Why Swordmasters as tanks?

[xElitePenguinx]

Swordmasters are good with magic but not melee.

[twinoceans]

Swordmasters are good with magic but not melee.
Are you trolling? Swordmasters are experts at swordmanship. At least, do some basic research on a topic that you gonna talk about.

[jmdw12]

Yeah, they are pretty good at melee...

[Natsumar]

not being good at melee kind of defeats the point of being a 'sword'master

[Cejairx]

Swordmasters are good with magic but not melee.

I am calling troll unless you back that statement up with a source

[Tantaeluth]

Swordmasters are good with magic but not melee.

I think what he means is in terms of defense, not offense. We've been told by Mythic that the Swordmaster is better against magical and ranged attacks than most tanks, and thus sacrifices some melee damage mitigation for his increased resistance.

However, I can tell you for a fact, simply because it would be silly otherwise, that the Swordmaster will be good with melee. We simply have a few more moves that deal with defense against attacks from afar, while the Ironbreaker is more resilient against melee.

Take for example, the Swordmaster defensive move, Wall of Darting Steel. It looks somewhat akin to the Jedi Light-saber deflection thing, and works in the same way, that is, deflects magic and ranged attacks. The Swordmaster spins his sword in front of him quickly, his movement speed is reduced, and his AP is slowly drained. The Ironbreaker has a similar move, I believe called Shield Wall (I could be wrong), which works in the same fashion, except he walks forward with his shield directly in front of him, deflecting melee attacks.

But, no, the Swordmaster will definately be a tank, not a MDPS or any sort of 'squishie' as they're called.

[Delolith]

We do not know yet how Swordmasters will deal with melee. I am pretty sure they will fill their role....although it might sound ironic at such times....trust Mythic;) Do not forget that magic abilities can be used also to protect you from either magical or physical damage...pretty much like some magical shields you see in other games;)

Delolith

[Katar]

Well if you are thinking about the TT game then I'd agree with the thought that SM aren't tanks. The HE TT army doesn't really have any tanks in the traditional MMO sense. Even Dragon Princes have poor toughness under all that armour, but then TT allows almost zero customisation so as not to complicate the flow of the game. Basically the units in the TT game offer a much simplified version of those units true abilities.

Everyone keeps going on about how a SM will be better against magic then physical damage, but I hope the difference will be fairly minor in most cases.

[Harlequin70]

Okay..... see this would be the point where it if wasn't a forum people would be insulting and throwing things at you.
Swordmaster not good at Melee is like saying a Dragon can't fly or a Orc isn't stupid a Dwarf doesn't drink or a Slannesh Daemon doesn't have boobs or claws.

[Ninjitsu]

I think they can be good if you go down the path of Vaul. But as for the other paths, how well will they hold up as a tank?

[Ares]

I think they will be like Blademasters in DAOC. They can tank because they evade etc alot.
But they wont have the armor and HP as a Chosen and an ironbreaker.
Also they probably wont have all the cool defence abilities chosen and ironbreaker have.
They wont build up rage when being hit etc...
But they will do more damage because they have lots of combos /position styles attacks etc..
So they can tank but arent as good as chosen and ironbreaker.
Also they probably have more abilities to avoid magic attacks then a real tank.

Same counts for the black orc.

[Nashya]

To quote Paul...

"Because it's AWESOME!"

[Elwyndas Ellorian]

I think you are all reading too much into the class description. Yes, Mythic has said there are some unique magical damage mitigations in place, but the Swordmaster is a tank class. As such it would be safe to assume they can melee. This character is an unequalled master of the Greatsword of Hoeth, the Swordmaster simply uses magically enhanced abilities, it's no secret.

By definition, the Tank class has lower DPS than the melee DPS classes, but offsets that with heavier armor. A tank class is there to help make life difficult on those who attack his mates and to put pressure in turn on opposing support classes. So they have to be able to dish out good damge, and take that damage in return. Anything other than that, and he/she wouldn't really be a tank, would they.

Mythic is doing an excellent job with this class, those of you who wish to play one are going to like it. See you in game :)

[Delolith]

I think you are all reading too much into the class description. Yes, Mythic has said there are some unique magical damage mitigations in place, but the Swordmaster is a tank class. As such it would be safe to assume they can melee. This character is an unequalled master of the Greatsword of Hoeth, the Swordmaster simply uses magically enhanced abilities, it's no secret.

By definition, the Tank class has lower DPS than the melee DPS classes, but offsets that with heavier armor. A tank class is there to help make life difficult on those who attack his mates and to put pressure in turn on opposing support classes. So they have to be able to dish out good damge, and take that damage in return. Anything other than that, and he/she wouldn't really be a tank, would they.

Mythic is doing an excellent job with this class, those of you who wish to play one are going to like it. See you in game :)

I couldn't have said it any better than that.

Delolith