PvP Swashbuckler

[Gimet]

<p>Similiar to my PvP monk thread. Trying to decide on a Monk or a Swashy.</p><p>Not really much to say, but I have a lot to ask. I'm thinking of rolling a Swashbuckler for PvP, and just need advice on:</p><p>AA- Where do I put it in terms for DPS? What other things should I put aa on for it to be beneficial?</p><p>Tactics- I know Swashbucklers can keep interrupting and staying off targeted on their enemy. How can I do this as to stopping Priests and Mages from casting? How do I defeat fighters and other scouts?</p><p>Necessities- What do Swashbucklers completely fail in? How do I fix this? (Example, Furies use tons of power, so you should carry Power Potions and do x amount of things)</p><p>I need plenty of advice on PvPing a Swashbuckler. I've had a Swashy on PvE servers and liked it a lot. But we all know how different the two experiences are.</p>

[Harbing]

<cite>Enlocke@Vox wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Similiar to my PvP monk thread. Trying to decide on a Monk or a Swashy.</p><p>Not really much to say, but I have a lot to ask. I'm thinking of rolling a Swashbuckler for PvP, and just need advice on:</p><p>AA- Where do I put it in terms for DPS? What other things should I put aa on for it to be beneficial?</p><p>Tactics- I know Swashbucklers can keep interrupting and staying off targeted on their enemy. How can I do this as to stopping Priests and Mages from casting? How do I defeat fighters and other scouts?</p><p>Necessities- What do Swashbucklers completely fail in? How do I fix this? (Example, Furies use tons of power, so you should carry Power Potions and do x amount of things)</p><p>I need plenty of advice on PvPing a Swashbuckler. I've had a Swashy on PvE servers and liked it a lot. But we all know how different the two experiences are.</p></blockquote>AA wise i d advise reach, full STR and full WIS (altough if you get 2 really good and matching (delay wise) weapons AGI/STR is also very nice dps plus you can execute your CAs faster). I feel that the STR tree is a must, mainly because of the crit chance and the last debuff which really shines in party vs party. Coule on the WIS line is also nice to have and if you manage to get some additional +def,+parry, +piercing or slashing items and use a gracelesness poison you ll really notice the difference. Putting some points in the Avoid Notice line is also very handy to clear the enemies target. While its true that a seasoned PvPer has a button assigned to retarget you within a second it keeps them from completing Combos or give you that split second you needed to complete yours.My personal preference is also the group AOE avoidance in the swash tree. Rightly timed it will safe you and your party from eg. rift, mass fear or encounter mezzes (only the person directly targeted by the enemy will suffer the effects).Tactics. Hm well, overall i d say keep your target at range and kite them with reach, debuff them accordingly and try to burn them asap. Carry a million cure arcane pods (best carry all kinds of cure, remedy and freedom potions) with you and get rid of snares and roots on you as fast as you can since you cant use your main advantage while you re snared or rooted.Dont let them jump you. Your most powerfull tool is your track. Dont attack a tracklocked enemy; open your track window before attacking him because you want to know whos around while fighting him. Also use both totems at once, since you can only track / see stealth while you re stealthed which isnt the case when fighting an enemy. Use the griffs, clouds etc to help you maximize tracking. If you eg. track someone while flying over him why not jump off and drop on him (maximise safefall or bring parachutes <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />.Another subaspect of the "dont let them jump you" credo is, that you really need to prebuff against certain classes / players. Casting all your dps&haste stuff like ruthless cunning, finesse, engarde etc. takes around 3 secs which is a lot of time during the fight. Better be prepared before entering a hard fight.Your off stance along with your taunt, your stuns and your mezz are your greatest assets vs casters. The interrupt on the off stance is a no brainer. Stuns also have the interrupt effect though you want to time them since your enemy gets an immunity twice the duration after you used it on him. Your taunt used eg. vs a sorceror will remove buffs (magis shielding, null mail etc) from him and will also interrupt. Esp. devastating vs. coercers but you ll really want to use as less power as possible vs a coercer. In fact you dont want to melee the coercer at all, just grab a grey add before engaging to break his mezz, stay away from him and use your ranged autoattack while hitting the cure arcane / arcane remedy pod every time its up again. But its getting too specific.Most Swashs dont bother with our Mezz while i really like and use it often. Nothing more satisfying to eg. mezz a SK while he just casted his blessing, debuff him with your non damaging CAs (or pumice stone <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />, apply a noxious remedy, prebuff yourself and open up with a stun and detaunt so that when he gets out of the mezz / stun his blessing has allmost run out plus if you can keep up the pressure you ll finish him in no time with minimal harm to yourself. Also pretty nice when you attack a duo. Mezz one, burn the other (dont forget to turn Hurricane off). Or Mezz the Wizard when hes casting Manashield. Gives you plenty of time to stealth away and return when MS is off again. Etc etc.Actually Swashs dont fail in anything. At least not completely. There are certain classes that are harder to beat, eg. Wardens who spotted you and survived your initial spike damage or a Brig who jumped you (see above <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> or a Bruiser who mezzes you and dispells your en garde / inspiration via pumice stone. It all boils down to the players controlling these toons tho.Jeez, this was longer than i wanted it to be. There are a lot of things not included but im sure you ll find out yourself. Also keep in Mind that this from a 70 swashs perspective. Lower tiers are a lot different.BladesCaineVenekor

[Arielle Nightshade]

<p>"Don't let them jump you" is the best advice ever, for any class.     </p><p>Although Caine says that a Warden that saw you coming is a tough fight, and I agree,   I have to also say the 2 players that struck fear in my heart as a Warden on Venekor....were both Swashes.   Everyone else (while in a good group) offered a good fight (win some, lose some), but that class is the one that I always found toughest to fight and live.</p><p>(disclaimer:     I read this thread because I'm leveling my old swash who was shelved since pre-KoS...I am in no way, shape or form an expert Swashbuckler, and depend heavily on the good advice offered here to learn to be better at it..)    <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" width="15" height="15" /></p><p>Edited for a syntax error and to thank Caine for the awesome post.</p>

[Dige]

Nice post Caine.

[Gimet]

<cite>Harbinger wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Enlocke@Vox wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>Similiar to my PvP monk thread. Trying to decide on a Monk or a Swashy.</p><p>Not really much to say, but I have a lot to ask. I'm thinking of rolling a Swashbuckler for PvP, and just need advice on:</p><p>AA- Where do I put it in terms for DPS? What other things should I put aa on for it to be beneficial?</p><p>Tactics- I know Swashbucklers can keep interrupting and staying off targeted on their enemy. How can I do this as to stopping Priests and Mages from casting? How do I defeat fighters and other scouts?</p><p>Necessities- What do Swashbucklers completely fail in? How do I fix this? (Example, Furies use tons of power, so you should carry Power Potions and do x amount of things)</p><p>I need plenty of advice on PvPing a Swashbuckler. I've had a Swashy on PvE servers and liked it a lot. But we all know how different the two experiences are.</p></blockquote>AA wise i d advise reach, full STR and full WIS (altough if you get 2 really good and matching (delay wise) weapons AGI/STR is also very nice dps plus you can execute your CAs faster). I feel that the STR tree is a must, mainly because of the crit chance and the last debuff which really shines in party vs party. Coule on the WIS line is also nice to have and if you manage to get some additional +def,+parry, +piercing or slashing items and use a gracelesness poison you ll really notice the difference. Putting some points in the Avoid Notice line is also very handy to clear the enemies target. While its true that a seasoned PvPer has a button assigned to retarget you within a second it keeps them from completing Combos or give you that split second you needed to complete yours.My personal preference is also the group AOE avoidance in the swash tree. Rightly timed it will safe you and your party from eg. rift, mass fear or encounter mezzes (only the person directly targeted by the enemy will suffer the effects).Tactics. Hm well, overall i d say keep your target at range and kite them with reach, debuff them accordingly and try to burn them asap. Carry a million cure arcane pods (best carry all kinds of cure, remedy and freedom potions) with you and get rid of snares and roots on you as fast as you can since you cant use your main advantage while you re snared or rooted.Dont let them jump you. Your most powerfull tool is your track. Dont attack a tracklocked enemy; open your track window before attacking him because you want to know whos around while fighting him. Also use both totems at once, since you can only track / see stealth while you re stealthed which isnt the case when fighting an enemy. Use the griffs, clouds etc to help you maximize tracking. If you eg. track someone while flying over him why not jump off and drop on him (maximise safefall or bring parachutes <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" width="15" height="15" />.Another subaspect of the "dont let them jump you" credo is, that you really need to prebuff against certain classes / players. Casting all your dps&haste stuff like ruthless cunning, finesse, engarde etc. takes around 3 secs which is a lot of time during the fight. Better be prepared before entering a hard fight.Your off stance along with your taunt, your stuns and your mezz are your greatest assets vs casters. The interrupt on the off stance is a no brainer. Stuns also have the interrupt effect though you want to time them since your enemy gets an immunity twice the duration after you used it on him. Your taunt used eg. vs a sorceror will remove buffs (magis shielding, null mail etc) from him and will also interrupt. Esp. devastating vs. coercers but you ll really want to use as less power as possible vs a coercer. In fact you dont want to melee the coercer at all, just grab a grey add before engaging to break his mezz, stay away from him and use your ranged autoattack while hitting the cure arcane / arcane remedy pod every time its up again. But its getting too specific.Most Swashs dont bother with our Mezz while i really like and use it often. Nothing more satisfying to eg. mezz a SK while he just casted his blessing, debuff him with your non damaging CAs (or pumice stone <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" width="15" height="15" />, apply a noxious remedy, prebuff yourself and open up with a stun and detaunt so that when he gets out of the mezz / stun his blessing has allmost run out plus if you can keep up the pressure you ll finish him in no time with minimal harm to yourself. Also pretty nice when you attack a duo. Mezz one, burn the other (dont forget to turn Hurricane off). Or Mezz the Wizard when hes casting Manashield. Gives you plenty of time to stealth away and return when MS is off again. Etc etc.Actually Swashs dont fail in anything. At least not completely. There are certain classes that are harder to beat, eg. Wardens who spotted you and survived your initial spike damage or a Brig who jumped you (see above <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY<img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />" width="15" height="15" /> or a Bruiser who mezzes you and dispells your en garde / inspiration via pumice stone. It all boils down to the players controlling these toons tho.Jeez, this was longer than i wanted it to be. There are a lot of things not included but im sure you ll find out yourself. Also keep in Mind that this from a 70 swashs perspective. Lower tiers are a lot different.BladesCaineVenekor</blockquote>This was a lot of useful info. I appreciate your help.<img src="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/images/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" width="15" height="15" />

[Zaci]

Nice post cain.... just want to add that agi/wis may be better until you have 15ish AA's or so, because of some very useful things like pirate stab. Until I respecced dw, I was agi/wis at level 70 with 93ish aa's...