Starting to dust off and level my PT after not touching him for a while, will be mainly PvP'n with the Mrs. once we get to 306 and good stats etc. She is playing Medicine OP, so I was thinking of going Shield Tech as seems to be a nice node guard duo. Any suggestions on what stats to look for or set/tactical? I see the PvE guide on Vulkk, but it doesn't have any recommendations for Pvp, hoping some veteran PvP tanks out there can help me out! Thanks in advance!

Okay, can’t say I’m that big of a pro-tank, I’m more of a DPS.

 

In terms of gearing, there are three viable sets for a shield tech:

 

1. Squad Leader – 10% dmg reduction to you and allies upon activation of Reactive Shield. Useful bonus in PVP for sure.

2. Emergency Power – Increase in duration of RS and buffing Power Yield. If you’re gunning for more survivability – this one is for you.

3. Meteor Brawler – Energy reduction of Stock Strike, 10% dmg increase and Ionfall.

 

In terms of tacticals:

 

1. Life Warden – Health boost from below 20% close to 100%.

2. Thermal Screen – Additional Stack to Power Yield, also, upon activation you start with 6 stacks.

3. Hotswap – Transponse gives next to 50% dmg. reduction. This one is very situational but fun.

 

Opener: Storm -> Ion Storm -> Ion Pulse -> Stock Strike -> High Impact Bolt -> Stock Strike/Ion Pulse -> Ion Storm -> Energy Blast.

 

Priority: Energy Blast -> Stock Strike -> High Impact Bolt -> Ion Storm -> Ion Pulse -> Hammer Shots.

 

Obviously preload Shoulder Cannon and shoot it at will.

 

From this point, I’d recommend going Skank Tank full on. Our DCD’s are still a joke and won’t help much. Might as well make the most from what we have.

 

In terms of stats, go for ~40% of Critical Chance which is around 4k of critical Rating and ~7,5% of Alacrity—around 1k.

 

Use DPS relics and make sure to keep the shield offhand.

Edited February 22, 2020 by Spoloma

Thank you so much for the detailed response!

 

So I should go Skank for reg pvp? Would full on Shield tech not be a good option? (dps wise) I could also go AP if it would be a wise option as we seem to be in a better place then the last time I was here

 

As far as Skank is concerned, if I understand correctly, it is just the tank spec/shells but with dps armorings/mods/enh and stats? Heard a good bit about it but never tried it

Thank you so much for the detailed response!

 

So I should go Skank for reg pvp? Would full on Shield tech not be a good option? (dps wise) I could also go AP if it would be a wise option as we seem to be in a better place then the last time I was here

 

As far as Skank is concerned, if I understand correctly, it is just the tank spec/shells but with dps armorings/mods/enh and stats? Heard a good bit about it but never tried it

 

For simple regs there is little to no point in playing tank/skank, though I guess it depends on your personal preference. Personally, I'm using AP/Tactics with Meteor Brawler armor set and Powerlode tactical. They buffed the tactical by adding autocrit, so it's now much more fun and powerful. Besides, if you got a pocket heal, you don't have to worry about survivability that much .

 

I'm using high crit/low alacrity build(as pretty much all vanguards/pts) + 105% accuracy -- 638.

Excellent! Thank you so much for all the quick, detailed responses! So AP it is! One other quick question, how is Pyro in PvP currently? I loved that spec back in the day, and I have seen that it is doing fantastic in PvE currently, is it any good in PvP?

Excellent! Thank you so much for all the quick, detailed responses! So AP it is! One other quick question, how is Pyro in PvP currently? I loved that spec back in the day, and I have seen that it is doing fantastic in PvE currently, is it any good in PvP?

You should definitely define that back in a day because I've been playing since 1.4. I'd say this game and pt/vg has seen better days for sure.

As for pyro, before the latest patch, it was better than AP/Tactics, but they nerfed it a bit and added autocrit to Powerlode. Now it's the other way around.

Haha! excellent! AP it is!

 

And I have been here, lets just say I have a Malgus statue on my desk and tiny little keychain security key lol... so since day 1 My first class was a Gunnery Commando back in the days where they were just a turret with no DCD lol

It's from the collector's edition, isn't it? Well, I don't have Malgus statue, but got fancy 200$ cerberus Normandy SR-2. It's beyond the point, but I couldn't help myself not to brag.

Okay, can’t say I’m that big of a pro-tank, I’m more of a DPS.

 

In terms of gearing, there are three viable sets for a shield tech:

 

1. Squad Leader – 10% dmg reduction to you and allies upon activation of Reactive Shield. Useful bonus in PVP for sure.

2. Emergency Power – Increase in duration of RS and buffing Power Yield. If you’re gunning for more survivability – this one is for you.

3. Meteor Brawler – Energy reduction of Stock Strike, 10% dmg increase and Ionfall.

 

In terms of tacticals:

 

1. Life Warden – Health boost from below 20% close to 100%.

2. Thermal Screen – Additional Stack to Power Yield, also, upon activation you start with 6 stacks.

3. Hotswap – Transponse gives next to 50% dmg. reduction. This one is very situational but fun.

 

Opener: Storm -> Ion Storm -> Ion Pulse -> Stock Strike -> High Impact Bolt -> Stock Strike/Ion Pulse -> Ion Storm -> Energy Blast.

 

Priority: Energy Blast -> Stock Strike -> High Impact Bolt -> Ion Storm -> Ion Pulse -> Hammer Shots.

 

Obviously preload Shoulder Cannon and shoot it at will.

 

From this point, I’d recommend going Skank Tank full on. Our DCD’s are still a joke and won’t help much. Might as well make the most from what we have.

 

In terms of stats, go for ~40% of Critical Chance which is around 4k of critical Rating and ~7,5% of Alacrity—around 1k.

 

Use DPS relics and make sure to keep the shield offhand.

 

I am wanting to play a shield tech skank tank in PvP. I am currently using the thermal screen tactical and I am looking at using the meteor brawler set. From looking at other posts and talking to people I have heard a lot of suggestions about using lethal B mods. You mentioned earlier about hitting 4k crit and 1k Alacrity but what shield and absorb should I aim for? Should I use the shield and absorb augments or something else? Then as a skank tank should you have a baseline defensive stat line such as shield and absorb then once you hit that point start going offense? I am just having some trouble drawing the line between when I can sacrifice defense for offense and still feel tanky.

 

Thanks!

Going Skank Tank essentially means a DPS gear in a Tank spec. You shouldn't have Tank stats at all. Though, don't forget to swap stuff on shield(offhand).

Personally, I'm using only crit/alacrity augs, but I've seen some people sprinkle that with some power augs. Never tried it, but you can check those builds on the net. About mods: lethal mod(unlettered/a/b) had 3 stats -- mastery, endurance, power. Lethal modb had the biggest amount of endurance, so it was next to mandatory for tanks.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N9emf63IMOaEHt0-9qEQ2AvZGFS4jQQxOq93VcmNtIk/edit#gid=2078002636

Edited February 25, 2020 by Spoloma

So currently I am not item level 306. I would like to have a set of both PvE (Traditional Tank) and PvP (Skank Tank) gear and that seems doable under the new system. When I am going for my DPS mods and enhancements for the Skank Tank should I just switch my loot specialization to one of the DPS options and just rip the mods out and plug them into a shell? Or am I better off buying all the mods and enhancements and armoring from the GTN?

You will have to change it anyway. If you're a tank, the gear you get or buy will be for tank exclusively.

The gear you get depends on your specialization.

Edited February 25, 2020 by Spoloma