I usually do video guides, so if this seems awkward i do apologise.

Hello and welcome to the quick toughness guide.

So what is toughness and how does it work.

Toughness is this little bar above the health bar. It like health also has a number value next to it.

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2476494741039469576/E3461D1ECE45F2AC0EE00EF2F1A35D7FC94D8DB3/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

It works as a second health bar when you are getting shot, or when standing in green fire, or gas.

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2476494741039476738/3D3FA3D38476001E61774145DB60FF79E6EE7D5B/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

In case whatever is happening to the resolution of that doesn't get fixed.

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2476494741039548357/A02E64EBD4FBE90A11CBB4E482D7441B9ABF714C/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

Even though i have taken about 3 shots, its only hitting my toughness, my HP value has yet to drop.

When taking melee damage it acts different though. When you take a melee hit, if you are at full toughness it will act as a second health bar, but if your toughness is not full then a portion will go through to your health pool. The more toughness you are missing the more that will go to your health.

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2476494741039494621/48EEFCED6FF8A23A96DBF9B1B4A5A7BC519487BC/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

First hit. Toughness absorbed the whole damage.

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2476494741039488152/0D0DCD3FAEFC86D691018F466746B8B0BAE55F0A/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

Second hit, my toughness wasn't full so i lost a little health. I still had toughness though so only a little went through. If your toughness bar is low or depleted most of the melee hit will pass through, that's how you lose a lot of health very fast.

It is to note that red fire, from bombers and flamers does health and toughness damage. Standing in fire is really really bad because of this.

You can recover toughness by Killing enemies in melee, some perks will allow you to gain it through ranged kills at a low percentage, using some abilities such as the fanatics charge, or the veterans shout and lastly but probably most important being near teammates, this is why its important to group up.

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2476494741039504120/B4C077D1DF4A8E99BEB8AF5A2DC1501159EA33CE/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

This symbol is your coherence, how many allies you have near you, the more the better. You can find it in the list of active buffs you have next to your hp bar. You want it at 4 as much as possible.

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2476494741039506581/07144D9EF7171488C7E1A9B749656958D0CE0823/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

List of all buffs i have active at this point in the fight, note that it puts coherency and friendly buffs apart from the others i have active, this is because they are the most important ones for survival.

It is to note that the veterans shout (voice of command) and the Fanatics idol ability (Chorus of Spiritual Fortitude) can give you toughness past your max value, this is represented by your toughness bar turning yellow.

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2476494741039568740/BD2E2092F353BC0245E5FBA546283A8CA447D5A9/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

While this is active your toughness will act as though it always full until the value in yellow, (the +50) is used up or the buff times out. This makes it insane good during a melee heavy fight as it makes you immune to the usual chip damage that gets though during the fight.

OK now onto toughness management.

Toughness management is easy on lower levels and kind of ramps up quickly as the amount of enemies increase. In general what you are trying to do is space out the melee hits so your toughness can get back to full in-between the hits. Also to complicate things is mixed combat, moments where you are getting shot while in melee. For this i have 5 rules or suggestions to follow to increase your survivability.

5 Rules to survive.

1: keep ranged enemies and ranged enemy elites on the other side of the melee mobs because they wont shoot you as much. Getting shot at while in melee very bad because your toughness will not be full when you take a hit, so do avoid getting surrounded.

https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2476494741039518474/D4EDB63DAD2174F3DCEA905882811A7CABD6118C/?imw=256&&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false

In this instance i used a sniper to block the gunfire of the gunner, but the concept is still there. Use the enemies as cover to disrupt taking gunfire!

2: Try to space out when you are taking melee hits so your always taking them while your toughness is up. Blocking, dodging, and pushing are extremely helpful for this as they can buy you time to recover.

3: be aware of whats around you make sure you have space to back up, space is time, and time itself can allow you to recover toughness.

4: trash mobs can be used to recover toughness in a boss fight or against a ball of elites like ragers or maulers, meleeing trash can save you Health.

5: The faster you kill the enemies the less of them there are to deal damage and the easier it is to survive. You might be saving that nade for a crusher or bulwark, but if you are losing health and the enemies arent dropping fast enough; it might be best to use it now.

Snipers, flamers, grenadiers and sometimes but not always shot-gunners are exclusions to anything referring to ranged enemies because they ignore their allies when they shoot...

Thats about it, bye.