fight on is very useful at pvp and pve tanking (can use enforced threat faster and other skills)
battle trample only adds little damage (25% weapon damage)
for me crushing pin is better 10% damage increase for all members (you can use threat rush to perma cc boss)
plate agility 5% deflect is good too you can increase deflect with enchants and items
you cant get all you need to sacrifice 1
Troll you posted incorrect information again.
Trample: 15% Damage
Battle Trample: 25% Weapon Damage (164.25 Damage) Not including the 15% Damage Increase from Trample.
If you think 165 damage increase is "little" you have a serious issue with knowledge of the class. I also believe the battle trample damage is increased by other feats or target debuffs because I'm seeing #'s as high as 283 a hit. Could be even higher but I'll have to do another combat log parser tonight when I run Malabog to double check.
Trample: 15% Damage
Battle Trample: 25% Weapon Damage (164.25 Damage) Not including the 15% Damage Increase from Trample.
If you think 165 damage increase is "little" you have a serious issue with knowledge of the class. I also believe the battle trample damage is increased by other feats or target debuffs because I'm seeing #'s as high as 283 a hit. Could be even higher but I'll have to do another combat log parser tonight when I run Malabog to double check.
im only talking about the feat which only gives 25%
passive not included
crushing pin is better when adding damage (TR for example atwills deals 10k+ add 10% adds a lot higher damage than battle trample and it applies to party too)
im only talking about the feat which only gives 25%
passive not included
crushing pin is better when adding damage (TR for example atwills deals 10k+ add 10% adds a lot higher damage than battle trample and it applies to party too)
Do you even play a GF?
Crushing Pin is T1 while Battle Trample is T2.
5/5 Crushing Pin
5/5 Battle Trample
165 Damage is HUGE for 5 points when cleave tooltip is only 1100-1400.
165 Damage is HUGE for 5 points when cleave tooltip is only 1100-1400.
the poster is confused with prot and tact feats
plate agility / trample / crushing pin / fight on (and looks like he dont want to replace this bec its useful for him)
they way you answers looks like you want him to be like you to focus on cleave
and rank doesnt matters t1 t2? t4 = useless
conquerors t4 adds lower damage than t3 and t2
trample is good for those that have low damage only adds damage to self and also adds threat (damage is fixed relies on weapon damage)
crushing might be just t1, but its a lot better compared to trample feat when it comes to adding damage (the higher your damage is the higher it adds)
i have a GF and its lvl 40 now
PS: looks like they nerfed threat rush it doesnt applies crushing pin anymore (enforced threat and TR are control powers but doesnt applies CP debuffs)
with CP removed from threat rush it might be a waste of points now
PS: looks like they nerfed threat rush it doesnt applies crushing pin anymore (enforced threat and TR are control powers but doesnt applies CP debuffs)
with CP removed from threat rush it might be a waste of points now
Gah, just noticed that myself. Stealth nerf to Threatening Rush...
As for Battle Trample, its really a PvE DPs thing vs PvP, imo. If PvP, Fight On is better due to the importance of Encounters vs At-Wills. If PvE, Battle Trample is better due to the dominance of Cleave damage.
Gah, just noticed that myself. Stealth nerf to Threatening Rush...
As for Battle Trample, its really a PvE DPs thing vs PvP, imo. If PvP, Fight On is better due to the importance of Encounters vs At-Wills. If PvE, Battle Trample is better due to the dominance of Cleave damage.
Crushing Pin benefits both, ofc.
Crushing Pin is no longer being applied by Threatening Rush. I noticed that 1st thing after patch kind of sucks but it is what it is.
Again thanks for the bumps but please stop trolling the thread.
Thanks,
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arcademasterMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited August 2013
dkcandy, great thread, thanks for all the up to date info on our most favourite class
Did you already check out the Feywild boons? What are your thoughts on them? Crit or Deflect? And which option would you take at the final tier, 400 damage for every deflect? Or the power stacking one?
Thanks for this thead again.
Btw, the Grand Regent set you recommend, is that the one you buy with Drake seals or does it drop from dungeons? Which T2 is the easiest to farm seals in in your opinion?
Completed another 2 runs a Malabog's Castle with my guild mates and the Knight Cap set is preforming amazingly. I also was lucky enough to get my T2.75 Shield which is the upgraded CN Set. Now I just need to finish weapon smithing and get lucky enough to win the fragments.
The Knight Cap build I have posted is doing equal damage to 13k GS CW, TR, GWF all specced for PvE DPS. Tanking is also pretty easy with the life steal but you do need to keep on your toes for big AoE hits as you can get instant jibbed due to the low deflect chance. But the damage output is pretty amazing.
Gah, just noticed that myself. Stealth nerf to Threatening Rush...
As for Battle Trample, its really a PvE DPs thing vs PvP, imo. If PvP, Fight On is better due to the importance of Encounters vs At-Wills. If PvE, Battle Trample is better due to the dominance of Cleave damage.
Crushing Pin benefits both, ofc.
Which encounters actually apply crushing pin now? Been thinking about respecing and putting points into that feat but now I kinda feel like it's not really worth those five points...
Also, dk, for your knight build, which suggested feat build did you choose?
dkcandy - I think the KC set is a T1 set which is better than its T2 version (HG). Having the recent set-nerf still deep in my bones I am reluctant to invest a lot into it...
and a question: does the bonus to other players that is granted through KC count as your damage?
Which encounters actually apply crushing pin now? Been thinking about respecing and putting points into that feat but now I kinda feel like it's not really worth those five points...
Also, dk, for your knight build, which suggested feat build did you choose?
There was a thread post about this but off the top of my head:
Lunging Strike
Frontline Surge
Are 2 of the skills I use on my bar all the time that apply the debuff.
Other skills are:
Bull Charge
Knee Breaker
Giffion
Indomitable
Any power (skill) that has a CC effect or prone.
My current FEAT build is:
Human PvE DPS Feats:
Strength Focus 3/3 (This is a straight damage increase and does not increase your strength as it describes.)
Toughness 3/3
Shielded Resurgence 3/3
Armor Specialization 3/3
Powerful Attack 5/5
Potent Challenge 3/3
Weapon Mastery 3/3
dkcandy - I think the KC set is a T1 set which is better than its T2 version (HG). Having the recent set-nerf still deep in my bones I am reluctant to invest a lot into it...
and a question: does the bonus to other players that is granted through KC count as your damage?
After what happened to STAL I've been worried about every set and class having this happen to them if the set becomes to popular and Cryptic wants to cash in. There was no rhyme or reason for the rework it was changed to besides forcing players to change sets and spend real money.
Enough QQ from me and back to topic.
The Knight Cap set does not boost the GF them self or damage as it ONLY add's a Buff to your team mates. The set base stats are equal to a T1 set and the T2 HG has better stats just a different team bonus.
If Cryptic does nerf the Knight Captain set later down the road after what they did to Stalwart it will just prove the only reason they are nefing the set bonus's is for monetary reasons. If they thought the set was to strong they should have nerfed it when they nerfed Stal as they have had more than enough meta data on the set.
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arcademasterMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited August 2013
In an evolving game, no item statistic should ever be considered final. Even an item that might look and feel completely underwhelming now, might become OP as other items are brought down or the general meta game changes and it's bonuses/stats become more valued, at which point it might suddenly become the target of a nerf.
Hence why it's stupid to spend real money on any ingame equipment. People should know better, but they don't. It's their loss. Only spend what you can afford to lose. Just stay at Rank 5 enchants if you don't want to grind for weeks for wards to get higher ones. Eventually there'll be T3 and T4 sets anyway and the crying will start all over again. If people just used their brain 90% of the whining in this community would stop. But then again, if people had brains big enough for this they wouldn't get into the situations to cry over in the first place...
In an evolving game, no item statistic should ever be considered final. Even an item that might look and feel completely underwhelming now, might become OP as other items are brought down or the general meta game changes and it's bonuses/stats become more valued, at which point it might suddenly become the target of a nerf.
Hence why it's stupid to spend real money on any ingame equipment. People should know better, but they don't. It's their loss. Only spend what you can afford to lose. Just stay at Rank 5 enchants if you don't want to grind for weeks for wards to get higher ones. Eventually there'll be T3 and T4 sets anyway and the crying will start all over again. If people just used their brain 90% of the whining in this community would stop. But then again, if people had brains big enough for this they wouldn't get into the situations to cry over in the first place...
Please don't try and derail my guide let's stay on topic.
Also Cryptic has already said that they do not plan to release T3 / T4 gear til maybe Module 3 or later as right now they don't want to increase level caps. They are working on new paragons, a new class and much more content in MOD 2 and 3. You can watch their 24 hour stream on twitch they had and went into details with the future of NW.
Also players like myself have played the game since BETA as there was no wipe from beta to live. So I have over 4 months of game play and why I have Rank 8+ Enchants. The complaints haven't been about the "Rework" but the "COST" to unsocket enchants to move to a new set.
When classes have skills nerfed or major changes to skills they give everyone a free respec token. But when they nerfed the set bonus to work completely differently the Guardian Fighter class received no compensation such as a "Free unsocket". All we asked for was to be able to unsocket our enchants for free so we could save several million AD and months of farming AD.
How much lifesteal do you need for effective tanking?
I am aware that depends a lot on the damage one does, let's just assume a pve dps specced GF.
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arcademasterMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited August 2013
I'm sorry I'm not trying to derail the thread, I only intended to reply to something that you yourself brought up, namely that future nerfs to other sets can only mean that Cryptic wants to sneakily make money that way. Which is a pretty bold claim to make for the reasons I said, but ANYWAY...
You didn't answer (or see) my question from the last page, is the Grand Regent set you recommend for the tanking build the one you can buy with Drake Seals? Or do the pieces drop in T2s? If it's available for seals, which T2 dungeon would you consider the easiest to grind Seals in?
I'm mostly playing with PUGs atm sadly, and I'm torn. On one hand it sounds especially useful for pugs to be able to boost the whole team's DPS, as many teammates are probably terrible and badly geared. But I also like staying alive. I like it a lot. So I'm still leaning toward aiming for the tank build.
You didn't answer (or see) my question from the last page, is the Grand Regent set you recommend for the tanking build the one you can buy with Drake Seals? Or do the pieces drop in T2s? If it's available for seals, which T2 dungeon would you consider the easiest to grind Seals in?
I'm mostly playing with PUGs atm sadly, and I'm torn. On one hand it sounds especially useful for pugs to be able to boost the whole team's DPS, as many teammates are probably terrible and badly geared. But I also like staying alive. I like it a lot. So I'm still leaning toward aiming for the tank build.
Honestly I personally use the "Blue Regen" Set I have posted as it's a lot cheaper set. It doesn't have the Recovery that Grand Regent would offer but it has more regen and deflect I think. Its also dirt cheap or at least it was dirt cheap.
The new T2.5 Set from Malabog's Castle is currently the best Epic set for tanking using the deflect/regen build. As it has the highest base stats and the set bonus is ok and if you want to go DPS you can use what my Knight Cap set Right Side & Pet and go DPS Life Steal instead of Regen.
Hi DK,
i don't understand why you don't use Fight on. Most of damage come from encounters and, for example, I saw in a test that CD of frontline surge (that is damage, tactic and AP recovery) change from 19s to 17.2.s in the testing build. I it is almost 2 seconds and I think it's a really usefull. I would like to get a shield defense but I have to renounce to fight on and i have a problem to do this becouse it seem that fight on is really usefull.
How much lifesteal do you need for effective tanking?
I am aware that depends a lot on the damage one does, let's just assume a pve dps specced GF.
You do not want to "enchant" life steal as it's really bad but as a bonus 3rd stat it is great with DPS builds. As you can see in my Knight Cap build I use items that have life steal as the 3rd stat while reaching my goals of 20% CRT / 24% ARP and stacking power on every slot on self.
Hi DK,
i don't understand why you don't use Fight on. Most of damage come from encounters and, for example, I saw in a test that CD of frontline surge (that is damage, tactic and AP recovery) change from 19s to 17.2.s in the testing build. I it is almost 2 seconds and I think it's a really usefull. I would like to get a shield defense but I have to renounce to fight on and i have a problem to do this becouse it seem that fight on is really usefull.
PvP - Encounters do most damage but even then I don't use Fight On because 10% damage from Crushing Pin is more important.
PvE - Cleave does over 50% of your damage and why I don't use Fight On
I personally don't care about cooldown reduction when it comes to PvE because the damage gain is so minimal as most fights are so short expect for bosses and even during boss fights you are normally running around. In a perfect world when you can stand still and just do rotation DPS is when cooldown reduction comes into play but with movement, blocks and stuns it makes the stat less valued.
PvP - Encounters do most damage but even then I don't use Fight On because 10% damage from Crushing Pin is more important.
PvE - Cleave does over 50% of your damage and why I don't use Fight On
I personally don't care about cooldown reduction when it comes to PvE because the damage gain is so minimal as most fights are so short expect for bosses and even during boss fights you are normally running around. In a perfect world when you can stand still and just do rotation DPS is when cooldown reduction comes into play but with movement, blocks and stuns it makes the stat less valued.
Ty,
which are control powers that benefit from crushing pin?
EDIT... ah i just saw the asnwer some post before
Also note that Crushing Pins debuff is applied prior to your damage #'s being calculated. So if a target does not have Crushing Pin and you hit it with Lunge / Frontline, etc... skill that applys crushing pin. That attack gains the 10% damage bonus and then applies the debuff for 3 seconds. So those CC attacks will always have a 10% damage bonus.
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elahra1rahMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 67Arc User
edited August 2013
With what boons are you running for the moment and which ones do you plan to take later?
I plan to go for :
- 250 power (obviously?)
- 250 deflec
- 700hp
- Chance to heal for 400 when hit
- 20 power stacking up to 30 times for 45sec when killing enemies
The Knight Cap build I have posted is doing equal damage to 13k GS CW, TR, GWF all specced for PvE DPS. Tanking is also pretty easy with the life steal but you do need to keep on your toes for big AoE hits as you can get instant jibbed due to the low deflect chance. But the damage output is pretty amazing.
First, this is a great thread and seems to be the only thread seriously discussing alternate gear builds after the stalwart-revamp. Thank you for that.
Second, I'm trying to figure out how best to regear and would like to get some clarity about your statement. If I understand you correctly, you feel the Knight Cap build is posting damage equal to the 13K GS CW/TR/GWF, which is good. (I'd prefer it if you said it was posting damage equal to old stalwarts, but c'est la vie. ) But that's not really a product of Knight Cap, right? I mean, presumably if you were in any of the other sets and were able to obtain the same character statistics, that would be true. That's because the Knight Cap set bonus doesn't really add anything to you. Instead it adds to your team. So, ironically, does the fact that you are able to match the damage output of your teammates with them taking advantage of the Knight Cap buff suggest that maybe the set bonus isn't doing much for your team mates or do you believe that, absent that set buff, you would have been ahead of your team mates?
First, this is a great thread and seems to be the only thread seriously discussing alternate gear builds after the stalwart-revamp. Thank you for that.
Second, I'm trying to figure out how best to regear and would like to get some clarity about your statement. If I understand you correctly, you feel the Knight Cap build is posting damage equal to the 13K GS CW/TR/GWF, which is good. (I'd prefer it if you said it was posting damage equal to old stalwarts, but c'est la vie. ) But that's not really a product of Knight Cap, right? I mean, presumably if you were in any of the other sets and were able to obtain the same character statistics, that would be true. That's because the Knight Cap set bonus doesn't really add anything to you. Instead it adds to your team. So, ironically, does the fact that you are able to match the damage output of your teammates with them taking advantage of the Knight Cap buff suggest that maybe the set bonus isn't doing much for your team mates or do you believe that, absent that set buff, you would have been ahead of your team mates?
DPS is very different now after the patch then before as many classes had more damage and/or more AP gain. The STAL DPS build is gone and no reason to look at the past and just focus on the future.
Gear is also only part of the reason why I do as much damage as I do. We have guild members that have equal GS in timeless that do several million less damage than me even with me in their party boosting their power by 60%! It's all about knowing how to maximize your damage and playing Tank/DPS characters for over 8yrs.
When building a Guardian Fighter DPS build the important things are:
1650-1750 Critical Strike Chance (BASE 5% + 3% Feat + 13+%) 20% Base CRT
ArP 24% CAP - Combination of DEX bonus + ArP
Then you want all 6 Offensive slots on your main character open for Power Stacking.
Using this formula you can equip any gear you want and add stats to help boost offensive damage with more CRT, Power or Recovery or defense stats like Regen, deflect, Life Steal, health or damage reduction.
The reason I prefer Knight Cap set is the 4pc bonus is great for providing a 25% Defense boost and 60% Power increase to team mates. The defense & power boost scaling is amazing for high end geared players. Plus if your team knows you are using Knight Cap they can STACK power and get even more boost.
It's the synergy of using the set. Just like if you are using any other team boosting set bonus and your team building around that set bonus. This is also why I originally used KC set when I started NW and the only reason I switched to STAL was the godly damage builds I was able to do.
The patch has done a really good job at balancing damage between all classes and GFs scaling is amazing and high DPS GF makes tanking a lot easier. I can grab aggro with just pure damage vs. marking and what I've become used to doing.
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morduuMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited August 2013
Thank you. This is helpful. So, if I'm understanding you correctly, in terms of selecting Knight Cap over the other sets, it is truly a question of you prefer the set to help the others in your group. It may not be ideal for a PUG who can't build around the set, but certainly for a regular group.
I also get the sense that, assuming folks can hit the ArP and Crit caps through augment pets (which I believe is possible), there fundamentally is little difference between the currently available GF sets in terms of individual performance in PvE. (I realize this may be somewhat different for PvP where we don't get our augment pets and so may have to stack ArP and Crit differently, and may perfer Timeless for the extra burst damage). It is just a question of how we end up stacking the third tier traits to hit the extras we want -- i.e. more deflection, more life steal, more regen. Do you think this is a fair statement?
Do you feel that you would be too squishy in the Knight Cap set if you did not have the life steal/regen? (I suppose this would be another variable that I haven't fully given thought too -- whether taking a decrease in DPS is worth the increase in tanky-ness.) I have read that the consensus is that life steal/regen is not a useful set to slot enchants into. So, if we aren't willing to throw enchants into it, why would we want to stack it on our gear? (I don't recall now if its an offense or a defense slot -- but I figure if its offense the answer is that we get more bang for our buck taking the extra power, which then gets doubled in the end feat of the Conq. tree.)
So, if I'm understanding you correctly, in terms of selecting Knight Cap over the other sets, it is truly a question of you prefer the set to help the others in your group. It may not be ideal for a PUG who can't build around the set, but certainly for a regular group.
Correct, I prefer the Knight Cap set for guild / teammates because of the "Power" boost and defense boost. PUG I move at a slower rate with smaller pulls as I don't know the players capabilities. I've been a tank for over 8 years in many MMOs and was a Main Raid tank for a competitive guild for many years in WoW. So when I first meet up with a group I feel them out and increase or decrease the flow of the dungeon. All tanks should work on their ability to push the group at a speed that is comfortable while challenging the group.
I also get the sense that, assuming folks can hit the ArP and Crit caps through augment pets (which I believe is possible), there fundamentally is little difference between the currently available GF sets in terms of individual performance in PvE.
Correct, once you meet caps you can build how ever you want with your items.
It is just a question of how we end up stacking the third tier traits to hit the extras we want -- i.e. more deflection, more life steal, more regen. Do you think this is a fair statement?
Pretty much yes. If you want to be a glass canon, uber tank or hybrid DPS Tank it's all up to you.
Do you feel that you would be too squishy in the Knight Cap set if you did not have the life steal/regen?
Knight Cap is a tank set with regeneration but is missing deflection another important tank stat. Since I was building a Hybrid DPS tank I knew that regeneration and health pots would not be enough to stay alive and actually tank the mobs. I know the itemization of GF's and figured building around the Greater Icon of Retribution (125 Power, 125 ARP, 175 Life Steal) for my stone & Ancient Berserker's Ring of Cleaving (154 Power, 154 ARP, 154 Life Steal) plus blue neck and belt would give me enough Life Steal to counter the lack of deflection.
After figured out the #'s on my spreed sheet I tested the build and was very pleased with the results. I then took the gear live and ran Malabog's Castle with it and it's preformed better than expected but the only draw back is the occasional instant death from low deflect as expected.
The build does keep you on your toes as you can't stand in red stuff like I could with my Deflect / Regen with a 36k Health Pool. But the damage output is on par with my STAL tank & maybe even DPS build. The reasons are:
9 More STR & Battle Trample.
These 2 factors equal a massive DPS boost to Cleave.
few questions:
1)hows the dmg on the cheap version of your pvp set(cheap weapon option is lost somewhere in these 15 pages), i hope it doesnt feel like hitting ppl with wet noodle
2)what stats should be on el cheapo pet(stone/cat costs probably 7 times more than fesh lvl 60 has) to increase usefulness in dungeons for pvp regen/deflect set(playing tank), ofc when that pet isnt busy having very close relationship with the floor, and cleric pet isnt as bad, sometimes it even outheals pug DC's ^^
3)on pvp build the 3 leftover feat pts from humans should go to more threat(for daily quest tanking) probably, nothing else seemed more useful.
ps. continuing the previous discussion about low lvl pvp(maybe helps somebody) - stacking power + a bit of crit(then deflect>regen) seems to work well on low lvl pvp, cause the biggest probability of you killing somebody is Knight's Challenge(max it ASAP since at 3 u can get off 2x Lunging Strikes) + Lunging Strike, else sticking on target without help is hard + lvl 2 Griffon's Wrath as 3rd when they do stand and tank with their face, else its too slow, but does more dmg than Knee Breaker, the good stuff comes at later lvls
Comments
Troll you posted incorrect information again.
Trample: 15% Damage
Battle Trample: 25% Weapon Damage (164.25 Damage) Not including the 15% Damage Increase from Trample.
If you think 165 damage increase is "little" you have a serious issue with knowledge of the class. I also believe the battle trample damage is increased by other feats or target debuffs because I'm seeing #'s as high as 283 a hit. Could be even higher but I'll have to do another combat log parser tonight when I run Malabog to double check.
im only talking about the feat which only gives 25%
passive not included
crushing pin is better when adding damage (TR for example atwills deals 10k+ add 10% adds a lot higher damage than battle trample and it applies to party too)
Do you even play a GF?
Crushing Pin is T1 while Battle Trample is T2.
5/5 Crushing Pin
5/5 Battle Trample
165 Damage is HUGE for 5 points when cleave tooltip is only 1100-1400.
the poster is confused with prot and tact feats
plate agility / trample / crushing pin / fight on (and looks like he dont want to replace this bec its useful for him)
they way you answers looks like you want him to be like you to focus on cleave
and rank doesnt matters t1 t2? t4 = useless
conquerors t4 adds lower damage than t3 and t2
trample is good for those that have low damage only adds damage to self and also adds threat (damage is fixed relies on weapon damage)
crushing might be just t1, but its a lot better compared to trample feat when it comes to adding damage (the higher your damage is the higher it adds)
i have a GF and its lvl 40 now
PS: looks like they nerfed threat rush it doesnt applies crushing pin anymore (enforced threat and TR are control powers but doesnt applies CP debuffs)
with CP removed from threat rush it might be a waste of points now
Gah, just noticed that myself. Stealth nerf to Threatening Rush...
As for Battle Trample, its really a PvE DPs thing vs PvP, imo. If PvP, Fight On is better due to the importance of Encounters vs At-Wills. If PvE, Battle Trample is better due to the dominance of Cleave damage.
Crushing Pin benefits both, ofc.
Crushing Pin is no longer being applied by Threatening Rush.
Again thanks for the bumps but please stop trolling the thread.
Thanks,
Did you already check out the Feywild boons? What are your thoughts on them? Crit or Deflect? And which option would you take at the final tier, 400 damage for every deflect? Or the power stacking one?
Thanks for this thead again.
Btw, the Grand Regent set you recommend, is that the one you buy with Drake seals or does it drop from dungeons? Which T2 is the easiest to farm seals in in your opinion?
Completed another 2 runs a Malabog's Castle with my guild mates and the Knight Cap set is preforming amazingly. I also was lucky enough to get my T2.75 Shield which is the upgraded CN Set. Now I just need to finish weapon smithing and get lucky enough to win the fragments.
The Knight Cap build I have posted is doing equal damage to 13k GS CW, TR, GWF all specced for PvE DPS. Tanking is also pretty easy with the life steal but you do need to keep on your toes for big AoE hits as you can get instant jibbed due to the low deflect chance. But the damage output is pretty amazing.
Which encounters actually apply crushing pin now? Been thinking about respecing and putting points into that feat but now I kinda feel like it's not really worth those five points...
Also, dk, for your knight build, which suggested feat build did you choose?
and a question: does the bonus to other players that is granted through KC count as your damage?
There was a thread post about this but off the top of my head:
Lunging Strike
Frontline Surge
Are 2 of the skills I use on my bar all the time that apply the debuff.
Other skills are:
Bull Charge
Knee Breaker
Giffion
Indomitable
Any power (skill) that has a CC effect or prone.
My current FEAT build is:
Human PvE DPS Feats:
Strength Focus 3/3 (This is a straight damage increase and does not increase your strength as it describes.)
Toughness 3/3
Shielded Resurgence 3/3
Armor Specialization 3/3
Powerful Attack 5/5
Potent Challenge 3/3
Weapon Mastery 3/3
Paragon – Iron Vanguard
Conqueror Paragon
Take Measure 5/5
Wrathful Warrior 5/5
Cruel Cut Style 5/5
Tactical Superiority 5/5
Reckless Attacker 1/1
Tactician Paragon
Crushing Pin 5/5
Battle Trample 5/5
Daily: Menace & Recovery
Encounters: Frontline, Lunge, Anvil
Passive: Combat & Trample
After what happened to STAL I've been worried about every set and class having this happen to them if the set becomes to popular and Cryptic wants to cash in. There was no rhyme or reason for the rework it was changed to besides forcing players to change sets and spend real money.
Enough QQ from me
The Knight Cap set does not boost the GF them self or damage as it ONLY add's a Buff to your team mates. The set base stats are equal to a T1 set and the T2 HG has better stats just a different team bonus.
If Cryptic does nerf the Knight Captain set later down the road after what they did to Stalwart it will just prove the only reason they are nefing the set bonus's is for monetary reasons. If they thought the set was to strong they should have nerfed it when they nerfed Stal as they have had more than enough meta data on the set.
Hence why it's stupid to spend real money on any ingame equipment. People should know better, but they don't. It's their loss. Only spend what you can afford to lose. Just stay at Rank 5 enchants if you don't want to grind for weeks for wards to get higher ones. Eventually there'll be T3 and T4 sets anyway and the crying will start all over again. If people just used their brain 90% of the whining in this community would stop. But then again, if people had brains big enough for this they wouldn't get into the situations to cry over in the first place...
Please don't try and derail my guide let's stay on topic.
Also Cryptic has already said that they do not plan to release T3 / T4 gear til maybe Module 3 or later as right now they don't want to increase level caps. They are working on new paragons, a new class and much more content in MOD 2 and 3. You can watch their 24 hour stream on twitch they had and went into details with the future of NW.
Also players like myself have played the game since BETA as there was no wipe from beta to live. So I have over 4 months of game play and why I have Rank 8+ Enchants. The complaints haven't been about the "Rework" but the "COST" to unsocket enchants to move to a new set.
When classes have skills nerfed or major changes to skills they give everyone a free respec token. But when they nerfed the set bonus to work completely differently the Guardian Fighter class received no compensation such as a "Free unsocket". All we asked for was to be able to unsocket our enchants for free so we could save several million AD and months of farming AD.
I am aware that depends a lot on the damage one does, let's just assume a pve dps specced GF.
You didn't answer (or see) my question from the last page, is the Grand Regent set you recommend for the tanking build the one you can buy with Drake Seals? Or do the pieces drop in T2s? If it's available for seals, which T2 dungeon would you consider the easiest to grind Seals in?
I'm mostly playing with PUGs atm sadly, and I'm torn. On one hand it sounds especially useful for pugs to be able to boost the whole team's DPS, as many teammates are probably terrible and badly geared. But I also like staying alive. I like it a lot. So I'm still leaning toward aiming for the tank build.
Honestly I personally use the "Blue Regen" Set I have posted as it's a lot cheaper set. It doesn't have the Recovery that Grand Regent would offer but it has more regen and deflect I think. Its also dirt cheap or at least it was dirt cheap.
The new T2.5 Set from Malabog's Castle is currently the best Epic set for tanking using the deflect/regen build. As it has the highest base stats and the set bonus is ok and if you want to go DPS you can use what my Knight Cap set Right Side & Pet and go DPS Life Steal instead of Regen.
i don't understand why you don't use Fight on. Most of damage come from encounters and, for example, I saw in a test that CD of frontline surge (that is damage, tactic and AP recovery) change from 19s to 17.2.s in the testing build. I it is almost 2 seconds and I think it's a really usefull. I would like to get a shield defense but I have to renounce to fight on and i have a problem to do this becouse it seem that fight on is really usefull.
You do not want to "enchant" life steal as it's really bad but as a bonus 3rd stat it is great with DPS builds. As you can see in my Knight Cap build I use items that have life steal as the 3rd stat while reaching my goals of 20% CRT / 24% ARP and stacking power on every slot on self.
PvP - Encounters do most damage but even then I don't use Fight On because 10% damage from Crushing Pin is more important.
PvE - Cleave does over 50% of your damage and why I don't use Fight On
I personally don't care about cooldown reduction when it comes to PvE because the damage gain is so minimal as most fights are so short expect for bosses and even during boss fights you are normally running around. In a perfect world when you can stand still and just do rotation DPS is when cooldown reduction comes into play but with movement, blocks and stuns it makes the stat less valued.
Ty,
which are control powers that benefit from crushing pin?
EDIT... ah i just saw the asnwer some post before
Any power (skill) that CC's or prones, so a common used skills:
Frontline Surge
Lunging Strike
Bull Charge
Knee Break
Indomitable Strength
Also note that Crushing Pins debuff is applied prior to your damage #'s being calculated. So if a target does not have Crushing Pin and you hit it with Lunge / Frontline, etc... skill that applys crushing pin. That attack gains the 10% damage bonus and then applies the debuff for 3 seconds. So those CC attacks will always have a 10% damage bonus.
I plan to go for :
- 250 power (obviously?)
- 250 deflec
- 700hp
- Chance to heal for 400 when hit
- 20 power stacking up to 30 times for 45sec when killing enemies
PvE Human running Knight Cap build.
250 Power
250 CRT
3rd Tier - Not sure, but most likely HP.
400 Arcane Damage
5th Tier - Not sure.
First, this is a great thread and seems to be the only thread seriously discussing alternate gear builds after the stalwart-revamp. Thank you for that.
Second, I'm trying to figure out how best to regear and would like to get some clarity about your statement. If I understand you correctly, you feel the Knight Cap build is posting damage equal to the 13K GS CW/TR/GWF, which is good. (I'd prefer it if you said it was posting damage equal to old stalwarts, but c'est la vie.
DPS is very different now after the patch then before as many classes had more damage and/or more AP gain. The STAL DPS build is gone and no reason to look at the past and just focus on the future.
Gear is also only part of the reason why I do as much damage as I do. We have guild members that have equal GS in timeless that do several million less damage than me even with me in their party boosting their power by 60%! It's all about knowing how to maximize your damage and playing Tank/DPS characters for over 8yrs.
When building a Guardian Fighter DPS build the important things are:
1650-1750 Critical Strike Chance (BASE 5% + 3% Feat + 13+%) 20% Base CRT
ArP 24% CAP - Combination of DEX bonus + ArP
Then you want all 6 Offensive slots on your main character open for Power Stacking.
Using this formula you can equip any gear you want and add stats to help boost offensive damage with more CRT, Power or Recovery or defense stats like Regen, deflect, Life Steal, health or damage reduction.
The reason I prefer Knight Cap set is the 4pc bonus is great for providing a 25% Defense boost and 60% Power increase to team mates. The defense & power boost scaling is amazing for high end geared players. Plus if your team knows you are using Knight Cap they can STACK power and get even more boost.
It's the synergy of using the set. Just like if you are using any other team boosting set bonus and your team building around that set bonus. This is also why I originally used KC set when I started NW and the only reason I switched to STAL was the godly damage builds I was able to do.
The patch has done a really good job at balancing damage between all classes and GFs scaling is amazing and high DPS GF makes tanking a lot easier. I can grab aggro with just pure damage vs. marking and what I've become used to doing.
I also get the sense that, assuming folks can hit the ArP and Crit caps through augment pets (which I believe is possible), there fundamentally is little difference between the currently available GF sets in terms of individual performance in PvE. (I realize this may be somewhat different for PvP where we don't get our augment pets and so may have to stack ArP and Crit differently, and may perfer Timeless for the extra burst damage). It is just a question of how we end up stacking the third tier traits to hit the extras we want -- i.e. more deflection, more life steal, more regen. Do you think this is a fair statement?
Do you feel that you would be too squishy in the Knight Cap set if you did not have the life steal/regen? (I suppose this would be another variable that I haven't fully given thought too -- whether taking a decrease in DPS is worth the increase in tanky-ness.) I have read that the consensus is that life steal/regen is not a useful set to slot enchants into. So, if we aren't willing to throw enchants into it, why would we want to stack it on our gear? (I don't recall now if its an offense or a defense slot -- but I figure if its offense the answer is that we get more bang for our buck taking the extra power, which then gets doubled in the end feat of the Conq. tree.)
Anyway, I appreciate your thoughts.
Correct, I prefer the Knight Cap set for guild / teammates because of the "Power" boost and defense boost. PUG I move at a slower rate with smaller pulls as I don't know the players capabilities. I've been a tank for over 8 years in many MMOs and was a Main Raid tank for a competitive guild for many years in WoW. So when I first meet up with a group I feel them out and increase or decrease the flow of the dungeon. All tanks should work on their ability to push the group at a speed that is comfortable while challenging the group.
Correct, once you meet caps you can build how ever you want with your items.
Pretty much yes. If you want to be a glass canon, uber tank or hybrid DPS Tank it's all up to you.
Knight Cap is a tank set with regeneration but is missing deflection another important tank stat. Since I was building a Hybrid DPS tank I knew that regeneration and health pots would not be enough to stay alive and actually tank the mobs. I know the itemization of GF's and figured building around the Greater Icon of Retribution (125 Power, 125 ARP, 175 Life Steal) for my stone & Ancient Berserker's Ring of Cleaving (154 Power, 154 ARP, 154 Life Steal) plus blue neck and belt would give me enough Life Steal to counter the lack of deflection.
After figured out the #'s on my spreed sheet I tested the build and was very pleased with the results. I then took the gear live and ran Malabog's Castle with it and it's preformed better than expected but the only draw back is the occasional instant death from low deflect as expected.
The build does keep you on your toes as you can't stand in red stuff like I could with my Deflect / Regen with a 36k Health Pool. But the damage output is on par with my STAL tank & maybe even DPS build. The reasons are:
9 More STR & Battle Trample.
These 2 factors equal a massive DPS boost to Cleave.
1)hows the dmg on the cheap version of your pvp set(cheap weapon option is lost somewhere in these 15 pages), i hope it doesnt feel like hitting ppl with wet noodle
2)what stats should be on el cheapo pet(stone/cat costs probably 7 times more than fesh lvl 60 has) to increase usefulness in dungeons for pvp regen/deflect set(playing tank), ofc when that pet isnt busy having very close relationship with the floor, and cleric pet isnt as bad, sometimes it even outheals pug DC's ^^
3)on pvp build the 3 leftover feat pts from humans should go to more threat(for daily quest tanking) probably, nothing else seemed more useful.
ps. continuing the previous discussion about low lvl pvp(maybe helps somebody) - stacking power + a bit of crit(then deflect>regen) seems to work well on low lvl pvp, cause the biggest probability of you killing somebody is Knight's Challenge(max it ASAP since at 3 u can get off 2x Lunging Strikes) + Lunging Strike, else sticking on target without help is hard + lvl 2 Griffon's Wrath as 3rd when they do stand and tank with their face, else its too slow, but does more dmg than Knee Breaker, the good stuff comes at later lvls