Psychics Tanking Potential

AegisGray - Heavens Tear
AegisGray - Heavens Tear Posts: 63 Arc User
edited April 2011 in Psychic
[Forgive me if a previous post exists. I didn't see one]

I'm a fan of the Potential of Character Classes (Psychics in particular). To that end I'd like to read Everyone’s experiences with Tanking.

What have you tanked, What helped, What didn't, and How did you finally accomplish it?

This is not to suggest Psychics -are- Tanks but rather to see the classes potential to substitute as one and to what degree.
Finding Solutions to many of your problems starts by looking in the mirror and accepting a small measure of responsibility
Post edited by AegisGray - Heavens Tear on

Comments

  • Esorono - Sanctuary
    Esorono - Sanctuary Posts: 38 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    Only way a psychic could possibly tank is if they had black voodoo on with high refines or at low levels. And they don't really "tank" against anything much stronger than a magic field mob... AA armor - 11 defense + boss = dead psychic. I think psychic is the WORST tank in this game, with white voodoo you can't hold aggro, with black you can't take the damage. I guess it could live through a magic using boss if there is a cleric and using a hiero, but in that case, I would still think a wizard or barbarian would be better in those situations.
    I have an ego so large it has it's own gravitational pull...So in short, yes, everything DOES revolve around me. b:pleased
  • AegisGray - Heavens Tear
    AegisGray - Heavens Tear Posts: 63 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    Esorono - Sanctuary wrote: »
    Only way a psychic could possibly tank is if they had black voodoo on with high refines or at low levels. And they don't really "tank" against anything much stronger than a magic field mob... AA armor - 11 defense + boss = dead psychic. I think psychic is the WORST tank in this game, with white voodoo you can't hold aggro, with black you can't take the damage.

    I've actually Tanked most bosses up through the last two 79 bosses. I had no problem holding agro since during many of them I was able to use Black Voodoo. For the few that required White it was understood to either watch their agro or not attack.

    Like I stated in the original post; This isn’t to prove Psychics -are- Tanks but rather to see what their potential is for Substituting as a tank when one is either killed or is unavailable.

    I'll go home and type up some of the harder bosses I've Tanked and how it was accomplished.

    Personal Victory: I tanked General Feng (northern Wyvern style boss from the tide born quest line) with the help of a wonderful 9x cleric. It took several tries (and deaths) to figure out how to accomplish it. Final result was to remain in White Voodoo and be the only one attacking General Feng. The other party members couldn't survive the AOE and the Cleric couldn't spare healing anyone else but the Tank. Why was I tanking? The Cleric and I were the only two available to help the group with General Feng.

    -Edit-
    Fiorrello_ - Raging Tide wrote: »
    have you ever used soul of vengeance or soul of retaliation?

    Thank you Fiorrello I forgot to mention those two skills.
    Finding Solutions to many of your problems starts by looking in the mirror and accepting a small measure of responsibility
  • Fiorrello_ - Raging Tide
    Fiorrello_ - Raging Tide Posts: 76 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    you think so hmm

    have you ever used soul of vengeance or soul of retaliation?

    together with the very spamable collection of spells the psychic has and a halfway intelligent squad a psychic should have no trouble holding agro
    patience is a virtue
  • Esorono - Sanctuary
    Esorono - Sanctuary Posts: 38 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    Quote thing just messed up on me X.x

    There wouldn't be many cases I can think of that a psy would be the best tank in a party unless it consisted of a cleric, a psychic and an assassin going against a magic boss. A psychic needed for the tank is very situational.

    When you think about it, any class can tank (kinda) on the right boss, but whether or not it's a good idea is another thing. Psychics have pretty low hp and not everyone will wait while you attack a boss with white voodoo, the cleric may even take aggro from healing you that may result in a squad wipe.

    Mystics are very common right now and I think you won't have a problem finding one, and looking at their skills would likely be a better tank than a psychic, you can even help them hold aggro by using soul burn on the boss and soul of retaliation on them.
    I have an ego so large it has it's own gravitational pull...So in short, yes, everything DOES revolve around me. b:pleased
  • AegisGray - Heavens Tear
    AegisGray - Heavens Tear Posts: 63 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    Esorono - Sanctuary wrote: »
    There wouldn't be many cases I can think of that a psy would be the best tank in a party unless it consisted of a cleric, a psychic and an assassin going against a magic boss. A psychic needed for the tank is very situational.
    Agreed -but- that is part of what this post is about. A Psychic Tanking -is- done in a Situation where a Tank is, for some reason, unavailable. And to what extent can a Psychic fill that roll.
    Esorono - Sanctuary wrote: »
    When you think about it, any class can tank (kinda) on the right boss
    One of my Favorites is watching a Heavy Wizard tank ^__^
    Esorono - Sanctuary wrote: »
    not everyone will wait while you attack a boss with white voodoo
    True but in a situation where a Psychic is tanking and is in White Voodoo the party has little choice. They either have to follow along or wait till a more proper tank is available. Its honestly the parties choice weather they want to continue or not at this point. <=/
    Esorono - Sanctuary wrote: »
    Mystics are very common right now and I think you won't have a problem finding one, and looking at their skills would likely be a better tank than a psychic, you can even help them hold aggro by using soul burn on the boss and soul of retaliation on them.
    I couldn’t speculate. I’m still vary unfamiliar with the class but Most classes would kill a Psy for casting Soul of Vengeance on them. Their not fond of the mana drain. I have Sage SoV; people still prefer not to have SoV when I offer. Though good advice :3
    Esorono - Sanctuary wrote: »
    Quote thing just messed up on me X.x
    Same happens to me. That’s why most of my posts are Edited lol ^_^;
    Finding Solutions to many of your problems starts by looking in the mirror and accepting a small measure of responsibility
  • Esorono - Sanctuary
    Esorono - Sanctuary Posts: 38 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    I would still wait for a better tank than tanking as a psy.

    There are heavy wizards? I can't think of any way that can work well for wizards. b:sad What I meant though is that a wiz would be a better tank than a psy since their damage output is high but doesn't have to sacrifice defense to do so.

    I think at that point, most parties would break up and try another day.

    I always ask before using vengeance on some people, but I wouldn't see any reason to deny a sage vengeance, it's great on tanks. Reason I think Mystics would be a better tank is because they can use craglord to tank for them for 20 seconds which does a lot of damage then leech off from Storm mistress to gain a 20 second 50% magic defense and a 150% magic boost. They can also use healing herb to heal themselves 125 hp every two seconds for a minute. But all of that would cost a lot of mp.

    And yay for **** ups! b:chuckle
    I have an ego so large it has it's own gravitational pull...So in short, yes, everything DOES revolve around me. b:pleased
  • Hypnos - Raging Tide
    Hypnos - Raging Tide Posts: 1,235 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    Certain class are inherently better at certain tasks. No matter how much aptitude a Psychic shows for tanking, he will never be quite as good at it as a a BM or a Barb, therefore it would be considered inefficient to place him in a role where a Barb and BM might serve better.

    Btw, when I say tanking, I mean tanking physical bosses.

    Every class can do something outside of their expertise but that doesn't give them the 'potential' to do good in that field, I tanked the last boss in Eden in white voodoo (which mean suck damage and cannot keep agro so I basically stand there to be a sandbag for that damn boss while telling others not to attack) while waiting for the cleric to go back and save the squad, with a huge loss of charm and repair which in my opinion isn't worth it and I would better off die along with others.

    Why would a DD class want to spend more money on repair, upgrade and charm to do something he is not supposed to do?
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • AegisGray - Heavens Tear
    AegisGray - Heavens Tear Posts: 63 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    Hypnos - Raging Tide wrote: »
    Certain class are inherently better at certain tasks. No matter how much aptitude a Psychic shows for tanking, he will never be quite as good at it as a a BM or a Barb, therefore it would be considered inefficient to place him in a role where a Barb and BM might serve better.

    Btw, when I say tanking, I mean tanking physical bosses.
    Agreed but the ability to Tank (though not nearly as well as others) is still there.


    Hypnos - Raging Tide wrote: »
    Every class can do something outside of their expertise but that doesn't give them the 'potential' to do good in that field, I tanked the last boss in Eden in white voodoo (which mean suck damage and cannot keep agro so I basically stand there to be a sandbag for that damn boss while telling others not to attack) while waiting for the cleric to go back and save the squad, with a huge loss of charm and repair which in my opinion isn't worth it and I would better off die along with others.

    Why would a DD class want to spend more money on repair, upgrade and charm to do something he is not supposed to do?
    Like i stated previously Its completely up to the party at the point where it comes down to a Psy tanking weather they care to continue or not (Psychic included). But its still interesting to see what any class is capable of doing.

    And like in my previous response where I tanked General Feng. A proper tank wasn't available. But I don't mind Tanking if for nothing else fun and the experience of doing so.
    Finding Solutions to many of your problems starts by looking in the mirror and accepting a small measure of responsibility
  • Zarni - Dreamweaver
    Zarni - Dreamweaver Posts: 258 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    AegisGray - Heavens Tear wrote: »
    I'm a fan of the Potential of Character Classes (Psychics in particular). To that end I'd like to read Everyone
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Zarni - Dreamweaver
    Zarni - Dreamweaver Posts: 258 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    This is copy-pasted from a post I made on my faction's forum. Just a taste of what a moderately geared psychic can accomplish.

    So I get bored sometimes (don't we all?) and feel like pushing the limits of my little magical fish.

    Yesterday I completed my first soloing of FC (to the heads) just to see if I could do it. Here's how:


    Fully buffed (well mostly, no bm buff) I currently have 6285 HP, 4.1k Pdef, 10k Mdef, 12-16k Mag attack, and use sage black voodoo at all times +55 attack lvl with jones.
    I have a sage cleric and barb on another account, so I bring them in once per hour to redo buffs.
    I used my hp charmed, level 68 (72 by the end of the run) seeker as the "decoy".

    There are a few different mob types that take slightly different techniques to kill, but for all of them my motto is "kill them before they kill me".
    Rogue/Assassin mobs are the most dangerous, they are much like assassins in pk. Psy will>sandburst>glacial and they are all dead.
    Bishop groups and Elf/Priest groups are easily handled with Earth Vector and any other aoe combo.
    The groups with some elves and some rogues are best handled as rogue groups, except use Bubble before Will to handle the magic damage, kill the rogues fast then finish off the elves.
    The mobs in the big room are easy enough with vector>glacial>etc. Take them a group at a time and use SoR to reflect the curse on captains for some nifty crits.

    Bosses: (it's all in the buff timing....)

    Thunderclaw:
    This one is annoying. Gotta leave the decoy in the hall unless you are an octopus, the circles will kill you both otherwise. It has 2 ranged attacks, a magical (water?) that comes with a 50% speed reduction debuff, and a physical hit with a short DoT bleed. Psy Will resists the physical/bleed and purifies if you are bleeding, use it at every cooldown, as soon as it wears off use bubble of life for more healing to counter incoming phys/bleeds. Keep Empowered Vigor active and use SoR every cooldown for extra damage reduction. Spam HP food if needed and only use holy path on genie to escape circles if you are stuck in casting and about to go boom otherwise. There is only enough time for 3-4 attacks between circles, so make them count, earth beats water, so use landslide/sandburst/etc (landslide also cancels a boss attack if timed right). Honestly, this is the hardest boss for me to solo because of the traps, thankfully it has pretty low hp.

    Diabolic Shocktrooper (fakin bubble!):
    Kill those elementos! With my build and weapon at +7 I can kill almost enough to get the weakened version, a couple more refines and it should be no problem. Anyway, yeah, this boss is horrible to "solo" as it will permabubble you, but here's where the decoy comes in. As soon as the boss unfreezes, attack it to get aggro, then have your decoy hit it once, a debuff or something works fine. Now it's an easy solo, kill it, heal when bubble is cool, eat an hp food if you get low. It will **** your decoy's charm, so spark>ep>frenzy whatever to make it go faster. All it will do to you is a water attack every 4-5 seconds for around 1k, should be charm-tankable if you are lazy. The bubbles and sleeps will be entirely focused on your decoy, nifty! Sage bubble is awesome here, yay less charm ticks! This is the only boss where your decoy will actually need to have decent hp and gear, lvl 68 seeker with legendary and 3* barely refined and sharded did fine, used sage emp vig on it to reduce charm cooldown, but probably wasn't necessary.

    Styren:
    I skip this one, since not finishing FC anyway. But it would be easy enough, it has similar attacks to Thunderclaw, and the dragoons can be dealt with by landslide>glacial and if the seal doesn't proc, psy will.

    Dreadindra:
    Similar to Shocktrooper, use your decoy again. This time park the decoy between the boss' feet as soon as the boss is done with his first little shuck and jive move (he stops, hits you a couple times then runs a bit to sleep the decoy, he won't move again if the decoy is in range, so you can move it after the first sleep). The reason for the decoy to be under the boss is: bishops will only spawn near the decoy, if they are in aoe range of the boss you will be able to keep dps going on both. Stand far enough back to be out of melee range from the boss and adds.

    Asoteric Runewolf: (run ****!)
    For the mighty whirling biotch, park your decoy in one corner after you do the aggro>decoy poke dance. Engage the boss on the far opposite side of the room from your decoy, he will occasionally run over there to sleep or aoe (40% hp reduce), but he will stop before he gets in slash range. Don;t let him chase you over near the decoy, and let it's charm tick on the aoe or switch over and pop hp food quickly. His magic ranged attack is nothing special, but it has an annoying slow effect that can kill if you lag on a slash, save genie for holy pathing if necessary. If you time it right, soulburn during the slash aoe, it hits really fast (bad timing can leave you in slash aoe, so be careful), start channeling as soon as the red text appears, or on the first sentence of his speech (the cooldown also matches the slash cycle, so it can help you know when it's near time to run). You can attack at max range during the slash safely, as well, due to this he dies pretty fast.

    Messenger of Fear:
    Easy, lot of hp, takes a lot of food/charm but you can just solo it. Fairly strong magic attack but you should be able to pot through it, or go white voodoo and kill it with DoTs. No need for the decoy here, you can start it running back to the big room or leave it just outside aoe range to hyper this boss (gives a lot of exp), aoe won't kill, but no need to waste the charm. (Duo with a cleric this one is cake.)

    Oceania Master:
    Leave your noob in the hall for this one, or bring it in and hit the boss with it to get heads to spawn only there. I did it by soloing the boss and every time a head spawned (only on me) I'd just click it and aqua impact or spirit blast. Use single target attacks only and don't Tab-target cause you might get the mini-me mob. Easy enough, water magic ranged attack with an occasional front physical aoe that hurts pretty bad, use SoR, Emp Vigor and Psy Will to minimize it's danger.

    Now, turn on the heads and leave squad. Run your noob in and start whackin. I got my seeker from 71 to 72.5 in one head session.....

    Total cost was about 100 each mp and hp food, some free event gold charm ticks and 3 hours of time (I went afk for about half of that, and picked up all the coin drops, so 1.5h or so killing stuff).

    I've done this a couple times since and got the time down under an hour, the first time I did it I killed every mob in the place (hypering my nub seeker the whole way) since I didn't know how far I was gonna be able to make it.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • Sakuba - Harshlands
    Sakuba - Harshlands Posts: 137 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    Soloing FB 99 Bosses.
    Nuff said?
    This,however,takesa kinda ksilled psy, and not a fced or whoracled one.
    Or if fced or whatever (I did oracle a bit myself) take the time to learn ur characters skills, else ur not worthmore then shet.
    And everything you gave me...vanished without a trace.

    Royal Duelists.

    Sakuba...merged together in the shadows with SilentPain, a dark rose was born.
  • dream2die
    dream2die Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    Tanked Phlebo and the first boss in Brim at lvl 95, with BB and sage White Voodoo on. Yes it took ages, but I survived on a pure magic build. Reason I had to tank it was because the rest of the squad died (moved out of BB range:chuckle). Emp Vigor kept up all the time, Bubble when possible to support the healing, psy will with sparks.

    Are psy's good tanks.......we can be for sure. strongest DoTs in game, SoV/SoR and a def lvl of 72 helps a lot. Cons is you will need high refines.
  • Sakuba - Harshlands
    Sakuba - Harshlands Posts: 137 Arc User
    edited April 2011
    solo them..no bb XP
    just ur charm,the boss n u xd
    And everything you gave me...vanished without a trace.

    Royal Duelists.

    Sakuba...merged together in the shadows with SilentPain, a dark rose was born.

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