🧱 How Tank & Support Roles Actually Work in PSO2 NGS

First thing to understand: NGS doesn’t have hard aggro roles, but it does have tools that let some classes naturally play “frontline” or “party guardian.”

• Hunter has big damage reduction skills (Hunter Physique / Massive Hunter-type effects), aggro tools like War Cry, and defensive passives like Flash Guard and Iron Will-style effects in different iterations.
• Techter is explicitly described as a support-focused class that fights in close or long range while buffing allies with techniques like Shifta/Deband, healing, and debuffing enemies.
• Bouncer is a highly mobile class with Jet Boots and Soaring Blades that can apply Elemental/Physical Decline to help trigger downs and has passives that reward having Shifta/Deband up.

That means “tank” in NGS usually means:

• You’re harder to kill (damage reduction, guard skills, Iron Will-style procs)
• You often use War Cry or just heavy uptime on the boss so it naturally faces you
• You stand close enough to keep pressure, blocking or countering big hits

“Support” usually means:

• You maintain Shifta/Deband and other buffs consistently (Techter main)
• You heal and drop Resta Fields or similar team tools
• You help trigger enemy downs (Elemental Decline, Physical Decline, etc.) or boost team damage

Most real “tank/support” characters are Hunter, Techter, Bouncer, or some combination of these via subclasses.

🛡 Core Survival Fundamentals (Before You Even Talk Builds)

No build saves you if you play like you’re immortal. NGS combat is built heavily around guarding, dodging and countering. Hunter guides and class writeups emphasize that timing-based skills like perfect guards/parries are a big part of “being tanky.”

Some universal survival rules:

• Learn your Weapon Action
• Hunter weapons, Wand, Jet Boots and others often have guard or generous parries attached to their weapon actions. On Techter, Wand’s kit includes parry-like block windows and strong normals; learning that timing is huge for uptime.
• Don’t ignore guard/counter skills
• Hunter’s “all guard” type skills and Perfect Parry-style abilities let you block attacks from any direction and turn defense into damage.
• Use your mitigation buttons
• Hunter Physique/Massive Hunter-type skills reduce incoming damage significantly and prevent knockback for a period. Guides note they can cut damage by up to ~50% or more while active.
• Respect telegraphs
• Standing inside red circles or giant sweeping beams will kill you no matter your build. Use your i-frames and movement when big, slow attacks come.
• Food, units & augments matter
• HP, defense and reasonable augments often matter more for staying alive than one more tiny damage multiplier. Modern augment guides stress picking a balanced mix of potency and survivability instead of pure glass cannon stacking.

Ok, with fundamentals in mind, let’s look at actual tank/support build ideas.

🗡️ Hunter Frontliner — “Not a Paladin, But Pretty Tanky”

Hunter in NGS is officially described as a high-defense melee fighter with strong mitigation tools like War Cry, Hunter Physique, Flash Guard and Iron Will-type skills.

The Hunter wiki also warns: Hunter is not a classic MMO “tank/paladin,” and a full HP/guard-only build will underperform. Your job is still to deal damage while staying hard to kill, not just turtle in a corner.

🧱 Recommended Hunter “Tanky DPS” setups

Simple, comfortable combos:

• Hu/Hu doesn’t exist – so your main will be Hunter, sub something else.
• Hu/FI – Aggressive bruiser
• Fighter gives strong offensive passives; you stay melee and rely on Hunter’s defensive kit and your own skill to stay alive.
• Hu/TE – Frontline off-support
• Techter sub can add some technique utility, but keep in mind the strongest Shifta/Deband tools are locked to Techter main.
• Hu/BO – High mobility bruiser
• Bouncer sub can bring some extra utility and mobility, but Hunter is still your defensive backbone.

🧩 Core Hunter tank skills to focus

From Hunter tree (names grouped by function):

• War Cry / Aggro skill
• Draws enemy attention and makes your attacks generate more threat, so bosses tend to face you. Guides note it doubles aggro drawn and makes countering easier when enemies are focused on you.
• Hunter Physique / Massive Hunter-style skill
• Big damage reduction and knockback immunity while active; commonly mentioned as the keystone “tank” button.
• Flash Guard & similar damage reduction passives
• Flat damage reduction that always helps; one point is usually very efficient.
• Iron Will-like effects
• Survivals that leave you at 1 HP instead of dying and give a small window to heal. These skills are specifically mentioned as essential for maximizing Hunter’s tanking capability.
• Guard/Parry enhancers (All Guard, Perfect Parry, Avenger)
• Skills that reward you for guarding or releasing PAs at perfect timings, letting you negate damage and boost power.

You still take damage skills (stances, potency ups), but in a “tank-focused” Hunter you prioritize mitigation + guard tools earlier than a pure DPS player might.

🎮 How to actually play a Hunter frontliner

• Pop War Cry when a fight starts or when a boss swaps targets, so it faces you.
• Keep Hunter Physique up for dangerous phases, like enrage or big AoEs.
• Guard or weapon-action through heavy hits instead of backpedaling forever.
• Stay near the boss so it doesn’t chase your squishier teammates all over the map.

You are not an invincible wall, but you’re much more forgiving to play than most other melee classes when everything is spewing lasers.

✨ Techter Support — Buffs, Heals & Still Punching Things

Techter in New Genesis is literally built as a support-first class. Official descriptions say it’s a class geared towards close and long range combat that also supports others using techniques, while Techter guides emphasize healing, buffing and debuffing as their main job.

Modern community writeups describe Techter as a “wand brawler support”: keep buffs up, brawl in melee with Wand, use techs when needed, and always watch your team’s status.

🧱 Recommended Techter support setups

Common, comfy choices:

• Te/HU – Frontline support tank
• Hunter sub gives damage reduction and survival skills (Flash Guard, Iron Will-style benefits, etc.), making you very hard to kill while supporting.
• Te/FO – Caster-heavy support
• Force sub boosts technique damage and gives you more tech-focused options. Techter/Force is a commonly mentioned synergy for tech damage + support.
• Te/BO – Mobile support bruiser
• Bouncer sub adds mobility and evasion options; some players like this for a more acrobatic Techter playstyle.

🧩 Key Techter skills for support/tanking

From the Techter tree:

• Shifta/Deband (Main Class skill line)
• Your bread and butter. Boost allies’ offense (Shifta) and defense (Deband). Techter’s main-class version is significantly stronger than what you get trying to do a “buff build” as a subclass.
• Resta Field Techter & support-oriented nodes
• Healing fields and support auras that help your party recover without having to spam items.
• Weak Element Amplifier / elemental support skills
• Reward you for hitting enemies with their weak element, boosting party damage and helping build element downs faster.
• Overemphasis and buff sustain skills
• Skills that improve your buff uptime and strength, letting you “set and forget” buffs more efficiently so you can fight.

From sub Hunter (if Te/Hu):

• Flash Guard, Iron Will, Hunter Physique – same defensive core as Hunter frontliner builds.

🎮 How to play Techter support without going crazy

Techter can feel overwhelming at first because you have a lot to track. Make it simple:

1. Open fight → slap Shifta & Deband

• Guides say there’s basically no reason not to use them often; durations can get long with skills, so keep them rolling.

1. Stay in melee with Wand

• Techter is built around Wand in NGS — your normal attacks and PAs hit hard and scale off Technique Potency.

1. Use techniques when needed

• For element coverage, ranged hits or utility; but don’t play as a pure backline caster or you’ll feel weak.

1. Drop heals & Resta Fields during heavy damage

• Watch your party bars; you’re the one stabilizing things when big AoEs land.

Techter is always welcome in parties when played like this. You keep everyone stronger and harder to kill, while still doing respectable damage yourself.

🌀 Bouncer Hybrid — Mobile Support & Crowd Control

Bouncer isn’t a pure healer or tank, but it’s a mobile hybrid that brings:

• Great aerial mobility and positioning with Jet Boots & Soaring Blades
• Skills like Elemental Decline and Physical Decline that help build downs on enemies when you hit them with PAs
• Passive interactions where having Shifta/Deband running increases damage or PP sustain (in classic and conceptually similar systems), rewarding good buff uptime.

This makes Bouncer a strong support-DPS hybrid that can help control bosses, keep uptime, and bounce around keeping itself alive.

🧱 Recommended Bouncer “supportish” setups

• Bo/HU – Durable aerial hybrid
• Hunter sub gives you survivability (Flash Guard, Iron Will-like skills, damage reduction) while you zoom around in the air.
• Bo/TE – Buff-friendly Bouncer
• Techter sub can add better tech access and some extra support flavor, though the strongest buff tools are still reserved for Techter main.

🧩 Key Bouncer skills for team utility & safety

From Bouncer tree:

• Elemental Decline / Physical Decline / Decline Amplifier
• Skills that help apply Elemental and Physical downs when hitting with PAs — this makes bosses fall over more often, which is a huge team survivability boost.
• Jet Boots/Soaring Blades mobility skills (Jet Intensity, Boot Trick Bounce Counter, etc.)
• These let you stick to targets, stay airborne and avoid ground-level hazards while still dealing damage.
• Shifta/Deband synergy nodes (in earlier kits)
• Skills like Shifta Air Attack Boost / Deband PP Restorate in classic Bouncer guide show the design idea: stay buffed = gain extra damage/PP sustain. The New Genesis variant has similar “buff uptime feels good” design patterns.

Bouncer doesn’t hard-heal like Techter, but its downs, mobility, and defensive subs can make it very “sticky” and safe in most content while still helping the group.

🧬 Subclasses & Add-On Skills for Surviving Longer

Even if you’re not playing the above mains, you can get a lot of tank/support flavor via subclasses and add-on skills.

🛡 Hunter as a survivability subclass

Across old and new content, Hunter is repeatedly recommended as the defensive subclass:

• Provides damage reduction (Flash Guard, Physique-style skills) and sometimes Iron Will-style survivals.
• Common sub for melee and some hybrid builds that want to be harder to kill.

If you feel too squishy, x/HU is almost always a good starting point.

✨ Techter as a support-leaning subclass

Techter sub is more niche now because its strongest buffs are main-class only, but it can still:

• Provide extra technique utility and tech potency for casters
• Help with buff-related or Photon Blast-enhancing skills if your main is Force or another tech-heavy class

You use it when you want more support flavor and tech options without fully committing to Techter main.

🌪️ Bouncer as a mobility/utility subclass

Bouncer sub can:

• Add mobility and air control, especially for Jet Boots combos
• Help build downs more reliably with its Decline tools if you’re actually using Bouncer weapons

Good choice if you like staying airborne and dodging damage by just… not being where the attacks land.

🧩 Add-on skills

Add-on skills (from class trainers) give extra passive bonuses. Community discussions highlight Braver, Fighter and Slayer add-ons as especially strong overall, but for tank/support vibes you care about things like HP, defense, PP sustain or team buffs where available.

They’re not a full build by themselves, but they’re nice icing on top of your survivability plan.

📋 Simple Sample Tank & Support Loadouts

Here are some easy “template” builds you can aim for. Adjust as your gear and preferences evolve.

1) Te/Hu — Frontline Support Wall

• Main: Techter (Wand)
• Sub: Hunter
• Role: You keep Shifta & Deband up, heal, and brawl in melee with huge safety.

Core idea:

• Grab Techter skills for buffs (Shifta/Deband line, Weak Element Amplifier, Resta Field, Overemphasis).
• From Hunter sub, take damage reduction (Flash Guard), mitigation (Physique-style), and survival (Iron Will-type) nodes.

You feel like a battle cleric: always punching, always buffing, very hard to kill.

2) Hu/FI — Bruiser Tank (DPS First, Still Hard to Kill)

• Main: Hunter
• Sub: Fighter
• Role: Aggressive frontliner that uses mitigation to keep uptime, not to turtle.

Core idea:

• Use War Cry to keep enemies focused on you while you attack from the front.
• Keep Physique/Massive Hunter-type skill ready for scary patterns.
• Take one-point Flash Guard and survivals for smoother runs.
• Use Fighter for offensive stance and power boosts.

Good if you want to be in the boss’s face and still feel tanky.

3) Bo/Hu — Mobile Decline Support

• Main: Bouncer (Jet Boots or Soaring Blades focus)
• Sub: Hunter
• Role: Highly mobile melee/air hybrid that contributes downs and stays alive with defensive subs.

Core idea:

• Bouncer skills: Elemental/Physical Decline + Decline Amplifier to help build downs; mobility skills like Jet Intensity, counter-type tools.
• Hunter sub: standard defensive package for reduced damage and emergency survival.

You’re not a healer, but you keep enemies falling over and rarely die yourself.

4) Te/Bo or Fo/Te — Backline Support Caster

• Main: Techter or Force
• Sub: Bouncer or Techter

For Te/Bo:

• Techter main gives full buff/heal kit; Bouncer sub adds mobility options.

For Fo/Te:

• Force main for big tech damage; Techter subclass used to support techs and Photon Blast improvements and save skill points on elements.

Both lean more toward ranged support rather than frontline tanking, but they are still stronger at keeping the party alive than your average DPS.

❤️ Best Ways to Stay Alive (No Matter What You Play)

Even if you don’t go full tank/support, you can instantly feel tankier if you:

• Max out one solid defensive layer
• A good mitigation skill (Hunter Physique-type), a little HP/def in augments, or reliable guard/counter usage is often enough to survive big hits.
• Use your buffs frequently
• If you’re Techter main, treat Shifta/Deband as part of your rotation, not an afterthought. Their long durations mean you can refresh them often without spamming.
• Learn 2–3 key attack patterns per boss
• You don’t need to memorize everything; just the main one-shots and big telegraphs. Practice guarding/weapon actioning those first. Hunter and Techter guides emphasize these patterns as where your defensive kit shines.
• Avoid over-greeding
• If your gut says “you should dodge now,” dodge. That one extra PA is not worth a death and a rebuild of your buffs.
• Play with an Alliance or regular group
• Coordinated groups get more value out of tanks and supports: you can call War Cry, warn about attacks, and ask for buffs. Systems and community discussions naturally lean toward Alliances for consistent runs and buff usage.

Do these things and suddenly even “squishy” builds feel way more stable.

🏁 Final Thoughts — Be the Person Who Doesn’t Die

NGS doesn’t give you a giant “TANK” icon over your head, but classes like Hunter, Techter and Bouncer clearly lean into tank & support territory:

• Hunter brings War Cry, major damage reduction, and survival skills to front-line fights.
• Techter offers top-tier party buffs, heals, and elemental support, especially as a main class with Shifta/Deband and Resta Field Techter.
• Bouncer helps with downs, mobility, and buff-synergy play, making it a great hybrid partner for safer builds.

You don’t have to copy an exact spreadsheet build to stay alive. Just decide:

• “Do I want to be frontline & sturdy?” → lean into Hunter tools
• “Do I want to protect the squad?” → lean into Techter support
• “Do I want mobility + utility?” → lean into Bouncer hybrid

Combine that with good habits (guarding, dodging, buffing, and not greeting every red telegraph like a long-lost friend), and you’ll go from “constant floor POV” to being that unkillable teammate everyone loves having in their party. 🛡️✨