Very very nice to see your ideas + build. I have been running something similar for a while now (Protector + minor Tactician), with some differences I'd like you very much to comment on Btw I haven't read the 11 pages of thread, so sorry if any of these have been touched before.
1) I put rank 6 Tranquil Enchantments on all defence slots; that's about 500hp whenever each of them procs (considering how much I get "hit" from knight's valour, that's quite good I find). Obviously, that also makes me have far less Deflect (2770 atm).
2) My weapon enchant is a Normal Frost enchant (6.9% of weapon damage as Cold damage with every swing and reduce your foe's Recovery by 17%). I *think*/*feel* it actually makes the nasty big blows of the enemies come less often, but I might be wrong. Really bad choice you think?
3) I focused all my gear on HP, so I have: Necromancer's Belt of Undeath (HP, Defence, Deflect), 2x Minor Gand Priest's Ring of Burning Light (again HP, Defence and Deflect) and Cloak of the Erupting Volcano (HP, Deflect and Recovery). My shirt + pants also focus on Defence, Deflect and HP. My grand total HP atm is 33k800. Is that a bad choice you think?
4) My pets giving active bonus are Acolyte of Kelenvor (purpled), Rust Monster, Dread Warrior (still blue), Honey Badger and the Blacksmith (purpled). I run with Acolyte of Kelenvor. I know some people frown upon not going Stones, but it works for me except in specific dungeons (especially when there are fixed large AoE, DoT areas). She doesn't attack (attracting little threat) and her powers give me 10% damage immunity, and her base heal + 5% of my life total (1700hp) - lvl 30 perk. What do you think of the pet choices (both for bonuses and for running)?
5) All in all, my character sheet says I have 51.1% dmg res, 25.8% deflect chance, 33k800 hp, 18.5% action point gain boost. Those do not count temporary bonuses I get from specific procs. All attack values are s**t. As you explained in your post, I can still draw loads of aggro using enforced threat and enchanced mark, even before I roll the whole knight's + supremacy combo.
Anyway, I hope you can comment on my current choices and hopefully you can use some ideas to improve / have alternate options for your build. Cheers!!!!
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lvl99looterMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 682Arc User
Also waiting on how mod4 treats this build as my GF is currently iron maiden specced
Some thoughts on the above posters comments
"1) I put rank 6 Tranquil Enchantments on all defence slots"
these have an internal cooldown of 1 minute? it is why I haven't tried tranquils. I haven't settled on an armor enchant im happy with, I should try these sometime.
"2) My weapon enchant is a Normal Frost enchant "
wouldn't slowing down the hits actually work against an iron maiden build? I attempt to mitigate everything I get hit by either with immunity or my shield... the more they hit me the more dmg I can do to them and I use lifedrinker enchant because it softens each blow I take without nerfing the dmg out and it buffs the aggro generation.
"3) I focused all my gear on HP"
I have very similar choices to yours.. I have gone against a lot of the advice ive read and stacked defence/deflect like crazy because I get hit a lot and imho it all helps. My attack numbers are rubbish but I treat my sword more like a magic wand than a battleaxe so yeah.
"4) My pets"
Ive been lazy with pets.. the ones in your list are recommended choices so when I get some spare ad ill try some of these out
"5) All in all, my character sheet says"
My defence numbers are a little higher and my total hps are a little lower.. ive tried my gf on preview and I gain another 7k hp (mines currently 31k). Id be curious to see how much hp boost mod4 will give u.
Okay, guys. Things are looking a WHOLE lot brighter for us Iron Maidens in Mod 4. I did my tests in the Preview shard by soloing Caverns of Karrundax up until Pyraphenia with my low GS Iron Maiden. What used to be a 40 minute run now lasted roughly 18 minutes as per my timer, and we can say for sure that this is a significant boost to our performance.
The things that have improved for us are as follows.
- The revamped Block Mechanic: This allowed me to tank hordes upon hordes of adds, some may not like it, but this new mechanic will greatly benefit us in both PVP and PVE due to it not breaking quickly with the amount of hits we take. No longer do we have to worry about TRs Bile-DF-ing our Shields to the Nine Hells. What's better is that the amount of hits we take from blocking, the more we tank, the more AP we generate in PVE. Enforced Threat helps us make sure that we get the attention of the adds.
- Enforced Threat: 20 targets, relatively low cooldown, a MASSIVE boost in Threat and Hard Taunts. It's apparent how this will help us in the art of tanking. But it also holds very synergistic qualities with Fighter's Recovery. Use Fighter's Recovery, pop an Enforced Threat, heal between 20k - 40k depending on the amount you crit. Enforced Threat is also great when paired with the Swordmaster's Steel Blitz, as Steel Blitz procs on more targets the more you hit. As per my tests, 20 targets = all of them getting hit by Steel Blitz. That's 36% of your weapon damage that gets added to your attacks and is very synergistic with Fighter's Recovery as well if you think about it.
- Guarded Assault: A class feature that was made for us Iron Maidens but proved to be too useless to be of any use. But now that it got a 500% increase in potency, this will now be one of our main active Class Features. The Reflect damage this feature dishes out will also eventually proc weapon enchantments, which is a significant buff to us. Imagine what you can do with this Class Feature while having Lifedrinker or Lightning Enchantment slotted. And yes, Guarded Assault procs Life Steal! Meaning while you reflect damage, you get to top yourself up with some HP while taking hits for the team. So if Guarded Assault works with Life Steal, this means it's also heavily synergistic with Fighter's Recovery. Have Steel Defense slotted, Guarded Assault, proc your Fighter's Recovery, and watch your HP get topped up from 10% to a possible 100% depending on the number of hits you are reflecting.
- Into the Fray: A huge buff to our party. We can give them 100% of our Damage Reduction as a boost in DPS. Most of us Iron Maidens will have roughly 50% DR, so this equates to a 50% damage boost to our party.
- Knight's Valor: It now acts as a toggle and has an infinite duration. Us Iron Maidens don't necessarily worry about the amounts of hits we take thanks to the revamped block mechanic. So this means we get to give our party a permanent 50% Damage Reduction while we generate AP from the hits we block. It also generates AP for us whenever we are in combat every 10 seconds, and this will greatly help us reach our dailies faster.
- Revamped Mark Mechanic: The revamped mechanic allows us to generate 200% more threat on our marked targets. This means that all our reflected damage generates more threat for us, and it also puts us on top of the threat table. Enforced Threat gives us a whole lot of Marked targets. Again, imagine the possibilities.
- Martial Mastery Rework + Iron Guard Rework: Two capstone feats our builds use and it benefits our party very well.
- Supremacy of Steel: It now reflects damage to the right sources, finally. No longer will our reflected damage strike entities that aren't really our opponents.
- Life Steal: This stat will become very important once Mod 4 hits. I'll be posting a new equipment load out that allows us to achieve 10% Regen and 10% Life Steal at the same time, for more self-sustainability in battle.
I'll be posting the updates to the build a few days before mod 4 hits, when we are sure that the changes have been finalized. This way all of us can work towards a better Iron Maiden without worrying about any sudden changes that may happen.
hey with all th changed in mod4 wjould yu consider using lifedrinker ?? i know our weapon dmg is extremely low but with kv and sos hitting the right direction might be good..would like to test it myself but dont have one to copy on pts:)
Have Steel Defense slotted, Guarded Assault, proc your Fighter's Recovery, and watch your HP get topped up from 10% to a possible 100% depending on the number of hits you are reflecting.
If I recall correctly, you will not be able to deal any Guarded Assault damage while SD is active, because SD negates all incoming damage before GA can compute deflection damage.
hey with all th changed in mod4 wjould yu consider using lifedrinker ?? i know our weapon dmg is extremely low but with kv and sos hitting the right direction might be good..would like to test it myself but dont have one to copy on pts:)
I bought a Lifedrinker for testing and so far I absolutely love how it's performing in the Preview Shard. I have 10% Life Steal, and adding some more would further increase the amount of HP I get to top up when reflecting damage. Life Steal performs better in conjunction with the Endless Consumption T5 Boon from Dread Ring.
If I recall correctly, you will not be able to deal any Guarded Assault damage while SD is active, because SD negates all incoming damage before GA can compute deflection damage.
That's what I thought at first, but the way Guarded Assault works (where it takes a look at the opponent's base damage dealt no matter what your DR is), I tried and tested it, and we still reflect damage while under the influence of Steel Defense. Come to the Preview Server to see for yourself, friend. It's absolutely fun.
ah that's nice relly loved the iron maiden build (even though i played iv).. then what geared set up you suggest ?? intomitable seems nice as well as purified but talking about best combination :d
ah that's nice relly loved the iron maiden build (even though i played iv).. then what geared set up you suggest ?? intomitable seems nice as well as purified but talking about best combination :d
I'm a fairly low GS player so this can still be improved, but right now on live this is my current setup (without the Ioun Stone). I still have to work on my artifacts, but I'm planning on getting an HR Artifact as my 3rd Artifact for the Recovery + Stamina Boost, just like Raven Skull.
This gear setup ensures 10% Life Steal and 10% Regeneration with the right boons. Life Steal will be an optimal stat to invest on for Mod 4, and we can never go wrong with Regen.
That's what I thought at first, but the way Guarded Assault works (where it takes a look at the opponent's base damage dealt no matter what your DR is), I tried and tested it, and we still reflect damage while under the influence of Steel Defense. Come to the Preview Server to see for yourself, friend. It's absolutely fun.
Good to hear. Guess I'll have to finally give SM a shot now.
And actually, I have been chillin in the preview server~
Was running the new epic dungeon last night, in fact. It definitely feels much better running content there than live, that's for sure.
Keep an eye out for anyone with @packrat0.
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lvl99looterMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 682Arc User
edited July 2014
Too bad Guarded Assault is getting nerfed/capped =/...
Too bad Guarded Assault is getting nerfed/capped =/...
Yeah, but with a cap of 15% our Max HP we will still dealing 4.5K-7.5K, which is very good, I guess we can be inmortals with a DC + Iron Warrior + Guarded Assault + Fighter's Recovery...
Also waiting on how mod4 treats this build as my GF is currently iron maiden specced
Some thoughts on the above posters comments
"1) I put rank 6 Tranquil Enchantments on all defence slots"
these have an internal cooldown of 1 minute? it is why I haven't tried tranquils. I haven't settled on an armor enchant im happy with, I should try these sometime.
"2) My weapon enchant is a Normal Frost enchant "
wouldn't slowing down the hits actually work against an iron maiden build? I attempt to mitigate everything I get hit by either with immunity or my shield... the more they hit me the more dmg I can do to them and I use lifedrinker enchant because it softens each blow I take without nerfing the dmg out and it buffs the aggro generation.
"3) I focused all my gear on HP"
I have very similar choices to yours.. I have gone against a lot of the advice ive read and stacked defence/deflect like crazy because I get hit a lot and imho it all helps. My attack numbers are rubbish but I treat my sword more like a magic wand than a battleaxe so yeah.
"4) My pets"
Ive been lazy with pets.. the ones in your list are recommended choices so when I get some spare ad ill try some of these out
"5) All in all, my character sheet says"
My defence numbers are a little higher and my total hps are a little lower.. ive tried my gf on preview and I gain another 7k hp (mines currently 31k). Id be curious to see how much hp boost mod4 will give u.
I know the discussions have moved on - and I'm very glad the way they went =D - but I thought I'd give some feed back after this month or so playing.
1) Tranquils: I didn't know about the 1 min cd at the time (actually, it's the first time I hear about it), but already felt they were not doing their job properly. So I changed it all for HP and now I'm at 37,200 HP. Feels way better!
2) Weapon Enchant: my main goal with this build has always been improve the party's survivability more than dealing damage myself, and that's why I went for the frost enchant. Still, I tried a friends (normal) Lifedrinker and fell in love with it, I tank SO much more and with SO much less effort/risk! So, enchant swapped.
Again, thanks a lot for the input, I can't wait to test my Agenor Strongarm in mod4 =D
Just to chime in on the discussion about Frost Enchantment, this enchant might actually see some more use thanks to the revamped Enforced Threat. Hit up to 20 targets and watch them pause in a mini-daze from Frost. It might actually be a viable tanking enchantment for other builds.
But for us Iron Maidens, Lifedrinker will be king. The increased threat from healing which also helps us top up via SoS + Guarded Assault Life Steal effects, not to mention Enforced Threat hitting 20 targets, it's not that hard to imagine healing up to 5k+ in one Enforced Threat. It's not much but if you think about it that's only from Life Steal alone. And this can be made better with Endless Consumption. I'll be dropping Fey Thistle Sharandar Boon for the 10% increase in Stamina Recovery T5 boon from Sharandar, as well as Augmented Thayan Bastion for Endless Consumption.
Life Steal will become a more valued stat for GFs. So best to invest on them earlier.
I might try out reflect build in Mod 4 with it bumping up to 15%. Currently i'm running a group buffer/moderate dps. Using the t1 set that gives group members 15% power and 25% defense, that way if i don't take adds off of them, at least they'll have better survivability. It says 25% chance for powers, but atm, it procs every at will hit. Not sure if it's a bug or not, but it works. but I am also swordmaster, it's great, i do miss threatening rush for easy aggro, but KV have done me good in replacement. KV with the immunity feat + fighter's recovery, even though i'm not pure tank, i am still able to tank large groups without a healer. Though it is much easier if you have astral shield around your feet. my Ferocious reaction has healed up to 85k with fighter's recovery, it's really op, just about all my dps powers bring me to full hp. every at will hit heals me good. For that reason i built dps, so that i can heal more while tanking the same amount. plus if i'm low on health and pop the healing, i will be safe with the immunity for 3 secs, and in those 3 secs i can heal to full and maintain it, and if i wanted to, i can just block everything and get 100% ap again not too long after popping my first healer and get healer again, and recycle that, but that's too boring for me, so i dps a bit, lol. Just wanted to share what i do for some reason, lol.
Yeah, I noticed all these changes and have been testing sporadically as my comp died and am using my roommate's comp (which has a messed up internet card which explains why I haven't been anywhere) so I get kicked after about 4-40 mins for a few hours. These changes are really good. So excited for my iron maiden and everyone else's too.
This will likely be a really good mod for all GF's not just us really looking forward to it.
Btw, I really like the renegade wizard companion active; I tried it out and am using it. It reflects good amounts of damage about 1.3k in an aoe when I'm crit and with the new guarded assault+SoS its gonna be even nastier this also means that SoS isnt a necessary cast 80% of the time. I'm gonna have to switch to life drinker too more than likely since my main damage is what I'm getting hit although I'd miss my pf.
I heard conqueror got a few boosts as well so huzzah lol.
The changes to KV also sound really good, but more dangerous as we'll have to be on the ball with activating/deactivating so we don't go down which can happen if you don't pay attention but at least its at our discretion.
The shield feels better though the damage going through takes a bit to get used to especially the movement speed increase while blocking though that's a plus.
Iron Warrior and the shield class feature+various stam regen makes my IM's Block bar go up slightly even while holding the guard so that's a (slow while blocking) 6 sec unlimited stamina gain every 10 or so seconds along with the temp hp.
Also happy about the into the fray damage boosts because now using it means I'm buffing the party.
And my hp went from 30k to 35k because of con boost pretty nice my attacks seem to hit harder and the new mark is really useful GF feels better in almost every way.
I can't wait for this to go live.
off-topic: I really like the warlock class any ideas for team synergies? I imagine that GF and warlock will get along nicely especially the lifesteal/healing type.
I was thinking of curse and mark working together to increase warlock damage by a huge amount because 20% + 20% plus CA and our other buffs/protections. Can't really beat that.
I am glad to see all the recent comments. I have been reading the preview patch notes and thinking it is time to dust off the GF again. After reading this thread, i am thinking time to gear up before mod 4 hits.
I am already using life drinker, but i think it is just at normal - is it worth while to push it to greater or perfect with the coming changes?
Also, has there been a discussion about which artifacts I should be working on? I do not remember them from the original posts and honestly have not gone back though the entire thread. Any feedback on artifacts, would be great. Particularly the synergy between the new class Arti - should i stick with gf active or DC active? seems dc active would have synergy with a FR EF cycle;
Is this build changing from SM to IV? Since SoS doesnt work with Steel Defense (yes you get agro but no damage). It seems that reflect will be a huge part of mod4 (blacksmith, guarded assault, SoS, evoker, etc), and Crush has said you can't reflect damage while immune. It seems you would be losing a lot by going immune so often?
Since SoS doesnt work with Steel Defense (yes you get agro but no damage).
In pve while im immune I don't need to hold my shield up so its a regular chance for my guard to recharge. I see damage as an added bonus to the aggro I am generating so I will be staying SM. I don't aim to stay immune indefinitely. Whenever I need to tone down the damage Im taking I can go immune (i.e the start of big pulls or to live through seas of red).
I am glad to see all the recent comments. I have been reading the preview patch notes and thinking it is time to dust off the GF again. After reading this thread, i am thinking time to gear up before mod 4 hits.
I am already using life drinker, but i think it is just at normal - is it worth while to push it to greater or perfect with the coming changes?
Also, has there been a discussion about which artifacts I should be working on? I do not remember them from the original posts and honestly have not gone back though the entire thread. Any feedback on artifacts, would be great. Particularly the synergy between the new class Arti - should i stick with gf active or DC active? seems dc active would have synergy with a FR EF cycle;
I'd settle for a Normal but Perfect would be best! It's a huge flat increase to Life Steal, which is going to become particularly valuable for us Reflect Guardians. And if I were to choose on an active artifact, the DC artifact would be a very good choice indeed.
Is this build changing from SM to IV? Since SoS doesnt work with Steel Defense (yes you get agro but no damage). It seems that reflect will be a huge part of mod4 (blacksmith, guarded assault, SoS, evoker, etc), and Crush has said you can't reflect damage while immune. It seems you would be losing a lot by going immune so often?
If you try testing in Preview, you'll notice that SoS and Guarded Assault works fine even while immune.
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wikkedjrMember, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited August 2014
So, I'm thinking I might go back to my GF for Mod 4...but his spec is a little out of date. Looks like this is fairly current, how do you folks think this will stack up for the new module?
Also, I should ask, how important are the exact ability scores to this build working? I have a respec token so I can change what I've added as I leveled up, but I'm reluctant to buy the full do over token.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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encadiMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 67
edited August 2014
Yeah wondering here if this spec should work for mod 4
I've been trying this reflect type of build with mod 4 and so far it works pretty good.
I'm talking mostly in PVP, and my gear score is like 10k and not optimized.
My current setup is Guarded Assault, Knights valor, Iron Warrior, into the fray.
I call it 'the lazy build' because I tried this out in pvp when I was tired and didn't want to do much. Surprising it did really well.
Oh, and i'm actually specked as Iron Vanguard because I just haven't re-specked yet.
I also noticed that Fighters Recovery would work pretty good with that 5 second immunity damage. Obviously supremacy of steal is your go too but sometimes you need a little more health.
I tanked CN the other night and the final boss kill wasn't too bad. KV up + knights challenge on the boss and it really nerfs the damage from the hands.
I was full iron maiden spec (sm) in mod3 and I gotta say mod4 is really really good for this build. KV up all the time means we don't have to wait for cooldown to recast. I can pug most T2 dungeons without a cleric and not drink too many pots. In guild runs I don't need to drink any pots for a few of the T2s. The extra hps and the timed shield stamina more than make up for the damage that gets through the shield. People are regularly commenting on how easy runs are when the endbosses go down and I haven't had this much fun with my gf since forever.
Cant wait to see what recommendations come from the updated guide
Comments
Very very nice to see your ideas + build. I have been running something similar for a while now (Protector + minor Tactician), with some differences I'd like you very much to comment on
1) I put rank 6 Tranquil Enchantments on all defence slots; that's about 500hp whenever each of them procs (considering how much I get "hit" from knight's valour, that's quite good I find). Obviously, that also makes me have far less Deflect (2770 atm).
2) My weapon enchant is a Normal Frost enchant (6.9% of weapon damage as Cold damage with every swing and reduce your foe's Recovery by 17%). I *think*/*feel* it actually makes the nasty big blows of the enemies come less often, but I might be wrong. Really bad choice you think?
3) I focused all my gear on HP, so I have: Necromancer's Belt of Undeath (HP, Defence, Deflect), 2x Minor Gand Priest's Ring of Burning Light (again HP, Defence and Deflect) and Cloak of the Erupting Volcano (HP, Deflect and Recovery). My shirt + pants also focus on Defence, Deflect and HP. My grand total HP atm is 33k800. Is that a bad choice you think?
4) My pets giving active bonus are Acolyte of Kelenvor (purpled), Rust Monster, Dread Warrior (still blue), Honey Badger and the Blacksmith (purpled). I run with Acolyte of Kelenvor. I know some people frown upon not going Stones, but it works for me except in specific dungeons (especially when there are fixed large AoE, DoT areas). She doesn't attack (attracting little threat) and her powers give me 10% damage immunity, and her base heal + 5% of my life total (1700hp) - lvl 30 perk. What do you think of the pet choices (both for bonuses and for running)?
5) All in all, my character sheet says I have 51.1% dmg res, 25.8% deflect chance, 33k800 hp, 18.5% action point gain boost. Those do not count temporary bonuses I get from specific procs. All attack values are s**t. As you explained in your post, I can still draw loads of aggro using enforced threat and enchanced mark, even before I roll the whole knight's + supremacy combo.
Anyway, I hope you can comment on my current choices and hopefully you can use some ideas to improve / have alternate options for your build. Cheers!!!!
Some thoughts on the above posters comments
"1) I put rank 6 Tranquil Enchantments on all defence slots"
these have an internal cooldown of 1 minute? it is why I haven't tried tranquils. I haven't settled on an armor enchant im happy with, I should try these sometime.
"2) My weapon enchant is a Normal Frost enchant "
wouldn't slowing down the hits actually work against an iron maiden build? I attempt to mitigate everything I get hit by either with immunity or my shield... the more they hit me the more dmg I can do to them and I use lifedrinker enchant because it softens each blow I take without nerfing the dmg out and it buffs the aggro generation.
"3) I focused all my gear on HP"
I have very similar choices to yours.. I have gone against a lot of the advice ive read and stacked defence/deflect like crazy because I get hit a lot and imho it all helps. My attack numbers are rubbish but I treat my sword more like a magic wand than a battleaxe so yeah.
"4) My pets"
Ive been lazy with pets.. the ones in your list are recommended choices so when I get some spare ad ill try some of these out
"5) All in all, my character sheet says"
My defence numbers are a little higher and my total hps are a little lower.. ive tried my gf on preview and I gain another 7k hp (mines currently 31k). Id be curious to see how much hp boost mod4 will give u.
The things that have improved for us are as follows.
- The revamped Block Mechanic: This allowed me to tank hordes upon hordes of adds, some may not like it, but this new mechanic will greatly benefit us in both PVP and PVE due to it not breaking quickly with the amount of hits we take. No longer do we have to worry about TRs Bile-DF-ing our Shields to the Nine Hells. What's better is that the amount of hits we take from blocking, the more we tank, the more AP we generate in PVE. Enforced Threat helps us make sure that we get the attention of the adds.
- Enforced Threat: 20 targets, relatively low cooldown, a MASSIVE boost in Threat and Hard Taunts. It's apparent how this will help us in the art of tanking. But it also holds very synergistic qualities with Fighter's Recovery. Use Fighter's Recovery, pop an Enforced Threat, heal between 20k - 40k depending on the amount you crit. Enforced Threat is also great when paired with the Swordmaster's Steel Blitz, as Steel Blitz procs on more targets the more you hit. As per my tests, 20 targets = all of them getting hit by Steel Blitz. That's 36% of your weapon damage that gets added to your attacks and is very synergistic with Fighter's Recovery as well if you think about it.
- Guarded Assault: A class feature that was made for us Iron Maidens but proved to be too useless to be of any use. But now that it got a 500% increase in potency, this will now be one of our main active Class Features. The Reflect damage this feature dishes out will also eventually proc weapon enchantments, which is a significant buff to us. Imagine what you can do with this Class Feature while having Lifedrinker or Lightning Enchantment slotted. And yes, Guarded Assault procs Life Steal! Meaning while you reflect damage, you get to top yourself up with some HP while taking hits for the team. So if Guarded Assault works with Life Steal, this means it's also heavily synergistic with Fighter's Recovery. Have Steel Defense slotted, Guarded Assault, proc your Fighter's Recovery, and watch your HP get topped up from 10% to a possible 100% depending on the number of hits you are reflecting.
- Into the Fray: A huge buff to our party. We can give them 100% of our Damage Reduction as a boost in DPS. Most of us Iron Maidens will have roughly 50% DR, so this equates to a 50% damage boost to our party.
- Knight's Valor: It now acts as a toggle and has an infinite duration. Us Iron Maidens don't necessarily worry about the amounts of hits we take thanks to the revamped block mechanic. So this means we get to give our party a permanent 50% Damage Reduction while we generate AP from the hits we block. It also generates AP for us whenever we are in combat every 10 seconds, and this will greatly help us reach our dailies faster.
- Revamped Mark Mechanic: The revamped mechanic allows us to generate 200% more threat on our marked targets. This means that all our reflected damage generates more threat for us, and it also puts us on top of the threat table. Enforced Threat gives us a whole lot of Marked targets. Again, imagine the possibilities.
- Martial Mastery Rework + Iron Guard Rework: Two capstone feats our builds use and it benefits our party very well.
- Supremacy of Steel: It now reflects damage to the right sources, finally. No longer will our reflected damage strike entities that aren't really our opponents.
- Life Steal: This stat will become very important once Mod 4 hits. I'll be posting a new equipment load out that allows us to achieve 10% Regen and 10% Life Steal at the same time, for more self-sustainability in battle.
I'll be posting the updates to the build a few days before mod 4 hits, when we are sure that the changes have been finalized. This way all of us can work towards a better Iron Maiden without worrying about any sudden changes that may happen.
Honored to see you say this, Ant-Monster.
If I recall correctly, you will not be able to deal any Guarded Assault damage while SD is active, because SD negates all incoming damage before GA can compute deflection damage.
I bought a Lifedrinker for testing and so far I absolutely love how it's performing in the Preview Shard. I have 10% Life Steal, and adding some more would further increase the amount of HP I get to top up when reflecting damage. Life Steal performs better in conjunction with the Endless Consumption T5 Boon from Dread Ring.
That's what I thought at first, but the way Guarded Assault works (where it takes a look at the opponent's base damage dealt no matter what your DR is), I tried and tested it, and we still reflect damage while under the influence of Steel Defense. Come to the Preview Server to see for yourself, friend. It's absolutely fun.
I'm a fairly low GS player so this can still be improved, but right now on live this is my current setup (without the Ioun Stone). I still have to work on my artifacts, but I'm planning on getting an HR Artifact as my 3rd Artifact for the Recovery + Stamina Boost, just like Raven Skull.
This gear setup ensures 10% Life Steal and 10% Regeneration with the right boons. Life Steal will be an optimal stat to invest on for Mod 4, and we can never go wrong with Regen.
Good to hear. Guess I'll have to finally give SM a shot now.
And actually, I have been chillin in the preview server~
Was running the new epic dungeon last night, in fact. It definitely feels much better running content there than live, that's for sure.
Keep an eye out for anyone with @packrat0.
Yeah, but with a cap of 15% our Max HP we will still dealing 4.5K-7.5K, which is very good, I guess we can be inmortals with a DC + Iron Warrior + Guarded Assault + Fighter's Recovery...
I know the discussions have moved on - and I'm very glad the way they went =D - but I thought I'd give some feed back after this month or so playing.
1) Tranquils: I didn't know about the 1 min cd at the time (actually, it's the first time I hear about it), but already felt they were not doing their job properly. So I changed it all for HP and now I'm at 37,200 HP. Feels way better!
2) Weapon Enchant: my main goal with this build has always been improve the party's survivability more than dealing damage myself, and that's why I went for the frost enchant. Still, I tried a friends (normal) Lifedrinker and fell in love with it, I tank SO much more and with SO much less effort/risk! So, enchant swapped.
Again, thanks a lot for the input, I can't wait to test my Agenor Strongarm in mod4 =D
But for us Iron Maidens, Lifedrinker will be king.
Life Steal will become a more valued stat for GFs. So best to invest on them earlier.
This will likely be a really good mod for all GF's not just us really looking forward to it.
Btw, I really like the renegade wizard companion active; I tried it out and am using it. It reflects good amounts of damage about 1.3k in an aoe when I'm crit and with the new guarded assault+SoS its gonna be even nastier this also means that SoS isnt a necessary cast 80% of the time. I'm gonna have to switch to life drinker too more than likely since my main damage is what I'm getting hit although I'd miss my pf.
I heard conqueror got a few boosts as well so huzzah lol.
The changes to KV also sound really good, but more dangerous as we'll have to be on the ball with activating/deactivating so we don't go down which can happen if you don't pay attention but at least its at our discretion.
The shield feels better though the damage going through takes a bit to get used to especially the movement speed increase while blocking though that's a plus.
Iron Warrior and the shield class feature+various stam regen makes my IM's Block bar go up slightly even while holding the guard so that's a (slow while blocking) 6 sec unlimited stamina gain every 10 or so seconds along with the temp hp.
Also happy about the into the fray damage boosts because now using it means I'm buffing the party.
And my hp went from 30k to 35k because of con boost pretty nice my attacks seem to hit harder and the new mark is really useful GF feels better in almost every way.
I can't wait for this to go live.
off-topic: I really like the warlock class any ideas for team synergies? I imagine that GF and warlock will get along nicely especially the lifesteal/healing type.
I was thinking of curse and mark working together to increase warlock damage by a huge amount because 20% + 20% plus CA and our other buffs/protections. Can't really beat that.
I am already using life drinker, but i think it is just at normal - is it worth while to push it to greater or perfect with the coming changes?
Also, has there been a discussion about which artifacts I should be working on? I do not remember them from the original posts and honestly have not gone back though the entire thread. Any feedback on artifacts, would be great. Particularly the synergy between the new class Arti - should i stick with gf active or DC active? seems dc active would have synergy with a FR EF cycle;
In pve while im immune I don't need to hold my shield up so its a regular chance for my guard to recharge. I see damage as an added bonus to the aggro I am generating so I will be staying SM. I don't aim to stay immune indefinitely. Whenever I need to tone down the damage Im taking I can go immune (i.e the start of big pulls or to live through seas of red).
I'd settle for a Normal but Perfect would be best! It's a huge flat increase to Life Steal, which is going to become particularly valuable for us Reflect Guardians. And if I were to choose on an active artifact, the DC artifact would be a very good choice indeed.
If you try testing in Preview, you'll notice that SoS and Guarded Assault works fine even while immune.
Also, I should ask, how important are the exact ability scores to this build working? I have a respec token so I can change what I've added as I leveled up, but I'm reluctant to buy the full do over token.
I was testing your build on preview without an ton of success, any updates to report yet?
I'm talking mostly in PVP, and my gear score is like 10k and not optimized.
My current setup is Guarded Assault, Knights valor, Iron Warrior, into the fray.
I call it 'the lazy build' because I tried this out in pvp when I was tired and didn't want to do much. Surprising it did really well.
Oh, and i'm actually specked as Iron Vanguard because I just haven't re-specked yet.
I also noticed that Fighters Recovery would work pretty good with that 5 second immunity damage. Obviously supremacy of steal is your go too but sometimes you need a little more health.
I was full iron maiden spec (sm) in mod3 and I gotta say mod4 is really really good for this build. KV up all the time means we don't have to wait for cooldown to recast. I can pug most T2 dungeons without a cleric and not drink too many pots. In guild runs I don't need to drink any pots for a few of the T2s. The extra hps and the timed shield stamina more than make up for the damage that gets through the shield. People are regularly commenting on how easy runs are when the endbosses go down and I haven't had this much fun with my gf since forever.
Cant wait to see what recommendations come from the updated guide
Will this build with it's Gear be viable to survive in PvP? Or is it mainly a PvE build?
Cheers!