TERA Fans translator Kalsteine found
an interesting article on Korean gaming site This Is Game yesterday! The article centers around an interview with two Korean TERA players, a Lancer and a Warrior as they discuss the differences and troubles both classes have in terms of tanking.
Fans of the game often wonder about Warriors and Lancers and how they compare, so this interview should lend some insight on that topic. Currently the overall feeling is that Lancers have threat trouble while warriors are too squishy and hard to control.
You can check out the full interview below. Enjoy!
And the main tank title goes to…?
Lancer vs Warrior, the truth behind their tanking roles.
Will Lancers forever be the tank of choice for dungeons? Or will Warriors take their crown? Last January, with a flow of buffs to the Warrior class and constant nerfs to the Lancer class, the tides have turned. Lancers all over TERA are crying due to extreme nerfs, complaining that it is difficult to keep aggro. Warriors have begun to be called “Dust Bunnies” because of their squishy nature and the fact that they must hop around from side to side.
Lancers who can’t keep aggro and Warriors who aren't chosen for groups despite their skill and mob control; both are tanks with completely different playstyles. Here's their story.
Please introduce yourselves!
Lancer: I’m “SwordKing” from the Arun server, level 50 Lancer of course. Currently the guildmaster of SPARTA. I’ve always preferred the sword and board classes so I’ve played Lancer through Korean CBT to US FGT.
Warrior: I’m “Kremulin” from the Essenia server and a level 50 Warrior. I first started TERA in the beginning of the OBT, currently I keep my brother (Lancer) as a off tank and take the role as the Main tank.
^Look how reliable they look!
Could you tell us a bit about the different tanking styles and what you both bring to parties?
Lancer: Generally, Lancer tanking consists of taunts and guards. Nowadays you have to mix in attacks to keep aggro, before you could just taunt and block to keep aggro, then taunt again to simply gain more aggro. When we are short on DPS I tend to unload all my offensive skills to help the DPS.
The pros of having a Lancer as your tank would be the high survivability and stability. With Lancer’s AOE taunt and Guard skill you can safely advance forth the dungeon and because of that every class can do their role without too much trouble.
The only con right now is due to a stealth nerf to Lancer aggro, causing aggro to be lost too easily. With a single heal spell a mob may lose aggro on me and run towards the healer.
Warrior: Warriors are evasion tanks. A pros for the Warrior tank would be that they don't lose aggro from heals because of their high dps which helps sustain aggro. However, because they have to evade left and right, the formation can become unstable and can endanger your party member at times.
Let me tell you how Warrior tanking has changed recently. Before life leech was nerfed, we were able to form a party with PURE dps and could have an extremely DPS intensive group, because life leech alone was enough to keep the warrior alive with the combination of the evasion. Because of that after hitting max level I would 1/2 man dungeons to clear and hog all the loot. Due to the insanely amazing stats on the items all Warrior items were up to 4 times as expensive compared to other class items.
However once release came and with the 0.1% life leech nerf, many Warriors have quit the class. Ever since, even if you kept playing, you were almost never the main tank and just simply a backup for the Lancer.
The recent patch made tanking really convenient for us. Shadow Clone's cooldown was reduced so after handing over all my aggro to my summoned shadow and during the clone stays up I can dish out crazy DPS with me and my party, resulting in a much faster clear time compared to Lancers.
What do you feel are the pros and cons of each class?
Lancer: I always liked the image the Lancer gave out. ‘Leader in combat’ and what not? Center of the party and a dependable Father who will always be able to protect you, I think that is the charm I find in lancers.
There are a few things I find very inconvenient, first thing is the aggro management. Because of the stealth nerf, it is very difficult to lead and keep aggro at the same time. If they would bring it back to where it was before I think that would help a lot of lancers.
Secondly their movement speed is WAY too slow in combat. Let me give you an example, the first boss in Gold Labrynth is a Kuma. The Kuma does a jumping smash attack and it is too strong for a Lancer to withstand because the damage goes through our shield. So in order to avoid that I have to move out of the way, but as a Lancer that is really hard. Also this movement gets in the way during PVP and PK so it is always an issue.
Lancers do have the skill to hook an enemy and bring them to you but because of the non-targeting aspect of the game it is almost useless to players that are above average speed. Other than that, I am satisfied with Lancers.
Warrior: Hm… one thing I love about being a warrior is that moment when you dodge an elite or a boss’s strongest attack, the thrills I get when I successfully dodge is almost addictive. Compared to when I play other classes, I happen to be more focused when I play my warrior and also you can enjoy the flashy attacks. Once you get the attack speed buffed items and Glyph options, it is a whole new experience as a Warrior. The attacks are so fast; I can barely see my blades!
Even with all the lovable things about the Warrior and the official page’s character difficulty of 2 Stars out of 5, the Warrior requires a lot of control. Most were baited with the label of “character that is easy to control” and I think the biggest con of this class is that the class is actually not so easy.
One mistake and you can be dead on the floor and not only that without the insanely good controls they are definitely not as efficient as Lancers. Also because of the constant treatment of “Warriors are useless” many people still hold that thought and don’t like to put us in the party. One of the articles even said “If you don’t like to be treated like a peasant, don’t roll warrior.”
So before I start the dungeon run I always say “I am Kremulin, the one that will guarantee your safety. I even have a Lancer as an off tank to assist me so as a Main tank I will do my very best so please just watch how I do before you decide.” And thankfully after that not a single party I formed were disbanded ^^.
^He is THAT good, never disbanded a single party. I am satisfied with soloing. I think because of our role as a main defender in a party it would be wrong for us to have good damage output as well. It is like giving Warriors good defense, just won’t work.
Currently, the problem with party play is as mentioned above, the aggro management. I think the Lancer’s main role is definitely keeping his/her party safe from all harm’s way so not being able to do that is kind of frustrating.
Warrior: I solo a lot. It can be challenging and difficult but I can always handle a 1 vs 1 situation.
However when there is a battle of the masses going on, no matter if you are lancer or warrior you will fail. Even if I am invincible for a while after dodge, I only have so many dodges. Eventually people will focus fire on me and I will go down very quickly.
So I don’t just use my 2 dodge skills to dodge, I use stuff like long jump attack and charge slash to avoid attacks. And nowadays my new found friend, shadow clone protect me from harm’s way.
Also the reason I put my survivability on such a high priority is because of my role during party play, as my death means all my party being in confusion or total chaos, so I always try my best to stay alive. I think as a tank I think the safety of the whole group is the most important so I always tank with my brother’s lancer assisting me.
We switch the main and off tank role depending on how the groups of mobs are positioned so we can move along quickly and effectively so we can handle any situation with a smooth experience because at the end a Warrior is still being controlled by a person and a Lancer can’t do everything.
What do you think of Patch 2.1?
Lancer: I don’t really get what this patch was about, and I can’t for the life of me understand why they did this. This is not right. Because of all the Warrior buffs and Lancers nerfs, we are really slowly falling.
I’ve always played Lancer with the thought that I was the most important role in the party but now a Warrior replacing me along with damage, then who would play a Lancer? I know I wouldn’t.
Warrior: Truthfully, I was kind of scared about this patch. I saw other classes were nerfed to balance with us, and some people fail to realize the good change with the Warriors, even with the patch.
The patch notes clearly state that the buffs were for Warrior ‘Tanks’, not as an off tank or a helping hand but as a main tank..but many people still only look for a Lancer for a main tank in their party. We are still the underdogs. Right at this very moment, we currently have more threat generation than Lancers so if we were to be off tanks the formations would get messy and get out of hand, resulting in a wipe.
BHS figured how the Warriors would be played and made most skills to suit that play style but did not provide the option to correctly use these skills. Do you know the skill “Killing Will”? For 2% of Crit rate increase, we sacrifice 50% of the Crit Resistance. This skill lasts for 20 seconds, same with the recently buffed Shadow Clone duration. Meaning we can pull up our Shadow Clone and hand over the Aggro then use that skill to quickly deal high damage as a “DPS PARTY TANK”, finally giving us some tools to use these skills.
Many people say this patch was to improve solo play but I think otherwise. I still think Warriors need balancing and because of the current flaws Warriors need help from other party members to stay alive.
^Dependable Shadow Clone!
How is tanking after 2.1 Patch?
Lancer: It is really difficult. Our main perk was that we were safe and stable party tanks but nowadays I can’t keep the aggro up with just taunt. To keep the same aggro as before, it requires me to control a lot more and even if I build aggro they are quickly taken away by a single heal spell or damaging skills from other classes. Now with the recently patched Warrior tanking, I fear for our role as a main tank.
Warrior: I just want to say it is finally time for us to stand and just be one with the shadow…but no one wants us in the party…
How’s getting in groups after Patch 2.1?
Lancer: I’ve always run with my guildies so really it isn't too much different. Even when I do end up doing a PuG I could still get a group with ease.
Warrior: As for me, people who know my ability accept me, but with a PuG, we are still treated like scrubs. I still think there are only a handful of Warriors out there who can replace Lancers in their role…
I also had to go through many bumpy roads to get to the place I am now, many wipes and many mistakes. People hated me for that back then.
How’s the difficulty on the new dungeons and quests?
Lancer: I think they were new and exciting. I didn’t find any dungeons difficult other than the Gold Labrynth, games are not fun when they are easy.
Warrior: Normal missions are really easy but with Gold Labrynth, no matter how much I tank whenever my party members get one shotted by a mob, I feel that the dungeon’s difficulty sky rocketed.
What are you views on Lancer as a Warrior and vice versa?
Lancer : Warriors are “DPS” in my book. The current problem with tanking can be set straight with a simple patch increasing our threat back to normal.
So whenever you have a party without a Lancer but a Warrior, it can be called a “Pure DPS” party, a little unique party mechanic of TERA. Even though Lancer and Warriors are both specified as tanks, I don’t necessarily think their play style in tanking should be the same.
Lancers should always lead in my head. So, I think the current evasion mechanic of the Warriors’ should be changed to something fitting for a DPS, not as a tank. The Warrior class should require intensive control along with glyphs to enhance evasion and maybe give them stealth to help them DPS. I don’t think the tanking patch is appropriate for them. If tanking roles can be filled by roles other than Lancers, I don’t think anyone would want to play a Lancer.
Warrior: Yes, Lancers are good at tanking but we are tanks too!
What I want to say is that Lancers being the only tank is old news and we hope that one day other Lancers would just admit to the fact that we can main tank just as well as Lancers.
Just like my Lancer brother, and I would like to meet the interviewed Lancer if a server transfer is possible. ^^
What are some of the things you want from your party members and developers?
Lancer: The most important thing is that I would like each class’s roles to be specified, in TERA the only true tank are the Lancers.
Warrior: Warriors are tanks too! Still to this day, many people do not know if Warriors are tanks or dps.
^What more do you need?
Lancers want to hold on to the title of “The Only Tank” and Warriors want to be accepted as tanks. Can’t the two co-exist?
The two classes lack clear and firm roles; this probably means TERA’s balance still needs work. If the two classes understood their differences and just tried to accept one another, wouldn’t they both be able to enjoy the game instead of fighting over their roles?
Filed by TERA Fans News at 11:40 pm under Uncategorized Tagged Armor, Badges, Boss, Challenges, Dye System, Fans, Game, Hunting Zones, Large Scale, Launch, Pax, Png, Political Intrigue, Priority, Producer Brian, Pvp Server, Remodeling, Rivalries, Scales, Sweet Spot, Weapons
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