I am wondering what tips other guards have when it comes leveling and avoiding respecting for end game. Any paragon path that would be best? how are people specking attribute points?
Post edited by hamerted2010 on
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sadmummyMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited May 2013
Most guardians are taking the dps pragon, conqueror. Even for tanking, it's just much better
i have taken the protector path the only troble here is a feat call"Shield Defence" is says that it will give me 1-2-3-4-5 more AC but on my AC i only get 1 more ac
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hamerted2010Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 3Arc User
edited May 2013
Sadmummy, any reason for those paths being better? also any advice on my attribute points? those far i have been putting everything in cont, 1 in dex 1 in strength
I recommend starting with Rokuthy's guide, which is why I listed it first. Rokuthy and Envy's builds are similar, using the conqueror paragon feat path as discussed above. Venore's build is very different from the other two - it is a pure defensive/debuff build, not a DPS conqueror build. But if you go read that thread you'll see that even Venore actually recommends a Rokuthy/Envy-style conqueror build for T2 endgame dungeons.
The majority consensus is that a conqueror build still gives you enough durability to meet the demands of tanking, while putting out good damage output - which helps kill things faster, and helps you hold aggro better. A more defensively focused Guardian Fighter will no doubt have an easier time surviving, but that extra durability isn't seen as necessary, and you take a massive hit in your damage output.
Regarding stat focus, I've personally concentrated on Strength and Constitution, as have many others, with an emphasis on Constitution. I haven't really seen an extremely strong argument for also raising Dexterity to high levels.
Finally, do note that several Guardian Fighter feats and powers are bugged; some of these are recommended in the above guides. Frankly I think it's pretty impossible to avoid all the bugged stuff. However, given the cost of respecs in this game, I personally feel you should just take them anyway and wait for them to be fixed.
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hamerted2010Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 3Arc User
On reflection - regarding what I said about respecs. Full respecs need cash store (or founder) tokens, but if you're just changing your feats you can do that with Astral Diamonds. This means you can afford to experiment a little with your feats until you find something that works for you. My current heroic feat allocation varies somewhat from the above examples based on my own preferences.
In addition, because you can swap powers in this game, you may not need to respec in that area unless you've gone and maxed out three ranks of a power that you never ever use. That just leaves stats, and unless you've poured tons of points into a non-core stat, Str, Con and Dex will always be helpful to you regardless, the precise distributions may not matter.
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faine4444Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 5Arc User
edited May 2013
Technically, full respecs can be accomplished with AD as well. Convert AD to Zen, get full respec token from Zen store.
Technically, full respecs can be accomplished with AD as well. Convert AD to Zen, get full respec token from Zen store.
Indeed. I was more trying to draw attention to the fact that feat allocation is really the only significant place where most Guardian Fighter builds differ greatly, though - and changing just that rather than paying for a full respec is still cheaper unless Zen/AD exchange rates come down further.
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snowballoMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited May 2013
Attributes: Con>Str>Dex
Gear stats: Power>Recovery>Crit>Def
(Only take recovery on your end game gear, no need for it unless it comes in big enough numbers, focus on power/(def) gear during lvling)
(End game try to get around 25~30% crit rate)
Powers that are not worth spending points on at all Shield Talent (bugged and weak even if it wasn't) Guarded Assault (3% of dmg done to you... reflecting measely numbers, there really is no room for this one on your bar) Crushing Surge (Slow 3 hits, only last one heals, way too slow, when you need the healing you can't wait for that 3rd hit and it heals very little)
(Tide of Iron: spending more than 1 point on this totally not worth it, as its way too slow to be the dps skill and thats the only thing adding points to it does)
Snow's Melee Arena:NW-DMT7STJ9E Combat arena. Adjustable challenge.
Difficulty: Adjustable easy - very hard
Duration: Adjustable 1 - 25min
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securusMember, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited May 2013
I actually went with the dps tree and then my last 10 points are going into the 5 deflect and the 5 ac, I thought about the 10% reduction in encounters, but honestly 10% encounter reduction is very minor, I mean at best your talking taking 1 second off of 10, compared to a massive boost in survivability. If we were reliant on our encounters for our primary dps it might be different, but you end up with the encounters being more situational like interupting/stunning or taunting.
I went with a defense build and 50% of all the feats are broken, if they worked it'd probably be an awesome build but it sucks at the moment due to broken feats and crappy threat generation.
Comments
Rokuthy's Hybrid Tanking Build for End Game PvE Content (Guardian Fighter)
Envy's DPS Guardian Fighter compendium
Venore's Debuff Turtle Tanking Guide (GF)
I recommend starting with Rokuthy's guide, which is why I listed it first. Rokuthy and Envy's builds are similar, using the conqueror paragon feat path as discussed above. Venore's build is very different from the other two - it is a pure defensive/debuff build, not a DPS conqueror build. But if you go read that thread you'll see that even Venore actually recommends a Rokuthy/Envy-style conqueror build for T2 endgame dungeons.
The majority consensus is that a conqueror build still gives you enough durability to meet the demands of tanking, while putting out good damage output - which helps kill things faster, and helps you hold aggro better. A more defensively focused Guardian Fighter will no doubt have an easier time surviving, but that extra durability isn't seen as necessary, and you take a massive hit in your damage output.
Regarding stat focus, I've personally concentrated on Strength and Constitution, as have many others, with an emphasis on Constitution. I haven't really seen an extremely strong argument for also raising Dexterity to high levels.
Finally, do note that several Guardian Fighter feats and powers are bugged; some of these are recommended in the above guides. Frankly I think it's pretty impossible to avoid all the bugged stuff. However, given the cost of respecs in this game, I personally feel you should just take them anyway and wait for them to be fixed.
On reflection - regarding what I said about respecs. Full respecs need cash store (or founder) tokens, but if you're just changing your feats you can do that with Astral Diamonds. This means you can afford to experiment a little with your feats until you find something that works for you. My current heroic feat allocation varies somewhat from the above examples based on my own preferences.
In addition, because you can swap powers in this game, you may not need to respec in that area unless you've gone and maxed out three ranks of a power that you never ever use. That just leaves stats, and unless you've poured tons of points into a non-core stat, Str, Con and Dex will always be helpful to you regardless, the precise distributions may not matter.
Indeed. I was more trying to draw attention to the fact that feat allocation is really the only significant place where most Guardian Fighter builds differ greatly, though - and changing just that rather than paying for a full respec is still cheaper unless Zen/AD exchange rates come down further.
Gear stats: Power>Recovery>Crit>Def
(Only take recovery on your end game gear, no need for it unless it comes in big enough numbers, focus on power/(def) gear during lvling)
(End game try to get around 25~30% crit rate)
Powers that are not worth spending points on at all
Shield Talent (bugged and weak even if it wasn't)
Guarded Assault (3% of dmg done to you... reflecting measely numbers, there really is no room for this one on your bar)
Crushing Surge (Slow 3 hits, only last one heals, way too slow, when you need the healing you can't wait for that 3rd hit and it heals very little)
(Tide of Iron: spending more than 1 point on this totally not worth it, as its way too slow to be the dps skill and thats the only thing adding points to it does)
Combat arena. Adjustable challenge.
Difficulty: Adjustable easy - very hard
Duration: Adjustable 1 - 25min