk
Skills:
Self Buffs FIRST
- Spiracle Vit (seen too many lazy and cheap champs not buff themselves this skill)
- Essence of Thunder (-30% attack & movement speed - great for bosses)
- Essence of Fire ( +250 extra Pattack, on 2 1h axes its approximately 250 on main and 150 on the off hand - every + increases the damage by 13)
- Essence of Invulnerability (a must if doing SS/Takin - especially if you find yourself in a party with a [gouda] healer - 20 min cool time - great for bosses - IT MUST BE NOTED THAT IT ONLY BLOCKS PHYSICAL ATTACKS NOT MAGICAL/SKILL)
- Barbarian Rage (22% of additional attack, with 2 1h axes instead of hitting 2X with a 2h axe, you hit 4X)
- Quick Pot

Spam Skills
When doing a boss -
Provoke, Once in place hit in this order, Mental Concentration, Log Split, Wind Cut, Thunderbolt Wind Cut, Spinning Blow, Smite, Provoke, Log Split - Rinse and Repeat

When tanking multiple mobs -
We dont have Wild Stream (soldier skill) to hit all the mobs, so especially in situations where you have multiple chain mobs and 2 different types, for eg. SS room; Phantasm and Scoundrel, it is wise to use Space Cut/Whirlwind Assault as it hits all the mobs - Wave Cut does the same but only on mobs directly in the front or behind, TWC also does some damage but for the Mp usage, it isnt worth it..

Oops, I missed out Spiracle Vit :/ But... DUDE, wtf? Smite and Spinning Blow? @_@ You deal more damage at a faster rate just smacking the mob normally (especially if it crits or Barbarian Rage kicks in).

Noted some other valid points from your post and will update the guide accordingly

[gamebreaker305]

If you use a 2H mace, you're better off letting a champ tank because the champ will have more P def and higher P atk.

The ONLY advantage knights have over champs in tanking is block ratio. Without a shield, you can't use your high threat level skills, you can't use active guard, your shield increase passive becomes useless. You can't tank, period.

your a noob please dont ever post here again.Offense/Physical Breaker= less damage taken and more damage given
ppl are really starting to overrate the shield.

In theory, 2h maces would be easier for tanking because they DD more...not necessarily better for tanking. Especially in DPs, tanks are supposed to mitigate damage...not DEAL damage. Of course this is DP talk. If you go PVP...things change.

And whoever tanks with a sword is automatically considered a noob in my list

again the shield is not our primary source of damage reduction.. the breakers are lol. trust me when i used a shield at r5 i had a 58% block rate. and it didnt make that big a differnce in damage reduction. Offense Breaker is -100 pattk EVERY TIME!!

[dashrandom]

If you use a 2H mace, you're better off letting a champ tank because the champ will have more P def and higher P atk.

The ONLY advantage knights have over champs in tanking is block ratio. Without a shield, you can't use your high threat level skills, you can't use active guard, your shield increase passive becomes useless. You can't tank, period.

your a noob please dont ever post here again.Offense/Physical Breaker= less damage taken and more damage given
ppl are really starting to overrate the shield.

Yep, been a noob since Open Beta, am probably still a noob. Probably the only noob who's written guides and proven people wrong countless times. I shall rebutt your point on Physical Breaker below. Btw, knight's don't have Offense Breaker to my knowledge.

In theory, 2h maces would be easier for tanking because they DD more...not necessarily better for tanking. Especially in DPs, tanks are supposed to mitigate damage...not DEAL damage. Of course this is DP talk. If you go PVP...things change.

And whoever tanks with a sword is automatically considered a noob in my list

again the shield is not our primary source of damage reduction.. the breakers are lol. trust me when i used a shield at r5 i had a 58% block rate. and it didnt make that big a differnce in damage reduction. Offense Breaker is -100 pattk EVERY TIME!!

So use your damn Physical Breaker and a shield. You reap double the benefits in damage reduction. And besides if what you said is true then Soldiers make better tanks than Knights, and I'm pretty sure you're not going to argue with me over something as absurd as that.

[gamebreaker305]

Yep, been a noob since Open Beta, am probably still a noob. Probably the only noob who's written guides and proven people wrong countless times. I shall rebutt your point on Physical Breaker below. Btw, knight's don't have Offense Breaker to my knowledge.

lmao Knight get Offense Breaker from the first job Holy Warrior

So use your damn Physical Breaker and a shield. You reap double the benefits in damage reduction. And besides if what you said is true then Soldiers make better tanks than Knights, and I'm pretty sure you're not going to argue with me over something as absurd

why not use Physical Breaker with 2h mace? .Soldiers dont have Physical Breaker so no they dont tank better. we out damage soldiers with the same setup bro.Please dude play the class to r3 before you judge them