So, do I *need* accuracy now, as a tank?

[Slivovidze]

Before 2.0, there were two groups of people. One group said accuracy is needed, the other said that accuracy is not needed. I went with the second group and neither of my tanks has accuracy on their gear and I was doing good with it.

 

Before 2.0 patch, I read some stuff written by people from PTS and it seemed that I still won't *need* any accuracy, because power would still be more useful.

 

But now in patch notes, I noticed that elites have 10% defense, which seems kinda high to me, and I imagine that raid bosses have even higher defense value.

 

I am pretty bad with MMO numbers, but every 10th attack missing seems pretty much to me, I'm not sure if more power can balance that out.

 

So I am asking some of you experienced guys if I should get some accuracy on my gear, and if yes, how much and in what form (augments or mods/enhancements), or if I can happily continue getting higher power instead.

 

I would especially love to see tips from guys who didn't use accuracy prior to 2.0.

 

Thanks a lot!

Edited April 9, 2013 by Slivovidze

[Eternalnight]

When it comes to changes that apply to accuracy, Guardian/Juggernaut tanks are least affected.

 

From what I have seen, their defense chance against melee attacks has not changed. It is the same as before. If you don't have any accuracy rating gear, melee attacks will sometimes get parried, but if you could live with it before, you can now too.

 

The only thing that has changed is that now they have a 10% chance to resist force/tech attacks, when previously they had none.

 

Basically this means that Force Sweep, Hilt Strike and Blade Storm (and few other attacks but those 3 are most relevant) can now be resisted if you don't use any accuracy rating in gear.

 

Well once I level up to 55, I will be putting 3/3 skill points into Accuracy, but not planning to put much accuracy on gear.

[Slivovidze]

Great, thanks!

[KeyboardNinja]

You need 100% melee accuracy as a DPS. You don't need any accuracy as a tank. It's as simple as that. Edited April 9, 2013 by KeyboardNinja

[SleepyJoeFriday]

I've been managing fine so far, after all a tanks job isn't to hit your opponent all of the time, just as long as you keep them interested in you.

 

Running through Makeb (on early release) Guardian slash is so much better than before and Sabre Reflect is my new must have skill for when you land in amongst a spread mob of pew pew killers. Instant aggro without you firing a shot and some damage back at them to boot!

[xxxxSHIFTYxxxx]

Damn the 14th can't some soon enough...I want to leveling my guard! I pre ordered but not before before FEB so I have to wait.

[Tsillah]

You need 100% melee accuracy as a DPS. You don't need any accuracy as a tank. It's as simple as that.

 

That's a bold statement, but I wish would explain why.

 

As a tank, you want to keep aggro, especially now that healers take more aggro it seems and you can have a high dps with you like a marauder.

 

My issue with this statement is that accuracy does play a role in your damage dealing, which is building threat at the same time. Not using accuracy may lead to some missed attack allowing either the healer or a dps (only have one guard target), to overtake threat if you're not careful.

 

I know taunts cannot miss now but they have a cd and especially with multiple targets this can be an issue.

 

Whereas I can perhaps understand your point when you're in a group where everyone knows what to do and does it right, chances are that when you're not (a reality that's out there plenty) you may find yourself losing aggro more often than you would want. I know it's all theoretical but I am hesitant to let go of accuracy because I am not convinced that it's not useful for tanks anymore.

 

So please, if you have clear reasons why you say tanks really don't need accuracy for building threat, then please explain those reason. That would help more than just saying tanks don't need it.

[thasensei]

One reason that tanks don't need accuracy is because of the way that threat works. The ONLY time that accuracy would really be relevant with threat would be in the first 15-30 seconds of a boss fight. Beyond that, your taunt is your biggest threat builder.

 

Over the course of those first 30 seconds, with no accuracy you might miss on two or three hits. If you gear for accuracy you are giving up mitigation stats. It is absolutely not worth sacrificing those mitigation stats (which are helpful for the duration of the fight and are what make you a tank) to give you the chance to connect on those two hits in the first 30 seconds of a fight.

 

Hope that helps!

[Raskle]

So, gear not withstanding, which is better for the last three points in your spec? 3/3 Accuracy or 3/3 Insight?

 

The 3% may help establish agro quicker and easier in the first 30 seconds only, but with what I've read about Crit chance not being worth going over 25% post 2.0, is it really better to have 6% more crit? I can self-buff with all four on my Guardian, btw.

 

Would it be better to not go into either skill, but 2/2 in Swelling Winds and 1/2 into Defiance maybe for the extra damage and focus? Curious as to answers to this one.

[Draqsko]

So, gear not withstanding, which is better for the last three points in your spec? 3/3 Accuracy or 3/3 Insight?

 

The 3% may help establish agro quicker and easier in the first 30 seconds only, but with what I've read about Crit chance not being worth going over 25% post 2.0, is it really better to have 6% more crit? I can self-buff with all four on my Guardian, btw.

 

Would it be better to not go into either skill, but 2/2 in Swelling Winds and 1/2 into Defiance maybe for the extra damage and focus? Curious as to answers to this one.

 

I find it better to have 3 in Single Saber Mastery (+3% defense, +30% aggro on Sweep and Cyclone Slash), 2 in Imp. Sundering Strike (-3s cooldown on Sunder), 2 in Perserverance (+6% strength), 1 in Defiance (+2 focus when stunned, slept, knocked down), 2 in Swelling Winds (+20% damage on Sweep and Cyclone Slash, -3s cooldown on Sweep) for the off-tree perks.

 

You definately want Perserverance, because more strength means more damage absorbed by Blade Barrier. I do swelling winds to help with aoe aggro, but also single target aggro, and Defiance is just good to have for all those critters that stun or jerk you around, allowing you to instantly start hitting with your biggest hits and catch up to the DPS in aggro generated while you were stunned.

[Ardarell_Solo]

I've been researching my a** off about the tank accuracy argument for quite a while and it's a little like strength vs. power for sentinels: Either side of the discussion will fervently argue why they are right, but overall it's 50% say this, 50% say that.

 

I recently talked to two guardian maintanks of two different guilds that were among the first to clear s&v hm on our shared ts-server - one would say yeah the other one no.

 

My personal impression is: It's a matter of playing style, skill and gear preferences. Some tanks like to save their taunts and not "waste" them at the beginning of an encounter, for others taunts are natural part of their opening rotation. The former rely on accuracy, the latter don't. (I'd agree, as mentioned above, the latter require a better group). You can be successul with both strategies, if you adapt your rotation and raid tactics accordingly.

 

It even differs from boss to boss, as accurate tanks pick up initial aggro easier, as has also been mentioned above. The more tank swaps in a fight, the more helpful accuracy can be.

 

Mitigation tanks usually go for no accuracy, since they firmly belief in the holy trinity of defense, shield & absorb. These stats all compete with accuracy. Bad thing with 2.0: You need a sh***load of each of those to even get near the mitigation you used to have.

 

Life tanks like accuracy on their augments, for they are the only ones that have endurance as their second stats. Defense augments all carry power.

 

As a compromise you could go for the accuracy talent and stack accuracy on your augments, but avoid it in any armour or trinket slot - go for full mitigation there...

[Marb]

If you look at it from afar:

 

Why would you want accuracy as a tank? to generate more threat. Which stat out of all the others would be the best bang for my buck if all I wanted to do is increase my threat? the answer is main stat / power, not accuracy.

 

This isn't taking into account that accuracy occupies the same stat slot as shield rating, which seals the deal as accuracy being tied with alacrity as useless rubbish that exists to artificially inflate the time it takes to min max a set of tank gear.

Edited May 1, 2013 by Marb

[Dragonexadon]

If you look at it from afar:

 

Why would you want accuracy as a tank? to generate more threat.

Agreed. I have low accuracy but don't lose threat. I say it's not needed.

[Loladarulz]

One reason that tanks don't need accuracy is because of the way that threat works. The ONLY time that accuracy would really be relevant with threat would be in the first 15-30 seconds of a boss fight. Beyond that, your taunt is your biggest threat builder.

 

Over the course of those first 30 seconds, with no accuracy you might miss on two or three hits. If you gear for accuracy you are giving up mitigation stats. It is absolutely not worth sacrificing those mitigation stats (which are helpful for the duration of the fight and are what make you a tank) to give you the chance to connect on those two hits in the first 30 seconds of a fight.

 

Hope that helps!

 

This is nice explanation.

[Ardarell_Solo]

Those are the familiar arguments against accuracy. However, I encourage anyone who is interested in this beyond pure theory, to just try it out. If you have the resources to change your gear around a bit (Easiest ways are augments, as explained above, if you have good crafters in your guild you can swap them, it's not too expensive).

 

Good boss to test are the tentacles in TFB final boss, especially with a sent/marauder on your tentacle. You can see which kind of itemization works better for your personal play style there...

 

Mind you, this only really makes sense if you're (at least almost) full 72 with set bonus for full potential of secondary and tertiary stats.