DwarfSpider Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 (edited) I just want to state that I'm no stranger to tanking. I've tanked endgame in every MMO I've ever played. I know SWTOR is a new style of tanking, but the mechanics are fairly simmilar if not the same to what I'm used to. Having seen some of the mittigation and avoidance information, I'm still trying to figure out if I'm doing something wrong. I am all in Shield Tech tree right now with points spent in mittigation tallents and threat tallents... probably along the lines of whatever cookie cutter spec there might be at this time. I've seen posts from people lower lvl than I am wondering how to boost thier DPS to end fights quicker because they can't dish it out as well as they take it. People have stated that you can take on 1+ content and champion mobs with PT and Mako... and I can handle the 1 vs. 1 fight well with here where hard to kill mobs are concerned. My true question now is, when fighting multiple mobs why does it seem like i'm wearing tissue paper for armor and my tallents were given to me from a second rate technical school? If I take on 2 strongs right now they litteraly shread me. Even if they are 2 or 3 lvls lower than i am. My gear is current lvl FP gear which is for lvl 33. I even keep Mako's armor up to date so that she has exceptional cunning for healing. I see that Shielding works like shield block in most other games, that force and tech are going to hit 100% of the time, and that every mob has at least some force/tech skills. Before I could take on 2 strongs and 1 elite, 2 elites +normals, etc. It was challenging but once i got past lvl 28 it seems like i'm just more fodder for them to practice on. Is this to be expected? Is there a scaling problem with lvl at the moment? Or am I just one unlucky individual? Edited February 4, 2012 by DwarfSpider Level information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkatma Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Well the problem is not yours or makos gear. The problem lies with three simple facts. Fact #1: Bounty hunter tanks rely very heavily on shield chance and absorb. More so than juggs because im pretty sure we have less damage mitigation cds. The main reason why we lack these cd's is because we were suppose to be ranged tanks. Meaning I belive anyways that when it comes to meler mobs we were designed to kite them for reduced damage. That however is not something that should be done most of the time considering how close together trash pulls are. Fact #2: While i usually hate to admit lvl has anything to do with it, I am gonna comment on your low level. Since you dont have enough points for the tier just before heat blast, you are missing out on 10% shield chance. That is a huge difference in mitigation and a big factor as to why you go squish. Fact #3: Leveling tank as a BH is an overall bad idea. I dont want to **** on ur dreams because i understand where ur commin from. You want a tank and u figured u better start getting used to it early. Thats fine but bh tanks do crap dps which means while ur lvling you'll be taking more hits and more damage. While u do mitigate some a strong dps could kill them fast enough with makos cc to end a fight at roughly the same hp. So in closing here is my suggestion. Since pyrotech is not a very gear dependent spec, i would suggest respeccing to that while building up more tank gear. You will still be able to tank heroic quests by switching to ion gas. And you'll do decent dps. Once you have enough points for top tier abilities in you're trees you can go back to tank. You will notice a huge difference and it does kinda feel like godmode. I finished my last 9 lvls as tank and it was super easy to quest and never had much of a problem. I hope this was helpful for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DwarfSpider Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 I appreciate the reply. I started out Pyrotech and loved the hell out of it. I respeced because some friends seem to need me to tank more than anything right now. If we ever get a dual spec that will be the second one for sure. That or they allow us to respec for free till we get something like that. Seems like punishment for playing 2 styles i tend to enjoy. But, that is a bit off topic for my origional post. Thanks again for the quick reply and for the honesty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkatma Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Yea I feel ur pain with the respecs. But they do give you 1 free respec a week and reset costs on respecs. Max respec is like 99k. The reason why there is no dual spec and may not be one for a while is because of what i like to call server participation. Since there is no multi-server grouping for any content. They want you to settle down on one particular role that you are mainly gonnq focus on. This ensures an easier time forming groups and since you are kind of locked into your spec without respeccing it allows for other people to fill up roles that you could have done yourself if there was a dual spec option. In short it gives more people a chance to find groups. Sorry if i mistype but im responding via iphone at work lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olvera Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I leveled up as a tank no problem for most of the game. Only a few mobs ever gave me trouble, mostly due to said mobs using attacks that bypassed armor. You can level up easily as a shield tank, especially with Mako healing. Just remember to use your CC's and cool downs before things really start heading south. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toferlee Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 i lvled all the way up as abounty hunter tank and i found it very easy ro do so it may take a bit longer to kill stuff but hardly ever died Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toferlee Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 also i should add yes u do take more damage then it seems u should but mako can heal thru it and i have a freind who lvled juggy tank it saw the same thing where just seemd like he was taking to much damage but still not to much that he couldn't be healed thru it and as far as ranged tnaking goes thats bs u have to get up close to tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipda Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 One thing to watch for as a tank is the DOTS. Those bypass all your armor and a few mobs in the game will lay them on. You may have run into a pack that both strongs use a lot of DOTS on you. Your mitigation on them will be very low, 5-9% and will take you by surprise. Not saying that is the issue but something to watch for. Another option is to let Mako take a mob and you take one. Let her agro first and peel off her. Take yours down then agro hers and take it down. Splits up the damage. If she has the shock thing micro manage it on the Add attacking her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menetou Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 DwarfSpider: I do not know what to post that would actually help you in a specific way (no hints, or ideas per se) but I can say that I played BH Powertech putting all my 31 first points into Shield Tech tree, and I never had a problem leveling through the game, mainly solo (with Mako). I imagine you are just at a bit of a problematic level, in which you do not have some Abilities / gear that you may need to get back into making the fights easier? Not saying you should not respec' or whatever, just pointing out that you can level up to 50 as Shieldtech without any problem. I have not tried another way, so maybe it was a bit slower than if I had gone Pyro, but, in any case, it was not a really slow trek or anything (and I was happy to stick with it, mainly so that I really get to know all my abilities, and for all my key bindings to become second nature). My advice, if you want to stick to Shieldtech, is just to hang in there for a couple levels, and things should pan out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greeblesnort Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Keep in mind that some have stated a strange bug where your gear is no longer factored in to your stats. Check for those threads and try some of the suggested fixes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DwarfSpider Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 Thank you everyone that replied. This is my general reply to everyone. Things have evened out a bit after getting a few levels now and seem more in line with where they were when below lvl 28. I didn't change my tactics much.. maybe just the occasional panic when Mako would rather DPS instead of heal. That was my biggest problem, even with her attacks turned off and only healing abilities on she would auto attack in Med Watch stance instead of heal. Not sure what that is all about, but since she got Medical Pack she seems to be watching my health a bit more lately. Anyone else have that problem? Seems to be better now, and my origional tactics seem to be working better... as well as shield tree almost being filled out to where it's supposed to be. Back to burning down several strongs with week/normal mobs together and elites/strongs. It seems like after finishing Act 1 everthing was back on par. Asside from those buggy final missions, anyone else have problems with the class stuff further on in the other acts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flarenza Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Don't forget that all defense stats do nothing against certain attack types. Yes even pve force/tech damage attacks ignore your defenses, so that elemental/internal damage rips you apart. I'm guessing that the two strongs you fought used something akin to heat beam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenbruton Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Fact #3: Leveling tank as a BH is an overall bad idea. I dont want to **** on ur dreams because i understand where ur commin from. You want a tank and u figured u better start getting used to it early. Thats fine but bh tanks do crap dps which means while ur lvling you'll be taking more hits and more damage. While u do mitigate some a strong dps could kill them fast enough with makos cc to end a fight at roughly the same hp. Bollocks. DPS difference is rather small. If you want more DPS..pull out a DPS companion. I am ST spec and am always up the top of the PVP damage chart (not that its a great measure, but its better than no measure at all). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menetou Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 just the occasional panic when Mako would rather DPS instead of heal Yes, this happened to me a few times (even after they fixed the bug that reset her abilities, I mean that before patch 1.1 or whatever, she would reset each time you zoned). And I never figured out what happened. Sometimes she'd just stop healing, and I'd kind of realize what was going on just before dying, or running away... then restart the fight, and all would go well (might be a specific reason, no idea, did not happen enough for me to try and figure it out). Asside from those buggy final missions, anyone else have problems with the class stuff further on in the other acts? I had two problems, my only real problems with any missions, and both on the class quest lines... I won't put spoilers in, but if you encounter such problems, they're both easy to find information on on the Net! +1 for Glenbruton: my experience is the same. I imagine BH Tanks (like most tanks, I guess) will do less damage than a DPS spec class, but it is not "**** damage" at all. As stated, PvP is not the best/overall way to compare things, but, for example, other than Scoundrels/ImpAgents when they "ambush" me out of stealth, I mainly lose or win in 1v1 according to who gets the drops on the other, and CC etc.. My feeling is that most classes probably even out in the long run of leveling (tanks/healers a bit slower killing but more steady vs. DPS who go a little faster but might die a bit more?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roarman Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Actually, I specced back to shieldtech because I seem to do more damage there then in the other trees. Not a full shield-tech spec, from lvl 32 I took talents from the other trees, and I tend to avoid the damage mitigation talents, but it seems to me I'm leveling easier and do more dps as shieldtech... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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