Immortal | Defense Compendium | A Tank's Guide To The Galaxy

[Elobi]

(12-26-2011 07:28 PM)Ezharon Wrote:  I'd like to know what do you think of the guardian hybrid build (http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=1780)?

I'm lvl 33 atm. I discovered this hybrid build a few days ago and found it to be a little bit easier for leveling. But I'd like to know if it's viable for heroic flashpoints and operations or not.

The 20% damage reduction have been discussed alot - and I agree, it is an amazing talent, and it should be in the defense tree!

The build is pretty much an off-tank/wannabe AE tank build.

So yeah it is viable for FP's.. But when we are talking Ops, where you would primarily be tanking single target, the uptime of your 20% dmg reduction would be too low, and the base dmg on overhead slash lower than Guardian slash | Crushing blow..

Furthermore, the 20% damage reduction requires you to move, which in a raid situation, isnt always possible and you loose an absorp every 12 sec, that requires no action from you besides button bashing..

And with the amount of Force power you have at lvl 50, Blade Barrier | Sonic Barrier will easily absorb 10-15 % of your maximun health.

You will also generate 50% less focus than a "regular" defense specced Guardian, and even though you get a 100% free Force Sweep, With the talent Courage, it is almost free everytime anyways - and that talent helps on Blade storm aswell.

Look at it this way, with your build you will gain situational survivability at best in Ops, and even with a more damage focused build, you still wont beat troopper/BH at damage and Consulars/inquisitors at burst damage - so what can we do that they can't: play our defensive cards.

We have the best defensive cooldowns in swtor atm, and are only just behind trooper / bh in DR% and armor gained.
People frown upon the 4 % elemental damage reduction gained from Inner Peace[T6 talent], but remember that all non physical dot damage, burns etc will go straight through your armor and fry you; on top of that you get 5 seconds longer on your Enure/Endure pain, which can be lifesaving cooldown during hard phases.

So for operations I wouldn't recommend this, but the build linked in the Compendium.
You can still tank FP's with the Compendium build, since you can use your Combat Focus | Enrage almost as much as your AE taunt, so you will be able to handle the add heavy fights that bio are so fond of.

For flashpoint based on your links suggested build, I took the liberty of changing it abit; to gain more overall damage on Force Sweep/smash and extra shield chance.

I moved 2 point from Burning blade to Gather strenght, since your movement gets imparied like a bitch when fighting ads, and that talent will make your cyclone slash hit like a truck.

I also moved points from Protector, since that talent is mostly e-peen: the self applying GL buff is nice, but since you will have to jump back with force leap anyways, it is worthless, and if you choose to walk back you will only gain the damage reduction from a few blaster hits; those two point was moved to Pacification.

Moved one final point from Momentum to Shield Specialization, since you can't get it too 100% anyways, and with force sweep being free , you only have to spend focus on Cyclone slash/overhead slash/blade storm.

Link to build here

I kinda like this build, but if I were to go total AE smackface on it I would go for this

Only moved 1 point from overhead slash to Pacification, and if the dual spec option was there, I would have this is as my secondary spec.


TL;DR unless its a FP or Ad fight I don't recommend going for the Hybrid Build with Overhead Slash, or the AE Hybrid Build.
However if you absolutely HATE the last tiers of defense, and feel like the 20% damage reduction is a MUST, then go for Something like this

The last two talent points can be located at your own disposal, but I suggest Cyclonic Sweeps; Burning Blade is also a good option if you like that talent, however - Focus = Survivability and threat - and the extra free generated focus is really helpful.

(12-27-2011 08:35 PM)Mairu Wrote:  Can anyone give me some input on threat in terms of A Sith Juggernaut & SWTOR? I've been level 50 for a few days now and I've done a few flash points and hard mode flash points and I'm having difficulties coming up with the correct way to approach encounters and groups due to threat difficulties. It seems fairly easy to pull threat. I've noticed many mobs that do any sort of stun/incapacitate I'm going to lose threat on the mob when I get out, often even if I use Unleash.

I'm also having trouble trying to figure out what the best way to approach a group of ranged mobs is considering how spread out everything is in SWTOR and how small the AOE abilities Juggernauts have.

I'm not sure if I should continue putting Guard on the Healer in the party considering DPS seems to rip pretty often, and the two taunts I have I'm finding aren't always enough.

Is just the case for tanking in SWTOR, where I should expect some of the DPS to be offtanking a large portion of trash while we go through the flashpoint?

I'm coming from being a pretty experienced tank in World of Warcraft, tanking in raids & dungeons as both a druid, death knight, warrior, and paladin. This definitely seems pretty similar to warrior tanking in WoW but more similar to TBC where aoe tanking involved a great deal of switching targets.

Sorry for the long post, but I'd appreciate any sort of input.

It is alot like Warrior tanking pre lol...

and with game mechanics not alowing us to "silence" ranged mobs, since they dont cast spells :>, we have to prepare for each bigger fight.


When beginning a FP, make sure to tell your dps that you will mark and that they should follow kill order strictly, without them following killorder down to a tee, you will have to spam taunt and whatnot to try and sort out the mess.

Then explain to them what markers means what or simply do a "/p Killorder: Flame > Aim > Lightning etc." - personally, Imacroed this particualr kill order into my mouse to speed up things.

Make sure to tell them what markers are CC markers etc.

First off, to speed smaller packs up, make sure your dps automatically follows this kill order: Weak/normal > Strong > Elite > Champion

Since the sheer damage from those weak bastards sums up pretty fast.

If you got two f, ex two strongs , I suggest you mark the strong you want to kill first and then the ladder.

Regarding the dps off tanking; in larger packs you will often have weak/normal mobs which dies soo fast its not even funny, so to get a clean table as fast as possible before going down the kill order of the elites/champions have your dps use their heavy AE cd's and follow up with a AE taunt and a Sweeping Slash

Sweeping Slash
Sith Warrior

Rage: -3
Range: Melee (4m)
Activation time: Instant
Damage Type: Weapon
Mirror: Cyclone Slash

Slashes up to 5 enemies in front of you for <> weapon damage each. Attacks with both lightsabers if dual wielding.

just before it ends - Then you will have time to get back to your actuall targets of interest.

But if hell is loose - you should prioritize taunts/offensive cd's like this Champions > Elites > Strongs > Weak/normal..

Since most dps can handle the weak and normal mobs way better than the harder hitting mobs -> However, this doesn't mean that you should let them tank them, but if you are in a dire situation, you will have to choose, so choose wisely before taunting (unless you AE taunt is ready.)

Regarding the CC after pull! that is anooying as hell! I am sometimes able to force them to use their knockback or close range stun with my Saber Throw before charging.


However, if you do get CC'd and you are behind on aggro when your out again, make sure your Dps knows the mechanics of threat, and that they need to let you pick them up again before going full throttle. Prioritize mob aggro like listed above.

Tl;DR Manage your group like you manage packs: Strict and well planned; and things will be alot easier.
You really need to be bossy as a Juggernaut | Guardian to get things to run smoothly. I suggest you find someone you know from your guild or w/e and mainly run flashpoints with them until you got the hang of the packs and how to avoid mess; then you can start pugging, but try to always bring a friend with you to back you up when you boss them around - A backup can do wonders.