Hestis Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Hi all. I have a level 50 Vanguard tank that is my main Republic toon. I'm a casual player, and un-guilded. I went tank spec because it was my first toon in the game, and unsure of the difficulty, I went with survivability. I am currently using Yojack's mitigation build. I'm a bit of an alt-aholic, but I'd like to start gearing up my Vanguard. Here is what I am currently at: http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/character/ba194686-6750-46f2-96d2-454c4530a608 Now, obviously the first step would be to get my free set of Tionese gear. But my problem with that is I am unsure of the benefits I get from it. I would gain 77 End, 75 Aim, 174 Acc, and 32 Absorb, but I would lose 155 Shield and 63 Def. Is this trade off worth it? I would like to eventually use the orange gear I have now (I prefer the look), but I realize that for the set bonus I'll need the Tionese. Should I pull out some of my mods/enh and swap them into the Tionese? My other problem is this; I consider myself to be of average skill, which I realize isn't the best thing in the world for a tank. Leveling it wasn't a big deal because I was playing with friends, but they are no longer playing the game. I had considered going DPS (now would be the ideal time by taking the dps Tionese set), but I would like to have one tank and one healer from each faction, and I already have a Healer Sage and a DPS Guardian (also the majority seem to think Vanguards are the easiest tanks to play in the game), and I don't want to replay a class yet. I do realize that most likely I'll need to find an understanding guild to join. So, to sum up my long winded intro, I'm looking for the best way to gear up and launch an average skilled tank into the end game. Because I'm a casual player, and will play some alts, I don't expect it to happen overnight, but I would like to find the least painful path. Thanks in advance for any help you can give! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vornox Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 First of all, I've got to say that I am impressed with how knowledgable you are tanking stat-wise for someone who has just hit 50. When I first hit 50, I certainly did not understand what I needed to look for in tank stats (in my defense, this was near when the game first came out). However, looking at your current gear on Ask Mr. Robot, I actually think it is quite good for a tank who just hit 50. You talent build is also spot-on; I run the exact same thing for my Vanguard in PvE and I'm tanking top-tier content for my guild right now. You are right to be wary of stock Tionese gear; that huge amount of accuracy you'd get does very little for you as a tank (especially for a Vanguard/Powertech since the vast majority of our attacks are Tech and thus already don't miss in all current PvE content), and the loss of over 100 points of shield rating would be quite bad. However, Tionese offers you alot of upgrades as well, including: Better armorings and mods which will give you increased Aim, Endurance, and mitigation stats (as you've noticed)Free set bonuses Thankfully, there is a way to "have your cake and eat it too" because nearly all of the accuracy is located in enhancements. I therefore would recommend you buy and wear the Tionese gear, but rip out the enhancements in your current gear and replace as much accuracy as you can on the Tionese with shield rating. I know you said you like the look of your current gear, but since Tionese was created before Set Bonuses were added to Armor mods, you will really want to use those shells until you can get to atleast the Campaign/Black Hole gear level (item level 61) because they have the set bonus attached to them. As you seem to be already aware, you generally want mitigation stats (such as defense, shield, and absorb rating) for PvE more than anything as it will reduce the amount incoming damage you take from many (but not all) attacks. Endurance is good but generally secondary to these stats. Take a look at this thread on the Tanking forum to see a table which has an optimal balance of the mitigation stats based on your class and sum of your current mitigation stats. Don't worry if your balance doesn't perfectly match the ratios they have; this is mainly to be used as a guild so you know what mitigation stat is most important to you currently. There is also a really good spreadsheet somewhere I just found the other day but I can't seem to find it again. Based on your current gear and build on AskMrRobot, the answer seems to be Absorb rating. As for your skill level, I recommend you do whatever you like the best; Vanguard/Powertech tank is generally considered to be the easiest tank class to play since much of our mitigation is passive. As someone who just hit 50, you can't except to be amazing right off the bat since you are still getting used to your final skills. Start off by running any Hard Mode (HM) Flashpoint other than Lost Island and then Story Mode (SM) Eternity Vault and Karagga's Palace Operations. This content is generally pretty forgiving and will help you feel more comfortable with your class and its abilities, strengths, and weaknesses (as well as get you Columni gear). Also, looking on the tanking forums and the Vanguard/Powertech forums will help you learn more as well. If you are on the Prophecy of the Five (US) server, I have an alt which I would be happy to run these with you, as well as an earpiece which you might consider to be an upgrade from your current one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hestis Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 (edited) Thank you! I think that's pretty much exactly the info I was looking for regarding stats. All credit for having the right build goes to Yojack's excellent thread in the Trooper forum. And thanks for pointing me to the "Roles" forum. I actually never even noticed that existed! Unfortunately I'm on Jedi Covenant, otherwise I'd take you up on that offer. Thanks again! Edited January 18, 2013 by Hestis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keonachak Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 Because you play alts a lot I think you will always feel like you are mediocre from a skillset standpoint. I wouldn't beat myself up about it, if that's what I enjoyed.. Unless you are a hardcore robot gamer, you either play one toon exceptionally well or play several toons just good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bolonious Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 Thanks to Hestis for posting the question. I too had the same concerns with the Tionese gear set and how to proceed. And to Vornox for the helpful information. Cleared up my concerns. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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