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"Protect and Serve"
If that's not in your wheel house, probably best not to tank ~ Admiral Nick
Great tanks will take feedback from the group, even if its groaning from a player. Intentionally holding a boss outside of an AoE because a player complained serves no one.
📔 Chapter 1 - What's in a Tank?
Tanks are designed to be able to survive hits, that would otherwise kill or massively reduce HP of a DPS or Heal class. Our job is simple, yet very complex in execution.
Tanks in SWTOR have 3 main functions in my mind:
Keep damage off of the dps and healers by being higher on the threat table of enemy characters than other party members. This can be accomplished in a number of ways. Taunts, active abilities that deal damage/build threat, or threat reducing abilities, such as guards. Who an enemy character is going to attack is based off of their threat table. Tank attack abilities generally generate higher threat. DPS abilities will generate threat at a 1 damage - 1 threat ratio times a multiplier for ranged attacks (greater than 4 meters from the target). This means that ranged DPS have a greater potential to pull ahead on the threat table. Burst ranged classes like Telekinetics are particular capable of pulling ahead of tank threat in the early parts of fights. Healers also generate threat through healing. New spawns into a fight (adds) will likely go straight for healers if no one else damages them.
Keeping the boss positioned correctly to prevent cleaves or other attacks from hitting the group. A fair amount of the bosses have some form of cleave attack. The tank will generally want to point the boss 180 degrees away from the group. The tank should know where to stand and where to hold the boss at. Many bosses will do some kinda knock back or push to the tank. Being able to keep your back to a wall to keep a boss from throwing you around cuts down on movement and keeps you from getting out of range of your healers. Generally, less movement in fights is best.
Position a boss and/or adds in a way that maximizes on DPS output. Bad tanks think only of themselves and what they want to do. Good tanks work the fight from a DPS/Heal perspective. There is nothing more annoying as a DPS than putting down a damaging area of effect ability, only to have the tank barely move the boss out of the AoE. Watch for your team's AoEs and do your best to keep targets inside of them.
📘 Chapter 2 - Choose your tank Class
We have three options for tanking in SWTOR. I would recommend Guardian for new players. If you are already playing a class that can become a tank, I recommend trying out your favorite class's tank spec first. If you are already playing shadow DPS, for example. Try out Shadow. I find folks generally connect with and perform better on tank classes they have already had some experience DPSing on their alternate builds.
The Tanks in SWTOR are:
Defense Guardian | Immortal Juggernaut - When I think Guardian Tank I think "I can do this all day", this is the class that takes a punch to the face and shrugs it off. The spec focuses on mitigating damage by increasing the damage reduction (DR) stat line. It has several strong defensives and self heals. Most of its active abilities also generate some form of defensive increase as well.
Kinetic Combat Shadow | Darkness Assassin - When I think Shadow tank, I think cunning, strategy, precision and deliberate. Shadows are dodge champions. Most of their reduced damage comes from being able to dodge attacks better than the other two specs. The shadow will feel "squisher" when it does take a hit. Shadow has a complex "rotation" system that builds its defenses up.
Shield Specialist Vanguard | Shield Tech Power Tech - Vanguard tanks can run rings around bosses and other players, we are the front line. This class will feel much more like a run and gun style of play. It can tank at a greater range than its counter parts. Often being able to move out to 10 meters and still fire most of its core abilities. It will gain more uptime with its base attack (range of 30 meters). During phases that would push the tank away, the vanguard can still "pew pew".
All three are unique and fun to play. If you are going to be a tank main, mastering all three to some degree is something I would highly recommend.
Guardian Tanks can definitely put out much higher DPS parses vs Vanguard and Shadow, with shadow being well below the other 2 specs. Each have their own advantages that make them an ideal choice for a fight.
Guardian - Saber Reflect can not be overstated. On a fight like Firebrand/Stormcaller. I deal more DPS over the fight than half the DPS, just from saber reflect.
Shadow - Helpful when cleanses are an issue (friend of the force tactical), large damage mechanics are causing problems and resilience will fix it, or you can cloak out to break a boss's channel and ignore the mechanic all together. (Master's Ion cutting beam, for example.)
📕 Chapter 3 - Gearing up as a Tank
We will be getting defense gear as a tank class. Our gear drops will have the defense stat instead of power that DPS and healers use. Power is still important to us, as the power stat line increases the damage of attacks. We will not find any power from our base gear, though. This will make our hits much weaker and can cause us to have a hard time holding threat. Augments are critical to a tank. 100% of our Power stat line comes from augments. If you are not using them, your attacks will have a much harder time generating threat. Alternatively, we can use DPS/Healer gear instead of Tank gear. I routinely use a DPS set of Belt and Bracers for additional power. The loss to defense is not that critical for lower difficulty content.
Check out the how-to for augmenting here, and recommended gearing for getting your character geared up and ready for tanking. If you are coming from playing a DPS or Heal class, you can farm for tank gear by setting your loot drops to your tank spec. Clearing content on that character with this set will cause all gear that drops as rewards for it will be tank gear. If you are new into the game and choosing tank as your first class, gearing will be a similar chore. I highly recommend swapping to a DPS spec and farming for tank gear as mentioned above. A tank in suboptimal gear is not very effective in most content. At least a DPS in entry level gear can still put out damage. Keep in mind that upgrading augmented gear will destroy the augment and augment kit. Be sure to remove the augment before upgrading. There is, however, nothing you can do to reclaim the augment kit. I recommend getting your gear leveled up as far as you can, then augmenting it.
📗 Chapter 4 - Setting up your UI
This part is covered under basic training. If you skipped basic and headed straight here. This is not a section to skip. The game does not come with a tank friendly UI. Turn these on in the above guide.
📘 Chapter 4 - Training Day
At this point we have our Tank set up, somewhat geared up and a path on what we need to keep that process going. Now it's time to start gaining experience as a tank. Having 3 friends to take into flash points is great. If that doesn't pan out, try to fill a group in fleet chat. All else fails, queue in and see what pops. Flash Points are an exceptional training ground for tanking. Master Modes are a must, veteran modes have no need of a tank and will not give you a feel for tanking. Things die too fast. (not that master mode is much better if you are in max gear.) As long as the rest of your group is geared well for Master Modes, you being under-geared should not be an issue. If you are missing implants, or are using some DPS gear items, it will be "good enough" to get started below.
Here are the flash points I would recommend running and what "skill" they will test.
Hammer Station
Boss 1 - The boss will not move. You will need to dodge AoE blast as they come out from the adds and deal with periods of high damage from the boss's laser beam channel.
Ways to enhance the experience:
Have your healer wait as long as possible and see how many stacks of the laser debuff you can shrug off. Surviving one laser might be easy, popping every single one of your defensive abilities, but what about the second round?
Seeing how many stacks you can take from each is the true test here.
Shadow tanks can also practice breaking channels with their battle cloak/taunt trick. It is a very long channel and will not pose a channel in "timing".
Encourage your team to do the bonus boss. The bonus boss is an excellent example of a "pushy" boss. Find a wall to put your back to, or be thrown around the room like a puppet. It is otherwise a pretty boring fight, but is good experience in "hold your ground" style bosses.
Boss 2 - A multi-boss fight. As a solo tank it will be a tough channel to hold threat on all three. One of the bosses channels an attack that can be interrupted as well. Good experience in keeping threat on multiple targets and coordinating a team.
Final boss - another static boss fight, but brings in several other mechanics. Waves of adds spawn, the boss does knock backs, forcing you to watch your positioning. Damage circles pepper the battlefield too, adding many layers of "awareness checks" to the fight.
Athiss
Boss 1 - Add heavy fight with evasion of damage circles.
Boss 2 - We deal with waves of adds and getting stunned by the main boss.
Bonus boss - knocks you around, back to a wall
Final boss - Boss disengages and reappears. Not much of a tank challenge.
Cademimu
The final boss is great for "moving a boss", awareness and mechanics checks.
Mandalorian Raiders
Boss 1 - Can be very challenging for new groups. Boss will threat drop, his minions will swap targets. It's a great fun for tanking "chaos".
Boss 2 - A four boss fight, can be fun to try to hold all 4's threat.
Battle of Ilum
Boss "1" (the two before the big ice cave) - These two are a tough fight. High damage output, knock backs and tough threat control.
Final Boss - Multiboss with channels to interrupt or party members die. Damage Circles to avoid.
These are just a few good examples to get you started. Each flash point you do will have new challenges and mechanics to work out.
📙 Chapter 5 - Keep working on the basics:
Communication - The first requirement of a good tank. Tanks usually end up being the raid leader for fights/flash points. If not, be sure to be heard. You will want to be in lock step with what the raid lead expects. Some leads leave it to the tanks, others have tighter expectations. Plan it out and discuss a fight ahead of time when possible. In the end, your personality will drive what kind of tank you are, just as much as your in game behaviors.
Boss Positioning - find the best and most optimal spot to hold a boss for maximum DPS and as little movement as possible.
To Cleave or not to Cleave - a boss doing some form of cleave attack is very common. Knowing which ones do can be an edge. If you can stack in with the rest of the group for AoE heals, it will be all the easier on the group. Colossal monolith, for example, does not cleave. Stack in!
Working with your healer - Letting your healer know when you are using defensives and when you have nothing is very helpful to communicate **at times**. If the fight is getting stressful, your healer knowing when they can recharge or focus on someone else can be huge.
Working with a CoTank/boss swapping - working with a partner is not something most tanks will get to do until they begin into Veteran Mode Operation's content.
Warning a raid of incoming damage - If you know the boss is getting ready to fire off a bunch of missiles, or see a channel say something. Most of the time healers are not focusing the boss and will miss these cues.
Moving a boss - slow and steady is usually best. Some bosses will pounce on you if you move away from them too quickly, or pull you back to them if you get out of their range.
Dealing with a stationary boss - These are annoying, and usually offer a focus on positional awareness of some kind.
Interrupting, stunning and crowd control - mobs in particular can be stunned and interrupted. Check adds coming in for immunity. Some bosses can be interrupted, most cannot be stunned. Always look.
Backpedaling bosses - Most bosses can be backpedaled without much effort. Tank a step forward, and the boss will take a step backward. Backpedaling a boss is a must learn skill for a tank. Backpedaling will enable pinpoint positioning, and can help keep bosses in damage circles/in range. Often times we will need to move a boss around a battlefield, turn them, then push them backward.
Picking up adds - Your group needs to help you, the healer in particular. Have the team group up where possible to help you AoE taunt Add waves. Ranged adds will give you a larger challenge. Look for ways to get their attention (or have the group member who has their attention) break their line of sight by going behind a corner or terrain feature. The ranged adds will move in, attempting to re-engage. Now that they are closer, Taunt and keep a handle on them.
Rookie Mistakes - You will make mistakes, apologize and move on. Experience is the best teacher. Not having a taunt up for something is our most common mistake. Easily fixed, knowing where you need it now. If a DPS pulls off of you and your taunt is on cool down, do what you can do to defend them while they have the boss.
Purposeful movement - Avoid reckless, unpredictable, unneeded movement.
You are not invincible/Avoiding damage - Defensive abilities usually need to be paced and matched against damage phases that you cannot avoid. Eating a conal you can move out of, or hitting a circle on the group, will tax your Defensive abilities and ultimately your healers.
Keep learning - Be versatile! Each tank can offer a unique skill set to each boss encounter. I find most of the game's replay-ability in trying to clear each fight as each of the different tank classes. In fights with cotanks, the cotanks job can be wildly different. Clearing in one role, then again as the other, is another great way to master content.
📚 Chapter 6 - Final Thoughts
Once you are comfortable in your role as a tank, keep expanding your knowledge of the game. Learning all the other classes will help you better understand how you can support them. Learning how to heal, in particular, can help you understand how to better communicate with your healers when you tank. Knowing different DPS specs can help you spot when they are using abilities that you may need to wait an extra moment before moving the boss for. Tanking is about tying the raid team together into a cohesive fighting unit. When the tank is on their game, fights area much easier for the team to clear.
Superior tanking comes from experience. If you have never seen a fight before, watch videos, check uploaded parses to parsley.io and find and use what guides you can in advance. Most of the time consumed in progression raiding, is on tanks learning the fights. It can be very difficult to glean from a video when, if, and why a tank is using defensive abilities, this is something that you will have to fill the fight out for and know when which defensive ability is needed where. The more challenging the content, the more proper defensive usage will play into progression.
I'll be working on some general tanking videos off of the above content. Support of the project is appreciated and keeps this kind of content coming!
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