Tanking Orcus - PS4

ripwire30

Hello,

I consider myself an above average tank in neverwinter on ps4 at least. I can tank everything easily except ORCUS. This guy is making me feel
worthless as a tank. I do not have the stamina to hold my shield up long enough to avoid a 1 shot. They want me to spam ITF non stop but when
I try to lower my shield to cast into the fray then i'm dead. I can take a hit but i'm not getting healed back to full fast enough. One healer
called me squishy but I'm at 2700 GS with 11k Def and 134k hp. I'm running tact tree mainly. I know this is about timing but groups won't give me
any time to learn how to face tank him. After we fail a few times they kick me and look for a tank that can do it. I'm running with shield talent and
steel defense.

When I go to pop my daily he kills me in the animation. How am I to use steel defense if he kills me during the animation before it
starts? Also should I be using knights valor? I have read both use it and don't use it. Another problem is a few runs there has been melee dps and
holding aggro against Orcus has been an issue as well. He always turns and kills the melee real quick then back to me or my pet. I'm looking for
some advice on what i can do different or what i need to improve. Do I need to have all my stamina boons to be able to tank him
effectively? I just started playing 3 weeks ago so i'm still working on those. Any information you pro GF's on pc can provide will be much
appreciated. I really want to farm this dungeon and it kills me i can't face tank this guy. I've played a tank for many years in tons of mmo's and
never came across a boss that straight up 1 shots me outside a raid with a normal attack.

mebengalsfan

What are your ability scores?
What is your Damage Resistance and deflection chance at?
What at wills and encounters are you using?

When you do put your shield up are you using the class mechanic are you hitting him with your shield and sword to maintain threat and reduce the amount of stamina you are using?

How is the healer in the group, is he just healing or also buffing/debuffing?

ghoulz66

You have to time your powers right after he swings at you. It's not difficult at all, less you're laggy, then you're just screwed then. Each time you block an attack, immediately pop one power and one power only. Focus on fighters recovery, let ITF wait a few more seconds, keeping alive is a little more important. Guarded assault isn't a bad choice with the LS of that daily. I don't bother using steel defense anymore. When you get more comfortable you can get into spamming commander's strike on him.

If you're using shield talent and have some stamina regen stat investment(900-1200), you really shouldn't be having trouble keeping your shield up. You might consider going protector if you're struggling to tank. The damage debuff and extra guard drain reduction will help.

oneblueeyethree

Sorry for the long post, but I was in the same spot recently and hopefully can help. Orcus is becoming much easier now when I do the following...

The most important changes for me were to use Steel Defense, Fighters Recovery and to sink some boon points into AP gain.

First of all, get your stamina up as was mentioned. Shield is a very important part of the fight. You need to be able to keep it up whenever it's needed. 98% of the time.

If you have problems surviving turn off knights valor. When your teammates get hit with big shots they are likely to die anyway. Once you have fewer issues try it again.

As was said in an earlier reply, use fighters recovery as your daily. It's a really quick animation and you can interrupt the end part of it with your shield with no penalty.

If you can afford it get at least rank 8 or 9 bonding rune stones. I have 2 8's and a 9 on my portal hound. I am item level 2900 and have 80% damage resistance which is the usable cap. Fight Orcus on the same side as your companion so he will still look in the same direction even when your companion gets aggro.

For powers...
Steel Defense
Shield Talent
Into the Fray
Knights Valor
Commanding Strike
(you can try swapping CS for Iron Warrior for more defense and threat)
Fighters Recovery

For rotation...
When in doubt keep your shield up and use the stab at-will for threat.
Whenever your AP is full hit your daily right after he hits your shield. As soon as you hit your daily you have a few seconds of immunity from SD to cast ITF. Put your shield back up. Your daily should be ready again after a few hits. Use FR again and then CS or IW. Rinse and repeat. The only exception is that I occasionally toggle KV on when the green balls, death sphere or rubber band pop out. It helps your buddies stay alive and you won't take too much damage.

When Orcus raises his arms to cast one of his random abilities (green balls, etc.) quickly back away, but stay in melee range with your shield up and rotate 90 degrees counter clockwise. This lets you see the green balls of death before they hit you.

If the random attack is the green balls, run like hell till they go away. If it's one of the other less damaging abilities, quickly return to your previous position 90 degrees clockwise. Same goes for when the green balls finish.

Play with a guild group you get along with. They won't kick you for dying and will let you try over and over so you can learn his attacks. After all, they want you to learn to tank Orcus as much as you do. Everybody loves a good tank in their guild.

namelesshero347

Like other said, its all timing. Block till he hits you. Then do one fast activating skill. Lunging strike will increase you DR for a few seconds. If you still taking some damage with the block, then Orcus's damage needs to be debuffed. Like AS from DC or RoE from CW.

abmaiden95

@namelesshero347 i think that AS buff ur dmg resistance, it's not a debuff on target. Anyway the best way to survive there is force the dc to use AA (annointed army) it will save you 99% and due to the low orcus attack rate you should have it all the time of the battle

namelesshero347

Astral shield for the tank. With a high enough recovery, a DC can have AS up full time. Every DC should have it. Only problem is many do not use it. AA is great when the DC is an AP-gain setup. But that is a specialized build, there aren't too many DCs like that.

Also, not sure what you mean by "low orcus attack rate" - he hits like every two/three seconds

abmaiden95

1 hit every 2-3 seconds is a very low attack rate considering that usually with kv active i get 10-20 hit every seconds lol this allows to mantain AA active all the time even with a 2,5k dc, and as i told you AS has no effect most of time on tank due to 80% dr cap

namelesshero347

abmaiden95 said:

1 hit every 2-3 seconds is a very low attack rate considering that usually with kv active i get 10-20 hit every seconds lol this allows to mantain AA active all the time even with a 2,5k dc, and as i told you AS has no effect most of time on tank due to 80% dr cap

We talking about the OP here. If he had 80% DR, this post wouldn't exist. So AS would help him, unless he is rich and goes the bonding route.

And did you just compare hits that can one- or two-shot most tanks, if block is not up, that occur every two seconds to 10-20 hits from trash mobs? We talking about the OP here. Not what you can do or withstand

abmaiden95

With 80% dr orcus hit u 100-150k dmg so AS wont be so usefull even if he's not reaching dr cap. (Maybe empowered, temp hp are very usefull).
I've not compared orcus damage with mobs but the attack rate! AA expire after a number of hit recived, the incoming dmg from those hit is not considered.

Please do not reply again saying that ur AS is usefull, i've understood what u meant but most of times AS is not a solution to the problem.

namelesshero347

abmaiden95 said:

Please do not reply again saying that ur AS is usefull, i've understood what u meant but most of times AS is not a solution to the problem.

Its a more practical suggestion than your

abmaiden95 said:

the best way to survive there is force the dc to use AA (annointed army) it will save you 99% and due to the low orcus attack rate you should have it all the time of the battle

Every DC has AS. You can't force a DO DC to use something he doesn't have.

tigerblood

I just got my first Orcus kill last night on the PS4 which I face tanked at 2800 Ilvl. I use a vanguard protector / tactics build that I created, and statwise I have 16k def with my bonding runestones proc'd on a green shield maiden. I wear one piece of drowcraft for the 10% defense against demons. I used green and blue dragon overloads, guild health and defense food, primary stat Sharandar potion, and a fort pot. I found the guardian artifact ability helpful to pop after taking a large hit. My party composition was a support control wizard, warlock, debuff cleric, and a GWF.

I focused on keeping Into the Fray, Enforced Threat, and Tide of Iron up at all times. Fighter's Recovery I would use as often as possible instead of reactively. As mentioned by others when he raises his hands I would back out far enough to keep an eye out for orbs and any time that I thought I might die I would back out to use iron warrior and let a pet or two get one shotted by Orcus giving my cleric some time to top me off.

I would wait until after he swings to lower my shield to use one ability then immediately shield back up.

Actives were Guarded Assault, and Shield Talent.

forumnamesuxs

PS4 is at mod 9 currently, ye?
I've not played on console, but I assume they made it to work like on PC, and I was running with a SM tact when I was around the same item level as you, and usually managed to stay alive fairly well. You can't do much when the balls start killing everyone, except hope that enough survive to continue the fight, unless you're in empowered AS.
Try to notice when he starts attacking. There's a split second before he attacks that you can see Orcus raise it's arm to swing at you. This is when you want to be using your powers. At least in my experience, there's a delay between visual attack, and when it takes effect, so when you see the attack, It has already happened. Could be different on PS4 though.

My set up was:
Guarded assault with guarded assault off hand class artifact feature to keep crushing pin up near 100%.
Shield talent.
Fighter's recovery.
Villain's menace (for extra DR if balls spawn, and if FR is active)
Enforced threat, alternatively bull for extra uptime on crushing pin.
ITF.
KV. (if FR is up when he does his AoE attack, and you got your shield up, this will keep you at full health, if not, you will likely die shortly after, unless heals come quickly)
Tide of Iron.
2nd at will doesn't matter, you probably won't be using it.

Rotation:
FR upon entry, Mark, shield first attack, EF, shield stab, ITF (hopefully inside AS) , shield stab, FR, shield stab, tide, and if encounters have cooled down, repeat until dead. You will have to improvise some though, as not all fights are the same.
Basically: activate FR between every two power use, and try to create a synergy between the use of EF and Tide so your stamina doesn't run dry.
If you gain enough AP for it, try using villain's and FR every other time AP is full.
Hope it helps, good luck

I think I have a video of this rotation at work somewhere, if not, I'll make one and upload it.

forumnamesuxs

BTW, it's of absolute importance that all tank pets are taken out if you run with a squishy party. You will lose aggro to it, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about that.

rafaelda

make sure your party members to NOT USE Tank pets,

Use Stell defense + Fighter's Recovery, cast the Fighters recovery just after Orcus hit your shield to avoid a hit with your shield down, is a fast cast
so it will be easy, cast ITF really fast during Stell Defense imunity time, hold up till yor daily fills up and do it again

Get every campaing boon for extra Stamina regen and always have Shield Talent, that works for me

Sorry for the bad english and good luck out there !!