Tank Builds

Learn how to tank effectively in Schedule I! This guide covers basic and advanced tanking strategies, including extremely high defense and invulnerable builds like Terra and Perma Shadow Tanks.

Alright, let's talk about tanking in Schedule I. It's a super useful tactic, especially in PvE, where you use your character's higher defense to draw enemy attention away from your more fragile teammates, like your Monk, Elementalist, or Mesmer. This not only keeps them safe but also makes your healer's job a lot easier since they only have one person to focus on – you! ## How to Tank At its core, tanking is pretty straightforward. You'll want to charge in and engage the melee enemies first. This usually gets them to stick to you. It also means spellcasters might waste a few attacks on you before they even think about targeting your backline. It's best to focus on those melee characters because spellcasters can hit you from anywhere anyway. Plus, melee AI tends to try and get back to your squishier allies, so by intercepting them, you're cutting down on a lot of potential damage to your team. Try strafing quickly left and right; this can help you body-block multiple enemies. When they stop to attack you, they'll hopefully stay focused on you. ## Advanced Tanking In some tougher areas, like parts of the Deep or the Domain of Anguish, you might see players using a dedicated tank that doesn't even focus on dealing damage. Their whole job is to survive long enough to group up all the enemies so the rest of the team can unleash a big burst of damage, rather than picking them off one by one. This style of tanking isn't usually the go-to for general PvE, though. ## Extremely High Defense Tanks When you're facing areas with absolutely insane amounts of damage, especially in Hard Mode, you'll often see players using protective enchantments, stances, or skills that boost armor. The idea is to channel all that incoming damage onto one character because trying to heal through it all can be too slow and clunky. ### Skills Some key skills you'll see here are: * Stoneflesh Aura, Armor of Earth, and Stone Striker, often combined with Mantra of Earth. * Dolyak Signet and various blocking stances. * Life Barrier and Life Bond. * Balthazar's Spirit is a popular choice for managing energy. * "I Am Unstoppable!" is great because it stacks with other armor boosts. ## Invulnerable Tanks For those areas where just having high armor isn't enough, there are a couple of specialized tank builds designed to handle massive damage. ### Terra Tank This build combines Obsidian Flesh from the Elementalist's Earth magic line with Stone Striker, Mantra of Earth, and Stoneflesh Aura. You might use Armor of Earth if the others aren't quite cutting it. Terra Tanks can take an incredible amount of punishment, but watch out for non-spell enchantment removal and interrupts. Interrupts can be tricky, but Mantra of Resolve can help, though you'll need someone else to keep Balthazar's Spirit active on you. Energy can also be a challenge without specific management skills. These tanks can still put out decent damage using skills like Sliver Armor, Wastrel's Demise, Wastrel's Worry, and other Earth Magic skills. ### Perma Shadow Tanks As the name suggests, this build is all about maintaining Shadow Form permanently. It pairs Shadow Form with Shroud of Distress, other Assassin enchantments for damage reduction, protective enchantments, blocking stances, and armor-boosting skills. You can prevent interrupts with Mantra of Resolve and Signet of Mystic Speed. Damage can be dealt using skills like Sliver Armor, Wastrel's Demise, and Whirling Defense. ### Monk Tanks While not super common, a Monk with a 55 (or 600) build can actually tank pretty effectively. You can read more about that here. ## Pulling Pulling is a crucial tactic to avoid getting swarmed by too many monsters at once. It's often used to separate a group of enemies from others nearby or to lure a specific mob into a more advantageous position, like into traps. There are two main ways to pull: 1. Aggro Bubble Method: Let the edge of your aggro bubble just touch one monster, then back away slowly. This monster, and its nearby group, will become aware of you and start attacking. By backing away, you can separate them from their surroundings. A tank or someone protected by a protection Monk often does this. 2. Ranged Attack Method: This is sometimes preferred. Use a long-range weapon, like a longbow, to fire a single shot at the nearest monster in the group you want to pull. This will also make the mob agro and rush towards you. Again, backing away slowly helps separate them. Anyone with a bow can do this. When you're playing with henchmen and/or heroes, it's a good idea to flag them somewhere behind you. This is especially important when using the second pulling method, because when you fire your first shot, your henchmen...