Intermediate Guide to Tanking by Friedrick Psitalon
Introduction
One of the simplest tasks in Eve, yet also the most critical, is staying alive. If this comes as a surprise to the reader, please stop reading now. There are three ways to ensure that you stay alive:
1. Be able to sustain more damage than the other fellow can.
2. Be able to do more damage than the other fellow can.
3. Be able to evade hostile contact or break that contact.
The first of these criteria will be the focus of this article. Sustaining damage effectively can mean the difference between collecting a bounty or a trip back in your pod… or worse. The ability to sustain major amounts of damage without being destroyed/killed is referred to in nearly all MMORPG’s as being a “tank” or “tanking.”
The Nature of Tanking in EvE
In most games, tanking is the ability to greatly reduce the amount of damage you take and/or absorb a large amount of punishment to begin with. In EvE, the strength of a tank tends to be more resistance-based than high-health based, because of the immense damage potential of the game’s combat system. Technically, there are four methods of tanking in EVE, but only three are actually used. The four methods are: Active Shield Tanking, Passive Shield Tanking, Armour Tanking, and Structure Tanking. Of these four, structure tanking is not used, because a failure of the structure tank even for a moment would lead to the player’s demise (amongst other reasons.) Each of the three tanking systems has some benefits and some disadvantages. None of the systems is “better” – simply different, and utilizing different skills. Shield tankers enjoy the fact that, should their tank fail, they can still flee while armour protects them. Armour tankers enjoy the fact that they can rush in and engage in combat, and their shields protect them from even having to engage their tank right away. Each of the three major tanking systems is discussed. After the three tanking systems, a vital component of all three – resistance to damage – is covered.