Can Blademasters tank effectively?

if you make a tank bm, you can be a great tank but not same as tank barb.

however, you can reduce the gap with cancelling mag attack skills from BM tree and genie tree.b:victory

yes you can tank fbs effectively, however depends on your lvl and which fb, and i would always suggest axe path

With genie skill Alpha Male you might be able to hold aggro better.

The best build for tanking as a bm that comes to mind would be.

5str 2 dex 3 vit. This build would use spear as your weapon path allow more dex then the pure tank axe build and the same vit. Can't hold aggro if you can't hit.

What will also allow you to be a good tank will be gear, hp shards, refinement. You will have to stay focused on making this type of character.

Now this build will be lacking a bit in customization. As far as multiple weapon paths go. You can still get shadowless kick for canceling as all you need is your bare fists to use that skill.

BM's are very use full in groups. And its not required for you to be a pure Tank build. If i was you i would read both stickied guides that will help. I tank often now. But I didn't do to much at lower levels. I capped my vit at 36 but with gear I have over 60. My gear is what allows me to tank more then my build.

Research and playing is your best friend right now. Study the weapon paths and the stats needed for them. Then make a decision.

I've been told that playing a BM correctly is one of the hardest things to do. So good luck. And most of all. Have fun.

If there is a circle of friends who know BM and what kind of damage the BM deals, I think tanking works. All the friendly DD-s in this group do, knowing you, is to try to avoid outdamaging you. Due to that it takes longer, is a bit riskier and repair bill could be higher, but it allows the party to finish a quest or 2 right away rather than wait around for a barb. Of course in latter game there will be some really tough dungeon quests (for BM) that needs 100% of power from every member. There it's best to leave tanking to the hi-level werebeasts.

complexx wrote: »

Short answer: No

Long answer: Yes


Warriors can tank fb's easily, instead of holding aggro skills we try to out DD the actual DD's.
Fb79 is not a good example of a good warrior tank. Almost all warriors at 79 can tank that fb easily.
59/69 are much harder for the level. I couldn't tank fb 69 till I was in the 80s range.

9x tanking: For HH usually is only done by A)Barbs B)Hercs C) Archers.
Warriors fail at high HH tanking.

I could actually tank 3-1 with a good ep on me but I don't recommend it especially if you have good archers in your PT, they will pull aggro from you.


I could tank 3-1 with a decent EP on me but yeah it's not quite recommended

Bosses with phys attack - easily
Magical bosses - no
Although I did tank the Myriadtail Wyvern just yesterday as a lvl 70 BM
with 2 clerics healing me.
but I'm teh uber
I don't have much of a problem keeping agro
But I start with Heaven's Flame and my genie's extreme poison + spam all my attacks.
AFTER that, I tell the DD's to attack. They haven't pulled agro so far.

Uhm yes BM's can tank a bit but they lose agro too easy

Sometimes tanking as a blademaster you have to have .... well... a smart squad. We don't hold aggro as well as a barbarian because we don't really have maybe one attack that increases our threat level while Barbs have a good few of those. Really high DD can still take aggro away from a barbarian it's just easier for the barbarian to get it back.

I tanked an fb51 as a level 70 fist BM with only one healer and no charm ticking xD It really wasn't even as bad as I thought it would be since a fist user is most definitely NOT a tank. But with the right squad (AKA a squad of smart people) a BM is more than capable of tanking a lot of things. Everyone just has to pay a little more attention.

Although I wouldn't suggest getting a big ego and trying to tank Krimson >_> that would mean death to a BM. x_x

a BM tanking just depends on hp and gear, a BM with 6-7k hp is enough to tank Krimson just hard sometimes depending on the cleric lol

Kyna - Lost City wrote: »

Sometimes tanking as a blademaster you have to have .... well... a smart squad. We don't hold aggro as well as a barbarian because we don't really have maybe one attack that increases our threat level while Barbs have a good few of those. Really high DD can still take aggro away from a barbarian it's just easier for the barbarian to get it back.

I tanked an fb51 as a level 70 fist BM with only one healer and no charm ticking xD It really wasn't even as bad as I thought it would be since a fist user is most definitely NOT a tank. But with the right squad (AKA a squad of smart people) a BM is more than capable of tanking a lot of things. Everyone just has to pay a little more attention.

Although I wouldn't suggest getting a big ego and trying to tank Krimson >_> that would mean death to a BM. x_x

I've actually seen a lvl 92 BM tank Krimson, he helped me back when I needed the quest

I almost took Krimson at 88 1/4th hp left before he took me out, was with a lvl55 cleric. Don't know if that makes much diff. have'nt tried a cleric in this game yet.

BMs can tank things, they just have to be smart about it. Pots, Charms (if you can afford them), Apoth items, and good clerics are essential if youre going to try to tank something. Proper use of skills/items, and a smart squad go a long way. But put a barb and a bm in the same squad, at roughly the same lvl, and the barb will ALWAYS out-tank the bm. Unless the barb is a complete and total idiot. (No offence to the barbs out there)

orgronbo wrote: »

I'm a lvl88 axe BM. I have tanked HH60 1-1 and did so at 82-84, but at the same time, have had prob. with tanking other bosses.It's not the lvl of the boss, but the boss itself. Some I would'nt dare try and much lower than I tanked. If your worried about gettin groups don't. Bm's make great back up tanks, and there AOE's help with crowd control, and keeping mobs off clerics.Tanking goes to Tanks IMO.

I currently tank 1-1,1-2,1-3. 2-1,2-2,3-1(haven't tried 2-3) some lunar, FF, and FB19-89. With two low level clerics namely 79, and 69. Yes a barb can out tank me, but whats the fun in that when I can do it, and thats just makes one less member I have to fight for mats for my gear over.

Tips: use a apoc pot that gives hp over time like choas etc. Make sure the clerics have you at full health when you do this, it gives you more hp over time, and helps the clerics keep you up. Wind shield on a genie will help to at level 7 it will reduce all damage by 24% and with the dex increase, and if you have alot of dex in your build, it will help you evade some of the attacks, thus giving you more of a fighting chance. Make sure to bring pots, even if your at 90% of your hp pot anyway, because its a heal over time effect it will help even more. Also remember, make sure you keep a spark handy, don't use a Heavens flame if your taking high damage, because you might need a back up heal to support the clerics healing you. Make sure to keep bleed on your target, at low levels on bosses they will knock off your bleeds but at 85+ your bleeds start to stay full so it helps keep aggro, also if your tanking do fast skills, and for a must have alpha male, also weapons that have provoke also helps to keep aggro >:P just make sure you don't use that weapon when a barb is around or they will get uber pissed because you will steal their aggro every time you proc :P

Also before people say have a charm. I have tanked 3-1, and 2-2 without one, and never had my hp go to half, but its best if you do, just incase a boss does crit you. Also do not rely on the charm, make sure to keep your hp at full no matter what, because if a boss is hitting you hard, and you just let your charm tick, 85% it will be in cool down when the boss crits you twice and your eating dirt. Thus my tips on helping you not have that happen. Also I use Sword Main, and Sub Axe, I will never tank with a axe because its too slow, and everyone will have to nerf their attacks making it too long of a battle, I use swords and keep up high damage, and with Sage spark+Relentless courage(warsong)/wind shield I am hitting so fast that its hard to pull aggro off me. I run around in 3-1 and 2-2 with a level 94 Sage archer friend. So keeping aggro is a must.