Jump to content

Defense Guardian Builds


Mattricks

Recommended Posts

This is my plan both for leveling and for tanking all the way up to 50.

 

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#500fMG0uMZhGrMMhzzM.1

 

I'm still torn between putting the 2 points into Command or Shield Specialization. Command will help make it easier to manage multiple adds, but Shield Specialization will help with survivability. I'm leaning toward Command at the moment though, I think being able to do Force Push and Challenging Call more often trumps a 4% extra chance to block 20% of damage (which is basically what our shield does).

 

Overhead Slash can be used every 9 seconds in that build so you end up doing more DPS (and therefore getting more single-target threat) than Guardian Slash.

 

Effluence makes Force Sweep free, which combined with Swelling Winds helps us with AoE which is a weakness of Guardians.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello!

With very little experience this is the build I have come up with, it is not set in stone. The build is for both PVP and PVE tanking while leveling, at 50, I will respec to a more dedicated tank.

 

I have choosen the abilities that I like more than the abilities that seem useful (tough a few of those are in there too)

 

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

 

Yes no Riposte, why, i forget about using it and it takes a lot of points to make it worthwile in my opinion.

 

Have fun

landoro

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are two main schools of thought for Guardian tanking. One is a Hybrid Vigilance/Defense build with like a 24/17 split. Their reasoning is that the mid level Vigilance talents provide better bonuses than the upper tiers of defense. I don't subscribe to this school of thought, but if you are interested there is already a thread on it.

 

The second school of thought is a 34/7 Defense/Vigilance split. This is my preferred spec, and it does offer some flexibility in how you build it.

 

First off, a link to my build: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#500fMGcurroukZhMM.1

 

Talent Choices

Defense

Tier 1

TBH all the tier 1 Defense skills offer a lot to a tank build. You only need to take 5 points, but I think buying the whole tier is worth it.

 

Victory Rush- This talent is required as it helps make up the loss of focus we naturally incur using Soresu. Sundering Strike is your bread and butter focus builder. 'Nuff said.

 

Dust Storm- Adds a debuff to accuracy on Force Sweep. Useful, as a decrease in accuracy for an enemy means a gain in survivability for you.

 

Momentum- Free Blade Storm after Force Leap? Yes please, especially after the later talents that buff Blade Storm. This is probably the most optional of the T1 talents, but to progress you will have to put at least 1 point in it.

 

 

Tier 2- This tier seems to be a no brainer for a tank. 2 great tanking talents and a not so great talent.

 

Guard Stance- Mandatory. It increase your defense in your tanking stance

 

Lunge- IMO also Mandatory. Riposte is not on the GCD, and eventually with this spec it will give you defensive bonuses. Making it cost just one focus is a no brainer and you should be using Riposte in this spec every time it is up.

 

Solidified Force: Reduces the cost of our slow and Hilt Strike. Not worth the points as it does not increase our dps or survival. That said a nice pvp talent.

 

Tier 3: Again, mostly good, with one not so good talents, at least for our purposes.

 

Blade Baricade- Enhances Riposte to give you a defense bonus. With 3 points into it, that 6% defense for 6 seconds. This is why Riposte should be used whenever possible.

 

Warding Call- 40% damage reduction for 10 seconds. YES PLEASE!!!

 

Profound Resolution- More of a PVP talent. Reduce the cd on our cc breaker.

 

Pacification- Increase DPS for our 2 AOE's and Hilt Strike by 15%. Sign me up as an increase in damage is an increase in threat.

 

Tier 4- This is where those who advocate Vigilance/Defense Hybrids say the Defense Tree starts getting weak, I disagree,

 

Shield Specialization- Increase your shield chance, more avoidance equals more survivability.

 

Courage- Another optional talent. Useful in that it can reduce the costs of Sweep and Blade Storm, which due to their defensive buffs will pretty much be used whenever they are up.

 

Command- This is another semi-optional talent. Fully specc'd it reduces the CD on our AOE taunt and force push by 15 secs. I'll take that. More threat is always welcome

 

Tier 5- Solid Talents abound, nothing earth shattering, but solid.

 

Stasis Mastery- Makes Force Stasis instant rather than channeled. Handy considering it's one of our only cc's

 

Hilt Strike- Optional. Hilt Strike would be much better if the cd wasn't a minute. Still a handy ability. High threat is always nice, as is the stun.

 

Force Clap- Adds a 2 second stun to Force Leap. Again, more of a pvp talent. Optional.

 

Blade Barricade- Adds a damage shield to Blade Storm. Quite handy.

 

 

Tier 6- Gravy. Both talents here are worthwhile.

 

Cyclonic Strikes- Improves Soresu Stance's focus generation and using Cyclonic Slash reduces the cd on Combat Focus, which gives us free focus. Mandatory

 

Inner Peace- I'm torn on this talen as it reduce the cd on Enure (meh) but increase elemental and internal damage resists (yes). This talent comes down to your preference.

 

Tier 7- Guardian Slash- YES. DPS central. While the hybrid crew will point out Vigilance puts out more dps, Guardian Slash makes sense in that you should be able to keep five stacks of Sunder up for it to do it's max damage. More Damage more threat.

 

 

Vigilance Tier 1

 

Improved Sunder- Makes Sunder stack twice instead of once. Mandatory.

 

Swelling Winds- 30% more damage and a reduced cd on one of our 2 AOE's. Yes especially With Dust Storm.

 

Single Saber Mastery- Meh, better for the DPS and pvp, doesn't help since we tank in Soresu.

 

Vigilance Tier 2

 

Defiance- More of a pvp skill.

 

Perseverance- Gives us strength, which in turn gives us damage, which in turn gives threat. Very Nice

 

Accuracy- Increase our Accuracy. Also important as if we don't hit, we don't do damage. If we don't do damage, we don't build threat. This is really a toss up between Perseverance in my build. But if you ditch some of the optionals in defense this is a good home.

 

Just my 2 credits.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the big breaking point for people once they put it all into action is that Guardian Slash is redundant and inferior. Most Guardians are not having any trouble at all keeping 5 stacks of sunder on their target with the improved talent. So once you have those 5 stacks the benefit of Guardian Slash becomes suspect. A lot of people are taking Vigilance up to Overhead Slash because it's actually higher DPS due to it's shorter cooldown. While DPS shouldn't be a tanking Guardian's focus it does equal more threat and a higher quality soloing experience.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree that it's easy to stack sunder. Stacking Sunder is not the point to Guardian Slash. The point is, is if you have 5 stacks of sunder up Guardian Slash will do more damage. It shouldn't be used as a stacker itself.

 

Is Overhead Strike a better skill? Sure, My issue is that the upper tier defensive bonuses are better than what you get from Vigilance.

Edited by shadvp
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree that it's easy to stack sunder. Stacking Sunder is not the point to Guardian Slash. The point is, is if you have 5 stacks of sunder up Guardian Slash will do more damage. It shouldn't be used as a stacker itself.

But Guardian Slash has a 15s cooldown. Overhead Slash (with the right spec) has a 9s cooldown. It will do more damage in the same amount of time, a lot more damage (I think it's like 50% more, they aren't even close). So you end up having pretty much no reason to spec for Guardian Slash.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are two main schools of thought for Guardian tanking. One is a Hybrid Vigilance/Defense build with like a 24/17 split. Their reasoning is that the mid level Vigilance talents provide better bonuses than the upper tiers of defense. I don't subscribe to this school of thought, but if you are interested there is already a thread on it....

 

You sold me. I'm going to give this one a try.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are two main schools of thought for Guardian tanking. One is a Hybrid Vigilance/Defense build with like a 24/17 split. Their reasoning is that the mid level Vigilance talents provide better bonuses than the upper tiers of defense. I don't subscribe to this school of thought, but if you are interested there is already a thread on it....

 

You sold me. I'm going to give this one a try.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are two main schools of thought for Guardian tanking. One is a Hybrid Vigilance/Defense build with like a 24/17 split. Their reasoning is that the mid level Vigilance talents provide better bonuses than the upper tiers of defense. I don't subscribe to this school of thought, but if you are interested there is already a thread on it....

 

You sold me. I'm going to give this one a try.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

IT all depends to whether the shield from brainstorm is bugged or not

 

It's not "bugged", it's just poorly designed. Most defensive abilities are percentage based so they scale as you advance. Blade Barricade, for example, is a 6% defense boost, so as your defense abilities increase so does that defense ability. But Blade Barrier (which can proc off of Blade Storm with the proper skills) is a flat damage absorption ability. When you first acquire it, it's not bad, but once you get into higher levels it loses effectiveness. By the time you hit level 50 your enemies are doing so much damage it can't stand up to a single hit so you might as well not have it.

 

If it gets changed to scale in some way, maybe it absorbs an amount of damage up to 10% of your maximum health, then it might be worth getting. But right now it's trash at the upper levels.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But Guardian Slash has a 15s cooldown. Overhead Slash (with the right spec) has a 9s cooldown. It will do more damage in the same amount of time, a lot more damage (I think it's like 50% more, they aren't even close). So you end up having pretty much no reason to spec for Guardian Slash.

 

Overhead Slash does around 20% more damage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree that it's easy to stack sunder. Stacking Sunder is not the point to Guardian Slash. The point is, is if you have 5 stacks of sunder up Guardian Slash will do more damage. It shouldn't be used as a stacker itself.

 

Is Overhead Strike a better skill? Sure, My issue is that the upper tier defensive bonuses are better than what you get from Vigilance.

 

Although, I'm shocked at how many solid survivability choices are built into the Vigilance tree to get you to Overhead Strike. Making Force Sweep free, getting solid damage reduction after Force Leap... these are not bad options in terms of survivability. The only issue I can see with the Hybrid build is single boss fights where you might not be bouncing around as much, though I suspect you would just bounce around as CDs permit regardless of the need...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...