Has anybody leveled as a Jedi Guardian tank with success? How does it compare to leveling in Vigilance? How's the synergy tanking with other Companions? T7 doesn't seem to be all that great at dps (isn't he a tanking companion?), and Kira is great except from what I see from the forums, she becomes unavailable for the last quest before hitting 50.

 

Also, I was wondering what stats I should look for in gear. Right now I have artifice, and I am able to make enhancement mods that either have +Endurance and +Defense, or +Endurance and +Absorption. What's the difference? Thanks.

I've been leveling exclusively using the tank tree. Haven't had any issues. I had been using Kira, but have since gotten Doc and now fights are a lot easier. Find myself using most all of my CC methods on some fights just to keep as many off of Doc as I can.

 

Upgrade his gear, and he heals almost as well as a player. (I said ALMOST!!!!)

I've leveled as a Tank and I've got to say the only good thing about it is the back to back stuns. Until you get Doc you will need to spec your companion as dps and manage your abilities efficiently by activating wards at the right time and interrupting to avoid major damage.

 

Guardian really is an inadequate Tank, you have two major defense skills with long cooldowns and strong players or enemies can eat through your hp while these are on cooldown. You just have to do your best with the poor hand you've been dealt.

Well, Vigilance is alright for now, I am level 32 and I haven't gotten Doc yet, but I am getting pretty frustrated leveling right now as I can't seem to survive elite level mobs. I was hoping that Guardian would at least give me survivability, even if it means I take down mobs slower. Plus, the friends that I am playing with need a tank, although I have no idea how Guardians do in Flashpoints. Would it be worth it to switch over from vigilance?

Well, Vigilance is alright for now, I am level 32 and I haven't gotten Doc yet, but I am getting pretty frustrated leveling right now as I can't seem to survive elite level mobs. I was hoping that Guardian would at least give me survivability, even if it means I take down mobs slower. Plus, the friends that I am playing with need a tank, although I have no idea how Guardians do in Flashpoints. Would it be worth it to switch over from vigilance?

 

Until you get Doc, especially in the 30-36 range just before, you will suffer no matter the spec.

 

Still, Defense will perform better (IMO) before AND after Doc, allowing you to actually take elites before Doc, and possibly solo champions after (proper gearing for both you and doc required ofc).

I've had quite a great time leveling as defense up through Nar Shaddar as of last night. I strictly use Kira as my companion and keep her decked out in synthweaving stuff/good mods if I can afford them.

 

Hit level 25 last night and can tear through groups of normal enemies, can down silvers without any space in between and can take on golds with cooldowns and kira going in first and a stim/pot mixed in with it.

 

Now I honestly don't know if every class is supposed to solo mobs with 3x the HP as them, but I certainly can.

 

Also you definitely want to realize which casts you want to interrupt and which you want to let go when fighting difficult enemies. Letting a "missle barrage" go off and kicking "reloading" will net you a lot more damage taken than the other way around.

This post contains companion spoilers, if you do not want to know what companions you get later on, don't read.

 

Been leveling as a Guardian Tank (Not even tried anything else) and I've almost never had any problems whatsoever. Pre Hoth I ran with Kira but when I got to Hoth I started taking more damage (the mobs caught up to me in level) and I switched to Doc.

 

In fact there's only one "solo" quest that I found to be impossible for me to complete. This was at the end of the Belsavis class story and I just got someone else to help me. Outside of that it's been 100% smooth sailing.

 

As for stats I focus on Endurance, Defense and Absorb with Strength as my secondary.

 

Mandatory elitist comment: Anyone who is dying a lot as a Defense Guardian needs to stop being terrible at playing the class.

Edited December 28, 2011 by Hallowyr

I'm doing the Defensive Guardian, and having major issues trying to kill equal level things at 33. Repairs and keeping up with synthweaving are eating my finances alive. I cringe when i gain a level because I know that I probably won't be able to afford it.

 

Though in flashpoints, I'm an unstoppable threat machine! So I suppose that's a plus.

Level 35 tank and have had no problems so far. If anything im loving it. I can pull 2 elites or 2 packs and survive with CDs while Kira kill everything. Also gets alot easier one you get your healing companion.

I leveled exclusively as a tank from like 25-50. Once you get Doc you become an unstoppable killing machine, never having to stop going from mob set to mob set.

 

I can kill an elite and end the fight with full hp. I can kill 2 strong mobs. With cooldowns, I can kill a strong and an elite. You have 3 stuns that work on elites, an interrupt, and a knockback. The only issue is that pommel strike and opportune strike don't work on elites, so they take longer to kill.

 

I've also soloed on level super elites, my best being the ancient probe droid on Hoth that's lvl 47 with 90k hp. You can't do that as any other spec.

 

Frankly, the AOE damage loss is minimal since you have so many force sweep talent buffs, and most mob fights while leveling are groups of standard/weak mobs. The elites just go a wee bit slower, but no downtime after.

Wow, sounds like switching to Defense would solve all my frustrations leveling as a Guardian. If I take on more than one strong mob, its a death sentence, unless I blow all my cooldowns and use a medpac. I'll give it a try. In the mean time, I should probably get tanking gear from the GTN and commendations, right?

Wow, sounds like switching to Defense would solve all my frustrations leveling as a Guardian. If I take on more than one strong mob, its a death sentence, unless I blow all my cooldowns and use a medpac. I'll give it a try. In the mean time, I should probably get tanking gear from the GTN and commendations, right?

 

If you are close to 40 I recommend doing some warzones and getting the 40 pvp tank gear. It's really, really good and not hard to get at all.

I'm level 30 and full defense tree. I've had no issues so far except bosses - on which I had to use medpacs and sabre ward+warding call. other than that, i can tak on 3 groups of 3 mobs so that's 9 mobs in total, one after another without a sweat. i can also kill strongs and elites and if i remember right i killed a champion on taris. ive done some flashpoints and heroics and as it turns out, a sentinel on my level could tank almost as good as i could :-P he probably could tank if he had more endurance gear. i am, however, going to try out def/vig hybrid as i think it would be more efficient when playing solo and in party. none of defense tree abilities really shines in my eyes.. there's +4% more shield and shield barrier which at this point is nerfed or something - in vigilance tree, on the other hand, you have 4% more endurance.

I'm level 30 and full defense tree. I've had no issues so far except bosses - on which I had to use medpacs and sabre ward+warding call. other than that, i can tak on 3 groups of 3 mobs so that's 9 mobs in total, one after another without a sweat. i can also kill strongs and elites and if i remember right i killed a champion on taris. ive done some flashpoints and heroics and as it turns out, a sentinel on my level could tank almost as good as i could :-P he probably could tank if he had more endurance gear. i am, however, going to try out def/vig hybrid as i think it would be more efficient when playing solo and in party. none of defense tree abilities really shines in my eyes.. there's +4% more shield and shield barrier which at this point is nerfed or something - in vigilance tree, on the other hand, you have 4% more endurance.

 

I just got my healer companion so I'm going to go ahead and try out the Defense/Vigilance hybrid spec. I've been doing a lot of reading and from what I can tell, like you said, a lot of the defense tree skills just don't seem worth it. Past Tier 5, there's not a whole lot of tanking perks but rather a lot of dps stuff, which to me, would be better spent in some of the more defensive stuff in Vigilance. Plus, whatever dps perks are being offered in the Defense tree, there's an equivalent or better option in the Vigilance tree. Gonna try it out and see how it works.

 

Also, after re-modding and buying a bunch of tanking gear, here are my stats:

 

Level 33:

Strength: 598

Presence: 165

Aim: 36

Cunning: 36

Endurance: 615

Willpower: 72

 

DEFENSE:

Health: 7395

Armor: 4193

Damage Reduction: 42.17%

Defense Chance: 14.18%

Shield Chance: 21.32%

Shield Absorption: 20%

 

Melee:

Damage (PRI): 262-320

Bonus Damage: 144.9

Accuracy: 92.19%

Crit: 11.53%

Crit Multiplier: 50%

 

How am I doing?

Sounds about right if you asked me. I think I only have little less str and some more endurance as i crafted some gear myself and have all guardian mods in. if you try the hybrid specs, please, do share with the community, as even i am very interested in the outcome ^^ Edited December 28, 2011 by Carousel_t

Sounds about right if you asked me. I think I only have little less str and some more endurance as i crafted some gear myself and have all guardian mods in. if you try the hybrid specs, please, do share with the community, as even i am very interested in the outcome ^^

 

So far so good, the pace of fights seem a lot slower than pure Vigilance, but because I don't need to stop and heal after every pull, the overall experience is WAY faster in this hybrid spec. Also, I tanked elites and multiple strong mobs (accidentally) and I had absolutely NO problem taking them down, albeit again, slightly slower than pure Vigilance. The damage seems to be a lot more baselined, without having big attacks like Overhead slash (yet) for burst, seems like all my abilities do around the same damage but with some having secondary effects. I definitely like this style, I'll let you guys know more about how this spec feels as I start doing flashpoints.

That's very cool, also please point out which build are you using and what kind of mobs are you fighting with... as im about to respec myself, as soon as i get home that is ^^.

This is the build I am working towards: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#500rMG0uMzZhGrMMhzzM.1

 

Its the same build from the sticky on the Guardian forum.

Yeah, I went defense with a touch of dps talents thrown in... and made sure I have tank gear on. Works very well.

 

For me, using a dps partner that can kill things while I stay alive is working perfect, but you could really use any companion and do the job fine, with maybe the only thing changing is the time needed to kill the mobs.

 

I have seen tanks in game that complain about their leveling and their performance, only to inspect them and see that they are not geared to tank whatsoever, and I have to laugh at some folks that don't even run a shield in their off-hand. But that is another story.

 

Gear right, talent right, and you are golden.

This is the build I am working towards: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#500rMG0uMzZhGrMMhzzM.1

 

Its the same build from the sticky on the Guardian forum.

 

Glad, i was wondering how seraphimm's build works in terms of practical gameplay since i've developed a similar build and wanted to compare those a little.

 

 

Yeah, I went defense with a touch of dps talents thrown in... and made sure I have tank gear on. Works very well.

 

For me, using a dps partner that can kill things while I stay alive is working perfect, but you could really use any companion and do the job fine, with maybe the only thing changing is the time needed to kill the mobs.

 

I have seen tanks in game that complain about their leveling and their performance, only to inspect them and see that they are not geared to tank whatsoever, and I have to laugh at some folks that don't even run a shield in their off-hand. But that is another story.

 

Gear right, talent right, and you are golden.

 

I had the same problem. I encountered a guardian when my character was in it's 20s and i was astounded when i saw him tanking. he could take in twice as much damage as me and when i asked him about the build.. he said he had exactly same build as me! what i didnt take into consideration was his equipement, which was fully guardian spec + he even had relics and ear equipement. one small point into endurance, huge difference in a fight i guess.

Edited December 28, 2011 by Carousel_t

I've leveled as a Tank and I've got to say the only good thing about it is the back to back stuns. Until you get Doc you will need to spec your companion as dps and manage your abilities efficiently by activating wards at the right time and interrupting to avoid major damage.

 

Guardian really is an inadequate Tank, you have two major defense skills with long cooldowns and strong players or enemies can eat through your hp while these are on cooldown. You just have to do your best with the poor hand you've been dealt.

 

I'm sorry but I'm quite the noob when it comes to TOR (although tanked 3+ years in WoW): how do you spec your companion? I'm lvl 14 and trying to avoid T7 to suck aggro off my targets.

 

Next question: when do you get Kira as a companion?

 

If this have been answered, please indulge .

 

Thanks.

This is the build I am working towards: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#500rMG0uMzZhGrMMhzzM.1

 

Its the same build from the sticky on the Guardian forum.

 

Is there a nice build with Guardian Slash in it?

I have no problems leveling as guardian tank, you just need to upgrade equipment and use all of your skills. JK is definatelly way slower then bounty hunter with his awesome aoe. I feel he could use some bufs at lower levels - more damage basically - to increase killing speed. He just doesn't feel (to me) like deadly jedi who breezes thru enemies as we have seen in SW movies. Good thing is that he tanks like a champ!

Is there a nice build with Guardian Slash in it?

 

a 31/10 build will get you to Guardian slash on the defense tree.

 

It's a matter of putting points in places you prefer on Tier 2 - 4 Defense.

 

I am working towards this build myself.

 

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#500dMGcurrkzRZhGM.1

 

I am still unsure about the 3% increase in accuracy.

I'm also doing a Defense/Vigilance Hybrid spec, with more points in Def at the moment (Level 38 right now), and I'm loving it.

I tried leveling as Vigilance DPS from 32 to 35 and, no, don't know what I did wrong, but mobs would tear me down.

 

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