Difference between Tank and DPS

[Etarina]

This is a really dumb question but I'm confused on the difference between Tank and DPS. I know DPS stands for "Damage Per Second" and focuses on lowering the health of the enemy. (as Jedi Shadow I'm pretty sure I'm DPS mostly). Tank, correct me if I'm wrong, focuses on distracting the enemy so that others can attack. Which, again, as a Shadow is helpful because when I strike from behind it deals a lot of damage. Maybe I kind of answered my own question, but is there more to it?

Thanks!

[Eternalnight]

Tank is the person whose job in the group is to be the one on whom all the enemy mobs are attacking.

If they are attacking someone else other than the tank, someone is doing something wrong.

 

Tank specializes mostly in skills that increases his survivability, for shadow that means speccing mostly in the left skill tree (Kinetic) and wears gear with defensive stats and so on.

 

Tank also uses abilities that produce high amount of threat (PvE enemies attack the player that generates highest threat). A dps should generally not use these tanking abilities in groups if there is a tank. (but dps should use abilites that lower their threat when possible).

 

A DPS (role) is someone who makes a skill tree build and chooses gear to maximize his damage output.

Edited March 10, 2013 by Eternalnight

[Etarina]

This makes sense. I'm playing as a Kinetic Shadow (with some points on Infiltration) right now. Level 30. When I do a group mission I say I'm DPS and just CC and attack, dealing damage--and I guard the healer usually. So this isn't the way I should be playing with my spec? Should I ask this here or jump over to my class forum?

[Etarina]

Scratch that. I'm kind of doing a hybrid Kinetic-Infiltration since I don't really understand the difference between Tank and DPS. Is this going to be a problem if I ever do PVP? I'm with a really awesome guild that does a lot of raids and stuff and I'd like to participate when I'm a high enough level. Should I consider respec?

[Eternalnight]

To even be able to cast guard on someone you would have to have Combat Technique turned on which you should not use if you choose the role of dps when you enter group, since Combat Technique increases your threat by 100% and makes enemy mobs therefore more likely to attack you, making it twice as hard for the actual tank to get them to attack him and so on.

 

 

Leveling in some kind of hybrid build might be viable at low levels and even at higher levels if you are strictly soloing and/or doing PvP, but in a PvE group content it pretty soon becomes a bad idea to have that.

[Etarina]

So I'll start listing as Tank and go over to my class forum and read up! Thanks for the help!

[KBerling]

Learn to dps first. Tank is a much more difficult role. Edited March 10, 2013 by KBerling

[Etarina]

Sounds like a better plan. I don't need to be letting down any group members.

[KBerling]

That's a big part of the way I look at it, too. Don't want to be letting anybody down. I am starting to tank but only with rather over-leveled characters (level as dps then switch specs and redo the heroics).

 

Plus, as an unfortunate aspect to the same situation; some players can be extremely rude and they especially like to complain if they feel the tank didn't live up to their "expectations". A wipe is never their fault, always the tank's (even if they're the ones drawing aggro from all over the battlefield and breaking cc). So, If you hold yourself out as a tank before you're really ready to do it, expect some abuse.

 

A really good tank is a thing of beauty and in my opinion is the pinnacle of the game. Don't ruin it for yourself by trying to do it before you're ready. Pay attention to the tank in your groups. You can learn from the good ones and you can learn from the bad ones.

Edited March 11, 2013 by KBerling

[Rooff]

That's a big part of the way I look at it, too. Don't want to be letting anybody down. I am starting to tank but only with rather over-leveled characters (level as dps then switch specs and redo the heroics).

 

Plus, as an unfortunate aspect to the same situation; some players can be extremely rude and they especially like to complain if they feel the tank didn't live up to their "expectations". A wipe is never their fault, always the tank's (even if they're the ones drawing aggro from all over the battlefield and breaking cc). So, If you hold yourself out as a tank before you're really ready to do it, expect some abuse.

 

A really good tank is a thing of beauty and in my opinion is the pinnacle of the game. Don't ruin it for yourself by trying to do it before you're ready. Pay attention to the tank in your groups. You can learn from the good ones and you can learn from the bad ones.

 

Well it is either blaming you the tank or the healer for not healing them. New players tend to think that being DPS means they can do what ever they want and it is someone elses fault if it goes bad.

[KBerling]

Right.

 

In fact, I started to mention the healer blame thing, which is just as bad if not worse than blaming the tank, but I deleted it in the interests of sticking to a tank/dps discussion.

 

But you're exactly right. Reckless dps is the primary cause of most wipes. Yet the tank or healer always gets the abuse.

[Never_Hesitate]

Right.

 

In fact, I started to mention the healer blame thing, which is just as bad if not worse than blaming the tank, but I deleted it in the interests of sticking to a tank/dps discussion.

 

But you're exactly right. Reckless dps is the primary cause of most wipes. Yet the tank or healer always gets the abuse.

 

I once had a RR as a dps.

I had to respecc so I didn't use the port yet.

I saw the whole group dropping, starting with the tank, then the dps and at the end the heal.

The only ones who wrote a word so far were me and the heal, we both wrote hi but the tank and the other dps didn't answer.

Without a word they initialized a vote kick for the healer.

 

As most of you know, the first pull in RR can really be a ***** and the tank ran in before the whole group had arrived, so what was he expecting?

 

I really hate, when someone blames someone else, when it wasn't their fault

[haliy]

If you have never tanked before and want to learn, I would highly suggest going with a group of guildies or at the very least, find someone experienced in tanking to take you under their wing. With them, you will not only be able to practice with others willing to give you pointers but also willing to be more patient while you are learning. Pugs usually expect the selected tank to already experienced and if their not, they start to chastise the tank and heaven forbid if there not going fast enough... Edited March 11, 2013 by haliy

[ImmortalLowlife]

So what exactly should I be doing? I've got a lvl 16 Jedi sentenal & whenever. i group with ppl I say I'm dps. I focus on crowd control (taking out lower lvl enemies) protecting the healer, and attacking the boss (from the Back whenever possible) is that what I'm supposed to be doing?

[Never_Hesitate]

So what exactly should I be doing? I've got a lvl 16 Jedi sentenal & whenever. i group with ppl I say I'm dps. I focus on crowd control (taking out lower lvl enemies) protecting the healer, and attacking the boss (from the Back whenever possible) is that what I'm supposed to be doing?

 

yes and the 2 most important things, that sadly not all dps know:

1. stand out of red ****, it is bad for your health ^^

2. follow the kill order and don't break cc's

[ImmortalLowlife]

yes and the 2 most important things, that sadly not all dps know:

1. stand out of red ****, it is bad for your health ^^

2. follow the kill order and don't break cc's

 

What does cc's mean? (This is my 1st. mmo & I'm still learning the lingo lol)

[Eternalnight]

What does cc's mean?

 

Crowd Control can mean a lot of different things in the broader definition.

 

When talking about "don't brake cc" or "please cc that" it is usually talking about abilities that stun/sleep the target for 60 seconds. These effects will end if the target is damaged at all, so you must only use single target attacks on targets that are not CC:ed when near them, to not brake CC.

 

Sentinels get their own too at higher levels, which works only on droids.

 

Also if there is someone who can shadow or scoundrel in the group you should let them use their 1 minute CC first before doing any other CC, as stealth CC can't be used in combat and other CC will start combat.

Edited March 11, 2013 by Eternalnight

[KBerling]

What does cc's mean? (This is my 1st. mmo & I'm still learning the lingo lol)

 

Terms and definitions:

http://mmoterms.com/full-mmorpg-terms-glossary

 

Basic group roles and strategy:

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=97702

[Never_Hesitate]

What does cc's mean? (This is my 1st. mmo & I'm still learning the lingo lol)

 

Thanks for learning this stuff, your tanks and healers will thank you (maybe not active but they will love to take you with them as a dps)

[haliy]

As a DPS, your kill order should be Weak > Strong > Elite > Champion. During the kill order, do not attack anything that has been marked as a CC (your tank will be breaking the CC when they are ready). Your tank will normally be focusing on mobs in the opposite order: Champion > Elite > Strong.

 

If you attack in the DPS order, it makes it easier for the tank to hold aggro on the champions and elites and takes the pressure off your healers

[Cycrowuk]

when you get to the elites/campions, then your kill order should be the same as the tanks so everyone is focused on the same target so they go down quicker. This is after all the weaker enemies are gone.

 

so in a boss encounter where you might get 3 champions, everyone should be focusing on the same one. Quite often these will be marked in the order they should be killed.

If you not sure just ask what mark to kill first

[ImmortalLowlife]

Got cha, this helps a lot.

[Merouk]

As a DPS: you want to increase the amount of damage you're doing, you want to use the proper skill rotations and attack the targets that the tank has firmly under control.

 

As a Tank:

- you want to make sure the mobs attack you; and you need to manage your rotations to cause threat rather than maximize damage; you have abilities that do less damage but high threat, you have taunts, you have stuns etc.

 

Because the Tank needs to control the mobs, the end result is that the Tank needs to control the fights. You're basically in charge. You're in charge of organizing the group, of waiting or attacking, of marking the mobs with the appropriate symbols so your group knows which ones to kill and which ones to sleep or control. You need to know, ahead of time, which mobs are casters and which are melee, etc.

 

And you also need to know what every other class can do; how much the various healer classes can heal you, what sleep/stun/root/control abilities the DPS'ers have, etc. You need to know all of this so you can set the pace and the strategy of the fights, otherwise your group will wipe.

 

This is why tanking is hard. You need to be an expert at the game to do it right.

[Etarina]

Thank you for all the expert insight!