Endgame Tank Gear

[NYYankee]

I'm a newb and just got my first toon to level 55. I'd like to start doing endgame FPs and OPs and am looking for advice on the recommended balance of stats for my gear. I started doing the Oricon quest line. My previous gear is orange gear filled with Makeb Mods (lvl 140). On that set, I prioritized Shield and Absorption above all else. The Oricon gear (lvl 156) I'm receiving now is heavy on defense (as well as accuracy which seems to be near worthless).

 

How should I balance defense, shield, and absorption? Is it best to evenly balance all, or to go heavy in one direction?

The vendors seem to sell complete pieces of gear (for comms) but not mods. Is the GTN the only place to get endgame mods?

 

Feel free to point me to an existing link or post. I realize this has probably been covered before, but all the info I found is a couple years old and I'm not sure how relevant it is anymore.

[Ryuku-sama]

Best is heavy shield/absorb for a full vanguard tank.

[FrozenGoalie]

I suggest 18% defense 40% shield and 40% absorb as your target numbers to start aiming for. Most of your gear will end up being shield/absorb, especially once you get your 4-piece set bonus (which is very important, as it buffs two DCDs and gives you an extra 2% defense). Once you get 18/40/40 (numbers that have worked well for myself and a couple PT tanks I know, but other people might suggest different values), you can start playing around with the stats to see what numbers to get up higher.

 

Remember to keep your set bonus, even if it means you have to use 162 armorings instead of 180s you bought from a vendor. And remember, mitigation > endurance every time.

 

EDIT: Also, skip the GTN for the mods, they're really expensive and it's much easier (and cheaper) to buy multiple pairs of gloves and rip the mods out. (Armorings are tied to the type of gear they came out of, ie all glove armorings must go back into a set of gloves, but mods and enhancements are not and can go in any gear.) Optimized mods (ones that have more mitigation and less endurance compared to the vendor version) will drop in set pieces - but not every set piece will have optimized mods, either, so gearing does get tricky when you're trying to perfect your 180 set. For the time being, any mod that doesn't have accuracy or alacrity will do just fine for you.

Edited July 6, 2014 by FrozenGoalie

[TACeMossie]

For storymode FPs and Ops, you're best bet is to get the ARKANIAN set bonus or better from getting 4 set bonus pieces from SM Ops. You can also get UNDERWORLD pieces from the last 2 bosses in Dread Fortress and Dread Palace.

 

For your shield/defense/absorb, the 156 crafted enhancements are pretty good, the only way to beat it is crafted 168+ rating gear, or by using the Ultimate Comm vendor and buying a lot of oriconian demolishers boots (tokens from underworld or better gear also work). The mods from the basic/elite/ultimate vendor are also nice, though if you can get a token equivalent its better off (in order from basic/elite/ultimate comm vendors and token equivalents and also including Nightmare level mods:

30B < 31B < 30 < 33B < 31 < 34B < 33 < 34 < 36B < 36)

 

As for numbers balancing, getting +1% defense for every +1.5% shield/absorb is a good way to do it until you start going into HM and NiM Operations, where you need to start allocating the points specifically on a per-boss basis.

For the earpiece/implant, you're better off getting a crafted level 54 implant/earpiece with the prefix "Veracity" than using the comms gear, as it comes with shield/defense instead of the far more useless accuracy stat, though if you get some DREAD FORGED earpieces or implants crafted, they are better.

 

Finally, if you do get around to HM and NiM Operations, use KBNs tank stat distribution guide found here. The numbers are for NiM, though HM is pretty similar to it. They explain everything in that thread.

 

And as always, defensive stats > endurance > accuracy/alacrity/power/surge/crit when it comes to tanking.

[Ryuku-sama]

And as always, defensive stats > endurance > accuracy/alacrity/power/surge/crit when it comes to tanking.

 

In fact that's false in 1 specific place... Crystal for a Jugg tank. ED tick are determined by your bonus healing which is boosted by power.... So using Power crystal instead of Endu crystal is better.

For all tanks main stat is better than endurance after about lvl 45 where you can reliably have good def stats.

 

*That is in PvE*

[KeyboardNinja]

For all tanks main stat is better than endurance after about lvl 45 where you can reliably have good def stats.

 

I'll try to remember that the next time I get Driving Thrusted by an enraged Nightmare Raptus, or I get whacked by the doubled monsters in Bestia. :-D

 

Endurance does have a place. As a general rule, you want to make sure that nothing in the game will take you down from 100% to 0% in less than some t unit of time, where t is a very subjective question driven primarily by your healers. In general, I tend to think of between 3 and 4.5 seconds as a reasonably good time unit, since that gives just enough time for most healers to get off their big combo, plus some margin for reaction time. The basic idea is that you want to make sure your HP is enough to avoid getting one-shotted assuming your healers are responsive and correctly geared. For low level content, this isn't a very high bar. However, for some nightmare mode fights, it's a completely different question.

 

My mitigation-stacking vanguard cotank handles the doubled adds in Nightmare Bestia. There are numerous points in the fight where he is hit, in the span of a single perceivable instant in the game, for just over 85% of his maximum health. Now, his maximum health is just shy of 46k (mitigation-stacking, but still in mostly 186 gear). That means he's being hit, in a single instant, for almost exactly 39k damage. If he were aggressively reducing his endurance in favor of main stat (main stat crystals and armorings wherever possible), he would probably lose a solid 3-4k worth of health. That means his 39k hit goes from being 85% of his health to a heart-stopping 93%! With just 3k health left, the basic attack from the monsters alone (which comes immediately after the smash) would be enough to kill him. As it is, he's already so close to the line that the healers need to scramble instantaneously to address the situation or we lose him.

 

My point is simply that while endurance should never be your priority, you can't neglect it completely. Content in SWTOR isn't very bursty, relative to a lot of other MMOs, which means that endurance plays a much smaller role than it does in those other MMOs. However, ignoring endurance (which is your only burst-counter mechanism) in favor of a little more threat/damage or (in the case of a Jugg) a slightly better defensive CD isn't really a sound strategy. Burst moments still exist, and we still have to be able to tank through them. Just because they aren't the norm doesn't mean we can ignore them completely.

Edited July 7, 2014 by KeyboardNinja

[Ryuku-sama]

I'll try to remember that the next time I get Driving Thrusted by an enraged Nightmare Raptus, or I get whacked by the doubled monsters in Bestia. :-D

 

Endurance does have a place. As a general rule, you want to make sure that nothing in the game will take you down from 100% to 0% in less than some t unit of time, where t is a very subjective question driven primarily by your healers. In general, I tend to think of between 3 and 4.5 seconds as a reasonably good time unit, since that gives just enough time for most healers to get off their big combo, plus some margin for reaction time. The basic idea is that you want to make sure your HP is enough to avoid getting one-shotted assuming your healers are responsive and correctly geared. For low level content, this isn't a very high bar. However, for some nightmare mode fights, it's a completely different question.

 

My mitigation-stacking vanguard cotank handles the doubled adds in Nightmare Bestia. There are numerous points in the fight where he is hit, in the span of a single perceivable instant in the game, for just over 85% of his maximum health. Now, his maximum health is just shy of 46k (mitigation-stacking, but still in mostly 186 gear). That means he's being hit, in a single instant, for almost exactly 39k damage. If he were aggressively reducing his endurance in favor of main stat (main stat crystals and armorings wherever possible), he would probably lose a solid 3-4k worth of health. That means his 39k hit goes from being 85% of his health to a heart-stopping 93%! With just 3k health left, the basic attack from the monsters alone (which comes immediately after the smash) would be enough to kill him. As it is, he's already so close to the line that the healers need to scramble instantaneously to address the situation or we lose him.

 

My point is simply that while endurance should never be your priority, you can't neglect it completely. Content in SWTOR isn't very bursty, relative to a lot of other MMOs, which means that endurance plays a much smaller role than it does in those other MMOs. However, ignoring endurance (which is your only burst-counter mechanism) in favor of a little more threat/damage or (in the case of a Jugg) a slightly better defensive CD isn't really a sound strategy. Burst moments still exist, and we still have to be able to tank through them. Just because they aren't the norm doesn't mean we can ignore them completely.

 

I have to ask... How in every holy hell did you get 46k if you were stacking def stats. Your only choices is between Might or Guardian armoring/hilt and Power or Endu crystal. With Guardian/Endu I get 43,161 health. with 4 Guardian (for set bonus)/rest Might/Power I get 41,910 health. Both are far from your 46k. SO either you're stacking more Endurance than you said, thus losing def stats or there is something wrong in both of us.

 

And for your situationnal evidence EP would give you some breathing room. Adre Rush would do the same on a Vanguard. I can't talk for a shadow/sin but I imagine Overcharge Saber would do the job and allow your healer to catch up.

 

EDIT : I respect your work KBN. Your maths about tank def stats are beyond my small understanding (Yeah biology is my field... Not math ). But I feel here I you made a mistake.

 

 

RE-EDIT : Wow... My brain needs to be rebooted.... I'm in the Vang section..... For Vanguard it IS better to stack some Endurance. Mostly because all your self heal works with health% and not Bonus Healing. My point was mostly for Jugg... And I guess I took it too far again

 

For a Vang ... I'll link an AMR ASAP

 

 

LAST EDIT (I hope ) : As I said in my previous edit, despite my mistake, Vang tank should stack some Endurance... Just to make Adre Rush's heal from Soldier's Girt or Shoulder Cannon's one from Guard Cannon more potent. Here is the AMR I would use for my Vanguard.. which is stacking Endurance ..... I really need to read better

 

 

So In conclusion. Vanguard, since their DCD never use their bonus healing but only their max health should stack Endurance. Jugg, with Sonic Barrier and Enraged Defense, should stack some power/mainstat on crystal/armoring/hilt.

And, in regard to burst, if it's previsible (and I can't think of any that isn't in PvE) Jugg can artificially boost their HP with Endure Pain and buy their healers some times. So the slightly lower HP won't matter that much.

Edited July 8, 2014 by Ryuku-sama

[KeyboardNinja]

I have to ask... How in every holy hell did you get 46k if you were stacking def stats. Your only choices is between Might or Guardian armoring/hilt and Power or Endu crystal. With Guardian/Endu I get 43,161 health. with 4 Guardian (for set bonus)/rest Might/Power I get 41,910 health. Both are far from your 46k. SO either you're stacking more Endurance than you said, thus losing def stats or there is something wrong in both of us.

 

Both my cotank and I are in full 186 gear as well, which increases our endurance quite a lot even while mitigation stacking. I would actually have almost 47k if I had my main hand and if I didn't have a couple high main-stat armorings.

 

And for your situationnal evidence EP would give you some breathing room. Adre Rush would do the same on a Vanguard. I can't talk for a shadow/sin but I imagine Overcharge Saber would do the job and allow your healer to catch up.

 

All of these cooldowns are applied to other situations and can't be up all the time. On Bestia, for example, you tank the doubled adds for two and a half minutes before they get separated, and even after that you still need at least one tank dealing with an add + bestia herself for a little while, which is almost as bursty. As for Raptus, enraged Driving Thrust hits me for around 65k when I shield it. Overcharge Saber and Blackout together are the only way I get that down to something even remotely survivable!

 

LAST EDIT (I hope ) : As I said in my previous edit, despite my mistake, Vang tank should stack some Endurance... Just to make Adre Rush's heal from Soldier's Girt or Shoulder Cannon's one from Guard Cannon more potent. Here is the AMR I would use for my Vanguard.. which is stacking Endurance ..... I really need to read better

 

Aside from the fact that you're using a large number of shield augments and including enhancements which are not accessible in game (Sturdiness 36), I mostly agree with this. :-) Though, the impact of endurance on the HPS value of the self-heal mechanics is very, very small, so my intuition says that the larger impact is from the deeper health pool. HP vs mitigation is a hard weighting to quantify though, so I can't speak to the point in any quantitative way.