Taugrim's "Iron Fist" 25/14/2 PVP Tank Spec [Video]

[Zarcharias]

Awesome guide as always and i was also wondering if i approach this spec should i go with a shield generator or a power generator?

 

always shield generator to leverage the shield% to proc your stockstrike cooldown.

 

and a note.. the battlemaster generator has great stats, but less shield than the centruion,,,go figure right? monkeys i tell ya. crack smoking monkeys.

[ChiknAdobo]

Taugrim, what is your advice for leveling with this build. Would you max out a specifc tree first or mix and match? If so which trees first?

[Ranelagh]

At level 46 I am also interested in the progression towards Iron Fist.

 

I centre around PVE and have been finding myself getting increasingly squishy for Elites at 46 on the full assualt build (0/6/31 so far).

 

I am really enjoying the cooldown reset on HIB and wonder, Taugrim, whether there is a way to maintain the assault synergies with the HIB reset while building the survivability of Iron Fist in the Shield tree. I am not sure the Carolina Parakeet build matches the Iron Fist up the shield tree. Can it be done, or is Iron First really keyed on utilizing the added mitigation from the Tactics tree to work so well?

[Meurto]

At level 46 I am also interested in the progression towards Iron Fist.

 

I centre around PVE and have been finding myself getting increasingly squishy for Elites at 46 on the full assualt build (0/6/31 so far).

 

I am really enjoying the cooldown reset on HIB and wonder, Taugrim, whether there is a way to maintain the assault synergies with the HIB reset while building the survivability of Iron Fist in the Shield tree. I am not sure the Carolina Parakeet build matches the Iron Fist up the shield tree. Can it be done, or is Iron First really keyed on utilizing the added mitigation from the Tactics tree to work so well?

 

I think a lot of people get hung up doing burst dmg and especially losing the reset on HIB when speccing 18 assault. It seems one major misconception about the shield tree is that your damage will be laughable. This could not be further from the truth. While you lose out on the potential burst of 18 assualt you gain a significant amount of survivability with iron first not to mention your dmg is still good enough to pressure the other team. Stockstrike is capable of dealing significant burst when you get 1 or 2 resets in under 10 seconds.

 

In the end you really need to try it out for yourself, but make certain you understand the strengths of the build going into it and I think Taugrim has done a fantastic job of describing exactly what the strengths are.

[krossfade]

Hi taugrim, i was wondering if u use the super commando rifle or the eliminator rifle, thanks.

[Alkaholic]

Taugrim, what is your advice for leveling with this build. Would you max out a specifc tree first or mix and match? If so which trees first?

 

Yeah, answer this...

[Erickbom]

I'm trying something like this, and i'm getting nice results

 

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#801GRGRkRboMZMsrboZb.1

 

what's your opinion??

[TronP]

I've used this spec extensively from my valor grind 55-60. These are my thoughts so far comparing it to parakeets for anyone whose debating which spec they would prefer to play.

 

Taugrim you thought about taking 2 in shield cycler I ended up taking it just b/c I "personally" feel this build is a tad more ammo intensive than parakeets and I took a point out of intimidation. I wanted to take smoke grenade out but I do pve still and I want to say it works "sometimes" in pvp.

 

Pros:

If you are a fresh 50 I can't recommend this build enough. You can out play your opponent but as a fresh 50 any centurion/champion/battlemaster geared enemy will destroy you and you will find yourself being focused on for medals, perhaps picked on as a rite of passage for hitting 50, whatever. You will notice the extra passive mitigation and survive 50 till you can gear up.

 

If huttball is your game. Taugrim's Iron fist build is "the" build to be as a trooper. You are a game changer that can make a huge impact with stopping enemies from scoring. Defensive measures, shorter harpoon, storm, extra passive mitigation for ball carrying, riot strike for slowing down healers/tracer missle. You can shut down noob healers but your not gonna shut down experienced pvp healers especially with teammates that know how to peel. You can however shut down tracer bhs with this build.

 

There are zero wasted points. I love parakeets build but I really struggled with some of my talent point investment as they were wasted. If you min/max like crazy you won't have any regrets in any talent point allocation. Where as in parakeets I wish those 8 or so talent points could have been used else where.

 

Gut - way underrated, cool animation & sound

 

If you pug a lot I believe Iron fist is for you

 

Regular 2.5k+ stock strike crits for kbs

 

Cons:

 

I do feel that this build is a tad more ammo intensive than parakeets. And requires more ammo to burst people down. I'm almost in all Champion gear save for two centurion pieces (Helmet/waist). I don't know how it is for a lot of you but I regularly go up against battlemaster geared empire players with 18k-22k hps depending on class/spec.

Edited February 11, 2012 by TronP

[Mordekaizer]

Im currently playing this spec. and approaching lvl 40. any recommended PVP gear on my 40s? Centurion, TB15A or TH15A?

[Wrathoran]

is the skill static field really worth it compared to another point in shield cycler or rebraced armor? i find that 4% its not alot

[mercturq]

I have yet to try out Iron Fist. But I love Parakeet so much at the moment that I am having issues letting it go. Iron fist does look attractive, especially the shorter interrupt cooldown. But with parakeet, you get free HIB's like crazy and also you get a 30 yard DoT that does pretty nice damage (more than gut?). I guess I should give it a try soon. Iron Fist vs Parakeet is basically Utility vs DPS?

[taugrimtaugrim]

Im currently playing this spec. and approaching lvl 40. any recommended PVP gear on my 40s? Centurion, TB15A or TH15A?

 

Take the gear with the best DPS stats, as documented in my Guide:

http://taugrim.com/2012/01/04/guide-to-bounty-hunter-powertech-trooper-vanguard-mechanics-and-pvp/#stats

 

is the skill static field really worth it compared to another point in shield cycler or rebraced armor? i find that 4% its not alot

 

4% additional mitigation, on top of the 9% already provided, is huge.

 

The more mitigation you have from talents, the greater mathematical benefit you reap.

 

I have yet to try out Iron Fist. But I love Parakeet so much at the moment that I am having issues letting it go. Iron fist does look attractive, especially the shorter interrupt cooldown. But with parakeet, you get free HIB's like crazy and also you get a 30 yard DoT that does pretty nice damage (more than gut?). I guess I should give it a try soon. Iron Fist vs Parakeet is basically Utility vs DPS?

 

Here is what you gain with Carolina Parakeet:

+ improved ranged capability

+ better burst mechanics when Prototype Particle Accelerator (Ionic Accelerator) procs multiple times in a short time window

 

Here is what you gain with Iron Fist:

+ better mitigation and CC capability

+ no wasted talent points or set bonuses

 

They are both excellent specs - which you choose depends on your preferred capabilities.

[mercturq]

Take the gear with the best DPS stats, as documented in my Guide:

http://taugrim.com/2012/01/04/guide-to-bounty-hunter-powertech-trooper-vanguard-mechanics-and-pvp/#stats

 

 

 

4% additional mitigation, on top of the 9% already provided, is huge.

 

The more mitigation you have from talents, the greater mathematical benefit you reap.

 

 

 

Here is what you gain with Carolina Parakeet:

+ improved ranged capability

+ better burst mechanics when Prototype Particle Accelerator (Ionic Accelerator) procs multiple times in a short time window

 

Here is what you gain with Iron Fist:

+ better mitigation and CC capability

+ no wasted talent points or set bonuses

 

They are both excellent specs - which you choose depends on your preferred capabilities.

 

Nice break down. I will plan to give it a shot very soon just to get a feel for it. Who knows, I might feel that Iron Fist is a thousand times more effective for me. But can I ask you, personally.. why do you prefer Iron Fist over Parakeet and/or all the other specs?

[Wrathoran]

thank you taugrim , love your spec so far

[taugrimtaugrim]

But can I ask you, personally.. why do you prefer Iron Fist over Parakeet and/or all the other specs?

 

Iron Fist is the only spec that provides me with all of the following capabilities:

• good damage
  
• good durability
  
• good CC
  
• good mobility
  
• Guard capability
  

[Battlereaver]

Appreciate the ideas I will probably give this a shot for being an off tank for our Ops runs

[scootz]

Taugrim, do you even bother using a shield with this spec, or do you use the dps generator?

[taugrimtaugrim]

Taugrim, do you even bother using a shield with this spec, or do you use the dps generator?

 

Shield generator so that you can "block" (shield).

[taugrimtaugrim]

UPDATE (2012/02/17): with the nerf to Surge Rating in 1.1.3, burst damage is down significantly for all players and time-to-kill has increased. An implication is that "mana" management has become more important.

 

As such, I moved the point in Smoke Grenade over to the second point in Shield Cycler. The idea here is to get your internal cooldown on the Ammo regen proc from SC ticking as fast as possible.

 

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#801GRGb0RroMZMcrroZb.1

Edited February 17, 2012 by taugrimtaugrim

[Riulassher]

The thing I hate about Shield cycler is that it requires being attacked by enemies with shieldable attacks. If no one attacks me, I will have to live on a natural regen only.

 

It's often difficult to get this kind of attention from right classes at the moment I need it the most. But as a shieldtech, there isn't really anything that could be done about it, except being good at provoking people to attack you.

[taugrimtaugrim]

The thing I hate about Shield cycler is that it requires being attacked by enemies with shieldable attacks. If no one attacks me, I will have to live on a natural regen only.

 

It's often difficult to get this kind of attention from right classes at the moment I need it the most. But as a shieldtech, there isn't really anything that could be done about it, except being good at provoking people to attack you.

 

True, but the point of an offensive tank is to get in the grill of your opponent and pressure them.

 

They can't ignore you.

[Riulassher]

True, but the point of an offensive tank is to get in the grill of your opponent and pressure them.

 

They can't ignore you.

 

I agree, but that doesn't make Shield Cycler any more effective. Sith Inquisitors, Mercenaries, Powertechs, Operatives will trigger a proc only once in a while. Snipers can't avoid the shield but their rate of fire is low and they hit hard, giving only few opportunities to trigger a proc before the fight is over.

 

But you know the poor state of shields in PVP.

 

It requires specific classes targeting you and hitting you right at this moment with right abilities in order to have a chance to regen 1 ammo cell. A very unreliable and inefficient mechanic.

 

Debuffing the accuracy of lightsaber melee classes for 18s still seems to be better than 2-4 extra ammo cells per minute.

[Mordekaizer]

What's the best END-GAME gear set for this build? I *********** LOVE IT !!!! Edited February 20, 2012 by Mordekaizer

[The_FLIPmode]

How viable is this spec for some light PVEing (thinking HM flashpoints at most)? I also noticed that the smoke grenade wasn't selected...kind of apprehensive about losing it since I found it to be useful so far when playing in both PVE and PVPing.

[Zarcharias]

I have been running this build (with 2 points in cycler) for some time now. My gear is a mix of BM and champ with the supercommando set bonus. I have some eliminator pieces and tech pieces as well, and have replaced most of my mods for DPS. I sit around 25% crit, 70% surge and my shield chance is 30% (basically no absorb though). I only have about 17k HP.

 

I have no problem tanking EV (normal) and find my DPS really helps generate threat.

 

The spec is perfectly fine for PVE tanking (recommend off tank if you run with a pure shield PVE specced tank though). It comes down to your gear selections mostly. The more shield/absorb/endurance you add in the better you can PVE, though you will decrease your damage output due to enhancement/mod choices we have available to us.