first things first awesome job Tode love the effort an details you put into this build!! Second take a look at the new companion they gave us BOOM!!!!! plz give me your feedback on it
G*d d*mn, man. Wow, I love it! I'm just DROOLING over that thing that thing right now, and I haven't even bought my Blacksmith yet. We've got a new best pal right here. 10% chance to increase our threat gain by 25% is huge. I wonder how long this buff will last. And does it stack when a new "Enrage" comes, or does it refresh the Threat multiplier? So much questions! I hope it lasts for a long time, and it'd be favorable as well if the new procs of Enrage will stack on top of the other so we'll get more multiplicative bonuses but that's wishful thinking.
But overall, I just love this new pet. I'll definitely get one. My Active Companion salvo will now be...
- Ioun Stone
- Dread Warrior
- Blacksmith
- Thay Renegade Evoker
- Pig
Might replace the Pig if we get a new companion bonus that suits tanks better, but so far the Pig's bonus is really awesome whenever we get CC-ed. Anyway, lots of fun stuff in store for us tanks. And thanks for the compliment btw, Lutz086! I had fun writing the guide.
Edit: Added Dread Warrior to the guide now! It's just too good to pass on.
Yes it is! I checked it out on Preview and it's just a dream come true. I may be losing the HP from the Indomitable Champion set, but this one has Recovery and Regeneration which is something I can definitely have more of. In order to make up for the loss in HP I'll probably have to stack it somewhere else with Radiant Enchants. I'll end up with 28k HP, but with Radiants and maybe some help from the Ioun Stone, I most probably can still take it back to around ~30k. Overall this new T2.5 PVP Set is something I'm currently shooting for.
The future is looking bright! The only thing that could probably be changed is the 2pc set effect. I'd settle for anything else that's not defense, honestly.
Have you both checked the description of the set? If it's true, then you can get some HP/other 2 piece setbonus too. You get 2 piece of the armor + the MH/OH set of this set + 2 piece of other set and get 2*2 piece bonus and 1 4 piece bonus.
Yeah I was actually asking the same thing in the patch notes some few hours back. It's really confusing how this new set works because MH/OH is considered as eligible to complete the set. So the conclusion I came up with is that we could go for MH/OH, 2 Armor pieces, then 2 more armor pieces from a separate set for an added +450 stats (or possibly 463 if we're going to use one of the 2 other alternative PVP sets which will be implemented at a later point in time).
It'd be understandable if it was a mistake, though. But I honestly would like to see PVP Weapon Sets that add +450 or +463 to stats as well.
That would be nice. You could go Timeless for +Deflect or add some Life Steal through the Dread Legion. I was already thinking to go 2x2 Dread Legion/Fabled because I don't think the 4-set-bonus is a must for this build, but this would make the decision easy.
Yeah, the 4 piece isn't something all that necessary but it helps greatly. What I like about the set is that it gives bonuses that cannot be readily given by stats, and these sort of set bonuses are something I like to incorporate in most of my build plans. I like the Dread Legion 4pc, but I don't know how often it procs yet. Getting 2/2 set bonuses would work fine too!
This build worked with Valiant Warrior and I still have the set in my Inventory as I switch to it from time to time. The 4pc bonus of Valiant is pretty good.
Up to now I am using the Knight Captain set for this build which works too. Now for PvP the new set looks interesting but I think I would keep the old Champion set as I could get some Regeneration from Artifacts (somewhere in the future).
As Knight's Valor is often used with this build: did someone encounter the same problem with Knight's Valor that it gets sometimes stucked? It looks like as if it is ready for use but nothing happens if one tries to activate it, swapping the power or changing the spot does not solve the problem, just a relog helps then.
I'd most likely use the PVP set even for PVE. That 30% increase in Guard should be pretty noticeable, specially now that single target strikes will not be draining our guard meter after the PVP patch hits. Even if I lose around 300 points in stats, it should not change the fact that this set has one of the best 4pc effects and stat combinations for defensive specs. The stone will make up for the loss in stats. But hopefully the devs release a couple of other decent PVE sets in Mod 3! So far I'm currently inclined to farm for the VT set. Now if only I knew the proc chance of that set.
As for Knight's Valor, yes sometimes people encounter that problem. I don't get it as often, however. But it has happened to me once or twice.
I really like the theory behind this build and even though it is broken in preview I went ahead and respecced. I went into a non-epic Karrundax and I am having serious issues with my guard meter depleting too fast.
I've got pretty close to the suggested armor and such but with each hit my meter drops like 25% and this was just the first few trash mobs. I've tried slotting shield talent over enforced threat and used both Into the Fray and Iron Warrior but I find my AP does not fill before I run out of guard and start taking massive damage.
I figure I did something wrong, so I'm just looking for some suggestions.
i wonder how this build behaves in a party with very high DPS GWF/CW in terms of threat management? is it able to keep mobs aggroed at GF while the paingivers do their job? cuz the only time i saw it possible was that good old stalwart bulwark era.
I really like the theory behind this build and even though it is broken in preview I went ahead and respecced. I went into a non-epic Karrundax and I am having serious issues with my guard meter depleting too fast.
I've got pretty close to the suggested armor and such but with each hit my meter drops like 25% and this was just the first few trash mobs. I've tried slotting shield talent over enforced threat and used both Into the Fray and Iron Warrior but I find my AP does not fill before I run out of guard and start taking massive damage.
I figure I did something wrong, so I'm just looking for some suggestions.
thanks
That is actually a bug. Some direct attacks will deplete your guard faster than normal, but it should get fixed once with the upcoming PVP patch. I tested it out in Preview and it makes us pretty tanky. And sometimes you will really run out of Guard. That is when kiting will be imperative and you'll need to find the opportunity to replenish your meter. It happens when you face too much mobs. When you have Steel Defense on, you'll also want to keep your Guard raised because it will not deplete, and you can use Aggravating Strike in order to strike the group of mobs in front of you as you will get AP for each monster you strike.
i wonder how this build behaves in a party with very high DPS GWF/CW in terms of threat management? is it able to keep mobs aggroed at GF while the paingivers do their job? cuz the only time i saw it possible was that good old stalwart bulwark era.
Haven't tried that yet and I most probably will not even attempt to do so. There's nothing to tank when mobs are perma-CCed to death.
Interesting thread. I've been looking at builds for my respec, as I haven't yet used my free one from mod 2.
However, one HUGE problem with this build: I've spent some time on the test server, and can confirm with absolute certainty that steel defense is NOT working whatsoever. I still take damage AND lose guard meter even less than a second after I activate my daily. I hope this will get fixed, though.
But because of this I'm scared to try and waste my free respec if this bug is actually in live, too.
EDIT: after reading more of the whole thread, I see it's already been mentioned, but this thing won't let me delete posts. =/
Panderus already mentioned that he'll pass the word to the correct department so hopefully they've got a fix in the works for it in Preview. It's still working on Live, but it would be a lot better if you tried it out for yourself in Preview before using your Respec just to see if it suits your taste. I'm a big fan of defensive builds, and even I think this build is TOO defensive. It concentrates on generating aggro by mechanics instead of plain DPS, and it can only become better once we get the buffs for Enforced Threat (+3 to Target Cap), Lunging Strike (New cone AoE mechanic), Iron Warrior (Increased Threat when active). And the new PVP set is awesome too as we get 30% extra Guard from it plus all the stats we can possibly need for tanking.
i wonder how this build behaves in a party with very high DPS GWF/CW in terms of threat management? is it able to keep mobs aggroed at GF while the paingivers do their job? cuz the only time i saw it possible was that good old stalwart bulwark era.
I can answer this one for Todes/bane. I believe nowadays he is running the tact build similar to mine so I should be able to provide accurate feedback.
In an end game group (Talking like 15-17k GS) then you shouldn't be as worried about holding aggro. You wont be able to even with the buffs to threat. However what the Tactician build in particular is extremely good at in end game dungeon groups is generating AP. In turn this allows us to pop more dailies and thus activate immunities. What good is this you ask? Well Knights Valor lasts 10 seconds and the two pops of Supremacy of Steel (My preferred daily) will completely cover this damage. In those ten seconds most mobs will be melted. You absorb 50% of the parties damage and take no damage from it.
Again you might think "Who cares?". In reality 50% of the damage over ten seconds is huge. It allows these groups to run without a DC. Now that being said you can still do a group without a tank GF or a healing DC but either class gives more room for error.
Now another scenario - Your group lets you get the initially hit off and then you can spam aggravating strike a few times. This is a hard taunt and WILL let you hold aggro for a second or two. These keeps them grouped up for your DPS, you soak the damage, and generate mad amounts of AP to activate Knights Valor and shield most of their damage again.
In some cases I would say having a GF that can absorb all that damage is as useful or more useful than a DC. These cases would be in the massive pulls some crazy people like to do (30+ mobs when the CW CC abilities start reaching all their caps).
Last time i tried it at ToS endboss we failed already at 80% life of her first phase. (okay she has teleport often)
Can other confirm the bugs of: Crescendo teleport to target - even it is moving especially teleport moves -.
KV apply with every damage tick one Iron Guard
Anvil go on CD without dealing damage if you stand a bit to high to the target(especially happens to little Feywild types)
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kolbe11Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 0Arc User
*snip* And the new PVP set is awesome too as we get 30% extra Guard from it plus all the stats we can possibly need for tanking.
I'm soooo tired of "tank" armors.
Every single armor released after launch has been tank-related and there is absolutely no way you will see any GF's use it unless they just want to stand on a point and play with their junk the whole match. Sorry, love your build, but there are times when I'd rather do MORE with my GF than just stand there (tank armor).
"It is said that idle hands are the Devil's tools: Idle geek hands, however, came up with gunpowder, nuclear weapons, and toilet plungers." -Illiad
I can answer this one for Todes/bane. I believe nowadays he is running the tact build similar to mine so I should be able to provide accurate feedback.
In an end game group (Talking like 15-17k GS) then you shouldn't be as worried about holding aggro. You wont be able to even with the buffs to threat. However what the Tactician build in particular is extremely good at in end game dungeon groups is generating AP. In turn this allows us to pop more dailies and thus activate immunities. What good is this you ask? Well Knights Valor lasts 10 seconds and the two pops of Supremacy of Steel (My preferred daily) will completely cover this damage. In those ten seconds most mobs will be melted. You absorb 50% of the parties damage and take no damage from it.
Again you might think "Who cares?". In reality 50% of the damage over ten seconds is huge. It allows these groups to run without a DC. Now that being said you can still do a group without a tank GF or a healing DC but either class gives more room for error.
Now another scenario - Your group lets you get the initially hit off and then you can spam aggravating strike a few times. This is a hard taunt and WILL let you hold aggro for a second or two. These keeps them grouped up for your DPS, you soak the damage, and generate mad amounts of AP to activate Knights Valor and shield most of their damage again.
In some cases I would say having a GF that can absorb all that damage is as useful or more useful than a DC. These cases would be in the massive pulls some crazy people like to do (30+ mobs when the CW CC abilities start reaching all their caps).
Hope this answered your question
Hey, Malek. Thanks for dropping a detailed answer for our friend right here. Maybe you can also show him a link to your guide too so he'd have something as a reference to your build. I'll see you round in game man!
Last time i tried it at ToS endboss we failed already at 80% life of her first phase. (okay she has teleport often)
Can other confirm the bugs of: Crescendo teleport to target - even it is moving especially teleport moves -.
KV apply with every damage tick one Iron Guard
Anvil go on CD without dealing damage if you stand a bit to high to the target(especially happens to little Feywild types)
Hmmm. Were you by any chance PUG-ing? And were you using this build? I just can't imagine a competitive PVE party failing in ToS. It's usually the undergeared PUGs that fail there. Can you tell me more about what happened and your party setup? Basically the party setup which I ran back then was me, GF, DC, CW, GWF, TR, a Rainbow Party since no one was of the same class as the other.
Every single armor released after launch has been tank-related and there is absolutely no way you will see any GF's use it unless they just want to stand on a point and play with their junk the whole match. Sorry, love your build, but there are times when I'd rather do MORE with my GF than just stand there (tank armor).
Hey, Kolbe. Thanks for dropping by. I get what you mean about tank armors overtaking DPS ones. But I'm pretty sure the devs would be more than inclined to release new sets if you suggest them in the Preview Forum. It does make a lot of sense after all, and there's also Mod 3 which should come out after some more time. Ever since Stalwart Bulwark was nerfed, things have been pretty tough for DPS GF's since Timeless 4pc isn't even the most competitive or reliable effect. It'd be great if our DPS GF community got something more reliable like the Stal 4pc.
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kolbe11Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 0Arc User
I get what you mean about tank armors overtaking DPS ones. But I'm pretty sure the devs would be more than inclined to release new sets if you suggest them in the Preview Forum.
Honestly, I have advocated for several sets since Alpha and at least twice in the preview forums. It is not just "DPS" sets that we need, but ones to either complement or enhance the GF's offerings. You can search the archived Alpha/CBT forums to find them, but to summarize and save you the effort:
T2.5 Vicerant Dragon- When taking damage, you have a 15% chance to call a Dragon spirit that reduces their Defense by 10% and shields nearby allies for that amount for 8 seconds. *Upgrade lineage from T1 Valiant (Reduce Defense by 450) > T2 Timeless (+450 Crit x3 stacks) > Vicerant
T2.5 Captain-General - When you kill a foe you have a 15% chance to inspire nearby allies, boosting their moral and invigorating their regeneration by 10%. This effect stacks up to 3 times. Lasts 5 seconds. *Upgrade lineage from T1 Knight Captain (+60% Power, +25% Def) > T2 High General (+10% Crit Severity) > Captain-General
T2.5 Vanguard Bulwark - You extend your Guard Meter regeneration by 20% of your Life Steal, regenerating it with every unshielded strike. *Upgrade lineage from T1 Stalwart (+20 Power per stack) > T2 Grand Regent (20% Power from Defense) > Vanguard Bulwark
T2.5 Iron Maiden - When struck in combat you gain 5% of your Deflection as Power. This effect stacks up to 5 times. Lasts 8 seconds. *Suggestion I made for a Tenacity based armor
None the less, it is well known that GF players want more from the armors. The Devs know what we run (obvious by how they knew 90% used Stalwart) and it should be rather apparent that NONE of their VT/MC/GG/PVP Mod3 are or will be used by any half descent GF player wanting to do more than sit around and play punching bag with a wet noodle they call a "shield".
This is WHY Valiant/Knight Captain/Grand Regent/Timeless are the only ones really used by anyone...
In summary, you get what I am saying. Please don't think I hate your build or your ideas, quite the contrary, I stole a few things from this build to make my own. Granted, I use KC and Timeless, but your build helped realize a few things I had overlooked.
"It is said that idle hands are the Devil's tools: Idle geek hands, however, came up with gunpowder, nuclear weapons, and toilet plungers." -Illiad
Hey, Malek. Thanks for dropping a detailed answer for our friend right here. Maybe you can also show him a link to your guide too so he'd have something as a reference to your build. I'll see you round in game man!
Hmmm. Were you by any chance PUG-ing? And were you using this build? I just can't imagine a competitive PVE party failing in ToS. It's usually the undergeared PUGs that fail there. Can you tell me more about what happened and your party setup? Basically the party setup which I ran back then was me, GF, DC, CW, GWF, TR, a Rainbow Party since no one was of the same class as the other.
My guild party setup was me as GF(i don't run your build but one that's near you), 1 HR, 1 DC, 2 CW. That was maybe the problem. The CW wasn't good at AoEing down Boss + mobs and the HR lack single damage... TR and GWF are superior to HR at this. You haven't a char to run ToS at ~ 1200/1300 forum time?
And what happened? The boss heal itself more as she got hurt. So after a while the mobs can stay alive long enough to attack the teammates, which result in DPS-drops, that's a critical point. The surviving of the first/following waves wasn't the problem. It was the HP heal > Damage inc that result in dead party.
The new mark tab will be so great. No more mark drop on certain bosses(passiv marking while kiting aso). ^^
Honestly, I have advocated for several sets since Alpha and at least twice in the preview forums. It is not just "DPS" sets that we need, but ones to either complement or enhance the GF's offerings. You can search the archived Alpha/CBT forums to find them, but to summarize and save you the effort:
T2.5 Vicerant Dragon- When taking damage, you have a 15% chance to call a Dragon spirit that reduces their Defense by 10% and shields nearby allies for that amount for 8 seconds. *Upgrade lineage from T1 Valiant (Reduce Defense by 450) > T2 Timeless (+450 Crit x3 stacks) > Vicerant
T2.5 Captain-General - When you kill a foe you have a 15% chance to inspire nearby allies, boosting their moral and invigorating their regeneration by 10%. This effect stacks up to 3 times. Lasts 5 seconds. *Upgrade lineage from T1 Knight Captain (+60% Power, +25% Def) > T2 High General (+10% Crit Severity) > Captain-General
T2.5 Vanguard Bulwark - You extend your Guard Meter regeneration by 20% of your Life Steal, regenerating it with every unshielded strike. *Upgrade lineage from T1 Stalwart (+20 Power per stack) > T2 Grand Regent (20% Power from Defense) > Vanguard Bulwark
T2.5 Iron Maiden - When struck in combat you gain 5% of your Deflection as Power. This effect stacks up to 5 times. Lasts 8 seconds. *Suggestion I made for a Tenacity based armor
None the less, it is well known that GF players want more from the armors. The Devs know what we run (obvious by how they knew 90% used Stalwart) and it should be rather apparent that NONE of their VT/MC/GG/PVP Mod3 are or will be used by any half descent GF player wanting to do more than sit around and play punching bag with a wet noodle they call a "shield".
This is WHY Valiant/Knight Captain/Grand Regent/Timeless are the only ones really used by anyone...
In summary, you get what I am saying. Please don't think I hate your build or your ideas, quite the contrary, I stole a few things from this build to make my own. Granted, I use KC and Timeless, but your build helped realize a few things I had overlooked.
Cool. Are these unreleased sets in the CBT forum? I tried digging up in the archived posts but to no avail. Nonetheless I love the idea of sets that complement the purpose of a GF, something in between supporting and being the shocktroop that absorbs the pain for their allies. Or at least that's what I see when I saw your suggested sets. I like the idea behind Viscerant Dragon and Iron Maiden. But I think the others have unreliable set bonuses. I think Captain-General would be better off with a 15% chance to inspire nearby allies on striking instead of on killing foes. On-Kill bonuses tend to be unreliable factors in battle.
I have a few ideas myself, but majority of them are for tanking, because I really like the art behind the act of tanking. What do you think of these?
T2.5 Imperial Legion - When taking damage, you gain stacks of Resolve (stacks up to 60). Each stack of Resolve increases your Deflection by 10. Once you reach 60 stacks, you will gain an Imperial Resolve buff, and all strikes against you will heal you and your nearby allies for 300 HP for 10 seconds when Imperial Resolve is active. The 60 stacks of Resolve are reset as soon as Imperial Resolve is over.
*This is an armor set that suits Tactician GF's that tend to get hit a lot.
T2.5 Holy Inquisitor - Your At-Will attacks afflict your enemies with Daunting Presence. This will stack up to 10, and will decrease your opponent's damage output by 2% and slow them by 5%. Once you reach 10 stacks, your Deity will intervene in your battle and smite your foes for 5000 damage. Being divine in nature, this damage cannot be mitigated. Once your foes take that damage, the Daunting Presence stacks will reset.
*I imagined this set to complement Protectors since their capstone feat lacks some oomph. This will further increase their ability to decrease the opponent's damage output and making them easier to hit in the process as well.
T2.5 Steel Dragon - Strikes against you have a 15% chance of increasing your damage output by 3% and movement speed by 5%. This stacks up to 5 times, and is refreshed whenever you are struck in combat. Using a Daily will reset these stacks but, but will heal you and your nearby allies by 5% of your maximum HP multiplied by the amount of stacks you had.
*Something I imagine would be preferred by Conquerors. It closely resembles the previous version of Stalwart Bulwark without going all out on increasing DPS by ludicrous amounts. Instead its been given 2 utility purposes, one that boosts movement for kiting and one that can heal allies when needed.
Anyway, I do get what you mean and I don't take these discussions offensively so it's cool. I actually enjoy these sort of discussions. And I'm glad the guide somehow helped you even if it's only for a bit! Feel free to drop by whenever you feel like sharing some new stuff that may relate to the build or if you just want to discuss these sort of gear ideas. And if you already have a thread that suggests new GF sets, maybe I can support it somehow by dropping a feedback. I'm confident that the devs are listening to their players much more so than before.
My guild party setup was me as GF(i don't run your build but one that's near you), 1 HR, 1 DC, 2 CW. That was maybe the problem. The CW wasn't good at AoEing down Boss + mobs and the HR lack single damage... TR and GWF are superior to HR at this. You haven't a char to run ToS at ~ 1200/1300 forum time?
And what happened? The boss heal itself more as she got hurt. So after a while the mobs can stay alive long enough to attack the teammates, which result in DPS-drops, that's a critical point. The surviving of the first/following waves wasn't the problem. It was the HP heal > Damage inc that result in dead party.
The new mark tab will be so great. No more mark drop on certain bosses(passiv marking while kiting aso). ^^
HR's are bad in ToS IMO, so that may have been one of the factors that led to your group wiping a lot. TR's are valuable in ToS because of their Smoke Bomb. This will prevent the Blade Masters from murdering the squishies in the team.
What we did was TR does Smoke Bomb/Dazing Strike as often as possible on mobs, hit the boss with single target DPS, had the CW AoE mobs + boss, have the GF (me) clump them all in one comfortable place and have the GWF contribute in AoE damage to destroy the mobs. DC sustains us with Astral Seal/Shield and the other usual DC stuff. Only the first phase is hard, but once Syndrith goes to her Drider form, things become easier.
And yes I agree, the new Mark Tab will be awesome!
Hey, Malek. Thanks for dropping a detailed answer for our friend right here. Maybe you can also show him a link to your guide too so he'd have something as a reference to your build. I'll see you round in game man!
QUOTE]
I would but that page was rather short and typed out in the matter of an hour. I need to actually do a formal write up at some point.
On another note - Fey Thistle is godly and I love it.
EDIT: And I destroyed the quotation
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cyric993Member, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 3Arc User
edited February 2014
Hi,
I find your build very interesting and am using it for the basis of a reflect based solo dungeon build. Just wondering what your thoughts are on which paragon tree to follow. Would you recommend following the tactician or protector tree. Obviously, as its a solo build I can miss threat generating powers, but which would you say would be better for being able to complete solo dungeon runs.
I would but that page was rather short and typed out in the matter of an hour. I need to actually do a formal write up at some point.
On another note - Fey Thistle is godly and I love it.
EDIT: And I destroyed the quotation
Hehe. I'm 5 days away from my Fey Thistle. But I'm also debating whether it'd be better to take Elven Resolve for the Guard Regen bonus. I guess I'll be testing in preview before actually making the choice in live. But Fey Thistle is a really solid choice. It's my first choice too. Just that I'm wondering how much 10% guard regen will affect my GF because that 10% from Elven Resolve helped my TR to the point that the changes are noticeable.
I find your build very interesting and am using it for the basis of a reflect based solo dungeon build. Just wondering what your thoughts are on which paragon tree to follow. Would you recommend following the tactician or protector tree. Obviously, as its a solo build I can miss threat generating powers, but which would you say would be better for being able to complete solo dungeon runs.
Hey, Cyric. If you're going to be trying a solo dungeon build, perhaps you may wish to take Tactician. In solo, there will be times that your guard will definitely break. So having the capstone feat (although the AP gain isn't that noticeable) will help you pop your dailies faster. What sort of dungeons are you planning to solo btw? Nonetheless, I like the idea. It'll definitely be a challenge.
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cyric993Member, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 3Arc User
Hey, Cyric. If you're going to be trying a solo dungeon build, perhaps you may wish to take Tactician. In solo, there will be times that your guard will definitely break. So having the capstone feat (although the AP gain isn't that noticeable) will help you pop your dailies faster. What sort of dungeons are you planning to solo btw? Nonetheless, I like the idea. It'll definitely be a challenge.
Well, only level 30 at the moment with my GF so it might all end in tears hehe. Once my GF is fully at 60 and kitted out planning to start at the Cloak Tower and see how far I can get in the normal dungeons. Your guide gave me the inspiration to see if its possible. Figure its a balancing act between offense, so I have enough damage to take down the boss, with enough deflect damage so I don't need to worry about the adds. It'll be interesting to see if it works out. Basically, I just wanted to make a Build that would be solo friendly for casual gamers as we all know at the moment GFs aren't very welcome in groups.
Comments
But overall, I just love this new pet. I'll definitely get one. My Active Companion salvo will now be...
- Ioun Stone
- Dread Warrior
- Blacksmith
- Thay Renegade Evoker
- Pig
Might replace the Pig if we get a new companion bonus that suits tanks better, but so far the Pig's bonus is really awesome whenever we get CC-ed. Anyway, lots of fun stuff in store for us tanks.
Edit: Added Dread Warrior to the guide now! It's just too good to pass on.
The future is looking bright! The only thing that could probably be changed is the 2pc set effect. I'd settle for anything else that's not defense, honestly.
It'd be understandable if it was a mistake, though. But I honestly would like to see PVP Weapon Sets that add +450 or +463 to stats as well.
This build worked with Valiant Warrior and I still have the set in my Inventory as I switch to it from time to time. The 4pc bonus of Valiant is pretty good.
As Knight's Valor is often used with this build: did someone encounter the same problem with Knight's Valor that it gets sometimes stucked? It looks like as if it is ready for use but nothing happens if one tries to activate it, swapping the power or changing the spot does not solve the problem, just a relog helps then.
As for Knight's Valor, yes sometimes people encounter that problem. I don't get it as often, however. But it has happened to me once or twice.
I've got pretty close to the suggested armor and such but with each hit my meter drops like 25% and this was just the first few trash mobs. I've tried slotting shield talent over enforced threat and used both Into the Fray and Iron Warrior but I find my AP does not fill before I run out of guard and start taking massive damage.
I figure I did something wrong, so I'm just looking for some suggestions.
thanks
That is actually a bug. Some direct attacks will deplete your guard faster than normal, but it should get fixed once with the upcoming PVP patch. I tested it out in Preview and it makes us pretty tanky. And sometimes you will really run out of Guard. That is when kiting will be imperative and you'll need to find the opportunity to replenish your meter. It happens when you face too much mobs. When you have Steel Defense on, you'll also want to keep your Guard raised because it will not deplete, and you can use Aggravating Strike in order to strike the group of mobs in front of you as you will get AP for each monster you strike.
Also, do you have a full Indomitable Champion?
Yep! Done it in a Rainbow Party.
Haven't tried that yet and I most probably will not even attempt to do so. There's nothing to tank when mobs are perma-CCed to death.
However, one HUGE problem with this build: I've spent some time on the test server, and can confirm with absolute certainty that steel defense is NOT working whatsoever. I still take damage AND lose guard meter even less than a second after I activate my daily. I hope this will get fixed, though.
But because of this I'm scared to try and waste my free respec if this bug is actually in live, too.
EDIT: after reading more of the whole thread, I see it's already been mentioned, but this thing won't let me delete posts. =/
I can answer this one for Todes/bane. I believe nowadays he is running the tact build similar to mine so I should be able to provide accurate feedback.
In an end game group (Talking like 15-17k GS) then you shouldn't be as worried about holding aggro. You wont be able to even with the buffs to threat. However what the Tactician build in particular is extremely good at in end game dungeon groups is generating AP. In turn this allows us to pop more dailies and thus activate immunities. What good is this you ask? Well Knights Valor lasts 10 seconds and the two pops of Supremacy of Steel (My preferred daily) will completely cover this damage. In those ten seconds most mobs will be melted. You absorb 50% of the parties damage and take no damage from it.
Again you might think "Who cares?". In reality 50% of the damage over ten seconds is huge. It allows these groups to run without a DC. Now that being said you can still do a group without a tank GF or a healing DC but either class gives more room for error.
Now another scenario - Your group lets you get the initially hit off and then you can spam aggravating strike a few times. This is a hard taunt and WILL let you hold aggro for a second or two. These keeps them grouped up for your DPS, you soak the damage, and generate mad amounts of AP to activate Knights Valor and shield most of their damage again.
In some cases I would say having a GF that can absorb all that damage is as useful or more useful than a DC. These cases would be in the massive pulls some crazy people like to do (30+ mobs when the CW CC abilities start reaching all their caps).
Hope this answered your question
Can you be more accurate about this fact?
Last time i tried it at ToS endboss we failed already at 80% life of her first phase. (okay she has teleport often)
Can other confirm the bugs of: Crescendo teleport to target - even it is moving especially teleport moves -.
KV apply with every damage tick one Iron Guard
Anvil go on CD without dealing damage if you stand a bit to high to the target(especially happens to little Feywild types)
I'm soooo tired of "tank" armors.
Every single armor released after launch has been tank-related and there is absolutely no way you will see any GF's use it unless they just want to stand on a point and play with their junk the whole match. Sorry, love your build, but there are times when I'd rather do MORE with my GF than just stand there (tank armor).
Hey, Malek. Thanks for dropping a detailed answer for our friend right here. Maybe you can also show him a link to your guide too so he'd have something as a reference to your build. I'll see you round in game man!
Hmmm. Were you by any chance PUG-ing? And were you using this build? I just can't imagine a competitive PVE party failing in ToS. It's usually the undergeared PUGs that fail there. Can you tell me more about what happened and your party setup? Basically the party setup which I ran back then was me, GF, DC, CW, GWF, TR, a Rainbow Party since no one was of the same class as the other.
Hey, Kolbe. Thanks for dropping by. I get what you mean about tank armors overtaking DPS ones. But I'm pretty sure the devs would be more than inclined to release new sets if you suggest them in the Preview Forum. It does make a lot of sense after all, and there's also Mod 3 which should come out after some more time. Ever since Stalwart Bulwark was nerfed, things have been pretty tough for DPS GF's since Timeless 4pc isn't even the most competitive or reliable effect. It'd be great if our DPS GF community got something more reliable like the Stal 4pc.
Honestly, I have advocated for several sets since Alpha and at least twice in the preview forums. It is not just "DPS" sets that we need, but ones to either complement or enhance the GF's offerings. You can search the archived Alpha/CBT forums to find them, but to summarize and save you the effort:
*Upgrade lineage from T1 Valiant (Reduce Defense by 450) > T2 Timeless (+450 Crit x3 stacks) > Vicerant
*Upgrade lineage from T1 Knight Captain (+60% Power, +25% Def) > T2 High General (+10% Crit Severity) > Captain-General
*Upgrade lineage from T1 Stalwart (+20 Power per stack) > T2 Grand Regent (20% Power from Defense) > Vanguard Bulwark
*Suggestion I made for a Tenacity based armor
None the less, it is well known that GF players want more from the armors. The Devs know what we run (obvious by how they knew 90% used Stalwart) and it should be rather apparent that NONE of their VT/MC/GG/PVP Mod3 are or will be used by any half descent GF player wanting to do more than sit around and play punching bag with a wet noodle they call a "shield".
This is WHY Valiant/Knight Captain/Grand Regent/Timeless are the only ones really used by anyone...
In summary, you get what I am saying. Please don't think I hate your build or your ideas, quite the contrary, I stole a few things from this build to make my own. Granted, I use KC and Timeless, but your build helped realize a few things I had overlooked.
My guild party setup was me as GF(i don't run your build but one that's near you), 1 HR, 1 DC, 2 CW. That was maybe the problem. The CW wasn't good at AoEing down Boss + mobs and the HR lack single damage... TR and GWF are superior to HR at this. You haven't a char to run ToS at ~ 1200/1300 forum time?
And what happened? The boss heal itself more as she got hurt. So after a while the mobs can stay alive long enough to attack the teammates, which result in DPS-drops, that's a critical point. The surviving of the first/following waves wasn't the problem. It was the HP heal > Damage inc that result in dead party.
The new mark tab will be so great. No more mark drop on certain bosses(passiv marking while kiting aso). ^^
Cool. Are these unreleased sets in the CBT forum? I tried digging up in the archived posts but to no avail. Nonetheless I love the idea of sets that complement the purpose of a GF, something in between supporting and being the shocktroop that absorbs the pain for their allies. Or at least that's what I see when I saw your suggested sets. I like the idea behind Viscerant Dragon and Iron Maiden. But I think the others have unreliable set bonuses. I think Captain-General would be better off with a 15% chance to inspire nearby allies on striking instead of on killing foes. On-Kill bonuses tend to be unreliable factors in battle.
I have a few ideas myself, but majority of them are for tanking, because I really like the art behind the act of tanking.
T2.5 Imperial Legion - When taking damage, you gain stacks of Resolve (stacks up to 60). Each stack of Resolve increases your Deflection by 10. Once you reach 60 stacks, you will gain an Imperial Resolve buff, and all strikes against you will heal you and your nearby allies for 300 HP for 10 seconds when Imperial Resolve is active. The 60 stacks of Resolve are reset as soon as Imperial Resolve is over.
*This is an armor set that suits Tactician GF's that tend to get hit a lot.
T2.5 Holy Inquisitor - Your At-Will attacks afflict your enemies with Daunting Presence. This will stack up to 10, and will decrease your opponent's damage output by 2% and slow them by 5%. Once you reach 10 stacks, your Deity will intervene in your battle and smite your foes for 5000 damage. Being divine in nature, this damage cannot be mitigated. Once your foes take that damage, the Daunting Presence stacks will reset.
*I imagined this set to complement Protectors since their capstone feat lacks some oomph. This will further increase their ability to decrease the opponent's damage output and making them easier to hit in the process as well.
T2.5 Steel Dragon - Strikes against you have a 15% chance of increasing your damage output by 3% and movement speed by 5%. This stacks up to 5 times, and is refreshed whenever you are struck in combat. Using a Daily will reset these stacks but, but will heal you and your nearby allies by 5% of your maximum HP multiplied by the amount of stacks you had.
*Something I imagine would be preferred by Conquerors. It closely resembles the previous version of Stalwart Bulwark without going all out on increasing DPS by ludicrous amounts. Instead its been given 2 utility purposes, one that boosts movement for kiting and one that can heal allies when needed.
Anyway, I do get what you mean and I don't take these discussions offensively so it's cool. I actually enjoy these sort of discussions. And I'm glad the guide somehow helped you even if it's only for a bit! Feel free to drop by whenever you feel like sharing some new stuff that may relate to the build or if you just want to discuss these sort of gear ideas.
HR's are bad in ToS IMO, so that may have been one of the factors that led to your group wiping a lot. TR's are valuable in ToS because of their Smoke Bomb. This will prevent the Blade Masters from murdering the squishies in the team.
What we did was TR does Smoke Bomb/Dazing Strike as often as possible on mobs, hit the boss with single target DPS, had the CW AoE mobs + boss, have the GF (me) clump them all in one comfortable place and have the GWF contribute in AoE damage to destroy the mobs. DC sustains us with Astral Seal/Shield and the other usual DC stuff. Only the first phase is hard, but once Syndrith goes to her Drider form, things become easier.
And yes I agree, the new Mark Tab will be awesome!
I find your build very interesting and am using it for the basis of a reflect based solo dungeon build. Just wondering what your thoughts are on which paragon tree to follow. Would you recommend following the tactician or protector tree. Obviously, as its a solo build I can miss threat generating powers, but which would you say would be better for being able to complete solo dungeon runs.
Hehe. I'm 5 days away from my Fey Thistle. But I'm also debating whether it'd be better to take Elven Resolve for the Guard Regen bonus. I guess I'll be testing in preview before actually making the choice in live. But Fey Thistle is a really solid choice. It's my first choice too. Just that I'm wondering how much 10% guard regen will affect my GF because that 10% from Elven Resolve helped my TR to the point that the changes are noticeable.
Hey, Cyric. If you're going to be trying a solo dungeon build, perhaps you may wish to take Tactician. In solo, there will be times that your guard will definitely break. So having the capstone feat (although the AP gain isn't that noticeable) will help you pop your dailies faster. What sort of dungeons are you planning to solo btw? Nonetheless, I like the idea. It'll definitely be a challenge.
Well, only level 30 at the moment with my GF so it might all end in tears hehe. Once my GF is fully at 60 and kitted out planning to start at the Cloak Tower and see how far I can get in the normal dungeons. Your guide gave me the inspiration to see if its possible. Figure its a balancing act between offense, so I have enough damage to take down the boss, with enough deflect damage so I don't need to worry about the adds. It'll be interesting to see if it works out. Basically, I just wanted to make a Build that would be solo friendly for casual gamers as we all know at the moment GFs aren't very welcome in groups.