Vindexus Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I think all 3 specs are viable for Guardians and Juggernauts in PvP and I am curious as to which ones the community plays. I think it basically shakes down like this: Immortal/Defense: Maximum damage reduction and bonuses for remaining in Soresu form. Least amount of damage output of the 3 specs, but the best guarding spec. You'll spend most of your time in Soresu. Vengeance/Vigilance: Maximum damage with the least amount of defense of the 3. You can still effectively guard people in this spec, but it requires form swapping between Shien and Soresu. Focus/Rage: Highest amount of movement/utility. Lots of snares and movement speed increases for staying on target. Most of the time spent in Shii-Cho. All 3 specs can guard and taunt. I'm wondering what everyone else has been trying so far.For the record, I have been playing Vigilance and have had mixed success. My damage output is good, but I do run into survivability issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motojoe Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I play vigil specced guardian. I just like the overall feel of it. I have sustained dps and dont rely on long cd's to do damage. I just find the focus spec kind of boring imo. Also i like the cc immunity in the vigil tree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idockdudes Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 (edited) Vigilance has more surviability than focus. Im not trying to give any type of opinion on which is better but your description is wrong. Also it should be noted that Vigilance has more sustained damage while focus has more burst. I dont know which one actually has higher DPS. There are also some hybrid specs people use and DPS specs that arent really hybridized, but spec like they know they are going to use soresu and not the DPS stance. Edited February 1, 2012 by Idockdudes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rokloka Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Immortal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motojoe Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 From playing focus a few times, i feel more sturdy in vigil then focus. If we have heals backing us up we can top the charts, like most classes. I jsut dont see how a shii cho focus has the amount of survivability as a vigil. In vigil i have 20% damage reduc after force leap, 20% damage reduc after guardian leap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kolbenito Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I just prefer Vengeance/Vigilance. Rage is better burst, I just find it kinda boring. If people think it's fun, that's awesome play it. Immortal is fine I'm sure, I just prefer to spec Tank for PVE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCnet Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I've tried the other trees but I prefer Immortal. I ended up mixing my pvp gear between defense stats and the pvp dps gear and it doesn't seem to hurt my suvivability and manages to increase my damage output as a tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copasetic Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Vengeance/Vigilance: Maximum damage with the least amount of defense of the 3. You can still effectively guard people in this spec, but it requires form swapping between Shien and Soresu. Focus/Rage: Highest amount of movement/utility. Lots of snares and movement speed increases for staying on target. Most of the time spent in Shii-Cho. For the record, I have been playing Vigilance and have had mixed success. My damage output is good, but I do run into survivability issues. You have it backwards. The bolded parts show where you are mistaken. Rage/Focus easily has more potential to do very high amounts of damage depending on how often you get those fully buffed Smashes/Sweeps off and how often those are casted in groups of enemies. It's possible to get crits of 6k+ on GROUPS of enemies when done correctly. Vengeance is more of a sustained but lower DPS spec on single targets due to the bleeds and constant Impales and Shatter. While both Rage/Focus and Vengeance/Vigilance suffer in the survivability department, I'd argue Vigilance/Vengeance has more due to the talents Unstoppable, Huddle, and Deafening Defense (don't know their Republic names) if you spec into them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaywardOne Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I switch specs fairly regularly. My experience has been that Focus does a lot more overall damage than Vigilance (based on PVP damage numbers). I've been a focus bomber lately because I keep running into a guild with almost nothing but SIs that are constantly bubbling/healing each other on my server. I barely have enough burst to give them a hard time. But since the failed ops nerf and other issues, I'm probably going to try a focus/shield or a vigilance shield spec for at least the next couple days (assuming I don't take a break for the next couple weeks). Guardians should really be using "guard" anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainspotter Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I like my Veng spec. I go 5/31/5, http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#101fZI0rRrhddMRZG.1 I start in soresu form, guard the healer, taunt the ranged dps, leap into the fray, AoE taunt, stun everyone, then smash (to lower their accuracy), then i intercede to the our healer, re taunt a ranged dps (or whoever is beating on someone), switch the shien form, force push the opposing healer or melee dps away, leap to someone close to death and start chain killing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spyde Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I play Immortal in PvE Rage in pvp. 100% dmg boost,Auto Crit Smash is fun. The burst is very nice. Alot of mobility. I run in Tank stance though, as i keep a healer guarded.. I still do decent damage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindianajones Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 (edited) I've tried all three numerous times. Right now I'm on a Vigilance kick, and starting to think that it's actually quite a bit better than Focus. Sweep bombing gets boring after a while. Although having the extra leap and movespeed buff is nice, I'd much rather have Gather Strength, Unremitting, Narrowed Focus, Commanding Awe and Force Rush at this point. It's sometimes harder to stay in range with this spec, but honestly the Plasma Brand > Overhead Slash > Blade Storm combo is just dirty. Sure, I could easily put out 400k+ damage in every warzone in Focus spec, but a lot of that was throwaway (extra AoE) damage that didn't really help as much as the numbers would imply. I'm starting to think my useful damage is much better than in Focus spec, and survivability does not seem have taken a significant hit. I do run Defense spec once in a while, but while it was effective enough, I just found the playstyle kind of dull. I'll probably keep swapping back and forth until I finally figure out which spec I want to stay with in the long-term, if I ever do stick with one. Edited February 1, 2012 by vindianajones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torleen Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Focus. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwLo3st0rqg The video says it all. Fun to play. gives you some great options. And the fun of watching people who typically underestimate Gaurdians damage potential ignore you until suddenly you crit everyone on their team for a huge number and by then it's too late. You have to do a lot of prep and dancing around to get it to work right, so you will have to practice and actually have some skill to maximize it's benefits, but so far it is the most fun I have had in SWOTOR hands down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cylide Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 -> Signature Control > raw damage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VertisReaper Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 (edited) I like Vig the most having tried all other specs. It is the most forgiving and requires little or no setup in order to do damage. You are definitely a lot tankier. Guardian leap is like intervene on steroids with a flash heal attached, I pretty much use it on CD. Spamming your leaps to keep up the 20% damage reductions is so fun. Along with the aoe slow buff and the force push buff, vig is definitely the way to go. Edited February 1, 2012 by VertisReaper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vindexus Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 Is there any value in going: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#500cZI0rorudzMMZGr0zz.1 Deep vigilance forgoing Zen Strike and Plasma Brand, but going deep enough into Focus/Rage for Zealous Leap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindianajones Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Is there any value in going: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#500cZI0rorudzMMZGr0zz.1 Deep vigilance forgoing Zen Strike and Plasma Brand, but going deep enough into Focus/Rage for Zealous Leap? I can't see the spec thanks to my awesome work computer, starring Internet Explorer 6, but how high up were you able to go? If you don't have Plasma Brand you at least need to have Overhead Slash with the 60% crit buff attached talent. I don't know that getting Zealous Leap is worth losing out on the Plasma Brand > Overhead Slash > Blade Storm (or whatever the Jugg equivalents are) combo. I also don't think that Zealous leap gives you the 20% damage reduction, so you're really giving up a lot of damage for that extra short range gap closer that I don't think you'd need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VertisReaper Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 plasma brand is boring but crucial to a good vigilance build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solonius Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 (edited) Def/Vig hybrid spec. Could do straight Focus or Vigilance for the DPS boost, but not really what I am interested in with PvP. Not to mention the hybrid spec I use is also completely viable with tanking PvE content as well. I like the utility role much more and can still pump out 170k+ dmg in WZs no problem and gather my double digits medals. Survivability is amazing, and have had protecton numbers of 250k-300k before in this spec. Getting those types of numbers also requires a good pockethealer to guard. On average my proctection ranges from about 100k-130k though, all depends on the healer I have with my and what the situation calls for though. My buddy is a sage, and with him in a bubble and me constantly taunting and popping CC'ing on maps like Voidstar and CW the protection medals come so easy. Not to mention its always fun becoming Immortal on a regular basis, I like having the target on my back. Edited February 1, 2012 by Solonius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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