Ashes of Creation Tank Leveling Guide

Welcome to the ultimate leveling guide for Tanks! Within this guide, we'll cover everything you need to know while you level your Tank to Level 25. This guide will focus on group leveling as it is the most efficient way to level for pretty much everyone, particularly Tanks.

Please note: As a Tank, you'll spend the vast majority of time grinding mobs in a full 8-man group, the Tank kit is not well built for solo play due to low sustained damage and minimal sustain.

Regardless of if you're in a group while leveling, or solo, there are a handful of tips and tricks that will make your leveling process more enjoyable and efficient. These best practices can be found below.

• Rations – Restores 3% Health and 3% Mana over 20 seconds.
• Scroll of Strength – Increases Strength for 3 hours.You can only have one scroll buff active at a time.
• Scroll of Constitution – Increases Constitution for 3 hours You can only have one scroll buff active at a time.
• Beef Steak Sandwich – Increase Physical Power Rating by 36 and Max Health by 121 (can be purchased from Apprentice Cookhouse).
• Apprentice Health Potion / Journeyman Health Potion – Heals for a set amount based on rank and rarity on a 2 minute cooldown.

For optimal Tank leveling, focus on forming efficient groups. Your ideal group composition includes:

• Tank – YOU! A group will only need one.
• Support – Prioritize forming groups with one Cleric and two Bards (mix support/offense), or two Clerics and one Bard if necessary.
• DPS – For DPS, prioritize Mage for their superior AoE damage. Fighter is a strong secondary option. Ranger offers adequate damage, but may struggle early on without optimal gear.

Leveling grants skill points for your class, as well as separate trees for your weapons and stamina. Don't forget to invest in these areas for a smoother progression.

You can force flag for PvP by pressing alt+F.

Engaging in PvP while leveling can be entertaining, but it significantly reduces your leveling speed. To maximize efficiency, it's best to avoid PvP flagging. Be aware that looting any player's corpse, regardless of alliance, will force you into PvP, making you an easy target and preventing allies from assisting you unless they also flag.

Note: Killing non-combatants (players who do not have a purple sword flag) will cause you to go "Corrupted" which makes you a free target for all players and will cause drop if some equipped items on death.

As you defeat monsters, your bags will accumulate loot, including Glint and various materials. Regularly monitor your Materials tab and make frequent trips to town to deposit items. Be warned: dying will cause you to lose approximately 25% and permanently destroy an additional 25% of your gathered materials.

Tip: Consolidate your Glint by combining 10 of the same quality into a higher tier using the right-click option in your Materials tab, saving valuable inventory space.

Learn more about the most efficient way to level as a Tank within a group in Ashes of Creation! Using the scrolling feature below, select your level and unlock a list of best practices on how to level, including recommended skills, leveling locations, and more.

The slider has been set up to work most efficiently across 5 level increments. Set the slider to your level, but expect information from the previous level bracket to disappear at specific thresholds. This is done to make the information on the page more condensed and easier to read.

Please note: This guide only provides recommendations for group leveling. Solo leveling as a Tank is not recommended since the tank kit doesn't effectively support efficient solo leveling.

Move the slider below to make the guide update to your level!

As you begin your leveling journey, you should instantly start with a Longsword and Shield, and will be able to pick up a Longbow and Greatsword from the ground just outside the starting location. These are your primary weapons until you can buy a 1H Mace later in your journey. 1H Mace and Shield is recommended, but Sword and Shield is still a viable option depending on your preference, You will be able to level all weapon skills while leveling or once at max level so you can expirement more on your own.

Once you grab these weapons, claim the "Welcome to Verra" quest by talking to the NPC in the starting area, then start killing some goblins to familarize yourself with the combat system. Make your way down to Lion's Hold by taking the West ramp down from the Divine Gateway and Speak with Billmaster Harold to learn about commissions and get your first quest to complete a commission. After speaking with Billmaster Harold, you can talk to Official Tallahad to learn about Embersprings, run north out of Lion's Hold to attune to the emberspring then come back down and turn in the quest to Official Tallahad. As of this writing this will also complete your Commission quest so you can turn that in to Billmaser Harold and immediately be Level 2.

Please Note: As of writing this guide there is a bug with Physical Block Chance Rating; shields do not provide as much defense as they should. You can opt to level with a greatsword and focus first for slightly more damage.

At Level 2, unlock the Tremoring Strike skill, this ability will do more damage as well as tripping your enemies to reduce damage you take.

This is a good time to also speak to Tradesmanager Hernet and complete the "Sweat of Your Brow" quest to obtain your first mount as well as starting artisan tools for all gathering professions. You can follow this youtube video made by Savvvo to unlock your mount.

After obtaining your mount and gathering tools, it's a good time to head over to the commissions board and pick up some easy starting quests for glint/XP that you can do with your group or while you form/wait for your group members.

Note: As a new player, feel free you grab all commissions and look on your map to see what makes sense for you to complete.

Between Levels 3 and 5 you'll want to train Pulverize for strong single target damage, then Shield Assault, a frontal AOE that will apply Stagger to all enemies hit. Your third ability during this range should be Taunt if you need it for aggro, or Shake It Off if you want a little more sustain.

Upon reaching Level 6, you should have the following skills unlocked.

• Tremoring Strike
• Pulverize
• Shield Assault
• Taunt / Shake It Off

By Level 6 you should be in a group grinding mobs, preferabbly in an area like Church of the Seven Stars or Hall of Judication.

• Level 6 – Intimidating Aura: This is your top aggro and AoE aggro ability which will keep all mobs on you and not your DPS or Healers.
• Level 7 – The ability you didnt have between Taunt / Shake It Off.
• Level 8 – Grapple: Use this to position casters into your group when using LOS is not an option.
• Level 9 – Fortify: Strong defensive to help survive big damage pulls.

Upon reaching Level 10, you should have the following skills unlocked.

• Tremoring Strike
• Pulverize
• Shield Assault
• Shake It Off
• Intimidating Aura
• Taunt
• Grapple
• Fortify

You should continue leveling and plan to move locations around level 12, use this time to get more familiar with your abilities and plan trips to town to store any valuables. Practice using Tremoring Strike to interrupt casters, this will be really important when you move to next area as some casters have abilities that must be interrupted.

• Level 10 – Reflect: Reflect ability, Timing is important.
• Level 11 – Refreshing Reflect: Upgrades reflect to return mana based on how much damage you reflected, it is important to time reflect and use it on high damage abilities to maximize mana return.
• Level 12 – Ground Pound: Use on mobs that are staggered from your melee auto attack combos, you can also use Shield Assault to stagger all mobs in front of you.
• Level 13 – Intercept: Use this to reduce your damage, help an ally survive, or as a movement ability to reposition yourself near an ally.
• Level 14 – Absorption Field: Helpful for saving allies and reducingm damage you take.
• Level 15 – Indomitable Spirit: Your "O Crap!" button to self-heal, can also be used prior to Absorption Field and Shake It Off to make those abilities more effective.

At around level 12 you'll want to start moving your group or looking for a new group. Ruins of Sephillion is ideal since "Ashen Haunt" armor drops there, this is a strong lvl 10 set for Tanks that will make your transition into later grind easier. Early areas of Citadel of Steelbloom and Tower of Carphin can also be good XP grind spots, although the gear drops in earlier areas are not as common for Tanks. Higher level areas in these two areas will drop level 20 Heavy armor that is good for tanks but will be difficult to kill at lower levels.

Note: If you find yourself dying frequently, you'll want to slow down pulls or move to areas where you are not going to take as much damage, as a tank you will likely die more often than the rest of your party which makes you drop/destroy Glint, do your best to mitigate deaths and protect your Glint as it is an important economic resource.

Upon reaching Level 16, you should have the following skills unlocked.

• Tremoring Strike
• Pulverize
• Shield Assault
• Shake It Off
• Intimidating Aura
• Taunt
• Grapple
• Fortify
• Reflect
• Refreshing Reflect
• Ground Pound
• Intercept
• Absorption Field
• Indomitable Spirit

At this point you'll the majority of your essential skills. You'll want to stay in Sephillion until close to level 20 if you are on a fresh start or are playing mainly solo or with newer players you. If you have already leveled friends or are part of an established Guild that can help you, moving to the higher levels of Carphin or Steelbloom are fine, you'll get carried a bit until 20 and you can start equipping gear that drops there for you. Moving to the Tropics Island farm is just about the fastest XP/hr you can get in-game as of time of this writing. The Tropics farm does require very high DPS as the Stabbers need to die before they start AoEing your group.

• Level 16 – Reflect: Reflect ability, timing is important.
• Level 17 – Refreshing Reflect: Upgrades Reflect to return mana based on how much damage you reflected. It is important to time reflect and use it on high damage abilities to maximize mana return.
• Level 18 – Ground Pound: Use on mobs that are staggered from your melee auto attack combos, you can also use Shield Assault to stagger all mobs in front of you.
• Level 19 – Intercept: Use this to reduce your damage, help an ally survive, or as a movement ability to reposition yourself near an ally.
• Level 20 – Absorption Field: Helpful for saving allies and reducingm damage you take.

Upon reaching Level 21, you should have the following skills unlocked.

• Tremoring Strike
• Pulverize
• Shield Assault
• Shake It Off
• Intimidating Aura
• Taunt
• Grapple
• Fortify
• Reflect
• Refreshing Reflect
• Ground Pound
• Intercept
• Absorption Field
• Indomitable Spirit
• Reflect
• Refreshing Reflect
• Ground Pound
• Intercept

At this point, you are in the home stretch. Your build is pretty much set with a few skills left to grab. You'll follow the same grinding locations recommended at the end of the lvl 16-20 section. Higher Levels of Carphin and Steelbloom are probably the most easily accessible areas. Tropics island farm would be the best if you can get a solid group, there is more danger there since it is a lawless zone and you can be jumped by players at any time. If your focus is uninterrupted leveling while also increasing the overall power of your character, I recommend Tower of Carphin. Carphin drops very strong level 20 gear for tanks the "Academus Monitor" set, Carphin is also a place that is easy to bank from, you can unstuck to the Carphin embershrine and run down to miraleth to bank Glint and materials.

• Level 21 – Supernatural Grit
• Level 22 – Shake It Off: Unyielding: You can now break CC with Shake It Off
• Level 23 – Forceful Tremors
• Level 24 – Oppressive Reflect
• Level 25 – Relentless Vengeance

Congragulations on hitting the current max level in the Ashes of Creation Alpha! Going forward, it is in your best interest to read up on end game guides to better adjust your build for the new options available. The two guides linked below will start you off in the right direction, depending on if you want to learn more about PvE or PvP.

As you level your Tank you will unlock stronger gear that is a must have for you to survive as the front line of a group. Keeping your Armor up-to-date is critical as a tank, without the mitigation from better gear you'll find yourself unable to survive the damage from mobs.

You're early game upgrades are very limited, depending on where you grind you may pick up some armor to equip, at this level you'll want to equip anything you can to fill slots to increase mitigation. You can find a few pieces of heavy Armor from the "Smithy Vendor" west of Lionshold.

Item Name	Location	Level Requirement
Copper Mace	Smithy Vendor (Avons End)	Level 1
2nd Sword Division's Breastplate	Hideworks Vendor (Avons End)	Level 1
2nd Sword Division's Pants	Smithy Vendor (Avons End)	Level 1
2nd Sword Division's Boots	Smithy Vendor (Avons End)	Level 1

The above items will may end up being your only gear until level 10 depending on where you grind. If you are starting a character on an established server make sure to check the marketplace for any affordable items to raise your mitigation.

Once you reach Level 10 you will unlock "Apprentice" tier gear. The options for gear really open up at level 10, between crafted and dropped items you'll have many options. On an established server your best bet will be to look at the different towns marketplace. If you have established friend be sure to ask them for hand-me-downs and/or materials for crafting Apprentice Armor and weapons. The below list will focus on things that are mainly attainable through drops as those will be the more practical options for new players or on a fresh start server.

Please note: If you are swimming in gold (unlikely) you can use Apprentice Enchanting Scrolls to increase that stats on your gear. Items with base stats such as Strength or Con will get the biggest benefits from enchanting.

Item Name	Location	Level Requirement
Forsaken Blades Mace	Dropped from many different mobs in Highwaymen Hills.	Level 10
Forsaken Blades Shield	Dropped from many different mobs in Highwaymen Hills.	Level 10
Forsaken Blades Longbow	Dropped from many different mobs in Highwaymen Hills.	Level 10
Forsaken Blades Helm	Dropped from many different mobs in Highwaymen Hills.	Level 10
Ashen Haunt's Breastplate	Dropped by Level 15-20 Ashen mobs in Ruins of Sephillion and Tower of Carphin.	Level 10
Ashen Haunt's Bracers	Dropped by Level 15-20 Ashen mobs in Ruins of Sephillion and Tower of Carphin.	Level 10
Forsaken Blades Gloves	Dropped from many different mobs in Highwaymen Hills.	Level 10
Ashen Haunt's Belt	Dropped by Level 15-20 Ashen mobs in Ruins of Sephillion and Tower of Carphin.	Level 10
Forsaken Blades Pants	Dropped from many different mobs in Highwaymen Hills.	Level 10
Ashen Haunt's Greaves	Dropped by Level 15-20 Ashen mobs in Ruins of Sephillion and Tower of Carphin.	Level 10
Ashen Haunt's Pauldrons	Dropped by Level 15-20 Ashen mobs in Ruins of Sephillion and Tower of Carphin.	Level 10
Ashen Haunt's Cloak	Dropped by Level 15-20 Ashen mobs in Ruins of Sephillion and Tower of Carphin.	Level 10
Bone Earring / Emerald Earring	Dropped many different mobs in the world. Emerald Earring is also an easy craft.	Level 10
Everlasting Sower's Bone Necklace / Halcyonite Necklace	Dropped many different mobs in the world. Everlasting Sower dropped from named mob in the Daragel Estates.	Level 10
Halcyonite Ring	Dropped many different mobs in the world. Halcyonite Ring is also an easy craft.	Level 10

At level 20 you will gain access to the most powerful items currently available in-game. You'll want to prioritize replacing the armor with the biggest stat differences to maximize your gains. Coordinate with your Static group if you have one and help each other farm your BIS gear. Don't ignore gathering, all of these items will be craftale at better quality than you can expect to reliably get dropped.

Please note: If you are swimming in gold (unlikely) you can use Apprentice Enchanting Scrolls to increase that stats on your gear. Items with base stats such as Strength or Constitution will get the biggest benefits from enchanting. In most cases, replacing armor will give you a larget net increase vs spending gold on enchanting a specific item.

Item Name	Location	Level Requirement
Groundskeeper's Maul	Dropped from many different mobs in Tower of Carphin.	Level 20
Aegis of Ink and Blood	Dropped from many different mobs in Tower of Carphin.	Level 20
Longsight Bow	Dropped from many different mobs in Tower of Carphin.	Level 20
Academus Monitor Stechhelm	Dropped from many different mobs in Tower of Carphin.	Level 20
Academus Monitor Breastplate	Dropped from many different mobs in Tower of Carphin.	Level 20
Academus Monitor Stechhelm	Dropped from many different mobs in Tower of Carphin.	Level 20
Academus Monitor Vambrace	Dropped from many different mobs in Tower of Carphin.	Level 20
Forgeguard's Gauntlets	Dropped from many different mobs in Befallen Forge.	Level 20
Forgeguard's Belt	Dropped from many different mobs in Befallen Forge.	Level 20
Iron Leggings	Crafted Journeyman Armorsmith	Level 20
Forgeguard's Boots	Dropped from many different mobs in Befallen Forge.	Level 20
Academus Monitor Pauldrons	Dropped from many different mobs in Tower of Carphin.	Level 20
Academus Monitor Cloak	Dropped from many different mobs in Tower of Carphin.	Level 20
Lumadon Earring	Crafted Journeyman Jewelcrafting	Level 20
Rock Necklace	Crafted Journeyman Jewelcrafting	Level 20
Bloodied Bone Ring	Dropped by The Bloodied. Recipe is currently bugged so getting a heroic+ drop will be challenging.	Level 20

The items listed above are some of the best for Tanks. There are some options where you can swap out items with minimal stat changes, and in some cases level 10 enchanted jewelry is better/on par with level 20 jewelry. You'll want to adjust your gear based on your goals, if you want to be tankier there are options with con over str, if you want more damage, you can even get medium armor with Strength/Dexterity and drop even more mitigation.

Once you hit level 25, the grind doesn't stop! Start working on gathering some of these best-in-slot items, and start enchanting your high-quality gear!

Please note: Boss Weapons were not included, you'll want to join a large strong organization in order to get these items. Finding these for sale will be very rare as most guilds will be keeping evertything in-house.