Ultimate Tank Build for Spear in Throne and Liberty: A Comprehensive Guide

With the recent release of the Spear on the Korean servers of Throne and Liberty, and its upcoming launch on the global servers, many players are eager to explore the new builds and playstyles that come with this weapon. If you're a tank specialist or simply looking to build a powerful tank setup for large-scale PvP (ZVZ), this guide will walk you through an ideal Spear tank build that focuses on crowd control (CC), survivability, and utility in Throne and Liberty. Additionally, incorporating Throne and Liberty Lucent items into your build can further enhance your tank's effectiveness, providing you with the necessary tools to dominate in battle. Get ready to engage in intense fights as you master the Spear!

Why Spear for Tanking?

The Spear brings something new to tanking in Throne and Liberty—a combination of crowd control (CC) and AoE utility that can replace other weapons traditionally used in large-scale fights, like the SNS Greatsword. The key advantage of the Spear is its range, CC capabilities, and resistance to crowd control effects. While SNS Greatsword may remain a staple for small-scale tanking, the Spear's unique abilities make it an exciting choice for larger group engagements.

Core Abilities for the Tank Build

1. Defensive Skills:

1. Cube Block (Shield Survival Technique): This is the go-to Cube Block for tank builds. It helps you survive and resist CC effects, which are crucial for staying in the fight longer.

2. Provoking Raw: A crucial ability that pulls enemies toward you and forces them to attack you, with the added benefit of reducing their endurance. This makes it easier for your team to deal more damage to them.

3. Shield Strike: Your main source of damage as a tank, this ability allows you to hit enemies for considerable damage, especially when combined with other abilities. It also pairs well with Counter Barrier, which reduces the cooldown of Shield Strike when you take hits.

4. Counter Barrier: A defensive skill that mitigates damage while also reducing the cooldown of your Shield Strike.

2. Crowd Control (CC):

1. Pistol Cleave (AoE Stun): Similar to the Greatsword's Stunning Blow, this ability lets you stun multiple targets in a cone area, providing vital CC for locking down groups of enemies.

2. Annihilating Slash: A utility skill that slows down enemies in an area. This ability is especially useful in controlling the movement of enemy forces, making it harder for them to escape or fight back.

3. Death from Above: A powerful leap that not only deals damage but also has a chance to fear enemies within the area of effect. The leap range is impressive, and the fear effect is useful for disrupting enemy lines during engagements.

4. Unyielding Sentinel: This ability grants CC resistance and makes you even tankier, further solidifying your role as a resilient tank on the battlefield.

3. Utility Skills:

1. Strategic Rush: A mobility tool that helps you push enemies off cliffs or into walls, providing great opportunities to disrupt enemy formations and create space for your allies.

2. Storm Blitz: A dash that reduces the CC resistance of your targets, and while it’s often used for mobility, it’s useful in getting close to enemies quickly and knocking them down or stunning them when used on allies.

3. Chain Hook: A signature ability of the SNS (and now Spear) build, this skill lets you hook a single target out of the enemy formation. With the increased range provided by this build, you can pull targets over obstacles, disorienting them and opening them up to follow-up attacks.

Specializations

1. Provoking Raw (Cleaving Raw): This specialization improves the efficiency of your provocation abilities by reducing enemy endurance and grouping them together for easier follow-up CC. It's perfect for crowd control and disorientation.

2. Shield Strike (Piercing Strike): Increasing the damage of your Shield Strike and adding a reduction to the enemy's crit hit chance is crucial to surviving while dishing out significant damage.

3. Annihilating Slash (Movement Speed Reduction): Picking up this specialization reduces the movement speed of enemies hit by your Annihilating Slash, further enhancing your CC and slowing down enemies during critical moments.

4. Death from Above (Fear Chance Increase): Increasing the fear chance from your leap helps you lock down more enemies and disrupt the enemy formation more consistently.

5. Unyielding Sentinel (Shield Buffs): You’ll want to pick up the shield bonus from this specialization to make you even more durable, especially in tough situations where you need to hold the line.

6. Chain Hook (Rear Chain Hook): This specialization extends the range of your Chain Hook, allowing you to pull enemies from greater distances and over obstacles, making it easier to take them out of the fight.

Attributes & Gear Setup

Attributes:

· Strength: Maxing out strength improves your health and base defenses, making you a more resilient tank in large-scale fights.

· Perception: Boosts buff duration and hit chance, which is crucial for increasing your CC uptime and debuffing enemies.

· Wisdom: Increases your resistance to magic-based damage, which is especially important considering how powerful mages are in Throne and Liberty.

Gear Setup:

· Weapons: Aim for high-end Spear weapons like the Belland Spear and SNS if available. These weapons offer high durability, good CC utility, and synergy with your tank build. In the absence of these, alternatives like the Dead Man's Beheading Spear or CarX SNS will work fine.

· Armor: Gear up with a Shock Set (shock chest, helmet, pants, gloves) for solid base armor values and good endurance. Focus on melee and range endurance stats across your pieces.

· Cloak: The Collision Resistance Cloak is a must to avoid getting stuck in CC and improve your survivability in large group fights.

· Accessories: Prioritize accessories that give you collision resistance, magic endurance, and HP boosts. The Eternal Champions Binding and Insightful Ring of Dimension are great choices for maximizing durability and range.

Runes:

· Synergy Rune: Increase hit damage reduction and strength for added tankiness.

· Collision Chance Runes: Boosting collision chance is critical for your ability to pull in enemies effectively with your Chain Hook.

· Triple Endurance: Given that this is a full tank build, prioritizing magic and range endurance will help you survive against enemy mages and ranged units.

Playing the Spear Tank in Large-Scale PvP (ZVZ)

In large-scale PvP, the main role of the Spear tank is to initiate fights, control the battlefield, and disrupt enemy lines. Here's a breakdown of how you should approach a typical large-scale fight:

1. Initiate with Death from Above: Pop your Unyielding Sentinel for added tankiness, then Leap in with Death from Above to fear the enemies and cause chaos in their ranks.

2. Use Provoking Raw and Chain Hook: After landing, use Provoking Raw to pull enemies into your range, then follow up with a Chain Hook to displace any stragglers.

3. Spam Shield Strike: After your CC skills, start spamming Shield Strike in the clumped-up enemies. This ability can do massive AoE damage, especially if you've been hit recently and reduced the cooldown through Counter Barrier.

4. Utilize Strategic Rush and Mobility: Use Strategic Rush to reposition or knock enemies off cliffs, creating further disruption in the enemy ranks.

5. Spam Defensives and AoE: Always have your Counter Barrier and Star Bastion up to mitigate incoming damage while you continue to tank and CC enemies. Your job is to take hits, control enemy movements, and keep your team safe.

Final Thoughts

The Spear tank build offers a unique blend of CC, survivability, and utility, making it ideal for large-scale PvP engagements in Throne and Liberty. This build will shine in situations where you need to absorb damage, disrupt enemy formations, and support your allies with valuable crowd control. While it may take some time to refine, this build is poised to be a game-changer for tank players in the upcoming global release of the game. For those looking to enhance their setup further, consider buying TL Lucent from reputable sources like MMOEXP, which can provide you with essential items to solidify your tank's effectiveness on the battlefield.