SWTOR Vanguard Tanking Tips

SWTOR Vanguard Tanking Tips by Excelsia and others

Feel free to add your own in the comments section below.

– Use cornerpulls when you want to aggro packs of adds; It gathers them up and makes them easy to hit with your Pulse Cannon.

– Using your Sticky Grenade helps get initial aggro on mobs as you get up close.

– When there’s two bad guys on one side and one guy on the other, I throw the sticky grenade on one of the pair (so both get hit by the blast) and I immediately start with something like Auto on the single guy. I’ll avoid Mortar on such a small fight so I don’t have to wait for it to be available again.

– Since most packs consist of 3 to 6 mobs, I usually start the pul by throwing a sticky on one of the middle mobs and throwing an explosive round on another. Then hammershot while coming closer and then ion pulse an elite when in range. Then I keep agro while rotating ion pulse/hammershot and stockstriking whenever it’s up.

– When Mortar is up i start with that, as simply put, it kills all the trash mobs quickly and leaves the big ones damaged and angry at me. Then I’ll do the sticky and normal grenades, then closer if need be for a pulse cannon. by then most stuff is dead unless we’re talking Heroic stuff going on.

– In a Heroic, I use Mortar mostly to make sure the group is fully aware of where I’m drawing agro from so they don’t go attack a side group. You just never know, you know what I mean? Otherwise I also start with the 2 grenades, sticky on 1 target then switch to the target I plan to kill first.

– Try to keep tabbing between targets (if they’ll be alive long enough) tab is a tanks best friend imo.

– Neural Surge stray adds and Harpoon them if they don’t come immediately.

– Basic Tanking Mechanics:
#1 – Initiate the highest threat target, AOE if it won’t pull other groups, single shot if it will
#2 – Keep aggro of every mob on you if there is no off tank, this requires the group to always focus down what you are attacking
#3 – Corner Pull if mobs wander around OR to use devastating AOE combinations
#4 – Aggro switch with off tank on higher level heroics to give time for health regen
#5 – ALWAYS pull mobs off your healer