[Review] Guard at Level 5

[Pumatouch]

Issue
When making a tank character, one has to go for 10 levels without performing ones core archtype ability at all. The concept "Tank" is not implemented properly as a result, pre 10th level.

Solution
Pretty straight forward; give all tank characters the Guard ability from level 1.

*Edited from 1 to 5 with consent of Arthur

Potential further proposal to compensate for lack of CC in Tier 1: Guard ability offers 35% damage reduction only, climbing to the full 50% at level 10.

[peterthepan3]

Open for discussion. Will be locked in TWO WEEKS from now (21st April).

Guard is a class defining ability. Should it be available from level 5? In the same vein, are there any other class defining abilities that a similar argument could be made for? Keep it relevant to the proposal.

EDIT: Level 5 is now minimum level to discuss around.

[Kaori1]

As long as there is no mathematical exploit/issues with guarding and pre lvl10 bolstering, then I don't see why this shouldn't be considered. It would be good to teach tanks the importance of guarding from the start.

Side note: Should we also give WH/WEs their stealth at lvl 1 as well?

[peterthepan3]

A possible counterargument to giving tanks their guard (or, indeed, WH/WE stealth at level 1) is that putting it at level 10 gives the player something to fight/strive for; a sense of achievement.

[ToXoS]

I agree with the solution proposed.
The sooner tanks will have guard, the sooner they will know how useful it is and how to use it effectively, particularly in the case of new players.
Indeed, a new tank player will have a better first game experience if he/she feels useful for the group. And guard is one of the most useful tool any tanks bring to the group.
And that change would also affect new MDPS players, because they would receive a tank protection in T1, which is already not the best place for a MDPS to live (to say the least) with all the ranged players around.

This solution should also apply in the case of stealth imo, but it's not the subject of the proposal.

[Unstoppable1776]

And healers Rez. There are many things you can do to help your team prior to 10. Assist buff and debuff.

Why not give group heal at lvl 1, or pull at lvl 1 could make this case on all abilities. You will have to play for a week to warn guard. Sorry that’s inconvenient

[Unstoppable1776]

Spoiler:

Why can’t I have all abilities and full gear when I create a toon? Sooner I get all this the sooner I can practice

Hint sarcasm

Less of the snide remarks. - pp3

[daniilpb]

I don’t think Guard ability should be pushed to lvl 1. I remember that sweet sense of becoming a real tank with lvl 10. Same goes for stealth and resurrection. It’s not that hard to get to lvl 10 but this little achievement gives you so much satisfaction.

[Aurandilaz]

Yes please, both Guard and Rez at lvl 1. Both are some of the most class-defining abilities those archtypes have and spending half of T1 times without them can be brutally annoying.
Also cannot cause imbalance since both sides have access to them.

This game is already hard for new players, anything to make it slightly easier for the possible new players this game might get is good idea.

[dansari]

I don’t think Guard ability should be pushed to lvl 1. I remember that sweet sense of becoming a real tank with lvl 10. Same goes for stealth and resurrection. It’s not that hard to get to lvl 10 but this little achievement gives you so much satisfaction.

As a counter-argument: is it not beneficial for Guard to be provided at rank 1 for a player who rolls a tank? A tank in t1 can feel very useless for his team until they get Guard. Yes, level 10 is relatively easy to attain, but does it make sense to be gated behind a level?