While I mainly decided to play DPS classes because I thought I would like them more, before WAR released I originally thought the concept of mostly all of the tank classes in the game were pretty neat. Facing them on the RvR scenes I found out that tanks can be quite formidable but still easy to dispose of with a group. So with that, and the want to try something different, I went into the world of tanking in WAR, with the form of a Chaos Chosen Champion, or just Chosen for short.
The playing style of a tank is fairly standard of most people come to expect, you don't do as much damage as a DPS class but you can take a significant more. As a Chosen at level 5 right now I only have 2 attacks. The first attack is a direct strike that also increases my threat significantly, and the other is a attack that does no damage on striking, but it causes damage over time. I also have a few auras that are quite interesting, they both affect different stats, and they buff your allies while at the same time debuffing your enemies, it really gives the feeling that the Chosen is someone who inspires awe on the battlefield as it's described to be.
Playing a tank character itself is quite a different feel from a DPS, solo questing is somewhat slower because of the lack of damage, but of course I was really never in any danger of dying. The real difference is what I started to notice in group quests. The first one I did I noticed that I would struggle to keep my threat above everyone else on something unless I was constantly spamming my direct attack ability, leaving no time for the DoT. It might be because that's how it's suppose to work, or at low levels the abilities of a tank are super limited. I also have no form of taunt to further increase the threat problem, and usually even when spamming the threat strike over and over again, I still lost aggro against ranged classes on occasion, so while that part was kind of a bummer, it wasn't entirely unexpected. Even with that, the real charm of a tank I found to be in PvP.
Tanks aren't exactly the most popular class in most games in terms of PvP, but it seems like Mythic knows how to implement them well. As tanks we can't exactly taunt players, or at least not right now, and force them to attack us. However, what are able to do is block them off physically, or use the chaos of the battle field to have their attention centered on us, resulting in them attacking us over other our more vulnerable allies. This is aided by the game itself by providing a system that prevents player characters from running through each other most of the time. I have definitely seen a few people slip through me, but for the most part, the system works very well, and if a tank is at a good location like a bridge, rather than a open battlefield where one can simply run past them unless the tank actively blocks them, then being the role of a tank is definitely active and the effect on the battle, noticeable. This also plays on the tank's toughness, I felt like I generally enjoyed melee combat much more as a tank rather than a melee DPS class because I was able to stay fighting for a much longer time, in fact as of right now I have done only 2 Scenarios but only died once in both of them combined, while I definitely don't do as much damage as a melee DPS, it almost feels like they're regulated to throwing themselves at the enemy, inflicting a large amount of damage, and retreating or dying in the process, rather than enduring, and having a actual battlefield presence. Of course if you simply compare and contrast the two, then all of that sets the role as they should be, completely unique in their own way of playing.
I'm definitely eager again to see how my Chosen will advance and grow stronger, but in the end it seems like Tanking in WAR is made into a fun, unique, and active role that still utilizes what one's image of a tank, and presents it onto a PvP scene.
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