Delicious stats, but the main benefit is the active use. The Tome has the benefit of stacking alongside a Wheel, which means that if your spacing is good, you can put the exact buff you want on enemies. Or you can set it down and let your teammates run into it. Either way, if you like adding extra stuff to your team's kit, then by all means, take the tome.
The thing I'm most interested in so far is the Illusion power, which supposedly (you know, tooltips) debuffs enemy defenses (to deal with the stealth mode: I'm simply going to use KC to force boss aggro on me). Sadly, Michela ran some tests on the debuff, which seems to be bugged, so I can't say how useful it is.
By the way guys, you know how the devs' livestream said they would be updating Masterwork?
Since the SH set is from Masterwork and our best weapon, I'm wondering if we're getting something that's the "SH Set +" or a similar buffing weapon... coming Soon (tm).
Pretty sad its bugged, but i think they will fix it soon. As for the masterwork , i watched the live stream and i think that we may see an update on the sh set.
Since the SH set is from Masterwork and our best weapon, I'm wondering if we're getting something that's the "SH Set +" or a similar buffing weapon... coming Soon (tm).
Do you have any plans to write a guide for a Conq GF?
Also, any comments on how the recent AA changes have affected tanking in MSVA and FBI? Just wondering if Conq is still viable in this content.
Nope, no plans for a Conqueror specific guide, for several reasons.
My biggest reason for not doing it is because I really don't want to have newbies follow a copy-pasta build. The Conqueror is super versatile and in the words of @d66723225 , "there is no one size fit all style". You should build, gear, and play a Conqueror GF based off of what you want to do with your Conqueror GF.
For tanking FBI, on a Tactician, it's still doable. I'm pretty sure that with AA gone, the % of the team's Action Points will go up slightly (because stupid capstone which rewards sucking). Just watch yourself when trying to aggro mobs, because if you aggro too many (and your team can't kill them fast enough), then you have little space to move as well as little time to use powers.
I haven't tried DPS-tanking it (because every team I have has 3x DPSers of the likes of Sharpedge and company, so little reason for me to add my own DPS), but I definetly cannot pull 15 enemies and DPS them all at the same time. Bosses, I can do, although I'm currently adjusting my muscle memory to do so.
I'm still running tact gf but switched 15pts into conq and added more offence, just because I was well over the dr cap with over 200k hp. Ran FBI this morning with random group and it was fine, only difference was dps tended to die more as they have forgotten the mechanics. Once everyone does that, dc changes actually make it easier and group dps is seriously op for all current content.
Quick question do all DR from feats show up on character sheet or do I only need ~80% with invisible feats making it to 95%?
Do you have any plans to write a guide for a Conq GF?
Also, any comments on how the recent AA changes have affected tanking in MSVA and FBI? Just wondering if Conq is still viable in this content.
Nope, no plans for a Conqueror specific guide, for several reasons.
My biggest reason for not doing it is because I really don't want to have newbies follow a copy-pasta build. The Conqueror is super versatile and in the words of @d66723225 , "there is no one size fit all style". You should build, gear, and play a Conqueror GF based off of what you want to do with your Conqueror GF.
....
Thanks for the quick response. I run a Conq GF for solo play and as an offtank in FBI, but my main tank is a Pally. I was hoping you were doing a Conq guide because I've run with too many Conq/DPS GFs who think they can do it all and it doesn't go well ... was hoping for some guidance from someone experienced .
I'm still running tact gf but switched 15pts into conq and added more offence, just because I was well over the dr cap with over 200k hp. Ran FBI this morning with random group and it was fine, only difference was dps tended to die more as they have forgotten the mechanics. Once everyone does that, dc changes actually make it easier and group dps is seriously op for all current content.
Quick question do all DR from feats show up on character sheet or do I only need ~80% with invisible feats making it to 95%?
Yeah, the DPSers need to get back to learning to dodge. I'm not immune to this either, as AA has messed with my muscle memory quite a bit. I keep forgetting that KC makes me take 2x damage, despite the fact that the shield blocks 80% of incoming damage.
We get up to 95% to account for enemy ArmorPen, which then puts us at the 80% cap. And yes, you need to account for invisible feats, such as United or Armor Specialization.
Just recently talked to @grimah, who told me Armor Specialization buffs your DR by 1.15 times. I generally trust Grimah's words, although I really want to verify this myself. Armor Specialization doesn't show up on your character sheet, so you'll have to account for that as well.
Also, I fully expect Sharp is lurking here. He would probably say "you can get away with a lower DR score if you run with a DC 24/7", but Sharp forgets that most of the community doesn't have 20 good DCs on speed dial...
I myself am thinking about trying out Tactician with 15 Conq points for Jagged Blades/Wrathful Warrior, but I feel like that might confuse some people into thinking this is a tank with chip damage, which it isn't...
Thanks for the quick response. I run a Conq GF for solo play and as an offtank in FBI, but my main tank is a Pally. I was hoping you were doing a Conq guide because I've run with too many Conq/DPS GFs who think they can do it all and it doesn't go well ... was hoping for some guidance from someone experienced .
Exactly my point why I really don't want to write a Conqueror guide.
How many of those DPS GFs do you think actually took the time to learn how to tank, took the time to understand a build they created, took the time to understand the GF class, and then created a killer GF? How many of them do you think whipped out their credit card, bought a lot of gear/took it off their mains, copied a build online, and proclaimed themselves "DPS GF"?
If people are going to copy-pasta a build, I'd rather be a tank build which helps you learn how to tank and do your role.
And the part about writing a Conqueror specific guide is partially wrong, I actually do have some additional stuff/resources I'm working on pertaining to the Conqueror, although Conquerors won't be the main focus.
TL;DR: If I have available offense enchant slots on my tact tank, and don't need/want more ArPen or Recovery, should I slot Crit or Power if I am looking to max threat/damage/lifesteal potential?
Hey folks -
I’ve been following the guide with great results (one or two tweaks of course). I think very highly of the build and its overall efficiency, but it doesn’t seem efficient to stack recovery beyond a certain point. I don’t mean to try to change anyone’s mind, it’s just that in my personal experience I am comfortable running around 12-13,000 recovery (after bonding procs), especially while in party.
So, I am now wondering what to do with my excess offense enchant slots. I get my Armor Pen from the Guild Boon, so my choice comes down to crit or power.
My first goal would be to maximize damage — in order to build more threat and proc bigger lifesteals. I seem to recall from reading these forums that crit should give me more bang for the buck than power until I am near 100% crit. Is this true even for us tacticians?
If crit is the superior choice, or if it is a wash (or even nearly a wash), my second goal would be to try going 15 points into conq for jagged blades, and throw some heroic feat points into Grit and Weapon Mastery to help proc Wrathful Warrior. I’m at the point that I don’t think I need the extra AC from Shield Defense and I don’t value the deflect from Plate Agility, so the Protector Tree has little to offer.
I myself am thinking about trying out Tactician with 15 Conq points for Jagged Blades/Wrathful Warrior, but I feel like that might confuse some people into thinking this is a tank with chip damage, which it isn't...
I see rjc9000 *may* be thinking along similar lines - I’ll wait for him to revise the guide before asking more questions about this secondary goal.
If it matters, my crit is somewhere around 20% in my “heavy tank” gear. I can’t recall my power but I’m running the dancing shield so there’s modest power coming from my companion. I’m at 3500 item level, r12 bondings, r10 or r11 enchants, running FBI comfortably and running mSVA with the help of my uber-guildmates. I slap on the orcus set and some dps rings to run all other content, just to try to eke out some additional threat and damage to keep things smooth.
TL;DR: If I have available offense enchant slots on my tact tank, and don't need/want more ArPen or Recovery, should I slot Crit or Power if I am looking to max threat/damage/lifesteal potential?
Hey folks -
I’ve been following the guide with great results (one or two tweaks of course). I think very highly of the build and its overall efficiency, but it doesn’t seem efficient to stack recovery beyond a certain point. I don’t mean to try to change anyone’s mind, it’s just that in my personal experience I am comfortable running around 12-13,000 recovery (after bonding procs), especially while in party.
So, I am now wondering what to do with my excess offense enchant slots. I get my Armor Pen from the Guild Boon, so my choice comes down to crit or power.
My first goal would be to maximize damage — in order to build more threat and proc bigger lifesteals. I seem to recall from reading these forums that crit should give me more bang for the buck than power until I am near 100% crit. Is this true even for us tacticians?
If crit is the superior choice, or if it is a wash (or even nearly a wash), my second goal would be to try going 15 points into conq for jagged blades, and throw some heroic feat points into Grit and Weapon Mastery to help proc Wrathful Warrior. I’m at the point that I don’t think I need the extra AC from Shield Defense and I don’t value the deflect from Plate Agility, so the Protector Tree has little to offer.
I myself am thinking about trying out Tactician with 15 Conq points for Jagged Blades/Wrathful Warrior, but I feel like that might confuse some people into thinking this is a tank with chip damage, which it isn't...
I see rjc9000 *may* be thinking along similar lines - I’ll wait for him to revise the guide before asking more questions about this secondary goal.
If it matters, my crit is somewhere around 20% in my “heavy tank” gear. I can’t recall my power but I’m running the dancing shield so there’s modest power coming from my companion. I’m at 2500 item level, r12 bondings, r10 or r11 enchants, running FBI comfortably and running mSVA with the help of my uber-guildmates. I slap on the orcus set and some dps rings to run all other content, just to try to eke out some additional threat and damage to keep things smooth.
Thanks,
Mitty
I would slot in Crit, as your biggest goal is to maximize the amount of Jagged Blades procs you get. And also, if you team with Paladins, SWs with Dark Revelry, or AC DCs, the damage boost from stacking power on your GF starts becoming rather small.
I personally think that if you're trying for a DPS/tank hybrid, go Conqueror, but keep your Tactician stuff. You lose the AP Gain of Tacitican and the passive 5% ITF damage boost, but you gain the ability of less awful solo times, easy aggro, and the ability to carry pugs in lowtier dungeons. I know @checkmatein3 does this and it works out rather well for him.
The best GF build is the one which is suited and tweaked to your own style. Don't wait for me to update the guide; if you have something which you think will work, do it!
A weird Jagged Blade quirk is if two GFs run KV or you use a Sehanine Moonbow and a SW uses TC while you have KV on, you put Jagged Blades on your enemies... which have a guranteed 100% Crit chance. I have no clue why it does this, but it's pretty funny Jagged Blade trivia nonetheless.
I've been playing round with Artificer's Persuasion mount Bonus, "Whenever you use an Artifact power, your Recovery, Movement, Action Point Gain, and Stamina Gain are increased by 10% of your Power for 15 seconds." I'm not min/maxxed but still gives me ~3k recovery for 15 seconds shaving about 0.5s off my encounters every 60's my artifact cools down ((would be less with Hammer of Gond) + Ap gain and Stamina.
I also dropped some survivor's wraps but couldnt get them to proc any AP gain when I tested them, have you had any success?
I would totally reccomend an Artificer's build, but my issue with the build is that you're going to be using a Dragonheart or a Forgehammer for the build. Forgehammer is currently bugged and the Dragonhearts force you to look up/turn around to use, which means that you're not in position to use your shield. You used to be able to cancel your artifact usage but get the Artificer's buff, but a patch took that away.
haven't had time to try the exact function of the Survivors Wraps in terms of AP Gain for teammates (haven't hit the preview server in a bit), but it possible to shield the hits to recover your own AP. It's weird, but the wraps creates a damage over time effect from where you activated a daily. If you reposition youself so you're shielding where you activated the wraps, you can shield the DoT effect.
@rjc9000 why isn't Holy Avenger among weapon enchants you consider useful for your build ? Is the heal and +% dr team buff useless ? I've been testing the HA on my zero crit protector defender, and it deals a stupid amount of dmg to sigle targets. Im actually considering using Relic set with Lightning Enchant (also an extreme dmg increase for my build) for trash clearing and swapping to Lifeforged with Holy Avenger for single target/boss fights.
@rjc9000 why isn't Holy Avenger among weapon enchants you consider useful for your build ? Is the heal and +% dr team buff useless ? I've been testing the HA on my zero crit protector defender, and it deals a stupid amount of dmg to sigle targets. Im actually considering using Relic set with Lightning Enchant (also an extreme dmg increase for my build) for trash clearing and swapping to Lifeforged with Holy Avenger for single target/boss fights.
Because my build is a tank build which also happens to double as a support build. I am not going to care about DPS. I aggro enough as is with marking, ET, and Aggravating Strike. I am not going to care about doing DPS. I leave that to my party or to my Conqueror setup.
The buff, frankly, still sucks. Poor uptime and little DR conferred ensure that the Holy Avenger is best used for DPS.
If you're talking about DPS, then that's a different story. I am currently working with Sharp to calculate the increase in DPS from several weapon enchants (Holy Avenger, Vorpal, Terror, Flaming, Fey, etc.). Holy Avenger seems alright, but I need do conduct more testing to get a better picture of these enchants.
My Tactician loadouts is similar to yours with a few differences I prefer. I have been using a Valhalla set but got a Cloak of the Protector and was curious if there was a set combo that may match or even put perform the Valhalla set. My gut tells me not likely because the Valhalla set bonus but didn't know if you've thought about this set?
I actually considered the set as a useful one to use, since it's a cheap set that has a useful set bonus.
The reason I don't count it as my build's BiS is because the Valhalla set's bonus helps multiple people survive rather than just one. And Valhalla is practically a giveaway set, so it won't be long before someone can purchase a Valhalla set.
I always come back to your guide @rjc9000 cause everytime I read it I find something new! Wanted to say it's amazing piece of work you done there and I appreciate it!
I also wanted to recommend Tome of Ascendance as an active artifact. It suits me better than Sigil of the Nine. Fireforged bonus is the one I use when tanking and my teammates always praise the Abolethic one (especially when stacked with fire elem from Wheel).
Tome also has pretty sweet stats for a tank so I find it great.
I'ms till using the lantern while tanking for the debuff.
Planning to refine the Sigil of the Nine on the next double RP.
Can anyone confirm the "chaining" part of the Tome of Ascendence? I'm curious how well does it work.
Nancy - Dragonborn, SM Guardian Fighter A proud member of "mythical horde of DPS GFs"
1). Is SW more dps or tank based? 2). Yes. I am panzer! 3). Get ACT if you want to celebrate your epeen. 4). Horniness will not stand between me and what I believe - "MM"
I always come back to your guide @rjc9000 cause everytime I read it I find something new! Wanted to say it's amazing piece of work you done there and I appreciate it!
I also wanted to recommend Tome of Ascendance as an active artifact. It suits me better than Sigil of the Nine. Fireforged bonus is the one I use when tanking and my teammates always praise the Abolethic one (especially when stacked with fire elem from Wheel).
Tome also has pretty sweet stats for a tank so I find it great.
If you like it, feel free to use it.
What I love best about a defensive GF build is that you have multiple ways to get the job done. What I might consider BiS is different from what somebody else will consider BiS, so as long as we are constantly pumping out ITF and defending our teammates, how we get it done doesn't matter too much.
I'ms till using the lantern while tanking for the debuff.
Planning to refine the Sigil of the Nine on the next double RP.
Can anyone confirm the "chaining" part of the Tome of Ascendence? I'm curious how well does it work.
Tbh, I think you should go for the Heart of the Black Dragon for the debuff. The debuff will likely give a bigger DPS increase for teams instead of the Sigil of the 9.
My reccomendation was made because I got a bit hasty on preview... it still is a worthwhile artifact with good slots, but probably will not lead to the biggest damage increase for teammates.
I’ve been running a “hybrid” tank/dps build since your advice to me in this thread, and it has been amazing. Really it’s a conqueror build with 15 into tactician, but my gear is my old tactician setup with less recovery: Valhalla Set, max DR, 196k HP, 25% lifesteal, ~9000 recovery. (48% Everfrost Resist before potion and food makes a big difference IMO.) I’m now at 4k iLevel but even at 3600 I was tanking everything easily. Swap out Orcus set for Valhalla and switch rings & artifacts, and lower tier and solo content is blazing fast compared to my (your) old Tact spec.
Anyway, for loadouts I am going to spec out another Tactician Build. I have two questions about your guide:
1) You mentioned you skip Protector tree and go 15 into Conqueror for Jagged Blades. My gear is such that I will do the same. Can I ask what Tactician feat from your guide you are skipping to free up enough to go 15 in Conq? I am thinking I could skip Fight On and just stack recovery to make up for it; or maybe Rousing Speech since most toons that need AP have plenty of AP gain, and the capstone is helping anyway. I am not sure how much of a difference Fight On would make for my cooldowns, or how much recovery I would have to stack to make up for it if I am in the 10,000 range.
2) And concerning Defense and (ugh) Armor Spec, the guide states
If you’ve noticed, I didn’t quite(sic) anything in regards to Defense being buffed up by Armor Specialization. This is because testing Armor Specialization is a massive pain, as its equation makes no sense and is extremely hard to figure out. Sharp’s Armor Specialization data testing resulted in a logarithmic curve, which is unlikely for something which is supposed to be a simple 5-15% bonus. For now, I can’t seem to figure out how to account for this other than stacking slightly less DR than 95%.
I hate to beat the dead unicorn, but didn’t the testing show that choosing all three ranks of Armor Spec results in slightly more than 15% extra DR? Thread Link. So with United and Armor Spec both fully feated, I don’t understand why we don’t aim for 75% on the character sheet and pat ourselves on the back when we reach that? Are you concerned that Armor Spec isn’t always “engaged” or something? Or is there something in the math that escapes my puny liberal-arts brain? I am not asking for more testing, just some clarity on what to do with the amazing work you guys have done on Armor Spec testing.
1) You mentioned you skip Protector tree and go 15 into Conqueror for Jagged Blades. My gear is such that I will do the same. Can I ask what Tactician feat from your guide you are skipping to free up enough to go 15 in Conq? I am thinking I could skip Fight On and just stack recovery to make up for it; or maybe Rousing Speech since most toons that need AP have plenty of AP gain, and the capstone is helping anyway. I am not sure how much of a difference Fight On would make for my cooldowns, or how much recovery I would have to stack to make up for it if I am in the 10,000 range.
I personally chose to skip United. The +5% DR is kind of an easy thing to lose if you're good enough. Besides, if you can give up the 5AC/Deflect/+5% DR from Protector feats + United, then you're already good enough at playing a GF that missing a few % DR is almost nothing.
I’ve been running a “hybrid” tank/dps build since your advice to me in this thread, and it has been amazing. Really it’s a conqueror build with 15 into tactician, but my gear is my old tactician setup with less recovery: Valhalla Set, max DR, 196k HP, 25% lifesteal, ~9000 recovery. (48% Everfrost Resist before potion and food makes a big difference IMO.) I’m now at 4k iLevel but even at 3600 I was tanking everything easily. Swap out Orcus set for Valhalla and switch rings & artifacts, and lower tier and solo content is blazing fast compared to my (your) old Tact spec.
Anyway, for loadouts I am going to spec out another Tactician Build. I have two questions about your guide:
1) You mentioned you skip Protector tree and go 15 into Conqueror for Jagged Blades. My gear is such that I will do the same. Can I ask what Tactician feat from your guide you are skipping to free up enough to go 15 in Conq? I am thinking I could skip Fight On and just stack recovery to make up for it; or maybe Rousing Speech since most toons that need AP have plenty of AP gain, and the capstone is helping anyway. I am not sure how much of a difference Fight On would make for my cooldowns, or how much recovery I would have to stack to make up for it if I am in the 10,000 range.
2) And concerning Defense and (ugh) Armor Spec, the guide states
If you’ve noticed, I didn’t quite(sic) anything in regards to Defense being buffed up by Armor Specialization. This is because testing Armor Specialization is a massive pain, as its equation makes no sense and is extremely hard to figure out. Sharp’s Armor Specialization data testing resulted in a logarithmic curve, which is unlikely for something which is supposed to be a simple 5-15% bonus. For now, I can’t seem to figure out how to account for this other than stacking slightly less DR than 95%.
I hate to beat the dead unicorn, but didn’t the testing show that choosing all three ranks of Armor Spec results in slightly more than 15% extra DR? Thread Link. So with United and Armor Spec both fully feated, I don’t understand why we don’t aim for 75% on the character sheet and pat ourselves on the back when we reach that? Are you concerned that Armor Spec isn’t always “engaged” or something? Or is there something in the math that escapes my puny liberal-arts brain? I am not asking for more testing, just some clarity on what to do with the amazing work you guys have done on Armor Spec testing.
Thanks for your guidance –
Mitty
Yeah, that's the point: we can't figure out the exact % at which your Defense + AC + Armor Specialization puts you at the effective cap.
My issue is that, normally, I could use math to figure out what I need to stack. But given how screwy the Armor Specialization formula is and how much it gives us an effective DR multiplier by more than 1.15x, I don't know what % to reccomend.
I really don't want to make an exact %, because there is a high chance that the information/calculation/speculation may be wrong, and I'd rather not misinform people on these types of things.
Thanks for pointing out the spelling error, by the way. Just inserted "mentioned" in there right now, which makes the sentence make much more sense.
I've been messing with my build and i took the 15 points into conq for jagged blade. From what i have noticed(ps4 peon here) the bleed dmg also works with fighters recovery(seemed to since i saw alot of little green numbers with the bleed going) but i'm likely wrong.
Also what's your thoughts on Champions Banner? neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Champion%27s_Banner To me it seems to help more then just me since i use knights valor going up the hill in fbi.
You're correct, Fighters' Recovery works with all sources of DPS, including Jagged Blades.
You can actually use this to great extent if you combine this with Guarded Assault and the Knight's Valor Jagged Blades procs (in short, if something hits your teammates while they're under the effects of KV, for some reason, you get a guranteed Jagged Blade proc on that enemy).
As for the Banner, I totally reccomend it. Good stats, easy to get, decent active as well. Great for a GF starting out their career, or for a veteran looking to expand their repritoire of buffs/debuffs for different situations. I haven't done the hill climb as a Tactician in forever, but I remember I used to use the Champion's Banner, since you fire it and forget, then focus on the enemies in front of you.
Comments
The thing I'm most interested in so far is the Illusion power, which supposedly (you know, tooltips) debuffs enemy defenses (to deal with the stealth mode: I'm simply going to use KC to force boss aggro on me). Sadly, Michela ran some tests on the debuff, which seems to be bugged, so I can't say how useful it is.
By the way guys, you know how the devs' livestream said they would be updating Masterwork?
Since the SH set is from Masterwork and our best weapon, I'm wondering if we're getting something that's the "SH Set +" or a similar buffing weapon... coming Soon (tm).
Also, any comments on how the recent AA changes have affected tanking in MSVA and FBI? Just wondering if Conq is still viable in this content.
My biggest reason for not doing it is because I really don't want to have newbies follow a copy-pasta build. The Conqueror is super versatile and in the words of @d66723225 , "there is no one size fit all style". You should build, gear, and play a Conqueror GF based off of what you want to do with your Conqueror GF.
For tanking FBI, on a Tactician, it's still doable. I'm pretty sure that with AA gone, the % of the team's Action Points will go up slightly (because stupid capstone which rewards sucking). Just watch yourself when trying to aggro mobs, because if you aggro too many (and your team can't kill them fast enough), then you have little space to move as well as little time to use powers.
I haven't tried DPS-tanking it (because every team I have has 3x DPSers of the likes of Sharpedge and company, so little reason for me to add my own DPS), but I definetly cannot pull 15 enemies and DPS them all at the same time. Bosses, I can do, although I'm currently adjusting my muscle memory to do so.
Quick question do all DR from feats show up on character sheet or do I only need ~80% with invisible feats making it to 95%?
We get up to 95% to account for enemy ArmorPen, which then puts us at the 80% cap. And yes, you need to account for invisible feats, such as United or Armor Specialization.
Just recently talked to @grimah, who told me Armor Specialization buffs your DR by 1.15 times. I generally trust Grimah's words, although I really want to verify this myself. Armor Specialization doesn't show up on your character sheet, so you'll have to account for that as well.
Also, I fully expect Sharp is lurking here. He would probably say "you can get away with a lower DR score if you run with a DC 24/7", but Sharp forgets that most of the community doesn't have 20 good DCs on speed dial...
I myself am thinking about trying out Tactician with 15 Conq points for Jagged Blades/Wrathful Warrior, but I feel like that might confuse some people into thinking this is a tank with chip damage, which it isn't... Exactly my point why I really don't want to write a Conqueror guide.
How many of those DPS GFs do you think actually took the time to learn how to tank, took the time to understand a build they created, took the time to understand the GF class, and then created a killer GF? How many of them do you think whipped out their credit card, bought a lot of gear/took it off their mains, copied a build online, and proclaimed themselves "DPS GF"?
If people are going to copy-pasta a build, I'd rather be a tank build which helps you learn how to tank and do your role.
And the part about writing a Conqueror specific guide is partially wrong, I actually do have some additional stuff/resources I'm working on pertaining to the Conqueror, although Conquerors won't be the main focus.
Hey folks -
I’ve been following the guide with great results (one or two tweaks of course). I think very highly of the build and its overall efficiency, but it doesn’t seem efficient to stack recovery beyond a certain point. I don’t mean to try to change anyone’s mind, it’s just that in my personal experience I am comfortable running around 12-13,000 recovery (after bonding procs), especially while in party.
So, I am now wondering what to do with my excess offense enchant slots. I get my Armor Pen from the Guild Boon, so my choice comes down to crit or power.
My first goal would be to maximize damage — in order to build more threat and proc bigger lifesteals. I seem to recall from reading these forums that crit should give me more bang for the buck than power until I am near 100% crit. Is this true even for us tacticians?
If crit is the superior choice, or if it is a wash (or even nearly a wash), my second goal would be to try going 15 points into conq for jagged blades, and throw some heroic feat points into Grit and Weapon Mastery to help proc Wrathful Warrior. I’m at the point that I don’t think I need the extra AC from Shield Defense and I don’t value the deflect from Plate Agility, so the Protector Tree has little to offer. I see rjc9000 *may* be thinking along similar lines - I’ll wait for him to revise the guide before asking more questions about this secondary goal.
If it matters, my crit is somewhere around 20% in my “heavy tank” gear. I can’t recall my power but I’m running the dancing shield so there’s modest power coming from my companion. I’m at 3500 item level, r12 bondings, r10 or r11 enchants, running FBI comfortably and running mSVA with the help of my uber-guildmates. I slap on the orcus set and some dps rings to run all other content, just to try to eke out some additional threat and damage to keep things smooth.
Thanks,
Mitty
I personally think that if you're trying for a DPS/tank hybrid, go Conqueror, but keep your Tactician stuff. You lose the AP Gain of Tacitican and the passive 5% ITF damage boost, but you gain the ability of less awful solo times, easy aggro, and the ability to carry pugs in lowtier dungeons. I know @checkmatein3 does this and it works out rather well for him.
The best GF build is the one which is suited and tweaked to your own style. Don't wait for me to update the guide; if you have something which you think will work, do it!
A weird Jagged Blade quirk is if two GFs run KV or you use a Sehanine Moonbow and a SW uses TC while you have KV on, you put Jagged Blades on your enemies... which have a guranteed 100% Crit chance. I have no clue why it does this, but it's pretty funny Jagged Blade trivia nonetheless.
The former was tested side by side with my guildies @checkmatein3 and @jumpingmorks, the latter with another guildie, @midnightflares.
...
Wait a second... how are you running FBI or Svardborg on a 2500 GF?
O_o
Edit: Derp. 3500 item level!
I can imagine the people who posted their guides in gif/text format on the forums would have a field day with that.
Tbh, the only thing that changed is the weapon damage.
Also, @kacezet, here's a screenshot of the new weapons, in case you were wondering.
I might get it and use as an actual weapon this time, permanent 2-10% dmg bonus seems better than Relic.
I'm not min/maxxed but still gives me ~3k recovery for 15 seconds shaving about 0.5s off my encounters every 60's my artifact cools down ((would be less with Hammer of Gond) + Ap gain and Stamina.
I also dropped some survivor's wraps but couldnt get them to proc any AP gain when I tested them, have you had any success?
haven't had time to try the exact function of the Survivors Wraps in terms of AP Gain for teammates (haven't hit the preview server in a bit), but it possible to shield the hits to recover your own AP. It's weird, but the wraps creates a damage over time effect from where you activated a daily. If you reposition youself so you're shielding where you activated the wraps, you can shield the DoT effect.
The buff, frankly, still sucks. Poor uptime and little DR conferred ensure that the Holy Avenger is best used for DPS.
If you're talking about DPS, then that's a different story. I am currently working with Sharp to calculate the increase in DPS from several weapon enchants (Holy Avenger, Vorpal, Terror, Flaming, Fey, etc.). Holy Avenger seems alright, but I need do conduct more testing to get a better picture of these enchants.
The reason I don't count it as my build's BiS is because the Valhalla set's bonus helps multiple people survive rather than just one. And Valhalla is practically a giveaway set, so it won't be long before someone can purchase a Valhalla set.
I always come back to your guide @rjc9000 cause everytime I read it I find something new! Wanted to say it's amazing piece of work you done there and I appreciate it!
I also wanted to recommend Tome of Ascendance as an active artifact. It suits me better than Sigil of the Nine. Fireforged bonus is the one I use when tanking and my teammates always praise the Abolethic one (especially when stacked with fire elem from Wheel).
Tome also has pretty sweet stats for a tank so I find it great.
Planning to refine the Sigil of the Nine on the next double RP.
Can anyone confirm the "chaining" part of the Tome of Ascendence? I'm curious how well does it work.
A proud member of "mythical horde of DPS GFs"
1). Is SW more dps or tank based?
2). Yes. I am panzer!
3). Get ACT if you want to celebrate your epeen.
4). Horniness will not stand between me and what I believe - "MM"
What I love best about a defensive GF build is that you have multiple ways to get the job done. What I might consider BiS is different from what somebody else will consider BiS, so as long as we are constantly pumping out ITF and defending our teammates, how we get it done doesn't matter too much. Tbh, I think you should go for the Heart of the Black Dragon for the debuff. The debuff will likely give a bigger DPS increase for teams instead of the Sigil of the 9.
My reccomendation was made because I got a bit hasty on preview... it still is a worthwhile artifact with good slots, but probably will not lead to the biggest damage increase for teammates.
I’ve been running a “hybrid” tank/dps build since your advice to me in this thread, and it has been amazing. Really it’s a conqueror build with 15 into tactician, but my gear is my old tactician setup with less recovery: Valhalla Set, max DR, 196k HP, 25% lifesteal, ~9000 recovery. (48% Everfrost Resist before potion and food makes a big difference IMO.) I’m now at 4k iLevel but even at 3600 I was tanking everything easily. Swap out Orcus set for Valhalla and switch rings & artifacts, and lower tier and solo content is blazing fast compared to my (your) old Tact spec.
Anyway, for loadouts I am going to spec out another Tactician Build. I have two questions about your guide:
1) You mentioned you skip Protector tree and go 15 into Conqueror for Jagged Blades. My gear is such that I will do the same. Can I ask what Tactician feat from your guide you are skipping to free up enough to go 15 in Conq? I am thinking I could skip Fight On and just stack recovery to make up for it; or maybe Rousing Speech since most toons that need AP have plenty of AP gain, and the capstone is helping anyway. I am not sure how much of a difference Fight On would make for my cooldowns, or how much recovery I would have to stack to make up for it if I am in the 10,000 range.
2) And concerning Defense and (ugh) Armor Spec, the guide states I hate to beat the dead unicorn, but didn’t the testing show that choosing all three ranks of Armor Spec results in slightly more than 15% extra DR? Thread Link. So with United and Armor Spec both fully feated, I don’t understand why we don’t aim for 75% on the character sheet and pat ourselves on the back when we reach that? Are you concerned that Armor Spec isn’t always “engaged” or something? Or is there something in the math that escapes my puny liberal-arts brain? I am not asking for more testing, just some clarity on what to do with the amazing work you guys have done on Armor Spec testing.
Thanks for your guidance –
Mitty
Yeah, that's the point: we can't figure out the exact % at which your Defense + AC + Armor Specialization puts you at the effective cap.
My issue is that, normally, I could use math to figure out what I need to stack. But given how screwy the Armor Specialization formula is and how much it gives us an effective DR multiplier by more than 1.15x, I don't know what % to reccomend.
I really don't want to make an exact %, because there is a high chance that the information/calculation/speculation may be wrong, and I'd rather not misinform people on these types of things.
Thanks for pointing out the spelling error, by the way. Just inserted "mentioned" in there right now, which makes the sentence make much more sense.
Also what's your thoughts on Champions Banner? neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Champion%27s_Banner
To me it seems to help more then just me since i use knights valor going up the hill in fbi.
You can actually use this to great extent if you combine this with Guarded Assault and the Knight's Valor Jagged Blades procs (in short, if something hits your teammates while they're under the effects of KV, for some reason, you get a guranteed Jagged Blade proc on that enemy).
As for the Banner, I totally reccomend it. Good stats, easy to get, decent active as well. Great for a GF starting out their career, or for a veteran looking to expand their repritoire of buffs/debuffs for different situations.
I haven't done the hill climb as a Tactician in forever, but I remember I used to use the Champion's Banner, since you fire it and forget, then focus on the enemies in front of you.