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Need some input on my current setup (4k IV prot GF PS4)
wilbur626
Member Posts: 1,019 Arc User
Hi!
After reading every single build/forum post/youtube comment/random zone chat statement out there, I've been spending most my time experimenting with my guardian fighter on PS4. The result is a setup I myself find very functional and fun to play. I am however very aware that there are many far more experienced players on both PC and Xbox, and that is why I really want some input on my current setup, not to mention advice on how to improve it.
My main goal for my gf is to be able to solo PVE, group PVE and some PVP when alliance calls for it. With those goals in mind, I found that the IV covers all my requirements. I currently run full protector (for deflect, ac, dmg resistance and reduced dmg from mobs with the 5% from Iron Guard)
15 points in tact for cooldown reduction, crushing pin and reduced dmg from marked mobs.
For party PVE I use the following skills : T Rush + Cleave, IF, ET/CS (group/single target) and KV to procc crushing pin/reflect dmg. Guarded Assault and Combat superiority personals. SoS and Villians Menace dailies
For solo PVE : T Rush + Crushing Surge, IF/ET/CS. Guarded assault + trample the fallen personals. Villians Menace + Terrifying impact dailies.
For PVP : Tide of Iron + Crushing Surge, Bull charge/Knee breaker/Anvil of doom. Combat superiority + trample the fallen personals. Villians Menace + Indomitable Strenght dailies.
Party PVE gear : Dusk head + gloves, Life silk spinneret chest, Elemental drowcraft boots. Lathander Neck, Constitution belt, Ring of sieging +5 (to stay at DR cap when entering combat) and brutality +4 (farming for that +5 ofc). Bloodstained shirt + Drowcraft Chausses.
For everfrost zones I use 3p Frostborn + Vivified Relic boots for ef res and more deflect. The movement speed from 3p Frostborn is a lifesaver in FBI/mSVA imho. Reinforced +5% Greater Everfrost shirt and pants. Ring of Hellig +4 instead of Brutality.
Solo PVE gear : Elemental Raid DF helm,gloves and boots + Lifesilk spinneret chest. All other gear like party pve, apart from Ring of Hellig instead of the sieging +5.
PVP : Full prestige, jewelry same as solo PVE. (Should ofc have orcus set, but PVE is my main activity)
Artifacts in all setups : Waters of Elah'zad, Sigil of the Guardian, Symbol of Fire and Black Ice Beholder. Considering swapping Sigil of the Guardian for Devoted and using this as active.
On all gear i focus on Defense/Recovery/Power. Only exception is for everfrost zones, where i find the added deflect from Frostborn + Relic helps survivability a lot.
I use azure (R11 atm) in all defensive slots and R12 cruels in all offensive slots. In weapon I have trans feytouched and negation in armor (this one has to go, lol). Darks in utility slots.
When it comes to companions, I use the dancing shield as summoned at all times. 3xR12 bonding, stacking power+recovery on belts. Azures in defensive slots. As soon as our gh is high enough to unlock our 3rd boon (defense) im swapping azures for vicious to gain a massive boost to deflect+lifesteal. Ty to @rjc9000 for pointing that out for me.
Active companions are : Rust monster, Blacksmith, Chicken and Owlbear Cub (the cub stays at home for everfrost zones, swapped for air cultist).
Using the owlbear cub adds a ton of dmg when I solo, and it seems to work very well with enforced threat (hitting 3 enemies for about 30k each pr use when buffed in party. Is there a 3 hit limit to the cub or the skill ?). As I have concluded that more damage equals more aggro, this is a good thing, right ?
Insignia bonuses;
Shepherds Devotion (+1350 defense, deflection and movement for party. Does this get boost from paladin/dc power boost ?)
Protectors Camaraderie (more def = more power = more party buff?)
Assasins Covenant (less def = more power = more party buff?)
Victims Preservation
Gladiators Guile
I would love it if some of you took your time to read all this and give me some feedback
Screenshot of stats with 2p dusk active : http://imgur.com/a/vhjKe
After reading every single build/forum post/youtube comment/random zone chat statement out there, I've been spending most my time experimenting with my guardian fighter on PS4. The result is a setup I myself find very functional and fun to play. I am however very aware that there are many far more experienced players on both PC and Xbox, and that is why I really want some input on my current setup, not to mention advice on how to improve it.
My main goal for my gf is to be able to solo PVE, group PVE and some PVP when alliance calls for it. With those goals in mind, I found that the IV covers all my requirements. I currently run full protector (for deflect, ac, dmg resistance and reduced dmg from mobs with the 5% from Iron Guard)
15 points in tact for cooldown reduction, crushing pin and reduced dmg from marked mobs.
For party PVE I use the following skills : T Rush + Cleave, IF, ET/CS (group/single target) and KV to procc crushing pin/reflect dmg. Guarded Assault and Combat superiority personals. SoS and Villians Menace dailies
For solo PVE : T Rush + Crushing Surge, IF/ET/CS. Guarded assault + trample the fallen personals. Villians Menace + Terrifying impact dailies.
For PVP : Tide of Iron + Crushing Surge, Bull charge/Knee breaker/Anvil of doom. Combat superiority + trample the fallen personals. Villians Menace + Indomitable Strenght dailies.
Party PVE gear : Dusk head + gloves, Life silk spinneret chest, Elemental drowcraft boots. Lathander Neck, Constitution belt, Ring of sieging +5 (to stay at DR cap when entering combat) and brutality +4 (farming for that +5 ofc). Bloodstained shirt + Drowcraft Chausses.
For everfrost zones I use 3p Frostborn + Vivified Relic boots for ef res and more deflect. The movement speed from 3p Frostborn is a lifesaver in FBI/mSVA imho. Reinforced +5% Greater Everfrost shirt and pants. Ring of Hellig +4 instead of Brutality.
Solo PVE gear : Elemental Raid DF helm,gloves and boots + Lifesilk spinneret chest. All other gear like party pve, apart from Ring of Hellig instead of the sieging +5.
PVP : Full prestige, jewelry same as solo PVE. (Should ofc have orcus set, but PVE is my main activity)
Artifacts in all setups : Waters of Elah'zad, Sigil of the Guardian, Symbol of Fire and Black Ice Beholder. Considering swapping Sigil of the Guardian for Devoted and using this as active.
On all gear i focus on Defense/Recovery/Power. Only exception is for everfrost zones, where i find the added deflect from Frostborn + Relic helps survivability a lot.
I use azure (R11 atm) in all defensive slots and R12 cruels in all offensive slots. In weapon I have trans feytouched and negation in armor (this one has to go, lol). Darks in utility slots.
When it comes to companions, I use the dancing shield as summoned at all times. 3xR12 bonding, stacking power+recovery on belts. Azures in defensive slots. As soon as our gh is high enough to unlock our 3rd boon (defense) im swapping azures for vicious to gain a massive boost to deflect+lifesteal. Ty to @rjc9000 for pointing that out for me.
Active companions are : Rust monster, Blacksmith, Chicken and Owlbear Cub (the cub stays at home for everfrost zones, swapped for air cultist).
Using the owlbear cub adds a ton of dmg when I solo, and it seems to work very well with enforced threat (hitting 3 enemies for about 30k each pr use when buffed in party. Is there a 3 hit limit to the cub or the skill ?). As I have concluded that more damage equals more aggro, this is a good thing, right ?
Insignia bonuses;
Shepherds Devotion (+1350 defense, deflection and movement for party. Does this get boost from paladin/dc power boost ?)
Protectors Camaraderie (more def = more power = more party buff?)
Assasins Covenant (less def = more power = more party buff?)
Victims Preservation
Gladiators Guile
I would love it if some of you took your time to read all this and give me some feedback
Screenshot of stats with 2p dusk active : http://imgur.com/a/vhjKe
Elite Whaleboy
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Comments
And you have excellent gear, your companions are perfect fit your build.
Only one question. Why protector for the goals of play you describe?
I honestly think tactician might be a better fit for you... and I am biased (my main is a Protector) so you know I mean it.
In our current game environment Protectors excel in support of new, undergeared and squishy comrades or in high end 4xDPS without healing needs but needing solid pain-drain tank.
Protectors can be okay at solo PvE... Tacts and Conqs are better... with proper loadout and gameplay... or Protectors can take forever to kill anything if not.
And PvP? No sir. Protectors are objectively the worst GF for PvP. Conqs are measurably best for PvP.
The strengths of Protector do not appear to match your goals.
Again, I am a Protector FAN, not a hater.
But why Protector for you?
I am Took.
"Full plate and packing steel" in NW since 2013.
The reason i dont go Conq is simply cause we dont need more dps in the group i run with, and that the increased crit chance from that paragon three will limit the owlbear cub ive grown so fond of. With the cub i can stack recovery/defense/deflect + power. All power added = more dmg dealt by encounters. Not having to stack crit also gives room for more power, and thus more buff from shepherds devotion.
As for tactician I dont think any of the feats this paragon path can compete with the increased deflection, dmg to ET, DR debuff on mob from SoS and the (broken) Iron Guard debuff. Action point gain in our party is absolutely no problem, and honestly the only fight the ppl in my party can actually notice the AP gain on dmg taken, is during the blue dragon fight in df. Crushing Pin, Fight On and Daunting Challenge is the only feats i feel like I need from Tact three.
In PVP my current setup = king of slowing the other team down and massive assist points, hehe. I dont really focus on it, so Im ok with not being on top of the kill count.
As you point out, the protector is also perfect for lower iLvl parties, and the mid/lower ilvl players in my guild and alliance really enjoy having me in party
I have tested both conq and tact in FBI and Svardborg runs, and I just find the Protector more comfortable. It might be my inner tank telling me I have to go as tanky as humanly possible to be a tank, lol.
Please let me know if im missing key points from the other 2 paragon paths!
Carry on.
I am Took.
"Full plate and packing steel" in NW since 2013.
Im considering putting my build on mmominds, just to add another protector build alternative. Do you find any flaws or reasons not to do so ?
btw: I just recieved a tipoff from @michela123 about how damage debuffs work.
Surging Tide works for the entire team, just as Daunting Challenge works for the entire team.
Due to these bugs... this means that the Tactician has similar damage debuff capabilities to the Protector path, if not slightly better.
Tbh, if you use your shield, ITF, ET, FR, and a power of choice, you have a solid tanking kit, regardless of spec.
a bit off-topic now: with the new chest piece, tactician now is better but you need to build your character around super high HP and defense, and try not block.)
EDIT: don't use SOS, its just really crappy. Indomitable strength would be a better choice in pve, to proc crushing pin, and CC single targets like those running orcs in FBI for example. And an AP cloak is better than lathander so go for tiamat's neckless (power/recovery/defense also)
As for PvP, it will be impossible to kill anyone (decent) so you would just turtle nodes so squeezing in lifesteal would be good, and get that ArP capped upped too. You can also slot shield talent if you do come across decent players. Also Recovery isn't really that great of a stat for PvE anyway, you use it for mostly that ITF (since you use KV on the other slot alot probably AND clerics will be giving you alot of cooldown return (along with paladins) it makes Recovery more redundant.
and also the featured satirical comedic adventure "A Call for Heroes".
Pretty solid build, you have most of the same thoughts as I do. I just got my hands on the Valhalla set, after our next 2xRefinement (3/2 for Xbox) I should have it fully upgraded and into testing it out, so assuming it works out as well as I hope I will recommend at that time. Big fan of the Lathanders set, gives you a quick minute of breathing room when you get picked up. Also a fan of the Tiamat set, but you need decent LS (or to actually run with healers) or the bonus doesn't do much.
I recently swapped to Lightning and Shadowclad enchants, and I'm loving them. The shadowclad removes any need to stack deflect (I just get what is on gear/dexterity, no feats, no enchants, no boons) and actually tops out my DR pretty well, albeit in a rotational kind of way. Would not recommend if you don't have 50% DR without procs/buffs.
I usually run Fighters Recovery for the oh HAMSTER moments, but I run without a healer most of the time (darn DC's on Xbox are obsessed with the DPS path, and I can't tell you the last time I saw a healadin in a dungeon).
I assume you run the Guarded Assault feature in your offhand?
For solo I run slightly different powers, my idea with my current build is more AoE based, so I run TR, Cleave (pretty wide arc), Frontline Surge, ET, AoD or KB for the bigguns. Have been having a hard time figuring out if Trample the Fallen or Shield Warriors Wrath is more effective for me (wish I could copy my toon to preview and ACT it..)
I'm actually about to ditch the Sigil of Devoted entirely, don't really need it to get AP back in group content (shield up for like 2 seconds usually refills my AP, only really use it for Fighters Recovery)
As for companions, those are pretty solid. I just bought a Phase Spider to test out, both for proccing and the CAB resist, so far really liking it except for when it teleports off a cliff. I have also used the Angel of Protection in the past, which worked surprisingly well for proccing and the defensive buff but the active bonus is kinda HAMSTER.
One thing for PVP, it's very situational but using Knights Challenge on an enemy that is engaging an ally can be really helpful. Also lets you dish out decent damage for a quick minute.
Cheers
Would you mind explaining why SoS is crappy ? To me it looks awesome from reading tooltip. Slotting the protector feat for it makes it look even more awesome...
I like your idea of a super high HP build. Im guessing you would max out DR and avoid stacking any deflect ? How would you manage selfhealing in such a setup, dmg is a bit low to rely on lifesteal alone maybe ?
About recovery being useless in PvE, doesnt it add a whole lot of AP gain for a protector ?
@fluffy6977
I do indeed use GA feature on offhand
About the artifacts ; I think I will be using the sigil of the devoted for when i run around solo. For party play I have been looking at the Token of chromatic storm. Have you/anyone tested this ? From what I can see in the debuff spreadsheet i found somewhere on this forum, it looks like a very good buff/debuff for party. I would ofc use the lantern if it didnt have crit on it. I dont like crit, lol.
As for companions, I will NEVER swap out my summoned dancing shield while playing in everfrost zones. I have however been looking for a leader companion (power mainstat) to use when I run solo. Im having trouble deciding on one tho.. After reading about possible changes to underdark rings on companions in mod 11, i guess the gear slots on the companion doesnt matter at all anymore ?
Thanks a lot for constructive feedback!
SoS is crappy because it just is crappy, the damage is calculated after mitigation, and only a percentage of that damage too so its damage is pretty useless, not to mention mobs dont attack very fast either. Surprised you would think it is awesome if you actually used it. I don't see any benefit from using it over villians menace.
The super high HP build is more for tacticians, because to be a good tactician you don't want to block, you want to take as much damage as possible without dying to make use of the capstone feat.
and also the featured satirical comedic adventure "A Call for Heroes".
If you use Knee Breaker + FS exclusively, you'll want Trample.
If you find yourself shielding a lot of hits, Shield Warrior's Wrath is good.
I always did like the slightly harrowing nature of not-blocking for an AP battery Tact.
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I would actually suggest Crit with 15 points in Conq for Jagged Blades as an extra source for Lifesteal. I would also suggest stacking a lot of lifesteal (I would say upwards of 30-50%, but I haven't got the tools to test this build out) so you can always get hit.
Furthermore, I would ALSO suggest getting the Deepknight's armor (as Grimah has pointed out) as well as the masoch- er... Survivors Handwraps for all the AP generating goodness.
(Hah, maybe with a setup like this, I can finally stop complaining about how Tacticians have no solo DPS.)
OP - Sunshine: 16000 IL
Casual Dailies
For Lifesteal and/or HP, since how much % HP you lose = how much AP generated for the team. Since this is going to happen a lot for an AP battery, you're going to want some lifesteal to keep yourself topped off on HP.
EDIT:
I haven't gotten a copy of the Survivor's Wraps (I can think of many useful things you could do with it).
For armor, you just want a lot of HP and Lifesteal on it.
What about weapon and armor enchant ?
However, the most effective AP Battery would be a shieldless Tactician. I'm not sure what % DR is needed for that, since too much DR means you take little damage and too little DR means you die in 1 hit.
You would want to focus on HP/Lifesteal so you can constantly lose your HP and regain it back for both generating AP and not dying.
For weapon enchant, pick what you want. You'd probably want to avoid the damage debuff variety, so you would want to avoid Feytouched, for example.
For armor, it would probably be Soulforged, acompanied by a Lathander set. Shadowclad gives your DR/Deflect and Negation gives DR. Elven Battle would be of limited use to your build. And loltherest.
You won't generate anything if you have AA or fox cunning, steel defense or any other immunities which becomes a bit of an issue in these places. Hopefully they will fix AA to work as it should intend. Or maybe the Devs will actually change how tactician capstone works but I wouldn't hold my breath.
and also the featured satirical comedic adventure "A Call for Heroes".
Again, I am not sure how you'd want to build your AP battery GF, so how you build yourself is ultimately your own design.
For me, personally, I'd just stack loads of lifesteal (30%+) and just avoid Lifedrinker.