Shadow Tank self-healing build (27/0/14)

[JayneKobb]

Hello!

 

So I have noticed that Shadows get several self-healing abilities later on that seemed, on the surface, to be pretty impressive. I was playing around on torhead.com when I should be working and came up with the following build.

 

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#601bIdskbskbZZf0fkM.1

 

I was basically looking for:

1) Damage reduction

2) Self Heals

 

It looked like it was possible to get Harnessed Shadows, Impact Control, and Force in Balance all together for some pretty impressive self-healing while, from what I can tell, not sacrificing too much in terms of tanking ability.

 

It looked like the big loss was Slow Time, as any AoE threat skill is nice for boss fights.

 

I only got my Shadow up to 16 in the beta, so I never got to see any of these skills in action. Any experienced players out there have some input on this build? Would it be viable for main-tanking or am i sacrificing too much in the Kinetic talents?

 

Thanks for any input!

[Kitru]

It looked like the big loss was Slow Time, as any AoE threat skill is nice for boss fights.

 

The loss of Slow Time is going to hurt. A lot. Especially when you're trying to make up for it with FiB. Talented Slow Time and FiB generate the same amount of threat, and Slow Time hits 5 targets rather than 3, which you've already considered. More important, however, is the fact that Slow Time places a 5% damage debuff on the target, which is more than going to overcome the relatively small self heal that FiB provides. Less incoming damage also means that your current self healing mechanisms are going to be comparatively more powerful (they are acting on a smaller sum of incoming damage).

 

The only reason I would take FiB over ST is if I desperately an reliable 30m attack. If I wanted to be the most effective tank, I'd just go with ST.

[PaintOnASign]

Don't forget Slow Time has a 7.5s cooldown and higher thread co-efficient vs Force in Balance at 15s cooldown. I remember reading someone doing the math, and ST was ahead, as far as threat goes, but I don't wanna dig for the post right now!

 

Be that as it may, the 23/0/18 build (http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#601dcrokrskZZf0cRrMz.1) is still very do-able.

 

Considering you're going for DR, I'm surprised you skipped Shadowsight. Also, Mental Fortitude has proven to be useless for costing 3 points. Not speccing into Applied Force is also fairly detrimental, considering its our bread and butter ability as far as melee attacks go. Focused Insight is also useless. TK (as far as I remember) is not considered a DoT. And since you didn't go deep enough into Balance to get free and instant Mind Crushes, you're not going to see that talent procc, ever.

Edited December 22, 2011 by PaintOnASign

[JayneKobb]

Thanks for the replies! I was thinking Focused Insight, believeing TK to be a DoT. Guess I can put those points to better use.

 

Another question: How exactly does Expertise work? Does it buff your base DPS in a stance, or is it tied to stance-specific skills? I skipped over applied force thinking that I would get more bang-for-my-skillpoint from Expertise.

 

Good points also about the outgoing damage reduction from Slow Time and the utility of mental fortitude. Good things to think about as I plan my build.

 

Finally...which tree would you tier up first? Kinetic?

[Kitru]

Another question: How exactly does Expertise work?

 

Expertise simply increases the damage caused by Combat Technique, Shadow Technique, and Force Technique procs. When you realize how little damage those Techniques actually provide (at level 40, it's only ~50 damage when my Double Strike is hitting for 1.5k), you realize it's just a trap.

 

Finally...which tree would you tier up first? Kinetic?

 

Yes, push points in Kinetic first. This gets you to the all-important QoL talents like One with the Force faster.

[JayneKobb]

Thanks again for the fast response!

 

I feel like I have a solid basis for my build now. Much appreciated!!

[Bilirubin]

Also thanks. I was planning on the 23/0/18 build too (really suits my play style it turns out), but was uncertain how to fill each tree--one then the other or both from ground up. This helps tremendously.