The tank always spawn with the armor of god. It is a very special armor that makes its carrier almost completely invulnerable to damage dealt by other tanks. A tank facing another tank will make for a long grinding battle with each player trying hard to push in just a few points of damage per second. The armor of god can be disabled though but only by a rogue. The rogue however can't do any serious damage to a tanks health.
A lone rogue facing a tank will not last long. She will probably be able to disable his armor for a while but she can't kill him. Since she doesn't have any armor of herself she will very easily be blown to bits by the tank's powerful weapons.
Hence the amor of god makes the tank invulnerable against lone enemies but not against tanks and rogues working together. The rogues mission is to disable the armor and then the tank can finnish up with regular damage. The lone tank's only defense is to kill the enemy rogue before she hits him with her armor-disabling shot. This is very possible but made harder by the rogues increased mobility and the health regeneration she is subject to when close to her tank team mate. Even tough they are two against one it will not be a walk in the park. If her tank team mate isn't able to kill the lone tank quickly after she disable the armor that armor will regenerate and be back up again within seconds. Further, tanks always regenerate health so if the team doesn't keep pushing him he will be as good as new soon enough.
When the rogue hits an enemy tank she opens a short time window where friendly tanks have the opportunity to kill the target. If you as a tank are good at killing the enemy rogues your armor of god will protect you from other enemies. If you team up with a rogue on your own, your foes will flee in terror!
Killing a tank is a two step process and by separating these two steps into two different classes (tanks and rogues) players are forced into a very tight teamplay. They have to stay close together or they will be easy pickings by teams who do. They will have to stay aware of each other to focus on the same enemy at the same time and to protect each other from dangerous damage.
The armor of god is never dropped, weapons are never dropped and in fact, there are no items at all in Tanks and Rogues (except the flags). You get all you need when you spawn and you will never run out of ammo. If you get hurt you will regenerate either automatically or if you're playing a rogue, by staying close to a friendly tank.The armor of god is a central feature to Tanks and Rogues and is in fact the very reason there are two classes to begin with. Otherwise the game plays almost exactly like regular Quake III Arena Capture the Flag.
