Tanking priority rotation?

[Xezkaiel]

Okay so I am a fairly low level Vanguard. Only in my late teens but I wanna get some info early. The concept of threat does not appear to be the same as it is in WoW, with moves SPECIFICALLY made for tanking. My question to the higher levels out there, is (I am guessing its more of a priority than actual rotation) what is the rotations for tanking a group of mobs? And for bosses? Basically what establishes aggro in the quickest manner and is also easy on the ammo?

[marchesq]

LVL 28.

 

This will change drastically end game.

 

This rotation keeps ammo high.

 

Battles (15sec rotation)

----------------

Sticky - Still your best ranged AOE. (Mortar shells - 1min cooldown.)

Hammer - Recharge ammo while closing gap.

Explosion Surge - PBAOE burst (Charge Ion cell / reduce all damage by 5% specced out.)

 

Riot Strike - get it off early

Stock Strike - heavy hitter

HIB - Hard Hitter

 

Hammer

IonPulse

 

Riot

Stock

HIB

 

 

Kiting

--------------------

Hammer

IonPulse

 

 

LVL 50 (Speculation Only)

Storm

Blitz

Sonic

Surge

 

/Loop

Energy Blast

Stock

Ion

HIB

/Loop

Edited December 24, 2011 by marchesq

[Mashto]

Very good question indeed. I am also playing a vanguard trooper (level 16 atm) and usually just bash some buttons/skills

[kaesebreze]

It's basically

 

0) Keep Ion Pulse Debuff on Boss

1) Stockstrike on CD

2) HIP on CD

3) Energy Blast on CD - BUT only use it if you have 2 or more Ammo missing

4) IF Ion Pulse Debuff doesn't drop soon, Sticky Grenade on CD ELSE Ion Pulse

5) IF everything above is on CD AND after Ion Pulse you're still at max ammo regen, do Ion Pulse

6) Else Basic Attack.

 

It comes down wether you had aoroc on Shield-Ammo reg or not to decide Ion Pulse vs. Basic attack (or Ion Pulse vs. Grenade if the Debuff is about to trop=

Edited December 25, 2011 by kaesebreze

[LordXalas]

LVL 28.

 

This will change drastically end game.

 

This rotation keeps ammo high.

 

Battles (15sec rotation)

----------------

Sticky - Still your best ranged AOE. (Mortar shells - 1min cooldown.)

Hammer - Recharge ammo while closing gap.

Explosion Surge - PBAOE burst (Charge Ion cell / reduce all damage by 5% specced out.)

 

Riot Strike - get it off early

Stock Strike - heavy hitter

HIB - Hard Hitter

 

Hammer

IonPulse

 

Riot

Stock

HIB

 

 

Kiting

--------------------

Hammer

IonPulse

 

 

LVL 50 (Speculation Only)

Storm

Blitz

Sonic

Surge

 

/Loop

Energy Blast

Stock

Ion

HIB

/Loop

 

why the hell will you use riot strike if you dont need to interrupt a target?

[marchesq]

Several reasons.

 

1)At lvl 28, I needed a second for ammo regen.

So my options were hammer or Riot (4sec cool down.)

At the time I couldnt think of anything else.

 

I suppose you could switch in IonPulse, and work in a second hammer.

 

Dont like it, suggest an alternative Mr. Smarty Pants.

 

2) Pistol whippin the crap out of mobs with Riot/Stock looks sexy as hell.

 

3) It worked against the charge power champions I faced on Taris and N.S.

 

Until i see a spread sheet on DPS and DPE, I'm not gonna really

Edited December 25, 2011 by marchesq

[Trevalon]

It's basically

 

0) Keep Ion Pulse Debuff on Boss

1) Stockstrike on CD

2) HIP on CD

3) Energy Blast on CD - BUT only use it if you have 2 or more Ammo missing

4) IF Ion Pulse Debuff doesn't drop soon, Sticky Grenade on CD ELSE Ion Pulse

5) IF everything above is on CD AND after Ion Pulse you're still at max ammo regen, do Ion Pulse

6) Else Basic Attack.

 

It comes down wether you had aoroc on Shield-Ammo reg or not to decide Ion Pulse vs. Basic attack (or Ion Pulse vs. Grenade if the Debuff is about to trop=

 

If you took Energy Blast your doing it wrong...

 

Go the Gut route - its much better than the horrible skill that is Energy Blast.

[Tachycardia]

Several reasons.

 

1)At lvl 28, I needed a second for ammo regen.

So my options were hammer or Riot (4sec cool down.)

At the time I couldnt think of anything else.

 

Riot Strike is an interrupt. It does nothing dps/threat wise.

 

 

Riot Strike

Instant

Range: 4m

Interrupts the target's current action and prevents that ability from being used for the next 4 seconds.

 

http://www.torhead.com/ability/cplfaQq

Edited December 26, 2011 by Tachycardia

[GreenLantern]

substitute energy blast for Gut. Gut is far superior.

[Xezkaiel]

substitute energy blast for Gut. Gut is far superior.

 

Lol I have already been thoroughly educated by the other poster above you who mentioned that XD. I am very likely to go the gut route unless EB gets major tweaks within the next couple weeks.

 

Ty for input so far!

[Darguth]

Eh, if you go Gut rather than Energy Blast you're going to have Ammo problems if you're using Stockstrike on CD with Static Shield procs. Which leads to more Hammershot filler actions and lower DPS/Threat.

[Xezkaiel]

Yea. It really is a good debate and can go either way. I think the downtime with more hammershots isnt that bad really. It is also simple preference to slice someone with a blade than another laser shot =P

[LordXalas]

Eh, if you go Gut rather than Energy Blast you're going to have Ammo problems if you're using Stockstrike on CD with Static Shield procs. Which leads to more Hammershot filler actions and lower DPS/Threat.

 

if you are having ammo problems then you're doing it wrong. when im tanking i hardly use half my ammo and threat is just fine.

[Xezkaiel]

if you are having ammo problems then you're doing it wrong. when im tanking i hardly use half my ammo and threat is just fine.

 

Thats the way I feel. I say its only a good debate mainly for ppl who simply dont know how to manage their resource/threat without some kind of meter =P

 

Gut ftw....until some patch F's it up for us =(

[bliapis]

Open with sticky grenade,

 

Close up with Hammer shot

 

As soon as close enough, Ion Pulse to lower incomming damage

 

 

OR

 

Open with sticky grenade,

 

Storm to charge the target

 

Ion pulse.

 

 

 

Then

 

 

Stock strike

 

HIB

 

refresh Ion Pulse

 

 

And then go in priority mode:

 

Ion Pulse

 

Stock Strike

 

HiB

 

Sticky grenade.

 

 

 

 

As soon as you get Energy Blast use it as filler instead of Hammer Shot.

 

 

Its easy

[Trevalon]

Eh, if you go Gut rather than Energy Blast you're going to have Ammo problems if you're using Stockstrike on CD with Static Shield procs. Which leads to more Hammershot filler actions and lower DPS/Threat.

 

Sorry, but I just have to..

 

L2P - If you have ammo issues your playing wrong. Stop spamming the horrible skill called Explosive Surge and you might have ammo...

[bliapis]

Sorry, but I just have to..

 

L2P - If you have ammo issues your playing wrong. Stop spamming the horrible skill called Explosive Surge and you might have ammo...

 

Explosive Surge is horrible? Dood are u serious?

 

 

Its not part of the rotation but with emergency recharge on 6 adds it really shines, keeping aggro on all + doing quite nice damage too.

[Trevalon]

Open with sticky grenade,

 

Close up with Hammer shot

 

As soon as close enough, Ion Pulse to lower incomming damage

 

 

OR

 

Open with sticky grenade,

 

Storm to charge the target

 

Ion pulse.

 

 

 

Then

 

 

Stock strike

 

HIB

 

refresh Ion Pulse

 

 

And then go in priority mode:

 

Ion Pulse

 

Stock Strike

 

HiB

 

Sticky grenade.

 

 

 

 

As soon as you get Energy Blast use it as filler instead of Hammer Shot.

 

 

Its easy

 

This is a pretty decent rotation, but put Pulse Cannon in there somewhere, Pulse Cannons Damage to ammo ratio is very high if you line up 2-3 mobs. It also gets aggro faster than almost any ability we have other than Taunt and Stockstrike...

 

You could throw in 1 (JUST 1) Explosive Surge right at the pull to get some initial Agro and to put up the 4% debuff on everything. Ion Pulse is a low damage ability and should only really be used to refresh the debuff on mobs...

 

Stockstrike

HIB

Pulse Cannon

 

these are your bread and butters ...Throw in Sticky Grenades and Blitz (if possible) when Ammo permits...Use Explosive Surge every 15 seconds....

 

Notes on Pulse Cannon vs Explosive Surge

 

Generally I can hit at minimum 3 mobs per Pulse Cannon if I line it up correctly (Many times I can hit more). This means for 3 ammo you can do (at 43) approx 1300 damage X3 = 3900 Damage over 3 seconds for a cost of 3 Ammo (actually its only 2 ammo because in the cast time it will regen a whole ammo).

 

Explosive Surge on the other hand hits 5 targets max for (at lvl 43) about 300 damage a piece.. SO lets say you do actually have 5 full targets and hit all 5 you get 5X300 = 1500 damage and a 4% debuff ....These numbers make using Explosive Surge for anything but 1 cast at the initial pull for the debuff useless. I am convinced anyone who says they are having ammo issues is having those issues because they are spamming low damage high cost abilities: See Explosive Surge

 

So to equal the damage of 1 Pulse Cannon you need 2.5 Explosive Surges or 7.5 ammo..

 

7.5 ammo vs 2 ammo - That seems like a hard decision.

 

I see Vanguards spamming explosive surge all the time and you need to stop it - Learn to line your character up right and use Pulse Cannon for a much more optimized rotation.

Edited December 28, 2011 by Trevalon

[Trevalon]

Explosive Surge is horrible? Dood are u serious?

 

 

Its not part of the rotation but with emergency recharge on 6 adds it really shines, keeping aggro on all + doing quite nice damage too.

 

It only hits 5 adds and read my other post to find out why Explosive Surge is not cost effective...when compared to Pulse Cannon.

Edited December 28, 2011 by Trevalon

[Trevalon]

Explosive Surge is horrible? Dood are u serious?

 

 

Its not part of the rotation but with emergency recharge on 6 adds it really shines, keeping aggro on all + doing quite nice damage too.

 

 

Secondly, why on earth would you choose to waste your Recharge on spamming explosive Surge when you can do 3 Stockstrikes, 2 HIB, and Pulse Cannon for the same amount of ammo dump and then recharge.

 

So 5 mobs X 3 explosive charges X 300 damage = 4500 damage

 

3 Stockstrikes = approx. damage at 43 = 1300 per X 3 = 3900 damage

 

2 HIB = 900 damage at 43 X 2 = 1800 damage

 

Pulse Cannon on 3 mobs = 3900 damage (see above)

 

Grand Total: 3900+ 1800+ 3900+ = 9600 damage

 

So For your 2 minute Recharge cooldown you got 4500 damage and for my 2 minute recharge cooldown I doubled you with 9600...

 

And while you can say damage doesn't matter, it does - Damage is how you gain agro so the more damage you can dump the more agro you can dump...

 

So I repeat, The only reason to use Explosive Surge is right at the Start of a fight and ONLY when there are at LEAST 3 mobs+ present - Anything less than 3 mobs is a waste when Ion Pulse would do more overall damage for only 1 more ammo.

Edited December 28, 2011 by Trevalon

[bliapis]

It only hits 5 adds and read my other post to find out why Explosive Surge is not cost effective...when compared to Pulse Cannon.

 

Maths aside, the explosive surge is good when you need to grab attention on loads of mobs.

 

 

You know what i mean, because you look like someone who has payed attention to the class ( i thought u sucked in the beggining).

 

 

When there loads of adds and u need to grab attention u either AoE taunt or use the Explosive surge. Using the explosive surge instead of Ion Pulse too when there are 4 more adds that are still alive.

 

 

I dont know if its cost effective for 4 mobs to keep it within rotation but its helluva easier than keeping track of the debuff while using the Ion Pulse.

 

Its a tool we have that no other tank class has it!

[Trevalon]

Maths aside, the explosive surge is good when you need to grab attention on loads of mobs.

 

 

You know what i mean, because you look like someone who has payed attention to the class ( i thought u sucked in the beggining).

 

 

When there loads of adds and u need to grab attention u either AoE taunt or use the Explosive surge. Using the explosive surge instead of Ion Pulse too when there are 4 more adds that are still alive.

 

 

I dont know if its cost effective for 4 mobs to keep it within rotation but its helluva easier than keeping track of the debuff while using the Ion Pulse.

 

Its a tool we have that no other tank class has it!

 

Yes I will agree that using explosive surge at the very start of a large fight is beneficial for initial agro and to put the debuff on all mobs.

 

So, yes you are right

 

I was more showing that the spamming of Explosive Surge (That I see Vanguards doing in pvp all the time) is a really horrible practice and ES should ONLY be used under VERY limited circumstances.

 

I would say Explosive Surge might be the most situational damage ability we have in our arsenal ...I guess Blitz could be a contender, but honestly if you can blitz someone do it, it does a ton of damage for low ammo!

 

P.S. I was only trying to show how effective Pulse Cannon can be as I have seen a few rotations posted in this thread alone that do not include Pulse Cannon and that is sad because it is by far our most cost effective damage ability we have...

Edited December 28, 2011 by Trevalon

[bliapis]

Yes I will agree that using explosive shot at the very start of a large fight is beneficial for initial agro and to put the debuff on all mobs.

 

So, yes you are right

 

I was more showing that the spamming of Explosive Surge (That I see Vanguards doing in pvp all the time) is a really horrible practice and ES should ONLY be used under VERY limited circumstances.

 

I do spam Exp Surge in PVP when i find the opportunity where the enemies is clastered to take down a door or such. Its wonderful, it does alot cumulative damage, it lowers the enemy's pack damage, it also confuses them and scare them, either make them run away to escape or attack me, which is what i want, i activate my defence CDs and let me premade kill em while healing me.

 

 

Mission Accomplished, Trooper goes home.

[Trevalon]

I do spam Exp Surge in PVP when i find the opportunity where the enemies is clastered to take down a door or such. Its wonderful, it does alot cumulative damage, it lowers the enemy's pack damage, it also confuses them and scare them, either make them run away to escape or attack me, which is what i want, i activate my defence CDs and let me premade kill em while healing me.

 

 

Mission Accomplished, Trooper goes home.

 

lol, alright alright, I will concede your point sir - You seem to have your stuff figured out and far be it of me to tell someone how to play their character when they know what they are doing.

 

I mostly post for the clueless people and you don't seem clueless to me...