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  1. #1
    Merely a Setback Teriz's Avatar
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    If implemented, could the Tinker class be WoW's first Ranged Tank?

    Given the abilities shown by the Island Expedition "Tinkers" I noticed that the "tank" characters had almost entirely ranged abilities that averaged about 10 yds. Given the fact that both of these characters (Razek and Gazlowe) were piloting mechs, it got me thinking that maybe Blizzard is attempting to emulate SWTOR's ranged tanks like the Powertech or the Vanguard who fought outside of melee range.

    That would be an interesting development, and would make the Tinker a very different type of tank than the tanking specs in the existing classes.

    Would a tank operating outside of 5 yds but within 10yds work with WoW's raid mechanics, or would it be too OP?

  2. #2
    Over 9000! Kithelle's Avatar
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    I imagine they would be like the Shield Tech/Shield Specialist of SWTOR, they have ranged abilities and use blasters but essentially they still do most/all of their work in melee range

  3. #3
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    Honestly, never been a fan of ranged tanks.

    My thought of a Tinker could've been a double type tank method. Either you tank in your mech, or you eject and have the mech as a tanking unit.
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  4. #4
    I've personally always wanted a mage tank, even if Tinker probably wouldn't fit the mage mesh very well. Dark Apotheosis as a demo lock was a blast to tank with and felt really good, if weak.

  5. #5
    Merely a Setback Teriz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sorotia View Post
    I imagine they would be like the Shield Tech/Shield Specialist of SWTOR, they have ranged abilities and use blasters but essentially they still do most/all of their work in melee range
    Yeah, that's kind of what I'm imagining here, since the IE Tinker abilities were Deth Lazor, Flame-thrower, Crushing Charge, Mega Bomb/Big Bug Bomb, and Discharge which all operated at about 10 yds. The only ability that significantly exceeded those ranges was XPlodium Charge/Blast-o-matic Frag at 35 yds. That brings it right in line with what we saw out of the SWTOR ranged tanks.

    Additionally the Tinker heroes are melee, but all of their abilities are ranged, so that kind of keeps up with the history of the concept. When Tinkers tank in WC3 or HotS, they use their summons (Pocket Factory in WC3 and Rock-It Turret in HotS) to distract enemies while they flank. That sort of reminds me of what @Gehco was talking about, so that's a possibility too. Both Razak and Gazlowe have ranged attacks outside of their mech modes.

  6. #6
    Ranged tanks, even short/medium-range ones, aren't particularly interesting. SWTOR had them. The issue is you need to be able to position a boss, so most of them will run to melee distance anyway. Bosses where position doesn't matter are typically immobile in the first place.

    Short or medium-range DPS on the other hand, that I would find really neat.

  7. #7
    It would likely lead to design issues, given how mechanics work with melee vs ranged. Old encounters would present broken mechanics while new ones would have to be designed with it in mind. Adds become much more trivial for the Tinker tank, which may be a pain to balance around.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Schizoide View Post
    Ranged tanks, even short/medium-range ones, aren't particularly interesting. SWTOR had them. The issue is you need to be able to position a boss, so most of them will run to melee distance anyway. Bosses where position doesn't matter are typically immobile in the first place.

    Short or medium-range DPS on the other hand, that I would find really neat.
    There would basically have to be a boss encounter with lots of line of sight, and more intelligent AI for the boss besides "Move in a direct path to regain LoS then attack".

    You ever notice how almost every boss fight is a big, flat, open area? I actually kind of like some of the stuff Blizzard is doing in EP, requiring pretty extensive use of terrain and line of sight for many phases. I'd like more of that, with less ridiculous number of phases, but the format of WoW raiding doesn't really support it.

  9. #9
    Merely a Setback Teriz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LarryFromHR View Post
    Did we really need another Tinker thread? Couldn't this have been posted in one of the several others, your concept included?

    Also don't most bosses melee you, what, would you have the tank kite around for the entire fight, or just be ranged, in melee range

    Either way I don't see it working
    Those threads really didn't focus on this topic. And yeah the bosses do melee you, which would make this implementation either very interesting, or just a gimmick.

    I think an interesting possibility could be a tank that utilizes misdirection. In other words, the player is attacking the boss from another location. Like the Tinker summons the robotic dummy that taunts and attracts the boss while the Tinker blasts the boss from a distance, using abilities to repair the dummy, and shields to keep himself alive.

    The other option is what Blizzard appears to actually be doing, which is a "ranged" tank similar to those found in SWTOR.

    Either way, I think it's interesting.

  10. #10
    good thing the tinker hero in wc3 is melee, then.

  11. #11
    Pandaren Monk AngerFork's Avatar
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    I like the idea, though I do wonder what sort of a skill ceiling/floor a Ranged Tank would have when it comes to things like positioning the boss. But Blizz has in the past been very interested in being experimental with new classes (3 specs of tank for DK, Fistweaving for Monks, Double Jump/Glide for DHs), so it would not be a horrible place for them to try another experiment.

    The worry there is if they fail at it, it might really crush the amount of people willing to bring Tinkers to M+ runs and skew the perception of Tinkers before they really get situated in game.

  12. #12
    Merely a Setback Teriz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AngerFork View Post
    I like the idea, though I do wonder what sort of a skill ceiling/floor a Ranged Tank would have when it comes to things like positioning the boss. But Blizz has in the past been very interested in being experimental with new classes (3 specs of tank for DK, Fistweaving for Monks, Double Jump/Glide for DHs), so it would not be a horrible place for them to try another experiment.

    The worry there is if they fail at it, it might really crush the amount of people willing to bring Tinkers to M+ runs and skew the perception of Tinkers before they really get situated in game.
    Yeah, I could see Blizzard pulling a Mistweaver and take an interesting, unique concept and just make it like the other specs that have a similar role because they can't balance it.

    However, even if the experiment fails, I'll be very interested to see Blizzard try it. They did flirt with the idea with Warlocks and Dark Apotheosis.

  13. #13
    What would be the point of ranged tanks? The boss would just run to the tank anyway and be in melee range.

  14. #14
    Warlock was the games first tank, I had several warlock tanks in Vanilla in lower level dngs they also tanked Illidan. Sorry but your shitty class will never be added and will never be first anything

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gehco View Post
    Honestly, never been a fan of ranged tanks.

    My thought of a Tinker could've been a double type tank method. Either you tank in your mech, or you eject and have the mech as a tanking unit.
    And D.Va self destruct it. ;p
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  16. #16
    Merely a Setback Teriz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dipzz View Post
    Warlock was the games first tank, I had several warlock tanks in Vanilla in lower level dngs they also tanked Illidan. Sorry but your shitty class will never be added and will never be first anything
    It's not my shitty class, it's Blizzard's shitty class. Blizzard created it, not me.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Wyrt View Post
    What would be the point of ranged tanks? The boss would just run to the tank anyway and be in melee range.
    Not if the tank has a dummy up to make the boss run to the dummy instead of the tank. This would keep the tank safe and allow it to blast away while the boss wails on the dummy.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Teriz View Post
    Not if the tank has a dummy up to make the boss run to the dummy instead of the tank. This would keep the tank safe and allow it to blast away while the boss wails on the dummy.
    This would make repositioning the boss a pain in the ass.

  18. #18
    Merely a Setback Teriz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wyrt View Post
    This would make repositioning the boss a pain in the ass.
    Wouldn't you just position the dummy where you want the boss to be?

  19. #19
    Ranged tanks would also have a hell of a time facing the boss the right way and staying in range.

  20. #20
    I honestly can't really see tanks working. One of the things tanks do is position the boss/adds and that would be weird/unwieldy on a ranged tank. I mean, like even if the tank is ranged it's not like the mobs will be. And so they'll just walk up and now you have a melee tank anyway. I guess it works for other ranged mobs like archers and casters, but it still just seems awkward to me. I do recall someone mentioning like a ranged tank where it's basically a pet doing the tanking and it shares a health pool with the ranged "tank" and even that felt awkward to me. Like, imagine a hunter trying to use his pet to tank right now particularly in a raid environment, trying to position mobs having to constantly from a distance tell his pet where it needs to be.

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