Tank class has a serious identity crises for a long time now and should be the next class reworked

Packun Flower·Apr 17, 2016·5 votes·761 views

With Riot going through the list of champs and classes to update I really really do hope they look into reworking tanks next. Tanks get beefy yes, as they are supposed to do, but they shouldn't be out damaging almost every other class in the game either, it doesn't make sense for the tank class champions to also have carry damage in their kit, it just makes them unstoppable late game.

Opinions? Thought's? Downvotes?

All our welcome.

9 Comments

The Bíg TicketApr 17, 20168 votes

What tank has carry damage in his kit?

I don't know a single one except the reworked Poppy before she got nerfed.

SpoofghoulApr 17, 20161 votes

Maybe he just looks a the post game grid and thinks wait, WTF, didn't know tanks dealth that much damage.

Well the toplane wet noodle fight sure racks up damage points over the duration of the laningfase The aoe whilst not very high damage also adds up in teamfights

And the most important factor

Tanks are fucking beefy right? So they live long right? So they can deal damage for a long time right?

And its possible he confuses juggernauts like Illaoi or Darius or fighters like DrMundo for tanks

and no they aint tanks

Nobody1111Apr 17, 20164 votes

People confuse dealing high damage, with dealing moderate damage to very squishy targets. Just look at how two tanks fight as they hug each other cause they don't deal any damage to anything that builds defense

EndlessSorcererApr 17, 20161 votes

Two tanks begin fighting.

About 20 seconds later, one of them notices that they are beginning to lose the trade (or their enemy is about to receive reinforcements).

They walk away.

EvewynnApr 17, 20162 votes

Uh, tanks have a pretty solid identity. I almost never see a tank being able to dish out a bunch of damage. They soak hits and deal CC just like they're suppose to do. Any AD and most AP can kill them 1v1 easily, or at least run them off.

FaildotEXEApr 17, 20161 votes

Some tanks actually scale off their defenses like Malphite His W and his E scales off of Armor and AP. Plus his W gives him up to 30% Bonus Armor. So basically, going tanky on him = more damage anyway.

Variks the LoyalApr 17, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Some tanks actually scale off their defenses like His W and his E scales off of Armor and AP. Plus his W gives him up to 30% Bonus Armor. So basically, going tanky on him = more damage anyway.

Without any sort of Magic Pen, though, the damage isn't actually that much.

See, if he didn't have the Armor scaling, his damage wouldn't stay relevant. Now, theoretically, they could buff the base damage and remove the Armor scaling, right?

Well, that could make his laning stronger, and make AP Malphite much more powerful.

ViashinoWizardApr 17, 20161 votes

Tanks have high damage numbers at the end of the game because they have good base damage, stick around for a long time in fights and do consistent damage at most points of the game, not because they outdamage carries. Tank damage tends to scale linearly, while carries tend to scale exponentially. The "damage dealt" stats at the end of the game tracks the damage dealt over the course of the entire game.

67chromeApr 17, 20161 votes

Tanks get beefy yes, as they are supposed to do, but they shouldn't be out damaging almost every other class in the game either, it doesn't make sense for the tank class champions to also have carry damage in their kit, it just makes them unstoppable late game.

Opinions? Thought's? Downvotes?

Tanky champions are broken down into 2 specific archetypes within LoL's terminology: Tank and Fighter.

Tanks are tanky CC champions. Fighters are tanky DPS.

Tanks that do damage are usually fighters, not tanks.

In LoL, it's also worth noting mobility Zed Leblanc and range Ziggs Lux are 2 very real, very powerful core mechanics that allow champions an alternate means of surviving long enough to do their job.

Nasus doing marginal damage in exchange for tankyness while Lux gets to do tons of damage while also having tons of range doesn't make sense with how LoL works, and as a result Tanky DPS fighters doing carry-level damage isn't broken, it just offers different play-styles within carry-damage rolls.

Tank class has a serious identity crises for a long time now and should be the next class reworked

Tanks don't have an identity crises in LoL. Tank itemization is pretty solid and tanks do what you expect them to on the tin. Most tanks are also ideally played as a support, where they focus on innitiating fights and locking down priority targets or counter innitiating and peeling for allies, having the bulk of their power placed in utilities rather than damage.

Fighters have a huge identity crises in LoL. This is almost exclusively due to itemization, as itemization is literally broken down into offense and defense with AD/AP and HP, communicating the general idea those are counterbalanced, and itemization plays a huge roll in communicating to players what a champion is going to do.

Riot really should have done something more on the Strength, Agility, Intellect angle for giving champions a core damage attribute that indicates "does damage while being tanky" pretty clearly (Strength), rather than the awkward and contorted methods of allowing champions like Shyvana Udyr Nasus Warwick Darius to be tanky DPS through having kits that demand tanky builds, but allow solid bases and really mixed damage that stays pretty relevant the entire game without investing in damage. All tanky DPS fighters do fall off eventually end-game though, and throughout most of LoL's history they generally operate more as soft-carries than legitimate hard-carries like most marksman.

It took until this season before Fighters really saw their own items in things like item 3748 item 3053 item 3742 , and a range of marksman and assassins abusing that itemization (classes that have plenty of range or speed to work with), further strengthens my point that fighters, particularly tanky DPS juggernauts, are at odds with LoL's existing itemization.