Hey folks, so years ago I made a DT for…some reason, I ended up lvling him to 80 but didnt get him any AAs and ended up shelving him because I didn’t wish to be a tank at all, today I was wondering if one can pull off Playing a Melee DPS DT in group content or if I participate I must be a Tank? is it doable? is it possible?
Give me a piece of your minds on this & Thank you…keep it civil 
Ofcourse its possible, but its not really realistic in the long run to be a dps dt cos you will start pulling aggro at a point where u do less dps then the real dpsers, you will most likely have a hard time getting into dungeons cos the tanks dont want a 3rd guy to share their loot with (eventho i understand that ure not interested in the tankloot).
If you just want to gear up the char abit thats fine, but I dont think its worth your time making a career ingame being a dps dt.
Playing DPS DTs is totally possible as their DPS can be insane, though you will need a talisman spec and probably some light armor pieces to increase your magic damage, pure melee DPS is never really possible because most of your important DPS feats are doing magic damage (hex attack, pact of malacodor etc.).
As for all melee classes, combat rating / strength (not dexterity in this case) increases your melee DPS, wisdom and magic damage will increase your magic damage sources. Another important attribute is critical chance, DTs NEED the void of madness AA perk, it’s just too good to skip it and it works only really well if your critical chance is high (more critical hits = more VoM procs = more damage).
The biggest problem you will be facing is the fact that most people wont invite DPS DTs since they already got tanks in their group and don’t want to have another person rolling on tank gear as well as DPS gear (like PoM / ToS armor) while not really doing their job (that normally is tanking).
You might need to explain first that you wont need on tank gear that the other tanks need in order to get into groups more often.
Obviously, this is not the case every single time, many people don’t need gear anymore and take anyone they can get, especially for the “low tier” dungeons (such as Flame / Vortex, Kara Korum etc.).
I think I already am rolling with a Tali build, Gearing however is on my mind I was wondering how to make it work, not rolling on Tank gear is kinda obvious since well, I wont be tanking but what will I roll on really?
There are DPS sets for tanks (like the tigers armor) but a DT greatly benefits from using magic damage items such as ToS / PoM or cloth armor with pure magic damage but these items will be harder to get.
If you look at it from a different perspective… Why would a PoM or Tos or any other class be any happier that you roll on gear meant for them, unless they already have it? Especially since they can’t roll on DT gear, and DTs can still do insane dps with their own stuff.
@Force @Generalfear I guess I could just Greed on it, that way if they need it they have it, if not it comes to me…and yes I think DT gear is good for DPS, I just need to avoid the stuff with TANK stats, like maybe Hate increase and such
In a normal pug group most people will greed on stuff for cash. If you really want to go all the way as dps dt you should always just ask the POM/TOS in your group what he needs, or look at his gear to see if he has better pieces.
Befor you start this take a look at the gear first, because you seem confused about what POM/TOS gear or tank gear actually is (in short: light with wisdom/healrating, in rare cases only magic damage is POM/TOS, all heavy and full plate is tank)
https://aoc.is-better-than.tv/armory.php
In general you will need to talk a lot to people, because as said earlier: You do not bring much to the table as a dps dt in a group- or raidsitiation. In most dungeons and lots of raid encounters off tanks are a fine thing though, so maybe you can think about getting familiar with easy off tank tasks.
In all honesty if I’m running a raid or 6man grp and I get asked if a DPS tank class can join I automatically say no. I’ll five man or go short before taking one. Just rubs me the wrong way. You rolled a tank. Tank.
This conversation seems painfully familiar, Akh
Wanted to see what a wider audience has to say, is all 
I’ve found that d p s tanks (conq or DT) are more welcome in groups and raids when you are playing with people who already know you and are friendly towards you.
Trying to join random global formed groups / raids as a dps-only tank is harder.
People need to remember that the “main tank” and “offtank” players in the group especially if conq and DT are ALSO likely to collect gear so they can go full-on DPS squishy tank build themselves at times … just because they are in tank mode/gear for THAT group doesn’t mean they only want to be in tank mode/gear … they are probably also wishing to collect the same d p s gear that a non-tank tank is after
… and this is part of why having a third tank who is strictly d p s geared focussed and promises not to roll need in tank-gear does NOT make for a desirable addition.
Just to be clear: I hate to have dps soldiers in my raids and try to avoid it under all circumstances. I usually expect unexperienced tanks to start with the easier tank tasks at least on their second run, pure dps soldiers need to switch to tank if I need them to.
In both cases group or raid I would only take them with me if all we need is a random anyway. In groups looting anything someone else needs is a no go and instant kick.
If you don’t want to play a tank don’t play a tank.
I just tried to be nice because @Akhmenukep seemed like a nice guy. Anyone with an attitude would have gotten a very different answer 
So this is how I see it:
Obviously you CAN play dps DT, and it will do a lot of damage just as any other dps would do. However, there are just way too many ‘problems’ or reasons why you should not do it.
A lot of those problems (mostly gear) are easily solved because of how easy it is to get gear now a days (RF). You don’t roll against people for tokens so you can buy whatever you wish.
However, the main problem for me is that if you ever step a foot into T5/T6 and you try to be a DPS soldier, for me that’s the most wasted spot ever.
Of course, there are encounters where you only need 5 or 6 tanks. So if you have 7 in the raid one of them could just go DPS. The thing is here is that you might as well have conq going dps then because of how easy it is to get, and keep aggro with a Tali DT considering the class is just totally broken. For example on Yothians in T6 guardians/conqs can just solo tank them, and DT can go frenzy, but on adds at the doors you just swap to defensive stance and you can tank those. And if you ever start to do any form of decent dps you’ll get aggro anyways so might as well be in tank gear and just tank it imo.
In the end, we’re not paying your sub, and you are entitled to play the game how you want to. But the main problem on this subject is when DPS dts/conqs aren’t allowed to join activites because people like me and others refers to them mostly being a waste of a spot starts QQing.
I would not recommend you to start maining DPS DT, but if you find it fun, and have people to play with which does not mind, sure – Go for it. If you want to play a melee dps the game has other awesome classes for you, which are all really fun, and unique to play 
This for me would be the biggest reason. Not only will you be somewhat undesired for most group content because other classes offer more utility to the group, you will also be stuck playing a very boring playstyle doing mostly very boring jobs.
Just like carnage conq and polearm guard they are viable to play but honestly you would be doing yourself a disservice if you commit a lot of time/effort to a dps soldier while there are a lot of dps classes that are made for and much much more fun to play as dps.
To each their own but personally I would advise against it simply because there is just so much more fun to be had playing an actual dps class as dps.
Shouldn’t it just be up to the group leader? Carnage conq and dt pump out a LOT of damage, and most dungeons only require 1 tank for the entire dungeon (we solo tanked chaos, wyrm, and coils in PvP gear with only a guardian). As long as a player can do damage, their class can surely fit into a 6 man. Especially in the case of DPS DT and Carnage conq, which can forced engage to assist the main tank.
Essentially these classes are like having a barbarian in group.
I think the bare minimum requirements are 1 tank, 1 mage, and 2 healers. That leaves two slots for whatever you want. Some fights require a rogue for TW/FH, but even then, there’s still an open slot.
Don’t get why you guys are so against DPS tanks. Carnage conqs can do obscene amounts of damage.
I guess the biggest problem is the loot when it comes to class stacking, sure DTs and Conqs can do insane amounts of damage but if a group already got 2 tanks and then a third tank comes and wants to have the same loot then people are going to refuse taking them.
If everyone is decked out on gear of course this is no problem but if there are 2 tanks competing for the same item already and then a 3rd tank comes who didn’t do any of the tanking job but still wants this item it’s going to cause some “drama” (which I can totally understand).
When it’s a group of friends it’s obviously not that big of a deal because you would let someone get a item more likely but with complete strangers it’s a different question.
I’ve got no problems with OT going dps if he’s not needed to tank. The issue I have is when someone shows up to the group that can ONLY dps and wont tank if needed. Had alot of DT’s on pve saga that only wore light armor the entire time and only wanted to dps. If you can fullfill both rules AWESOME, if you can only dps get good and come back when you can perform your role first
DPS soldiers do not want to fe or help the tank - then they would join as off tanks. They would not even have the feats to help (like cunning etc.). They do not bring buffs like a barbarian would, and would have too minor minus hate in general to dish out the dps they are capeable of.
I think most people argue from the pug and higher raids point of view. If the group is ok with a dps soldier, or you run only with friends all of this is of no concern.
A few points to consider.
-A barb for example will do great dps has minus hate and provides group buffs.
-Carnage conq will provide minor group buffs, has ok minus hate (best of all soldiers) can battle res, and in most cases has some utility tools if they do or if they need to get agro.
-Dps DT provides nothing for group buffs, most likely very weak minus hate. But can do insane dps, which only hurts combined with the hate issue.
-Tank Dt can do great Dps(can be higher than dps classes) while tanking in tanking gear.
So why waste your time and effort only being a “Dps dt” when you could accomplish both by learning to tank on a DT.