The Tank or Defensive role is one of the four roles available in DC Universe Online.
This role generally focuses on keeping the group safe by attracting opponents and taking damage in place of other group members.
Tank armor tends to have high Health and Dominance as well as high Defense or Toughness.
Earth, Fire, Ice, and Rage have the ability to change to the Tank Role.
The symbol that represents a tank is a Shield.
InPVP, Tanks have a disadvantage against Healers but have an advantage over Quantum, Light, Mental and Gadgets Controllers.
Stats
Health : The amount of damage a player can take in battle before being knocked out.
- Fire Tanks increase Health by 60% after a power is used.
Dominance : Dominance increases the potency of certain defensive and healing abilities, and the duration of certain control effects (stuns, roots, levitations and encasements) from powers.
- Dominance is doubled for all Tank power sets in Tank role.
- Dominance must be higher than enemy Willpower for power control effects to be effective.
- The recommended Dominance for an Alert, Raid or Operation is needed to affect opponents in that content when using power based control effects.
- 4 points of Dominance increases base healing by 1%.
- Power control effect duration is increased by 1 second for every 500 Dominance.
- Tank and Iconic Shields prevent damage equal to Dominance + Restoration.
- Earth Tanks gain 1 point of Defense for every point of Dominance after a power is used.
- Fire Tanks gain 2.2 points of Health for every point of Dominance after a power is used.
- Rage Tanks increase Health by two-thirds Dominance for each nearby enemy after a power is used.
Defense : Reduces incoming damage from Non Player enemies.
- 71 Defense reduces NPC damage by 1% at Level 30 in Tier 1 content.
- NPC damage penetration ignores 12.5% Defense in Tier 2 content & 25% Defense in Tier 3 content.
- NPC damage penetration increases further in higher content ignoring additional Defense.
- Defense is capped at 75% damage mitigation.
- Ice Tanks increase Defense by 90% after a power is used.
Restoration : Restoration increases Healing and increases the potency of certain defensive abilities.
- 4 points of Restoration increases base healing by 1%.
- Tank and Iconic Shields prevent damage equal to Restoration + Dominance.
Critical Healing Chance & Critical Healing Magnitude : Affects Fire Self Healing powers.
Tank Role Powers
Taunts
Any active power cast by a Tank will Taunt opponents in a defined area.
Some powers Taunt in an area around the caster while other powers Taunt in an area around a target.
Each Tank power set also has a single target Taunt that will override a normal Tank Taunt.
A Taunt will raise the Tank to the top of an opponent's Threat table for twelve seconds and can not be normally overwritten. Taunts can not be renewed until ten seconds after the initial Taunt.
Note that Boss level opponents have scripted attacks that target an opponent based on certain criteria during which any Taunt will be temporarily ineffective until the scripted attack is completed.
Single Target Taunts
A single target taunt can be useful to split a boss from a group of opponents when running two Tanks.
| Power Set | Powers |
|---|---|
| Earth | Stone |
| Fire | Fireball |
| Ice | Frost Snipe |
| Rage | Rage Blast |
Group Control Immunity
Each Tank power set has Group Control Immunity powers that provide Control Effect Immunity to group members and prevents Controller debuffs for 3 seconds.
| Power Set | Powers |
|---|---|
| Earth | Soothing Sands, Unstoppable |
| Fire | Burning Determination, Burnout, Eternal Flame |
| Ice | Shatter Restraints, Winter Ward |
| Rage | Ferocity, Ire |
Positioning Powers
Positioning or Pulling powers are useful to drag opponents toward the tank.
All positioning powers require a Dominance check to pull an opponent.
| Power Set | Powers |
|---|---|
| Earth | Earthen Grip, Epicenter |
| Fire | Backdraft |
| Ice | Inescapable Storm |
| Rage | Eviscerating Chain, Ragebringer, Without Mercy |
| Acrobatics | Grapple Line Attack |
| Flight | Low Pressure |
| Iconic | Mesmerizing Lasso |
| Super Speed | Tornado Pull |
Control Resistance
A few Tank powers increase Control Resistance by 10%.
| Power Set | Powers |
|---|---|
| Earth | Soothing Sands |
| Fire | Enflame, Immolation |
| Ice | Bitter Winds, Cold Snap |
| Rage | Severe Punishment |
Damage Prevention
| Power Set | Powers |
|---|---|
| Earth | Gemstone Shield |
| Ice | Bitter Winds, Hibernation, Ice Elemental, Reflection, Shatter Restraints, Winter Ward |
| Rage | Redirected Rage |
| Iconic | Amazonium Deflection, Clown Box, Hard Light Shield |
| Acrobatics | Perfect Poise |
| Flight | Dustoff |
| Super Speed | Dash Attack, Phase Dodge |
Self Heals
| Power Set | Powers |
|---|---|
| Earth | Envelop, Soothing Sands |
| Fire | Burning Determination, Burnout, Eternal Flame, Reignition, Stoke Flames |
| Fire Requires Burning |
Absorb Heat, Backdraft, Fiery Weapon, Overheat, Wildfire |
| Ice | Hibernation, Ice Elemental |
| Rage | Ire, Relentless Anger, Severe Punishment, Vindictive |
| Rage Requires Damage Out |
Channel Hate, Rage Blast, Ragebringer, Remorseless Recovery, Without Mercy |
| Iconic | Pheromone Bloom, Word of Power |
| Super Speed | Metabolic Boost |
Usable While Controlled
Earth Tanking
See Also: List of Earth Powers
Earth Tanks gain Damage Absorption and may Transfer additional damage to a Pet.
Using a power in Tank role will grant 25% Damage Absorption and will increase Defense and Toughness by 1 point for every point of Dominance.
Jackhammer or Aftershocks from Gemstone Shield and Upheaval will increase Damage Absorption.
A portion of incoming damage will transfer automatically to a summoned Brick Golem.
Reinforce transfers incoming damage from the team member with the lowest Health to the caster.
Useful Earth Powers
- Soothing Sands & Unstoppable provide temporary Control Effect Immunity to teammates.
- Summon Brick Golem transfers 25% of incoming Damage to the summoned Golem.
- Reinforce transfers 30% of incoming Damage from a teammate to the caster.
- Gemstone Shield prevents damage up to Dominance + Restoration.
- Jackhammer increases Damage Absorption to 50%.
- Upheaval increases Damage Absorption to 50% after a single Aftershock.
- Brick Golem will Taunt opponents if the health of the caster falls below 40%.
- Fortify Golem shields and provides power to an active Golem.
- Totem heals any nearby Golem by a small amount and knocks down nearby enemies.
- Earthen Grip is useful as a long range single target pull.
- Epicenter pulls all nearby enemies toward the caster.
- Stone is a single target taunt that will override other Tank taunts.
Fire Tanking
See Also: List of Fire Powers
Fire Tanks gain Health and Healing received bonuses and may use multiple Self Heals to restore Health.
Using a power in Tank role will increase Health by 60% and any Healing received increases by 80%.
Fire Tanks also gain 2.2 additional Health for every point of Dominance.
Fire Self Heals include Absorb Heat, Backdraft, Burning Determination, Wildfire, Burnout, Overheat, Fiery Weapon, Stoke Flames, Eternal Flame and Reignition.
Useful Fire Powers
- Burning Determination, Burnout and Eternal Flame provide temporary Control Effect Immunity to teammates.
- Burning Determination, Burnout, Eternal Flame, Reignition and Stoke Flames are unconditional Self Heals.
- Absorb Heat, Backdraft, Fiery Weapon, Overheat and Wildfire will self heal when used on Burning enemies.
- Backdraft pulls all nearby enemies toward the caster and may knock them down if Burning.
- Flashpoint, Enflame and Reignition are Radial crowd control abilities.
- Reignition is a 25% Supercharge that provides a self-heal and will apply Burning.
- Stoke Flames is the largest Self Heal non supercharge Fire power.
- Eternal Flame is a 50% Supercharge that doubles health and self-heals after each hit, plus it will apply Burning.
- Fireball is a single target taunt that will override other Tank taunts.
Ice Tanking
See Also: List of Ice Powers
Ice Tanks gain Defense and Toughness bonuses and may use multiple shields to prevent damage.
Using a power in Tank role will increase a character's Defense and Toughness by 90%.
Ice Shields include Reflection, Winter Ward, Bitter Winds, Shatter Restraints and Ice Elemental.
Useful Ice Powers
- Cold Snap, Ice Bash and Reflection provide a Chill effect.
- Five consecutive Chill effects activates Ice Armor which provides the 90% Defense Tank bonus.
- Bitter Winds, Shatter Restraints, Winter Ward and Ice Elemental absorbs damage up to Dominance + Restoration.
- Shatter Restraints and Winter Ward provide temporary Control Effect Immunity to teammates.
- Reflection absorbs damage from the next three attacks up to 10,000 + Dominance.
- Winter Ward extends damage prevention to three teammates.
- Inescapable Storm is a multi target ranged pull.
- Ice Elemental is a 50% Supercharge that triples Health & Defense and Self Heals.
- Frost Snipe is a single target taunt that will override other Tank taunts.
Rage Tanking
See Also: List of Rage Powers
Rage Tanks gain Health based on the number of enemies and may temporarily defer damage.
Using a power in Tank role increases Health by two-thirds of their Dominance for each nearby enemy.
Relentless Anger and Severe Punishment activate a Rage mode that defers damage into a Rage Crash.
Several Rage powers have mechanics that reduce or ignore the delayed Rage Crash damage.
Some Rage powers heal based on outgoing damage.
Useful Rage Powers
- Ferocity and Ire provide temporary Control Effect Immunity to teammates.
- Without Mercy, Ragebringer and Eviscerating Chain are positioning abilities.
- Relentless Anger and Severe Punishment activate a Rage mode that heals and defers damage into a Rage Crash.
- Bloodlust, Galling Eruption, Lacerate, Remorseless Recovery & Violence reduce the damage from a Rage Crash by 50%.
- Dreadful Blast, Eviscerating Chain, Outrage, Plasma Retch & Revenge can be used to ignore damage from a Rage Crash.
- Vindictive is a supercharge that Self Heals and provides immunity to Rage Crash.
- Redirected Rage absorbs damage up to Dominance + Restoration.
- Rage Blast is a single target taunt that will override other Tank taunts.
- Without Mercy, Rage Blast, Ragebringer, Remorseless Recovery, and Channel Hate provide a Self Heal based on the damage dealt.
Skills and Iconic Powers
Movement Skills
Movement Innate Skills
Passive Movement Skills are important to Tanks as they provide additional Resistance to Control Effects and restore Power after a Breakout.
| Skill | Movement Trees |
|---|---|
| Breakout Mastery | Acrobatics, Flight, Super Speed |
| Knockback Resistant | Acrobatics, Super Speed |
| Restraint Resistant | Flight, Super Speed |
| Stun Resistant | Acrobatics, Flight |
| Knockback Recovery | Acrobatics, Super Speed |
| Restraint Recovery | Flight, Super Speed |
| Stun Recovery | Acrobatics, Flight |
Movement Active Skills
Active Movement Skills will taunt and activate Tank role bonuses just as super powers found in the main trees. Skill Points are used to purchase Movement Skills allowing additional Tank loadout options.
| Function | Powers |
|---|---|
| Targeted Pull | Acrobatics : Grapple Line Attack Flight : Low Pressure Super Speed : Tornado Pull |
| Control Breakout | Acrobatics : Launching Roll Flight : Air Burst Super Speed : Whirling Dervish |
| Control Breakout Supercharge | Acrobatics : Perfect Poise Flight :Dustoff Super Speed : Metabolic Boost |
| Damage Absorption | Acrobatics : Perfect Poise Flight : Dustoff Super Speed : Dash Attack, Phase Dodge |
| Crowd Control | Acrobatics : Backflip Attack, Forward Flip Attack, Throwing Knives Flight : Downdraft Attack, High Pressure Super Speed : Cyclone Push |
Passive Iconic Powers
A few Passive Iconic powers may be useful to Tanks if Power points are available:
- Powerful Resistance: Adds 100 Health
- Intimidating Gaze: Adds 50 Dominance in Tank role
- Dominance is added to Restoration for Self Heals and affects damage prevention Shields
- Fire Tanks gain 2.2 points of Health for each point of Dominance so this adds 110 Health
- Earth Tanks gain 1 point of Defense for each point of Dominance so this adds 50 Defense
- Rage Tanks gain Health equal to 2/3 of Dominance for each nearby enemy so this adds 33 Health for every enemy
- Nanoweave Armor: Adds 50 Defense & 100 Toughness
Active Iconic Powers
Iconic Powers will taunt and activate Tank role bonuses just as super powers found in the main trees.
- Hard Light Shield: Damage Prevention = Restoration + Dominance
- Self Heals if using the Empowered Channeling Hands Equipment Mod
- Useful for a Fire Tank as there is no Shield in either Fire tree
- Amazonium Deflection: Adds 5000 Defense; Knocks down & Stuns nearby opponents
- Prevents Control Effects and Counters including Block Breakers
- Mesmerizing Lasso: Ranged single target Pull
- Word of Power: 50% Supercharge; Self Heal; Provides power to self and group
Weapon Styles
Always spec into Weapon Mastery on the equipped weapon to gain Resistance to Control Effects when using Weapon Combos. Also spec into the +50 Health / +7 Dominance third tier skills to increase survivability.
Weapon combos can be used as Crowd Control mechanisms as some Knockdown, Stun, Juggle or Push opponents. Weapon Interrupt and Block Break combos should be used to counter opponents granting you temporary immunity.
Brawling and Hand Blast should be the first Weapon trees to spec into for stats as Health and Dominance are first tier skills. Health is also a first tier skill in One-Handed, Rifle, Shield and Two-Handed. Dominance is a first tier skill in Dual Wield and Staff. Defense is a first tier skill in Bow, Dual Pistols, Dual Wield, Martial Arts and Staff. Refer to the Weapon Types page for a breakdown of innate bonuses.
Equipment Mods
Placing Equipment Mods in slots can boost stats and improve performance.
Color Mods should match a socket color to gain bonus affinity stats.
Tactical Mods require the Home Turf DLC.
| Slot | Mod |
|---|---|
| Blue Slots | Dominance & Health or Health |
| Yellow Slots | Restoration & Health or Health & Power |
| Red Slots | Precision & Health or Might & Health |
| Weapon Slot | Absorption Adapter |
| Neck Slot | Fortified Blocking |
| Back White Slot | Breakout Protection or Breakout Regeneration |
| Feet White Slot | Deadly Block or Explosive Block |
| Chest White Slot | Core Strength or Reserve Tank |
| Hands White Slot | Regenerative Shielding |
General Strategy
It is the job of a tank to reduce the overall damage a group takes. A Tank should disable and taunt enemies whenever possible with area effect powers that knockdown, juggle or stun. Pulling enemies and gathering them in one large group will make this easier. Powerful attacks should be dodged by moving out of range or breaking line of sight.
Blocking is extremely effective if done right. It will reduce incoming damage by 75%, interrupt most weapon combos by stunning the attacker and provide protection against most crowd control effects. A Tank should always block if overwhelmed, if the healer can't keep up with the damage or if a big attack is coming and can not be dodged. However, blocking too long may strain power generation and cause enemies to bypass the Tank as active powers are necessary to taunt opponents.
Gallery
