[MINIMAL SPOILERS!]
Greetings, all!
I've heard people lament that D:OSII isn't a game where tanking is reliable. That may be true depending on your definition. My main definition of a tank is someone who can withstand a lot of damage/negative statuses, quickly and reliably get into/change position, and make enemies regret coming near him - all while deterring/preventing foes from hurting the rest of the party.
While driving today, I considered a Warfare/Necro/Retribution build and was curious what would be the best tank builds for this game.
Thankee!
That definition
does not exist in the game, not without modding it. Specifically, two parts of it: the part where you want to be able to withstand a lot of damage while also making enemies regret coming near you, and the part where you want to deter or prevent foes from hurting the rest of the party.
To withstand a lot of damage, you want a shield, but to make enemies regret coming near you you need a 2H weapon and Opportunist.
You can't do a lot about deterring or preventing foes from coming near the team, that's part of AI 2.0's focus on going after your squishier people and ignoring the tankier ones. Giving the squishy folks the Stench Talent might help a little, but that was recently nerfed a bit.
The closest thing to a tank is someone who goes all CON with a shield and takes Glass Cannon and Walk it Off. Glass Cannon is what draw the enemy attention, the high CON is what enables you to survive the attention, and Walk it Off is what helps keep you from being permanently useless.
