Fighting styles

[Wildfury77]

<font color="#ff0000">Just interested on other swashs thoughts:</font>My main setup is <font color="#ff0000">Offensive stance, duel wield imbued cobalt falchions</font> (full cobalt/vanadium kit).If the tank goes red and its been a tough fight that we are close to winning - i switch to <font color="#ff0000">Defensive stance, imbued ironwood round shield + cobalt longsword</font> and hit admonish + hate skills (and drop avoid blame,hate transfer) to pull agro as main tank falls.......I find with this setup my avoidance and mitigation go through the roof and avoid that hated wipe.Anyone else do this??<font size="4" color="#6666cc">Shadowscream 54 swashie/ 56 jeweler (Befallen)</font><div></div>

[Luk]

<div></div>I basically never use a shield or defensive stance, you loose too much, if the tank is looking like he's going down, I just burn hard, not many mobs that aren't raid mobs stay up long with a swashy going hard.

[Syrano]

<div></div><p>I use both approaches.  I burn hard until the tank falls, then I acquire aggro and go defensive.  Anything short of a raid mob can be tanked by a swash, and in defensive stance your healers will thank you for it.  There is a dramatic difference between 24% avoidance (offensive) and 50-60% avoidance (defensive).    However I don't go defensive until I actually have aggro on at least one mob of reasonable strength.</p><p>Mobsr that are green already probably don't need defensive.  Yellow/white/high blue cons it definately increases your surviveability.</p>

[overfloat]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>Licit wrote:<div></div>not many mobs ... stay up long with a swashy going hard<hr></blockquote><p>I read that totally the wrong way. :smileysurprised:</p><p>Think it's the Valentine's spirit. *snicker*</p>

[ilucife]

rofl<div></div>

[Oxie]

<div></div><div></div><p>I didn't follow the whole mindset of "I must have a full set of feysteel/ebon/cobalt" armor on. I scour the markets to see what sort of STR-based gear is out there to wear. Yeah, the cobalt chest, legs, and forearms(?) have STR stats, but I already had level 40 fabled gear that was close enough to the STR stats on the cobalts. I figure if I'm not getting agro and getting hit, then I don't need avoidance/mitigation. If I'm going to get killed, I'm gonna get killed with or without higher avoid/mit. About the only time I do die in a raid, everyone else has died, too.</p><p>I did upgrade all of my spells to adept 3 (except the defensive stance). I did get vanadium wrists, STR/AGI rings made, and a vanadium earring made. I also got one T6 STR hex doll made but I still carry my T5 STR hex doll...what's one more +1 STR stat? If I do take the 8 seconds to cast the hex doll spell, I use the hotkey on my toolbar for the T6 STR doll. I also had 2 cobalts weapons made (1.2 and 1.3 slash/pierce), since I solo a lot doing writs. I have my prismatic 1, so I use that with my piercer most of the time. I use a T5 sling and it has yet to have any problems against the T6 raid mobs that I have done (just Lockjaw, Living Tombs, and Shimmering Citadel so far).</p><p>I never use a shield/one hander weapon. If it looks like the tank is getting smacked around, I'll go into "buzzsaw" mode and pour on the dps. Yeah, I have crappy mitigation and avoidance because I'm not decked out in cobalt, but I didn't roll a swashy to be a tank. I'm not thrilled with this new AA path they are forcing us to take with the swashies. If I wanted to be a "light tank" and be a backup tank with a shield and a 1 hander, I'd have rolled a fighter, dagnabit! I wish they'd give us faster self invis and a better group invis that hides everyone better, for a farther distance, and a faster movement speed. If a monk can fake death to avoid a total raid wipe, I'd love to have a uber nice shadow slip that allows me to stay alive to rez a healer to get the raid back up to try again.</p><p>I put swarthy diversion on the MT in the group and I rarely ever gank agro from him. If I'm in a raid, I'm just careful about my button mashing, I joust with my resist gear on*, and use first Arctic Blast, then HoS, then AB again.</p><p>I have 4 sandalwood boxes full of all 7 types of resist gear. Heck, I even have a spreadsheet made and printed out for a quick reference when the raid leader says "this mob tosses out a nasty fire aoe". Off goes the STR gear and on goes my fire armor. I think I can get all 7 resists past 3000-3500 without any potions or buffs put on me.</p><p>Message Edited by Oxie on <span class="date_text">02-14-2006</span><span class="time_text">12:32 PM</span></p>

[Arody]

<div>Usually with a me being a Swashie mobs go down very very quick im going all out......</div><div> </div><div>and if tank dies usually i do not switch i try and do it with my offensive stance</div><div> </div>

[Mathe]

<div></div><div>The bonus from going absolute pure STR with every piece of equipment and ignoring everything else doesn't really seem worthwhile. The STR bonus to CAs isn't that amazing, upgrading them has a much bigger impact. Being able to take a beating though has a lot more usefulness than have 10 more damage per CA. Even so, I have almost full Cobalt (just need to get the last couple of pieces now) and I have about 270+ STR (better than quite a few Fighters I've seen) and 230+ AGI. You don't need to sacrifice if you get the right equipment.</div><div> </div><div>I can swap stances and put up Hurricane (if I don't already have it up, and there isn't a bunch of neutral mobs around) and tank just fine if need be. I don't bother with the shield, the extra avoidance is really negligible on bucklers and more hate does help.</div><div> </div><div>I'm not sure what you mean about AA paths suddenly making Swashbucklers light tanks now. For one thing, that has always been part of Swashbuckler, which is why we have a Taunt and better than average health for a Scout. Also AA doesn't effect the fact you will still have all the same abilities you already had anyways.</div><div> </div><div>Even so, the AA lines don't really seem to be making Swashbuckler suddenly tank only.</div><div> </div><div>STA line does somewhat, but that is because it is the STA line. The Summoner STA line focuses on the tank pet, and it makes sense that line would focus on bulking up tanking skills.</div><div> </div><div>Keep in mind that Brigands also use the same AA path, and unlike Swashbucklers, they do have CAs that require getting hit.</div>

[overfloat]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>Arodynn wrote:<div>Usually with a me being a Swashie mobs go down very very quick<hr></div></blockquote><p>See, it's that natural swashy charm at work...</p><p>That Valentine's spirit is all over this thread. <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>