Flight Rising Discussion

Nobody uses tank dragons. This is in part because the coliseum's mechanics favor physical glass cannons over nearly anything else... but also, "tank" builds literally have less to work with than glass cannons and mages. Consider: both "fighters" and "mages" get a recognizable upgrade path to their Augment stones. going from +1 to +2 to +5 of their "main" stat: [center][item=Might Fragment]->[item=Magical Might Fragment]->[item=Berserker] [item=Acuity Fragment]->[item=Magical Acuity Fragment]->[item=Scholar][/center] Furthermore... in both of these cases, the "final" upgrade encourages fast, agile builds over bulky ones, as they add +3 quickness and +1 agility. Aka, glass cannons. [center][item=Obsidian Hybrid Fragment][item=Shale Hybrid Fragment][/center] Meanwhile, the only augment stones that add any "tanky" stats -- vitality, defense, and mind -- are the Obsidian and Shale hybrid fragments, which are mutually exclusive with each other because they're keyed to different elements. There's no simple "upgrade path" of stones that increase a dragon's bulk, which a dragon can use over the course of leveling up from 5 to 17. Likewise, both INT-users and STR-users have a full array of abilities keying off of their stat: [center][item=Shred][item=Sap][item=Blazing Slash][item=Eliminate] [item=Contuse][item=Aid][item=Regeneration][item=Flame Bolt][item=Sear][/center] Meanwhile, there exactly [i]two[/i] ability stones that scream "bulky dragons, use me!": [center][item=Guard][item=Clobber][/center] And one of them literally doesn't even key off of DEF ([i]or[/i] VIT or MIND) like it claims. Clobber's damage is based off STR, its stun chance is 100% and not tied to any stat whatsoever, and it also [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/gde/967048]does less damage than Scratch while costing as much breath as Eliminate.[/url] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/game-database/items/battle/1?&sort=id_asc]Looking at the ID numbers of the battlestones[/url], it seems like the entire idea of "tanky" dragons was an afterthought - Scratch and Meditate were the first two battle items programmed in, while Anticipate was the 39th battle item programmed in. Clobber and Guard appear [i]even later[/i] relative to the INT, STR, and stat-buffing abilities. If the intent is that "tank" dragons [i]aren't[/i] supposed to be separate category of coli dragon from INT and STR dragons, but rather an element that can be mixed into those two types, it seems like there should at least be counterparts to Berserker and Scholar that add VIT/DEF/MND to a dragon instead of adding QCK and AGI. If tanks were better designed, they could, at the very least, be very useful in venues such as Golem Workshop, alongside the expected healer-mage and glass cannon. But they aren't.

I really want a "taunt" accessory stone to make enemies more likely to attack that dragon. Y'know, to make anticipate useful? It's a shame that only glass cannons are useful and even when we had PvP a loooooong time ago anything else was a waste of time.

Of course any changes to stats means that coli grinding would get way more complicated and that'd ruin my ability to make money so... I don't know what to do.

I for one would love an update to the coli that allows people more ways to obliterate the enemy. I do get sick and tired of the same grind over and over.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been spoiled by Sdorica (my fave combat system in a game, ever, since there are so many builds to use.)

Taunt would be a game changer for the tanks and I remember being surprised when I found out there wasn’t a taunt stone.

Yeah, when I first started playing coli I started raising some tank dragons but just. There is not enough for them at all. I too wish they'd add new battlestones to support tanks. More options keep things interesting :]

Bro taunt is actually a really good idea flight rising pls add this-

This is probably why I enjoy using a Ghostlight Anticitank trainer so much. Granted it's still just a variation on the glass cannon fighter, but at least I can pretend to be a bulky tank taking all the damage. My trainer's even a Snapper so he looks the part.

Taunt would be amazing though. I'm really hoping that the Coli 2.0 AGI patch (which we've been waiting on for...over 2.5 years now) or the PVP update will bring with it some new battlestones. I'm not much of PVP person at all in any game, but I do think the PVP update could be a great opportunity to introduce new battlestones that can diversify the current meta and give people something to play with, if only for PVP.

Unless they introduce some really powerful battlestones that can rival Eliminate, the glass cannon fighter will probably be king forevermore. The Coli is all about getting moving through fights as fast and as efficiently as possible. No one really wants to be in the Coli longer than they have to. So as much as I would love some genuine tank builds, they're kind of a waste of time when you can just make some adjustments to the fighter to suit the venue.

I love playing tanks, so saying I was disappointed that there wasn't a viable tank option for Coli is a bit of an understatement.

I've toyed with ideas for a tank build using current abilities - Anticipate, Ambush, and Berserk/Scholar. A fast, low-strength, low-int, high-vit could be usable for a grinding team, or part of a fodder training team.

So far, I have this:

Put all your points in Vitality and Quickness, and the remaining points in either Strength or Intelligence. Use Anticipate as your breath-generating stone, and use Guard. Even if Guard only has a chance of proccing. You can also use Clobber and Contuse to debuff the enemy and help out your team/trainer. Stunning or reducing their damage. Guard can be used to protect either your mage or glass cannon (or trainer).

I haven't tried this yet, so I don't know if it'd even be useful. :T

Tanks make battles last longer. Is that really what you want? I'd rather have a quick, decisive battle than a drawn out high turn battle. I'm leveling exalts and/or grinding. The battle per minute rate is more important to me than endurance.

So far as I know of all the people who told me they'd get back to me once they leveled their tank up to L25 only one person has done it. Pre-coli update their build looked like this:

STR 45, INT5, AGI 5, VIT 35, DEF 69, MND 69, QCK 41
Anticipate
Clobber, Shred, Concentration, Guard
Berserker x3
Ambush x2

She was paired with a mage:

STR 5, INT86, AGI 5, VIT 5, DEF 5, MND 5, QCK 86
Meditate
Contuse, Shock, Regeneration, Haste
Scholar x3
Ambush x2

Source.

Current stats are now different. Everyone else stalled out around L12-16.

[quote name="Nightwind" date="2020-07-04 16:21:14" ] Tanks make battles last longer. Is that really what you want? I'd rather have a quick, decisive battle than a drawn out high turn battle. I'm leveling exalts and/or grinding. The battle per minute rate is more important to me than endurance. [/quote] This. Coli is an extremely simple system; there isn't really any point to a tank archetype. The best form of tanking will always be killing the enemies before they can touch you, which glass cannons excel at. If you want to create a build around negating damage, your best bet is to put everything into QCK, meditation + discipline and clobber everything for free stuns galore. Even bosses just become bags of hit points when they can't even get a turn in. It's even a guaranteed stun, unlike Guard, which protects only 1 dragon, has a chance to fail, and you still take damage anyways. I like tanks but the idea of a slow, defensive wall is redundant with the Coliseum's main purpose- making money as quickly as possible.

If guard proc'd 100% of time tanks would immediately be viable if you spliced tank and mage together. If only..