[TERA PC & Console] En Masse is closing, but TERA lives on! We will continue to support TERA PC (NA) and TERA Console until service is transferred. Stay tuned for more information.
[TERA Console] The Grotto of Lost Souls update (v85) is now live! Read the patch notes here: https://bit.ly/TERACon_v85
[TERA PC] The 64-bit update (v97) is now live. Check out all the changes delivered on August 11 here: https://bit.ly/tera64_patchnotes
[TERA PC & CONSOLE] Summerfest Part 2: The Beach Bash is on from August 11 until September 1! Participate in event activities to earn tokens redeemable for costumes, consumables, mounts, and more! Details: https://bit.ly/tera_sf20
Comments
Please stop saying tanking in tera should be done with threat crystals and glyphs. That's not how it works since late 2015.
The best lancers/brawlers/warriors tanks don't use threatening crystals because doing damage in tera generates aggro. Lancer skills passively pull aggro as well so obviously the more you attack = the more aggro .
A threatening crystal is only needed if the tank is heavily undergeared and new. Once the tank becomes comfortable the training wheels should come off (aka threatening crystals).
Yes you played mmos for 20 years. Yes you have a lot of experience in tanking. But tera works a bit differently.
You don't want aggro glyphs, you should rather put them into something more useful (enrage cd, extra damage, more RE which is useful for rm for example...)
Tanks are supposed to be aggressive, and with a good healer they're supposed to eat some damage for dps as well. Lancers don't turtle mode behind their block, they're not shout bots. They dance with the boss and dish out more hpm than almost any class except warrior.
I'll say it again. If people manage to hold aggro without threat glyphs and a crystal, it's because THE DPS IS BAD.
I've not once stated that you should constantly hide behind your shield, i've stated that it's your MAIN DAMAGE MITIGATION TOOL AS A LANCER.
Tanks are supposed to be active, not aggressive in the way you describe it. Sustained threat <> Sustained DPS. There's a huge difference there. Tanks are not supposed to compete with the DPS on damage done as doing the most damage as a tank is impossible in TERA.
Their only role in a dungeon or raid is to keep aggro, and without the proper tools, you're just a waste of space in said dungeon as any decent DPS'er will take aggro off of you with just half a combo if you don't use a threat crystal or at least use threat glyphs.
Damage vs aggro works differently than what you think it does in TERA. Sustained DPS as a tank won't help you build aggro and keep it, because as soon as the DPS'ers start doing more and more damage due to buffs on them, and debuffs on the target with combos, they get instant aggro and you can't get it back by just DPS'ing your rearend off. Even the effect of a shout wears off super fast if you don't have threat glyphs and a crystal.
Eating damage goes without saying if you're playing a bloody tank, but it doesn't mean that you should drop your main mitigation tool to eat it.
Lancers aren't designed to be jumping all around the place dodging damage, they've got a shield to mitigate it. Any Lancer who fails to use their shield should've rolled a Brawler instead of just a regular DPS class.
Again, i've done dungeons on my sorc and whenever a Lancer or Brawler joins without a threat crystal or threat glyphs, i take aggro instantly. The past 11 dungeons, i've ended up having to tank on my sorcerer because of just that.
It gets worse end-game as well. I've done dungeons and raids on my Valk on the PC and the moment i start my combos, i get aggro, why? Because the tank wasn't using a threat crystal, threat glyphs or both.
I can tank most dungeons without any heals whatsoever and still hold aggro, but then again, i use all my available tools, including a threat crystal and glyphs.
That being said, you don't have to use a threat glyph wherever it is possible, but some abilties work better having a threat glyph active.
Having absolutely no threat glyphs is always a bad choice. Having no threat crystal is a horrible choice if you're running with decent DPS'ers.
This is where you're wrong. Literally first sentence and you're pulling statements like these out of thin air. I ran with some of the best tanks and dps on my server (PC) with access to dps meter and logs. I KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE a good lancer does not need threat glyphs and crystals to hold aggro against amazing dps. Since I can't post proof because it's not allowed, feel free to investigate yourself.
Tanking meta in tera has changed with the release of brawler back in 2015. Tanks became glorified front dps and maximizing your dps as a lancer is very viable nowadays.
Lancers do 50% of what a good dps can do usually, so no, they can't compete but hell yes they contribute a lot with their dps. It's decent enough that you help the other dps to push to enrage phases where you can go all out. Every little bit helps fam. Nobody asks of a lancer to do most damage in the party, or to compete with the dps (although I've seen plenty runs where lancers were first dps), but their dps is very much appreciated.
The reason why you've taken aggro from these tanks is because:
a) they're new
b) they don't know how to play their class yet
c) they're undergeared (in which case an aggro glyph on shield barrage is alright, but again it's only training wheels)
If you're constantly stealing aggro from a tank a threatening crystal won't help.
Take a look at the glyph page of one of the best lancers
No aggro glyphs. NONE.
But don‘t tell the people that lancers cannot keep aggro against best dps‘ers..because they can. You can‘t? Well...
Been playing TERA on PC since beta in 2012, and your „truth“ is what it is...just „yours“.
You are 100% wrong. Lancers and brawlers do not need to glyph for aggro or wear aggro crystals unless they are significantly outgeared. Period. You are flat out wrong. Stop spreading that around. The aggro rework that happened in 2015 (PC brawler release) drastically changed aggro and lancer's have never had to wear it since then, and are expected to do dps.
https://essentialmana.com/lancer-pve-guide/
https://essentialmana.com/daniels-advanced-min-max-lancer-guide/
You do not wear aggro gear, and you only use aggro glyphs if you have extra glyph points and nothing to spend them on. You hold aggro through your dps and your abilities.
No... it works differently than YOU think it does, lmao.
If you need threat crystals and glyphs then you are a bad tank, and you are holding your party back. Stop spreading garbage.
Thanks for all the information and replies, there are most definitely some replies that explained a few things that I will use in the future.
With that being said, the thread derailed a little bit, the thread wasn't about holding aggro, like I mentioned in my original post that's not a problem, the problem is getting better at 'tanking instances' when all you get is people that complains, blame the tanks and can't play their class well enough to break a shield.
Instance matching is like gambling... Sometimes you win, sometimes your lose. There are way too many people in this game that THINK they are good... They won't listen to help, and they won't change thier gear or glyphs or rotation...
And unfortunately, to beat endgame dungeons you need party cooperation. My advice... Don't instance matching 417s at all.. 410s rarely and 355s are cakewalk anyway so it don't matter.