slavers / obs tanks / joyful pugs

so..

i am attempting to get into the slavers exile spin. after joining a couple groups i am asked, can you go obby tank? after answering no, im kicked from every group without even another word. a testament to our charming fellow guild wars players.

my questions are, do you need to be an obsidian tank for EVERY dungeon/boss in the slavers exile? and if you need to be w/e to be an obs tank why do they even ask me a w/mo, if i can go obs tank?

yea, i know some people would say h/h it. but i figure maybe i can configure one build, i.e. mine, and try to get a pug, before i try to configure a team build. plus i would kinda like to get past the first room and see what im really facing. would be nice.

Sadly obsidian tank of some sorts is needed in every exile dungeon. I hate being a splinter barrager but had to adapt to get into groups. The reason people ask despite you being W/Mo is that you can chang eyour secondary on the fly if you have been another secondary clas before.

Quote: Originally Posted by the lesser

i did not know you could do it on the fly, interesting.

im still shit out of luck on the obs tank thing, i dont have nightfall and i keep running into nightfall skills on almost all the good builds i want to implement.

and dont say, "then go buy nightfall". im so broke its not even funny.

You don't need to be an Obsidian Tank to do the bosses in Saver's Exile, just most PUGs think it's the only way to do it...=/
I did one of the bosses with one other player and some Heroes, and me using Ursan Blessing to do a bit of tanking and damage. Much more fun than playing a lame "Obs tank".XD
But if you plan on doing it with Heroes and Henchmen only, be sure to bring enough firepower, or else the enemies will keep resurrecting eachother.o_O;

Quote: Originally Posted by Milennin

I hate this mentality when PUGging in "elite" areas. I've been through Slaver's a few times (HM+NM), and haven't ever used a obi tank. Frozen Soil helps a lot, but also isn't a must IMO. Slaver's isn't that hard, and it isn't necessary to run these "tried and tested / gimmicky" builds. Regardless of how "efficient" they are. But that's what the norm is atm.

So, to answer your question. No, you don't need to be an obi tank imo. But that's what the masses want

/sigh

Elite difficulty = Obsidian Tank.
Why? I don't know.
Slaver's Exile is not difficult, and an obsidian tank just gives the monks a free ride to the chests. I only pugged twice with an obsidian tank and then the ele's, who requested a obsi-tank didn't even want to bring a snare. That leaves you with one member with no damage output, and agro cannot be maintained.
A normal warrior with some defensive skills can tank just as good and do some damage in the process. I found that going with a full caster party you can just rampage through the dungeons.
Hard Mode is a different story though, for another day.

did slavers quite a lot before the entry nerf

ran a wolf tank, we raped the duncan level in 20 minutes every time, pvp style manic pushes with searing

as long as you have competant players its pretty damn easy

With an Obsi-Tank it is a lot easier with PUGs, like everywhere else.

But I think if you have a bonder, any class can tank ^^ (Not sure about DoA)

i.e. we killed Thommis and Stormweaver in Hard Mode today, I had to play as a "ranger tank" (I think it would be better if I call it "a meat shield with bonds on it"), because my guild and alliance lacks a serious amount of players who play a melee profession.

It was a bit tricky, but not impossible.

I do it while vanguishing areas with my ranger as well. Because Heroes suck at tanking, I take a bonder hero (with Life Barrier, Life Bond, etc.) with me and tank by myself, it worked nearly everywhere.

So you do not need an Obsi-Tank, but rather any kind of Tank you can get.

It seems that most GW players can't think for themselves, - ok, that's a bit harsh, maybe they don't have the time to put into it, but anyway -so, when someone says that some build or other "must be used", they don't know how else to do it.

A good example of that is the B/P groups that do the Tombs - everyone "knows" you must have 5 B/P, 1 mm, 1 orders, & 1 monk - and you "must" use Favorable Winds & Winnowing - or it just can't be done. Bah! I've done Tombs with H&H.

Unfortunately, most PUGs seem to consist mostly of those sort of players, which is why it's good to join a guild where some people actually come up with the builds others "must" use.

And, btw, I've done the first 3 parts of Slavers Exile with H&H (1 human Ranger (me), Jin, Margrid, Livia(mm), 2 hench monks, hench Mesmer, hench ranger (interrupt) - no tank) Having a bit of trouble with Duncan though - but.....

You definitely do not need an Obsidian tank to do any of the parts of Slavers, including Duncan.

This is just another example of DOA/Deep/Urgoz PVE elitism creeping into Slavers Exile and ruining the ability to play with other real players in there, too.

Thankfully, all the Slavers areas can be done more easily and competently with 2 good players and 6 Heroes than with the Obsidian tank elitist PUG players.

Quote: Originally Posted by Navaros

I use Ursan for Slaver's, because Obsidian Flesh tank is beyond boring.

Bear Tank worked just fine for the Dungeons.

ironically people still take OB tanks to duncan even tho half the enemies are touchers lol

I enjoy playing ranger in pugs, and when that gets boring I just use henchway on my paragon. forge is my favorite level.

Quote: Originally Posted by Unkillable Cat

Quote: Originally Posted by Horseman Of War

I regularly do slaver's with my husband and 6 heroes, and we've never used a tank. I don't think they're required at all, especially not a obsidian flesh tank. I think once we brought Jora with an adrenaline axe build for fun, but we just moved as a group through the dungeons.

bear tank >>> obs tank.

I never ever run obs tank.

As a matter of fact, you don't even need ursan, a good tank with some defensive skills is all you need.