Potential Vanguard Tank Help

[bthewang]

Hello fellow Vanguards,

 

So, I have my main level 50 Vanguard who I love playing. As of right now, 100% of my play time is devoted to stomping silly Imperials into the ground as a full 8/31/2 Tactics build running HEC. However, some of my buddies are looking to come back to the game, and it has been stated that we would like to start doing some of the PvE content just to see how it is (4 man Flashpoints make is so awesomely accessible). Being avid World of Warcraft raiders transferred to SWTOR, I can't help but want to take a look.

 

However, it has occurred to me that I have absolutely no idea where to start gearing to be a PvE tank -- I pretty much leveled from 30-50 doing nothing but WZ's and have absolutely no tanking gear whatsoever. How do I get started at level 50 in full BM dps PvP gear creating a second PvE tank set? Thanks guys!

Edited April 24, 2012 by bthewang

[Squalid]

Some of the HM Flashpoints are pretty accessible even with fresh 50s gear. So being in full BM you should see no trouble being on par with some of the easier FPs such as Taral V or Maelstorm Prison. If you see no troubles in those ones, you're probably good to run all of them. I've run FPs with toons that all had PVP gear on, full group, and one shot all the bosses of Kaon.

[bthewang]

Some of the HM Flashpoints are pretty accessible even with fresh 50s gear. So being in full BM you should see no trouble being on par with some of the easier FPs such as Taral V or Maelstorm Prison. If you see no troubles in those ones, you're probably good to run all of them. I've run FPs with toons that all had PVP gear on, full group, and one shot all the bosses of Kaon.

 

Awesome. I suppose I would have to roll in as DPS first then, and grind out my tank gear that way? I just didn't know if there was a way for me to get some decent PvE tank gear prior to doing any of the HM's so we wouldn't have to look for the hardest role to come by who didn't need any of the gear -- I figured that would give me a headache.

[Squalid]

Well, there is always running your dailies, and getting the Supercommando Rakata Implants x2 and the Rakata Earpiece, those add huge stats for tanking. And just running your dailies alone will get you some mods/enhancements/armorings to put into some orange gear. And those are lvl 50 purples too. On top of that, you can trade your daily commendations in for more mods etc. at the Mission Support Vendors on Belsavis, Illum, and the Black Hole.

[-Sidac-]

Here is what you do!

 

1. Get orange gear and add mods to it. Dailies on Belsavis and ilium will give you the highest level (non raid / pvp gear) mods and enhancements you can get. Fill a suit up with those. Itll take a while

 

1a. (i did this route) If you dont want to do that, go armormech. After you hit 400, start an RE frenzy. RE armor pieces till you get the stat of your choice from green to blue, you want to RE to blue "redoubt" pieces. This adds defense. From that you want to RE to Purple pieces. Forgot the name but its adds shielding. A full suit of this will get you one ****** tank suit for starting Hard Mode Flashpoints / normal mode EV and KP.

 

1b. Keep pvping until you get tokens for a BM supercommando suit.

 

2. http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#801G0GrdoroGMZrkr0o.1 thats my tank spec. defense with some decent damage from stock strike spamming.

 

 

other than that, do your dallies. awesome money, and you can get t3 rakata pieces, and t4 shielding relics. Which make you a brick wall.

Edited April 24, 2012 by -Sidac-

[Wallsie]

DO NOT do Pvp to get a Pve tank set. You will get trucked and won't have the health to last. Getting tired of seeing people recommend to use pvp gear to do pve, because it's a bad suggestion and you're only going to cause frustration and confusion as to why the person is not able to clear content.

[vojinsa]

DO NOT do Pvp to get a Pve tank set. You will get trucked and won't have the health to last. Getting tired of seeing people recommend to use pvp gear to do pve, because it's a bad suggestion and you're only going to cause frustration and confusion as to why the person is not able to clear content.

 

i would agree 110% with you but normal mode ev and most of normal kp can be done in pvp gear. yes it sucks and you look lazy but they are tuned for starter groups. Hardmode+ on most boss fights will make your healer hate you if you are rocking pvp gear.

[Wallsie]

i would agree 110% with you but normal mode ev and most of normal kp can be done in pvp gear. yes it sucks and you look lazy but they are tuned for starter groups. Hardmode+ on most boss fights will make your healer hate you if you are rocking pvp gear.

 

And then those people go into Lost Island or Denova and ***** about why they can't complete it in pvp gear like they could the previous tier. It creates a bad precedent, whether it's doable or not. And frankly, I don't see average players clearing ANY content in pvp gear. If you're using pvp gear in a pve environment, you're holding your group back plain and simple.

[Philosomanic]

IMO, PvP gear is a great way to start the PvE gear progression. They're two separate gear progression paths, but the end of one path can start you on another. Full BM or WH gear should be enough to let you start running hardmodes. Clearly you shouldn't be taking PvP gear into ops or anything else like that, but full Battlemaster should be enough to start working on your Tionese/Columni gear. Likewise, Rakata or Campaign gear should be enough to let you skip the Recruit step in PvP progression.

 

That said, PvP is not an efficient way to get PvE gear. If your goal is "get gear to start PvE gear progression", then you should run dailies and craft/purchase gear. However, if you enjoy PvP a lot, it's probably a good idea to start your PvP progression before your PvE progression.

[vojinsa]

And then those people go into Lost Island or Denova and ***** about why they can't complete it in pvp gear like they could the previous tier. It creates a bad precedent, whether it's doable or not. And frankly, I don't see average players clearing ANY content in pvp gear. If you're using pvp gear in a pve environment, you're holding your group back plain and simple.

 

i agree with most of your post but normal EV and kp can be tanked wearing PvP gear since they are starter op.i personally dont do it since it shows laziness (my opinion).

[origional]

Well, there is always running your dailies, and getting the Supercommando Rakata Implants x2 and the Rakata Earpiece, those add huge stats for tanking. And just running your dailies alone will get you some mods/enhancements/armorings to put into some orange gear. And those are lvl 50 purples too. On top of that, you can trade your daily commendations in for more mods etc. at the Mission Support Vendors on Belsavis, Illum, and the Black Hole.

 

Of course, if you have more than 1 working braincell, you'll actually commit suicide long before you get enough medals to buy this gear as the dailies are the biggest pile of steaming poo in the game.