Extra help with tanks :)

[Bluejelly]

I recently made a post asking about how juggs and powertechs fair in the tanking world, how do assassins go? what are there pros and weaknesses?

Im really stuck on which one i would like to chose for my main tank.

Thank you for any advice : )

[BishopSMASH]

Assassin tanks are pretty strong in progressions, however they require a bit of micromanaging, so to speak. With high mitigation, I/E damage reduction, "screw mechanics" cool downs like with force shroud and stealth, a 30% aoe DR hybrid practically mandatory for Brontes, Tyrans, Raptus and possibly Bestia in DF and DP NiM, and high snap threat without having to blow DcDs, and 2 useful AoE debuffs, along with a potential stealth Rez, though if the tank is stealth rezzing it's pretty last ditch, but still an option.

 

The core mechanic of assassin tanks is to keep up three buffs; dark ward, dark bulwark, and dark protection. Harnessed darkness could also be considered a buff to keep track of, but it becomes muscle memory fairly quickly.

 

Dark ward is the level 20 skill from darkness, giving 15 stacks which increases shield chance by 15%, 20% with the set bonus. This is key for sin tanking. Otherwise you're sitting at ~35% shield chance instead of 55%, or whatever depending on your stats. Should have a large amount of uptime, but do not refresh on CD. Going into detail about that next.

 

Dark bulwark increases absorb by 1% for each stack of dark ward consumed, up to 8% absorb. So if you have 1-7 stacks of dark ward and 8 stacks of dark bulwark, you are at your peak mitigation in that regard. You refresh dark ward only when it falls off, since dark bulwark is eliminated upon refreshing dark ward, so you get the most mitigation for those two buffs. Refresh dark ward the instant it falls off. If you do this well enough, and if you're not taking excessive amounts of damage, dark ward has a near 100% uptime.

 

The other two buffs are harnessed darkness, built by shock and wither, up to 3 stacks, upon which using force lightning translates into dark protection, increasing total damage reduction 4% at most, which should be always. Harnessed darkness also increases damage dealt by force lightning, but dark protection is the biggie. Here's where micromanaging comes into play. Dark protection lasts 12 seconds. It's possible to have 100% uptime on it, but any delay or resists from shock/wither, or movement, transitions, etc. can result in it falling off. On a lot of fights you have a large uptime on it, but be aware if it falls off, and make it top priority to get it back ASAP.

 

The hybrid you'll often hear about for sin tanks is http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/skills/assassin#22103212110223302-21110032223-20, granting 30% AoE DR, and an extra cool down in the form of blackout. Using it on aforementioned fights is key to mastering sin tanking.

 

Lastly, sin tanks are generally regarded as kings of threat, though the other tanks can match, they just have to use DcDs like saber reflect and shoulder cannon to do so (I play all 6, and I regard my sin/shadow as doing it the best, or more naturally). The general opener is stealth>dark ward/force speed to boss/force pull> shock>wither>discharge>thrash until energize> shock/single taunt>force lightning>wither/aoe taunt when the single wears off>shock and rinse repeat etc to keep the buffs mentioned up, and use maul when it procs and fits in your rotation, being sure to prioritize dark protection over it etc. and keeping discharge and wither debuffs on target.

 

Sin tanks also augment absorb to compliment their dark ward, with defense augments here and there as needed, though inquisitors get the highest base defense chance at 10%, so defense isn't something to freak about. You'll want to go with the survivor's set bonus, and learn to avoid endurance stacking in the form of comms gear, I.e B-mods, and instead go with unlettered mods, along with enhancements with 76 end. 94 shield, and I believe ~39 defense or absorb from token gear from ops. This is for the dread forged level. Comms gear is a starting point if you don't have the gear from other toons to legacy over, but when you get the token gear, don't hesitate to fix up your mitigation in exchange of endurance. For more specific details on that I point you to KBN's awesome sticky http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=616779

 

As with anything, there may be some loose ends in my info, but I hope this gives you some details on sin tanking. It's definitely viable, and a sin tank who's got it mastered is gonna make raids a whole lot better, due to their utility. They have the highest skill ceiling, but also the highest potential and skill when played perfectly. My sin tank was my first tank, and though juggernaut is my favorite, I will always love sin tanking and can appreciate it when I or someone else plays it right, and I hope this info can help you do so.

Edited September 24, 2014 by BishopSMASH

[Bluejelly]

wow thanks so much for the info a lot to take in but seems like sins seem very fun and rewarding when perfected : )