Gearing a PvE Guardian for Tank

[skiibyrd]

What should mods, enhancements, and armorings do i want, and how many when using the Defense Spec for my guardian when trying to tank in end game PvE, basically looking to know what should I be aiming for. Im really new for tanking, and have a level 50 DPS completely geared, but have no idea what i should be going for on my guardian, what stats should look like in the end, and what type/how many of each enhancement, mod, and armorings i need to use.

[MachinSin]

Golden rule of tanking, try and get, 30% defence, 50% shield rating and 50% absorption. Mix different mods and

Enchancements to get that balance. Dont stack to much endurance over your main ability (str). Use guardian hilt and

Armouring.

 

Hopeit helps.

[Riivan]

I'm not disagreeing with your gear stats, just a differing opinion.

 

On my tank my stat makeup is 25% defense, 50% shield, 50% absorb, and 25k health buffed and stimmed. I've tanked pretty much all the content in the game aside from EC NiM and that set up seems to produce the least squishiness. Admittedly I am only in 61 gear and using a non modded belt/bracers so my stats could be a little higher, but I'd probably toss the extra points into shield and absorb prior to defense. I am also very diligent with my reposte and blade barrier.

 

I still tank in hybrid spec as well 18 def, 23 vig, 0 foc. I tend to have the least aggro and focus troubles when running in that spec.

 

I can't really tell you how many of what mod, enhancement or augment to take as those are kind of dependent on your ear, implants and relics. The armorings and hilt are fairly easy, you want the guardian/war leader armorings/hilt.

 

Relics I use the Warhero Relic of the Shrouded Crusader (lots of shield) and relic of Shield Amplification (405 absorb for 6 seconds every 20ish seconds). A case can be made for getting the defense Warhero Relic though and I plan on testing that out.

 

Hopefully that helps and if there are other opinions please share. This is just what I've found works out best for me.

[Cybermeister]

I also run a hybrid build (18 / 23) & find little problem holding aggro these days, except on the pull if DPS go full burn straight away. Fortunately most of my guild are smart enough not to do that (...any more). The way taunt works, and the forced tank swap mechanisms on many of the bosses, means that once you have 1 or 2 swaps under your belt the aggro list stops being an issue and the main concern is just doing your job as a damage sponge.

 

I'm aiming for 30 / 50 / 50 too ... currently I have more than 30% defense with stims, (pushed to 33% with riposte up) , and slightly lower shield (47 / 49 shield chance / absorb) due to swapping out a WH relic of Shouded Crusader for an Elite WH Relic of Imperiling Serenity along with the existing WH Imperiling Serenity (I still think the PvP relics are BiS for tanks... ). Hopefully this will rebalance when and if I win some more campaign gear from EC.

At the moment I have approximately 25,800hp buffed and stimmed, with a mix of BH and Campaign mods and a balance of shield, absorb, defense and endurance augs. I'm also about to splash out on the Hazmat implants for a few more hp and better shield chance... which will probably force a further re-balance of the augment slots.

[Elyxin]

30/50/50 is really a threshold OP. not necessarily a starting point. running HM FP's should be doable in tionese gear (though with higher level DPS holding aggro can be difficult pending experience and skill). But once you get a full set of tionese off the new quest, start optimizing your stats, and buffing those defensive stats up.

 

20/30/30 is a good point to initially shoot for, then start mixing and matching mods as you gain gear. Black Hole gear is really used for mixing those said stats rather then a direct replacement. for columi/rakata, so as you get BH gear with your columi, don't just automatically drop the columi. replace mods with the ones that will boost your mitigation stats. endurance should be last on your list. I.e., never drop mitigation stats solely for endurance. but if you can increase your endurance while keeping you mitigation stats high, do it.

 

Hybrid is currently what most people play with. i will still at time use an "almost" full defense build, especially for random HM's, as i tend to have the most problems with rag generation and threat management in those situations, so the extra rage and control abilities from Defense help allot. At lower gear levels, you will probably benefit more from a defense build then a hybrid one. but as your expeirence with tanking and the flashpoints builds, the hybrid becomes a very good spec to work with

Edited December 18, 2012 by Elyxin

[Khalhazar]

How important is armor value?

 

I know, armor is fixed by gear tier, so it is kind of off-topic, but it is a _very_ important question for me as I dip my toes into PvE after PvPing exclusively.

 

If I compare WH dps vs. Tionese tank, chest for instance:

-121 Armor

-8 endurance

(various drops in dps stats)

+43 absorb rating

 

It seems like spending my tionese comms on tank gear would be a loss. Columi is closer, and in some cases, better, I think?

[shanealdrich]

I have a guardian tank 29/50/48 on my stats and am currently full defense. I currently, am tanking EC SM and TFB SM and at times I have trouble holding the aggro that I believe I should have.

 

I have read many threads touting the hybrid build. It appears that it would have more threat. So I tried it but I seemed to have focus issues. What is the rotation that is used. To help with this

Edited January 11, 2013 by shanealdrich

[Kitru]

I have read many threads touting the hybrid build. It appears that it would have more threat. However, what I dont understand is that there are 2 points put in for shien form. Do you run in shien form or soresu?

 

The hybrid tank runs in Soresu form: without it, your survivability drops a crapton, since a lot of your survivability is predicated upon it (9% Defense chance from talents, 60% armor, 5% DR, 15% shield chance). Some hybrid specs take it as an easy way to increase DPS for fights and phases where they're not needed to tank for extended periods of time. It's not necessary for most, since the point that goes into it would generally go into either Defiance or Gather Strength, with are generally considered talents of such low value that they're wasted talent points you have to dump into *something* just to advance the tree.

[shanealdrich]

Thanks for the quick response. I respeced to the hybrid and tried it on the ops dummy. My rotation was

combat focus-saber throw-leap-smash -blade storm-sundering strike-overhead.

 

I used stasis on cool down for the free focus I put the point in for no channel time.

Used combat focus on cool down and blade storm on cool down to maintain blade barricade. I was also using master stike when possible. I wasn't able to use overhead slash on cool down due to focus issues. and my DPS was hovering around 560-575. My stats are 24075 health, 27.64 defense, 46.1 and 46.4 shield/absorb and 1720 strength.

Am I doing somthing wrong? Or does this sound reasonable.

[wadecounty]

Thanks for the quick response. I respeced to the hybrid and tried it on the ops dummy. My rotation was

combat focus-saber throw-leap-smash -blade storm-sundering strike-overhead.

 

I used stasis on cool down for the free focus I put the point in for no channel time.

Used combat focus on cool down and blade storm on cool down to maintain blade barricade. I was also using master stike when possible. I wasn't able to use overhead slash on cool down due to focus issues. and my DPS was hovering around 560-575. My stats are 24075 health, 27.64 defense, 46.1 and 46.4 shield/absorb and 1720 strength.

Am I doing somthing wrong? Or does this sound reasonable.

 

The general idea for a hybrid rotation when not in combat is something like Strike -> Sunder -> Blade Storm -> Strike -> Sunder -> Overhead Slash -> Strike -> Sunder -> Blade Storm -> Strike -> Sunder -> Sweep

 

Assuming you open with Saber Throw and Leap, you start with 6 Focus, you end the first 3 rotations (A rotation revolves around Strike/Sunder/Attack) at 3 Focus, and after the 4th rotation you're back at 6 Focus. Then continue in that manner.

 

In an actual fight, you'll be gaining 1 Focus per 6 seconds from being in combat, but that should go towards using Riposte on cooldown. Master Strike and Stasis will also be Focus savers for you, allowing you a couple less Strikes here and there. Also, there's no reason to pop Combat Focus before you leap, with your opening you're wasting 1 Focus at the start because you'd gain 1 from entering combat but you'll already be at 12 Focus between Saber Throw, Leap and Combat Focus. Instead, save Combat Focus to pop early on in your opener so you don't need to use Strikes, helping you to better maintain threat early on (its of the GCD so it can be used at anytime).

 

What I'd open with would probably be something like...

 

Saber Throw -> Leap -> Sweep -> Blade Storm (pop Combat Focus here) -> Overhead Slash -> Stasis (assuming no channel) -> Master Strike -> Sunder -> Blade Storm -> Overhead Slash -> Sunder -> Sweep ->

 

And at this point, move into a Strike -> Sunder -> Attack type of rotation, using Riposte in that opening volley everytime it procs, and mixing a taunt in at your discretion (it depends on the fight where I'd use my first taunt, but don't worry, if your DPS are any good at all they WILL rip off you regardless of how well you manage your opening unless you're a Shadow tank).

Edited January 11, 2013 by wadecounty