Team tank help

[Pielops]

Hello. I will be playing with two of my friends, and I want to be the team tank. I can't decide how to spec though! I will be taking defense for obvious reasons, but what do I take for my second mastery? This is my first time playing by the way!

I'm currently level 8 and while I can survive well enough (for now) its no longer possible for me to hold agro over my two friends. Any suggestions on how to hold agro or what second mastery to go for? I like the sound of dream the most, because of its defensive and life stealing abilities.

It seems like having a proper tank is pointless in a group since we kill so fast, should I not bother or will this change later in the game? Especially since my friends lava-monster pet thing tanks better then me.

[Medea Fleecestealer]

Dream would be a good choice, not only for the skills you mention, but also for its Trance of Convalescence which affects all allies when it's activated so should protect your friends as well as any pets.

If you haven't already, put a point in Shield Charge and climb up the Defense tree until you can unlock and put points into its synergy. Once you have Shield Charge, preferably on your RMB, when you sight enemies simply hit the RMB and you'll fly across the space and smash into them. Alternatively, Dream's Phantom Strike does much the same job, although this time you'll disappear and reappear in the middle of your foes so you can bash them to pieces.

Another possibility is to combine your Defense with Warfare to give you a Conqueror, the ultimate RPG tank. With Onslaught maxed you'll deal plenty of damage, but to get the most from Defense's benefits use a weapon/shield combo and not Warfare's dual wield tree. Defense is designed so well to work with a shield that it's a bit of a shame not to go that route.

[Violos]

Tanks do not really work so well TQIT, except for those pets with Taunt. While you can go in first and tank the initial onslaught, the best you can do after that is to actively protect your temmates through crowd control.

But yes, Templar is probably best for this. You can rush to where you are needed with Shield Charge, stun everyone, and then freeze them with Temporal Rift. Also, you get a 50% slow AoE for 1 point.

[Brigandboy]

Definitely do Templar. My Templar hasn't died yet, though he is admittedly only in Normal Asia. I created him because I was sick of using health potions and he hasn't disappointed. He has Health Regen in the 70s, with multiple Viny Growth's stacking up with Trance of Covalescence . His damage output is a little bit disappointing right now, but he really just wont die.

Conquerors are good too, and the excellent offensive boosts there will keep you from being left in the dust by your friends in terms of kills. Honestly the only thing that makes me favor Templar is the horridly ugly portrayal of Onslaught, which also happens to be a staple of the Warfare tree. I can't stand seeing those ugly-ass rings around my character as he beats shit up. Truly though, nothing in the game beats the damage output of gay-ass Thorny Maul Conqueror builds.

[Darklightr]

I'd say Conqueror. He can buff allies with Battle-Standard, giving them +dmg, if I'm not mistaken. Along with War Horn, you guys will be able to rip through enemies in no time at all, without many deaths (my Conqueror has 1, maybe 2 deaths so far, in act I Epic)