Tank (gaming)
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A tank or meat shield is a
character class In tabletop games and video games, a character class is a job or profession commonly used to differentiate the abilities of different game characters. In role-playing games (RPGs), character classes aggregate several abilities and aptitudes, ...
commonly seen in
co-op A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
s such as
real-time strategy game Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to pla ...
s,
role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
s,
fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...
s,
multiplayer online battle arena Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete against each other on a predefined battlefield. Each player controls a single character with a set of distinctive abilities that im ...
s and
MUDs A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...
. Tank characters deliberately attract enemy attention and attacks (potentially by using
game mechanic In tabletop games and video games, game mechanics are the rules or ludemes that govern and guide the player's actions, as well as the game's response to them. A rule is an instruction on how to play, a ludeme is an element of play like the L-sha ...
that force them to be targeted) to act as a
decoy A decoy (derived from the Dutch ''de'' ''kooi'', literally "the cage" or possibly ''ende kooi'', " duck cage") is usually a person, device, or event which resembles what an individual or a group might be looking for, but it is only meant to lu ...
for teammates. Since this requires them to endure concentrated enemy attacks, they typically rely on a high health pool or support by friendly healers to survive while sacrificing their own damage output. Since they keep other members of a team alive, tanks often take on an unofficial leadership role:
The tank acts as the
de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
leader of the group by pulling and holding monsters' attention. It's up to me to set the pace as we clear the dungeon. But more than knowing how much the party can handle at once, I need to know where those monsters need to be positioned, what direction they should face, and what abilities they can use that might threaten the group. I'm also expected to stay on top of all the current meta strategies for beating a dungeon. When shortcuts are found that let players skip monsters, I need to know them.
The term was used as early as 1992 on
Usenet Usenet () is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979, and it was ...
to describe the warrior class on
BatMUD ''BatMUD'' is a medieval fantasy MUD, established in 1990. ''BatMUD'' is Finland-based and operated and owned by a non-profit organization, Balanced Alternative Techniques ry ("B.A.T. ry"), officially registered 1994 in Helsinki, Finland. By 20 ...
.


Overview

In most games with tank classes, three factors contribute to a tank's survivability: * a large amount of health for absorbing damage * damage mitigation, often accomplished through an armor or defense mechanic * the ability to avoid attacks altogether Depending on the game, a tank may employ any combination of these: *In ''
Final Fantasy XI also known as ''Final Fantasy XI Online'', is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), originally developed and published by Squaresoft and then published by Square Enix as the eleventh main installment of the ''Final Fantas ...
'' two commonly used tanking styles are nicknamed "Blood Tanks" and "Blink Tanks". A blood tank focuses purely on taking hits through higher than usual HP pools or heavy defense ratings. A blink tank focuses on evasiveness to prevent damage from landing in the first place. *In ''
Eve Online ''Eve Online'' (stylised ''EVE Online'') is a space-based, persistent world massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by CCP Games. Players of ''Eve Online'' can participate in a number of in-game profes ...
'', a common form of tanking, called speed tanking, entails moving quickly enough to outpace the tracking of an enemy ship's turrets. *In ''
Sins of a Solar Empire ''Sins of a Solar Empire'' is a 2008 science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Ironclad Games and published by Stardock Entertainment for Microsoft Windows operating systems. It is a real-time strategy (RTS) game that incorporates ...
'', the Radiance Battleship has an ability called Animosity, which causes it to take all incoming damage. This can allow the Rapture Battlecruiser to deploy a reactive damage spell. *In ''
Ragnarok Online ''Ragnarok Online'' ( ko, 라그나로크 온라인, marketed as ''Ragnarök'', and alternatively subtitled ''The Final Destiny of the Gods'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) created by Gravity based on the manhwa '' ...
'' the signature tank belongs to the Swordsman Line in the Crusader, who can use a skill known as "Sacrifice" which places an aura around up to five party members. While this skill is active those who've had the skill cast on them will not take damage and instead the tank will take all of the inflicted damage from all "Sacrificed" party members.


See also

*
Healer (gaming) A healer is a type of character class in video gaming. When a game includes a health game mechanic and multiple classes, often one of the classes will be designed around the restoration of allies' health, known as healing, in order to delay or pre ...
, another common archetype focused on restoring the health of one's allies. * Spell-caster (gaming), another common archetype focused on dealing damage, but is relatively weak in all other regards. * DPS, another common archetype also focused on dealing damage. *
Bloodbath of B-R5RB The Battle of B-R5RB or the Bloodbath of B-R5RB () was a massive-scale virtual battle fought in the MMORPG space game ''EVE Online'' in January 2014 (YC 116 in-game), possibly the largest player-versus-player battle in gaming history at the ...
, a famously large multiplayer battle which hinged on Sort Dragon's particularly successful tanking,


References

{{Real-time strategy gameplay Character classes Video game terminology