The Iron Maiden: A Reflect-Based Protector Build for Swordmaster GF's.

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• todesfaelle Member Posts: 1,370 Arc User

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  
  The Idea and Philosophy Behind the Iron Maiden
  
  

  The beauty of playing as an Iron Maiden is in the synergy of the choices in the skills and feats. We are playing as a tank, one that aims to protect the party from most if not all forms of harm. We'll be playing as defensively as possible, and aim to protect our allies by stacking damage debuffs to our enemies. We have Knight's Challenge (50% damage reduction for allies), Knight's Valor (50% damage reduction for allies), Distracting Shield (5% damage reduction), Daunting Challenge (10% damage reduction), Iron Guard (possibly 10% damage reduction), which will allow us to further reduce the effectiveness of the attacks of our enemies towards our allies, and we will be impervious to damage at our best.
  
  Steel Defense and Supremacy of Steel: The combo that makes and breaks the build. Without it, it'll be impossible to tank the damage mobs deal against us. Steel Defense procs each time we activate a Daily, giving us 5 seconds of damage immunity whenever we use a daily, and our Daily of choice will be Supremacy of Steel for most situations. Supremacy of Steel reflects a decent portion of the damage our opponents deal against us, and this is basically the reason why I named the build The Iron Maiden. We take advantage of our abilities to make our opponents attack us. And since we can predict that our opponents will, or will eventually attack us, this turns Supremacy of Steel into an effective tool to generate threat, deal damage from a wide area, and eventually use the predictability of our opponents to our advantage and cause them to commit suicide by attacking you. This mechanic also helps tremendously in solo play, as we will be able to deal with hordes upon hordes of mobs and not worry about getting ganked to death. Supremacy of Steel is also a double-cast Daily, meaning you activate it 2 times in one rotation, giving us a total amount of 10 seconds of damage immunity. I usually maximize the reflective portion of Supremacy of Steel before popping another 5 seconds of immunity by using the second cast of Supremacy of Steel, which is the part where we fling golden swords all across the room. The second cast has no target cap, and has a decent range. This means that it's a good way to generate threat in a room teeming with mobs.
  
  The Pros and Cons of Steel Defense: Steel Defense definitely has a lot of perks, but not all of em are useful for us. Steel Defense is able to give us 5 seconds of immunity as I mentioned in my earlier statements, but did you know that it also prevents the loss of our Guard Meter for 5 seconds? This will thereby allow us to freely regenerate our Guard while having it raised up, giving us CC immunity and soaking damage for us. This means that we have unlimited Guard for 5 seconds no matter how many enemies attack us, even if our meter is currently at its last 10%. But conversely, Steel Defense also prevents AP gain during the time we are immune to damage. It seems that the amount of AP we gain from blocking depends on how much we lose on our meter, not how much damage we take when we have our Guard up. Steel Defense not only prevents AP gain from Blocking, but it also prevents AP gain from the Tactician Capstone Feat, Martial Mastery, which led me to the conclusion that playing as a Protector will be a better choice for a tank, and that increasing the endurance and potency of our Guard Meter would net us much more AP gain in the long run as compared to soaking damage without using Guard via Tactician's Capstone Feat. But both trees will be useful for this sort of play style. I just chose Protector for the added protection it gives to our allies. More Guard means more AP gain from soaking damage via Guard, so I modeled this build to have a much more potent Guard than usual, getting us nearer to popping dailies whenever we can.
  
  The Perks of Knight's Valor: Knight's Valor allows us to intercept 50% of the damage our allies would have taken. Not to mention it allows us to proc our Armor Enchantment's effects such as Briatrwine, Bloodthirst, and Thunderhead, and the likes. Knight's Valor effectively increases the chance of proc-ing our armor enchantments by 5 in a full party. It'll be as if you are giving them part of your armor's abilities. Knight's Valor also generates a decent amount of threat when your allies get hit, which will allow us to peel off the mobs away from our allies without us having to go and attack them. When paired with Steel Defense, it'll be safe to say that even if that CW, TR, or HR stands in the red area of a boss attack, as long as you're under Steel Defense and they have the KV buff on, they'll be relatively unscathed after which.
  
  The Perks of Knight's Challenge: This skill is a really useful tool for bosses despite it being accessible only every 20 seconds at 40% RSI. It lasts 10 seconds, but what basically happens is that the GF will be able to pop this on a boss and reduce the damage the boss deals to the party by 50%, and you and the boss will deal an increased amount of damage to each other by 150%. The only difference is that you will not have to worry about getting hit by an empowered attack from your opponent because you tend to be immune to damage when they hit for big numbers, and if not you'll always have your shield. So whenever you are in a party, you get the attention of the adds and the boss at the same time, and you're invulnerable to damage, just like a tank should be. This skill also has an amazing AP gain which is why I like having this slotted in my bar all the time.
  
  The Perks of Supremacy of Steel: This skill is our main and only reflect ability before we get any boons from Sharandar or Dread Ring. Supremacy of Steel allows GF's to reflect a huge amount of damage dealt to you. And you guessed right, Knight's Valor procs Supremacy of Steel as well because in the end, when you're using Knight's Valor, you are being attacked. So each strike to your allies gets reflected back to your enemies as an attack. But it gets better. I mentioned that the reflected damage come in the form of "attacks." Yes, this skill also procs your Weapon Enchantments! So that means if you have Plague Fire on, the mobs attacking your allies will be getting their armor screwed, and if you have Lightning on, part of your weapon damage will chain to your enemies making Supremacy of Steel and Knight's Valor a sort of AoE ability with a huge, huge range. But those aren't for tanking. What we want for our Weapon Enchantment will be Lifedrinker or Greater/Perfect Lightning Enchantments. Why? For one, these two enchantments creates tons of Threat. More threat for you means you get to peel off the mobs from your allies giving them a lot of breathing room. Lifedrinker has a more decent utility purpose however. Because when Lifedrinker procs from Supremacy of Steel, you gain HP while the mobs attack you, making the process of tanking immense numbers of mobs a much easier job.
  
  Generating Threat as an Iron Maiden: This is one of the main issues that non-DPS spec-ed tanks usually encounter, which is generating the right amount of threat in order to keep the attention of your enemies to us. We actually have a decent repertoire of skills that assist us with this task, and one of the most notable ones would be Enforced Threat. Enforced Threat is a good way to Mark and Hard Taunt some mobs to make them attack you. And if you have Enhanced Mark slotted, you'll also be able to generate threat simply by marking things. There's also the option of using Knight's Valor to protect your allies and generate some thread while intercepting damage for your allies. Those 3 skills in which I just mentioned should be regularly placed in their appropriate slots in your skill bar whenever you are in a party, because those 3 skills assist us in reaching our goal as a tank; which is to protect the party from harm.
  

  Gear and Stat Priorities

  
  The set in which is required for this build is actually quite easy to get. What we want is the Indomitable Champion Set (T2 PVP). This set can be acquired by purchasing them from Gauntlgrym. Its effects are pretty straightforward and the stats on the set are useful for us. Below are the total stats and effects of our preferred armor set.
  

  

  
  Set Stats:

  • +14 AC
  • +2296 Maximum Hit Points
  • +448 Power
  • +2608 Defense
  • +1268 Deflection
  • +126 Movement

  
  Set Effects:

  • 2/4 Pieces: +450 Defense.
  • 4/4 Pieces: You have 25% more Guard Meter.

  Having 25% more guard meter and 10% increased run speed should increase our survival by a whole lot, as well as our AP gain and damage soaking capabilities. Pair this up with Shield Talent and we get a 40% boost. Pair those two up with Guard Recovery skills such as Enforced Threat, Iron Warrior and Into the Fray and use them all in one rotation and you should be able to soak so much damage that you'll rarely see your guard being broken for more than 5 seconds. It's a fun and reliable way to tank. No need for kiting, just tank everything. Though the 10% increase in run speed helps us kite a little when we find ourselves in hairy situations where we messed up in our encounters, or we were chain CC-ed by mobs and find ourselves in need of some breathing room.
  
  For our Main Hand and Off Hand, we'll definitely want the following gear.
  
  Main Hand: Ancient Grand Knight's Long Sword
  Off Hand: Ancient Grand Knight's Shield
  
  This set will give us a total amount of the following stats.
  

  • + 1095 Power
  • + 207 Recovery
  • + 779 Defense
  • + 442 Deflect
  • + 207 Regeneration

  Set 2: +450 Defense
  
  If the set is too costly, we can also opt to go for the Sword and Shield of the Grand Regent. The important stats will be Defense and Recovery for our AP Generation. 1355 Recovery so far for the 2 sets.
  
  For our Jewelry and Belt, we definitely will want to get the following gear. These gear will be relatively cheap but their effectiveness for the build is top notch.
  
  Neck: Blessed Amulet of Youth: 133 Power, 133 Recovery, 110 Regeneration.
  Ring: Ring of the Forest Guardian: 128 Defense, 128 Regeneration, 108 Deflect.
  Ring: Ring of the Forest Guardian: 128 Defense, 128 Regeneration, 108 Deflect.
  Belt: Blessed Belt of Youth: 133 Power, 133 Recovery, 110 Regeneration.
  
  For our enchantments, we'll want to slot Silvery Enchantments with a minimum of Rank 7 on each Defensive and Offensive slot. Silvery Enchantments are really cheap in the Auction House which makes gearing up a whole lot easier.
  
  Offense x 6: Silvery. Minimum of Rank 7 = 1110 Recovery.
  Defense x 3: Silvery. Minimum of Rank 7 = 555 Deflect.
  Utility x 3: Dark. Minimum of Rank 5 = 375 Movement.
  
  With the gear and stats factored in, I currently have the following boosts to my stats so far, without any boosts from an Augment Companion.
  

  

  
  For our weapon and armor enchants, we have a variety of choices to choose from.
  
  Weapon Enchantment:

  • Lifedrinker: High in utility and improves survival. I personally would settle for the regular version. Anything that will help us milk some HP out of mobs will be useful for both threat generation and healing up. When we're immune to damage, we regenerate our HP. With SoS up, we Regenerate HP and steal the opponent's HP via Life Steal from Lifedrinker.
  • Normal/Greater/Perfect Lightning: High in DPS, incredible threat generation with SoS. A more costly enchantment for threat generation. This will make our Supremacy of Steel deal more damage to our opponents in the process of tanking as the Lightning strikes will arc to nearby opponents from time to time, further extending the effects of the threat generation. The normal version should suffice, but the extra threat you can gain increases per rank of this enchantment.

  
  Armor Enchantment:

  • Briartwine: Greater or Perfect would be nice but the lower versions will work for the utility they give. Reflects a small amount of the damage dealt to us back to the enemies. This'll help increase the damage we reflect back to our attackers. Good when paired up with other reflect abilities from our companions. This enchantment also takes care of the problem that we have to keep hitting our opponents or else they'll attack someone else when left idle.
  • Thunderhead: Any rank will do fine, even the lesser one. With the amount of hits we take for our allies, it won't be much trouble to proc that 10% chance for an AoE stun whenever we are hit with a crit. Generates a decent amount of Threat as well.
  • Soulforged: Any rank will be fine. What we want here is its ability to revive us just in case we make a mistake that causes us to die. While we shouldn't be dying at all, having a backup plan like a Soulforged is always a good investment.

  Companions and their Bonuses
  
  

  
  I'll also be incorporating some of the features which will come from Module 2, which is the Active Companion Bonus System. This new system will give us bonuses as long as we have companions waiting in our Active Companion slots. It allows us to add dimensions to our play style and to personalize it even further using this system. While the main summoned companion for this build will still be the Ioun Stone of Allure, we'll be able to benefit from our Active Companion Bonuses just by having them in our Active Companion Slots. So even if they're not summoned, they will be passively providing us with buffs that will be beneficial for our tanking. Let's start with our Ioun Stone of Allure.
  
  Ioun Stone of Allure: All PVE builds need Ioun Stones to increase their performance, and we are no exception. We'll be stacking as much Power, Recovery, and Regeneration as we can to increase our ability to get tank and to generate AP.
  
  Runestones.

  • Offense: +185 Power.
  • Offense: +185 Power.
  • Defense: +185 Deflect.

  
  Gear

  • Neck: Blessed Amulet of Youth: 133 Power, 133 Recovery, 110 Regeneration.
  • Ring: Blessed Ring of Youth: 133 Power, 133 Recovery, 110 Regeneration.
  • Icon: Icon of the Dark Forest: 128 Power, 128 Critical Strike, 108 Regeneration

  
  Active Companion Bonus: The Active Companion Bonus system will introduce a new dimension to planning builds in PVE. It increases the number of paths one build may take, and the bonuses we took for this build pretty much sums up to increasing the amount of utility our reflective capabilities give us.
  
  High Priority: These are pets that you will be able to use all the time and will further enhance your PVE play style. So when you get the chance to purchase them, just by them. The pets in this list are relatively cheaper than most other alternatives, and their effects will be readily apparent. These companions are also safe choices to upgrade as they can significantly improve your performance.

  • Blacksmith (ZEN Market, 1.2k ZEN): On Damage Taken: 15% chance to reflect 10% of damage taken. If the same target is hit 4 times it will reflect 3 times the damage taken. An increase in Reflect damage once more.
  • Dread Warrior (ZEN Market, 1.2k ZEN): On damage taken: 10% chance to become enraged, increasing threat generation by 25%. Considering the amount of times we get hit, it's not that hard to imagine a 100% uptime on this 25% threat generation bonus we get from this pet. This is an awesome pet for all tanks who wish to generate as much aggro as possible. Get this as soon as you get your Blacksmith!
  • Ioun Stone of Allure (ZEN Market, 1.2k ZEN): Gives us extra equipment slots to use in order to increase our stats and it also provides some passive stat boosts. Useful for any class and this will pretty much be 100% summoned, all the time, for the extra stat bonuses. I like how it can also slow targets down but that's just an extra.
  • Thay Renegade Evoker (Valindra's Tower): On suffering a critical hit: Does fire damage to nearby enemies. You are bound to get critically hit with so many enemies piling up on you. More reflect damage and this effect doesn't have any target cap as well which is nice. This companion is really cheap in the Auction House as well and you can never go wrong with it.
  • Pig (Auction House): I can't stress how much my survival improved thanks to the Pig. It acts sort of like an extra regen that ticks for 1% of your max HP (~around 295 for my case) per second whenever we are controlled. And if we try to think of it similarly to Regen that ticks every 3 secs, it'll be as if I had extra regen that gives an extra ~885 whenever I am affected by a control power. This includes Slows and Roots.

  
  Medium Priority: The pets in this list are either costlier than usual, or their effects will not be as apparent as the ones from the High Priority list. But still useful.

  • Pseudodragon (Dark Forest Lockbox Reward): 20% chance to restore some Stamina/Guard when attacking. We can always use more Guard to heal up the broken parts of the meter.
  • Rust Monster (Rusted Lockbox Reward): On Damage Taken: 25% chance to inflict a 5% damage debuff on attacker. Stacks up to 3 times. Another useful tool to further power up the debuffs we are able to inflict against our opponents. More party utility.

  
  Low Priority: These pets will be relatively useful, however they may be too costly, too hard to get, or their effects aren't that reliable. But when their effects do proc, it can be pretty fun. If you guys have these pets, that's good. I recommend buying more Active Companion slots for these guys!

  • Galeb Duhr (ZEN Market, 3.5k ZEN): Deal up to 10% more damage based on the percentage of damage you have taken. Increases the damage you reflect to your enemies based on how much damage you've taken. Expensive but useful for all types of tanks.
  • Lightfoot Thief (Swordcoast Adventures Reward): On Critical Hit: Foes nearby target will bleed for level based damage every 2 seconds for 10 seconds. We're bound to strike critical hits on reflected damage anyway so might as well take this to make opponents bleed. Basically just extra threat and a good way to use a blue companion that is so hard to get.
  • Lillend (Promotional Companion): On Daily Use: Heal nearby friends 2% of their Max HP once every 30 seconds. Lillend is a costly companion, but for a build that generates so much AP, you should be able to provide some nice heals to your allies once every 30 seconds. Healing also generates extra Threat so this will ensure that you get the highest threat in your party.

  
  Will be adding more pets to the list as soon as I get more time.
  
  Artifacts: For our artifact selection, we will be choosing what best suits a type of build that tends to get hit a lot. We want a lot of Regeneration, and preferably some Recovery on the side as well for added RSI and AP gain. So my top choices for artifacts are...
  
  Primary Artifact:
  - Emblem of Seldarine: Gives us the ability to heal ourselves and our allies whenever we get hit. We'll be getting hit a lot. And an effect like this should scale well with the number of enemies facing us. The more we heal, the more threat we generate as well which will be good for the party. It has some Defense stats which will be pretty much overkill, but we can always use more defense. What we're after is the effect of the Artifact.
  
  Secondary Artifacts:
  - Waters of Elah'zad: It has Recovery, Regeneration and Defense. A really good defensive relic with stats that fit our build so well.
  - Blood Crystal Raven Skull: It has Recovery, Regeneration and Stamina/Guard Gain.A perfect addition for a tank build like ours.
  
  These artifacts will further increase our ability to tank hits, and at the same time, it will help us generate more threat for the benefit of the party. The Emblem of Seldarine will also provide a good utility bonus to our party to keep them away from Death's doors much more.
  

  Closing Remarks

  
  So this pretty much sums up the Iron Maiden Build. While it may not be the most effective tank spec in terms of instantly peeling mobs off our allies, we can peel them off in time and protect them at the same instance. People may say that the GF class is dead with the recent ascension of the GWF, but in the end it still depends on how you play your class. The GWF may have the better DPS, but I don't think you'll find one with the ability to do the same things as us, buffing our party members and shield them from damage, taking the hits for the team. I hope you enjoyed reading about my GF spec, and maybe enticed to spec-ing for a similar build.
  
  If you guys have any questions, feedback, or are in need of clarifications, the thread and my inbox are open for them! Thank you for reading, and I sincerely hope you guys enjoyed it.

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• nwnghost Member, Moderators, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 0 Arc User

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  Hm if your build is reflect based, I was wondering why you wouldn't pick up the class feature that reflects 3% of damage dealt to enemies?
  
  Also for faster AP gain, why not tactician with minor in Protector? The only thing you really lose is the 5% DR from KV and 10% enemy damage decrease from Protector final. But if you have threat to get all enemies to be attacking you anyway (for maximizing effects of reflect), Tactician would make more sense there too IMO.

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• todesfaelle Member Posts: 1,370 Arc User

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  nwnghost wrote: »

  Hm if your build is reflect based, I was wondering why you wouldn't pick up the class feature that reflects 3% of damage dealt to enemies?
  
  Also for faster AP gain, why not tactician with minor in Protector? The only thing you really lose is the 5% DR from KV and 10% enemy damage decrease from Protector final. But if you have threat to get all enemies to be attacking you anyway (for maximizing effects of reflect), Tactician would make more sense there too IMO.

  
  Hi! Actually, I tried making use of that Reflect CF. But let's be honest, it's total HAMSTER unless our dear devs decide to give it a nice buff, maybe like 5% per rank for a total of 15%.
  
  For faster AP gain, Tactician makes a lot of sense and I tried it out and it takes me nearer to my goal of being able to pop a daily. But the thing is, Steel Defense, which is the main CF of this build, completely negates the effects of Martial Mastery. This means I can't gain AP from getting attacked while under the effects of SD. So I concentrated on making my Guard more potent as I noticed that the amount of AP we can get from Guarding far outweighs the AP gain we can get from the Martial Mastery feat. I concentrated on being able to recover the Guard Meter quickly to be able to gain AP by Guarding some more. Only the GF is able to generate this much AP by using their defensive feature and I decided to bank on that by going for Protector, and increasing the effects of my defensive capabilities. I have more details on the Philosophy of the Build section of the guide.

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• malekhai Member Posts: 46

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  Heh we both posted our builds at the same time :P Definitely going to neaten mine up a bit though

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• nwnghost Member, Moderators, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 0 Arc User

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  It is true you can't gain AP while Steel Defense is up, but you could pop KV before/after you pop your daily to maximize usage from that. The threat you gain from that then causes everything to hit you some more, which in turn allows you to go immune again, a nice cycle which can be fairly endless as Tactician (I prefer using Fighter's Recovery to also keep your HP up during immunity)

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• todesfaelle Member Posts: 1,370 Arc User

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  malekhai wrote: »

  Heh we both posted our builds at the same time :P Definitely going to neaten mine up a bit though

  
  Nice, I just checked your thread man. I like how we instantly have 2 separate Swordmaster builds in one day. This should prove to be a good development. I'll be dropping by your thread for a comment!
  

  nwnghost wrote: »

  It is true you can't gain AP while Steel Defense is up, but you could pop KV before/after you pop your daily to maximize usage from that. The threat you gain from that then causes everything to hit you some more, which in turn allows you to go immune again, a nice cycle which can be fairly endless as Tactician (I prefer using Fighter's Recovery to also keep your HP up during immunity)

  
  Yeah I actually do the same. KV, then SoS, then soak all the way. But I noticed from my extensive testing that the AP we gain from blocking far outweighs the AP we can get from getting hit without using Block via Martial Mastery. So I decided to bank on Block's characteristics and further empower it by increasing its potency and endurance. This way I can get large bursts of AP simply by blocking attacks, and I don't have to trade in HP to get them. All I need to recover my block is to use my Block Recovery skills while under the effects of Steel Defense, and this'll get me ready again for another round soaking. Not to mention KV hits my block whenever I have Block up while under the effects of KV. So technically we're pretty much doing the same thing, only I have my block up. And I agree, it's a nice cycle which can be fairly endless, even as a Protector.
  
  Nonetheless, I like how you use Fighter's Recovery with Steel Defense. We need more Swordmasters around!

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• nwnghost Member, Moderators, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 0 Arc User

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  To up your deflect maybe Cat or Ioun Some of Might may be better ideas due to inherent deflect bonuses and because you get a waist slot for another blessed belt of youth or one of those hp/recovery/deflect belts
  
  Also consider Greater Ring of Repulsion instead of Dark Forest (yes they are a little bit more expensive)
  
  Instead of Galeb Dur, Honey Badger might be a better choice for the active bonus as you don't plan on running at below 50% most of the time.
  
  Lightfoot is unlikely to be useful for your build given that you have only 5% crit chance i think
  
  Lillend heal amount is very small from testing, 2% max HP for most allies won't be more than around 400-600 hp, which would be minimal for threat too. Vicious Dire Wolf on the other hand would be great as it should work with reflect damage as well.

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• malekhai Member Posts: 46

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  todesfaelle wrote: »

  Nice, I just checked your thread man. I like how we instantly have 2 separate Swordmaster builds in one day. This should prove to be a good development. I'll be dropping by your thread for a comment!
  
  
  
  Yeah I actually do the same. KV, then SoS, then soak all the way. But I noticed from my extensive testing that the AP we gain from blocking far outweighs the AP we can get from getting hit without using Block via Martial Mastery. So I decided to bank on Block's characteristics and further empower it by increasing its potency and endurance. This way I can get large bursts of AP simply by blocking attacks, and I don't have to trade in HP to get them. All I need to recover my block is to use my Block Recovery skills while under the effects of Steel Defense, and this'll get me ready again for another round soaking. Not to mention KV hits my block whenever I have Block up while under the effects of KV. So technically we're pretty much doing the same thing, only I have my block up. And I agree, it's a nice cycle which can be fairly endless, even as a Protector.
  
  Nonetheless, I like how you use Fighter's Recovery with Steel Defense. We need more Swordmasters around!

  
  
  In response more to the area colored, using Aggravating Strike (Block at will) generates more AP then straight blocking OR Martial Mastery. I believe this is due to the taunt that it enacts as well. I prefer using it when a mob is up in a singularity.
  
  Did you find the abilities that restore block to be restoring large amounts? I never noticed much of a difference in my testing, but I never used them extensively either

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• todesfaelle Member Posts: 1,370 Arc User

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  malekhai wrote: »

  In response more to the area colored, using Aggravating Strike (Block at will) generates more AP then straight blocking OR Martial Mastery. I believe this is due to the taunt that it enacts as well. I prefer using it when a mob is up in a singularity.
  
  Did you find the abilities that restore block to be restoring large amounts? I never noticed much of a difference in my testing, but I never used them extensively either

  
  Hey, man. You got that right. While I'm in Steel Defense, since I can't gain AP from Blocking I tend to spam Aggravating Strike and since it has a seemingly limitless target cap, the AP we can generate using it can be quite nice while we're immune. As for the Block Restore abilities, Enforced Threat/Iron Warrior/Into the Fray, when used individually they can give us some breathing room and the block restore isn't that much. But if you use 2 at the same time, the effects are noticeably more potent. It takes a while for tons of mobs to burn through your guard, and it'll recover the Guard Meter quickly if it breaks.

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• ladysylvia Member Posts: 946 Bounty Hunter

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  Some things are false:
  
  >>. It seems that the amount of AP we gain from blocking depends on how much we lose on our meter, not how much damage we take when we have our Guard up<<
  
  This is totally false.
  I gain sometimes over 20% with one blocked attack. So the amount of the impact count, nothing else.
  
  Second one:
  
  >>Steel Blitz: Increases our damage by 36% when it procs. It has a higher chance of proc-ing if we hit multiple targets. This means popping the 2nd activation of Supremacy of Steel is guaranteed to have a whole lot of procs with this class feature. Use this only in solo plays as it is not to useful in groups.<<
  
  This is totally false. The tooltip say +12% damage, but this not mean, that you GAIN more damage. It only increase the % of the weapon damage you do if this proc. With my GWF i gain additionally +600 per hit for a 700-900 Weapon damage. But the procchance vary from at least 5%-30% or something like that.
  
  Additionally information:
  
  >>As for the Block Restore abilities, Enforced Threat/Iron Warrior/Into the Fray, when used individually they can give us some breathing room and the block restore isn't that much.<<
  
  ET: 20% over 8s.
  Iron Warrior 50-100% depend if you have some block left or the block is broken(50% if broken 100% if 1% or more left).
  
  For a guide you have really to many inaccurate tips

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• todesfaelle Member Posts: 1,370 Arc User

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  ladysylvia wrote: »

  Some things are false:
  
  >>. It seems that the amount of AP we gain from blocking depends on how much we lose on our meter, not how much damage we take when we have our Guard up<<
  
  This is totally false.
  I gain sometimes over 20% with one blocked attack. So the amount of the impact count, nothing else.
  
  Second one:
  
  >>Steel Blitz: Increases our damage by 36% when it procs. It has a higher chance of proc-ing if we hit multiple targets. This means popping the 2nd activation of Supremacy of Steel is guaranteed to have a whole lot of procs with this class feature. Use this only in solo plays as it is not to useful in groups.<<
  
  This is totally false. The tooltip say +12% damage, but this not mean, that you GAIN more damage. It only increase the % of the weapon damage you do if this proc. With my GWF i gain additionally +600 per hit for a 700-900 Weapon damage. But the procchance vary from at least 5%-30% or something like that.
  
  Additionally information:
  
  >>As for the Block Restore abilities, Enforced Threat/Iron Warrior/Into the Fray, when used individually they can give us some breathing room and the block restore isn't that much.<<
  
  ET: 20% over 8s.
  Iron Warrior 50-100% depend if you have some block left or the block is broken(50% if broken 100% if 1% or more left).
  
  For a guide you have really to many inaccurate tips

  
  Thanks for correcting me, specially about how block generates AP. I specifically phrased it to make it noticeable that I'm not sure. So now that we have input from one very experienced GF such as yourself, it'll benefit the play style a lot and prevent further inaccuracies. For Steel Blitz, what you said was exactly what I meant.
  
  Then again, I'm not really the type to nitpick over small details so I apologize if by any chance this somehow caused you distress. Allow me to correct them for you later! If you find more, feel free to call them out. These are great stuff right here. I never really took notice about the amount of block meter we gain from our 3 block generation encounters. That's cool, and good to know. I usually just pop them and raise my shield, then continue playing.

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• todesfaelle Member Posts: 1,370 Arc User

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  nwnghost wrote: »

  To up your deflect maybe Cat or Ioun Some of Might may be better ideas due to inherent deflect bonuses and because you get a waist slot for another blessed belt of youth or one of those hp/recovery/deflect belts
  
  Also consider Greater Ring of Repulsion instead of Dark Forest (yes they are a little bit more expensive)
  
  Instead of Galeb Dur, Honey Badger might be a better choice for the active bonus as you don't plan on running at below 50% most of the time.
  
  Lightfoot is unlikely to be useful for your build given that you have only 5% crit chance i think
  
  Lillend heal amount is very small from testing, 2% max HP for most allies won't be more than around 400-600 hp, which would be minimal for threat too. Vicious Dire Wolf on the other hand would be great as it should work with reflect damage as well.

  
  Hey, man. I just saw this post. Sorry for the late reply.
  
  I'm going for Allure Stone, simply because it's cheaper. This build is highly flexible and doesn't require any of the high end costly pets. They are merely bonuses. This isn't much of a min/max build, to be honest. Just for guys who want to have fun in the game without stressing over stat caps too much. But your suggestion is good for min-maxers, though I believe min-maxing is beyond my area of expertise.
  
  Oh and thanks for bringing up Greater Ring of Repulsion. It's also a good choice, but I specifically chose the Dark Forest rings for the Offense slots. I wanted more Recovery for more AP gain. Deflect is a stat that is hard to raise to 30% without the use of high end enchantments and Ioun Stones, so I'm planning to get just 3113 deflect to get my deflect to 30% flat using the stone.
  
  Galeb Dhur, I don't think I'll be buying this pet. I just put it there for players who have the pet, or is able to buy one. I specifically did not include Honey Badger because from my entire PVE experience, I've never seen my GF go below 35% HP. But I guess it'll be a good precaution. Thanks for the suggestion! I'm going to edit the guide later and add it up.
  
  Lightfoot Thief... I honestly think you're right. But I just included it there because from the amount of attacks we are able to reflect, at least one of those will crit even if it's just a 5% chance. Although 5% is a completely unreliable factor. But yeah, you are correct. I still want to own one of these, though. Same reasoning with Vicious Dire Wolf! It's only a 5% chance but you're right, I'll include it as well later. I like it. ♥
  
  And true, I guess Lillend is TOO costly for its capabilities. But being able to pop a lot of dailies, I thought "why not?" It's on the back of my priority list however. I'm still saving up for my Blacksmith and Ioun Stone.
  
  I'm pretty sure you guys can tell how cheap I play.

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• ladysylvia Member Posts: 946 Bounty Hunter

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  I don't attack you, if you think so todesfaelle. I only dislike information that introduce bad knowledge.
  
  Lillend has a 30s CD on the 2% heal. So if you can pop up the daily every 10s, it won't proc 4 times within 30s.
  Galeb Duhr is a slotpet for DDs. Not for a tank. If you want be more tanky, then the Dancing Shield will be fit your Guide(+% Deflect chance).

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• todesfaelle Member Posts: 1,370 Arc User

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  I personally do not mind when people nitpick about small details, so it's cool. Pet choices isn't really that important, since it doesn't make or break this unique play style. It just enhances it. That said, I think I'll add more pets in the list! And add stuff that people may not have thought of using since we do have the recent sale for companions.
  
  And yes, I agree with Galeb and Lillend. I personally will not be buying them. I just listed them there simply because I think it's cool to have a tank that can heal their allies as well in the process. I'm making builds for fun, not to min/max.

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• masterjewstar Member Posts: 563

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  Thank you for posting this build it is a pretty awesome one. I just respec'd my GF to this and did a dungeon no one but me even came close to dying and that was only because I was hit by the boss twice while using knights challenge and knights valor at the same time.
  
  I had shelved it before because I was so busy with my CWs and my new HR. Thanks for breathing some new life into my GF.
  
  If I may add, I like weapon masters strike much better than cleave; but to each his own.

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• shadow5930 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 502 Bounty Hunter

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  WMS is wonderful supplement to cleave. So you swing once or twice with WMS, then hit even harder with cleave. Weaving the two together you can keep the damage output from cleave increased while hitting the group of mobs. A win-win situation on the at-will level.

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• auzfire Member, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 17 Arc User

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  I was using a similar build, and not being totally happy with it, and then I saw what you had to say about SoS effectively being 2 uses for 1 daily. Nice find. Also the interaction of the reflected damage with my lightning enhancement and the like - also nice. I am not totally happy with my rate of AP generation, but that may be more because the CWs I typically run with are good about actually using CC like Steal Time, so I probably do not have as many attacks directed at me as I would like for getting the AP up.
  
  I do find however, that a HR will wind up pulling agro mostly because they start split shot spam well before I can get in there to have gained any agro at all.

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• masterjewstar Member Posts: 563

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  Mmm yeah, but thats why we use knights valor it lets us get hit for them; plus with KV you can block the damage just by looking and blocking towards the enemy hitting them, thus gaining AP and if you got SoS up the enemies will get hit back for each hit they hit.
  
  ^^Shadow
  
  WMS should also increase shield slam and aggravated strike as well which hits harder than cleave.

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• dirtwizard13 Member Posts: 1 Arc User

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  Will this build work without using the PVP armor? Sorry if this is a silly question, but I've only been in game like a week. I don't like to PVP, especially for PVE gear. Great guide though, very easy to follow!

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• shadow5930 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 502 Bounty Hunter

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  @dirt - It can, however the increased guard meter is very useful from the PVP gear. You get it from GG, which does have PVE component as well as pvp.
  
  @master - This is true! The reason I mention cleave is it probably hits harder than WMS in an AoE. WMS, turtle up and smacking them with taunt/shield regen single target is also useful. Or are they a cone? Not really sure on that one.

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• todesfaelle Member Posts: 1,370 Arc User

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  Hey, guys. Thanks for the wonderful comments and for stopping by! Let me answer some of the posts.
  

  masterjewstar wrote: »

  Thank you for posting this build it is a pretty awesome one. I just respec'd my GF to this and did a dungeon no one but me even came close to dying and that was only because I was hit by the boss twice while using knights challenge and knights valor at the same time.
  
  I had shelved it before because I was so busy with my CWs and my new HR. Thanks for breathing some new life into my GF.
  
  If I may add, I like weapon masters strike much better than cleave; but to each his own.

  
  Thanks for the feedback and I'm glad you're enjoying the build! I actually like WMS too, but I find that the AP generation from Cleave since it has no target cap a whole lot more enjoyable. But WMS does look real nice, TBH. Sometimes I find myself tempted to use it simply because it looks cooler.
  

  auzfire wrote: »

  I was using a similar build, and not being totally happy with it, and then I saw what you had to say about SoS effectively being 2 uses for 1 daily. Nice find. Also the interaction of the reflected damage with my lightning enhancement and the like - also nice. I am not totally happy with my rate of AP generation, but that may be more because the CWs I typically run with are good about actually using CC like Steal Time, so I probably do not have as many attacks directed at me as I would like for getting the AP up.
  
  I do find however, that a HR will wind up pulling agro mostly because they start split shot spam well before I can get in there to have gained any agro at all.

  
  I most usually do not find any trouble pulling aggro from my teammates using Enhanced Mark, Enforced Threat, Knight's Challenge and Knight's Valor, skills which I have regularly slotted. And even if you do fail to pull some mobs away from your allies, as long as you have Knight's Valor up, your enemies will have a hard time killing your allies no matter how far they are from the cleric. I just spam TAB to mark things from afar, let them build up threat for me and they'll eventually be peeled off. We don't have instant peeling abilities but once we do peel one away from the allies, it'll be ours for a long time.
  

  dirtwizard13 wrote: »

  Will this build work without using the PVP armor? Sorry if this is a silly question, but I've only been in game like a week. I don't like to PVP, especially for PVE gear. Great guide though, very easy to follow!

  
  Definitely! The T2 PVP armor provides a very nice boost to our survival and AP gain, but you can also use sets like Grand Regent. Basically anything with Regen/Deflect/Defense/Recovery in one set will be good. There's also the Sharandar set.

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• masterjewstar Member Posts: 563

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  -Shadow - yeah the stab is a small 3-5' cone in front the shield slam is single target and is powered up by WMS as you said. The area of effect of WMS is so much larger than cleave I also feel its faster too and it hits twice with one swing and when it crits, it crits twice. I can swing once then move or keep using it or whatever. When I use cleave I feel like I'm stuck in one spot for way too long. Also WMS also stacks with tide of irons debuff as well.
  
  Todesfielle -hmph, yeah and some people on the forums say the GF sucks. Not this one it doesn't.:cool:
  
  "Break yourselves and your weapons upon my steely visage, your attacks are useless!" is how I feel about this build.

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• todesfaelle Member Posts: 1,370 Arc User

  December 2013 edited December 2013

  Yeah, this new path gave the GF the tools for it to fulfill its true purpose, which is to tank and protect his allies. This'll be the first attempt out of many in breathing new life into the class. Pretty sure there are others out there who are using some unique specs which we do not know yet. Specs that will make us think "Wow, that sounds cool and I never thought of that." Hopefully we'll get to see more in the near future, not just for GF's. A better flow and exchange of information between players will make this game a whole lot more funner. I for one will be releasing a new one after I finish getting my desired pets for this build.
  
  So hopefully you guys will have fun experiencing the next build for another class! It'll be unique, just to set everyone's expectations.

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• auzfire Member, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 17 Arc User

  January 2014 edited January 2014

  Well, after adjusting my build to account for the interesting informations I gained from this thread - I took the opportunity to roll out through some dungeons and in general had a great time. I don't have the same equipment (not doing PvP ever means no PvP armour) Some observations from a PvE tank:
  
  1) This build does work.
  2) CWs are not your friend - this build wants to be attacked, and CWs make the mobs stunned, or fly everywhere, or dead.
  3) Slow and clunky animations of your key powers are your enemy. Get used to every mob's attack sequence to know when you can afford to be standing there like a noodle while a slow animation gets the job done.
  4) You can tank all the adds at the final boss in epic spell plague, and just have everyone else shoot the boss. All the adds. (might want to keep an eye out for knockback cones coming in from behind you though )
  5) The worse your team is (in a PUG for example) the better this build performs.
  6) Gaining agro via Knights Valour can be quite slow, doubly so because you can not have it up all the time. Without threatening rush to get over to and mark loose adds you are even further limited. You may have to explain to people that if they don't want to keep an add, they need to let it hit them once while the blue aura is on them, and not try to burn the mob down. Likewise, you probably wont get agro off the CW that wants to AoE everything. Basically, while you can agro everything, you can only do it if the rest of the team co-operates - they can and will take and hold agro if they want to. Rangers with Split Shot are especially prone to this issue.
  7) An issue that messes with your timing with SoS and KV can kill you Chain knockdowns are your enemy.
  
  
  Anyway - I finished an epic spell plague having dished out top damage with this build, thanks mostly to hogging millions of adds to myself while I got the team to focus the boss to dead. I swear the game was going to explode my GFX card with it trying to render that much chain reaction effect though. It did take a couple of attempts still, as half the team was new to the dungeon (a PUG) and it took a bit for them to accept what I was saying about leaving the adds be. I still wish I could physically bash the need to use ice storm out of that CW though. Personal peeve of mine, that spell.

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• todesfaelle Member Posts: 1,370 Arc User

  January 2014 edited January 2014

  Glad to hear that you're having fun with the build, Auzfire. And I agree with most of the points you made, some PUG CW's and HR's tend to AoE spam everything while standing in red. Which is why I dislike PUG-ing. But when I do get into premade PVE groups I just tell my teammates that it's safe to stand on red LOL.
  
  The main reason why I rolled for a 20% RSI + 20 INT (10% RSI) + Fight On (10% RSI) is to have KV, KC, and Enforced Threat up as often as possible to maximize my threat generation. I took the clunky animations into consideration when I was planning the build so I wanted as much flexibility and be able to pop those skills when I really needed them.
  
  As for #7, agreed. There's no getting around this, which is why I like the 25% extra Guard from Indomitable Champion. Lessens the odds of it happening when you have the ability to guard more attacks.

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• masterjewstar Member Posts: 563

  January 2014 edited January 2014

  I also ran spellplague with this; Yeah I died 8 times because when everyone else is squishy and you aren't and there are 100s of adds all trying to kill them it can be instant death for you, but luckily you can block the damage just by blocking in allies direction and the spellplague enemies hit fairly hard which means if you block half of them you can get SoS almost immediately which means 5 seconds of immunity then 5 seconds more if you catch the last bit of SoS and during this time your block meter returns so long as you aren't holding up your shield. This is the best tank I've gotten to be so far its almost auto tank.
  
  We ended up completing it with 1 tr me and 2 cws and no cleric.
  
  And my gfx card also almost blew a s#!t on the boss fight but only when more adds came pouring in.

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• tonyswu Member Posts: 223 Arc User

  January 2014 edited January 2014

  Question, when you activate SoS and KV, does the reflected damage proc weapon enchantment effect or armor enchantment?

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• masterjewstar Member Posts: 563

  January 2014 edited January 2014

  I believe both; armor from being hit then weapon from reflecting it back.

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• dracoja Member Posts: 2 Arc User

  January 2014 edited January 2014

  dirtwizard13 wrote: »

  Will this build work without using the PVP armor? Sorry if this is a silly question, but I've only been in game like a week. I don't like to PVP, especially for PVE gear. Great guide though, very easy to follow!

  
  You can get GG set without PVP at all.

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• todesfaelle Member Posts: 1,370 Arc User

  January 2014 edited January 2014

  tonyswu wrote: »

  Question, when you activate SoS and KV, does the reflected damage proc weapon enchantment effect or armor enchantment?

  
  As our friend masterjewstar has mentioned, KV + SoS procs both Weapon and Armor enchants. When KV redirects an attack to you, it will count as an attack made by an opponent, thus proc-ing armor enchantment effects. When SoS reflects an attack, it will count as an attack made by you, thus giving your gold swords the effects of your weapon enchantment.
  

  dracoja wrote: »

  You can get GG set without PVP at all.

  
  This is true. I just did Fardelver Coin Farms with my Valiant Warrior set. I could have forgone PVP but I wanted the extra 7 coins per match.

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