Torlan_Fallstar Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I am currently a deception specc'd assassin, level 41. I find it quite enjoyable for leveling and I also do pretty well in pvp, but want to prepare myself for 1.1.2 when you can't swap charges so easily. I've been only staying in Surging to emulate the future patch, and still do alright. Anyways, I am curious about darkness. It has some very nice utility, and from what I've read and seen the damage drop off isn't that intense, though ofc the burst will suffer. My questions is this: For you darkness sin's in pvp, do you guys go for tank pvp gear? Dps gear? Do you use a shield or a focus? Reason I am asking is b/c I've read the various threads on how tanking stats in pvp are marginal at best, and want to know what I would be better off doing. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabbathius Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 (edited) DPS gear, at least for me. Some recommend dropping shield for focus, but I can't do it. Though I could be wrong. If you are Deception now, don't go Darkness until after the patch. Wither not proccing HD will bum you out and you will form some bad habits. Start fresh with a new patch. Edited February 6, 2012 by Sabbathius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denman Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 If I have someone on guard or a healer with me (IE they are guarded) I will run with a shield in offhand. Also if I'm running the ball or needing to stay alive while defending something. If I'm just dps I'll run with focus in offhand. However for the most part I have taken the survival pvp gear which focus' on tank stats. So far I like being able to outlive anyone. Yesterday me and a sage healer had a 5 min fight until they ran out of force, not bursting but we have a lot of utility to be annoying... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aedilous Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I am currently a level 47 Darkness spec Assassin and love it. The only reason I respecced at all at around 45 was to reorganize my skill tree. My equipment is a mix of PvP and PvE gear but with all of it I try to increase my shield and absorb and defense rates. Until just recently I was using focuses in my offhand for the stat line increase but switched to a shield generator. Right now it's pretty difficult to take me down if I have all my cd's. I do decent damage and since I never use a charge other than Dark Charge my armor is pretty high. Having an armor rating almost as good as a heavy armor wearing tank and being able to reduce opponents hit percentage over large groups is pretty massive. Dark Charge lowers Aim by 5% for up to 5 people, Mass Mind Control lowers the chance to hit for all opponents within, if I'm not mistaken, 8 meters. We can also increase our shield absorb and proc chance through skills and abilities, as well as increase our parry chance significantly. In PvP I usually end up with 20+ kills (killing blows and solos obviously vary), around 100K damage minimum, between 5K and 8K protection (using guard), and 0 deaths. With one healer I have held down turrets in Civil War WZ against 6 opponents. And before anyone trolls that last comment, I am fully aware that they should have wiped my healer first and made short work of me. I'm tanky, but not 6 man combined fire tanky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torlan_Fallstar Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 Appreciate the quick replies. The input is very helpful. I understand your reasoning for waiting for the patch to try out darkness and start fresh, but I was thinking about doing it now while I finish leveling just to get used to keybinds and such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabbathius Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 (edited) Some light reading on tanking mechanics in PvP. In PvP, stuff doesn't work at all like in PvE. http://taugrim.com/2012/01/19/understanding-swtors-avoidance-and-mitigation-mechanics-for-tanks-in-pvp/ Explains why defense and shield/absorbtion are not that great in PvP. As far as I know, all the info here is still accurate. Edited February 6, 2012 by Sabbathius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astarica Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Shield doesn't affect guard at all (except a shield has more HPs than a focus). All the damage you take via guard goes thorugh your defenses, shields, and mitigation completely. Here's what shields works and doesn't work on: It works great on Snipers. It's pretty well against PT, Marauder, Juggernaut, and most Assassins. It is practically useless against Operatives and Mercenaries. It is completely useless against Sorcs. At a glance, this seems like a shield works okay against half of the classes. However, the 3 classes it doens't work on are the classes that will tend to give you extremely bad matchup issues. Also, it doesn't work on Darkness Assassins, which is a very strong anti-melee spec. Therefore shield will only help you against classes that you should be winning against, but would offer you nothing against classes that have an advantage versus you. Unless you're trying to beat a Marauder 1 on 1 more consistently, there's really no need for having a shield at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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