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Sef’s Shield Tech PvP Tanking Guide


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I created this guide to answer the questions of some players in my server and also provide tips regarding PT tanking for both rated and non-rated games.

 

Just to let you know, English is not my primary language so please bear with me. ;)

 

Updated Kolto Overload: 9/18/2013

 

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We know for a fact that PTs had been disfavored pvp tanks due to their lack of utility and CDs. That is no longer the case after patch 2.0. The changes in Shield Tech tree and improvement in pvp shield mechanics has made PT tanks heavy presence in warzones.

 

PTs playstyle will always be the most passive among all tanks as we have flat mitigation talents on our ST tree, therefore adding more defensive CDs would put PTs ahead of the two classes. Though I would agree that Coolant or Oil Slick can be tweaked for the better, we are in a good standing at this moment.

 

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Gearing

 

Max Endurance > Max Mitigation

 

1. Elemental/Internal Damage: This type of damage is unmitigated by our armor and mitigation stats, therefore stacking HP is the only way to decrease incoming damage from this type.

 

2. Auto-crit attacks: In the 2 roll system of SWTOR, crit pushes shield off the table on the 2nd roll. Therefore, the only way to decrease incoming damage from this is by defense (RNG) or by increasing HP (flat increase).

 

3. Time to Kill is Increased: Mitigation stats all rely on RNG, while increasing HP is a direct buff to lower the % of damage taken from any source based on overall HP.

 

4. Shoulder Cannon & Kolto Overload: They increase in effectiveness as overall HP increases.

 

5. PvP is dynamic: Team compositions will always vary, meaning the % of incoming Force/Tech, and Melee/Range damage will always change, which makes optimizing mitigation stats flawed in pvp.

 

 

Stat Prioritization: Endurance>Shield>Absorption>Defense

 

2pc Supercommando + 2pc Combat Tech Set: 5% buff to damage while guarding is nice but dps-ing is not our main role as a tank. Besides, all damage that we do is fluff and is not beneficial for our team in a rated setting. The decreased CD on our CC-breaker and increased duration of Carbonite is more favorable for objective plays and team utility.

 

Armory

 

9 Advanced Weighted Mod 28BX

7 Advanced Vigilant Enhancement 28X

14 Advanced Fortitude Augment 28

1 Conqueror Supercommando’s MK-1 Module

2 Conqueror Supercommando’s MK-1 Implant

Conqueror Relic of Shield Amplification

Conqueror Relic of Fortunate Redoubt or Matrix Cube M7-Y3

 

You may wonder why I did not get that much defense. Based on my testing, all incoming damage is smoother with SH>ABS>DEF compared to SH>DEF>ABS.

 

PT wants shield stat because of Heat Blast boosting Absorption to high levels. Absorption will only be effective with a reasonable amount of Shielding and vice versa. And since we’re gearing for max END, increasing the value of shield is better since it covers more damage types than defense. Lastly, dodging/parrying an attack will not give us the chance to shield it and activate procs in our tree such as shield vents, hydraulic shield, heat screen, and heat blast.

 

Stacking defense might help you dodge some crits, but once it bypasses defense you will get more damage by not stacking abs.

 

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My PvP Build: 36/7/3

 

I will not explain why I allocated a point on each and every skill in the Shield Tech tree. Instead, I’ll just focus on talents I ignored that some PT tanks use. The rest of the talents are all important and follow this prioritization: Tankiness>Utility>Damage.

 

Dropped Talents

 

Rail Loaders, Hyper Fuel, Hot Iron, Protype Burn Enhancers, Iron Fist, and Prototype Cylinders - We are not here to dps, so these talents will not benefit our tanking abilities.

 

Flame Engine – It activates with all damage attacks, however for a 15% chance to proc in an 18 second rate limit, these 2 points are better somewhere else.

 

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PvP Tactics

 

Guard-Switching:

 

This mechanic is only effective with good battle awareness offensively and defensively. We are responsible for everybody ‘s deaths including dps, healers, even friendly tanks if necessary. We are built to withstand damage so use it accordingly. A healer in full health is not worth guarding than a dps at 80-90% health taking damage.

 

I would advise to zoom out your camera so you will have better view of most teammates and opposing team’s movements. Modifying the operation bar would also help you see clearly who’s low on health in areas with LOS mechanics and for easy clicking. Don’t hesitate to use Hydraulic Overrides to stay at range of your guarded target. Lastly, unguard the guardee when he/she is above 40% and you’re dropping <20% health to keep yourself up when all CDs are not ready yet.

 

Peeling:

 

  • Grapple - Should be always put on CD in any map except for Huttball. It pulls away enemies from healers and range dps, and you can also make an enemy to overextend that will give your team an advantage.

  • Flame Sweep - Use these to slow enemies focusing your guarded teammate and apply a debuff on their damage.

  • Carbonite & Electro Dart – Use to give teammates breathing room when focused.

  • Neural Overload through Rapid Fire – This is the only thing you can do 30m away when JC, and Grapple is on CD.

 

Taunting:

 

Always keep your single-target taunt on CD. Watch out for those targets on cover, they bring good damage and most of the time isolated so using this on them is a good idea. Save your AoE taunts for multiple enemies in one area.

 

Offensive AoE Opener:

 

I just included this one because it is a good team play, and provides an advantage to your team, but requires coordination to set off.

 

The main idea of this is for a PT tank to open and pull all melee firepower towards him, just like pulling aggro in PvE while the rest of the team throw their AoEs and focus fire on the trapped enemies. I know it sounds ridiculous in pvp setting, but I’ve pulled this off plenty of times with great success. Though it will not always be ideal, it will put the opposing team at a disadvantage when done correctly.

 

Here’s the rotation: JC>(Oil Slick)FS>Grapple a target (preferably one that has overextended to your group)>FS>FT>Carbonize>DFA

 

This can be applied at the beginning of every encounter at mid in Novare Coast, Civil War, Ancient Hypergates, and Voidstar.

 

Node Guarding:

 

PTs are 2nd to Sins in node guarding. The addition of SC made us a good option for this role. For cap breaking, always use SC missiles first as we have 4 on our disposal every CD. Do not use them quickly, wait for >70% cap channel before launching one. Use only 1 missile per cap. SC is only as effective as our positioning, so make sure you're inside the 10m range when guarding. Only use CC-breaker after all missiles are depleted.

 

Hot key missile blast as it also provide good aoe and is instant, perfectly viable when opposing team is multi-spam capping, and your rooted 30m, with DFA, JC, HO, on CD.

 

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Defensive CDs

 

Energy Shield: Use it at or before dropping to 50% health.

 

Shoulder Cannon: Only use it when your health dropped to 20-30% range. Always use all 4 to gain 20% heal with shield cannon talented. Spacing each missile out will only put you at a disadvantage when only 1-2 is left and you need a big boost of TTK. Keep an eye on the SC buff, use all your missiles before it goes on CD.

 

*You can also combine this skill with Kolto Overload when medpacks are on CD. Kolto Overload>SCx4 below 30% HP. But I prefer to combine Kolto with Medpacks to have 2 good emergency CDs.

 

Kolto Overload: I find that using it alone is much better in an endurance build as it makes you somewhat unkillable temporarily and not a good target for the opposing team. Using it alone will give you 3 good defensive CDs including medpack. For heavy damage situations, where KO is not enough to keep you alive, use medpacks as you gain a total of 16% HP in 8 seconds duration when above 30% with Coolant talented.

 

Oil Slick: The only time you should use Oil Slick as a CD is when there’s no healer around and you’re guarding a node. Of course you need to base this on the incoming damage, like if it’s a concealment op, which is mostly tech damage then don’t use it. But if it’s a marauder or sniper, you would definitely want to take advantage of the 30% accuracy debuff giving you an overall 41% defense chance.

 

Buy Stun Grenades: You can add it as a panic/get off me button.

 

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Team Utility - Oil Slick

 

Oil Slick with the addition of its slow effect has given PT some good pvp control both offensively and defensively. Its main utility is to slow opposing team as having the advantage in positioning is always crucial in winning a game. Use it to delay enemies from reaching objectives/teammates working on objectives (scoring a ball/capping a node). It also synergizes with Predation really well and can be further improved by spamming Flame Sweep.

 

These are some areas in warzones where Oil Slick’s slow effect is maximized due to the narrow pathways/passageways.

 

 

  • Pit/Bridges in Huttball

  • Underpass, and Middle & Side Node intersection in Civil War

  • Opposing team’s side at mid in Ancient Hypergates

  • Corridors in Voidstar

 

OS can also be used in an open area as long as a lot of enemies are in the vicinity. If enemies prefer to walk around or run away from it don’t be discouraged, you still helped your team by delaying the opposing team’s actions.

Edited by dijskykiller
Changed IGN to Ra'ma from Sef
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  • 2 weeks later...
Ty for this post its a good guide only question I have is which pieces to you recommended for supercomando and which 2 for tech combat? and the 5th would you recommended tech combat, supercommando or eliminator?
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Ty for this post its a good guide only question I have is which pieces to you recommended for supercomando and which 2 for tech combat? and the 5th would you recommended tech combat, supercommando or eliminator?

 

It does not matter what the 5th piece is since you won't get any bonus for it. However, i would suggest to get supercommando for the last one for faster tank gearing.

 

The best pieces are chest and hand for supercommando as they both carry absorption on mods and enhancements. For the third piece, you can pick-up head or leggings. Don't bother with boots as it has alacrity that we don't need. The rest will then be combat-tech.

 

Here are the set bonuses we are aiming for:

 

Supercommando

2-piece: Reduces the cooldown of Heat Blast and Jet Charge or Energy Blast and Storm by 1.5 seconds.

 

Combat Tech

2-piece: Increases the duration of Carbonize or Neural Surge by 0.5 seconds, and reduces the cooldown of Determination or Tenacity by 15 seconds.

Edited by dijskykiller
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You suggest using 7 of the Weighted Mod 28x's, do you have a preference or suggestion for the mod in the other slots? by my calculation there are 9 Mods total.

 

Also, Thank you for a great post, before reading this i was going the opossite direction and worrying more about mitigation stats than HP, and stacking defense akin to a PvE build

Edited by johnpickard
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You suggest using 7 of the Weighted Mod 28x's, do you have a preference or suggestion for the mod in the other slots? by my calculation there are 9 Mods total.

 

Also, Thank you for a great post, before reading this i was going the opossite direction and worrying more about mitigation stats than HP, and stacking defense akin to a PvE build

 

Glad to help!

Yah, I it should be 9 mods and 7 enhancements. Thanks for the correction.

 

I have also tried full mitigation before heading this path. I wasted a lot of comms just to test it as i don't want to rely on someone else's opinion. I was at 20/35/35 with 30k hp with full mitigation at that time.

 

I have also tried KBN's and dipstick's optimization for 60% M/R and 40% F/T in 1900~ stat budget, however it is not that ideal because compositions vary. For PvE it will always be mit>end, but in pvp, mitigation stats are not as effective as stacking your hp sky high. Especially for PTs that has 3% increase in endurance talent and SC & Kolto Overload hp regen.

Edited by dijskykiller
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I use the exact same skill point selection & agree with everything but

Instead of redoubt relic I use the matrix cube as it provides slightly more endurance

 

Apart from this small detail a very good guide

 

Thanks! Actually, i included the matrix-cube in place of redoubt relic the first time i posted this guide. I just prefer the redoubt as it is also better in duels, and pvp outside warzones due to absence of bolster. But yah, the matrix-cube is better for flat stat increase in end inside warzones.

 

Another thing i noticed is dps classes gain more from cubes than tanks, that's why i dropped it. And in a maximum endurance build, the increase in mitigation stats from redoubt is preferable than minimal hp increase from the cube.

 

I'll put it back in the guide though, just for preference.

Edited by dijskykiller
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I use the exact same skill point selection & agree with everything but

Instead of redoubt relic I use the matrix cube as it provides slightly more endurance

 

Apart from this small detail a very good guide

 

i would not advise taking the cube for endurance, using redoubt and shield relics I have gotten my vanguard over 40k hp on my pvp gear, at that point you really should pick up mitigation. Not to mention it makes life easier for your healers to have that redoubt proc up, particularly given how popular snipers are right now....

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  • 3 weeks later...
I was thinking about picking up the healer 2-piece bonus for the reduced CD on HtL, in your opinion would that be worth using over the Combat Tech one?

 

I have to say, i also like that 2-piece medic bonus. In fact, i sometimes run it for higher HO up-time. However, in my experience, the best benefit that you will get from it is on Huttball if you will be carrying the ball in a rated game, which Juggs do better at the moment. Outside of HB, the increased Carbonite stun is much important for me as it gives your teammates more room to breath and is crucial when stealing nodes/pylons, plus the addition of lower CD on our cc-breaker makes us more viable in guarding our nodes.

 

In addition, if you re-spec inside warzones for dps, the 2pc combat tech bonus will serve you better as you will be in close range taking a lot of stuns. Though it's also nice to have higher uptime of HO with pyro for increased mobility. It will be more of a preference issue.

 

Furthermore, if they will be buffing HO for PT tanks in the future, 2-pc combat medic will be the better choice for rated games.

Edited by dijskykiller
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  • 2 weeks later...
Which are the best tanking keybinds? To make selecting people to guard easier.

 

Good question. This varies from player to player. I use the operation frame, target nearest friend and target next friend. I sometimes click on the screen, but keybinds and operation frame works better and faster for me.

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On a good zone my 15th lvl shield tech is only pulling at the best ive done 100k protection is that good for that low of level?

 

Honestly, i have never tanked in low-level warzones as i've started as dps on my PT.

 

At 55, you should be averaging for 300k protection in every wz against an average dps team. Good dps teams will net you 500k or above protection, while bad ones will give you 100-200k.

 

Protection will always vary depending on how heavy the firepower of the opposing team is and amount of healers on your team. Also, don't just pay attention on numbers. A lot of things happen in the game that is not calculated by the scoreboard like objective plays. As long as you take a big chunk of the other team's damage and keep everybody alive with minimal amount of deaths in the end, you are doing a good job.

Edited by dijskykiller
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Honestly, i have never tanked in low-level warzones as i've started as dps on my PT.

 

At 55, you should be averaging for 300k protection in every wz against an average dps team. Good dps teams will net you 500k or above protection, while bad ones will give you 100-200k.

 

Protection will always vary depending on how heavy the firepower of the opposing team is and amount of healers on your team. Also, don't just pay attention on numbers. A lot of things happen in the game that is not calculated by the scoreboard like objective plays. As long as you take a big chunk of the other team's damage and keep everybody alive with minimal amount of deaths in the end, you are doing a good job.

 

Thanks a bunch I appreciate it. I always play objectives and try to guard and taunt as much as I can. I am new at it and was curious if I was doing it close to right. I really appreciate the help. I primarily play my Sin but when I need a break I like tanking on my PT.

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#1 guide.

Minimum Defence still stands or should be some more?

Some additions (Vanguard tree):

- Use 3 skill p on Overcharged and none on Supercharged/ Static Surge.

- Use 2 on Demolition and 1 on Focused

- Use 1 Veracity crafted implant.

Edited by Aetideus
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#1 guide.

Minimum Defence still stands or should be some more?

Some additions (Vanguard tree):

- Use 3 skill p on Overcharged and none on Supercharged/ Static Surge.

- Use 2 on Demolition and 1 on Focused

- Use 1 Veracity crafted implant.

 

Yes, defense remains to be the last priority.

 

I don't really like the idea of dropping flame surge as FS gives us good team utility with combust and firestorm. Having 2 free aoe slow and damage debuff is a must for PT tanks if you are main tanking. Supercharged Ion Gas also gives you aoe slow from IGC procs thru RS, which is another form of utility. If you have read my guide, i prioritized in this order to increase my PT's effectiveness in PvP: tankiness>utility>damage. Damage is the last thing that we want to do as a main tank.

 

Crafted implants are considered BiS in pvp, however having that advantage in rwzs are frowned upon by pvpers and i also believe in fair play and prefer the non-bolstered pvp gear.

Edited by dijskykiller
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Yes, defense remains to be the last priority.

 

I don't really like the idea of dropping flame surge as FS gives us good team utility with combust and firestorm. Having 2 free aoe slow and damage debuff is a must for PT tanks if you are main tanking. Supercharged Ion Gas also gives you aoe slow from IGC procs thru RS, which is another form of utility. If you have read my guide, i prioritized in this order to increase my PT's effectiveness in PvP: tankiness>utility>damage. Damage is the last thing that we want to do as a main tank.

 

Crafted implants are considered BiS in pvp, however having that advantage in rwzs are frowned upon by pvpers and i also believe in fair play and prefer the non-bolstered pvp gear.

 

Thanks for the clarification about Supercharged.

For Static Surge being energy management, Ill stay with 2 p elsewhere.

Veracity is BiS but there is a 900 hp and 102 abs loss if both are used.

Edited by Aetideus
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Which are the best tanking keybinds? To make selecting people to guard easier.

 

I use F for guard and G for follow so I can switch and find my guard targets quickly. I'd also recommend marking your favorite healer or guard target on your side with a Shield Icon (non hutball), so you can always see them on the battlefield.

 

If you're real advanced you can get into using focus target more (ALT F sets it, Control F give you their target), but thats a bit much for me right now.

 

I just added a recommendation for an automatic marker and debuf here if you want to bump it.

Visual Marker for Guard Target AND Debuff for being out of 15m range to Tank

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