I hope Riot understands why there are many people who have issues with tank buffs
Let me make myself clear, I absolutely believe tanks need some love and defensive items are still largely underwhelming. However, when tank buffs come, let’s understand the historical context behind them. Almost always, we enter a tank meta, where for many of us, the game is absolutely unfun. It’s not because suddenly tanks are doing their jobs, it’s because tanks show up to lane and out-trade you with great safety while outscaling you (this is primarily a top lane issue).
Think about all the tank metas we’ve had sans the season 4 tank meta, where I believe tanks were actually the most balanced they’d ever been. Every single tank meta after that point has had tanks enter abusive play styles that focus on their ability to solo kill champions rather than allow their utility and durability to shine. As a result, many tanks have lost a lot of direct power in the way of durability nerfs, cc reduction and general base stat nerfs. In return, they’ve often time received damage buffs in compensation.
To me, this is where it becomes unfun. I understand tanks need damage, but often times their damage seems highly over the top and totally unnecessary. Look at champions like Poppy, Nauitlius, Malphite, Gragas (tank jungler; not AP mid), and more. They all have the same abusive damage output that practically forces everything melee out of lane and everything ranged into lane to counter them. As a result, you have tanks that only shine because of their damage. And quite frankly, having a nautilus spam E off cooldown while ignoring all of my damage is the most unfun thing in the world. You shouldn’t reward low-skill play with high reward output in the means of damage because damage isn’t very hard to manage. Tanks are unique and their difficulty lies in when to use their abilities, not the execution of them. Needless to say, this goes out the window when their damage is so over the top in such basic kits. Their kits are basic though so they can function as tanks.
This brings my last point up and likely one people won’t like. Removing tank damage likely removes them from solo lanes. Is that really a bad thing? In my mind, tanks function incredibly well as junglers and supports. Their designs are by far the least abused these roles. Sure, it might not be the most enjoyable experience but when they’re picked in these roles, it’s because their utility is valued. When they’re picked in solo lane roles, it’s because their damage is valued. And I find that to be inherently flawed because basically the only way for a tank to excel in a solo lane is for them to break their limits on what they’re designed to do. As a result, they aren’t even allowed to be as durable as they should be and in many cases, less reliable as well. And in the end, they die late game all the same when carries buy percentage pen. If tanks weren’t such huge damage threats, I’d have no problem with many of them being mega durable late game then and this probably would give some prospect to their “late game fantasy” that tanks really haven’t had since season 1 and season 2.
or
, 
, or 
to be able to take down tanks because they were itemized for it. Nowadays, you can just kind of kill anything with builds made for deleting squishies.
require high skill to execute their executions. And no, currently, tanks fucking up equals death. Often success can bring death, as they do not always survive their initiates/engages for their team.
will not do nearly as well against magic damage), have to build squishy to deal damage (
), or require conditions to get their full damage (
need brush).
As for skill, yes, they require the same amount, but of a different type of skill. Poppy requires a macro skill of getting people to fight where she wants, for example. Actually, most tanks require a macro skill, whereas many assassins require microing skill (
is a clear example of having the best of both worlds. If you have the macro skill to control waves of minions and your resets AND the micro skill to pull off chain combos and your damage reduction at the best moments, you have a blatantly more capable champion than nearly all of the roster.
). Others who had been given high base stats and safety nets instead were similarly gutted (
for being too strong in general).
If I'm being honest, I think these problems will always be in league unless they rework or otherwise change how armor and magic resist mechanics work. If they were stats that could be worn down and rendered less effective with prolonged fighting and replenished out of combat, or something of that nature instead of being a %damage reduction that gets less effective as you get more of it, it might be healthier, but that would require rebalancing the whole game like with runes reforged, and it might not be taken well.
