Difference between the tanks

[markopolo113]

Hi guys! You might remember me from the difference between the healers on imp side that I posted, and just replied to. The only difference is that I am asking about the differences between the tanks, and I am not worrying about pub, or imp side this time since I will probably make the tanks on both factions, and most likely the healers, but it is too late now to change the thread title I created at this point, so you can say either the pub, or imp side equivalents on this thread, I don't mind. Anyway, I know there might be threads about this, but they are not updated for 4.0, so it is probably outdated at this point. Also, I will not be asking the same thing for DPS, so don't worry about that. Thanks for the help, and sorry for long winded post, just wanted to clear everything up.

[Fencers]

One uses rage (Sith Warrior), one uses mana (Sith Inquisitor) and the other uses reverse focus bar (Bounty Hunter).

I don't know what they are called on the Republic side.

[markopolo113]

You know what I mean! I meant the differences between the tanks, besides the obvious. BTW, Jedi knight is sith warrior mirror, advanced class is called guardian, and uses focus, jedi consular is the sith inquisitor mirror, advanced class is called jedi shadow, uses force(just like assassin which is the advanced class for inquisitors, though I can see why you mistake it for mana,) and finally troopers are the mirrors of bounty hunters, advanced class is vanguard, and trooper uses ammo, BH's use heat which is not really a reverse focus bar, you basically try to keep the heat below 40%, ammo above 60%, so it depletes the quickest, but for emergencies, when the boss is almost dead, when your resource depleting skill is off cooldown, and stuff like taht, you can go above it. Sorry, was just nitpicking, but that is the republic-empire terminology. Thanks anyway!

[Fencers]

Sorry, was just nitpicking, but that is the republic-empire terminology. Thanks anyway!

Eh. I don't care about The Republic.

But those are the differences basically. "Force", "Rage" and "Heat" are mechanically mana, rage (obvs.) and a reverse focus bar. There is no real differences otherwise, they all do the same thing and with reskins of the same core abilities.

BH and Inq tanks are somewhat more 'range-y', I suppose. They do still receive a lot of ranged abilities relative to the Sith Warrior. Though the Sith Warrior has like 4-5 ranged attacks all the same- so it works out to be rather minor.

Those are the three Imperial classes (dislike Agent a lot) and advance specs I play, btw. I only play tanks. I have tanked most of the content in SWTOR on all three- very little difference among them. Just flavor and a resource meter.

On Reddit there is a updated 4.0 excel file with all the Healing, Tanking and DPS information per class and gear level parsed. I'm sure a Google search can find it.

Edit: https://www.reddit.com/r/swtor/comme...n_google_docs/

[WarpedAcorn]

Take this with a grain of salt because this is what I gather from Fleet Chat discussions and comments on other Forums, and I don't do much Group PvE so I can't comment from experience...

For high end Operations, apparently the Shadow/Assassin Tank is slightly ahead due to its increased reliance and proc rate on Shielding effects. Allegedly this makes for a "smoother" healing job for your healers. The previous meta was to stack Shield/Absorb mods into gear for them. The Guardian/Juggernaut has the best "OH SHIT" cooldowns, and can handle burst attempts or spots where healers are distracted. Vanguards are in the middle, having solid Defensive CD's and fairly steady damage mitigation.

For PvP, Vanguards are definitely the toughest tanks. Guardians come next, with Shadows trailing so far in the rear its not even worth it (due to their reliance on Shielding Procs and Insta-Crits totally ignoring Shielding Chances).


But as far as just your average Flashpoint or Storymode Operation, any of the tanking classes are solid. Their internal toolset is fairly similar, with single and AoE taunts, large single target threat gen and AoE threat gen abilities. The biggest difference I can think of is that the Guardian has a Push while the Vanguard and Shadow both have Pull abilities. Personally, I did previously tanked a bit (Flashpoints) on my Shadow and it was SUPER easy to maintain threat. So don't worry about that. Sort of like the healers, I suggest finding a class whose abilities you like and animations you enjoy looking at. =)

[unfilteredJW]

All are fun. I prefer my Guardian/Juggernauts more because I like the push.

Extra points awarded to Juggernaut for the animations.

[ItachiZaku]

I love my shadow. Sneaky, powerful, lots of AOE, have a death grip (bring someone closer) and knock backs.. just the whole tool chest. And stealth. WoW "Druid" tank.

Warrior is warrior, can fly in and do basic warrior type shit, while BH/Trooper are unique in that they are ranged tanks but my BH tank is only level... like... 13 or 14, so doesn't have shit yet.

[Parrin]

Here ya go.

Juggernaut
Assassin
Powertech