I'm trying to gear up my guild for end game PvE as they approach 50. The first tank to 50 will be a Shadow (well respec-ing as a tank when he gets to 50). I assume a shield makes the most sense as a tank for offhand if they are going to be stacking absorption but there doesn't appear to be any shields with Willpower on them in the entire Artifice catalog. There are focuses but no shields. Do focuses react to the absorption stat or should I just make him a high endurance guardian type shield?

dude that's a awful horrid question. Focus is for dps only. And there should be willpower shields at the artifice trainer.

You need a shield generator in order to shield/absorb an attack. There aren't any high level craft-able shadow shield generators (not sure if there are even lower level ones).

 

Go to the GTN and you can probably find a level 50 (or close to it) blue off-hand to use until you can get one through hard mode flashpoints or operations.

dude that's a awful horrid question. Focus is for dps only. And there should be willpower shields at the artifice trainer.

 

Right..."should be" and "is" are two different things in this world we live in.

I don't think there are any normally craftable force shields for level 50s, yet. I could be wrong, but your best bet might be this: Ultratech Survivor's Shield Generator.

 

For a list of shields, check this torhead page: http://www.torhead.com/items/catg/2/subcatg/8

 

That site isn't quite up to the same standard as its WoW counterpart just yet, and some information on there is incomplete or ambiguous, but it's a start. I hope this helps answer your question.

http://www.torhead.com/item/a9sjRBa/champion-survivors-shield-generator

 

that one doesn't look too bad and could be had with minimal PvP dailies.

I'm trying to gear up my guild for end game PvE as they approach 50. The first tank to 50 will be a Shadow (well respec-ing as a tank when he gets to 50). I assume a shield makes the most sense as a tank for offhand if they are going to be stacking absorption but there doesn't appear to be any shields with Willpower on them in the entire Artifice catalog. There are focuses but no shields. Do focuses react to the absorption stat or should I just make him a high endurance guardian type shield?

 

I believe there is exactly 1 Willpower shield in the artifice catalog, high 30s or low 40s I think. Just the one though.

 

More to the point, you cannot shield without a shield, and you cannot tanking without shielding.

 

Do take some time to read through Gankstah's Primer stickied on this forum, it will give you some good info on the hit table system, which it is key that any tank understand.

 

Short version, without a shield in your offhand, you cannot shield an attack, which means shield and absorption rating are worthless and you will take huge amounts of damage. Get a shield, use Combat Technique.

Right..."should be" and "is" are two different things in this world we live in.

 

I'm not entirely certain someone who asks a question quite as profoundly obvious as yours has any right to pass judgement of any kind. And your tanking friend might have luck finding a good willpower shield as a quest reward (that's where my assassin got a majority of his).

Right..."should be" and "is" are two different things in this world we live in.

 

Ok then. There IS. I'm level 400 artifice and when I was leveling my shadow I made myself new shields as I leveled up. And yes, they were endurance/willpower. You either havent trained them, or havent looked hard enough.

The upgrade route I went with my Assassin at 50:

 

1. Bought the Corellia commendation one, a blue 50.

2. When I had enough Tionese commendations, bought the Tionese one, purple 50.

3. And I run Battle of Ilum HM daily, trying to get the columi offhand to drop.

Edited March 2, 2012 by Battilea

Ok then. There IS. I'm level 400 artifice and when I was leveling my shadow I made myself new shields as I leveled up. And yes, they were endurance/willpower. You either havent trained them, or havent looked hard enough.

 

There isn't. Believe there's 2 lower level ones that are drops you can get. But there isn't a high level one or, at the very least, you are very, very unlikely to get it. The failure of the trainer to have assassin shield generators is an issue that pops up often enough on the crew skills forum.

Edited March 2, 2012 by Battilea