Climbing the steelwall (Guardian AA question) - Page 4

Halbarad · 05-21-2008, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirAmoel

I should go try out some of the stuff Hal said in the guardian guide too.

Thanks folks =)

Jesus... I am flattered

I take a 6 month break and some people are still reading it! Cool! /bounce

But, to be honest, when I wrote this guide, it was late T7/early T8... many things may have changed. And please remember that I was never a top-end raiding MT... I was a casual Raid MT that tried to get as good as he can be.

As soon as I am back (on the guard) and get the grip of the new mechanics I will post a new version. I only rushed to 80 in Kunark and have 0 raid exp in T8.

BUT... If you are only doing heroic content or less... I would bet my barbarian ass (which is extremely sexy btw) that the golden buckler rule still applies:

Buckler is damage is hate is kill speed.

Tower Shields are for raid tanks. Get into the diminishing returns for mitigation and whack a mole with your buckler.

The most important thing is to time your CA's and your auto attacks as everybody else must have said already.

God... this became a rant... from a clueless away-from-game Guard. Flame me... but it feels good to return :D

Hal

Halbarad · 05-21-2008, 10:03 PM

Oh, and since this is about levelling up...

This would be my focus while levelling:

1. Survivability ... or: Don't stress your healers

Get mastercrafted armor and/or legendary plate of your tier -> Your mitigation HAS TO BE in the diminishing returns

Stamina is your friend! (the stat, not the aa line)

Be or befriend an alchemist for all the potions that you need

2. Learn to DPS ... or: Time your Attacks

The most important thing is to not clip your auto-attacks - especially if you are buckler-specced.

Depending on your weapon speed, which should be as slow as possible (as far as I remember, there are no easily attainable 2.0+ 1handers in T1-T6, T7 has a few raid drops only), you need to time your CA's between your auto-swings. There are many tools floating around that can help you with that.

Joining a group without having Adept III in your most important Skills/Buffs/CA's - don't do it... unless they are really good friends.

3. Know your encounters ... or: Make everybody happy

The Guard is the Tank is the Pacemaker.

Normally your ability and your knowledge define the kill speed of your group.

You need to know when your priest is ready or when s/he needs a break.

You need to know all encounters and you need to know the pull strat of every instance.

If you are entering an instance for the first time, let everybody know.

If you have people there doing it for the ump-teenth time on their 13th alt, they have a good knowledge - leech it. Otherwise they just think you are a retarded tank that doesn't know his shit.

And that would be a major stroke to in my opinion the most important thing in a Guard's career:

4. Build a Reputation ... or: Good Tanks are rare

If you save your priests, if you tank instances in record time, if you know your shit, if you aren't afraid to ask - you will have a good rep and you will end on many friends lists.

And that is when you have "won" EQ2. When people say: Cool, our Guard has logged on - let's kick some asses!

And never forget: Rescue is for priests - not for dps - and never for High Elf Wizards :D

... God ... another shameless babble...

Hal

SirAmoel · 05-24-2008, 02:32 PM

Hey, Hal!

Of course, your guide was the first stuff I dug into before making my guard. Top notch, man.

And that was actually really useful. And the first post in a while not ranting about T8 bucklers.

Actually, I've been told equal times "use a towershield, get away from sta aa's" and "use sta aa's and get a buckler".

So I've tried sta aa's with buckler in T3. Not bad, had some aggro problems.

And a Towershield and str+agi int T4. Can stand a horde of heroics, horrible aggro problems.

So I guess I'll be just practicing and trying around with bucklers and towers until something fits me.

SirAmoel · 05-25-2008, 06:57 AM

Respec'd to agi+int while I score some more aa points, still using tower shield, but I got one of those new spatha's and aggro has become a slightly less predominant problem.

I've also gotten into the habit of using Entrench, and it helps a lot when AoE nukers are around, tho only for a moment.

The best thing I've learned, however, is to slam the nuker's forehead agains the nearest wall a few times until they start using their deaggros.

Who cares about dps in heroic content? Heck, I only run ACT to know who to put Allay on!

Gildamethy · 05-29-2008, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gildamethy

Atm I'm only 51 but I went with:

BW: 1
STA: 44682
STR: 44862
AGI: 1

I was originally speced like this however:
BW:1
INT: 44682
STA: 44682
AGI: 1

Well from the looks of it the respec seems to be holding more aggro then the int/sta specs. As well as my dps does not look to have suffered at all. Im a bit hesitant to drop the STA line tho to go STR/INT as I know that would give me more att speed+ and parry but would that be worth the loss of the risp. and DA and BR? DA is sexy as all hell. BR is a power free 300ish dmg every 30 seconds. Before I knew about Buckler spec I used a tower shield and was having issues with aggro control then switched to buckler spec and aggro control as well as dps jumped signifigantly. Any recomendations?

update a bit

Well im 54 now almost 55 I decided to try out STR/INT spec with MC tower shield partly because of the fact that as was stated before, there is not a real "tanking" buckler till next tier. Went with imbued cobalt tower shield and not only did my avoidance jump signifigantly with this respec (44ish% with buckler spec to near 55% avoidance) as well as mitigation going up as well.

I MTed a small raid on a HQ mob in SS for my guild last night (lvl 55^^^x2 mob) with various 80 dps classes including a couple pallys and a monk(yes i know the monk should have been tanking hehe) and held the aggro with this spec setup quite well for most of the fight. Lost it for a short bit of time about 10% of the health of the mob then got it back with a few lucky crit hits on CAs. So this seems to be working well for me atm.

Thanks for the advice!

Once I hit 70 I was thikning of running 2 setups one for tower/dw one for buckler.

Tower shield spec was thinking:
BW:1
STR 458
INT 44882
AGI 448

Buckler spec was going to do:

BW:1
STR: 447
STA: 4448
INT: 44682

Now I say these based on the fact that these seem the most logical from what I have read and what I have experinced and very little raiding(not specifically t-x zones I see spoken of often here) for a good mix of aggro control, avoidance/mit and dps.

Thoughts? Am I way off... or? Oh and if it helps I would like to raid in the future but not till I feel my gear(quested etc) and AA and CA(all adept III or higher) is completed and can attempt to handle it with some proficiancy. And yes I hate being subpar, as any good tank should

, whether its at this lvl or 80.

Thanks
~Gilda

edited realized my math was wrong lol

Chumann · 05-29-2008, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gildamethy

Thoughts? Am I way off...

Yes, you're way off because you only have 60 points in each scenario. You can have a total of 70 points in each tree, not 60.

IMO, STR 4-4-8 is pretty much a non-negotiable standard of all gaurdians. There's never any reason whatsoever to put more points or take points away from this setup in STR. I recommend these three setups...

(Buckler specced w/ single target focus)
BW 1
STR 4-4-8
AGI 4-1
STA 4-4-8-8
INT 4-4-8-6-2

(Buckler specced w/ mult target focus)
BW 1
STR 4-4-8
AGI 4-4-8-6-2
STA 4-4-8-8
INT 4-1

(Tower shield spec)
BW 1
STR 4-4-8
AGI 4-4-8-8-2
INT 4-5-8-8-2
**The points in the 4th ability in AGI and INT are debatable and easily sacrificied for other enhancements in either line with this setup**

Gildamethy · 05-29-2008, 06:33 PM

Ahhh I see. I was mistaken in thinking that it was only 60 points per after 70. That would for sure make me max out crit hit at the very least. Awsome info thanks!

Sloopup · 08-17-2008, 07:37 AM

hiya guys i hve roled a guard and read through this forum all very good

i am lvl 47 with 46 AAs and my spec is as follows:

STR: 4-4-4-8

INT: 4-4-6-8-2

with this line up i have been able to keep agro (due to STR) and keep up with my DPS, i was thinking going in AGI: 4-6-4-8-2.

is this a good idea?

Also what is best to go for EoF tree?

Anap KaSplat · 08-17-2008, 08:46 AM

holy necro

salle · 08-20-2008, 03:29 AM

I would say go for STR 448 INT 48822 and start on either agi or sta... (key to that int line is prioritizing the ca from int line all the time, so you're always hasted and have faster recast etc)
Agi is good if you're having problems either with dying (dragoon's reflexes) or holding aggro on encounters or when there's adds. and the auto attack ae proc would most likely increase your dps the biggest but you have to have all the mobs fairly tight and infront of you for it to work.
Sta is good for single target DPS, and soloing.
For eof/subclass/guardian tree while leveling I'd just go for slaughtering all the way. maxing my dps is a good way to level faster. Perhaps also Moderate mastery so you don't have as much problem with people peeling.